Breudwd Welsh Prose 1300-1425
Cymraeg

TEI Header for Cardiff MS. 3.242 (Hafod 16)

: 'Cardiff 3.242 (Hafod 16): An Electronic Edition' TEI header

: Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Whitefriars, Lewins Mead, Bristol BS1 2AE 0117 987 6500

Principal Investigator: Peter Wynn Thomas

Transcribed and encoded by D. Mark Smith

Transcribed and encoded by Diana Luft

School of Welsh, Cardiff University Cardiff 2013 www.rhyddiaithganoloesol.caerdydd.ac.uk

  • : Cardiff
  • : Central Library
  • : 3.242
  • : Hafod 16

Pages 1-100 of this manuscript contain medical and scientific texts. Pages 101-112 consist of various materials of a religious nature. Daniel Huws has shown that these pages are those missing from Llanstephan 27 (the Red Book of Talgarth), also in the hand of Hywel Fychan, which breaks off in the middle of Gwyrthiau Mair, the text with which part two of Cardiff 3.242 begins. The two parts of Cardiff 3.242 may have been bound together at a later date due to the similarity of the hands, which extends to the orthography, rubrication, and decoration.

Page Contents Hand
i Introductory notes in later hand. J. Gwenogvryn Evans?
ii-iv Description of Cardiff 2.342 photocopied from J.G. Evans's catalogue not applicable
1 Meddyginiaethau Cardiff 3.242. hand A
2-6 Llysieulyfr Cardiff 3.242. hand A
6-8 Medical charms and recipes in Latin, not transcribed Cardiff 3.242. hand A
8-10 Rhinweddau Croen Neidr Cardiff 3.242. hand A
10 Y Misoedd Cardiff 3.242. hand A
11-14 Rhinweddau Bwydydd Cardiff 3.242. hand A
14-19 Llythyr Aristotlys at Alecsander: Pryd a Gwedd Dynion Cardiff 3.242. hand A
19-36 Meddyginiaethau Cardiff 3.242. hand A
37-39 Y Deuddeng Arwydd> Cardiff 3.242. hand A
37-39 Meddyginiaethau Cardiff 3.242. hand A
Pages missing
41 Medical charms and recipes in Latin, not transcribed Cardiff 3.242. hand A
41-47 Llythyr Aristotlys at Alecsander: Rheolau Iechyd Cardiff 3.242. hand A
47-49 Llythyr Aristotlys at Alecsander: Y Pedwar Math o Frenin Cardiff 3.242. hand A
49-60 Medical charms and recipes in Latin, not transcribed Cardiff 3.242. hand A
Pages missing
61-62 Meddyginiaethau Cardiff 3.242. hand A
63-66 Campau'r Cennin Cardiff 3.242. hand A
66-71 Meddyginiaethau Cardiff 3.242. hand A
71-73 Y Pedwar Gwlybwr Cardiff 3.242. hand A
73-80 Rhinweddau Bwydydd Cardiff 3.242. hand A
Pages missing
81-89 Meddyginiaethau Cardiff 3.242. hand A
89-91 Y Pedwar Defnydd Cardiff 3.242. hand A
91-94 Ansoddau'r Trwnc Cardiff 3.242. hand A
94-96 Meddyginiaethau Cardiff 3.242. hand A
96-97 Wyth Rhan Pob Dyn Cardiff 3.242. hand A
97-100 Meddyginiaethau Cardiff 3.242. hand A
101-104 Gwyrthiau Mair Hywel Fychan
104-106 Buchedd Mair o'r Aifft Hywel Fychan
106-108 Gorchestion Hywel Fychan
108-109 Fel y rhannwyd yr Ebestyl Hywel Fychan
109-110 Cyneddfau Meddwdod Hywel Fychan
110-112 Bonedd y Saint Hywel Fychan

The following texts were consulted during transcription:

  • Byfield, C. E. and Bayliss, M. eds. 1996. Y Gorcheston: The Welsh Ioca Monachorum, Texts, Translations and Commentary. Studia Celtica 30. 197-222.
  • Coe, John. ed. 1999. Deudeg Rhinwedd Croen Neidr. Studia Celtica 33. 297-334.
  • Jones, Ida B. ed. 1956-1959. Hafod 16 (A Mediaeval Welsh Medical Treatise). Études Celtiques 7. 46-75, 270-339; 8. 66-97, 346-93.
  • Parry, Thomas. ed. 1930. Y Gorcheston. BBCS 5. 138-40.
  • Richards, Melville. ed. 1952. Hafod 16, tt. 101-9. BBCS 14. 186-90.
  • Wade-Evans, A. W. ed. 1933. Bonedd y Saint, D. Revue Celtique 50. 24-9.

