Breudwd Welsh Prose 1300-1425
Cymraeg

TEI Header for BL Cotton Cleopatra MS. B V part ii

: 'British Library Cotton Cleopatra B.v, part ii: Electronic Edition' TEI Header

: Language and Literature Committee, University of Wales Board of Celtic Studies, School of Welsh, Cardiff University,

Transcribed by D. Mark Smith

Edited by Peter Wynn Thomas

Encoded by Diana Luft

School of Welsh, Cardiff University Cardiff 2013 www.rhyddiaithganoloesol.caerdydd.ac.uk

  • : London, England
  • : British Library
  • : Cotton Cleopatra B.v
  • : British Museum 15

The manuscript contains a copy of Cyfraith Hywel Dda in the version which Aneurin Owen called the 'Gwentian' code and which is known today by the name Llyfr Cyfnerth. The manuscript was consulted by Aneurin Owen for his Ancient Laws and Institutes of Wales, where it was designated 'Manuscript X'. This is the standard designation used by scholars today.

Page Contents Hand
1r-108v Brut y Brenhinoedd X89
109r-162v Brenhinedd y Saeson X89
165r-222v Cyfraith Hywel Dda: Llyfr Cyfnerth Cotton Cleo B.v hand B
223r-250v Ystoria Dared X88

The following editions were consulted in the production of this edition.

  • Owen, Moryfydd E. ed. and trans. 1986. The 'Cyfnerth' Text. Lawyers and Laymen. eds. T. M. Charles-Edwards, Moryfdd E. Owen and D. B. Walters. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. 179-200.
  • Wade-Evans, A. W. gol. 1909. Welsh Medieval Law. Oxford: The Clarendon Press.

BL Cotton Cleopatra MS. B.v is a compound manuscript in three parts. The second part (pages 165r-222v), which is the subject of this transcription, is written in the mid-fourteenth-century rounded textura script of an unidentified scribe. The first and third parts of the manuscript (pages 1r-165v and 223r-250v) are written in a slightly earlier hand and have been described separately for this reason.
‘Cot. Cleo B.v hand B’

This scribe is given the designation 'Cot. Cleo. B.v hand B' for the purposes of this edition.

Further information on this manuscript can be found in the following sources.

  • Evans, J. Gwenogvryn. 1898-1910. Havod 1. Report on Manuscripts in the Welsh Language 2. London: HMSO. 301.
  • Huws, Daniel. 2000. Medieval Welsh Manuscripts. Cardiff and Aberystwyth: University of Wales Press and the National Library of Wales.
  • Huws, Daniel. A Repertory of Welsh Manuscripts and Scribes. draft.

This electronic edition was transcribed from a microfilm copy of the manuscript and checked against the original. The orthography and punctuation of the original manuscript have been followed, as has the original word division. A full stop in the transcription indicates a punctus in the manuscript, while a semi-colon in the transcription indicates a punctus elevatus in the manuscript. Words written as single items in the manuscript but considered as separate items today are separated by a vertical line, and scan as separate items in the word list and the word search. Words written as two words in the manuscript but considered as single words today appear separated by a dot in the transcription but scan as single words in the word list and word search.

Page numbers, columns, and lines have been encoded as well as gaps in the text, which may arise if the text is illegible or if there is damage to the manuscript. Gaps may also represent spaces left by the scribe. The presence of gaps in the text is noted in this edition, but the reason for them has not been recorded, nor has text been supplied to indicate their extent. Large initial capital letters have been encoded, but rubrication and other types of decoration have not. Apparent scribal errors which may have an effect on the intelligibility of the text have been provided with a 'sic' tag giving the editors' suggestion for a more intelligible reading. The purpose of these interventions is not to correct the scribe or infer that he is incorrect, but rather to indicate to the reader that unexpected readings are indeed true, and to make suggestions to add to the legibility of the text.

  • PWT: edited XML files and suggested corrections
  • 1-Feb-2006 DL: converted Word files to XML and corrected them
  • 1-Oct-2003 – 5-Nov-2003 DMS: transcribed pages 165r-222v from the microfilm copy of the manuscript

The material has been transcribed separately.