Cylchgronau Cymru

Chwiliwch trwy dros 450 o deitlau a 1.2 miliwn o dudalennau

CYLCHGRAWN LLYFRGELL GENEDLAETHOL CYMRU THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF WALES JOURNAL VOLUME VII. Winter, 1951 NUMBER 2. THE BROGYNTYN WELSH MANUSCRIPTS (PLATE VII, 3) X Brogyntyn MS. 15 (Porkington 1), a small folio manuscript, is lettered BRITISH HISTORIE MS. Actually, it contains transcripts of genealogical and heraldic texts, a computus, and a little poetry. It is written in two principal hands belong- ing to the north Pembrokeshire circle of George Owen of Henllys, historian of Pembrokeshire. George Owen probably ordered the copies to be made, and he checked sections of the transcript of the first part of the manuscript between 13 May 1593 and 10 March 1594. The ultimate source of this part (pp. 7-256) is the 'Book of 'Sir' Thomas ab Ieuan ap David, otherwise Deikws'. This book, imperfect and badly disarranged in its present binding, survives as Peniarth MS. 127 in the National Library of Wales. Another copy, with a few pages missing, is Gwysaney MS. 23, deposited at the Library by Colonel P. R. Davies-Cooke. A collation of the three manu- scripts shows that the Gwysaney text, if it is not the immediate exemplar of the Brogyntyn MS., lies between it and Peniarth MS. 127. The two transcripts enable the original order of the latter to be re-established. The Gwysaney text is superior to that of Brogyntyn MS. 15, and where it deviates from Peniarth MS. 127, the Brogyntyn text agrees with it. The scribe of Brogyntyn MS. 15 was a better penman, but his knowledge of the Welsh language was less secure, and he was more inclined to introduce orthographical idiosyncracies of his own. On page 104 there is a striking example of slavish copying. The word Daruy is written in the middle of the page, as if it was meant to be a heading, and is neatly crossed out. The source is evident in a note written in Gwysaney MS. 23, — darfu examio y llyfrev newydd hyd yma ('the new books have been examined up to here'). This note suggests that the 'Book of Sir Thomas ab Ieuan' was popular. Apart from its popularity, the book itself is an important link in the develop- ment of Welsh genealogical writing. The author was an interesting personality,