{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_1972/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_1972","id":"gutenberg_1972","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1972","summary":null,"tags":["Arthurian Legends","Britons","Category: History - British","Category: History - Medieval/Middle Ages","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Great Britain -- History -- Roman period, 55 B.C.-449 A.D."],"text":"Produced by Bert Olton and David Widger\n\n\n\n\n\nHISTORY OF THE BRITONS (HISTORIA BRITTONUM)\n\n\nby Nennius\n\n\nTranslated by J. A. Giles\n\n\n\n\nI. THE PROLOGUE.\n\n\n1. Nennius, the lowly minister and servant of the servants of God, by\nthe grace of God, disciple of St. Elbotus,* to all the followers of\ntruth sendeth health.\n\n     * Or Elvod, bishop of Bangor, A.D. 755, who first adopted in\n     the Cambrian church the new cycle for regulating Easter.\n\nBe it known to your charity, that being dull in intellect and rude of\nspeech, I have presumed to deliver these things in the Latin tongue, not\ntrusting to my own learning, which is little or none at all, but partly\nfrom traditions of our ancestors, partly from writings and monuments\nof the ancient inhabitants of Britain, partly from the annals of the\nRomans, and the chronicles of the sacred fathers, Isidore, Hieronymus,\nProsper, Eusebius, and from the histories of the Scots and Saxons,\nalthough our enemies, not following my own inclinations, but, to the\nbest of my ability, obeying the commands of my seniors; I have lispingly\nput together this history from various sources, and have endeavored,\nfrom shame, to deliver down to posterity the few remaining ears of corn\nabout past transactions, that they might not be trodden under foot,\nseeing that an ample crop has been snatched away already by the hostile\nreapers of foreign nations. For many things have been in my way, and I,\nto this day, have hardly been able to understand, even superficially, as\nwas necessary, the sayings of other men; much less was I able in my own\nstrength, but like a barbarian, have I murdered and defiled the\nlanguage of others. But I bore about with me an inward wound, and I\nwas indignant, that the name of my own people, formerly famous and\ndistinguished, should sink into oblivion, and like smoke be dissipated.\nBut since, however, I had rather myself be the historian of the Britons\nthan nobody, although so many are to be found who might much more\nsatisfactorily discharge the labour thus imposed on me; I humbly entreat\nmy readers, whose ears I may offend by the inelegance of my words, that\nthey will fulfil the wish of my seniors, and grant me the easy task of\nlistening with candour to my history. For zealous efforts very often\nfail: but bold enthusiasm, were it in its power, would not suffer me to\nfail. May, therefore, candour be shown where the inelegance of my words\nis insufficient, and may the truth of this history, which my rustic\ntongue has ventured, as a kind of plough, to trace out in furrows, lose\nnone of its influence from that cause, in the ears of my hearers. For it\nis better to drink a wholesome draught of truth from the humble vessel,\nthan poison mixed with honey from a golden goblet.\n\n2. And do not be loath, diligent reader, to winnow my chaff, and lay up\nthe wheat in the storehouse of your memory: for truth regards not who\nis the speaker, nor in what manner it is spoken, but that the thing be\ntrue; and she does not despise the jewel which she has rescued from the\nmud, but she adds it to her former treasures.\n\nFor I yield to those who are greater and more eloquent than myself, who,\nkindled with generous ardour, have endeavoured by Roman eloquence to\nsmooth the jarring elements of their tongue, if they have left unshaken\nany pillar of history which I wished to see remain. This history\ntherefore has been compiled from a wish to benefit my inferiors, not\nfrom envy of those who are superior to me, in the 858th year of our\nLord's incarnation, and in the 24th year of Mervin, king of the Britons,\nand I hope that the prayers of my betters will be offered up for me in\nrecompence of my labour. But this is sufficient by way of preface. I\nshall obediently accomplish the rest to the utmost of my power.\n\n\n\n\nII. THE APOLOGY OF NENNIUS\n\n\n\nHere begins the apology of Nennius, the historiographer of the Britons,\nof the race of the Britons.\n\n3. I, Nennius, disciple of St. Elbotus, have endeavoured to write some\nextracts which the dulness of the British nation had cast away, because\nteachers had no knowledge, nor gave any information in their books about\nthis island of Britain. But I have got together all that I could find as\nwell from the annals of the Romans as from the chronicles of the sacred\nfathers, Hieronymus, Eusebius, Isidorus, Prosper, and from the annals of\nthe Scots and Saxons, and from our ancient traditions. Many teachers\nand scribes have attempted to write this, but somehow or other have\nabandoned it from its difficulty, either on account of frequent deaths,\nor the often recurring calamities of war. I pray that every reader\nwho shall read this book, may pardon me, for having attempted, like a\nchattering jay, or like some weak witness, to write these things, after\nthey had failed. I yield to him who knows more of these things than I\ndo.\n\n\n\n\nIII. THE HISTORY.\n\n\n\n4, 5. From Adam to the flood, are two thousand and forty-two years. From\nthe flood of Abraham, nine hundred and forty-two. From Abraham to Moses,\nsix hundred.* From Moses to Solomon, and the first building of the\ntemple, four hundred and forty-eight. From Solomon to the rebuilding of\nthe temple, which was under Darius, king of the Persians, six hundred\nand twelve years are computed. From Darius to the ministry of our Lord\nJesus Christ, and to the fifteenth year of the emperor Tiberius, are\nfive hundred and forty-eight years. So that from Adam to the ministry of\nChrist and the fifteenth year of the emperor Tiberius, are five thousand\ntwo hundred and twenty-eight years. From the passion of Christ are\ncompleted nine hundred and forty-six; from his incarnation, nine hundred\nand seventy-six: being the fifth year of Edmund, king of the Angles.\n\n     * And forty, according to Stevenson's new edition.  The rest\n     of this chronology is much contracted in several of the\n     manuscripts, and hardly two of them contain it exactly the\n     same.\n\n6. The first age of the world is from Adam to Noah; the second from Noah\nto Abraham; the third from Abraham to David; the fourth from David\nto Daniel; the fifth to John the Baptist; the sixth from John to the\njudgment, when our Lord Jesus Christ will come to judge the living and\nthe dead, and the world by fire.\n\n     The first Julius.\n     The second Claudius.\n     The third Severus.\n     The fourth Carinus.\n     The fifth Constantius.\n     The sixth Maximus.\n     The seventh Maximianus.\n     The eighth another Severus Aequantius.\n     The ninth Constantius.*\n\n\n     * This list of the Roman emperors who visited Britain, is\n     omitted in many of the MSS.\n\nHere beginneth the history of the Britons, edited by Mark the anchorite,\na holy bishop of that people.\n\n7. The island of Britain derives its name from Brutus, a Roman consul.\nTaken from the south-west point it inclines a little towards the west,\nand to its northern extremity measures eight hundred miles, and is in\nbreadth two hundred. It contains thirty three cities,(1) viz.\n\n     1. Cair ebrauc (York).\n     2. Cair ceint (Canterbury).\n     3. Cair gurcoc (Anglesey?).\n     4. Cair guorthegern (2)\n     5. Cair custeint (Carnarvon).\n     6. Cair guoranegon (Worcester).\n     7. Cair segeint (Silchester).\n     8. Cair guin truis (Norwich, or Winwick).\n     9. Cair merdin (Caermarthen).\n     10. Cair peris (Porchester).\n     11. Cair lion (Caerleon-upon-Usk).\n     12. Cair mencipit (Verulam).\n     13. Cair caratauc (Catterick).\n     14. Cair ceri (Cirencester).\n     15. Cair glout (Gloucester).\n     16. Cair luillid (Carlisle).\n     17. Cair grant (Grantchester, now Cambridge).\n     18. Cair daun (Doncaster), or Cair dauri (Dorchester).\n     19. Cair britoc (Bristol).\n     20. Cair meguaid (Meivod).\n     21. Cair mauiguid (Manchester).\n     22. Cair ligion (Chester).\n     23. Cair guent (Winchester, or Caerwent, in Monmouthshire).\n     24. Cair collon (Colchester, or St. Colon, Cornwall).\n     25. Cair londein (London).\n     26. Cair guorcon (Worren, or Woran, in Pembrokeshire).\n     27. Cair lerion (Leicester).\n     28. Cair draithou (Drayton).\n     29. Cair pensavelcoit (Pevensey, in Sussex).\n     30. Cairtelm (Teyn-Grace, in Devonshire).\n     31. Cair Urnahc (Wroxeter, in Shropshire).\n     32. Cair colemion (Camelet, in Somersetshire).\n     33. Cair loit coit (Lincoln).\n     (1) V.R. Twenty-eight, twenty-one.\n     (2) Site unknown.\n\nThese are the names of the ancient cities of the island of Britain. It\nhas also a vast many promontories, and castles innumerable, built of\nbrick and stone. Its inhabitants consist of four different people; the\nScots, the Picts, the Saxons and the ancient Britons.\n\n8. Three considerable islands belong to it; one, on the south, opposite\nthe Armorican shore, called Wight;* another between Ireland and Britain,\ncalled Eubonia or Man; and another directly north, beyond the Picts,\nnamed Orkney; and hence it was anciently a proverbial expression, in\nreference to its kings and rulers, \"He reigned over Britain and its\nthree islands.\"\n\n     * Inis-gueith, or Gueith.\n\n6. It is fertilized by several rivers, which traverse it in all\ndirections, to the east and west, to the south and north; but there\nare two pre-eminently distinguished among the rest, the Thames and the\nSevern, which formerly, like the two arms of Britain, bore the ships\nemployed in the conveyance of riches acquired by commerce. The Britons\nwere once very populous, and exercised extensive dominion from sea to\nsea.\n\n10.