Llyfr Du Caerfyrddin (The Black Book of Carmarthen)

Synonyms: Peniarth MS 1
Cym: The Black Book of Carmarthen

The Llyfr Du is amongst a collection of volumes known as the 'Four Ancient Books of Wales' and (apart from a small collection of triads known as Trioedd y Meirch [The Triads of the Horses]) it is essentially a manuscript of metrical poetry. The volume is currently housed in the Llyfrgell Cenedlaethol Cymru (National Library of Wales) and is available in image-form from their Digital Mirror project. Originally thought to be a very early manuscript, mostly because of its subject matter it has now been more conservatively dated to circa 1250.

The volume is formed from 54 folios (108 pages) with the first twenty folios written in large letters and folios 21 onwards written in a much smaller hand. This led to the conjecture that the volume was written by two separate hands. However, one feature of the Llyfr Du is that is very different to the more regular manuscripts that it is contemporary with. Pagination, ruling and letter forms all vary and these variations continue through both half of the manuscript, indicating that they were written by the same hand.

Traditionally the manuscript's origins are linked with the priory of St John the Evangelist and Teulyddog, Carmarthen, which was converted into an Augustinian house by the Normans. Indeed, a first look at the first half of the Llyfr Du suggests a scribe who is familiar with liturgical scripts and who is also familiar with the environs of Carmarthen so that a link with the priory may not be entirely fanciful. The priory itself was a poor one and only attained its independence after 1175 and indeed the Llyfr Du is written on odd fragments of hard vellum. The transcriber of the poems does not appear to have been a professional scribe following a proscribed writing system. Rather, he seems to be adopting and imitating his contemporaries which is why the writing is a hotch-potch of archaic and contemporary letter forms. However the latest usages put the date of the manuscript at around 1250 though individual folios were undoubtedly written over a long period surrounding this date. The scribe was obviously working at different periods in his life, possibly recording the poems on cast-off scraps of vellum. Perhaps he originally intended to compile more than one volume, using different styles, but instead the various gatherings of vellum were brought together to form a single volume. The current form of the volume is incomplete, for there are a number of folios missing. Though when during the manuscript's history they were lost may never be known. However, a combination of its contents, its orthography and the date of its writing make this a truly unique volume.

Tracing the manuscript's history is fraught with problems, however from historical evidence and marginalia this is what is known about the Black Book: During the first half of the sixteenth century the volume came into the possession of Sir John Price of Brecon (c ?1502–1555). He was an antiquarian who had been appointed chief registrar of the crown in ecclesiastical matters. In this capacity he undertook the task of searching the monasteries dissolved by Henry VIII. It is said that he found the Llyfr Du in the possession of the treasurer of St Davids Cathedral. At the time the manuscript was reputed to have come there from Carmarthen Priory.

William Salesbury (c. 1520-1584?), responsible for the first Cymric translation of the New Testament has written a note at the bottom of one of the pages so it seems that the book may have come into his possession after John Price's death. It then seems (at least based on a manuscript by Robert Vaughan) that the poet Siôn Tudur (died 1602) of Wigfair, Llanelwy (St Asaph) also owned the manuscript. The next relevant marginalia is probably from Jasper Gryffyth (died 1614), warden of Ruthin Hospital, who has written in the 'Black Book' both his name in Hebrew characters and a note on its contents. After this we are in firm historical territory, as the manuscript comes into the possession of the seventeenth-century antiquary, Robert Vaughan (1592?-1666) as part of his very impressive library which was sited at his home, Hengwrt, near Dolgellau, Meirionydd. When Robert Vaughan's great-great-great-great grandson, Sir Robert Williames Vaughan died in 1859 the Hengwrt library passed by bequest to William Watkin Edward Wynne (1801-80) of Peniarth near Tywyn, Meirionydd. J Gwenogvryn Evans, when cataloguing the Peniarth collection gave the Llyfr Du precedence, designating it Peniarth 1. Then entire Peniartth collection was purchased in 1904 by Sir John Williams for the proposed National Library of Wales. He paid £5 500 for the entire collection, but the Llyfr Du, being considered the most important component was itself valued at £400.

Of the various poetical works in the Llyfr Du perhaps the most interesting are the legendary ones relating to Myrddin Emrys (Merlin Ambrosius). Though he is only mentioned by name in the Ymddiddan Myrddin a Thaliessin, the other poems Yr Afallennau and Yr Oianau are definitely Myrddinic (Merlinic) in origin and deal with Myrddin Wyllt (Mad Merlin) and a further poem Y Bedwenni may also be relevant in this context. Though these poems refer to the prophetic bard of the Old North, they do not point to his (pre Geoffrey of Monmouth) name. Another important legendary verse is that of 'Pa Gwr yw y Porthawr' in which Glewlwyd Gafaelfawr, the gatekeeper, confronts King Arthur and his companion Cai; for here Arthur and his men are portrayed as a dark-age hero rather than the Galfridian chivalric king-emperor.

