Welsh with simultaneous translation
Amcan y cyflwyniad hwn yw adrodd hanes ‘menyw gyffredin’, sef Margaret Lewis (Pegi), a’i safiad yn erbyn yr awdurdodau yn ystod Rhyfel y Degwm, ac wrth iddi wneud hynny, ysbrydoli Gwerin Cymru i frwydro yn erbyn y gyfundrefn Brydeinig.
Erbyn diwedd y bedwaredd ganrif ar bymtheg, roedd mwyafrif trigolion Cymru yn Ymneilltuwyr ond yr oedd galw arnynt i dalu degwm at gynnal Eglwys Loegr yng Nghymru o hyd, er bod ganddynt gapeli eu hunain i’w codi a’u cynnal. Yr oedd bywydau’r ffermwyr Cymreig yn y cyfnod hwn yn ymdrech barhaus a thorcalonnus gan amlaf i gael dau ben llinyn ynghyd, felly daeth y degwm yn symbol o’r caledi a’u llethai. Erbyn 1886 roedd cyflwr amaethyddiaeth ledled Cymru wedi gwaethygu. Felly dyna gychwyn Rhyfel y Degwm.
Gwraig weddw oedd Pegi Lewis a drigai ar ei phen ei hun yn ei thyddyn yn Nhrewyddel, ar y ffin rhwng Siroedd Aberteifi a Phenfro. Claddwyd ei gŵr yn 1862 yn 32 oed ac yn 1879 claddwyd eu hunig fab yn 16oed. Yn 1887, yn 65 oed, gwrthododd Pegi dalu’r degwm. Pan ddaeth y beili i gymryd ei buwch oddi arni, safodd Pegi yn ei erbyn gyda chadernid di-ildio. Gollyngodd y fuwch yn rhydd i garlamu dros y ddol gan adael y swyddog druan i ffwndro’n ddiamcan. Ymhell cyn iddi ymddangos yn y llys roedd Pegi yn enwog trwy Gymru gyfan.
It may be said of the clerical tithe oppression in Wales “Gwraig a’i lladdodd” and the name of Peggy Lewis will be bound up in the history of the Tithe War which resulted in freeing Wales from an incubus too long and patiently suffered.”
(South Wales Weekly News 1890)
Gyda therfyn ar helyntion y Degwm, felly bu terfyn ar hanes Pegi. Ar Ebrill 13 1900 yn 76 oed, bu farw. Ni roddwyd teyrnged iddi mewn unrhyw bapur dyddiol. Ond yn fwy trist, er iddi frwydro mor danllyd yn erbyn Eglwys Lloegr, cafodd ei chladdu yn eglwys y plwyf heb garreg fedd nac unrhyw farc i nodi’r man lle claddwyd ‘Arwres y Degwm’.
An ‘ordinary woman’ – Margaret (Peggy) Lewis, and her stand against the authorities during the Tithe War and how she inspired the people of Wales to fight against the British system.
By the end of the nineteenth century most Welsh people were Nonconformists but they were still expected to pay the tithe for the upkeep of the Anglican Church in Wales, although they had their own chapels to build and maintain. The Welsh farmers’ lives at this time were a constant and often heart-breaking struggle to make ends meet, and so the tithe became a symbol of their oppressive hardship. By 1886 the agricultural conditions throughout Wales had worsened. This was the catalyst for the Tithe War.
Peggy Lewis was a widow who lived in her cottage in Moylgrove. She buried her husband in 1862 when he was 32 years old and in 1879 she buried their only 16 year old son. In 1887, Pegi, aged 65, refused to pay the tithe. When the bailiff came to distrain her cow, Pegi opposed him with unyielding tenacity. She set the cow loose to gallop freely across the meadow, leaving the poor official floundering without purpose. Long before she appeared in court, Peggy was famous throughout Wales.
It may be said of the clerical tithe oppression in Wales “Gwraig a’i lladdodd” [A woman killed it] and the name of Peggy Lewis will be bound up in the history of the Tithe War, which resulted in freeing Wales from an incubus too long and patiently suffered.’
(South Wales Weekly News, 1890)
When the tithe troubles came to an end, Pegi’s life ended too. On April 13, 1900, aged 76, she died. No newspaper paid tribute to her. But even more sadly, although she fought so hard against the Anglican Church, she was buried in the parish churchyard without a headstone or a mark to note where the ‘Tithe Heroine’ was buried.