[171]. A.D. 537, Gueith Camlann in qua Arthur et Medraut corruere.—An. Cam., Chron. Picts and Scots, p. 14.
[172]. Mr. Nash, in his introduction to ‘Merlin or the Early History of King Arthur’ (Early English Text Society, 1865), makes a statement which appears to me well founded: ‘Certain it is,’ he says, ‘that there are two Celtic—we may perhaps say two Cymric—localities, in which the legends of Arthur and Merlin have been deeply implanted, and to this day remain living traditions cherished by the peasantry of these two countries, and that neither of them is Wales or Britain west of the Severn. It is in Brittany and in the old Cumbrian kingdom south of the Firth of Forth that the legends of Arthur and Merlin have taken root and flourished.’ To Cumbria, however, may be added Cornwall, where the Arthurian romance places the scene of many of its adventures; and it is rather remarkable that we should find in the second century a tribe termed Damnonii, possessing Cornwall, and a tribe of the same name occupying the ground which forms the scene of his exploits in the north.
[173]. It is usually stated by modern writers that Ida landed in 547 with a body of Angles, and founded the kingdom of Northumberland, but the older authorities give no countenance to the idea of a colony under Ida. Nennius has no hint of his having come into the island from the Continent. Bede, in the short chronicle annexed to his History, has ‘Anno 547, Ida regnare cœpit, a quo regalis Nordanhymbrorum prosapia originem tenet et duodecim annis in regno permansit.’ This statement is repeated by the Saxon Chronicle, which adds, ‘And built Bambrough, which was at first enclosed by a hedge, and afterwards by a wall,’ and by Florence of Worcester. Simeon of Durham has simply, ‘Ida rex annis regnavit xi.’ William of Malmesbury, however, connects Ida very clearly with the earlier settlements; for, after narrating how Octa and Ebissa seized the northern parts of Britain, he says, ‘Annis enim uno minus centum, Northanhimbri duces communi habitu contenti, sub imperio Cantuaritarum privatos agebant: sed non postea stetit hæc ambitionis continentia, seu quia semper in deteriora decliva est humanus animus, seu quia gens illa naturaliter inflatiores anhelat spiritus. Anno itaque Dominicæ incarnationis quingentesimo quadragesimo septimo, post mortem Hengesti sexagesimo, ducatus in regnum mutatus, regnavitque ibi primus Ida, haud dubie nobilissimus, ætate et viribus integer; verum utrum ipse per se principatum invaserit, an aliorum consensu delatum susceperit, parum definio.’ The first writer who mentions the colony is the anonymous author of the tract ‘De primo Saxonum Adventu,’ and he is copied by John Wallingford. After repeating the usual statement, ‘Ida primus rex ex Anglis cœpit regnare in Northanhymbrorum provincia,’ he adds, ‘Venerat autem Ida comite patre Eoppa cum lx. navibus ad Flamaburch, indeque boreales plagas occupans, ibidem regnavit duodecim annis.’ The statement seems to be adopted from the account of Octa and Ebissa’s colony.
[174]. These names, Bernicia and Deira, are taken from the British names of the same districts, Deifr and Byrneich. Nennius has a curious notice which shows that these Anglic kingdoms did not first arise from colonies as late as 547. He says of Soemil, four generations before Ella, ‘Ipse primus separavit Deur o Berneich.’ The race from which Ella sprang must have been some generations before in the country.
[175]. Contra illum quatuor reges Urbgen et Riderchen et Guallauc et Morcant dimicaverunt.—Gen. Nennius. The genealogy of these four kings is given in the Welsh pedigrees annexed to Nennius.—Chron. Picts and Scots, pp. 15, 16. The reader is referred to the Four Ancient Books of Wales, vol. i. pp. 336-355, for the historical poems relating to the battles fought in this war.
[176]. The Chronicle annexed to Nennius has, at 573, ‘Bellum Armterid,’ to which a later MS. adds—‘Inter filios Elifer et Gwendoleu filium Keidiau; in quo bello Gwendoleu cecidit: Merlinus insanus effectus est.’—An. Camb. A more detailed account will be found in the Proceedings of the S. A. Scot. (vol. vi. p. 91), in a notice of the site of the battle of Ardderyd. The Welsh genealogies annexed to Nennius, as well as those in the tract on the Gwyr Gogled, or men of the north (Four Ancient Books of Wales, ii. 455), show us very clearly the native and the Roman party. The former are in both documents traced to Coil Hen, who is supposed to have given his name to the district of Kyle in Ayrshire, and to them belonged both Eliffer and Gwendolew. The latter are brought by both from Dungual Hen, or the aged, but in this document he is made grandson of Maxim Guletic, or Maximus the emperor; but in the former and older account he is grandson of Ceretic Guletic, whose pedigree is traced from Confer or Cynfor, the reputed father of Constantine, who usurped the empire in 406. This Ceretic, the Guletic or leader of the North Britons, being four generations earlier than Rhydderch, must have lived in the middle of the fifth century, and I do not hesitate to identify him with the Coroticus to whom St. Patrick addressed his letter written between 432 and 493. It is addressed ‘ad Christianos Corotici Tyranni subditos.’ It is to be given to his soldiers, ‘tradenda militibus mittenda Corotici.’ He will not call them his fellow-citizens (civibus meis), St. Patrick being a native of Strathclyde—sed civibus dæmoniorum. He calls them ‘Socii Scotorum atque Pictorum apostatarum’—the Scots and the apostate Picts of this region. And again he says that his sheep have been plundered by robbers—‘jubente Corotico ... traditor Christianorum in manus Scottorum et Pictorum;’ and again that ‘ingenui homines Christiani in servitute redacti sunt, præsertim indignissimorum pessimorum apostatarumque Pictorum.’ It shows Coroticus as the Guletic, or one of the Tyranni who succeeded the Romans in command of soldiers, and in close contact with apostate Picts. This falling off of the Britons and Picts will be further illustrated in another part of this work. For a more detailed account of the Men of the North, see the Four Ancient Books of Wales, vol. i. chap. x., and the genealogical tables there given. Among the descendants of Dungual Hen will be found another grandson, Nud, also called Hael or liberal, whose son Dryan fought at Ardderyd; and at Yarrow, in the centre of the districts more especially connected with the Roman party, a stone has been found with the following inscription, part of which only can be read:
HIC MEMOR IACETI
LOIN : : : NI : : : : : :
PRINC
PE : : NVDI (LIBERALI)