ANN ELLIS
Roedd Ann Ellis yn fenyw oedd yn byw yn ardal Llannerch Banna yn Sir y Fflint. Cafodd ei chyhuddo, yn haf 1657, o achosi salwch i blant ar ôl iddynt ei chythruddo.
Clywodd y llys, ryw bedair mlynedd wedi i Ann symud i’r ardal, fod bachgen deuddeg mlwydd oed wedi cael ei barlysu, ac ni allai gerdded oddi ar hynny. Roedd Richard wedi bod yn dringo ar do tŷ Ann, a phiso i lawr ei simne. Rheibiodd ef pan oedd yn chwarae gyda’i phlant hi, gan ddweud ei bod yn gobeithio y byddai’n mynd yn gloff. Chwe mis yn ddiweddarach, dechreuodd Richard weiddi mewn poen, a chollodd y defnydd o’i goesau. Roedd y bobl leol yn argyhoeddedig mai Ann oedd ar fai.
Ddwy flynedd yn ddiweddarach, roedd menyw o’r enw Gwen Hughes wedi gwrthod rhoi cig i Ann pan ddaeth Ann draw i gardota. Ymhen ychydig amser, dechreuodd Margaret, plentyn Gwen Hughes oedd yn flwydd oed, wrthod bwyta. Roedd Gwen yn argyhoeddedig mai melltith gan Ann oedd wedi achosi hyn, felly gofynnodd i Ann fendithio’r plentyn. Gwrthododd Ann, ond wedi pedwar diwrnod aeth i fendithio’r plentyn. Gwellhaodd y plentyn yn fuan wedyn. Deallodd pobl hyn fel cadarnhad fod Ann Ellis yn wrach.
Bum mlynedd yn ddiweddarach, aeth Margaret Hughes, plentyn Gwen, a phlant arall, i mewn i dŷ Ann Ellis pan nad oedd hi yno, a bwyta ei holl fara. Pan dychwelodd Ann, a sylweddoli beth oedd wedi digwydd, roedd hi’n ddig iawn. Y dydd Llun canlynol, ymddangosodd lwmp tua maint ŵy o dan fraich Margaret. Dechreuodd weiddi, crynu a chrio. Perswadiodd menyw arall o’r enw Elizabeth Jeffreys y dylai Ann fynd draw i fendithio’r plentyn. Aeth Ann at Margaret, a dweud “Duw a’th fendithio, fe welli di gyda hyn”, a dechreuodd y plentyn wella wedi hyn.
Wedi’r achos olaf hwn, penderfynodd Gwen Hughes ddwyn achos yn erbyn Ann Ellis. Daeth o hyd i dystion, gan gynnwys Elizabeth Jeffries, oedd o’r farn fod Ann wedi achosi marwolaeth ei phlentyn flwyddyn ynghynt. Roedd Elizabeth wedi gofyn i Ann fendithio ei phlentyn pan gafodd ei tharo’n wael, ac er iddi wella yn y dechrau, bu farw’r plentyn o fewn y mis. Tystiodd Margaret Barnett bod ei phlentyn wedi cael ei daro’n wael ar ôl i Ann fod yn anfodlon ar y cardod a gafodd ganddi, a bu’n rhaid iddi gael Ann yn ôl i fendithio’r plentyn.
Tystiodd Susan Addams fod Ann wedi rhoi salwch od i’w buwch wedi i Susan wrthod rhoi llaeth i Ann. Wedi iddyn nhw roi llaeth i Ann, gwellhaodd y fuwch.
Gofynnodd y barnwr Andrew Ellis i Ann ateb y cyhuddiadau, a phlediodd hi’n ddieuog. Dywedodd fod Richard Hughes yn gloff, ond na felltithiodd hi ef na dymuno drwg iddo. Cyfaddefodd iddi fendithio’r plant, ond dywedodd nad hi oedd wedi achosi’r afiechydon.
