This book is the result of research which I began in 1949 at the suggestion of my father, Professor Stephen J. Williams, whose work on the Dimetian Code of the Welsh Laws, Llyfr Blegwryd, was both an inspiration and a challenge.

Preface.

The extant MSS. of the ancient laws of Wales, varying in age from the thirteenth century to the eighteenth, contain a mass of legal material of varied character, consisting of versions of what Welsh tradition calls 'the Laws of Hywel Dda', together with much later matter.

Introduction.

[1r] Hewel uab Kadell, tywyssawc Kemry oll, a elwys atav chwegvyr o pob cantref yg Kemry hyt y Ty Gwyn ar Taf, a henny o'r gwyr doethaf yn y kyuoeth: petwar onadunt yn lleygyon, a'r deu yn esgolheygyon.

Llyfr Iorwerth.