ABSTRACT
The writing down of material dealing with the theory and practice of cerdd dant began in a very modest way right at the end of the fifteenth century. This chapter examines the isolated lists of titles and 'measures' that were added informally to existing books from around 1480, and traces the gradual advance towards deliberate selection and collation of much more substantial texts, as musical material begins to appear in more general anthologies of bardic learning. The genres of cerdd dant bear unusual Welsh names that are not readily translatable into English. However, it is apparent from both the Statute of Gruffudd ap Cynan and some of the lists themselves that certain pieces were more advanced than others, and therefore associated with the best musicians. The discrete anthologies of cerdd dant material that began to emerge during the later sixteenth century usually share a common core.