Supplied text has been taken from the above editions.

Page numbering is in a later hand and is to be found in the top right corner of each recto.

Catchwords are occasionally found in the bottom right hand corner of the page; others may have been cut out later during binding. All catchwords are in the hand of scribe at that point unless otherwise noted. Examples may be seen at: 40: <phob>, 80: <pell>

A number of pages are faded to the point of illegibility in places.

The manuscript has been misbound and many of the pages are out of order. A possible reconstruction of the proper order of the pages is: 63-80, 11-20 [break], 1-10 [break], 29-36 [break], 21-28 [break], 37-40, 99-100, [lacuna], 85-86, 83-84, 87-88, 89-90 [break], 91-94, 97-98, 95-96, 81-82 [break], 41-60 [break], 61-62.

The text is written in a single column, with between 26 and 28 lines to the page.

Pages 1-100 are in the late-fourteenth century rounded textura hand of an unidentified scribe. This scribe has been given the designation 'Cardiff 3.242. hand A' for the purposes of this transcription. Hywel Fychan is responsible for the texts filling pages 101-112. He also wrote Peniarth 11, which contains a copy of Ystoriau Saint Greal; Philadelphia 8680, which contains a copy of Ystoria Dared and Brut y Brenhinoedd; Oxford Jesus College 57, which contains a copy of Llyfr Blegywryd); parts of the Red Book of Hergest (Oxford Jesus College 111; and Llanstephan 27 and Peniarth 12, the other manuscripts which made up the Red Book of Talgarth.
‘Cardiff 3.242 hand A’

The script is characterised by a number of letter forms which are either unique or at times difficult to interpret. He uses two different types of <ỽ>, one pointed and one round, which can be seen together in the word <gỽressaỽc> at 22.7. There are also several unusual examples of <b>, which are similar to <ỽ>; see, for example, <ebrỽyd> 12.5, and <arbet> 43.18.

The scribe uses both regular and medial <a>. The medial <a> often serves almost as a capital, and is commonly found at the beginning of clauses and names.

The scribe occasionally uses a <y> with a dot over it. Most of the words in which the dotted <y> occurs are Latin, though this may be fortuitous. In two places a dot occurs over a large initial <Y>: 78.2 and 78.5. Examples occur at:

  • <adonay> 1.13 (twice), 1.18
  • <alehiya> 32.12
  • <Colofonye> 23.10
  • <gensyn> 3.15
  • <Satureya> 5.15
  • <Septineya> 5.12
  • <solarey> 5.7
  • <Symphit> 23.9
  • <ypocras> 29.1
  • <ysayas> 1.19

There is some ambiguity in the forms of the letters <V>, <W> and <Y>, in which the capital form is simply a larger version of the small one. The capital form of <K> is also problematic: its chief difference from the small form seems to lie in its being given a tail rather than in any difference in size. Ambiguity often arises when the scribe begins a list or a text which contains repetitive phrases using capital letters, which then get smaller as the list continues. In such cases it has occasionally been necessary to make a decision as to the form of the letter based on context. The following are examples of ambiguous capitals:

  • <K> 79.19, 79.21
  • <F>: 80.6
  • <J>: 13.26, 43.6, 43.10
  • <V> 37.12, 37.22, 94.18
  • <W> 37.10, 89.18
  • <Y> 27.1, 37.18, 89.13

In the glossary of herbs (pages 2-6), which is arranged alphabetically, the large initial letters which introduce each letter-entry usually span two lines, and in these cases stand as the initial letter of the first two word-entries. In these cases the second word has been provided with a <sic> tag giving the correct form.

The orthography of this scribe does not appear to differ substantially from expected forms.

The text contains a number of common abbreviations. These have been expanded in the transcription to the forms that are given elsewhere in the text itself rather than to standard or dictionary forms.

