Dares Phrygius, etc. ('Black Book of Basing') — Basingwerk, Flintshire. Savigniac and then Cistercian abbey of St Mary the Virgin.
| Provenance: | Basingwerk, Flintshire. Savigniac and then Cistercian abbey of St Mary the Virgin. |
| Location: | National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, Wales |
| Shelfmark: | 7006 D |
| Author/Title: | Dares Phrygius, etc. ('Black Book of Basing') |
| Type of evidence: | c: evidence from locally specific contents, including obits, scribbles, etc. |
| Notes on evidence: | Compiled or transcribed for the use of the monastery by Guttyn Owain. 'Note on p. 308 by Peter Roberts, dated 1809, to the effect that William Maurice of Cefa y braich (on whom, see ODNB) described the MS as the Book of Basing, i.e. it had belonged to Basingwerk abbey. Above this is another note by Robert Vaughan of Hengwrt, referring to errors in pedigrees in the MS, dated 1630. Now, NLW MS 13074 D contains extracts from the book in the hand of Robert Vaughan, with the following heading: 'O lyfr manachlog dinas Basing a scrivenassai Guttun Owain herwydd y dywedir, y tynnwyd sydd yn canlyn at llyfr membrwn sydd eiddo Mr. Robert Davies o Wisane yn syr Flint 1629', i.e. 'from the book of the monastery of Basingwerk which Guttyn Owen had written, as it is said, has been drawn what follows, and the parchment book is the property of Mr. Robert Davies of Gwysaney in Flintshire, 1629'. The tradition then goes back to 1629 when it was accepted by Robert Vaughan. . . . A large part of the MS is certainly in the hand of Guttyn Owen, and as he addressed poems to the abbot of Basingwerk, this is some support of the tradition. Further, a 16th-cent. hand . . . has translated a passage relating to Basing on p. 261 and noted a ref. to Holywell. . . . All this would seem to show that the tradition is a pretty sound one.' (From a letter of Dr R. Flower, 9 November 1940.) |
| Date: | s. xiv–xv |
| Ownership: | Robert Davies of Gwysaney, 1629. T. T. Griffiths of Wrexham in 1846.
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| Notes: | partly in Welsh |