* Respecting the period when this island became inhabited\nsubsequently to the flood, I have seen two distinct relations. According\nto the annals of the Roman history, the Britons deduce their origin both\nfrom the Greeks and Romans. On the side of the mother, from Lavinia, the\ndaughter of Latinus, king of Italy, and of the race of Silvanus, the son\nof Inachus, the son of Dardanus; who was the son of Saturn, king of the\nGreeks, and who, having possessed himself of a part of Asia, built the\ncity of Troy. Dardanus was the father of Troius, who was the father\nof Priam and Anchises; Anchises was the father of Aeneas, who was the\nfather of Ascanius and Silvius; and this Silvius was the son of Aeneas\nand Lavinia, the daughter of the king of Italy. From the sons of Aeneas\nand Lavinia descended Romulus and Remus, who were the sons of the\nholy queen Rhea, and the founders of Rome. Brutus was consul when\nhe conquered Spain, and reduced that country to a Roman province. He\nafterwards subdued the island of Britain, whose inhabitants were\nthe descendants of the Romans, from Silvius Posthumus. He was called\nPosthumus because he was born after the death of Aeneas his father; and\nhis mother Lavinia concealed herself during her pregnancy; he was called\nSilvius, because he was born in a wood. Hence the Roman kings were\ncalled Silvan, and the Britons from Brutus, and rose from the family of\nBrutus.\n\n     * The whole of this, as far as the end of the paragraph, is\n     omitted in several MSS.\n\nAeneas, after the Trojan war, arrived with his son in Italy; and Having\nvanquished Turnus, married Lavinia, the daughter of king Latinus, who\nwas the son of Faunus, the son of Picus, the son of Saturn. After the\ndeath of Latinus, Aeneas obtained the kingdom Of the Romans, and Lavinia\nbrought forth a son, who was named Silvius. Ascanius founded Alba, and\nafterwards married. And Lavinia bore to Aeneas a son, named Silvius;\nbut Ascanius (1) married a wife, who conceived and became pregnant.\nAnd Aeneas, having been informed that his daughter-in-law was pregnant,\nordered his son to send his magician to examine his wife, whether the\nchild conceived were male or female. The magician came and examined the\nwife and pronounced it to be a son, who should become the most valiant\namong the Italians, and the most beloved of all men. (2) In consequence\nof this prediction, the magician was put to death by Ascanius; but it\nhappened that the mother of the child dying at its birth, he was named\nBrutus; ad after a certain interval, agreeably to what the magician had\nforetold, whilst he was playing with some others he shot his father with\nan arrow, not intentionally but by accident. (3) He was, for this cause,\nexpelled from Italy, and came to the islands of the Tyrrhene sea, when\nhe was exiled on account of the death of Turnus, slain by Aeneas. He\nthen went among the Gauls, and built the city of the Turones, called\nTurnis. (4) At length he came to this island named from him Britannia,\ndwelt there, and filled it with his own descendants, and it has been\ninhabited from that time to the present period.\n\n     (1) Other MSS. Silvius.\n\n     (2) V.R. Who should slay his father and mother, and be hated\n     by all mankind.\n\n     (3) V.R. He displayed such superiority among his play-\n     fellows, that they seemed to consider him as their chief.\n\n     (4) Tours.\n\n11. Aeneas reigned over the Latins three years; Ascanius thirty\nthree years; after whom Silvius reigned twelve years, and Posthumus\nthirty-nine * years: the latter, from whom the kings of Alba are called\nSilvan, was brother to Brutus, who governed Britain at the time Eli the\nhigh-priest judged Israel, and when the ark of the covenant was taken by\na foreign people. But Posthumus his brother reigned among the Latins. *\nV.R. Thirty-seven.\n\n12. After an interval of not less than eight hundred years, came the\nPicts, and occupied the Orkney Islands: whence they laid waste many\nregions, and seized those on the left hand side of Britain, where they\nstill remain, keeping possession of a third part of Britain to this\nday. *\n\n     * See Bede's Eccles. Hist.\n\n13. Long after this, the Scots arrived in Ireland from Spain. The first\nthat came was Partholomus,(1) with a thousand men and women; these\nincreased to four thousand; but a mortality coming suddenly upon them,\nthey all perished in one week. The second was Nimech, the son of...,(2)\nwho, according to report, after having been at sea a year and a half,\nand having his ships shattered, arrived at a port in Ireland, and\ncontinuing there several years, returned at length with his followers\nto Spain. After these came three sons of a Spanish soldier with thirty\nships, each of which contained thirty wives; and having remained there\nduring the space of a year, there appeared to them, in the middle of the\nsea, a tower of glass, the summit of which seemed covered with men, to\nwhom they often spoke, but received no answer. At length they determined\nto besiege the tower; and after a year's preparation, advanced towards\nit, with the whole number of their ships, and all the women, one ship\nonly excepted, which had been wrecked, and in which were thirty men,\nand as many women; but when all had disembarked on the shore which\nsurrounded the tower, the sea opened and swallowed them up. Ireland,\nhowever, was peopled, to the present period, from the family remaining\nin the vessel which was wrecked. Afterwards, other came from Spain, and\npossessed themselves of various parts of Britain.\n\n     (1) V.R. Partholomaeus, or Bartholomaeus.\n\n     (2) A blank is here in the MS.  Agnomen is found in some of\n     the others.\n\n14. Last of all came one Hoctor,(1) who continued there, and whose\ndescendants remain there to this day. Istoreth, the son of Istorinus,\nwith his followers, held Dalrieta; Buile had the island Eubonia, and\nother adjacent places. The sons of Liethali(2) obtained the country of\nthe dimetae, where is a city called Menavia,(3) and the province Guiher\nand Cetgueli, (4) which they held till they were expelled from every\npart of Britain, by Cunedda and his sons.\n\n     (1) V.R. Damhoctor, Clamhoctor, and Elamhoctor.\n\n     (2) V.R. Liethan, Bethan, Vethan.\n\n     (3) St. David's.\n\n     (4) Guiher, probably the Welsh district Gower.  Cetgueli is\n     Caer Kidwelly, in Carmarthenshire.\n\n15. According to the most learned among the Scots, if any one desires\nto learn what I am now going to state, Ireland was a desert, and\nuninhabited, when the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, in which,\nas we read in the Book of the Law, the Egyptians who followed them were\ndrowned. At that period, there lived among this people, with a numerous\nfamily, a Scythian of noble birth, who had been banished from his\ncountry and did not go to pursue the people of God. The Egyptians who\nwere left, seeing the destruction of the great men of their nation, and\nfearing lest he should possess himself of their territory, took counsel\ntogether, and expelled him. Thus reduced, he wandered forty-two years in\nAfrica, and arrived, with his family, at the altars of the Philistines,\nby the Lake of Osiers. Then passing between Rusicada and the hilly\ncountry of Syria, they travelled by the river Malva through Mauritania\nas far as the Pillars of Hercules; and crossing the Tyrrhene Sea, landed\nin Spain, where they continued many years, having greatly increased and\nmultiplied. Thence, a thousand and two years after the Egyptians were\nlost in the Red Sea, they passed into Ireland, and the district of\nDalrieta.* At that period, Brutus, who first exercised the consular\noffice, reigned over the Romans; and the state, which before was\ngoverned by regal power, was afterwards ruled, during four hundred and\nforty-seven years, by consuls, tribunes of the people, and dictators.\n\n     * North-western part of Antrim in Ulster.\n\nThe Britons came to Britain in the third age of the world; and in the\nfourth, the Scots took possession of Ireland.\n\nThe Britons who, suspecting no hostilities, were unprovided with the\nmeans of defence, were unanimously and incessantly attacked, both by the\nScots from the west, and by the Picts from the north. A long interval\nafter this, the Romans obtained the empire of the world.\n\n16. From the first arrival of the Saxons into Britain, to the fourth\nyear of king Mermenus, are computed four hundred and twenty eight years;\nfrom the nativity of our Lord to the coming of St. Patrick among the\nScots, four hundred and five years; from the death of St. Patrick to\nthat of St. Bridget, forty years; and from the birth of Columeille(1) to\nthe death of St Bridget four years.(2)\n\n     (1) V.R. Columba.\n\n     (2) Some MSS. add, the beginning of the calculation is 23\n     cycles of 19 years from the incarnation of our Lord to the\n     arrival of St. Patrick in Ireland, and they make 438 years.\n     And from the arrival of St. Patrick to the cycle of 19 years\n     in which we live are 22 cycles, which make 421 years.\n\n17. I have learned another account of this Brutus from the ancient books\nof our ancestors.* After the deluge, the three sons of Noah severally\noccupied three different parts of the earth: Shem extended his borders\ninto Asia, Ham into Africa, and Japheth in Europe.\n\n     * This proves the tradition of Brutus to be older than\n     Geoffrey or Tyssilio, unless these notices of Brutus have\n     been interpolated in the original work of Nennius.\n\nThe first man that dwelt in Europe was Alanus, with his three sons,\nHisicion, Armenon, and Neugio. Hisicion had four sons, Francus, Romanus,\nAlamanus, and Brutus. Armenon had five sons, Gothus, Valagothus,\nCibidus, Burgundus, and Longobardus. Neugio had three sons, Vandalus,\nSaxo, and Boganus. From Hisicion arose four nations--the Franks, the\nLatins, the Germans, and Britons: from Armenon, the Gothi, Balagothi,\nCibidi, Burgundi, and Longobardi: from Neugio, the Bogari, Vandali,\nSaxones, and Tarinegi. The whole of Europe was subdivided into these\ntribes.