  • macron for <m>: ky[m]er 22.22
  • macron for <n>: 8.12, 8.19, da[n]ned 25.11; dyn[n] 25.16 etc.; pen[n] 25.14; ran[n] 25.8
  • <~> for <ra>: b[ra]th 23.17, 23.22; themp[ra] 27.6, 32.1
  • <~> for <er>: alexand[er] 47.9, 47.14 etc.; kym[er] 22.5, 22.8, 40.4, etc.; v[er]ueyn 29.15, 31.24; vrast[er] 18.22; mort[er] 25.27; mort[er]a 26.10
  • <~> for <yr>: blast[yr] 28.23, 32.18; byb[yr] 29.18; dyeith[yr] 48.21; vineg[yr] 29.23, 62.17; gỽineg[yr] 62.18; llest[yr] 97.6
  • <ur> for <ur>: dol[ur] 35.27; nat[ur] 18.25; wneuth[ur] 19.21, 21.21, 91.6, etc.
  • <9> for <us>: alar[us] 13.16; ethrylith[us] 9.12, 16.25; let[us] 26.17
  • <i> above a letter for <ri>: eb[ri]ll 10.24; ysg[ri]uen 19.27; ysg[ri]uena 1.7, 1.10, 1.14
  • <i> above a letter for <ry>: ysp[ry]t 96.21
  • <o> above a letter for <ro>: g[ro]ec 42.3
  • <p> with a tail for <per>: p[er]igyl 93.17, 93.19, 94.18, 94.19; p[er]sli 62.26; sp[er]na 14.12
  • <p~> for <pry>: ysp[ry]t 96.21

Scribe A also abbreviates certain commonly occurring words:

  • macron for <wn>: tr[wn]gk 93.13
  • <arcc> for <ar<wydocaa> 92.13
  • <arỽydcc> for <arỽydocaa> 93.7
  • <arỽydoccc> for <arỽydocaa> 18.3, 92.15, 92.17, 93.22, 94.7
  • <brenh~> for <brenhin> 48.14
  • <Jpoc[ra]s>: 43.10
  • <mur[ra]>: 40.10
  • <~> for <ỽyn>: <man[wyn]> 82.3;

The interpretation of this last item is taken from Ida Jones's transcription. Jones also transcribes <saxi> at 97.7 as <saxi[fragan]> although there is no abbreviation mark to be found. The editors have instead inserted a <sic> tag at this point. There is also an unclear abbreviation at 73.7 after <ofnaỽc> which appears not be appropriate in that context.

Some of the medical receipts in this manuscript contain Latin elements that are meant to act as charms, often to be written into butter on bread and fed to the ailing person. For the most part these are made up of a combination of common liturgical elements from the Paternoster and apocryphal material. The former are, unsurprisingly, heavily abbreviated:

