Matheson Collection > Early Welsh gnomic poems

INTRODUCTION
The family tree of the Bidiau seems to be this (cf.
U
I
ORAL
^ STATE
Bidiau I
V (MS. of BBC or BBCh. date?)
I
W
Bidiau II
(Pen. 17 proverbs) X (White Book
of Rhydderch?)
Pen. 27
RBH Jesus 3
BM. Addl. 14873 is not a copy of Peniarth 102, for
it preserves the eariier spelhng ei for ai and has other
forms which could not have been taken from Peniarth
102; Panton 14 is on the whole closer to Peniarth 102,
but independent of either ; the three are all close to each
other. The scribal errors common to all, particularly iad
for rac in stanza i, show that they have one MS. source,
perhaps a copy of Dr Davies' (see p. 12). On V, W,
and X see the table on p. 63.
Though all but one of the MSS. of Bidiau 11 are very
late, and the exception not early, it is evident that like
Bidiau I this is an early poem ; indications of early date
are no for na, the rare word eddain trisyllabic and rhymed
in -in, "Irish" rhyme in stanzas 8 and 9, u for w and
possibly / for J in the hypothetical MS. Y, which suggests
the late twelfth century, final t for final d in Iwyt^
and final c for final g in bagloc, etc. in Peniarth 27.
The Addl. 14873 copy ends in Welsh with the words:
(" )