\n\nAlanus is said to have been the son of Fethuir;* Fethuir, the son of\nOgomuin, who was the son of Thoi; Thoi was the son of Boibus, Boibus\nof Semion, Semion of Mair, Mair of Ecthactus, Ecthactus of Aurthack,\nAurthack of Ethec, Ethec of Ooth, Ooth of Aber, Aber of Ra, Ra of Esraa,\nEsraa of Hisrau, Hisrau of Bath, Bath of Jobath, Jobath of Joham, Joham\nof Japheth, Japheth of Noah, Noah of Lamech, Lamech of Mathusalem,\nMathusalem of Enoch, Enoch of Jared, Jared of Malalehel, Malalehel of\nCainan, Cainan of Enos, Enos of Seth, Seth of Adam, and Adam was formed\nby the living God. We have obtained this information respecting the\noriginal inhabitants of Britain from ancient tradition.\n\n     * This genealogy is different in almost all the MSS.\n\n18. The Britons were thus called from Brutus: Brutus was the son of\nHisicion, Hisicion was the son of Alanus, Alanus was the son of Rhea\nSilvia, Fhea Silvia was the daughter of Numa Pompilius, Numa was the son\nof Ascanius, Ascanius of Eneas, Eneas of Anchises, Anchises of Troius,\nTroius of Dardanus, Dardanus of Flisa, Flisa of Juuin, Juuin of Japheth;\nbut Japheth had seven sons; from the first named Gomer, descended the\nGalli; from the second, Magog, the Scythi and Gothi; from the third,\nMadian, the Medi; from the fourth, Juuan, the Greeks; from the fifth,\nTubal, arose the Hebrei, Hispani, and Itali; from the sixth, Mosoch,\nsprung the Cappadoces; and from the seventh, named Tiras, descended\nthe Thraces: these are the sons of Japheth, the son of Noah, the son of\nLamech.\n\n19.* The Romans, having obtained the dominion of the world, sent legates\nor deputies to the Britons to demand of them hostages and tribute, which\nthey received from all other countries and islands; but they, fierce,\ndisdainful, and haughty, treated the legation with contempt.\n\n     * Some MSS. add, I will now return to the point from which I\n     made this digression.\n\nThen Julius Caesar, the first who had acquired absolute power at Rome,\nhighly incensed against the Britons, sailed with sixty vessels to the\nmouth of the Thames, where they suffered shipwreck whilst he fought\nagainst Dolobellus, (the proconsul of the British king, who was called\nBelinus, and who was the son of Minocannus who governed all the islands\nof the Tyrrhene Sea), and thus Julius Caesar returned home without\nvictory, having had his soldiers Slain, and his ships shattered.\n\n20. But after three years he again appeared with a large army, and three\nhundred ships, at the mouth of the Thames, where he renewed hostilities.\nIn this attempt many of his soldiers and horses were killed; for the\nsame consul had placed iron pikes in the shallow part of the river, and\nthis having been effected with so much skill and secrecy as to escape\nthe notice of the Roman soldiers, did them considerable injury; thus\nCaesar was once more compelled to return without peace or victory. The\nRomans were, therefore, a third time sent against the Britons; and under\nthe command of Julius, defeated them near a place called Trinovantum\n(London), forty-seven years before the birth of Christ, and five\nthousand two hundred and twelve years from the creation.\n\nJulius was the first exercising supreme power over the Romans who\ninvaded Britain: in honour of him the Romans decreed the fifth month to\nbe called after his name. He was assassinated in the Curia, in the ides\nof March, and Octavius Augustus succeeded to the empire of the world. He\nwas the only emperor who received tribute from the Britons, according\nto the following verse of Virgil: \"Purpurea intexti tollunt aulaea\nBritanni.\"\n\n21. The second after him, who came into Britain, was the emperor\nClaudius, who reigned forty-seven years after the birth of Christ. He\ncarried with him war and devastation; and, though not without loss of\nmen, he at length conquered Britain. He next sailed to the Orkneys,\nwhich he likewise conquered, and afterwards rendered tributary. No\ntribute was in his time received from the Britons; but it was paid\nto British emperors. He reigned thirteen years and eight months. His\nmonument is to be seen at Moguntia (among the Lombards), where he died\nin his way to Rome.\n\n22. After the birth of Christ, one hundred and sixty-seven years, king\nLucius, with all the chiefs of the British people, received baptism,\nin consequence of a legation sent by the Roman emperors and pope\nEvaristus.*\n\n     * V.R. Eucharistus.  A marginal note in the Arundel MS.\n     adds, \"He is wrong, because the first year of Evaristus was\n     A.D. 79, whereas the first year of Eleutherius, whom he\n     ought to have named, was A.D. 161.\"  Usher says, that in one\n     MS. of Nennius he found the name of Eleutherius.\n\n23. Severus was the third emperor who passed the sea to Britain, where,\nto protect the provinces recovered from barbaric incursions, he ordered\na wall and a rampart to be made between the Britons, the Scots, and\nthe Picts, extending across the island from sea to sea, in length one\nhundred and thirty-three miles: and it is called in the British language\nGwal.* Moreover, he ordered it to be made between the Britons, and the\nPicts and Scots; for the Scots from the west, and the Picts from the\nnorth, unanimously made war against the Britons; but were at peace among\nthemselves. Not long after Severus dies in Britain.\n\n     *Or, the Wall.  One MS. here adds, \"The above-mentioned\n     Severus constructed it of rude workmanship in length 132\n     miles; i.e. from Penguaul, which village is called in\n     Scottish Cenail, in English Peneltun, to the mouth of the\n     river Cluth and Cairpentaloch, where this wall terminates;\n     but it was of no avail.  The emperor Carausius afterwards\n     rebuilt it, and fortified it with seven castles between the\n     two mouths: he built also a round house of polished stones\n     on the banks of the river Carun (Carron): he likewise\n     erected a triumphal arch, on which he inscribed his own name\n     in memory of his victory.\"\n\n24. The fourth was the emperor and tyrant, Carausius, who, incensed at\nthe murder of Severus, passed into Britain, and attended by the leaders\nof the Roman people, severely avenged upon the chiefs and rulers of the\nBritons, the cause of Severus.*\n\n     * This passage is corrupt, the meaning is briefly given in\n     the translation.\n\n25. The fifth was Constantius the father of Constantine the Great. He\ndied in Britain; his sepulchre, as it appears by the inscription on his\ntomb, is still seen near the city named Cair segont (near Carnarvon).\nUpon the pavement of the above-mentioned city he sowed three seeds of\ngold, silver and brass, that no poor person might ever be found in it.\nIt is also called Minmanton.*\n\n     * V.R. Mirmantum, Mirmantun, Minmanto, Minimantone.  The\n     Segontium of Antoninus, situated on a small river named\n     Seiont, near Carnarvon.\n\n26. Maximianus(1) was the sixth emperor that ruled in Britain. It was in\nhis time that consuls(2) began, and that the appellation of Caesar was\ndiscontinued: at this period also, St. Martin became celebrated for his\nvirtues and miracles, and held a conversation with him.\n\n     (1) This is an inaccuracy of Nennius; Maximus and Maximianus\n     were one and the same person; or rather no such person as\n     Maximianus ever reigned in Britain. (2) Geoffrey of Monmouth\n     gives the title of consul to several British generals who\n     lived after this time.  It is not unlikely that the town,\n     name, and dignity, still lingered in the provinces after the\n     Romans were gone, particularly as the cities of Britain\n     maintained for a time a species of independence.\n\n27. The seventh emperor was Maximus. He withdrew from Britain with all\nhis military force, slew Gratian, the king of the Romans, and obtained\nthe sovereignty of all Europe. Unwilling to send back his warlike\ncompanions to their wives, children, and possessions in Britain, he\nconferred upon them numerous districts from the lake on the summit of\nMons Jovis, to the city called Cant Guic, and to the western Tumulus,\nthat is, to Cruc Occident.* These are the Armoric Britons, and they\nremain there to the present day. In consequence of their absence,\nBritain being overcome by foreign nations, the lawful heirs were cast\nout, till God interposed with his assistance. We are informed by the\ntradition of our ancestors that seven emperors went into Britain, though\nthe Romans affirm there were nine.\n\n     * This district, in modern language, extended from the great\n     St. Bernard in Piedmont to Cantavic in Picardy, and from\n     Picardy to the western coast of France.\n\n28. Thus, aggreeably to the account given by the Britons, the Romans\ngoverned them four hundred and nine years.\n\nAfter this, the Britons despised the authority of the Romans, equally\nrefusing to pay them tribute, or to receive their kings; nor durst the\nRomans any longer attempt the government of a country, the natives of\nwhich massacred their deputies.\n\n29. We must now return to the tyrant Maximus. Gratian, with his brother\nValentinian, reigned seven years. Ambrose, bishop of Milan, was then\neminent for his skill in the dogmata of the Catholics. Valentinianus\nand Theodosius reigned eight years. At that time a synod was held at\nConstantinople, attended by three hundred and fifty of the fathers,\nand in which all heresies were condemned. Jerome, the presbyter of\nBethlehem, was then universally celebrated. Whilst Gratian exercised\nsupreme dominion over the world, Maximus, in a sedition of the soldiers,\nwas saluted emperor in Britain, and soon after crossed the sea to Gaul.\nAt Paris, by the treachery of Mellobaudes, his master of the horse,\nGratian was defeated and fleeing to Lyons, was taken and put to death;\nMaximus afterwards associated his son victor in the government.