FREE THE MEN OF THE NORTH: THE BRITONS OF SOUTHERN SCOTLAND PDF

Tim Clarkson | 288 pages | 01 Feb 2011 | John Donald Publishers Ltd | 9781906566180 | English | Edinburgh, United Kingdom About Me « Senchus

It has since been reprinted a number of times, becoming unavailable for only brief intervals between reprints. For an author, this is an encouraging situation to be in, and I am grateful to my publishers Birlinn of Edinburgh for keeping the book ticking over throughout the decade. I am also grateful for the many positive comments from readers and reviewers, all of which have The Men of the North: The Britons of Southern Scotland me to believe that the effort of researching and writing this book has not been in vain. On the whole, though, it seems to have been generally well-received. The Men of the North: The Britons of Southern Scotland above quote, from a Scottish historian whose opinions I value highly, captures in a nutshell my main reason for writing The Men Of The North : I saw a gap on my bookshelf and decided to have a go at filling it myself. They are far more obscure and mysterious than any of their neighbours including the supposedly enigmatic Picts and their significant role in Scottish history has frequently been overlooked. References to them in medieval chronicles are thin on the ground, leaving huge gaps in their story and forcing modern historians to scrabble around for snippets of information in less reliable sources such as poems and legends. Nevertheless, I had often wondered if the various fragments could be assembled into a more-or-less coherent narrative, a stable framework around which a chronological history might take shape. It was before I took the plunge by putting pen to paper and fingertip to keyboard. The task was as challenging as I had expected it to be, but the result was a book that I felt passed the test. The Men Of The North includes my own interpretations of certain parts of the textual evidence. This is especially true in the first half of the book, which draws data from medieval Welsh poems in which the deeds of various sixth-century North British kings and warriors are praised. Ten years later, and I can report that these interpretations remain largely unchanged. I still firmly believe that the locations of Rheged a kingdom, or part of one and Catraeth apparently the site of a battle remain unknown. I still reject the conventional notion that four North British kings joined together in a military coalition to launch a combined assault on an English royal dynasty whom they besieged or blockaded on the island of Lindisfarne. In this particular instance, I see each British king waging his own campaign independently of his alleged allies. If my views on these topics have changed at all in the past ten years, they have probably hardened rather than softened. Some of my views have, however, shifted somewhat. On page of The Men Of The Northwhile discussing the question of where the great battle of Brunanburh AD was fought, I mentioned three places as popular candidates for the battlefield. I now favour a location in Lancashire, either near the estuary of the River Ribble or further east around Burnley. This revision of my thinking is presented in detail in my second book on the Northern Britons, published in under the title Strathclyde and the Anglo-Saxons in the Viking Age. My response is that there are, as yet, no definite plans. If a second edition does appear at some point in the future, it will undoubtedly make much use of another book, an edited volume called Beyond The Gododdinpublished in by the Committee for Dark Age Studies at the University The Men of the North: The Britons of Southern Scotland St Andrews. Indeed, I would go as far as to say that no new research on the North British kingdoms of the sixth century should be regarded as complete unless the papers in Beyond The Gododdin have been consulted and cited. I recommend, in particular, two journal articles and one book chapter. Bibliographic details for these three are given in the list of references at the end of this blogpost. The past decade has seen other new publications relating to the Northern Britons, too many to list here. I must, however, mention a major archaeological report produced as part of the Galloway Picts Project. Although I remain open-minded on this claim of a Rheged connection, there can be no doubt that the report represents a big contribution to our archaeological understanding of the Northern Britons, giving us an insight into what must have been one of their principal high-status settlements. On a personal level, the biggest change in my involvement with the Northern Britons since has been my participation in a number of local heritage projects at Govan on the south side of Glasgow. Most of these projects had a connection with the Govan Stones, a collection of sculptured monuments displayed in the old parish church. The stones were carved in the ninth to eleventh centuries when Govan was a The Men of the North: The Britons of