The Bridge of the Blessed Ford
Pontrhydfendigaid
Some account of the Parish of Caron written in 1796
Rhagymadrodd
Mae erthygl ddiddorol sydd yn werth ei darllen yn y Cambrian Register (1796) yn dwyn y teitl ‘Some account of the Parish of Caron – situated in the upper part of the county of Cardigan’. Does dim sôn pwy yw’r awdur ond mae’n amlwg ei fod yn dod o’r ardal – mae’n cyfeirio at Plwyf Caron fel ‘my native parish’. Mae Isgarn yn tybied mai John Williams, Prifathro ysgol Ystradmeurig yw’r ysgrifennwr [1], gan mai ei frodyr (Evan a Thomas Williams) oedd cyhoeddwyr y Cambrian Register.
John Wiliams (1745/6 - 1818), clerigwr ac athro
Ganwyd John Williams yn 1745. Ef oedd mab hynaf David Williams Swyddffynnon, Sir Aberteifi (gof wrth ei alwedigaeth, ac un o gynghorwyr cynnar y Methodistiaid).
Bu John Williams yn ddisgybl i Edward Richard yn Ystrad Meurig, ac ar ôl marw Edward Richard yn 1777, penodwyd ef yn athro ar ei hen ysgol. Dechreuodd ar ei waith ym mis Medi y flwyddyn honno a bu yno hyd ddiwedd ei oes, Mawrth 1818. Claddwyd ef ym mynwent Ystrad Meurig.
Yn ystod ei dymor maith fel prifathro Ystrad Meurig llwyddodd i osod safonau ysgolheictod uchel ger bron ei ddisgyblion; derbyniwyd llawer ohonynt ar gyfer urddau sanctaidd heb unrhyw baratoad ond a gawsent yn Ystrad Meurig. Daeth nifer ohonynt yn enwog ym mywyd yr Eglwys (gweler y rhestr yn D. G. Osborne-Jones, Edward Richard of Ystrad Meurig 60-2).
Os am ragor o wybodoath am John Williams, cliciwch y llun i weld y Bywgraffiadur Cymreig
Y Ffordd o Dregaron i Bontrhydfendigaid a chwedl Llyn y Maes
Mewn un man, mae’r erthygl yn rhoi disgrifiad reit fanwl o’r ffordd sy’n rhedeg o Dregaron i Bontrhydfendigaid yn 1796 :
On the road from Tregaron northwards, about a mile from the town, I find two paved places in the form of graves, supposed to be the sepulchres of two persons that merited internment on a cross road. A mile further, close by the road, is a beautiful lake called Llyn y Maes, or the lake of the Fields, where old tradition says, formerly stood the town of Tregaron: it is about a mile in circumference . . . producing no fish of any great value.
Mae chwedl llyn Maes Llyn yn un gyfarwydd. Yn ôl hanes, roedd yr hen Dregaroniaid yn ddu hwnt o bechadurus ac fel cosb, un noswaith, cafodd y dref ei tharo gan fellt a tharanau, rhai na welwyd eu tebyg erioed. Llosgwyd y lle i’r llawr ac yna boddwyd pob peth oedd ar ôl o dan ddŵr dwfn, mawr [2].:
Ar ôl y nodyn am llyn Maes Llyn, mae’r awdur yn troi ei olwg at Cors Caron ; iddo ef doedd dim mawn tebyg i fawn Cors Caron.
. . . a fenny, marshy bog, reaching to the river Teivi, which produces the best sort of peat that I ever saw, to supply the neighbourhood with firing. They dig them very large, the larger the better; when dried ready for the grate, or hearth, they make exceedingly good fire, leaving very few ashes, and those as white as chalk, and light as feathers.
Mawn Cors Caron
Emile T Evans [3] gives an interesting insight to peat cutting on the bog in the late 19th century, (about three-quaters of a century later). Very little had changed in that period. The peat cutting season lasted for about six weeks and according to Emile Evans in 1870 :
Women carrying peat in baskets
(Copyright Ceredigion Museum)
. . . the day’s work started at seven a.m. and finished at 6 p.m. First of all the workman removed all live vegetation to a width of four feet and a length of thirty yards. Then he cut the peat into sections of one foot square and sixteen inches deep, which had to be stacked vertically in rows on the uncleared part of the surface so that the wind and the sun could dry and make them fit for combustion. This was no light job, considering that a foot cube weighs sixty pounds. The pay for a day’s peat work was three shillings.
