Welsh Journals

of the revival, William Williams as the ideal position for a place of wor- ship. Throughout the last two centuries, the Penbryn district has been overwhelmingly Nonconformist in its religious persuasion and in such an area the discontent of the 19th century was largely aimed at the Anglican Church. In the 1840s for example much discontent was expressed in the Rebecca riots and although the vicar of Penbryn did not suffer to the same extent as his colleagues in neighbouring Llan- grannog, he did receive some threats. A letter of the 16th June 1843 for example reads (in translation) — I have had complaints of you from your parishioners that you have been op- pressing your parishioners with the tithe. I now warn you to return the Bible that you sold for tithe money to the poor man that owned it. You will also return all the tithe money that you took from other people. Unless you do this I and my daughters, perhaps 3 or 4 hundred of them will visit you next Monday night. We will cut off your arm and leg and we will burn all that you have. The above will take place as surely as there is life in your body. Isn't it a tense thing that a minister of religion like you should act so barbarously. Och, och, och. Rebecca. Throughout the remainder of the nineteenth century the fire of anti- tithe, anti-church agitation smouldered and in the 1880s and 1890s riots again broke out in the Penbryn area. Agriculture during the last two decades of the century was in a depressed state; there was a constant drain of the population to the industrial valleys of South Wales and the farmers of the area farming small farms found it in- creasingly difficult to make ends meet. On top of all this discontent, the farmer still had to pay his tithes to the established church and in a strongly Nonconformist area some of this was bound to result in trouble. Towards 1890 affairs had come to a head. Farmers refused to pay tithes and the bailiffs began to confiscate farm produce and livestock which was taken to Cardigan for sale by auction in order to reimburse the church. There were riots and the bailiffs who were given the task of distraining goods from the farms were attacked and were forced to ask for police protection. For many months the struggle continued; there were many injuries to police and farmers and some of the inhabitants were jailed as a result of the disorder. The troubles were only settled after the disestablishment of the Anglican Church in 1920. J. GERAINT JENKINS Welsh Industrial and Maritime Museum, Cardiff