We have some information about Motygido but require much more. We would be grateful for any old photos or recent information (from living memory).

There is no doubt that the Farmhouse at Motygido is very old. The main downstairs part of the original stone building consisted when we purchased it of a single room some 36 feet in length with a massive inglenook fireplace at one end. Nine feet wide and high enough to walk into, the wall above the fireplace is supported by a single large Oak beam. Beside the fireplace, there is evidence (in what is now a cupboard) to suggest that a wooden spiral staircase led up to the gallery adjacent to the huge chimney. 

In 1991 there were no trees or hedges close to the house.  The original cobbled yard had been enclosed with breeze block walls and the ground covered with shale. Over the years we have grassed the farmyard between the house and the barns and planted a number of decorative trees around the courtyard - Rowan, Whitebeam, Flowering Cherry and others.

This computer generated graphic is what the farmhouse may have looked like with its thatched roof and original windows. However at some point there would also have been an additional  chimney at the other end of the house. After removing old paneling, we found an upstairs fireplace - possibly early Victorian that had been covered up years ago.  We are also reliably informed that there was a small stone date plaque set into the front wall. Unfortunately, although we have spoken to people who remember it being there, they cannot remember the date and have no idea where it may have gone.

The origin of the unusual name 'Motygido'  is shrouded in mystery. A local legend has it that a Monk or hermit by the name of 'Gido' - possibly 'Guido' , had a dog called 'Mot' and that they either lived or roamed about in the locality. They are said to have given their names to the 2 small rivers bordering the property - names by which they are still known today. This is the only explanation known for the unusual name and it may well be correct. Interestingly, many local people and a good few others who have never heard the name before refer to it as 'Montigido', although we have never found a written record of this spelling,  it is referred to as 'Bonty Giddo' on the 1840 Tithe map..

The first record we have of Motygido is from the year 1587 when it belonged to David Thomas David ap Watkin of Nantgwynfynydd when tithe was paid to the Manor of Caerwedros.

We have found no record yet of the following one hundred and fifty years!

We next find Motygido recorded in the will of Hugh Pryce Pugh, Gentleman dated January 3rd 1722 when both Motygido and Goytre farms were left to his wife Margaret for (the remainder of) her life, and then on to John Pugh, his second son born in 1689 on Ash Wednesday - February 23rd. Hugh Pryce Pugh's first son Rees was left just a guinea and an Oak tree, as a settlement had probably already been made on his marriage.

John Pugh was the curate of Llanllwchaearn (Newquay), and at various times was also the curate at Llanarth and at Llanina. He brought some recognition to Motygido when he started his school at the farm in about 1730. Pugh kept copious notebooks recording his theological, farming and educational activities and a number of these survive to this day at the National Library of Wales. The students at his school came from a wide area, some being boarders. There may have been as few as a dozen at times and as many as thirty at others.

Pugh who was reputed to have spoken fourteen languages (surviving evidence suggests he was familiar with Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Arabic) gave a good classical education to his pupils and there are records of many of his pupils going up to both Oxford and Cambridge. It is recorded that Pugh built up an interesting classical library. Most of these books are still in existence today in private collections. 


Pugh's diaries record that in the 1740's he employed a manservant, a boy and a maidservant, all living in at the farm. The man was paid 50 shillings and 5 pence a year as well as a pair of cloth trousers and a greatcoat. The maid received 30 shillings a year and four yards of flannel, while the boy's wages were 17 shillings, an old pair of breeches and wood for clogs cut from Oak trees on the property. A labourer, John Sanders who did not live on the farm received a peck of Barley and two pence for eleven day's work.

John Pugh died on May 30th in 1763 and is buried under the family pew in Llanarth Church. J.J.Jones in Enwogion Cymru says of his place of burial:

'ond nid oes na maen na mynor yn son gair am dano. A phaham hyny? Dangosir beddau personau a siaredir amdanynt oddiar feini teg a mynor drud, ag oeddynt yn llawer llai teilwng na Mr Pugh am eu bod yn llawer llai defnyddiol. Blin fod pobl teilwng fel efe yn cael myned yn anghof, a'u coffadwriaeth yn darfod'. 

In 1781, charcoal made form the woods at Motygido was sold and delivered to Llechryd Tinplate and Iron works for a shilling a bag. Today just one or two fine old oaks remain on the property down at the bottom of the meadow.

In the 1970's, the auctioneer Arnold Rees - having been given a grant to plant peas and beans destroyed all the hedges and took down all the trees. When we bought the property in 1991, there was not a single tree or shrub taller than a Dock or a Nettle - and there were plenty of those! In the years since, we have planted hundreds of  trees and shrubs around the buildings and between the fields - grown from seeds or cuttings of local stock wherever possible. These  include, Elder,  Alder, Willow, Sallow, Aspen, Whitebeam, Maple, Sycamore,  Ash, Oak, Horse Chestnut, Rowan, Western Hemlock, Sitka Spruce, and Black, Lombardy and variegated Poplars.

There is clearly much more to learn about this fascinating old farm. This summer Moira will be carrying out further research at the National Museum. Meanwhile we invite anyone with knowledge of Motygido to contact us. We would like to be able to list all of its residents since the sixteenth century! 

The following are recorded as landowners or tenants:

1587 Landowner  David Thomas David ap Watkin

? - 1722 Landowner and tenant Hugh Pryce Pugh

1722 - ?  Margaret Pugh

? - 1763 John Pugh (Rev)

1840 - Landowner Thomas John, Tenant - Benjamin James

(  page to be completed. )

© R. Attrill