  • <et>c. for <etcetera>: 10.21, 14.15
  • <et> for <et>: 1.11, 1.16, 1.23, 1.24, 1.26, 2.1.18, 5.7.9, 19.9, 19.11, 19.13, 19.15, 19.16, 19.19, 19.23, 19.24, 19.26, 20.1, 20.12, 20.13, 20.14, 20.18
  • <l> with cross through for <vel>: 2.1.24; 2.2.4, 3.3.5
  • <.i.> for <.id est>: 6.10.2, 40.4, 40.5, 40.6 etc.
  • macron for <n>: ame[n] 1.11, 19.9, 19.20, 19.23, 20.1, 20.18; Calame[n]tu[m] 2.1.9; Co[n]solida maior 2.1.22; i[n] 19.10, 19.11, 19.20, 20.15; i[n]d[ucas] 19.20 etc.; pi[n]cti 1.12-13; Pla[n]tago 4.6.8; sa[n]cta 19.12
  • macron for <m>: Caprifoliu[m] 2.1.1; Calame[n]tu[m] 2.1.9; Cermontanu[m] 2.1.16; Ciminu[m] 2.1.19; Cinamonu[m] 2.1.10; cotidianu[m] 19.19; deu[m] 20.15 etc.
  • macron for <er>: adu[er]se 1.12; c[er]uina 3.4.8; mat[er] 20.13; rob[er]ti 3.3.21; t[er]ra 19.11; t[er]restris 2.2.14; ven[er]is 2.1.27; u[er]uia 4.6.15
  • <9> for <us>: canap[us] 2.2.4; Cibil[us] 2.1.24; colu[m]bin[us] 4.6.1; Epul[us] 2.2.16; Gariophil[us] 3.3.14; Marc[us] 1.20; Raphan[us] 4.6.22; Ris[us] 4.6.27 etc.
  • <~> for<er>: lib[er]a 19.20; Papau[er] 4.6.7; ven[er]is 5.8.18
  • <~> for <es>: ih[es]u 19.14, 19.23; m[u]ltiplic[es]: 19.17
  • <~> for <is>: nob[is] 19.18
  • <p> with a cross through the tail for <per>: cirp[er]is 2.1.24; p[er]: 19.11, 19.12, 19.13; p[er]forauit 1.24; p[er]forata 3.3.24; Pip[er] 4.6.5; Yp[er]ikon 5.8.27;
  • <i> above a letter for <ui>: q[ui] 19.10
  • <ur> above a letter for <ur>: bibat[ur] 4.5.17: sat[ur]nionis 5.8.11
  • <p> with a cross through the tail through for <por>: p[or]cinum 4.6.16
  • <p> with a tail for <pro>: 4.5.17
  • <a> above a letter for <ua>: Ling[ua] 4.5.4; q[ua] 99.6; q[ua]terne 19.25; q[ua]tor 19.13
  • <q3> for <que>: quinq[ue] 4.6.14, 4.6.15
  • <3> for <orum>: mor[orum] 5.7.16
  • <3> for <um>: archangelor[um] 19.13; flamar[um] 20.14-15
  • <l> with a cross through it for <ul>: cuc[u]li 4.6.6; m[u]ltiplic[es] 19.17; Sinic[u]lin 5.8.2; Teribinc[u]la 5.8.13; Testic[u]lus 5.8.11
  • <l> with a cross through it for <lis>: cel[is] 19.10

    Contractions (non-word-final letters omitted)
  • <ailia> for <animalia> 19.14
  • <ana> for <anima> 19.17
  • <aplos> for <apostolos> 19.14
  • <crruit> for <curruit> 1.24
  • <dm> for <dominum> 1.23
  • <dni> for <domini> 19.23
  • <dns> for <dominus> 1.18
  • <ds> for <deus> 19.17
  • <fi> for <filii> 1.11, 1.16, 19.23, 29.26, 20.1
  • <gmaron> for <gramaron> 1.14
  • <Johes> for <Johannes> 1.20
  • <noia> for <nomina> 19.12, 19.13
  • <noie> for <nomine> 1.11, 1.16, 1.24, 1.25, 19.9, 19.23, 19.26, 20.1, 20.12, 20.18
  • <nr> for <noster> 1.17, 19.10, 20.15
  • <nra> for <nostra> 19.19
  • <nri> for <nostri> 19.23
  • <nrm> for <nostrum> 19.18
  • <oi> for <omni> 4.5.17, 19.14, 19.15
  • <pr> for <pater> 20.15
  • <ptris> for <patris> 1.11, 1.16, 1.24, 19.9, 19.23, 19.26, 20.1, 20.12, 20.18
  • <sci> for <sancti> 20.18
  • <scif> for <sanctificetur> 19.10
  • <sd> for <sed> 19.20
  • <spt> for <spiritus> 1.11, 1.17, 1.18, 1.26, 19.9, 20.12, 20.18
  • <xpe> for <Christe> 19.14
  • <xpi> for <Christi> 19.24
    Suspensions (word-final letters omitted)
  • <a> for <a[men]> 19.26
  • <c> for <c[elo]> 19.11
  • <deb> for <deb[ita]> 19.19
  • <deb> for <deb[itoribus]> 19.19
  • <di> for <di[mittimus]> 19.19
  • <dulc> for <dulc[is]> 20.13
  • <e> for <e[st]> 5.8.4
  • <id> for <i[n]d[ucas]> 19.20
  • <n> for <n[omen]> 19.14
  • <n> for <n[os]> 19.19
  • <n> for <n[ostris]> 19.19
  • <no> for <no[bis]> 19.19
  • <nom> for <nom[en]> 19.10
  • <O> for <O[mega]> 1.13
  • <planet> for <planet[as]> 19.12
  • <reg> for <reg[num]> 19.10
  • <s> for <s[ancti]> 1.11, 1.17, 1.25, 19.9, 19.23, 19.26, 20.1, 20.12
  • <s> for <s[piritus]> 19.26, 20.1
  • <sic> for <sic[ut]> 19.11, 19.19
  • <t> for <t[ua]> 19.11
  • <t> for <t[uum]> 19.10
  • <tep> for <te[m]p[tationem]> (with a macron for the third character) 19.20
  • <tet> for <tet[ra]> 1.13
  • <vo> for <vo[luntas]> 19.11

Punctuation in this hand consists of the punctus and the punctus elevatus.