\n\nMartin, distinguished for his great virtues, was at this period bishop\nof Tours. After a considerable space of time, Maximus was divested of\nroyal power by the consuls Valentinianus and Theodosius, and sentenced\nto be beheaded at the third mile-stone from Aquileia: in the same year\nalso his son Victor was killed in Gaul by Arbogastes, five thousand six\nhundred and ninety years from the creation of the world.\n\n30. Thrice were the Roman deputies put to death by the Britons, and yet\nthese, when harassed by the incursions of the barbarous nations, viz. Of\nthe Scots and Picts, earnestly solicited the aid of the Romans. To\ngive effect to their entreaties, ambassadors were sent, who made their\nentrance with impressions of deep sorrow, having their heads covered\nwith dust, and carrying rich presents, to expiate the murder of the\ndeputies. They were favourably received by the consuls, and swore\nsubmission to the Roman yoke, with whatever severity it might be\nimposed.\n\nThe Romans, therefore, came with a powerful army to the assistance of\nthe Britons; and having appointed over them a ruler, and settled the\ngovernment, returned to Rome: and this took place alternately during the\nspace of three hundred and forty-eight years. The Britons, however, from\nthe oppression of the empire, again massacred The Roman deputies,\nand again petitioned for succour. Once more the Romans undertook\nthe government of the Britons, and assisted them in repelling their\nneighbours; and, after having exhausted the country of its gold, silver,\nbrass, honey, and costly vestments, and having besides received rich\ngifts, they returned in great triumph to Rome.\n\n31. After the above-said war between the Britons and Romans, the\nassassination of their rulers, and the victory of Maximus, who slew\nGratian, and the termination of the Roman power in Britain, they were in\nalarm forty years.\n\nVortigern then reigned in Britain. In his time, the natives had cause of\ndread, not only from the inroads of the Scots and Picts, but also from\nthe Romans, and their apprehensions of Ambrosius.*\n\n     * These words relate evidently to some cause of dispute\n     between the Romans, Ambrosius, and Vortigern.  Vortigern is\n     said to have been sovereign of the Dimetae, and Ambrosius\n     son to the king of the Damnonii.  The latter was half a\n     Roman by descent, and naturally supported the Roman\n     interest: the former was entirely a Briton, and as naturally\n     seconded by the original Britons.\n\nIn the meantime, three vessels, exiled from Germany, arrived in\nBritain. They were commanded by Horsa and Hengist, brothers, and sons of\nWihtgils. Wihtgils was the son of Witta; Witta of Wecta; Wecta of Woden;\nWoden of Frithowald; Frithowald of Frithuwulf; Frithuwulf of Finn; Finn\nof Godwulf; Godwulf of Geat, who, as they say, was the son of a god,\nnot(1) of the omnipotent God and our Lord Jesus Christ (who before\nthe beginning of the world, was with the Father and the Holy Spirit,\nco-eternal and of the same substance, and who, in compassion to\nhuman nature, disdained not to assume the form of a servant), but the\noffspring of one of their idols, and whom, blinded by some demon, they\nworshipped according to the custom of the heathen. Vortigern received\nthem as friends, and delivered up to them the island which is in\ntheir language called Thanet, and, by the Britons, Ruym.(2) Gratianus\nAequantius at that time reigned in Rome. The Saxons were received by\nVortigern, four hundred and forty-seven years after the passion of\nChrist, and,(3) according to the tradition of our ancestors, from the\nperiod of their first arrival in Britain, to the first year of the reign\nof king Edmund, five hundred and forty-two years; and to that in\nwhich we now write, which is the fifth of his reign, five hundred and\nforty-seven years.\n\n     (1) V.R. not the God of gods, the Amen, the Lord of Hosts,\n     but one of their idols which they worshipped.\n\n     (2) Sometimes called Ruoichin, Ruith-in, or \"river island,\"\n     separated from the rest of Kent and the mainland of Britain\n     by the estuary of the Wantsum, which, though now a small\n     brook, was formerly navigable for large vessels, and in\n     Bede's time was three stadia broad, and fordable only at two\n     places.\n\n     (3) The rest of this sentence is omitted in some of the MSS.\n\n32. At that time St. Germanus, distinguished for his numerous virtues,\ncame to preach in Britain: by his ministry many were saved; but many\nlikewise died unconverted. Of the various miracles which God enabled\nhim to perform, I shall here mention only a few: I shall first advert\nto that concerning an iniquitous and tyrannical king, named Benlli.* The\nholy man, informed of his wicked conduct, hastened to visit him, for the\npurpose of remonstrating him. When the man of God, with his attendants,\narrived at the gate of the city, they were respectfully received by the\nkeeper of it, who came out and saluted them. Him they commissioned to\ncommunicate their intention to the king, who returned a harsh answer,\ndeclaring, with an oath, that although they remained there a year, they\nshould not enter the city. While waiting for an answer, the evening came\non, and they knew not where to go. At length, came one of the king's\nservants, who bowing himself before the man of God, announced the words\nof the tyrant, inviting them, at the same time, to his own house, to\nwhich they went, and were kindly received. It happened, however, that he\nhad no cattle, except one cow and a calf, the latter of which, urged by\ngenerous hospitality to his guests, he killed, dressed and set before\nthem. But holy St. Germanus ordered his companions not to break a bone\nof the calf; and, the next morning, it was found alive uninjured, and\nstanding by its mother.\n\n     * King of Powys.  V.R. Benli in the district of Ial (in\n     Derbyshire); in the district of Dalrieta; Belinus; Beluni;\n     and Benty.\n\n33. Early the same day, they again went to the gate of the city, to\nsolicit audience of the wicked king; and, whilst engaged in fervent\nprayer they were waiting for admission, a man, covered with sweat, came\nout, and prostrated himself before them. Then St. Germanus, addressing\nhim, said \"Dost thou believe in the Holy Trinity?\" To which the man\nhaving replied, \"I do believe,\" he baptized, and kissed him, saying, \"Go\nin peace; within this hour thou shalt die: the angels of God are waiting\nfor thee in the air; with them thou shalt ascent to that God in whom\nthou has believed.\" He, overjoyed, entered the city, and being met by\nthe prefect, was seized, bound, and conducted before the tyrant, who\nhaving passed sentence upon him, he was immediately put to death; for it\nwas a law of this wicked king, that whoever was not at his labour before\nsun-rising should be beheaded in the citadel. In the meantime, St.\nGermanus, with his attendants, waited the whole day before the gate,\nwithout obtaining admission to the tyrant.\n\n34. The man above-mentioned, however, remained with them. \"Take care,\"\nsaid St. Germanus to him, \"that none of your friends remain this night\nwithin these walls.\" Upon this he hastily entered the city, brought out\nhis nine sons, and with them retired to the house where he had exercised\nsuch generous hospitality. Here St. Germanus ordered them to continue,\nfasting; and when the gates were shut, \"Watch,\" said he, \"and whatever\nshall happen in the citadel, turn not thither your eyes; but pray\nwithout ceasing, and invoke the protection of the true God.\" And,\nbehold, early in the night, fire fell from heaven, and burned the\ncity, together with all those who were with the tyrant, so that not one\nescaped; and that citadel has never been rebuilt even to this day.\n\n35. The following day, the hospitable man who had been converted by\nthe preaching of St. Germanus, was baptized, with his sons, and all the\ninhabitants of that part of the country; and St. Germanus blessed him,\nsaying, \"a king shall not be wanting of thy seed for ever.\" The name of\nthis person is Catel Drunlue:* \"from henceforward thou shalt be a\nking all the days of thy life.\" Thus was fulfilled the prophecy of the\nPsalmist: \"He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the\nneedy out of the dunghill.\" And agreeably to the prediction of St.\nGermanus, from a servant he became a king: all his sons were kings, and\nfrom their offspring the whole country of Powys has been governed to\nthis day.\n\n     * Or Cadell Deyrnllug, prince of the Vale Royal and the\n     upper part of Powys.\n\n36. After the Saxons had continued some time in the island of Thanet,\nVortigern promised to supply them with clothing and provision, on\ncondition they would engage to fight against the enemies of his country.\nBut the barbarians having greatly increased in number, the Britons\nbecame incapable of fulfilling their engagement; and when the Saxons,\naccording to the promise they had received, claimed a supply of\nprovisions and clothing, the Britons replied, \"Your number is increased;\nyour assistance is now unneccessary; you may, therefore, return home,\nfor we can no longer support you;\" and hereupon they began to devise\nmeans of breaking the peace between them.\n\n37. But Hengist, in whom united craft and penetration, perceiving he\nhad to act with an ignorant king, and a fluctuating people, incapable of\nopposing much resistance, replied to Vortigern, \"We are, indeed, few in\nnumber; but, if you will give us leave, we will send to our country for\nan additional number of forces, with whom we will fight for you and\nyour subjects.