hefyd, fel y dengys yr hanes a ganlyn am rai myneich yn 1391 ag arnynt eisiau adeiladu melin at wasanaeth y mynachdy, ond rhwystrwyd hwy gan The Lord of the Manor, a hawliai nad oedd neb i godi melin heb ei ganiatâd ef. Meddyliasant godi melin wynt ar dir y fynachlog, a chawsant ganiatâd yr esgob, ond nid hir y buont heb ddeall fod The Lord of the Manor yn hawlio'r gwynt hefyd, ac fe'u rhwystrwyd. Yr oedd meddu melin yn drosedd o gyfraith y wlad, ac yr oedd ysbïwyr yn myned o gwmpas i wylied na châi neb godi melin.
Ond ymhen amser dechreuodd y werin ymladd am ei hawliau. Ceir yr hanes a ganlyn am drigolion Sir Gaer[1]:—
"Vale Royal Abbey, Cheshire, owned the multure or milling rights of the neighbouring town of Dernhall by charter granted in 1299 by Edward I., and till 1329 appears to have peaceably exercised it; all the townsmen grinding at the abbey mill. In that year, however, a considerable rebellion against the compulsion arose in the town, the burgesses coming out in arms to resist the officials from the abbey who, of course, were bent on capturing the querns. The erring burgesses were eventually brought to their senses by the hopelessness of such a struggle, and in due course a number of them were led before the abbot in his court in the monastery, with straw halters round their necks—multi eorum in eadem curiæ fenia ducti—formally tendering their humble submission to the laws of the mill. Ten of the most rebellious [ceir yr enwau] were sentenced to forfeit their goods and cattle to the abbot; while the rest of the offenders were paraded before their lord and received his full pardon in solemn assembly. ******
"The ancient Laws and Institutes of Wales, codified in the ninth and tenth centuries, contain not only the allusions to querns already quoted, but some references of considerable interest to watermills; the code no doubt comprising some of those early British laws which the Welsh carried with them on their retreat to their mountain fastnesses. These enactments show a watermill to be a valuable possession, to be treasured
- ↑ History of Corn Milling, Bennett and Elton, 4 cyf., 1898—1904.
