Mae
llawer o'r patrymau ar aneddiadau, ffyrdd a'r patrwm caeau cyntefig
a welir heddiw i'w briodoli i'r blodeuo cynnar yng nghymydau Dinllaen,
Cymydmaen ac Afflogion yn ystod yr oesoedd tywyll. Dengys prinder
offer malu grawn yn y caerau mynyddig yn ogystal a maint y tir
amgaedig yn y sefydliadau cynnar bwysigrwydd magu da byw yn Llŷn.
Gwelir
treasu a'r patrwm man gaeau mewn nifer o safleoedd. Gwelir hefyd
effaith y ffaith fod rhannau helaeth o'r tir yn eiddo i'r eglwys
a hynny yn golygu twf poblogaeth o gwmpas y canolfannau.
Gwellodd
dulliau amaethu o dan ddylanwad perchnogion tir fel Edwards Nanhoron.
Yn 1870 ceir yr allforio yd cyntaf o Bwllheli. Hyd hynny, da byw,
gwlan a chynnyrch llaeth yn ogystal a physgod oedd yr unig allgorion
amaethyddol.

Cau
Tiroedd
Yr
oedd gwerth ychwanegol tiroedd amgaedig yn gymhelliad cryf i ddilyn
y ffasiwn boblogaidd o wneud cais i'r senedd am Fesur Cau Tir preifat
na fyddai fawr o wrthwynebiad iddo mewn senedd o landlordiaid ac
a fyddai yn cael ei weinyddu gan gomisiynwyr a enwid yn y Mesur,
a'r rheini wedi eu dewis yn bennaf o blith y dosbarth o asiantwyr
tir oedd yn dibynnu ar y ceiswyr.
Yng
ngeiriau'r Adroddiad Tir 1986,:
'
Ffol fyddai meddwl mai pennaf bwriad y tirfeddianwyr o Gymry oedd
yn eiddgar yn ceisio'r hwylustod a gynigid gan y Senedd oedd ymestyn
ffiniau tir ar. Gwelent fod y symudiad yn rhoi cyfle iddynt feddiannu
llwybrau defaid a thir pori hyd hynny heb ei gau fel eu heiddio
eu hunain o dan Ddeddf Seneddol, ac yr oedd y rhagolygon derbyn
costau yn ddigon o abwyd i gyfreithwyr teulu ymdrechu eu gorau
i gael pasio Deddf Cau Tir lle bynnag y byddai darn o dir digon
eang.
Y
broblem arbennig yr oedd yn rhaid i'r Comisiynwyr tir ddelio a
hi yn y rhanbarth yma oedd y sgwatwyr oedd wedi sefydlu eu hunain
ar y tir comin heb unrhyw weithred gyfreithiol ond gyda goddefgarwch
a hyd yn oed gefnogaeth yr awdurdodau lleol. Ond yr oedd gan y
bythynwyr olwg wahanol ar bethau.

Y Cau cyntaf yn Sir Gaernarfon dan ddeddf 1802 oedd tir comin eang
y goron yn Rhoshirwaun yn cynnwys tua dwy neu dair mil o aceri
mewn tri phlwyf yn eithaf gorllewin Llŷn, lle'r oedd ugeiniau o
bysgotwyr yn ystod y blynyddoedd wedi cael eu gadael i sgwatio.
Pan basiwyd fod eu daliadau a'u tai i gael eu gwerthu dros eu pennau
Yn enwedig os yr oedd wedi ei sefydlu yn ystod yr ugain mlynedd
cynt, yna dangoswyd bwriad i wrthsefyll a defnyddio grym, yn arbennig
pan sylwedolwyd eu bod yn mynd i golli'r mawnogydd oed yn ffynhonell
tanwydd rhad iddynt. Rhoddodd mintai o filwyr yr anfonwyd amdanynt
o Loegr derfyn ar eu gwrthwynebiad, ond ni lwyddwyd i roi'r mesur
mewn grym hyd 1814.

Dychrynwyd
bonnedd y sir gan y gwrthwynebiad yn Rhoshirwaun ac mewn cyfarfod
yng Nghaernarfon yn1808 pasiwyn i gymryd pob mesur angenrheidiol
i orfodi'r Deddfau Cau Tir, ac i gosbi unrhyw rai a'u gwrthwynebai.
Daeth rhan arall o bedair mil o aceri, yn cynnwys Garn Fadrun a
Mynyd Mynytho o dan fygythiad o dan ddeddf 1808, lle, unwaith eto
yr oedd y bythynwyr yn colli eu hawliau torri tywyrch yn danwydd.
Rhagwelai adroddiadau ar y pryd ddiboblogi eang a chyfeirid yn
bendrist at 'y digalondid cyffredinol yn lledu trwy Lyn'.

