Betws Garmon (1829)



1829-31 Salem, Bettws Garmon, Caernarfonshire. Account of John Davies yr Ystrad: ‘Sabbath Thomas Owen was a Sabbath never to be forgotten. The Sabbath on which the Holy Spirit was poured out extensively. That Sabbath was a kind of pentecost to the districts of Rhyd-ddu and Salem and Waunfawr and its environs. At 2 o’clock in Salem as he preached on the prayer of Jabez to a few old people, the Holy Spirit fell on them so that they broke out into great rejoicing. The maid of William Evans Cilfechydd and the servant of William Davies Waen rejoiced along the road coming from the sermon. My mother came home before me. I had stayed in Betws with a number of young people to learn something. When I came to the house, the first thing my mother said to me was, - ‘Sioncyn, you ought to have been in the chapel this afternoon to see the rejoicing!’ determined to go to Waen[fawr] in the night to see the rejoicing. I did not know what in the world rejoicing was. A whisper had gone abroad in a short time like thunder that there had been rejoicing in the chapel at 2 o’clock. All the young people went to Waen[fawr] in the night. By the time we got there the old chapel was full. The meeting began, a verse was given out to sing - no rejoicing yet. The preacher turned to his text, and started to read, Habakkuk 3:16, - ‘When I heard, my belly trembled; my lips quivered at the voice: rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in myself -.’ In the middle of the reading, the old people in the set fawr were on their feet and their hands in the air. At this rejoicing broke out throughout the whole chapel, up and down... The 1831 revival was a blessed revival. It began at the beginning of May and continued in its fervour through the summer. The revival spread to different regions. Very useful religious sons and daughters were raised by it.’ (HMA ii. 73-5)

This information was kindly provided by Geraint Jones

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