Cafodd Ann ei cadw yn y ddalfa ar Fehefin y 3ydd, 1657, i aros tan eisteddai Cwrt y Sesiwn Fawr yn mis Medi.
Mae’n aneglur sut, ond yn ôl pob sôn, bu Elizabeth Jeffreys a Wil, gŵr Gwen Hughes, yn gyfrifol am helpu Ann Ellis i ddianc o’r carchar. Ddau fis yn ddiweddarach, cafodd ei hailgarcharu yn Swydd Caer. Ar ddiwedd mis Medi ymddangosodd o flaen y Barnwr John Bradshaw a Thomas Tell ar bedwar cyhuddiad o fod yn wrach. Rhyddhawyd hi’n ddiamodol yn mis Ebrill 1658.
Darllen Pellach:
Gwrachod Cymru – Eirlys Gruffydd (p.45-7)
E. Lois yw arlunydd Prosiect Drudwen, Rhithganfyddiad a phrosiect #GwrachodCymru, ymhlith pethau eraill. Mae hi ar Instagram fel @efalois a Twitter fel @efalois.
ANN ELLIS
Ann Ellis was a woman who lived in the Penley area of Flintshire. In the summer of 1657, she was accused of causing illness to children once they’d angered her.
The court heard that four years after Ann moved to the area, a twelve-year-old boy called Richard had been paralysed, and he could not walk. Richard had climbed on to the roof of Ann’s house, and had urinated down the chimney. She cursed him as he was playing with her children, saying that she wished he’d ‘go lame’. Six months later, Richard lost the use of both of his legs. The local people were convinced that Ann was to blame.
Two years later, a woman called Gwen Hughes refused to give Ann meat when she came to beg for it. Sometime later, Margaret, Gwen Hughes’ one year old daughter, began to refuse food. Gwen was convinced that Ann was to blame, and so she asked Ann to bless her child. Ann refused, but four days later, Ann came to bless the child. The child’s health improved after that. People understood this to mean that Ann was a witch.
Five years later, Margaret Hughes, Gwen’s daughter, and other local children went into Ann’s house when she wasn’t there, and ate all of her bread. When Ann returned and realised what had happened, she was very angry. The following Monday, a large lump around the size of an egg appeared under Margaret’s arm. She started yelling, crying and shivering. Another woman called Elizabeth Jeffreys persuaded Ann to come over and bless the child. Ann went to Margaret, and said ‘God bless you, you will get better’, and the child’s health began to improve.
After this last event, Gwen Hughes decided to build a case against Ann Ellis. She gathered witnesses, including Elizabeth Jeffries, who thought Ann had caused her child to die the previous year. Elizabeth had asked Ann to bless the child when the child was ill, and though the child’s health initially improved, the child died within the month. Margaret Barnett testified that her child had taken ill after Ann had been dissatisfied with the food that she had offered when Ann came to beg, and Ann had blessed the child in order to improve the child’s health.
Susan Adams testified that Ann had given her cow a strange illness, because she had refused to give Ann milk. Once she had given Ann milk, the cow’s health improved.
The Jude Andrew Ellis asked Ann to respond to the accusations, and she pled Not Guilty. She said that she was sorry that Richard Hughes was paralysed, but she had never cursed him nor wished him ill. She admitted that she had blessed the children, but said that she had not caused their illnesses.
Ann was sent to prison on the 3rdof June 1657, to await a trial in the Sesiwn Fawr in September.
It is unclear why, but Elizabeth Jeffreys and Wil, Gwen Hughes’ husband, apparently helped Ann Ellis escape from jail. Two months later, she was recaptured near Chester. At the end of September, she was tried in front of the Judge John Bradshaw and Thomas Tell for four accusations of witchcraft. She was released without charge in 1658.
Further Reading:
Gwrachod Cymru – Eirlys Gruffydd (p.45-7)
…
E. Lois is the illustrator of Prosiect Drudwen, Rhithganfyddiad and the #GwrachodCymru project. She is on Instagram as @efalois and Twitter as @efalois.