principality ; yet several others have 
een removed out of the country by 
‘various means. 
OF such treasures of British ma- 
nuscripts, the following are to be 
pointed out as most deserving of 
‘attention : — 
tg ‘Tn North Wales, the collections 
of ¢ 
Be en Williams Wynne, bart. 
ij ynnestay, 
ig homas Mostyn, bart. at Glod- 
daith, 
Griflith Howell Vaughan, esq. at 
* Hengwrt, 
‘Paul Panton, esq. at Plas Gwyn, 
George Leo, esq. at Llanerch, 
Grifith Roberts, M. D.-at Dolgelly. 
In South Wales, the colleétions 
Ore 
Phomas Johnes, esq. at Havod. 
John Turberville, esq.at Lian Aran, 
Herbert Hurst, esq. at Keibalva, 
near Llandaf, ' 
‘Dayid Thomas, esq. at Trey y Groes, 
Cowbridge, 
Rey. Josiah Rees, at Gelli Gron, 
“near Swansea, 
‘Mr. Edward Williams, at Flimston, 
near Cowbridge. 
Out of Wales, the colleétions of 
The earl of Macclesfield, in Oxford- 
shire, 
Jesus College, Oxford, 
The British Museum, ‘London, 
fhe Welsh School, London, 
Ir. Owen Jones, ‘London, 
Rev. Mr. Kenrick, Exeter. 
The principal heads under which 
* This curious manuscript contains, 
Dialogue between, Merzin (Merlin) of Caledonia, and Taliesin 
The Graves of the Warriors of Britain, by Taliesin - 
He y on Geraint, Prince of Devon. by Llyware Hen - 
ragment of the Prospect of Dinbyc, by bam - 
to Yscolan, by Merzin (Merlin) 
Tnyocation to the Swine, by Merzin 
AN:-EIQUdZ TIES. 
‘portion may be reversed. 
879 
the contents of the before-mentioned 
stores of British learning may ‘be 
classed are, poetry, bardic institutes, 
laws, history, theology, ethics, pro- 
verbs, dramatic tales, grammars. 
The first of these classes, the po- 
etry, is by far the most extensive ; 
for it may be computed to fill about 
eight parts out of ten of our old 
writings, omitting to take into ac- 
count the heraldric colleétions all 
together ; but with respect to the 
quantity that is printed, such a pro- 
On this 
subjeét I have made a calculation, 
so as to enable me to infer, that I 
have perused upwards of thirteen 
thousand poetical pieces, of yarious 
denominations, for the purpose of 
colleéting words, in the course of 
about eighteen years that I have 
been compiling the dictionary of the 
Welsh language. 
Among 167 manuscript yolumes 
in the Hengwrt colleétion, the lead- 
ing articles of which are detailed by 
Lhvyd, in the Archaeologia Britan- 
nica, the oldest that I have seen of 
Welsh poetry, is the Black Book, 
of Caermarthen ; the first half of 
which, appears to haye been written 
as early, at least, as the beginnin 
of the ninth century ; but the latter 
part of it is of later date, being ge- 
nerally supposed the hand- -writing 
of Cynzelw, about the year 1160, 
one of whose produétions, compos- 
ed in that year, being added at the 
end of the book*. The next de- 
serving 
M.S. Arch, 
Page Page 
: eee. 
- $2 = 79 
- 96. - 101 
- 93- - 67 
ee ne 
: WM hch WY ae oe AE 
the 
