Sir

May 2 1777

I send you herewith inclosed a Copy of Master's Iter Boreale which I received of M^r Price this Morning. As to the Drawings I am authorised by him to inform you that "there has been a Wedding lately in M^r Rivington's Family – This has prevented a proper Search being made for the Drawings which were formerly sent to his Care to be delivered tofor you to M^r White. Assoon [sic] as this Affair is a little more settled M^r Price is in Hopes of finding out what is become [...]f the Parcel, and you will then hear from him."–¹

I should be extremely happy to give you any Information in my Power respecting the Eistedfdfa at Caerwys,² but I have not at present any thing in particular drawn out relating to it, and as it is n[...]ow Term Time I cannot consistently with my Duty spare Time sufficient for such a Purpose. All that I can say at present is that the usual Places for conferring Degrees in Musick in the Time of the Welch Princes were at *Aberfraw ⁱ in Anglesey and at Mathravael in Powis, and that they were to be conferred every three Years. Queen Elizabeth's Commission for that Purpose is Directed to be executed at Caerwys* ^{ii 3} "her highness's Counsel [...] of late travailing in some Part of the Principality having had perfect understanding by credible Report, that the Accustomed Place for the Execution of the like Commission had been heretofore in the Town of Caerwys in the County of Flint. &c" But I am inclined to think that this was not the Case before the Time of Edward the first. It is also said in the Commission that "W^m Mostyn Esq^r, & his Ancestors have had the gift & bestowing of the Silver Harp appertain^ing to the chief of that Family"⁴ But Leland in his Itinerary vol 5 pag [sic] 56 says that the right of bestowing the Badge of the silver harp belonged to one "Hoele a gentliman [sic] of Fflyntshire dwelling at Penryn &c."⁵ Whether these seemingly different Families are one and the same I must leave you to determine, as I have no particular account of the [...] Mostyn Family among my Papers.⁶ I find that vocal as well as instrumental Performers were intitled to Degrees, provided they performed the statutable Excercise assigned to the several Degrees. Performers upon the Harp [...] or Crwth⁷ only were admitted, to these Honours, the inferior Performers as they are called, those who played upon the Different Kinds of Flutes or pipes Tabors, or [...] the three stringed crwth⁸ or as it is otherwise called the Fiddle were allowed no honours, nor even to sit down while they played butt [sic] to play standing. The vocal Performers, graduates were of two sorts: of the first sort were the Bards, who were further subdivided into three classes: of the second were the singers answering to our modern vocal Performers. All these were required to do statuteable [sic] Exercises, as well as the Instrumental Performers for their several Degrees. None of the Performers of either Side could attain these Honours under twelve Years at least, I mean of Bards ofor of primary Musicians. And in order to mayke them pay [...] all possible Attention to their Studies no man was allowed to be of two Professions i.e. to study Poetry professedly, and to play upon the Harp or Crwth,⁹ nor suffered to be of any Trade or Profession whatsoever. but what he first assumed. The Laws may be seen at large in J David Rhese's Grammar pag. 295.

Time will not permit me to be more particular at present, I will therefore only add that I have nothing further to communicate to you Respecting Caerwys, or the Eisteddfa¹⁰ there. But if any thing occurs that may ^be acceptable to you, you may depend upon an immediate Communication of it. I am with M^r Price's Compliments

Sir
your most obedient humble Servant

Jno Jones

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Editorial notes

1. For an earlier reference to these drawings, see 1427.
2. Jones refers to one of the eisteddfodau held at Caerwys during the sixteenth century. See also 1385, esp. n. 7; and on the word 'eisteddfa', n. 12 below.
3. For Elizabeth I's Commission see 1426, n. 1.
4. These words from Elizabeth I's commission for the holding of an eisteddfod at Caerwys in 1567/8 are quoted in Pennant, A tour in Wales 1770 [1773] (2nd edn., 1784), I, p. 465. On the silver harp, 'from time immemorial ... in the gift of [the] ancestors [of Roger Mostyn, fifth baronet], to bestow on the chief of the faculty', see ibid., pp. 463–4.
5. See Pennant's reference to this material from 'Leland Itin. v. 56', later published as The itinerary of John Leland the Antiquary (Oxford, 1710–12), in A tour in Wales 1770 [1773] (2nd edn., 1784), I, p. 90.
6. Pennant concluded that there was a link between Leland's 'Hoele' and the Mostyns. See reference in n. 7 above.
7. 'crowd'.
8. 'crowd'.
9. 'crowd'
10. 'Congress of bards, 'eisteddfod' (in early sense)'. See GPC s.v. eisteddfa.