Now I think on it, my brother of the navy office tells me, that you have lately met with two or three copies of Brut y Brenhinoedd at Mostyn. I shall be very much obliged to you for an extract of the beginning of each, and of the conclusion, to see if we can come at a genuine copy, which hath not been mixed with Galfrid or Walter; and should be glad to know if you have met with any British books written in the old letter (called now the Saxon), besides a line or two, in the beginning of the Welsh Charter, in Liber Landavensis, which you sent me; and whether all that charter be not written in the same character, or any thing else in that book. This seems to me to be the case with respect to that character, that it was the one which the Druids used, and all Britain and its islands, before the Roman conquest. That the provincial Britains, immediately under the Roman power took the Roman letters; therefore we are not to look for the old character among the Loegrian Britains, nor the Armoricans, nor the Cornish. That the Druids taking their shelter in Wales, Ireland, and the highlands of the North, the British party there retained the old character; but the Roman party took to their new letter; and in process of time, both the Roman and British characters were mixed; as we find them upon some tombstones in Wales, (but not in England) soon after the Saxon conquest. The Irish still retain their old letter; but it seems the Britains laid it quite aside, about the time of the Norman conquest, or before. The North Britains retained it for some time, as appears by those ancient verses, which Mr. Edward Llwyd mentions, and which he takes to be the Pictish. The inscriptions on Pabo’s and Iestin’s tombs, are proofs of what I say; and that of Catamanus, in Llangadwaladyr, of the mixed
letter. Mr. Thomas Carte, who had the loan of the Liber Landav. sent me word, that it was written in the Saxon character. It seems he only dipt into the beginning of it, and took all the rest to be the same, or perhaps there may be passages in it here and there, which are in that character. You told me that all the old grants were written in a good strong hand, like my Cnute’s grant, but better rather; and yet in the donation of Iudhail, which you sent me, I find some of the old characters. I also observe that if all the book is written in the same strong good hand, it is not an original; for it is impossible to find persons to write the same hand for hundreds of years successively; and if I remember well, Sir John Pryse, in his defence of British History, mentions some grants, which were scarcely legible in the Liber Landav. in his time; and yet you say, that there are donations therein down to bishop Herwaldus, about 1104. Doth not that shew that the book is only a copy, taken after the Norman conquest, with some notes of later date?
Set me right in these things; for I am at an entire loss about them. This is all I have leisure to write at present, and should be glad to hear from you—who am,
Yours sincerely,
Lewis Morris.
Penbryn, February 4, 1761.
The same to the same.
Dear Sir,
A person told me lately, that he had seen you at Hengwrt, in your way home from me; and that you were permitted to look over what MSS. you pleased; and that you translated them offhand into English, as if they had been the common text of the Welsh Bible.
I was very glad of this, and I hope you have met there with the so much desired copy of Nennius, which has had the benefit of Mr. Robert Vaughan’s hand, and which must be the test to all others; and then we shall see a genuine Nennius come out in English, as far as the nature of the thing will bear.
If I can be of any service to you in this arduous task, nothing of my endeavours shall be wanting; and for God’s sake begin to translate into English, as fast as you can, and let me see it as you go on, perhaps I may help you to some notes, or some illustrations or other. I have Nennius and Tyssilio much at heart, and I cannot be long on this side the grave.