Comments from Stiniog by Ernest Jones in the Herald

OLD SERVANT REMEMBERS THE  DAYS OF WORKING ON VARIOUS FARMS.

Morris Jones ai Gath

Hendre Dyfrgi, is the name of a farm on the slopes above Harlech. My grandmother lived there for a very long time and I went there many times spending part of the summer holidays there. But I mustn't whittle on now about Yr Hendre only to say that Morris Jones, Cilfor, Llandecwyn had been living there sometime after Nain moved to live to Harlech. And it is the story of Morris Jones as a farm servant during his youth that I have today.

Morris Jones was born in Bryn Gwyn, Uwch Artro. Bryn Gwyn stood closer to Llanfair near Harlech but, like Yr Hendre, Bryn Gwyn was quite a distance from Llanfair as Hendre was also a fair bit from Harlech.

His parents were Robert and Margaret Jones, and when they moved to live in Hendre, there was some confusion because my grandfather's name was Robert Jones. When I went to ask in Harlech about Robert Jones yr Hendre there was some misunderstanding as people remembered him as Robert Jones, father of Morris Jones, Cilfor. In fact I was also not familiar with the old Robert Jones Yr Hendre, only knowing that he was my grandmother's third husband. But Morris Jones Cilfor remembers my grandmother very well and knew of the old Robert Jones Yr Hendre.

Morris Jones has a surprisingly good memory. When he lived in Bryn Gwyn he walked three miles every day to Ysgol Llanfair where there were about sixty children and three teachers, Annie Price being one of them. Towards the end of the war the family moved to the small farmhouse Y Foel which was a short distance from Hendre Dyfrgi. That meant changing schools. Harlech School was quite a bit larger in size compared to Ysgol Llanfair and for that reason Morris Jones went back to Ysgol Llanfair.

After five years in Y Foel, they moved to Hendre Dyfrgi, a 65 acre farm. I would like to have asked Morris Jones more about Yr Hendre but he was eager to tell his story when he was a farm servant. The only thing I found out about Yr Hendre was that there was a fountain there in the cellar. I never knew that but maybe the cellar was the one place where I wasn't allowed to enter.

In any case, Morris Jones was at Yr Hendre when he got his first place as a farm servant. He hadn't had his 14th birthday at the time. He went to Richard Parry Cefn Main, on the Morfa in Harlech. He was employed for eight pounds for six months. Two of his main duties there were to deliver the milk round the houses and visit the beach after bad weather to collect driftwood. He had a horse to drag the driftwood from the beach to the farm. Morris Jones remembers that there was very productive land at Cefn Main and so there was plenty of work there. 

After six months there Morris Jones went to Rhiwgoch to work for Morris Evans and from there he went to Tyddyn Rhyddid. Normally he wouldn't stay anywhere for more than six months as he wanted to get experience of every type of work, But he stayed at Tyddyn Rhyddid for a year before moving to Francis Williams, Gin Shop, Harlech who had a farm down on the Morfa. 

Morris Jones by now found his employment at the fairs. He believed that the Harlech Fair (two every year) was the best in the vicinity. There was interest in the Harlech Fair from Maentwrog down as far as Dolgellau. In Morris Jones' history the process of employment included walking the street "to put myself up for sale." His salary by now had much improved. Pant Mawr was his next place. He had to get up especially early in the morning there to do the milking and do the milk round. Again, he stayed there for six months before moving to Glan Môr, Talsarnau. There was a wainscot bed there – a very warm one. More often than not, Morris Jones slept in the loft above the stable but he could eat in the house - on the servants' table.

Then he spent another period with John Williams, Pant Mawr. The work was hard but there would be 2/6 (half a crown - that is twelve and a half pence in modern money) of good-will for him when he would also have about half a day off. Morris Jones went next to Miss Thomas, Tanrallt, Llanfair, a large farm with some style. Then to Bryn FoelUchaf, up on the slopes above Dyffryn Ardudwy. This was a farm in a very beautiful place and he was there for two seasons. He was paid more there because it was not very easy for them to get a servant. One of the essentials of a servant when moving to a new place was to have someone able to wash his clothes, apparently the Mistresses didn't seem to do it for them. Anyway, Morris Jones succeedede in finding a woman to wash for him for a pound a year. I asked him if he knew Morris Jones Shoemaker Dyffryn Ardudwy.  But, no, he didn't. Evan Thomas Llanbedr would make his boots for him, for three pounds. Before going to the Dyffryn he was in Argoed with Lewis Lewis.

He went to Tregwylan, Talsarnau from Dyffrynand and his salary had now reached a pound a week. Remember that Morris Jones was still a servant although there was no job on a farm that he could not perform perfectly. The good, wholesome food that is what he remembers well. But Morris Jones didn't crave jobs or authority.

He went to Roberts Cefn Trefor next. Roberts was a tall muscular man weighing 26 stones. From there he went to Penrhyn Isaf, the farm that was immortalized by the story of the Hwntw Mawr murdering the young girl. Was the story still alive? Yes, indeed. It was claimed that traces of the blood could still be seen there, and also  there was a place there called Hwntw Mawr Spring where Hwntw washed his hands.
Morris Jones told me about the rat infestation in Penryn Isaf. Morris Jones has seen a lot, believe me, but he had seen nothing like this. The rats seemed to appear around the same time every year. They were extremely bold. They came to Morris Jones' loft and ran over his bed like cats and their noise was heard amongst the pans downstairs. Despite all this, Morris Jones stayed in his place for three seasons - which was unusually long for him.
Having moved to Cefn Gwyn, Yr Ynys, the fleas was what bothered him. "What are you doing?" he asked his partner in the stable loft seeing him half naked in the middle of the night. "Killing fleas," was the answer. Morris Jones' next place was Felinrhyd Fawr with Griffith Davies. He got a job cutting the trees one summer and was bothered by midges. When he was asked how it was going, "Okay, but the midges are eating me alive" he said. But the only consolation he had was that sweat was the best thing to keep midges away. Morris Jones remembers a trick he invented to get him to sleep at night in the stable loft. At times horses would be noisy when shaking their chains, and he would take care then to tie them with a rope instead of chain. Few of the masters demanded that servants should join in the morning service. Cefn Trefor and Tregwylan, were examples. That was done every day except Sunday. In Cefn Trefor the Master would pray with the servants reading a chapter from the Bible.
In his last place as servant at Lasynys Bach, Morris Jones saw that the Master there took all the service. Another farm where Keeping Duty was very important was Tre Gwylan.
That is some of the history of Morris Jones, Cilfor, as a farm servant. He left that job after a while but that is another story.