Katherine Lewis of Gumfreston, Pembrokeshire, was suspected of ‘bewitching some pigs’ in 1607.

As is typical with many accusations of witchcraft in the 17^th century, Katherine may have been guilty of nothing more than ‘wanting something over and above what was appropriate’ (Hodgman) or, in other words, getting above ‘her station’ in the patriarchal society of the time. She was reported to have called at the home of her neighbour, Elizabeth Browning, ‘having a pot with her’ and ‘seemed to seeke something’.*

Elizabeth offered some milk and begrudgingly, some flour, ‘because she feared that Katherine would do her some hurt yf she should deny her for that she was a woman suspected of witchcraft’. This suspicion and perceived malevolence is again typical of an era when neighbour disputes frequently resulted in accusations of witchcraft.

Elizabeth Browning went on to claim that Katherine had caused ‘two sows heavy with pigs (to run) about in the most straunge fashion, casting their litter’ As the ‘piglets died and the sows languished’ it is easy to imagine why a community wholly dependent on their harvests and livestock for survival, would be looking for someone to blame. Furthermore, the most obvious targets were ‘marginalised women (who) bore the brunt of the accusations; particularly elderly spinsters, widows and those living alone’.

Women living in poverty were equally vulnerable, as in the case of Katherine Lewis, whose foremost ‘crime’ appears to have been hunger. Elizabeth Browning’s version of events claims that upon being accused of bewitching the pigs, ‘Katherine Lewis fell upon her knees ‘cursing and railing’…saying that ‘she had a lyf to lose and yf he were not a witche her selfe, she would cause them that should do it’. This admission of guilt however, was contradicted by Browning’s maid who stated that ‘Katherine Lewis fell on her knees and made a solemn conditional self-curse and wished she might never enjoy any thinge yf she did any hurt unto them’ (the Brownings and their pigs).

Roedd Katherine Lewis o Gumfreston, Sir Benfro, yn cael ei hamau o fod wedi ‘melltithio gyr o foch’ yn 1607. 

Fel sy’n nodweddiadol o nifer o gyhuddiadau o ddewiniaeth yn yr ail ganrif ar bymtheg, efallai bod Katherine yn euog o nemor fwy na ‘deisyf rhywbeth oedd y tu hwnt i’r hyn oedd yn briodol’ (Hodgman) neu, mewn geiriau eraill, yn deisyfu uwchlaw ei safle yn y gymdeithas yn yr oes batriarchaidd oedd yn bodoli ar y pryd. Dywedwyd ei bod wedi galw yng nghartref ei chymydog, Elizabeth Browning, ‘â llestr yn ei llaw’ ac yn ‘ymddangos fel petai yn deisyf rhywbeth’.*

Cynigiodd Elizabeth rywfaint o laeth iddi ac, yn anfoddog, rhywfaint o flawd, ‘gan yr ofnai y byddai Katherine yn peri niwed iddi petai’n gwrthod gan mai’r gred oedd bod ganddi alluoedd goruwchnaturiol mewn dewiniaeth’. Mae’r cyfryw ddrwgdybiaeth a malais yn nodweddiadol o gyfnod pan oedd anghydfod rhwng cymdogion yn aml yn arwain at gyhuddiadau o ddewiniaeth.

Aeth Elizabeth Browning yn ei blaen i honni bod Katherine wedi peri i ‘ddwy hwch oedd ar fin esgor redeg yn wyllt mewn modd mwyaf rhyfedd gan achosi iddynt fwrw eu hepil’. Wrth i’r ‘perchyll farw a’r hychod lesgau’ mae’n hawdd dychmygu pam y byddai cymuned sy’n gwbl ddibynnol ar eu cynaeafau a’u da byw i oroesi, yn chwilio am rywun i feio. Hefyd y targedau mwyaf amlwg oedd ‘y merched ar y cyrion, a hwy oedd yn derbyn y gwaethaf o’r cyhuddiadau, yn enwedig gwragedd di-briod oedrannus, gweddwon a’r rhai oedd yn byw ar eu pennau eu hunain’. 

Roedd menywod oedd yn byw mewn tlodi yr un mor fregus, fel yn achos Katherine Lewis, ac mae’n ymddangos mai ei ‘throsedd’ oedd newynu. Mae fersiwn Elizabeth Browning o’r  digwyddiadau yn honni, ar ôl i Katherine gael ei chyhuddo o felltithio’r moch, ‘bod Katherine Lewis wedi syrthio ar ei phen-gliniau ‘yn rhegi ac yn rhefru’… a dweud ‘pe na bai’n wrach na fyddai wedi gwneud yr hyn a wnaeth’. Roedd y cyfaddefiad hwn o euogrwydd, fodd bynnag, yn cael ei wadu gan forwyn Browning a ddywedodd bod ‘Katherine Lewis wedi syrthio ar ei phen-gliniau ac wedi ei hunan-felltithio a dymuno na fyddai byth yn mwynhau unrhyw beth petai wedi gwneud unrhyw niwed i’r moch’. (y Brownings a’u moch).