Celtic Kingdoms of the British Isles

Votadini

The modern regional name of Lothian has its base in Goutodin (or later, Gododdin), which itself is a late British version of Votadini, the tribe which settled that area (Gododdin =Goutodin =Votadini). To the north, across the Firth of Forth, were the Venicones, who perhaps acted as an occasional buffer against the wilder Caledonians who lay beyond them.

The Firth of Forth was called Bodotria by the Romans. This was rather obviously linked to the name of the tribe that occupied its southern shore. The 'b' could indicate that at the time at which the Romans first entered the area, the Votodini name was pronounced with an initial 'v' sound instead of a 'w' sound. Also in the north, Roman Vinnovium became Binchester, another 'v' to 'b' mutation. It's rather harder to go from a 'w' to a 'b', but quite easy to slide from a 'v' to a 'b'.

This region, between Hadrian's and the Antonine Walls, was under direct Roman military rule between AD 138-162, and after that was organised as a buffer state, reaping many of the rewards of alliance with Rome, but not under its rule - undoubtedly one of the 'four kingdoms' which formed between the two Roman Walls.

(Additional information by Edward Dawson, and from The Oxford History of England: Roman Britain, Peter Salway.)

c.250 BC

The burial of an important local person takes place near Edinburgh, complete with chariot. It is the first discovery of its kind, being found close to Huly Hill, a Bronze Age burial cairn surrounded by three standing stones.

AD 80 - 82

The Roman Governor of Britain leads two invading columns into Lowland Scotland, with (probably) the Twentieth and Ninth Legions meeting up at Inveresk (near Edinburgh). The force sets up permanent garrisons in its wake. The following year the campaign continues into the territory of the Selgovae and Novantae tribes, and in AD 82 the Damnonii are contained along the western coast.

c.305

The Romanised Paternus Pasrut is, according to tradition, a fairly high ranking Romano-British official or a frontier chieftain of the Venicones who is placed in command of Votadini troops in the Clackmannanshire region of Caledonia, north of the Firth of Forth. Perhaps this placement of Votadini troops forms the grounds for the later establishment of Votadini overlordship of the Manau Gododdin following the removal of Roman authority.

5th century

With the fading of Roman central administration in Britain, it seems that regional Governors, or dux, are set up to manage the protection of the island. The province of Britannia Secunda in the north is placed under the authority of dux Brittanorum, Coel Hen at Ebrauc. It is possibly this arrangement which finally cuts the links between the southern Votadini and those to the north of Hadrian's Wall. The southern region re-emerges as part of the kingdom of Bernaccia in the early fifth century.

Goutodin (Gododdin / Lothian)

Centered on its capital of Din Eidyn (later called Edinburgh by the Angles), the kingdom could also call upon Traprain Law (Haddington in Lothian) to act as a substitute capital (this perhaps pre-dating Din Eidyn). The border of Goutodin extended less far south than the former Votadini lands, probably terminating at Berwick, a scene of later conflict with the Bernician Angles.

As a fully independent kingdom, the Goutodin were probably created out of Coel Hen's 'Kingdom of Northern Britain', as there are no rulers listed until after his powerful governance. It was his death which began the gradual division of the north, and the southern Votadini territory of Bernaccia became independent at this time. The northern Votadini territory had emerged as Goutodin by this time, and it also quickly fragmented under pressure from the later Bernician Angles. Din Eidyn itself may have survived only as a shrunken kingdom for a short time in the early seventh century. Alternatively, it seems possible that the territory was initially part of Alt Clut, as some sources show its powerful first king, Coroticus, ruling the territory.

Also of note was the area of Manau (Manaw). The Manau Gododdin were a subsidiary of the main Gododdin people who lay just beyond the Antonine Wall, around the Forth's headwaters and a natural citadel at Stirling. They probably formed part of the Venicones tribe in the first and second centuries. It is from here that Cunedda Wledig, founder of Gwynedd, migrated. Bede mentions Stirling as urbs Guidi, and this was adapted to provide the Firth of Forth with its early Welsh name of merin Iodeo, 'the sea of Iudeu'.

(Additional information from The Landscape of King Arthur, Geoffrey Ashe.)

c.390

Cunedda Wledig (the latter word is later Welsh for 'prince') and his branch of Romanised Venicones are transferred from the Manau dependency of the Goutodin kingdom, traditionally by Magnus Maximus. They are moved to the former territory of the Deceangli in western Wales to secure the region from Irish raiders, and it is here that they found the kingdom of Gwynedd.

c.470

The Goutodin seem to become fully independent around this time, possibly from the rule of Coroticus of Alt Clut (and that of his grandson). An alternative possibility is that from the time of Coel Hen up until this point they have been governed from Ebrauc.

The old ways are probably returning faster in the north than in the south, in regions more often governed by generals than magistrates, but the emerging kingdoms are probably still under the authority of men who are more Roman general than Celtic king. They are most likely regimented and authoritarian, and the ruler of Ebrauc, capital of the north, is probably recognised as being the first among equals. The Wall is still guarded, although it is rarely needed as a boundary marker, given that the people of Alt Clut and Goutodin on the other side are now reliable allies.

c.470 - c.490

Lot / Lludd / Lewdwn / Luddoc / Leudonus

King of Gododdin. First independent king?

