Edmund Jones yw ffynhonnell llawer o’n gwybodaeth o’r tirlun, ffordd o fyw, arferion a chwedlau gwerin Blaenau Gwent cyn i’r Chwyldro Diwydiannol newid y cymoedd am bydd. Ganwyd y dyn hynod hwn yn 1702 ar fferm fechan Penllwyn yn Nantyglo. Roedd ei dad John Lewis yn ffermwr, ac yn dilyn yr arfer Cymreig cymerodd Edmund enw cyntaf ei dad fel ei gyfenw a felly daeth yn “Edmund Jones”. Cafodd ei unig addysg gan gurad Aberystryth, Howel Prosser – dyn a gymerodd ran mewn mynwent tylwyth teg.
Yn 1740, setlodd Edmund Jones ger Pontypwl a llwyddodd i godi digon o arian i adeiladu capel, a alwodd yn Ebeneser. I orffen yr adeilad, roedd yn rhaid iddo werthu ei lyfrau annwyl am £15. Am gyflog bychan iawn o £3 y flwyddyn, bu’n gwasanaethu ei gynulleidfa hyd y bu farw yn 1791 yn 90 oed.
Yn n 1906, ysgrifennodd Joseph Bradney, awdur History of Monmouthshire:
“He published several works in Welsh and in English, the chief of which are: -
Dail Pren y Bywyd, 1745
Samson’s Hair. Printed at Trevecca, 1777.
The same in Welsh, 1786.
Goleuni yr Efengyl, 1785
A RELATION OF APPARITIONS OF SPIRITS IN THE PRINCIPALITY OF WALES, MDCCLXXX.
A GEOGRAPHICAL, RELIGIOUS AND HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE PARISH OF ABERYSTRUTH, TREVECKA, 1779.
Of the last two books the former contains a collection of the most extraordinary apparitions, to all of which are assigned a divine or diabolical origin. Most of them took place in the county of Monmouth, and are thoroughly believed in by the author. The latter book is the best parochial history that had ever appeared up to that date, and contains an amount of information rarely met with in such works.
“The house in which Edmund Jones resided is called Lower Pen-tranch, and remains precisely in the same condition as when the Prophet lived there. The ground floor contains but a kitchen and a small room called the Prophet’s Study, in which he wrote his books. A circular stone stairs leads up to the bedroom floor, containing two rooms, in the smaller of which he died.”[Bradney 1906, pp.458-459]
Câi adnabod yn Sir Fynwy fel yr Hen Broffwyd oherwydd ei ddiddordeb dwfn mewn astroleg a’i ddawn o broffwydo:
“He was noted in his district for foretelling things. He would, for instance, be asked to preach at some anniversary, or quarterly meeting, and he would answer, ‘I cannot, on that day; the rain will descend in torrents, and there will be no congregation.’ He would give the last mite he possessed to the needy, and tell his wife, ‘God will send a messenger with food and raiment at nine o'clock to-morrow.’ And so it would be.”[Sikes 1880, t. 105]
Siaradai aelodau eglwys Edmund Jones bob amser amdano fel pregethwr da a dyn caredig. Er ei dlodi ei hunan, gwyddys iddo roi ei gôt fawr a’i grys i bobl dlawd a gyfarfu ar ei deithiau. Yn 1782, yn 82 oed, cerddodd 400 milltir yng Ngogledd Cymru, gan bregethu ddwywaith y dydd, bob dydd. Yn 1789, ac yntau’n 87 oed, pregethodd 405 o weithiau! Pan ymwelai â’r ffermydd lleol yn nes gartref, ai ar gefn ei ful annwyl a alwyd yn “Shoned”.
Llyfryddiaeth
Bradney, J. 1906. A History of Monmouthshire: The Hundred of Abergavenny
Cyfrol, Rhan 2b (9 cyfrol, atgynhyrchwyd Academy Books, 1992).
Sikes,Wirt. 1880. British Goblins: the Realm of Faerie (atgynhyrchwyd Llannerch 1991).
