Brut Aberpergwm, etc.,

A composite volume containing transcripts of historical and literary material in the hand of Edward Williams ('Iolo Morganwg'). Pp. 1 -74 contain one of the two known reputed transcripts by Edward Williams of the supposedly variant version of the medieval Welsh Chronicle of the Princes ('Brut y Tywysogion') which is generally known as 'Brut Aberpergwm' or 'The Gwentian Brut'. The superscription on p. 1 reads 'Llyma Vrut y Tywysogion val y bu Ryfeloedd a gweithredoedd enseiliaid a Dialeddau, a Rhyfeddodau gwedi eu tynnu or hen gofion cadwedig au blyneddu'n Drefnedig gan Garadawc Llancarfan', and, according to a note at the end of the text (p. 74), the present copy was transcribed by Iorwerth ab Iorwerth Gwilym, i.e. Edward Williams, in 1790 from one of the manuscripts of the Reverend Thomas Richards, curate of Llangrallo [co. Glamorgan], who, in turn, had copied the work in 1764 from one of the manuscripts in the possession of George Williams, esq., of Aberpergwm [co. Glamorgan]. This is substantially the text that was published in The Myvyrian Archaiology of Wales . . ., vol. II, 1801, pp. 468-582, and also in Aneurin Owen (ed.): Brut y Tywysogion; the Gwentian Chronicle of Caradoc of Llancarvan . . . (London, 1863), this second publication being accompanied by an English translation. P. 89 is inscribed 'English Translation of Caradoc of Lancarvan's Annals of the Princes of Wales. By Edward Williams. 1807. Rough Copy'. The section now paginated 101-88 contains an English translation of the text found in pp. 1-74. Other items in the volume include pp. 191-208, extracts from William Warrington: The History of Wales . . . (London, 1786); 215-19, a draft copy of the last three paragraphs of the preface to The Myvyrian Archaiology . . ., vol. II, in which the text of 'Brut Aberpergwm' was published (see G. J. Williams: op. cit., pp. 206-08); 223-5, a transcript of the opening paragraphs of a version of the Laws of Hywel Dda; and 233- 43, copies of poems by [Edward Williams] 'Iolo Morganwg'.

Title based on contents.

Formerly known as Llanover C. 26.

Preferred citation: NLW MS 13113B.

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

For the second text of this version of the chronicle reputedly transcribed by Edward Williams see NLW MS 13121B (Llanover MS C. 34.), pp. 37-135.

For assessments of the authenticity of the work with the now generally held opinion that it is a bogus text compiled by Edward Williams himself, see J. E. Lloyd: 'The Welsh Chronicles', Proceedings of the British Academy, 1928, pp. 369- 91 and more particularly 376-7; Thomas Jones (ed.): Brut y Tywysogyon or The Chronicle of the Princes, Peniarth MS 20 Version. Translated . . . (Cardiff, 1952), pp. xxviii-xxx, xxxiv; and G. J. Williams: 'Brut Aberpergwm. A version of the Chronicle of the Princes', Glamorgan Historian, vol. 4, 1967, pp. 205-20.

Published