‘Hywel Fychan’

Hywel Fychan uses both regular and medial <a>. The medial <a> often serves almost as a capital, and is commonly found at the beginning of names and clauses.

There is some ambiguity between the letters <c> and <t> in this hand. Amongst the ambiguous examples are:

  • <c>: 110.4, 111.20, 112.19
  • <t>: 107.8, 107.24, 108.24, 111.9, 111.10, 111.22, 112.4, 112.8, 112.13

Hywel Fychan's orthography does not appear to differ substantially from expected forms.

Hywel's text contains a few common abbreviations. These have been expanded in the transcription to the forms that are given elsewhere in the text itself rather than to standard or dictionary forms:

  • <.M.> for mab>: pages 110-12
  • macron for <m>: mam[m]: 111.2
  • <dd~> for dauyd: 109.27

Hywel's punctuation is limited to the punctus.

The decoration consists in the main of large decorated initials in red ink.

A drawing of a stag being speared appears in the bottom margin of page 89.

There are markings, probably by later readers, in the bottom right corner of pages 21, 23, 25.

A stamp appears at the bottom right corner of page 1.

Many of the pages contain marginalia in later hands; many words are illegible. These sixteenth century marginalia act as headers, repeating the title of the medical recipe in the text.

  • 1 RM: illegible
  • 3 RM: 'rvwort' (unclear)
  • 3 BM: 'NGQS' (?pen trials)
  • 5 centre: 'wod m[er]rch' (unclear)
  • 5.7 inline.8: 'an[n]e papwort' (unclear)
  • 9 TM: 'thomas'
  • 21 RM: 'atall pissaỽ' (unclear)
  • 22 TM: 'John dotỽr clystaỽ' (unclear)
  • 23 TM: 'rag byddoi' (unclear)
  • 23 RM: 'rag brath ki klaf'
  • 24 LM: 'rhag pesychỽ'
  • 25 RM: 'rac dolur callonn'
  • 27 RM: 'rhag davaden[n]av'
  • 28 LM: 'rag botte sardav' (unclear)
  • 28 LM (top to bottom): 'Dr. lighu 17 34' (unclear)
  • 36 LM: 'Rag gwint' (unclear)
  • 37 TM: 'noiment' (unclear)
  • 37 RM: 'Johannes Cotton tor' (unclear)
  • 38 LM: 'inaxor' (unclear)
  • 38 LM: 'Rac cleuet' (unclear)
  • 49 RM: 'llyma lyfyr William Dauid Barry o hencoed i mlhwyf llangrallo'
  • 61.TM: 'beginning lost'
  • 65 RM: 'No boso' (unclear)
  • 66 LM: 'a dot ar lygeit y ddou guar' (unclear)
  • 67 RM: 'No y r llygaid' (unclear)
  • 68 TM: 'y r llygaid'
  • 68 LM: 'y olchi dy benn'
  • 69 RM: 'llygaid'
  • 81 TM: 'part missing'
  • 81 RM: 'llygaid'
  • 82 BM: 'y r llygaid'
  • 84 LM: 'Rag parlis'
  • 88 LM: 'rhag y man[n]wyn[n]on'
  • 89 BM: 'Dyled i nerth dyw dy nerth' (unclear)
  • 95 RM: 'Rag y vrech Rag kryd' (unclear)
  • 97 BM: 'Rag gwaedlin o ffroene' (unclear)
  • 98 LM: 'gotho' (unclear)
  • 98 LM: 'myo[ur]' (unclear)
  • 98 LM: 'adlyn yn cloh ors chof' (unclear)
  • 100 BM: illegible
  • 101 BM: '[...] Eglwys yn y lle y' (unclear)
  • 110 BM: '[...] prenyal Dinas galysgun [etcetera]. [...] hen in Epiead [...] Edinburgh according to Mr. Robert Vaughan of Hengur' (unclear)
  • 111 RM: 'Digay. Odhias Bhangor yn swyd h gaersalem'
  • 111 BM: 'eidhionnydh'
  • 112 LM: 'Lhan Gunodl in Lhyn in Arvon. in Nived. in S. G.narvon. [...] Raiadr yng' (unclear)
  • 112 BM: 'End'

Notes in a number of modern hands precede the manuscript and are bound with it.

