With regard to your Specimens, should they not yet be put to the press, I should take it for a great favour if you would indulge me with a sight of them in MS., or at least the Dissertation to be prefixed to them; an indulgence that would not be abused, and which, under whatever restrictions you please, would oblige, dear Sir, Your very affectionate and faithful servant, THOMAS PERCY. _Eastern_ _Maudit_, _Dec._ 31, 1763. * * * * * The same to the same. DEAR SIR, It is with pleasure I perform all your requests: inclosed you have the transcript from Wormius which you desired. As his book relates only to the Runic letters and ancient manner of writing, it did not fall within his subject professedly to treat of the Islandic prosody; he has, therefore, only described one species of verse out of innumerable others, and this, as it were, by the bye and by way of specimen. He refers to the _Edda_, or old Islandic book of prosody, for the rest; this book I have not seen.—There is another _Edda_, which I have, that explains the Islandic mythology, and of this I shall publish, ere long, a translation, with some curious notes and dissertations of _M. Mallet_, the present historiographer to the King of Denmark, as you may remember I have hinted in the preface to my specimens of Runic Poetry. When may one hope to see your _Dissertatio de Bardis_? I am fond of the subject, and have great expectations of your manner of handling it. I thank you for your friend’s preface; though he is not much master of English style, the particulars he produces are curious. I have turned to my learned friend Mr. Lye’s edition of _Junii Etymologicon Anglicanum_ for the etymology of such words as your friend mentions, and I find nothing, that does not confirm his derivations; I have not time now to descend to particulars, but shall be glad to hear from you as soon as agreeable. One so much master, as you are, of British antiquities, whether historic or poetical, can never want means of entertaining, Dear Sir, your very affectionate servant, THOMAS PERCY. _Easton Maudit_, _April_ 10, 1764. P.S. Pray, are the Welsh romances, you have described, in prose or verse? If they are in prose, then let me ask if you have ever seen any in verse? I take it, these subjects were treated in verse before they came to plain prose in most nations. This, at least, I find to be the case in the old Erse and Islandic languages, as well as in the more modern Italian, French, Spanish, and English tongues. I have got curious specimens in the last I mentioned. Pray is the word St. _Great_, or _St._ _Greal_, in the first article of your curious letter? WELSH PROVERBS.