ANT IQ WI P1E S. 
script, that is, since the introduction 
~of paper ; for they are all on vellum. 
Of historical documents, such as 
the Triads, Chronicles of the Kings 
of Britain, of the Saxons, and of 
the Princes of Wales, copies abound 
in most of the colleétions, written 
at various times; in the twelfth, 
thirteenth, and fourteenth centu- 
ries. _ 
Theological Tracts, Legends, and 
Lives of Saints, appear at the com- 
mencement of the fourteenth cen- 
tury. 
~ Our proverbs began to be gather- 
ed together at an early period :— 
Cadoc, the first abbot of Lian Car- 
van, about the close of the sixth 
century, stands at the head of those 
who laboured in this branch, from 
whom we have any remains: in the 
eleventh century, the aged Cyrys, 
of Jal, appeared conspicuous in the 
same track ; again ine the fifteenth 
century, Sypin, of Cyveilioc, in- 
creased what his predecessors had 
done. Colleétively, from these and 
others, I have by me upwards of 
ten thousand adages and aphorisms, 
the result of the observations of the 
Britons. . 
The Mabinogion, or Juvenile 
Amusements, being a kind of dra- 
matic tales, are, in themselves, some 
of our most singular productions ; 
and I have little hesitation in assert- 
ing them to have been the origin of 
romance writing in Europe. 
It is to be lamented, that, owing 
Vou. XLV. 
881 
to the credulity, or want of, pene- 
tration in our early chroniclers, the 
high colouring and the ideal actions of 
those tales, were incorporated into 
our national history ; so that it is 
from thence we are to account for 
the chara¢ter drawn of Arthur and 
his knights, with other extravagan- 
cies of a similar kind. Detached 
pieces of this sort are very common, 
but there is a splendid treasure of 
them in the Hengwrt library. 
There are about thirty different 
old treatises on Welsh grammar and 
prosody preserved ; of these, oneis 
particularly deserving of notice, as 
a curious relic: it was composed 
by Geraint, about A. D. 880; re- 
vised by Einion, about A. D. 1200 ; 
and again by Edeyrn, about the 
year 1270; and regularly privi- 
leged by the different princes who 
then exercised sovereignty in Wales. 
Such, reverend sir, is the brief 
account which I presume to send 
you, with a design of giving to the 
society some information respecting 
the existence, and the general con- 
tents,of the old manuscripts, intend- 
ed to be transmitted to posterity, by 
means of the Archaiology under con- 
sideration. 
I remain, 
Reyerend sir, 
Your most humble, and obliged 
servant, 
William Owen. 
Penton-street, Pentonville, 
Jan. 21, 1802. 
3L MISCELs 