Southern Scotland of ritual and authority in the kingdom of Strathclyde. The heritage projects helped to raise awareness of the stones not only among the local community but more widely across Scotland as well as internationally. When I first came aboard inthere were some thirty monuments to be seen. Three others, thought to have been lost, were unearthed last year as I reported at this blog — see link below. Banner outside Govan Old Parish Church where the stones are displayed. I expect the next ten years will yield further new information on the Northern Britons, whether in the form of archaeological discoveries or re-interpretations of historical texts. It will be interesting to see if The Men Of The North gets left behind, like something outdated and obsolete, and whether a revision or update then becomes desirable for author and reader alike. My blogpost from on the carved stones rediscovered at Govan. Alex Woolf ed. This new book by renowned philologist Andrew Breeze is a collection of thirteen studies on battles fought in various parts of early medieval Britain. Employing his deep knowledge of place-names and primary sources, Professor Breeze proposes for each battle a geographical context that either supports or challenges previous scholarship. Most of the thirteen chapters are updated or reworked versions of articles previously published in academic journals. These three have yet to be placed on a map with any measure of The Men of the North: The Britons of Southern Scotland or consensus, despite much debate and many competing theories. In so doing, he shows that the debate is far from settled and that Bromborough is not the only place for which a strong case can be made. Less widely-known than Brunanburh is the battle of Arfderyddan event The Men of the North: The Britons of Southern Scotland with the earliest strands of the Merlin legend. Breeze supports a long-established consensus that it was fought in the vicinity of Arthuret, an ancient parish eight miles north of Carlisle. The warlord lies at the root of later legends about a fabled king whose chivalrous knights sat at the Round Table in Camelot. Many people believe — or want to believe — that the legends are rooted in fact, and that the warlord of early Welsh tradition was a real historical figure. This is the position adopted by Breeze, who suggests that the original Arthur was a Briton of the North who undertook a series of military campaigns in the early sixth century. He argues that these campaigns, a dozen of which are listed in Historia Brittonumwere fought in what are now southern Scotland and adjacent parts of northern England. He believes that their names are corrupt and garbled, requiring correction to forms that make more sense. This leads him to propose entirely new identifications. Bassas, for example, he sees as an error for Tarras, which he associates with Tarras Water in Dumfriesshire or Carstairs in South Lanarkshire Casteltarras in He sees the name Badon as an error for Braydon and locates the battlefield at Ringsbury hillfort near Braydon Forest in Wiltshire. Camlan The Men of the North: The Britons of Southern Scotland Camlann, the battle where Arthur is said to have received a mortal wound, is absent from the Historia Brittonum list but appears in the tenth-century Welsh Annals where it is entered at the year He locates the former at Bishop Auckland in County Durham, the latter at Buttington in Powys, and shows why both battles should be regarded as significant events in the story of Viking-Age Britain. Breeze puts the battlefield beside the River Went in Yorkshire, adding weight to a long-established case supported by many historians. The summaries usually begin with antiquarian musings of the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, before following a trail of study through to the most recent academic discussions. Breeze often acknowledges the work of independent researchers whose contributions to scholarship might otherwise be overlooked. Not everyone will agree with all of his identifications and reinterpretations, especially if they have strong views of their own on where a particular conflict was fought. But this is a book that anyone with an interest in locating The Men of the North: The Britons of Southern Scotland lost battlefields of early medieval The Men of the North: The Britons of Southern Scotland will find enlightening and thought-provoking. List of chapters: 1. The period to AD was a time when Christianity, the religion of the last Roman emperors, was gaining ground in many parts of Britain at the expense of home-grown pagan beliefs. The spread of Christianity brought an ecclesiastical infrastructure of churches, monasteries, priests and bishops. It also initiated a stonecarving tradition in which crosses and Latin inscriptions were incised on memorials to the dead. Some of the finest examples of this type of sculpture come from Southern Scotland, bearing witness to the growth of Christianity among the Northern Britons in the fifth and