\" Vortigern assenting to this proposal, messengers were\ndespatched to Scythia, where selecting a number of warlike troops, they\nreturned with sixteen vessels, bringing with them the beautiful daughter\nof Hengist. And now the Saxon chief prepared an entertainment, to which\nhe invited the king, his officers, and Ceretic, his interpreter, having\npreviously enjoined his daughter to serve them so profusely with wine\nand ale, that they might soon become intoxicated. This plan succeeded;\nand Vortigern, at the instigation of the devil, and enamoured with\nthe beauty of the damsel, demanded her, through the medium of his\ninterpreter, of the father, promising to give for her whatever he\nshould ask. Then Hengist, who had already consulted with the elders\nwho attended him of the Oghgul(1) race, demanded for his daughter the\nprovince, called in English, Centland, in British, Ceint, (Kent.) This\ncession was made without the knowledge of the king, Guoyrancgonus,(2)\nwho then reigned in Kent, and who experienced no inconsiderable share\nof grief, from seeing his kingdom thus clandestinely, fraudulently, and\nimprudently resigned to foreigners. Thus the maid was delivered up to\nthe king, who slept with her, and loved her exceedingly.\n\n     (1) V.R. Who had come with him from the island of Oghgul,\n     Oehgul (or Tingle), Angul.  According to Gunn, a small\n     island in the duchy of Sleswick in Denmark, now called\n     Angel, of which Flensburg is the metropolis.  Hence the\n     origin of the Angles.\n\n     (2) V.R. Gnoiram cono, Goiranegono, Guiracgono.  Malmesbury,\n     Gorongi; Camden, Guorong, supposed to mean governor, or\n     viceroy.\n\n38. Hengist, after this, said to Vortigern, \"I will be to you both a\nfather and an adviser; despise not my counsels, and you shall have no\nreason to fear being conquered by any man or any nation whatever;\nfor the people of my country are strong, warlike, and robust: if you\napprove, I will send for my son and his brother, both valiant men, who\nat my invitation will fight against the Scots, and you can give them the\ncountries in the north, near the wall called Gual.\"(1) The incautious\nsovereign having assented to this, Octa and Ebusa arrived with forty\nships. In these they sailed round the country of the Picts, laid waste\nthe Orkneys, and took possession of many regions, even to the Pictish\nconfines.(2)\n\n     (1) Antoninus's wall.\n\n     (2) Some MSS. add, \"beyond the Frenesic, Fresicum (or\n     Fresic) sea,\" i.e. which is between us and the Scotch.  The\n     sea between Scotland and Ireland.  Camden translates it\n     \"beyond the Frith;\" Langhorne says, \"Solway Frith.\"\n\nBut Hengist continued, by degrees, sending for ships from his own\ncountry, so that some islands whence they came were left without\ninhabitants; and whilst his people were increasing in power and number,\nthey came to the above-named province of Kent.\n\n39. In the meantime, Vortigern, as if desirous of adding to the evils he\nhad already occasioned, married his own daughter, by whom he had a son.\nWhen this was made known to St. Germanus, he came, with all the\nBritish clergy, to reprove him: and whilst a numerous assembly of the\necclesiastics and laity were in consultation, the weak king ordered his\ndaughter to appear before them, and in the presence of all to present\nher son to St. Germanus, and declare that he was the father of the\nchild. The immodest* woman obeyed; and St. Germanus, taking the child,\nsaid, \"I will be a father to you, my son; nor will I dismiss you till\na razor, scissors, and comb, are given to me, and it is allowed you to\ngive them to your carnal father.\" The child obeyed St. Germanus, and\ngoing to his father Vortigern, said to him, \"Thou art my father; shave\nand cut the hair of my head.\" The king blushed, and was silent; and,\nwithout replying to the child, arose in great anger, and fled from the\npresence of St. Germanus, execrated and condemned by the whole synod.\n\n     (1) V.R. \"Immodest\" is omitted in some MSS.\n\n40. But soon after, calling together his twelve wise men, to consult\nwhat was to be done, they said to him, \"Retire to the remote boundaries\nof your kingdom; there build and fortify a city(1) to defend yourself,\nfor the people you have received are treacherous; they are seeking to\nsubdue you by stratagem, and, even during your life, to seize upon all\nthe countries subject to your power, how much more will they attempt,\nafter your death!\" The king, pleased with this advice, departed with his\nwise men, and travelled through many parts of his territories, in search\nof a place convenient for the purpose of building a citadel. Having, to\nno purpose, travelled far and wide, they came at length to a province\ncalled Guenet;(2) and having surveyed the mountains of Heremus,(3) they\ndiscovered, on the summit of one of them, a situation, adapted to the\nconstruction of a citadel. Upon this, the wise men said to the king,\n\"Build here a city: for, in this place, it will ever be secure against\nthe barbarians.\" Then the king sent for artificers, carpenters,\nstone-masons, and collected all the materials requisite to building; but\nthe whole of these disappeared in one night, so that nothing remained\nof what had been provided for the constructing of the citadel. Materials\nwere, therefore, from all parts, procured a second and third time,\nand again vanished as before, leaving and rendering every effort\nineffectual. Vortigern inquired of his wise men the cause of this\nopposition to his undertaking, and of so much useless expense of labour?\nThey replied, \"You must find a child born without a father, put him to\ndeath, and sprinkle with his blood the ground on which the citadel is to\nbe built, or you will never accomplish your purpose.\"\n\n     (1) V.R. You shall find a fortified city in which you may\n     defend yourself.\n\n     (2) V.R. Guined, Guoienet, Guenez, North Wales.\n\n     (3) V.R. Heremi, Heriri, or Eryri, signifying eagle rocks,\n     the mountains of Snowdon, in Carnarvonshire.  The spot\n     alluded to is supposed to be Dinas Emrys, or the fortress of\n     Ambrosius.\n\n41. In consequence of this reply, the king sent messengers throughout\nBritain, in search of a child born without a father. After having\ninquired in all the provinces, they came to the field of Aelecti,(1)\nin the district of Glevesing,(2) where a party of boys were playing at\nball. And two of them quarrelling, one said to the other, \"O boy without\na father, no good will ever happen to you.\" Upon this, the messengers\ndiligently inquired of the mother and the other boys, whether he had\nhad a father? Which his mother denied, saying, \"In what manner he was\nconceived I know not, for I have never had intercourse with any man;\"\nand then she solemnly affirmed that he had no mortal father. The boy\nwas, therefore, led away, and conducted before Vortigern the king.\n\n     (1) V.R. Elleti, Electi, Gleti.  Supposed to be Bassalig in\n     Monmouthshire.\n\n     (2) The district between the Usk and Rumney, in\n     Monmouthshire.\n\n42. A meeting took place the next day for the purpose of putting him to\ndeath. Then the boy said to the king, \"Why have your servants brought me\nhither?\" \"That you may be put to death,\" replied the king, \"and that\nthe ground on which my citadel is to stand, may be sprinkled with your\nblood, without which I shall be unable to build it.\" \"Who,\" said the\nboy, \"instructed you to do this?\" \"My wise men,\" answered the king.\n\"Order them hither,\" returned the boy; this being complied with, he thus\nquestioned them: \"By what means was it revealed to you that this citadel\ncould not be built, unless the spot were previously sprinkled with my\nblood? Speak without disguise, and declare who discovered me to you;\"\nthen turning to the king, \"I will soon,\" said he, \"unfold to you every\nthing; but I desire to question your wise men, and wish them to disclose\nto you what is hidden under this pavement:\" they acknowledging their\nignorance, \"there is,\" said he, \"a pool; come and dig:\" they did so, and\nfound the pool. \"Now,\" continued he, \"tell me what is in it;\" but they\nwere ashamed, and made no reply. \"I,\" said the boy, \"can discover it to\nyou: there are two vases in the pool;\" they examined and found it so:\ncontinuing his questions, \"What is in the vases?\" they were silent:\n\"there is a tent in them,\" said the boy; \"separate them, and you shall\nfind it so;\" this being done by the king's command, there was found in\nthem a folded tent. The boy, going on with his questions, asked the wise\nmen what was in it? But they not knowing what to reply, \"There are,\"\nsaid he, \"two serpents, one white and the other red; unfold the tent;\"\nthey obeyed, and two sleeping serpents were discovered; \"consider\nattentively,\" said the boy, \"what they are doing.\" The serpents began to\nstruggle with each other; and the white one, raising himself up, threw\ndown the other into the middle of the tent, and sometimes drove him to\nthe edge of it; and this was repeated thrice. At length the red one,\napparently the weaker of the two, recovering his strength, expelled the\nwhite one from the tent; and the latter being pursued through the pool\nby the red one, disappeared. Then the boy, asking the wise men what was\nsignified by this wonderful omen, and they expressing their ignorance,\nhe said to the king, \"I will now unfold to you the meaning of this\nmystery. The pool is the emblem of this world, and the tent that of\nyour kingdom: the two serpents are two dragons; the red serpent is your\ndragon, but the white serpent is the dragon of the people who occupy\nseveral provinces and districts of Britain, even almost from sea to sea:\nat length, however, our people shall rise and drive away the Saxon race\nfrom beyond the sea, whence they originally came; but do you depart from\nthis place, where you are not permitted to erect a citadel; I, to whom\nfate has allotted this mansion, shall remain here; whilst to you it\nis incumbent to seek other provinces, where you may build a fortress.\"\n\"What is your name?\" asked the king; \"I am called Ambrose (in British\nEmbresguletic),\" returned the boy; and in answer to the king's question,\n\"What is your origin?\" he replied, \"A Roman consul was my father.\"\n\nThen the king assigned him that city, with all the western Provinces of\nBritain; and departing with his wise men to the sinistral district,\nhe arrived in the region named Gueneri, where he built a city which,\naccording to his name, was called Cair Guorthegirn.