Llanstephan MS 27C

The Red Book of Talgarth

Reference: Llanstephan MS 27C

 

This manuscript is apparently in the same hand as large portions of the Red Book of Hergest and Peniarth MS 32. The contents, with few exceptions, are manifestly taken from Jesus College MS 2 and Peniarth MS 5. Pp. i-vi belong to the 15th century and contain pedigrees (p. i); triads (p. ii); and poetry by Dafydd ap Gwilym and Ieuan Dew Brydydd (p. iv-vi). The twenty folios which are missing between ff. 20b and 21 now form part of Peniarth MS 12, pp. 77-116. Many of the other pages correspond to pages in Llyvyr Agkyr Llandewivrevi, Peniarth MS 32, Peniarth MS 5, Peniarth MS 12, Peniarth MS 3, and Peniarth MS 14. The end of the manuscript is missing: the final words are 'Lleidyr oed gynt . ae enw ebbo ... tebygu na ladyssei y magyl arnaw . yn y lle nessau attaw aorugant ar uedyr'. A letter dated at Talgarth on 19 September 1719 and addressed to 'the Rev. Moses Williams att Dyfynnog in Breconshire' is bound in at the end of the manuscript.

The signature of John Powell occurs on p. v (see also Peniarth MSS 41 and 45); the inscription 'Liber Moses Williams ex dono J. Powell de Talgarth 1719' occurs on f. 1.

A detailed list of the manuscript's contents may be found in J. Gwenogvryn Evans, Report on Manuscripts in the Welsh Language, Vol. II, Part II (London, 1903), pp. 455-462.