some pasture land, and the fences had been broken down, upon which Lord Penrhyn had used his power as chairman of quarter sessions to obtain a special posse of police to protect the fences, and had levied a special rate in the district to bring these farmers to their senses?
In his evidence Lord Penrhyn admitted that considerable difficulty had arisen in his district owing to the fact that the pasturage of the tenants had been enclosed. In the assertion of their rights, the tenants had taken down fences; and what did Lord Penrhyn do ?—He used his power as a chairman of quarter sessions, if I remember rightly, to obtain a special posse of police for the district, and he levied a special rate to bring to submission these farmers who had asserted their rights. Are those quotations correct ?—Yes, the latter.
Do you admit that the enclosure was not made by Lord Penrhyn at all, but in pursuance of an Act of Parliament?— First of all I never said that the enclosure was made by Lord Penrhyn.
Ni raid dywedyd wrth neb pa fodd na chan bwy y gwnaed yr Enclosure. Fe ŵyr pawb mai gan yr arglwyddi a'r tirfeddianwyr y pasiwyd yr Enclosure Acts. Ac fel y canlyn y dywaid Mr. T. E. Ellis am yr Enclosure Acts a'r modd y pasiwyd hwy:—
That is an instance of the method of enclosure and of the results of the protest of these poor peasants. These deliberate, and it seems to me authoritative, statements, . . . are facts of pregnant interest to the student of the economic history of the land of Wales under the influences of English rule and law.. In the ancient laws of Wales the common pastures and hill grazings were jealously guarded by the courts of the Cantrev and Cwmwd, because, so runs the law, every wild and waste belongs to the country and kindred (gwlad a chenedl), and no one has a right to exclusive possession of much or little land of that kind."
Mewn atebiad i gwestiwn arall:
You say one or two owners stated that these sheep runs were vested in them. I suppose they mean they bought the Crown rights to those hills. Is that it?—I do not know. It is a very interesting question.