  • i: Notes ?in the hand of J. Gwenogvryn Evans
  • ii-iv: Description of Cardiff 3.242 photocopied from J. Gwenogvryn Evans's catalogue

The manuscript dates from between c.1375 and c.1425 (Huws 2000: 60).

The last quire, which belongs with Llanstephan 27 (The Red Book of Talgarth), was probably produced by the scribe Hywel Fychan at the behest of Rhys ap Tomas, whose name is found in five Latin prayers in that manuscript. See the description of that manuscript for further detail.

At some point one quire became detached from Llanstephan 27 (The Red Book of Talgarth) and attached to this manuscript.

According to a note on page 49, the manuscript was in the possession of William David Barry of Pen-coed in the parish of Llangrallo (Coychurch) in 1664. The date 1701, along with the signature of the lawyer Thomas Wilkins (1677-?1736), son of Thomas Wilkins (1625/6-1699) the rector of Llan-fair (St Mary Church) near Cowbridge can be seen on the cover of the manuscript.

The manuscript probably came into the possession of Edward Lhuyd (?1660-1709). Despite Lhuyd's wish that his manuscripts remain at Oxford, his collection was refused by both the Bodleian Library and Jesus College. They remained in limbo until they were bought by Sir Thomas Sebright, the fourth baronet, in 1715. The Lhuyd manuscripts remained in the Sebright family until 1797 when the greater part was given to Thomas Johnes (1748-1816) of Hafod Uchtryd in Cardiganshire by his cousin, Sir John Saunders Sebright (1767-1846) the seventh baronet (Rees and Walters 1974: 148). According to Edward Williams (Iolo Morganwg), when he surveyed the material in May 1799, the collection contained some 180 manuscripts (Rees and Walters 1974: 155). Thomas Johnes's library was destroyed by fire in 1807, and according to Iolo Morganwg, some 100 of his Welsh manuscripts were lost. The surviving manuscripts from that collection today make up the 26 Hafod manuscripts now kept at the Cardiff Public Library, and the three Wrexham manuscripts kept at the National Library of Wales.

The surviving Welsh manuscripts in the Hafod collection were passed by Thomas Johnes to Lucy Williams, daughter of the reverend John Williams of Ystrad Meurig, in December of 1815 (Rees and Walters 158). A note in the cover of this manuscript seems to preserve her initials, reading: 'No. 16 L.W'. The manuscripts remained in the family, ending up in the possession of William Lawrence Banks of Conwy (Evans 1898-1910: ix). J. Gwenogvryn Evans first examined the Hafod manuscripts at the Banks's residence in 1894, but his work was interrupted by the death of Banks and the preparation for the sale of his effects in 1895.

Three of the manuscripts from this collection were bought by the Rev. R. Peris Williams of Wrexham and presently form the Wrexham manuscripts deposited at the National Library of Wales where they are catalogued as NLW MSS 872-4. Evans claims that the 26 remaining Hafod manuscripts were shipped to South Africa, but by 1902 they had been deposited at the Cardiff Public Library (Evans 1898-1910: xi), having apparently been given to the library by Edgar Edwards (Jones 1978: 3).

Information on the dating and hand of this manuscript is based on the following authorities:

  • Evans, J. Gwenogvryn. 1898-1910. Havod 16. Report on manuscripts in the Welsh Language 2. London: HMSO. 318-20.
  • Huws, Daniel. 2000. Medieval Welsh Manuscripts. Cardiff and Aberystwyth: University of Wales Press and the National Library of Wales.
  • Huws, Daniel. A Repertory of Welsh Manuscripts and Scribes. draft.
  • Jones, Brynmor. 1978. Cefndir Llyfrgell y Brifddinas. Y Casglwr 6: 3.
  • Ker, Neil. 1977. Cardiff Public Library, 3.242. Medieval Manuscripts in British Libraries 2. Oxford: The Clarendon Press. 365-7.
  • O'Rourke, Jason. 2003. English and Latin texts in Welsh contexts: Reflections of a Multilingual Society in National Library of Wales MS. Peniarth 12. Yearbook of English Studies 33: 53-63.
  • Owen, Morfudd. 1974. Llawysgrif Feddygol a Anwybyddwyd. BBCS 26. 48-49.
  • Owen, Morfudd. 1976. Meddygon Myddfai: A Preliminary Survey of some Medieval Medical Writing in Welsh. Studia Celtica 10/11. 210-233.
  • Rees, Eiluned and Walters, Gwyn. 1974. The Dispersion of the Manuscripts of Edward Lhuyd. Journal of Welsh History 7: 148-178.