*\n\n     * An ancient scholiast adds, \"He then built Guasmoric, near\n     Lugubalia (Carlisle), a city which in English is called\n     Palmecaster.\" Some difference of opinion exists among\n     antiquaries respecting the site of vortigern's castle or\n     city.  Usher places it at Gwent, Monmouthshire, which name,\n     he ways, was taken from Caer-Went, near Chepstow.  This\n     appears to agree with Geoffrey's account, {illegible} See\n     Usher's Britan. Eccles. cap. v. p.23.  According to others,\n     supposed to be the city from the ruins of which arose the\n     castle of Gurthrenion, in Radnorshire, Camden's Britannia,\n     p.479.  Whitaker, however, says that Cair Guorthegirn was\n     the Maridunum of the Romans, and the present Caermarthen.\n     (Hist. Of Manchester, book ii. c. 1.)  See also Nennius,\n     sec.47.\n\n43. At length Vortimer, the son of Vortigern, valiantly fought against\nHengist, Horsa, and his people; drove them to the isle of Thanet, and\nthrice enclosed them within it, and beset them on the Western side.\n\nThe Saxons now despatched deputies to Germany to solicit large\nreinforcements, and an additional number of ships: having obtained\nthese, they fought against the kings and princes of Britain, and\nsometimes extended their boundaries by victory, and sometimes were\nconquered and driven back.\n\n44. Four times did Vortimer valorously encounter the enemy;(1) the first\nhas been mentioned, the second was upon the river Darent, the third\nat the Ford, in their language called Epsford, though in ours Set\nthirgabail,(2) there Horsa fell, and Catigern, the son of Vortigern; the\nfourth battle he fought was near the stone(3) on the shore of the Gallic\nsea, where the Saxons being defeated, fled to their ships.\n\n     (1) Some MSS. here add, \"This Vortimer, the son of\n     Vortigern, in a synod held at Guartherniaun, after the\n     wicked king, on account of the incest committed with his\n     daughter, fled from the face of Germanus and the British\n     clergy, would not consent to his father's wickedness; but\n     returning to St. Germanus, and falling down at his feet, he\n     sued for pardon; and in atonement for the calumny brought\n     upon Germanus by his father and sister, gave him the land,\n     in which the forementioned bishop had endured such abuse, to\n     be his for ever. Whence, in memory of St. Germanus, it\n     received the name Guarenniaun (Guartherniaun, Gurthrenion,\n     Gwarth Ennian) which signifies, a calumny justly retorted,\n     since, when he thought to reproach the bishop, he covered\n     himself with reproach.\"\n\n     (2) According to Langhorne, Epsford was afterwards called,\n     in the British tongue, Saessenaeg habail, or 'the slaughter\n     of the Saxons.'\n\n     (3) V.R. \"The Stone of Titulus\", thought to be Stone in Kent,\n     or Larger-stone in Suffolk.\n\nAfter a short interval Vortimer died; before his decease, anxious for\nthe future prosperity of his country, he charged his friends to inter\nhis body at the entrance of the Saxon port, viz. upon the rock where\nthe Saxons first landed; \"for though,\" said he, \"they may inhabit other\nparts of Britain, yet if you follow my commands, they will never remain\nin this island.\" They imprudently disobeyed this last injunction, and\nneglected to bury him where he had appointed.*\n\n     * Rapin says he was buried at Lincoln; Geoffrey, at London.\n\n45. After this the barbarians became firmly incorporated, and were\nassisted by foreign pagans; for Vortigern was their friend, on account\nof the daughter* of Hengist, whom he so much loved, that no one durst\nfight against him-in the meantime they soothed the imprudent king, and\nwhilst practising every appearance of fondness, were plotting with\nhis enemies. And let him that reads understand, that the Saxons were\nvictorious, and ruled Britain, not from their superior prowess, but on\naccount of the great sins of the Britons: God so permitting it.\n\nFor what wise man will resist the wholesome counsel of God? The Almighty\nis the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, ruling and judging every\none, according to his own pleasure.\n\nAfter the death of Vortimer, Hengist being strengthened by new\naccessions, collected his ships, and calling his leaders together,\nconsulted by what stratagem they might overcome Vortigern and his army;\nwith insidious intention they sent messengers to the king, with offers\nof peace and perpetual friendship; unsuspicious of treachery, the\nmonarch, after advising with his elders, accepted the proposals.\n\n     * V.R. Of his wife, and no one was able manfully to drive\n     them off because they had occupied Britain not from their\n     own valour, but by God's permission.\n\n46. Hengist, under pretence of ratifying the treaty, prepared an\nentertainment, to which he invited the king, the nobles, and military\nofficers, in number about three hundred; speciously concealing his\nwicked intention, he ordered three hundred Saxons to conceal each a\nknife under his feet, and to mix with the Britons; \"and when,\" said he,\n\"they are sufficiently inebriated, &c. cry out, 'Nimed eure Saxes,'\nthen let each draw his knife, and kill his man; but spare the king,\non account of his marriage with my daughter, for it is better that he\nshould be ransomed than killed.\"*\n\n     * The VV. RR. Of this section are too numerous to be\n     inserted.\n\nThe king with his company, appeared at the feast; and mixing with the\nSaxons, who, whilst they spoke peace with their tongues, cherished\ntreachery in their hearts, each man was placed next to his enemy.\n\nAfter they had eaten and drunk, and were much intoxicated, Hengist\nsuddenly vociferated, \"Nimed eure Saxes!\" and instantly his adherents\ndrew their knives, and rushing upon the Britons, each slew him that\nsat next to him, and there was slain three hundred of the nobles of\nVortigern. The king being a captive, purchased his redemption, by\ndelivering up the three provinces of East, South, and Middle Sex,\nbesides other districts at the option of his betrayers.\n\n47. St. Germanus admonished Vortigern to turn to the true God, and\nabstain from all unlawful intercourse with his daughter; but the unhappy\nwretch fled for refuge to the province Guorthegirnaim,* so called\nfrom his own name, where he concealed himself with his wives: but St.\nGermanus followed him with all the British clergy, and upon a rock\nprayed for his sins during forty days and forty nights.\n\n     * A district of Radnorshire, forming the present hundred of\n     Rhaiadr.\n\nThe Blessed man was unanimously chosen commander against the Saxons. And\nthen, not by the clang of trumpets, but by praying, singing hallelujah,\nand by the cries of the army to God, the enemies were routed, and driven\neven to the sea.*\n\n     *V.R. This paragraph is omitted in the MSS.\n\nAgain Vortigern ignominiously flew from St. Germanus to the kingdom\nof the Dimetae, where, on the river Towy,* he built a castle, which he\nnamed Cair Guothergirn. The saint, as usual, followed him there, and\nwith his clergy fasted and prayed to the Lord three days, and as many\nnights. On the third night, at the third hour, fire fell suddenly\nfrom heaven, and totally burned the castle. Vortigern, the daughter of\nHengist, his other wives, and all the inhabitants, both men and women,\nmiserably perished: such was the end of this unhappy king, as we find\nwritten in the life of St. Germanus.\n\n     *The Tobias of Ptolemy\n\n47. Others assure us, that being hated by all the people of Britain, for\nhaving received the Saxons, and being publicly charged by St. Germanus\nand the clergy in the sight of God, he betook himself to flight; and,\nthat deserted and a wanderer, he sought a place of refuge, till broken\nhearted, he made an ignominious end.\n\nSome accounts state, that the earth opened and swallowed him up, on the\nnight his castle was burned; as no remains were discovered the following\nmorning, either of him, or of those who were burned with him.\n\nHe had three sons: the eldest was Vortimer, who, as we have seen,\nfought four times against the Saxons, and put them to flight; the second\nCategirn, who was slain in the same battle with Horsa; the third was\nPascent, who reigned in the two provinces Builth and Guorthegirnaim,(1)\nafter the death of his father. These were granted him by Ambrosius, who\nwas the great king among the kings of Britain. The fourth was Faustus,\nborn of an incestuous marriage with his daughter, who was brought up and\neducated by St. Germanus. He built a large monastery on the banks of\nthe river Renis, called after his name, and which remains to the present\nperiod.(2)\n\n     (1) In the northern part of the present counties of Radnor\n     and Brecknock.\n\n     (2) V.R. The MSS. add, 'and he had one daughter, who was the\n     mother of St. Faustus.'\n\n49. This is the genealogy of Vortigern, which goes back to Fernvail,(1)\nwho reigned in the kingdom of Guorthegirnaim,(2) and was the son of\nTeudor; Teudor was the son of Pascent; Pascent of Guoidcant; Guoidcant\nof Moriud; Moriud of Eltat; Eltat of Eldoc; Eldoc of Paul; Paul of\nMeuprit; Meuprit of Braciat; Braciat of Pascent; Pascent of Guorthegirn,\nGuorthegirn of Guortheneu; Guortheneu of Guitaul; Guitaul of Guitolion;\nGuitolion of Gloui. Bonus, Paul, Mauron, Guotelin, were four brothers,\nwho built Gloiuda, a great city upon the banks of the river Severn, and\nin Birtish is called Cair Gloui, in Saxon, Gloucester. Enough has been\nsaid of Vortigern.\n\n     (1) Fernvail, or Farinmail, appears to have been king of\n     Gwent or Monmouth.\n\n     (2) V.R. 'Two provinces, Builth and Guorthegirnaim.'\n\n50. St. Germanus, after his death, returned into his own country. *At\nthat time, the Saxons greatly increased in Britain, both in strength and\nnumbers. And Octa, after the death of his father Hengist, came from the\nsinistral part of the island to the kingdom of Kent, and from him have\nproceeded all the kings of that province, to the present period.