King Lot of the Host should not be confused with Llew ap Cynfarch, king of Caer-Guendoleu. He is able to trace his (fairly obscure) lineage back to High King Caradog, king of the Catuvellauni. He rules the Goutodin from Traprain Law, its traditional capital.

c.490 - c.510

Gawain / Gwalchmai / Gwalltafwyn

Son (the Gawain of the Green Knight story).

c.490

Gawain appears to rule Goutodin from a distance, being found first in Rheged and then in Wales (although his appearance in the latter region may only be attributed to him by the bards who bring the stories of the Men of the North with them to Mervyn Frach's new court at Gwynedd in 825). He is also the hero of the medieval tale Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. His apparent absence either allows Bran Hen of Bernaccia to take control, or the care of the kingdom is passed to him by Gawain.

c.510 - c.560

Bran Hen (the Old)

c.500 - 540?

Morgan Bulc accedes to the kingship of Bernaccia, apparently at young age, when his childless uncle, Bran Hen, dies (or perhaps hands the kingdom to him from his own apparent base in Goutodin).

547

To the south, the British kingdom of Bernaccia is seized by the Angles who have been serving as laeti and the ruling king, Morgan Bulc is forced out. He takes refuge with the Goutodin, shifting his power base to the immediate north of his own former kingdom, and becomes its ruler after Gawain absents the kingdom.

c.560 - al.590

Morcant / Morgan Bulc (Thunderbolt)

Last British king of Bernaccia. Mentioned in 579 & 586.

Coledauc / Clydog

Son. Possibly confused with Cynan.

590

Elmet and Rheged form a confederation of British kings, primarily based and operating in the North. Morcant Bulc and Riderch Hael of Alt Clut both join the confederation in operations against the Angles, and are present at the siege of Ynys Metcaut (Lindisfarne) in this year. The Bernicians are almost driven out of Britain but the confederation falls apart when Morcant has Urien Rheged assassinated, fearing his great power should the Britons win the war against the invaders. His act fatally weakens the British cause in the North.

Following the defeat and the disappearance of Morcant (he is not mentioned again, even as a ruler of Goutodin, so it is possible that he is killed either by Rheged or by the Bernicians. The final two British kings of the Goutodin appear to rule simultaneously, one claiming Lothian and the other Din Eidyn. As the latter may have been the capital of Lothian, is Mynyddog, with all his wealth, the overlord of the entire region, or has it been divided equally between the two men, perhaps east and west Lothian?

fl c.597

Cynan

King of Lothian. Fought Bernician Angles at Catreath.

Morcant

Son of Coledauc.

fl c.597

Mynyddog Mwynfawr (the Wealthy)

King of Din Eidyn. Fought Bernician Angles at Catreath.

Gwawrddur

Welsh form of Arthur, one of many 6th century princes named so.

c.597

The Gododdin is a long series of elegies composed from the early seventh century onwards, principally by Aneirin, son of Dunaut of Dunoting. It commemorates a force of Britons who assemble near Edinburgh at this time in preparation for facing their powerful foe. It includes not only the still-wealthy and aggressively powerful Goutodin themselves, but warriors from all over the country, including 'three chiefs of Novant', clearly the nearby Novantae in post-Roman form. This force marches south to fight the Angles at Catreath (generally accepted as being modern Catterick, approximately eighty kilometres north of Ebrauc). It seems strange that they should march past Bamburgh on their way, the capital of the early Bernician kingdom, but perhaps not if they are making an attempt to reclaim the lost capital of the North, Ebrauc.

The battle seems to take place during an attack against the Roman fort near the strategic road junction now called Scotch Corner, by the south bank of the Swale at Catterick Bridge. Gwawrddur is praised for 'glutting black ravens on the wall of the fort, though he was not Arthur' (a term used to denote great slaughter of the enemy, but even so this warrior is still not a match for Britain's heroic battle leader of the previous century). Ultimately, the battle is a disaster for the Britons. The flower of the Northern British warrior class is decimated by the superior numbers of the Bernicians. Goutodin, as well as the other kingdoms of the north, probably including Elmet, are all fatally weakened by the defeat.

638

The events of around 597, as chronicled in the Gododdin, sound the death knell for the kingdom. Fatally weakened by this, and following the battle of Glenn Muiresan and the besieging of Din Eidyn, it apparently falls, overrun by Bernicia. The Northumbrians rule it directly until 671, when a sub-kingdom, Dunbar, is formed.

Dunbar

This was a short-lived Northumbrian sub-kingdom formed in the territories of the former Lothian kingdom after the reign of Oswiu. In Votadini-British, the name Dunbar translates roughly as fort on the height. It was probably part of the Northumbrian effort to conquer and colonise southern Pictland, much of which they held for thirty years from about 655. It eventually came to nothing, probably weakened by the deaths of its successive rulers at the hands of the Picts.

671 - 685

Beornheth

685

Attempting to consolidate thirty years of occupation in southern Pictland, Ecgfrith of Northumbria leads a huge army against the Picts at the Battle of Nechtansmere, probably including forces from Dunbar amongst his army. The Picts defeat them and massacre the entire army including Ecgfrith, and proceed to clear Pictland of the remaining Northumbrians who have settled there, killing or enslaving them.

685 - 698

Beorhtred

Killed by Brude of Pictland?

698 - 711

Beorhtfrith

Killed at Manaw by the Picts?

711

Nechtan of the Picts tries to befriend the Northumbrians. They send a war party under the leadership of Beorhtfrith, King Osred's chief ealdorman and a battle is fought on the Moor of Mannand (Manaw, near the Firth of Forth). The battle results in heavy losses on both sides, and no recorded victory.

711 - 875

Dunbar may survive past this date, but eventually it loses its semi-independence and is subsumed within Northumbria.

875 - 954

Northumbria is overrun by the Scandinavian kingdom of York.

954 - c.975

England is united under one Anglo-Saxon king, and the region is governed by an English lord.

c.975 - 1296

The Goutodin territories become part of the Scottish crown.