The order of the poems in the manuscript being as follows [remember to downlaod and install my Mabinogi Celtic font before viewing the original Cymraeg Canol {middle Cymric} text otherwise the special characters won't appear]:


Cymraeg Canol	Cymraeg Cyfoes	English
Ymdidan myrtin a talyessin	Ymddiddan Myrddin a Thaliesin	The Dialogue of Myrddin and Taliesin
Breudwyt a welwn neithiwr	Beuddwyd a welais neithiwr	I saw a dream last night
Deus Ren Rymaw y Awen	Duw Orucaf Dyro i mi Awen	God Supreme gift me my Awen
Hervit Vrten Autyl Kyrridven	Oherwydd urddas cerdd Cerridwen	Because of the dignity of Cerridwen's verse
Dadl y corf ar eneit	Dadl y corff a'r enaid	Debate between the body and the soul
Trioedd y meirch	Trioedd y Meirch	Triads of the Horses
Moli duw ynechreu a diwed	Moli Duw yn Nechrau a Diwedd	Praising God at the Beginning and the End
Cintevin Ceinhaw Amser	Gwanwyn, harddwch amser	Spring, beauteous of time
Gogonedog arglwyd	Gogoneddog Arglwydd	Glorious Lord
Mawl ir drindod	Mawl i'r Drindod	Praise to the Trinity
Mawl i duw	Mawl i Dduw	Praise to God
Iessu a meir ar kynhaeaf gwyrthiawl	Iessu a Mair a'c Cynhaeaf Gwyrthiol	Jesus, Mary and the Miraculous Harvest
Adwyn kaer	Caer Niwed	Fortress of Harm
Dinas maon	Dinas Maon	City of Maon
Y Bedwenni	Y Bedwenni	The Birch Trees
Afalleneu myrtin	Afallennau Myrddin	Myrddin's Apple Trees
Oiannau myrtin	Oiannau Myrddin	Myrddin's Exclamations
Englynion y bedau	Englynion y Beddau	Stanzas of the Braves
Kygogion, Elaeth ae Cant	Cadwyn Englynion, Elaeth a'u Canwyd	A Chain of Englyns, Elaeth sang Them
Elaeth a gant	Elaeth a'u Canwyd	Elaeth Sang These
Gereint fil erbin	Gereint fab Erbin	Gereint son of Erbin
Y hywel ap goronwy	I Hywel ap Goronwy	To Hywel son of Goronwy
Aswynaf nawd duw	Gwynfyddedig Nawdd Duw	The Blessing of God's Patronage
Dryll o dadl y corff ar eneid	Dernyn o Ddadl y Corff a'r Enaid	A Fragment from the 'Debate between the body and the soul'
Ysgolan	Ysgolan	Ysgolan
Cyntaf gair a dywedaf	Y Gair Cyntaf a Ddywedaf	The First Word I Spoke
Cysul Adaon	Athrawiaeth Addaon	The Teachings of Addaon
Marwysgafn cynddelw brydyd mawr	Marwolaeth Tawel Cynddelw Bardd Fawr	The Gentle Death of Cynddelw the Great Bard
Bendit y wenwas	Bendith y Mab Llawen	A Blessing on the Happy Youth
Mechydd ap llywarch	Mechydd ap Llywarch	Mechydd son of Llywarch
Pa gur yw y porthawr	Pa ŵr yw y Porthor?	What Man is the Porter?
Dernyn	Dernyn	Fragment
Gwallawg ar wyd	Gwallawg a'r Ŵydd	Gwallawg and the goose
Ymdidan rwng gwydneu garanhir a gwyn ap nud	Ymddiddan Rhwng Gwyddno Garanhir a Gwyn ap Nudd	The Dialogue Between Gwyddno Garanhir and Gwyn son of Nudd
Dau darn o chwedyl drystan	Dau ddarn o Chwedl Drystan	Two Fragments of Drystan's Legend
Englynion i deulu madauc ap maredut	Englynion i Madog ap Maredudd	Englynion to Madog son of Maredudd
Ymdidan vgnach a taliessin	Ymddiddan rhwng Ugnach a Thaliessin	The dialogue between Ugnach and Taliessin
Marunad madauc fil maredut	Marwnad Madog mab Maredudd	The Elegy to Madog son of Maredudd
Bodi vaes gwydneu (Seithennin)	Boddi Maes Gwyddno (Seithenyn)	The Drowning of Gwyddneu's Realm (Seithenyn)
Enwev meibon llywarch hen	Enwau Meibion Llywarch Hen	The Names of Llywarch the Old's Sons

If you would like to try the foods of the time of the ancient Celts, then why not have a look at the ancient recipes section of this site. For the foods of the time when some of these tales were written down, take a look at the Medieval recipes section of the site and, in particular, the recipes from The Forme of Cury.

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