THE OLDER PORTION

OF THE

WELSH MANUSCRIPTS

AT

PLAS LLAN STEPHAN, CARMARTHENSHIRE;

THE PROPERTY OF

SIR JOHN WILLIAMS, BART., K.C.V.O.,

M.D., HON. LL.D. (EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW).

ý 98607. Wt. 6142

છું છું

INTRODUCTION.

THE Llan Stephan collection has, practically, been brought together within the last decade. It is based largely on the Welsh manuscripts which remained sheltered, for one hundred and fifty years, behind the moats of Shirburn Castle. Thé history of this part of the collection is definite. Samuel Williams, vicar of Llan Dyvrïog and rector of Llan Gynllo, in the county of Cardigan, was a lover of Welsh lore, a copyist of manuscripts, and a translator of English theological books into the vernacular. His son, Moses Williams, a fellow of the Royal Society, inherited his father's tastes and shared in some of his labours. Moreover, when a student at Oxford, he fell under the influence of Edward Lhuyd, keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, the pioneer of comparative philology, a methodical enthusiast, and a scientific antiquarian, It is, therefore, not surprising to find that Moses Williams set about systematising the contents of our manuscripts. He not only copied many codices of the Welsh laws, but he also made an elaborate index to the subject matter and even to the phrases of the most important text. When Wotton was preparing his folio edition of the Laws of Howel Da he naturally turned to Moses Williams for assistance; and it is interesting to find Wotton's transcript still among what may be appropriately described as the "Williams' manuscripts." There are also Indices of proper names which occur in the Bruts and Romances, and of the initial lines of the principal poems in the Welsh language arranged in alphabetical order. This, and a list of books printed in Welsh, were published in two thin volumes which are now among the scarcest works in the language. Moses Williams was born in the parish of Llan Dyssul on the second of March 1685-86. He received, in 1715, the vicarage of the adjoining parish of Llan Wenog, which he held in plurality till his death. In 1716 he was instituted vicar of Devynoc in Breconshire, and in 1724 he exchanged Devynoc for the rectory of Chilton Trinity, and the vicarage of St. Mary's in Bridgewater, where he died in 1742. After his death there is internal evidence