The Welsh Prose 1350-1425 website is the product of an AHRC funded research project undertaken by staff at the School of Welsh, Cardiff University from 2004 through 2007 called Corff Electronig o Ryddiaith Cymraeg Canol. The aim of this project was to produce machine-readable editions of all the medieval Welsh prose texts which have been preserved in manuscripts dating from c.1350 to c.1425.

The project is a continuation and a development of two previous projects funded by the University of Wales which transcribed the Welsh prose in manuscripts dated to c.1250-c.1350.

The intention is to give scholars access not only to texts that have hitherto remained unedited but also to the different versions of texts that have been the subject of critical editions.

Certain decorative features have been encoded: these may trigger further study of the original manuscripts. Primarily, however, the resource provides detail which it is hoped will further the study of the language and literature of the period.

In producing this edition, we have attempted to fulfil two different and often non-complementary if not opposing goals: to present a minimally edited edition of the text, and to represent as many visual features of the manuscript as possible.

Visual features of the text such as layout, and rubrication may prove to be as essential in textual interpretation as features such as punctuation, letter forms, capitalisation and word division, which are more usually invoked by scholars in the field.

The orthography of the original text has been maintained, even where it is idiosyncratic, as the unique characteristics of the scribe's spelling may shed light upon the language of the period as he, his audience, or patron used it. Where the scribe's orthography seems to merit particular attention, an editorial gloss has been added to indicate what we believe to have been the target form.

In some places, especially where the manuscript is damaged, we have supplied text. This serves the two-fold purpose of presenting a complete text and, perhaps more importantly, of indicating the size of the damaged area.

In order to make editorial intervention as transparent as possible, supplied text is clearly marked off from the manuscript text by a different font. Also in the spirit of editorial transparency, we have wherever possible used published editions for supplied text. Text supplied from published editions may suffer from obvious errors or significant differences in orthography from the manuscript text. We have refrained from imposing our own editorial actions on such features.

The transcription of this manuscript, as well as the information in this TEI header is based on the microfilm reproduction of the manuscript produced by the National Library of Wales. As the editors have not checked the transcription against the original, information on the scribal hands, foliation, accompanying materials, colour scheme and ornamentation should be treated as provisional.

  • 20-Feb-2011 DL: edited TEI header
  • 15-Aug-2007 PWT: edited TEI header
  • 15-Dec-2006 – 6-Feb-2007 PWT: edited XML encoded files, produced table of corrections and amended where necessary
  • 6-Dec-2006 DL: converted Word files with shortcuts into XML files and corrected them
  • 28-Aug-2004 – 2-Sep-2004 DL: corrected electronic transcription of pages 1-6, 21-38, 85-100
  • 28-Aug-2004 – 2-Sep-2004 DL: checked DMS's corrections of pages 1-6, 21-38, 85-100 against microfilm
  • 13-Aug-2004 – 1-Sep-2004 DMS: checked DL's transcript of pages 1-6, 21-38, 85-100 against prints
  • 13-Aug-2004 – 2-Sep-2004 DL: checked DMS's transcript of pages 8-20, 39-49, 61-84, 101-112 against prints
  • 13-Aug-2004 – 2-Sep-2004 DMS: checked DL's corrections of pages 8-20, 39-49, 61-84, 101-112 against microfilm
  • 13-Aug-2004 – 2-Sep-2004 DMS: corrected electronic transcription of pages 8-20, 39-49, 61-84, 101-112
  • 12-Aug-2004 – 31-Aug-2004 DL: transcribed pages 1-6, 21-38, 85-100 with shortcuts
  • 12-Aug-2004 – 1-Sep-2004 DMS: transcribed pages 8-20, 39-49, 61-84, 101-112 with shortcuts

The material has been transcribed separately.