Geirfau, etc.,

Miscellaneous papers containing notes, extracts, transcripts, lists, etc., in the hand of Edward Williams ('Iolo Morganwg') bound together in one volume. Pp. 9-62, 68-73, 76- 90, 107-48, 213-20 and various other pages in the volume contain miscellaneous Welsh word lists frequently, but not invariably, with English definitions and illustrative excerpts from the works of Welsh poets. Other items include pp. 63-5, an incomplete 'Cornish - Silurian vocabulary' (words beginning with letter A only); 75, a comparative word list with the superscription 'Peculiarities of the Silurian and Venedotian dialects'; 93-106, a list of popular proverbial and figurative expressions or phrases in Welsh (see IM, t. 389); 149-50, 157-63, lists of Latin proper names, common nouns, etc., largely connected with ancient Gaul; 153- 6, 165-208, a French - English vocabulary with Welsh cognates of the French words; 221-30, a Cornish - English vocabulary with the superscription 'Borlace Vocabulary' [probably transcribed from, or based upon, the vocabulary to be found in William Borlase: Antiquities, Historical and Monumental, of the County of Cornwall . . . (1754, 2nd ed. 1769)], with Welsh cognates of the Cornish words; 236, 'Some Names of Rivers in Glamorganshire'; 237, a copy of a poem attributed to Taliesin; 240, notes headed 'Names of Mountains'; 241-2, notes headed 'Appelative Name of Watter', and 'Proper Names of Rivers'; 251-8, a collection of Welsh proverbs arranged alphabetically according to the initial letter (incomplete, G-Y only); 260-61, a Welsh poem by Edward Williams; 262, a list of 'Silurian words agreeing with Armoric'; 273-4, two lists with the headings 'Books and MSS. useful towards the History of Cardiff', and 'Hints and Materials for the History of Cardiff' respectively; 281-2, a copy of a thirty-eight stanza anti-Puritan poem entitled 'Cân i Ladron Morganwg' attributed to 'Jenkin Rhichards o Flaenau Gwent' and dated 1646 (for an assessment of the historical evidence presented in this poem see Thomas Richards: A History of the Puritan Movement in Wales (London, 1920), p. 211, and the same author's Religious Developments in Wales, 1654-1662 ( London, 1923), pp. 191-4, and for doubts as to its authenticity IM, tt. 254-63); 283-4, a transcript of a letter from [the Reverend] Edw[ar]d Gamage [from St. Athan] to Llywelyn [ab Ifan] 'o'r Cannerw', undated (replying to a request for the names of books for the study of the Welsh language, observations on differences between the dialects of Glamorgan and North Wales, a suggestion that a scholarly, bardic language be formed from the best elements in all regional dialects) (for a holograph copy of a letter from Edward Gamage to Llywelyn ab Ifan see NLW MS 13077B and for transcripts by Edward Williams of letters from, or allegedly from, Gamage to the same recipient in addition to the present example see NLW MSS 13095B, 13100B; for observations on these letters and the dubious authenticity of the Williams transcripts see IMCY, tt. 58-60, TLLM, tt. 107, 195, and IM, tt. 245-6); 285, a copy of an 'englyn' descriptive of a silkworm and 'composed of vowels'; 291, an incomplete transcript of [Thomas] Gray's 'Ode on the Pleasure arising from Vicissitude'; 295-8, a chronicle of events in British-Welsh history, 1076-1110; 299-300, notes on the Welsh bardic order with references to [James] Macpherson's theories about the druids and bards and a comment on his Fingal poem; 302, extracts from the Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure, 1768; 303-04, a transcript of [Taliesin's poem] 'Gwaith Argoed Llwyfain' with an English translation thereof by W[illia]m Whitehead (see Edward Jones: Musical and Poetical Relicks of the Welsh Bards . . . (1784), pp. 5-6); 307-10, an English translation of the title-page of Theophilus Evans: Drych y Prif Oesoedd . . ., ail arg. [1740], and of pp. 107-10 of the text of the work; 315-16, a copy of a letter from 'Christopher Crabstick', servant of Mr. Windham [Thomas Wyndham of Dunraven Castle, co. Glamorgan], to Captain Wind[s]or [Captain Thomas Windsor, R.N.), undated (a satirical attack on recipient's decision to offer himself as a candidate in the parliamentary election for the county of Glamorgan [?1789]); 323, draft copies of an election song to accompany the preceding item; 317-20, brief notes on the topography, agriculture, mineral wealth, etc., of the three main divisions of Glamorgan; 321-2, an advertisement for a proposed history of the town of Cardiff and lordship of Glamorgan; 326, a copy of the proposed title- page of Edward Williams's intended 'History of the Ancient British Bards or Druids' to be published in 1795; 327-30, notes on Welsh poetic metres ('Am gysefin ansawdd y mesurau') and on bardic ceremonial ('defodau . . . wrth gynnal gorsedd'); 333-4, prose items with the superscriptions 'Casbethau serchog', 'Llyma lythr anfon serch o waith D.G. o lyfr Ovydd', 'Dewisbethau serchog o lyfr Ofydd', and 'Casbethau Eiddig'; 335-6 two sequences of stanzas (twenty-one and twenty-four respectively) of Welsh prophetic verse with each stanza commencing with the words 'Coronog faban . . .', the first sequence being taken, with revised orthography, from Thomas Pugh: Brittish and Out-landish Prophesies . . . (London, 1658) [pp- 47-51, 37-8] (for the text of both sequences see Iolo Manuscripts . . ., pp. 276-82); 337-8, an incomplete copy of a Welsh poem describing the county of Glamorgan, its towns, etc. (for the missing portion, i.e., stanzas 1-30, see Iolo Aneurin Williams MS 97 in the National Library of Wales); 339-40 transcripts of two 'cywyddau' attributed to Ieuan ap Hywel Swrdwal and Gruff. ap Ieuan ap Llywelyn Fychan; 341-2, a transcript of a letter in Welsh from the poet Gronw Owen from Donnington, co. Salop, to William Elias, 1751 (for the text of this letter and notes on problems relating thereto see J. H. Davies (ed.): The Letters of Goronwy Owen . . . (Cardiff, 1924), pp. 3-4, 203-04); 343-5 medical maxims in Welsh; and 347-8, transcripts of 'englynion' by Wm. Llyn, H[uw] Llyn, and Edward Morris. Also included are miscellaneous notes on bardic, literary, and historical matters, etc.

Title based on contents.

Formerly known as Llanover C. 4.

Preferred citation: NLW MS 13091E.

The description is also available in the Handlist of Manuscripts in the National Library of Wales, Volume IV (Aberystwyth, 1971).

Published