Daeth
yr hen drafferth ynglyn a thyddynwyr yn tresmasu ar gomin i'r wyneb
unwaith eto yn achos y Cau Tir Comin mwyaf erioed yn Sir Gaernarfon,
cyn cynnwys deng mil o aceri yng ngogledd Llyn ac Arfon, o Nefyn
i Lanllyfni dan hawl deddf a basiwyd yn 1812. Unwaith eto bu terfysg
ymhlith y bythynwyr yr oedd eu 'tresmas' i gael eu gwerthu am eu
bod wedi eu meddiannu ers llai nag ugain mlynedd. Y tro yma dedfrydwyd
dau wr i farwolaeth (nid yw'n eglur beth oeddd y cyhuddiad yn eu
herbyn) ond newidiwyd dedfryd un i wasanaeth penydiol.

Effeithiwyd
ar diroedd trefol yn ogystal a thiroedd maenorol gan y symudiad.
Nid oedd gan Nefyn na Phwllheli na'r dylanwad na'r sgiliau i ddiiogelu
eu tir comin pan fygythid hwy gan dddigwyddiadau ehangach. Ymddengys
i feiliaid Nefyn gael eu twyllo i adael i dri neu bedwar can acer
o dir a ddefnyddid gan y trigolion i bori defaid fynd oddi arnynt,
tra derbyniodd bwrdeidref Pwllheli, O dan ddeddf wahanol ond gyda'r
un comisiynydd, ychydig lathenni o graig foel yn gyfnewid am diroedd
oedd yn werth £500 y flwyddyn.

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Much
of the shaping of Llŷn as far as the settlements, roads and ancient
field systems we see today is due to the early flourishing of the
commotes of Dinllaen, Cymydmaen and Aflogion during the dark ages.
The abscence of implements for grinding cereals in the hill forts
and cereal stores together with the size of enclosures and evidence
from early homesteads points to the importance of livestock in
Llŷn.
Ancient
terracing and later small field systems can be found at numerous
locations. The fact that a large proportion of the land was later
owned by the church and the effects of population growth around
centres can also be seen.
Under
the influence of landowners like the Edwards' of Nanhoron agricultural
practices improved. In 1780 there appears the first exports of
corn from Pwllheli. Until this time livestock , wool and dairy
products along with fish were the only agricultural exports.

Enclosures
The
increased value to be expected of enclosed lands, were powerful
inducements to follow the popular fashion of applying to parliament
for a private Enclosure Act, which would encounter little opposition
in a parliament of landlords and would be administered by commissioners,
named in the Act, drawn mainly from the dependent class of land
agents.
In
the words of the Land Report of 1896 :
"It
would be idle to suppose that the main motives of the Welsh landowners
who eagerly sought the facilities given by Parliament was to
extend the margin of cultivation. They saw . . . that the movement
gave them the opportunity of acquiring the sheep-walks and pasture
lands till then unenclosed as their own in severalty under the
title of an Act of Parliament, while the prospect of costs gave
the family solicitors of the Principality a sufficient inducement
to use their best endeavors to secure the passing of an Enclosure
Act wherever a waste was extensive enough."
The
outstanding problem with which the enclosure commissioners had
to cope in this area was that of the squatters who had settled
on waste land with no legal title but with the connivance or even
encouragement of the local authorities. The cottagers, however,
had other views.

The
very earliest parliamentary enclosure in Caernarvonshire, under
an Act of 1802, was that of the extensive crown common of Rhoshirwaun,
covering two or three thousand acres extending over three parishes
in the far west of Llŷn, on which scores of fishermen over the
years had been permitted to ' squat '. When it was proposed to
sell their holdings and cottages over their heads if the encroachments
had been made within the past twenty years, the squatters offered
forcible resistance, especially when they found that they were
going to lose the turbary which had hitherto supplied them with
free fuel. The arrival of a party of dragoons sent for to England
had put an end to resistance, but the Act could not be finally
put into operation till 1814.

Alarmed
by the resistance at Rhoshirwaun, the gentry of the shire had held
a meeting at Caernarfon in 1808 at which they resolved to take
all necessary measures to enforce the Enclosure Acts and to bring
to justice any who resisted them. Another area of four thousand
acres west of Pwllheli, and including Carn Fadrun and Mynydd Mynytho,
was the subject of an Act of 1808, under which once again the cottagers
lost their customary right of cutting turf for fuel. Reports at
the time foresaw wholesale depopulation of the district for lack
of fuel , and referred gloomily to the ' general spread of this
misery through Llŷn.'

The
old trouble about 'encroachment' of cottagers on the wastes came
to a head again in what was the most extensive of the Caernarvonshire
enclosures, covering up to ten thousand acres in the north of Llŷn
and Arfon from Nefyn to Llanllyfni, under the terms of an Act passed
in 1812. Once again there were riots among the cottagers whose
'encroachments' were to be sold on the ground that they were less
than twenty years old. This time two men were sentenced to death
(the exact charge against them is not clear), but for one the sentence
was commuted to penal servitude.

Municipal
as well as manorial commons were affected by the movement. Nefyn
and Pwllheli corporations had neither the influence nor the skill
to safeguard their municipal commons when these were included in
Acts covering a much wider area. The bailiffs of Nefyn, it appears,
were bluffed into signing away three or four hundred acres of common
used by the inhabitants as a sheep run, while Pwllheli corporation
received (under another Act but with the same commissioner) a
few square yards of barren rock in exchange for lands worth about £500
a year.


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