Manuscripts

Copies of this poem are preserved in nineteen manuscripts from the last quarter of the sixteenth century onwards. The earliest is probably that of Thomas Wiliems in Pen 77. There are five copies in the manuscripts of Llywelyn Siôn. A few lines suggest a connection between Gwyn 3, Pen 312 and the manuscripts of Llywelyn Siôn (e.g. ll. 5 and 6), and there is evidence of recomposition in all of those, especially Gwyn 3 (e.g. l. 1). All copies can be regarded as deriving ultimately from a single exemplar, but there is reason to believe that the text of that exemplar was faulty in lines 28 and 36, perhaps due to misunderstanding of John the Baptist’s role as forerunner of Christ. The most dependable copy is that of John Davies in BL 14871, which is very similar to Pen 77 on the whole, and the edited text is based primarily on those two. LlGC 566 and BL 14963 are copies of BL 14871, and LlGC 8330B and Llst 167 are copies of Gwyn 3.

Title
The poem has no title in most of the manuscripts, but Llywelyn Siôn entitles it ‘Cywydd i Ieuan Fedyddiwr’ and Gwyn 3 has ‘Cywydd i Ioan Fedyddiwr’.

List of manuscripts
BL 14871, 280v (John Davies, 1617)
BL 14963, 246v (Owen Jones ‘Owain Myfyr’, 1768 × 1799)
C 5.44, 50r (Llywelyn Siôn, completed in 1613)
CM 20, 5 (David Richards, 18c.)
Gwyn 3, 70r (Jasper Gryffyth, c.1600)
Llst 47, 160–2 (Llywelyn Siôn, 16c./17c.)
Llst 134, 80 (Llywelyn Siôn, c.1610)
Llst 167, 337 (Siôn Dafydd Laes, second half of 17c.)
LlGC 566, 35 (Rowland Lewis, Mallwyd, after 1623)
LlGC 970E, 97 (Llywelyn Siôn, 1613)
LlGC 8330B, 195 (Lewis Maurice, 1634 × 1647)
LlGC 13061B, 56 (Tomas ab Ieuan, Tre’r Bryn, 1675 × 1700)
LlGC 13071B, 91 (unknown hand, first half of 17c.)
LlGC 13079, 20 (unknown hand, 16/17c.)
LlGC 21290E, 92 (Llywelyn Siôn, 16c./17c.)
Pen 77, 108 (Thomas Wiliems, c.1576 × 1590)
Peniarth 198, 288 (unknown hand, c.1693 × 1701)
Peniarth 312i, 1 (John Jones, Gellilyfdy, 1610 × 1640)
Stowe 959, 209r (unknown hand, 16c./17c.)