\n\n     * V.R. All this to the word 'Amen,' in other MSS. is placed\n     after the legend of St. Patrick.\n\nThen it was, that the magnanimous Arthur, with all the kings and\nmilitary force of Britain, fought against the Saxons. And though there\nwere many more noble than himself, yet he was twelve times chosen their\ncommander, and was as often conqueror. The first battle in which he\nwas engaged, was at the mouth of the river Gleni.(1) The second,\nthird, fourth, and fifth, were on another river, by the Britons called\nDuglas,(2) in the region Linuis. The sixth, on the river Bassas.(3) The\nseventh in the wood Celidon, which the Britons call Cat Coit Celidon.(4)\nThe eighth was near Gurnion castle,(5) where Arthur bore the image of\nthe Holy Virgin,(6) mother of God, upon his shoulders, and through the\npower of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the holy Mary, put the Saxons to\nflight, and pursued them the whole day with great slaughter.(7) The\nninth was at the City of Legion,(8) which is called Cair Lion. The tenth\nwas on the banks of the river Trat Treuroit.(9) The eleventh was on the\nmountain Breguoin, which we call Cat Bregion.(10) The twelfth was a most\nsevere contest, when Arthur penetrated to the hill of Badon.(11) In this\nengagement, nine hundred and forty fell by his hand alone, no one but\nthe Lord affording him assistance. In all these engagements the Britons\nwere successful. For no strength can avail against the will of the\nAlmighty.\n\n     (1) Supposed by some to be the Glem, in Lincolnshire; but\n     most probably the Glen, in the northern part of\n     Northumberland.\n\n     (2) Or Dubglas.  The little river Dunglas, which formed the\n     southern boundary of Lothian.  Whitaker says, the river\n     Duglas, in Lancashire, near Wigan.\n\n     (3) Not a river, but an isolated rock in the Frith of Forth,\n     near the town of North Berwick, called \"The Bass.\"  Some\n     think it is the river Lusas, in Hampshire.\n\n     (4) The Caledonian forest; or the forest of Englewood,\n     extending from Penrith to Carlisle.\n\n     (5) Variously supposed to be in Cornwall, or Binchester in\n     Durham, but most probably the Roman station of Garionenum,\n     near Yarmouth, in Norfolk.\n\n     (6) V.R. The image of the cross of Christ, and of the\n     perpetual virgin St. Mary.\n\n     (7) V.R. For Arthur proceeded to Jerusalem, and there made a\n     cross to the size of the Saviour's cross, and there it was\n     consecrated, and for three successive days he fasted,\n     watched, and prayed, before the Lord's cross, that the Lord\n     would give him the victory, by this sign, over the heathen;\n     which also took place, and he took with him the image of St.\n     Mary, the fragments of which are still preserved in great\n     veneration at Wedale, in English Wodale, in Latin Vallis-\n     doloris.  Wodale is a village in the province of Lodonesia,\n     but now of the jurisdiction of the bishop of St. Andrew's,\n     of Scotland, six miles on the west of that heretofore noble\n     and eminent monastery of Meilros.\n\n     (8) Exeter.\n\n     (9) Or Ribroit, the Brue, in Somersetshire; or the Ribble,\n     in Lancashire.\n\n     (10) Or Agned Cathregonion, Cadbury, in Somersetshire; or\n     Edinburgh\n\n     (11) Bath.\n\nThe more the Saxons were vanquished, the more they sought for new\nsupplies of Saxons from Germany; so that kings, commanders, and military\nbands were invited over from almost every province. And this practice\nthey continued till the reign of Ida, who was the son of Eoppa, he,\nof the Saxon race, was the first king in Bernicia, and in Cair Ebrauc\n(York).\n\nWhen Gratian Aequantius was consul at rome, because then the whole world\nwas governed by the Roman consuls, the Saxons were received by Vortigern\nin the year of our Lord four hundred and forty-seven, and to the year\nin which we now write, five hundred and forty-seven. And whosoever shall\nread herein may receive instruction, the Lord Jesus Christ affording\nassistance, who, co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Ghost, lives\nand reigns for ever and ever. Amen.\n\nIn those days Saint Patrick was captive among the Scots. His master's\nname was Milcho, to whom he was a swineherd for seven years. When he\nhad attained the age of seventeen he gave him his liberty. By the divine\nimpulse, he applied himself to reading of the Scriptures, and afterwards\nwent to Rome; where, replenished with the Holy Spirit, he continued a\ngreat while, studying the sacred mysteries of those writings. During\nhis continuance there, Palladius, the first bishop, was sent by pope\nCelestine to convert the Scots (the Irish). But tempests and signs from\nGod prevented his landing, for no one can arrive in any country, except\nit be allowed from above; altering therefore his course from Ireland, he\ncame to Britain and died in the land of the Picts.*\n\n     * At Fordun, in the district of Mearns, in Scotland-Usher.\n\n51. The death of Palladius being known, the Roman patricians, Theodosius\nand Valentinian, then reigning, pope Celestine sent Patrick to convert\nthe Scots to the faith of the Holy Trinity; Victor, the angel of God,\naccompanying, admonishing, and assisting him, and also the bishop\nGermanus.\n\nGermanus then sent the ancient Segerus with him as a venerable and\npraiseworthy bishop, to king Amatheus,(1) who lived near, and who had\nprescience of what was to happen; he was consecrated bishop in the\nreign of that king by the holy pontiff,(2) assuming the name of Patrick,\nhaving hitherto been known by that of Maun; Auxilius, Isserninus, and\nother brothers were ordained with him to inferior degrees.\n\n     (1) V.R. Germanus \"sent the elder Segerus with him to a\n     wonderful man, the holy bishop Amathearex.\"  Another MS.\n     \"Sent the elder Segerus, a bishop, with him to Amatheorex.\"\n\n     (2) V.R. \"Received the episcopal degree from the holy bishop\n     Amatheorex.\"  Another MS. \"Received the episcopal degree\n     from Matheorex and the holy bishop.\"\n\n52. Having distributed benedictions, and perfected all in the name of\nthe Holy Trinity, he embarked on the sea which is between the Gauls\nand the Britons; and after a quick passage arrived in Britain, where he\npreached for some time. Every necessary preparation being made, and the\nangel giving him warning, he came to the Irish Sea. And having filled\nthe ship with foreign gifts and spiritual treasures, by the permission\nof God he arrived in Ireland, where he baptized and preached.\n\n53. From the beginning of the world, to the fifth year of king Logiore,\nwhen the Irish were baptized, and faith in the unity of the individual\nTrinity was published to them, are five thousand three hundred and\nthirty years.\n\n54. Saint Patrick taught the gospel in foreign nations for the space of\nforty years. Endued with apostolical powers, he gave sight to the blind,\ncleansed the lepers, gave hearing to the deaf, cast out devils, raised\nnine from the dead, redeemed many captives of both sexes at his own\ncharge, and set them free in the name of the Holy Trinity. He taught the\nservants of God, and he wrote three hundred and sixty-five canonical and\nother books relating to the catholic faith. He founded as many churches,\nand consecrated the same number of bishops, strengthening them with the\nHoly Ghost. He ordained three thousand presbyters; and converted and\nbaptized twelve thousand persons in the province of Connaught. And, in\none day baptized seven kings, who were the seven sons of Amalgaid.(1) He\ncontinued fasting forty days and nights, on the summit of the mountain\nEli, that is Cruachan-Aichle;(2) and preferred three petitions to God\nfor the Irish, that had embraced the faith. The Scots say, the first\nwas, that he would receive every repenting sinner, even at the latest\nextremity of life; the second, that they should never be exterminated\nby barbarians; and the third, that as Ireland(3) will be overflowed with\nwater, seven years before the coming of our Lord to judge the quick\nand the dead, the crimes of the people might be washed away through\nhis intercession, and their souls purified at the last day. He gave the\npeople his benediction from the upper part of the mountain, and going\nup higher, that he might pray for them; and that if it pleased God,\nhe might see the effects of his labours, there appeared to him an\ninnumerable flock of birds of many coulours, signifying the number of\nholy persons of both sexes of the Irish nation, who should come to him\nas their apostle at the day of judgment, to be presented before the\ntribunal of Christ. After a life spent in the active exertion of good\nto mankind, St. Patrick, in a healthy old age, passed from this world to\nthe Lord, and changing this life for a better, with the saints and elect\nof God he rejoices for evermore.\n\n     (1) King of Connaught.\n\n     (2) A mountain in the west of Connaught, county of Mayo, now\n     called Croagh-Patrick.\n\n     (3) V.R. that no Irishman may be alive on the day of\n     judgment, because they will be destroyed seven years before\n     in honour of St. Patrick.\n\n55. Saint Patrick resembled Moses in four particulars. The angel spoke\nto him in the burning bush. He fasted forty days and forty nights upon\nthe mountain. He attained the period of one hundred and twenty years.\nNo one knows his sepulchre, nor where he was buried; sixteen(1) years he\nwas in captivity. In his twenty-fifth year, he was consecrated bishop by\nSaint Matheus,(2) and he was eighty-five years the apostle of the Irish.\nIt might be profitable to treat more at large of the life of this saint,\nbut it is now time to conclude this epitome of his labours.(3)\n\n     (1) V.R. Fifteen.\n\n     (2) V.R. By the holy bishop Amatheus.\n\n     (3) Here ends the Vatican MS. collated by Mr. Gunn.\n\n(Here endeth the life of the holy bishop, Saint Patrick.) (After this,\nthe MSS. give as 56, the legend of king Arthur, which in this edition\noccurs in 50.)\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE GENEALOGY OF THE KINGS OF BERNICIA.