It was the women that were responsible for carrying the peat off the bog :
The peat was carried from the bog in deep D-
shaped baskets (called ‘hotts’) made of willow wands with two loops which went over the shoulders leaving the arms free so that the women could knit when carrying peat. The basket was a replica of that used in Swiss vineyards for gathering grapes and had the same name. There was an unwritten law among the workers that those going to the bog to fetch peat should make way on the narrow path for those returning with full ‘hotts’.
At that time, the peat-
He supped on ‘llymru’, slept in the heather, and woke at dawn to dig more peat until he started his farm work at seven a.m.
Llymru or Sucan was a mixture of oat flour and butter milk that was allowed to go sour. The liquid and heavier matter were allowed to separate; the liquid was poured off and the remainder carefully boiled. It was eaten in bowls with wooden spoons with milk or skimmed milk (see S. M. Tibbott, Domestic Life in Wales, 2002).
Cors a mawn ar un ochr o'r ffordd, ond beth am yr ochr arall?
Annisgwyl, efallai, yw’r disgrifiad o’r tirwedd yn gwynebu Cors Caron, ar yr ochr dde i’r ffordd o Dregaron i Bont :
The other side, on the brow of a range of hills, is a fine coppice of various sorts of trees, where formerly many goats fed . . . in this coppice there is an uncommon sight of raspberries growing naturally.
Yna mae nodyn am Ffynnon Elwad. Faint o bobl sydd yn gwybod an Ffynnon Elwad (yn agos i Maes Elwad?) a’r dyfroedd iachusol sy’n tarddu yno :
. . . in a meadow below, is Ffynnon Elwad, formerly of great note for curing sore breasts.
Symud ymlaen mae eto gyfeiriad at ‘Bannau Bron y Mwyn’ :
This hill is called Bannau Bron y Mwyn, from the mine work which used to be carried on here. There are now to be seen several deep shafts, and are level on the east side of the hill, in a place called Cwm y Graig Goch . . . it is said that silver, as well as lead ore, is lodged in the bowels of this rocky hill; but no attempt to dislodge it has been made for many years
Pobl y Bont
Does dim dwywaith mai’r peth mwyaf diddorol yn yr erthygl hon yw’r hyn sydd wedi ei ysgrifennu am bobl y Bont :
At the north end of the parish is a village of no great repute, wherein dwell not many honest labourers – but robust athletic miners – of no religion, though I hope, reformation is began among them, as there is now of late a chapel built, for the use of a well qualified extempore preacher. The village, partly in the parish of Gwnnws, and partly in this, is called Rhydfendigaid i.e the Blessed Ford, from the river Teivi being fordable there, over which is a very old bridge of stone. It is to be hoped now, the inhabitants will not long contradict the name of the place, by their manner of living.
Mae’n anodd derbyn y disgrifiad yma o’r Bont – heddiw mae’n le gymharol heddychlon a gŵar. Ond nid dyma’r unig dystiolaeth fod pethau ddim yn rhy dda rhyw ddau can mlynedd yn ôl. Mewn erthygl yn y Genhinen yn 1899 [4], fe ysgrifennoddd Stanley Jones :
Flynyddoedd lawer yn ôl, (h.y. tua dechrau’r ganrif) yr oedd Pontrhydfendigaid yn enwog ar gyfrif yr haid o ladron a gyfaneddent yno; pechodau y rhai arweiniodd ddau ohonynt i’r crogbren am lofruddio un o’r enw Twn y Gof. Er fod Twm yn un o’r cwmni, ymddengys ei fod wedi bwgwth bradychu cyfrinach y lladron ; ac un noson, pan yn dychweluyd adref o Dregaron, aeth tri o’r lladron i’w gyfarfod mewn man unig ar y ffordd, a llofruddiasant ef mewn dull ysgeler a chreulawn, a chafwyd ei gorph marw dranoeth mewn perth eithin ar ochr y ffordd.
Mae rhagor o wybodaeth am lofruddiaeth Twm y Gof ar gael ar dudalen arall ar y wefan hon.
Nodiadau
[1] Richard Davies (Isgarn), Llawysgrifau, LlGC
[2] The Legend of Maes Llyn, www.bbc.co.uk/wales/mid/sites/walks/pages/cors_caron.shtml
[3] Emile T Evans, Cors Fochno nd Cors Caron, Journal Cardiganshire Antiquarian Society, 1950 Vol 1, No 1, pages 97-
[4] D. Stanley Jones, Y Genhinen, Ionawr 1899, tudalennau 8 a 9
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