Welsh Manuscripts Society

Last updated

The Welsh Manuscripts Society, also known as the Society for the Publication of Ancient Welsh Manuscripts, was an organisation formed in Abergavenny, Wales, in 1837. [1]

It was led by prominent members of the clergy and other notables including Taliesin Williams. It had the purpose of collecting, studying, and, as a text publication society, of publishing manuscripts relating to the ancient poetry, prose and historiography of Britain and Wales. [2]

In 1856 the society published a Welsh language grammar said to have been written by Davod Aur Edeyrn. [3] Its final publication was Barddas; or, a collection of original documents, illustrative of the theology, wisdom and usages of the Bardo-Druidic system of the isle of Britain, edited and translated by Rev. John Williams (Ab Ithel). The first volume appeared in 1862; and the second volume, in an incomplete form, in 1874.

Related Research Articles

<i>Mabinogion</i> Earliest Welsh prose stories

The Mabinogion are the earliest Welsh prose stories, and belong to the Matter of Britain. The stories were compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, created c. 1350–1410, as well as a few earlier fragments. The title covers a collection of eleven prose stories of widely different types, offering drama, philosophy, romance, tragedy, fantasy and humour, and created by various narrators over time. There is a classic hero quest, "Culhwch and Olwen"; a historic legend in "Lludd and Llefelys," complete with glimpses of a far off age; and other tales portray a very different King Arthur from the later popular versions. The highly sophisticated complexity of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi defies categorisation. The stories are so diverse that it has been argued that they are not even a true collection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iolo Morganwg</span> Welsh antiquarian forger and poet

Edward Williams, better known by his bardic name Iolo Morganwg, was a Welsh antiquarian, poet and collector. He was seen as an expert collector of Medieval Welsh literature, but it emerged after his death that he had forged several manuscripts, notably some of the Third Series of Welsh Triads. Even so, he had a lasting impact on Welsh culture, notably in founding the secret society known as the Gorsedd, through which Iolo Morganwg successfully co-opted the 18th-century Eisteddfod revival. The philosophy he spread in his forgeries has had an enormous impact upon neo-Druidism. His bardic name is Welsh for "Iolo of Glamorgan".

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1990 to Wales and its people.

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1975 to Wales and its people.

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1972 to Wales and its people.

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1971 to Wales and its people.

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1970 to Wales and its people.

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1938 to Wales and its people.

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1921 to Wales and its people.

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1856 to Wales and its people.

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1842 to Wales and its people.

Maccus mac Arailt, or Maccus Haraldsson, was a tenth-century King of the Isles. Although his parentage is uncertain, surviving evidence suggests that he was the son of Harald Sigtryggson, also known as Aralt mac Sitriuc, the Hiberno-Norse King of Limerick. Maccus' family is known as the Meic Arailt kindred. He and his brother, Gofraid, are first recorded in the 970s. It was during this decade and the next that they conducted military operations against the Welsh of Anglesey, apparently taking advantage of dynastic strife within the Kingdom of Gwynedd.

Meic Stephens was a Welsh literary editor, journalist, translator, and poet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Welsh-language literature</span> Literature from Wales in Welsh

Welsh-language literature has been produced continuously since the emergence of Welsh from Brythonic as a distinct language in around the 5th century AD. The earliest Welsh literature was poetry, which was extremely intricate in form from its earliest known examples, a tradition sustained today. Poetry was followed by the first British prose literature in the 11th century. Welsh-language literature has repeatedly played a major part in the self-assertion of Wales and its people. It continues to be held in the highest regard, as evidenced by the size and enthusiasm of the audiences attending the annual National Eisteddfod of Wales, probably the largest amateur arts festival in Europe, which crowns the literary prize winners in a dignified ceremony.

Davod Aur Edeyrn, "The Golden-tongued" fl. 1270, was a Welsh bard and grammarian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Eigen</span>

Saint Eigen, Eurgen, Eurgain or Eurgan was the legendary, and possibly historical first female Christian saint among the Britons. Her name has doubtfully been linked to two Welsh churches and is found in manuscripts from the collection of Iolo Morganwg making historical evidence of her existence dubious and limited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raglan Library</span>

Raglan Library was a library located in Raglan Castle in the county of Monmouthshire in south east Wales.

<i>Barddas</i>

Barddas is a book of material compiled and written by the Welsh writer Iolo Morganwg. Dressed as an authentic compilation of ancient Welsh bardic and druidic theology and lore, its contents are largely Iolo's invention. It was posthumously published by John Williams for the Welsh Manuscripts Society in two volumes, in 1862 and 1874.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coelbren y Beirdd</span>

The Coelbren y Beirdd is a script created in the late eighteenth century by the literary forger Edward Williams, best known as Iolo Morganwg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bibliography of Welsh history</span> Published works on the history of Wales

This is a bibliography of published works on the history of Wales. It includes published books, journals, and educational and academic history-related websites; it does not include self-published works, blogs or user-edited sites. Works may cover aspects of Welsh history inclusively or exclusively.

References

  1. Meic Stephens (23 September 1998). The New Companion to the Literature of Wales. University of Wales Press. ISBN   978-0-7083-1383-1 . Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  2. Dillwyn Miles (1992). The Secret of the Bards of the Isle of Britain. Gwasg Dinefwr Press. ISBN   978-0-9519926-0-9 . Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  3. Wikisource-logo.svg This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : "Edeyrn, Davod Aur". Dictionary of National Biography . London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.