sixth centuries. Only rarely do we find women identified by name on early medieval sculpture, their minimal appearance on inscriptions matching their sparse treatment in contemporary literature. It has been known since when it was associated with a cairn of smaller stones situated on sloping ground beside the Newholm Hope Burn. The cairn was demolished sometime between andwhen the Coninie Stone was transferred to the museum. Measuring just under a metre in length, the stone is an irregular slab of whinstone with a cross and a Latin inscription incised on the flattest side. The two-line inscription begins with the word Coniniederiving from Coniniaa Celtic female name that may be of Irish provenance. The second word — tirie is incomplete and is missing a letter or two at the beginning. The form of lettering and the design of the cross suggest a date in the late sixth century. Whoever she was, Coninia was clearly remembered with affection and respect by the people who commissioned her memorial. She may have been buried inside or beneath the cairn, or her stone may have marked a separate grave nearby. The cross and the Latin inscription tell us that she was a Christian, but this is as much as we can say about her. If her name is indeed of Irish origin, she might not have been a native of the area. Missionaries from Ireland, both male and female, appear to have been active in northern parts of Britain during the sixth century and this could provide a context for her presence in Tweeddale. This is marked today by a small enclosure containing a Celtic-style cross erected in and an early medieval cross-base. It has been hollowed out to resemble a baptismal font but the basin was originally the socket for a now lost cross-shaft possibly carved in the tenth century. In the absence of a detailed excavation, the date and purpose of these features are unknown, but the prevailing view among archaeologists is that the visible remains look secular rather than ecclesiastical. On the other hand, nearby place-names like Kirkhope and Kirkstead are suggestive of an old church having stood in the locality at some point. The traditional connection with the obscure saint Gordian is also interesting. He was a Christian martyr executed in Italy in but is hardly well-known in Britain. Even if there really was a church at this site in the secluded Manor Valley, we would be left to wonder why it was associated with him. A modern archaeological investigation could perhaps answer some of these questions. At the very least, it might enable us to provide Coninia and her memorial with a little more context. I visited the Tweeddale Musuem on 19th February At that time, the Coninie Stone was not on public display, having been moved to a storage area. I am grateful to Wendy at the museum and to Trevor Cowie of the Peeblesshire Archaeological Society for enabling me to see the stone and to take the photograph below. The stone lay on the floor under a tall shelf-unit and was partly obscured by other artefacts that were too heavy to move aside. I will try and get a better-quality image on a future visit! Foster and M. Cross eds. Leeds: Society for Medieval Archaeology, It is particularly useful for what it reveals of Pictish Christianity, giving insights into the daily lives of monks who inhabited this site in Easter Ross more than a thousand years ago. Published in by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, the report has been made available as a free full-text download. Portmahomack, situated on the Tarbat Peninsula overlooking the Dornoch Firth, The Men of the North: The Britons of Southern Scotland the location of a major Pictish monastery that reached its high point during the eighth century AD. The Men of the North: The Britons of Southern Scotland by Tim Clarkson

Tim Clarkson. The North Britons are the least-known among the inhabitants of early medieval Scotland. Like the Picts and Vikings they played an important role in the shaping of Scottish history during the first millennium AD but their part is often neglected or ignored. This book aims to redress the balance by tracing the history of this native Celtic The Men of the North: The Britons of Southern Scotland through the troubled centuries from the departure of the Romans to the arrival of the Normans. The fortunes of Strathclyde, the last-surviving kingdom of the North The Men of the North: The Britons of Southern Scotland, are studied from its emergence at Dumbarton in the fifth century to its eventual demise in the eleventh. Other kingdoms, such as the Edinburgh-based realm of Gododdin and the mysterious Rheged, are examined alongside fragments of heroic poetry celebrating the valour of their warriors. Behind the recurrent themes of warfare and political rivalry runs a parallel thread dealing with the growth of Christianity and the influence of the Church in the affairs of kings. Important ecclesiastical figures such as Ninian of Whithorn and Kentigern of Glasgow are discussed, partly in the hope of unearthing their true identities among a tangled web of sources. The closing chapters of the book look at how and why the North Britons lost their distinct identity to join their old enemies the Picts as one of Scotland's vanished nations. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and a member of the editorial board of the Heroic Age online journal. ​Tim Clarkson​ - ​Google Scholar​

Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Following the story of the Britons through the troubled centuries between andthis salient account reveals the critical role these native Celtic people played in the shaping of Scottish history during the first millennium AD - and how, unlike the Picts and the Vikings, their place in history has often been ignored. Studying the rise and fall of the northern Brito Following the story of the Britons through the troubled centuries between andthis salient account reveals the critical role these native Celtic people played in the shaping of Scottish history during the first millennium AD - and how, unlike the Picts and the Vikings, their place in history has often been ignored. Get A Copy. Paperbackpages. Published February 1st by John Donald first published June 1st More Details Original Title. Other Editions 2. Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of The Men of the North: The Britons of Southern Scotland book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about The Men of the Northplease sign up. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Community Reviews. Showing Average The Men of the North: The Britons of Southern Scotland 4. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Mar 16, Kathryn Wilmotte rated it really liked it. A very dense but very informative book. Tim Clarkson is a man who knows how to pack an immense amount of research into a very condensed space and because of that the book is most certainly not a light read. It takes effort to put together the tapestry that he weaves but the diligent reader will be rewarded with a incredibly rich and detailed picture of life for the Britons of Southern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. Aug 01, Richard Thomas rated it it was amazing Shelves: scottish-history. An excellent history of a perhaps neglected aspect of Scotland's past. It's well written and adds perspective to the contribution made by the Britons to the melting pot of what is now Scotland. Jul 03, Karol Kolbusz rated it it was amazing. An excellent and well-constructed volume filled to the brim with valuable information. The book is a comprehensive survey of The Men of the North: The Britons of Southern Scotland medieval Brythonic kingdoms in Southern Scotland and Northern Britain. Despite the scarcity of written and archaeological evidence in this historical period, the author did not fall into the trap of putting forward highly speculative or far-fetched hypotheses. The Men of the North: The Britons of Southern Scotland, he evaluates available evidence carefully and arrives at conclusions that I consider logical, thoug An excellent and well-constructed volume filled to the brim with valuable information. Instead, he evaluates available evidence carefully and arrives at conclusions that I consider logical, though by no means definitive. Worth reading! May 28, Ceilidh rated it really liked it Shelves: research. History in general makes my head swim but this does a good job of keeping a complicated situation as simple as possible. Joe Elgar rated it liked it Dec 30, Robert Humphries rated it really liked it Jan 10, James Brown rated it it was amazing Nov 02, Meg rated it really liked it Oct 04, E Owen rated it really liked it Dec 11, Chris rated it liked it Sep 18, Hannah Gerrard rated it liked it Jan 05, Guto rated it really liked it Jan 10, Odysseus rated it it was amazing Apr 05, Allen McKellar rated it really liked it Apr 23, Renee Yancy rated it it was amazing May 22, Graeme Purves rated it it was amazing Oct 04, Frank Van aanholt rated it really liked it Apr 21, Morag Gray rated it liked it May 12, Gwen Jones-Edwards rated it it was amazing Nov 13, Marie rated it it was amazing May 13, Gary rated it it was amazing Jul 31, Thomas Ayre rated it it was amazing Aug 22, Jennifer rated it it was amazing Oct 04, Stanford M. Mommaerts-Brown rated it it was amazing Jul 18, Michelle rated it it was amazing Dec 29, Joan Leaming rated it it was amazing Aug 29, C Carruthers rated it really liked it Jun 26, Beth Mann rated it really liked it Apr 14, Dewi Daniels rated it really liked it Mar 25, There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Readers also enjoyed. About Tim Clarkson. Tim Clarkson. An independent historian writing and blogging about early medieval Scotland. Books by Tim Clarkson. Escape the Present with These 24 Historical Romances. You know the saying: There's no time like the present In that case, we can't Read more Trivia About The Men of the No No trivia or quizzes yet. Welcome back. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account.