*\n\n     * These titles are not part of the original work, but added\n     in the MSS. by a later hand.\n\n\n57. Woden begat Beldeg, who begat Beornec, who begat Gethbrond, who\nbegat Aluson, who begat Ingwi, who begat Edibrith, who begat Esa, who\nbegat Eoppa, who begat Ida. But Ida had twelve sons, Adda, Belric,\nTheodric, Ethelric, Theodhere, Osmer, and one queen, Bearnoch, Ealric.\nEthelric begat Ethelfrid: the same is Aedlfred Flesaur. For he also\nhad seven sons, Eanfrid, Oswald, Oswin, Oswy, Oswudu, Oslac, Offa. Oswy\nbegat Alfrid, Elfwin, and Egfrid. Egfrid is he who made war against\nhis cousin Brudei, king of the Picts, and he fell therein with all the\nstrength of his army, and the Picts with their king gained the victory;\nand the Saxons never again reduced the Picts so as to exact tribute from\nthem. Since the time of this war it is called Gueithlin Garan.\n\nBut Oswy had two wives, Riemmelth, the daughter of Royth, son of Rum;\nand Eanfled, the daughter of Edwin, son of Alla.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GENEALOGY OF THE KINGS OF KENT.\n\n\n58. Hengist begat Octa, who begat Ossa, who begat Eormenric, who begat\nEthelbert, who begat Eadbald, who begat Ercombert, who begat Egbert.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ORIGIN OF THE KINGS OF EAST-ANGLIA.\n\n\n59. Woden begat Casser, who begat Titinon, who begat Trigil, who begat\nRodmunt, who begat Rippa, who begat Guillem Guercha,* who was the first\nking of the East Angles. Guercha begat Uffa, who begat Tytillus, who\nbegat Eni, who begat Edric, who begat Aldwulf, who begat Elric.\n\n     * Guercha is a distortion of the name of Uffa, or Wuffa,\n     arising in the first instance from the pronunciation of the\n     British writer; and in the next place from the error of the\n     transcriber--Palgrave.\n\n\n\n\nTHE GENEALOGY OF THE MERCIANS.\n\n\n60. Woden begat Guedolgeat, who begat Gueagon, who begat Guithleg, who\nbegat Guerdmund, who begat Ossa, who begat Ongen, who begat Eamer, who\nbegat Pubba.* This Pubba had twelve sons, of whom two are better known\nto me than the others, that is Penda and Eawa. Eadlit is the son of\nPantha, Penda, son of Pubba, Ealbald, son of Alguing, son of Eawa, son\nof Penda, son of Pubba. Egfert, son of Offa, son of Thingferth, son of\nEnwulf, son of Ossulf, son of Eawa, son of Pubba.\n\n     * Or Wibba.\n\n\n\n\nTHE KINGS OF THE DEIRI.\n\n\n61. Woden begat Beldeg, Brond begat Siggar, who begat Sibald, who begat\nZegulf, who begat Soemil, who first separated(1) Deur from Berneich\n(Deira from Bernicia.) Soemil begat Sguerthing, who begat Giulglis, who\nbegat Ulfrea, who begat Iffi, who begat Ulli, Edwin, Osfrid and Eanfrid.\nThere were two sons of Edwin, who fell with him in battle at Meicen,(2)\nand the kingdom was never renewed in his family, because not one of his\nrace escaped from that war; but all were slain with him by the army of\nCatguollaunus,(3) king of the Guendota. Oswy begat Egfrid, the same is\nAilguin, who begat Oslach, sho begat Alhun, who begat Adlsing, who begat\nEchun, who begat Oslaph. Ida begat Eadric, who begat Ecgulf, who begat\nLeodwald, who begat Eata, the same is Glinmaur, who begat Eadbert and\nEgbert, who was the first bishop of their nation.\n\n     (1) V.R. Conquered.\n\n     (2) Hatfield, in the West Riding of Yorkshire.  See Bede's\n     Eccles. Hist.\n\n     (3) Cadwalla, king of the Western Britons.\n\nIda, the son of Eoppa, possessed countries on the left-hand side of\nBritain, i.e. of the Humbrian sea, and reigned twelve years, and united*\nDynguayth Guarth-Berneich.\n\n     * V.R. United the castle, i.e. Dinguerin and Gurdbernech,\n     which two countries were in one country, i.e. Deurabernech;\n     Anglice Diera and Bernicia.  Another MS. Built Dinguayrh\n     Guarth Berneich.\n\n62. Then Dutgirn at that time fought bravely against the nation of the\nAngles. At that time, Talhaiarn Cataguen* was famed for poetry, and\nNeirin, and Taliesin and Bluchbard, and Cian, who is called Guenith\nGuaut, were all famous at the same time in British poetry.\n\n     * Talhaiarn was a descendant of Coel Godebog, and chaplain\n     to Ambrosius.\n\nThe great king, Mailcun,* reigned among the Britons, i.e. in the\ndistrict of Guenedota, because his great-great-grandfather, Cunedda,\nwith his twelve sons, had come before from the left-hand part, i.e. from\nthe country which is called Manau Gustodin, one hundred and forty-six\nyears before Mailcun reigned, and expelled the Scots with much slaughter\nfrom those countries, and they never returned again to inhabit them.\n\n     * Better known as Maelgwn.\n\n63. Adda, son of Ida, reigned eight years; Ethelric, son of Adda,\nreigned four years. Theodoric, son of Ida, reigned seven years.\nFreothwulf reigned six years. In whose time the kingdom of Kent, by the\nmission of Gregory, received baptism. Hussa reigned seven years. Against\nhim fought four kings, Urien, and Ryderthen, and Guallauc, and Morcant.\nTheodoric fought bravely, together with his sons, against that Urien.\nBut at that time sometimes the enemy and sometimes our countrymen were\ndefeated, and he shut them up three days and three nights in the island\nof Metcaut; and whilst he was on an expedition he was murdered, at\nthe instance of Morcant, out of envy, because he possessed so much\nsuperiority over all the kings in military science. Eadfered Flesaurs\nreigned twelve years in Bernicia, and twelve others in Deira, and gave\nto his wife Bebba, the town of Dynguaroy, which from her is called\nBebbanburg.*\n\n     * Bambrough.  See Bede, iii. 6, and Sax. Chron. A.D. 547.\n\nEdwin, son of Alla, reigned seventeen years, seized on Elmete, and\nexpelled Cerdic, its king. Eanfled, his daughter, received baptism, on\nthe twelfth day after Pentecost, with all her followers, both men and\nwomen. The following Easter Edwin himself received baptism, and twelve\nthousand of his subjects with him. If any one wishes to know who\nbaptized them, it was Rum Map Urbgen:* he was engaged forty days in\nbaptizing all classes of the Saxons, and by his preaching many believed\non Christ.\n\n     * See Bede's Eccles. Hist.  From the share which Paulinus\n     had in the conversion of the Northumbrian king, it has been\n     inferred that he actually baptized him; but Nennius\n     expressly states, that the holy sacrament was administered\n     by Rhun, the son of Urien. The Welsh name of Paulinus is\n     Pawl Hen, or Polin Eagob.\n\n64. Oswald son of Ethelfrid, reigned nine years; the same is Oswald\nLlauiguin;(1) he slew Catgublaun (Cadwalla),(2) king of Guenedot,(3) in\nthe battle of Catscaul,(4) with much loss to his own army. Oswy, son of\nEthelfrid, reigned twenty-eight years and six months. During his reign,\nthere was a dreadful mortality among his subjects, when Catgualart\n(Cadwallader) was king among the Britons, succeeding his father, and he\nhimself died amongst the rest.(5) He slew Penda in the field of Gai, and\nnow took place the slaughter of Gai Campi, and the kings of the Britons,\nwho went out with Penda on the expedition as far as the city of Judeu,\nwere slain.\n\n     (1) Llauiguin, means the \"fair,\" or the \"bounteous hand.\"\n\n     (2) This name has been variously written; Bede spells it\n     Caedualla (Cadwalla); Nennius, Catgublaun; the Saxon\n     Chronicle, Ceadwalla; and the Welsh writers, Cadwallon and\n     Kalwallawn: and though the identity of the person may be\n     clearly proved, it is necessary to observe these particulars\n     to distinguish him from Cadwaladr, and from another\n     Caedualla or Caedwalla, a king of the West Saxons; all of\n     whom, as they lived within a short time of each other, have\n     been frequently confounded together.--Rees's Welsh Saints.\n\n     (3) Gwynedd, North Wales.\n\n     (4) Bede says at Denis's brook.\n\n     (5) The British chronicles assert that Cadwallader died at\n     Rome, whilst Nennius would lead us to conclude that he\n     perished in the pestilence at home.\n\n65. Then Oswy restored all the wealth, which was with him in the city,\nto Penda; who distributed it among the kings of the Britons, that is\nAtbert Judeu. But Catgabail alone, king of Guenedot, rising up in\nthe night, excaped, together with his army, wherefore he was called\nCatgabail Catguommed. Egfrid, son of Oswy, reigned nine years. In his\ntime the holy bishop Cuthbert died in the island of Medcaut.* It was he\nwho made war against the Picts, and was by them slain.\n\n     * The isle of Farne.\n\nPenda, son of Pybba, reigned ten years; he first separated the kingdom\nof Mercia from that of the North-men, and slew by treachery Anna, king\nof the East Anglians, and St. Oswald, king of the North Men. He fought\nthe battle of Cocboy, in which fell Eawa, son of Pybba, his brother,\nking of the Mercians, and Oswald, king of the North-men, and he gained\nthe victory by diabolical agency. He was not baptized, and never\nbelieved in God.\n\n66. From the beginning of the world to Constantinus and Rufus, are found\nto be five thousand six hundred and fifty-eight years.\n\nAlso from the two consuls, Rufus and Rubelius, to the consul Stilicho,\nare three hundred and seventy-three years.\n\nAlso from Stilicho to Valentinian, son of Placida, and the reign of\nVortigern, are twenty-eight years.\n\nAnd from the reign of Vortigern to the quarrel between Guitolinus and\nAmbrosius, are twelve years, which is Guoloppum, that is Catgwaloph.*\nVortigern reigned in Britain when Theodosius and Valentinian were\nconsuls, and in the fourth year of his reign the Saxons came to Britain,\nin the consulship of Felix and Taurus, in the four hundredth year from\nthe incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.\n\n     * In Carmarthenshire.  Perhaps the town now called Kidwelly.\n\nFrom the year in which the Saxons came into Britain, and were received\nby Vortigern, to the time of Decius and Valerian, are sixty-nine years.","title":"History of the Britons (Historia Brittonum)","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":13183}