So far as I know the Forest Arms, Brechfa, is only mentioned by name in one Act of Parliament: 'An Act for making and maintaining a Road from a Place called Nantgaredig, adjoining the Turnpike Road leading from the Town of Llandilofawr to the Town of Carmarthen, through the Village of Brechfa, to the River Tivy, near Llanllooney Church; and also a Road from Brechfa aforesaid to the Village of Llansawell, all in the County of Carmarthen' [20th May 1809]. This was the Act which created the Brechfa Turnpike Trust, whose tollgates would later be battered down by angry Merched Beca ('Daughters of Rebecca') in the riots of the 1840s - the only occasion on which the government has sent troops to Brechfa to try to keep everyone in order.

Mrs Margaret Davies, headteacher of Ysgol Brechfa, was recently offered an original copy of this Act of Parliament by a bookseller from the Orkney Islands (I've no idea how it had ended up there). She bought it - and very kindly lent it to me to look at. It turned out to be a fascinating document.

The Act includes directions for the first meeting of those responsible for the Trust: 'The said Trustees shall meet at the Dwelling-house of William Rees, known by the Sign of the Forest Arms, situate in the Village of Brechfa on the Third Tuesday after this Act shall receive the Royal Assent..' It also has a list of the tolls that were to be charged at each gate:

'For every Coach, Berlin, Landau, Chariot, Calash, Chair, Caravan, Hearse, or Litter, drawn by Six Horses, Mares, Geldings, or Mules, the Sum of Three Shillings; and drawn by Four Horses, Geldings, or Mules, the Sum of Two Shillings; and drawn by Two Horses, Mares, Geldings, or Mules, the Sum of One Shilling; and drawn by One Horse, Mare, Gelding, or Mule, the Sum of Sixpence:

For every Horse, Mare, Gelding, Mule, Ass, or other Beast, drawing any Waggon, Wain, Cart, or other Carriage (except as herein-after is excepted), the Sum of Three-pence:

For every Horse, Mare, Gelding, Mule, or Ass, laden or unladen, and not drawing (except as herein-after is excepted), the Sum of One Penny:

For every Drove of Oxen, Cows, or neat Cattle, the Sum of Ten- pence per Score; and so in Proportion for any less Number:

For every drove of Calves, Hogs, Sheep, or Lambs, the Sum of Five-pence per Score; and so in Proportion for any less Number.'

Among the exemptions was church-going: 'nor shall any Toll be paid by any Rector, Vicar, or Curate, going to or returning from any Church, Chapel, or other Place of Religious Worship, or visiting his sick Parishioners, or any other [part of] his Parochial or Ministerial Duty, nor by any other Person or Persons residing in the said Parishes, Townships, Districts or Places, who shall pass through the said Turnpike Bars to or from Church, Chapel, or any other Place of Religious Worship, or who shall attend the Funeral of any Person or Persons who shall die and be buried in any of the said Parishes, Townships or Places.' Carting of hay, corn, produce, farm implements and 'Mould, Dung or Compost for the manuring of Lands' was also exempt unless they were being brought into or through the area.

Uniform of their respective Corps', 'any Carriage, Horse, or other Beast employed in the Conveyance of Vagrants travelling with legal Passes' and 'any Horse or Carriage going to or returning from any Election of a Knight or Knights of the Shire to serve in Parliament for the said County of Carmarhen~' 'His Majesty's Forces' were also not to pay tolls.

Cheating - either by by-passing the tollgate, giving a forged note or ticket to the toll-collector, or forcing a way through the gate without paying - was to be punished with a hefty fine of forty shillings. Half of the fine would go to whoever informed on the person who had avoided payment. Brechfa's Rebecca rioters were particularly tough on informers, perhaps not surprisingly.

At the tune the Brechfa Act seemed like a good way of paying for the improvement of the local roads, which were in a very desperate state. When farming was in a flourishing condition the system worked well. But when an agricultural recession set in things became desperate. The tolls became a crushing burden and Aferched y Beca were driven to take the law into their own hands. The destruction of the Brechfa gates is recorded in a lively ballad written at the time by a certain D.J.J. of Llanybydder:

'Y Gate oedd gerllaw i Dregaron,

A da~~vyd i'r afon yn Ian;

Ac hefvd, tri thollborth yn Mrechfa

A donvyd yn ddarnau pur fan...'

Both the previous and the present government have flirted with the idea of 'road-pricing' as a solution to transport problems. The experience of Brechfa and the rest of West Wales in the 1 840s suggests that they should think long and carefully before taking such a step. In those days 'road rage' meant a large man with a blackened face dressed in his wife's gown and bonnet smashing a tollgate with an enormous sledgehammer. I suppose it could happen again.

 

Ceir poriread hyfryd o Ferched Beca Brechfa ar y faner a wnaethpwyd gan blant Urdd