Welsh Journals

MISCELLANEA A DISTURBANCE ON LLANRHYSTUD MOUNTAIN WHEN Cary published his New Map of England and Wales in 1794, well over half of Cardiganshire was still unenclosed. In the war years which followed it is probable that enclosure proceeded more rapidly for the distress suffered by the agricultural population created an increasing demand for land on which to grow the one com- modity for which there was a consistent demand-corn. The result was that almost all the lowlands had been enclosed by about 1810 and the attention of landowners was turning to some of the more fertile and accessible parts of the uplands. One such portion was that which lay to the east of the turnpike road from Llanfarian to Aber- arth. In 1812 an Act of Parliament was passed permitting the enclosure of the Lordship of Haminiog, which consisted of the parishes of Llanbadarn Trefeglwys, Llanrhystud Haminiog, Llansantffraed, and Cilcennin, an area of about 5,000 acres. This was the first enclosure Act in the county. Three years later, another Act was obtained for the enclosure of Gwnnws, Lledrod, Llangwyryfon, Llanilar, Rhostie, Llanddeiniol, Llanychaiarn, and the township of Llanrhystud Mefenydd. It was easier, however, for the landowners to obtain the sanction of Parliament to enclose land than it was to get the assent of the common people who lived and worked on this land. A people suffering the distress that was prevalent at this period would strongly resist any attempt to deprive them of any land, however weak their claim to it. Both the Acts were, in fact, generous in their treatment of squatters, but the latter were loth to believe that any action supported by the gentry would benefit the common people. Their attitude to enclosure is expressed in the following lines Ni chaniateir pe bae I ddwyn yr wydd oddiar y cae, Ond caniateir yn rhwydd I ddwyn y cae oddiar yr wydd. A free translation would read-It is a crime to steal the goose from the field but it is no crime to steal the field from the goose. Therefore, when John Hughes, the surveyor appointed by the Commissioners, set out to do his work on the Mountains surrounding Lanrystid', he was not well received and among the Nanteos Papers at the National Library of Wales is a letter from John Lewis, Lampeter, to W. E. Powell of Nanteos which describes the reception accorded to Hughes. It is not dated and could refer to either the 1812 or the 1815 enclosures the reference to Thomas Johnes shows that it was written before his death in April 1816 and may well have referred to the previous summer. It is possible that the events described were the first skirmishes in the struggle which later included 'RhyfelYSaisBach'. A dreadful insurrection has broke out in the Mountains surrounding Lan- rystid in consequence of the attempt made by the Commissioners to enclose the common. John Hughes unexpectedly, was surrounded by 30 Old Women, each bearing in point of ferocity an amiable resemblance to the Delphic Sibyl of old. They came down upon him in half Squadrons, well equipped, strongly organised, and defended as to the breast by a dripping pan, which acted as a cuirass, and armed with missile weapons of all descriptions. The body so compact and so united, could not be resisted, his surrender was discreet, his Gaging apparatus was