I.

ON THE EARLY FRISIAN SETTLEMENTS IN SCOTLAND, BY W . SKENEF . , ESQ., F.S.A. SCOT.

I ought, perhaps o apologist , Societe th r bringino t fo ey g before the ma subjec purelo s t y historical I hav t ebu ; been inducet pu o dt these notes together in consequence of some remarks which fell from Dr Simpson othee th , r evening interestine th n i , g notice gave th eh f eo Cat-stane. The object of this paper is first, to lay before the Society—and I shall do it as shortly as I can—the evidence which exists to show that the Frisians had formed settlements in Scotland at a period anterior to the date usually assigned for the arrival of the Saxons in England; and, secondly somethiny e localitsa th o o t t ,f thes yo s a g e settlementsd an , the remains which they have left behind them. When Bede wrote his ecclesiastical history of the English nation in betteo yean e th d r ha 731accoun e h , firse th givo t t t f settlemeneo f o t Saxone th Englann i s d than this:—I Lord'r ou yeae f th nso r incarna- tion 449, Martian being made emperor with Valentinian e natioth , f o n Anglee th Saxonr so s being inviteaforesaie th y db d king—tha , Vortiis t - gern Britons—arrivee , kinth f go Britain di n with three long shipsd an , ha placda e assigned e thesamth residmo y t e b e easter kingn th ei n i , n part of the island. Those who came over were of the three most power- ful nation f Germanyo s , vize Saxonsth . e Tutese Anglesth th , d .an , The two first commanders are said to have been Hengist and Horsa. They wer e sonth ef f Victgils f o f Vectaso Vittao o n n n so so ,so , , Woden. This statemen e subsequenth l basie Bedf al o tth f s seo i t narrativef so 170 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY OF

arrivae Saxonse th partls th i f t o lI y. founde statemene th e n do th f o t first arrival of the Saxons in Gildas, who wrote a century and a-half o neitheearlierwh t r,bu mention e nameth s f Hengiso s Horsd an ts a a the leaders of the Saxons, nor of Vortigern as the king of the Britons who invited them, this name being a later interpolation in G-ildas. The date of 449, however bees ha , n supplie Bedy db e himself, upo nconstructioa n of the passage in G-ildas, and the authority of the cotemporary Life of St G-ermanus by Constantius, which is undoubtedly erroneous. Con- stantius mentions that St G-ermanus was twice in Britain, and that on one of these occasions the Britons were attacked by the Picts and Saxons. Bede attributes this appearance of the Saxons in Britain to the second t GermanusvisiS f o t , 449 n whiccouplind i s an , hwa g this wit face hth t that G-ildas apparently puts the arrival of the Saxons after the letter of Britone th ^Etiuo st s ter-consule, whose third consulshi 446n i e s h , pwa arrivae fixeSaxonsdate e th th th f eo f hass e a o lupo H 9 ,. howevern44 , misunderstood Constantius unquestionablo ,wh y attaches this e eventh o t first visit of St Germanus, which took place in 429; and the appeal in 446 to JStius for assistance against the barbarians, was certainly directed against the Saxons after they had reduced the Britons to subjection, and not agains e Pict d Scotsth t an ss implie a , Gildasy b d , before their arrival mattee t beyonTh pu .s ri l doub dal Prospery b t , whose Chronicle was written 455, and who was therefore contemporary with the events he talks of, and who, under 441, says—"Britannise usque ad hoc tempus variis cladibus eventibusque lats ditionen i e m Saxonum rediguntur." s cleari t I from this authority r fro,Saxon e fa tham th o s t s having arrivefirse th tr timdfo 449n i e , the actualld yha y complete e entirdth e conquest of the island eight years earlier; and, stripped of its date, the statement by Bede becomes a mere legend of the early settle- ment of the Saxons in Britain—a tale which had been handed down, and was attached to every statement of their first settlement, but which was t historyno . This legend represented the t msoma e unknown perios a d invited by a British king, Vortigern, and arriving under the mythic leaders Hengist and Horsa. When we turn to Nennius,—a work which, in its original shape, is certainly not later than Bede, but which appeared in successive editions tente dowth ho nt century whicn i d hboda an , f mosyo t ancient British ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND. 171

legends are preserved,—we find the same legend, but with three different dates assigne. it o dt The latest date in Nennius is 428, when he says Guortigern began to reig Britainn i nconsulshie th n i , f Theodosiupo Valentiniand an s d an ; e fourtth n hi s reig yeahi f no r the Saxons cam Britaino t e , Felid xan Taurus being consuls. This passage occurHarleiae th . n onlysi nMS , written consulshi e 954Th . f Theodosiupo Valentiniad san e nth fel n i l year 425, and that of Felix and Taurus in the year 428. The next date is 392, when he says:—" From the first year in which the Saxons came to Britain to the fourth year of King Mervin, are reck- oneyears.9 d42 "e editio th This a f 821n o s d passag,ol whic s a s hei was the fourth of King Mervin of "Wales, and places the arrival of the Saxons in 392. It corresponds remarkably with the oldest Welsh chrono- logical tables, and that preserved in the Bed Book of Hergest, a MS. of the thirteenth century, which says that from the reign of G-uortigern to the battle of Badon are 128 years; and as the date of the battle of Badon is stated by the " Annales Cambrise" to be 676, this places the commencement of the reign of Guortigern in 388, and the arrival of the Saxons four years afterwards 392n i , . The earliest date in Nennius is 374. " Guortigern reigned in Britain when there came three cyuls from Germany, in which were Hors and Hengist, who were brothers, and sons of Guictgils, son of Guitta, son of Guechta, son of Woden. Guortigern received them kindly, and gave them the island of Thanet. While Gratianus the Second and Aquan- tius reigned, the Saxons were received by Guortigern in the 347th year after the passion of Christ." This passage is certainly part of the original work d thougan , h much corrupted afterward Durhae th y b sm commen- tators, who tried to bring it into accordance with Bede, it unquestionably stands so in its original shape. The 347th year after the passion of Christ is equal to the 374th year after his incarnation ; and in this year Gratianus was consul a second time, in conjunction with Aquantius. The actions of the traditionary Guortigern correspond in so remarkable a manner with those of the his- toric Gerontius, who was a Briton, but held the position of comes, and accompanied Constantine the tyrant to Gaul in the year 407, that their identity seems beyond question. But his history belongs rather to the 17- 2 PROCEEDING SOCIETE TH F F SO YO

Kentish story; and its bearing upon the tradition, as well as the corre- spondenc Nenniusf eo ' three dates wit three hth e devastation Britaif so n recorde Gildasy db , woul dlono leato gdigressiona o dt . In another passage of Nennius we also have the very important statement, that Saxonwhil the par eone of t s under Hengist settledin Kent, another bod thef yo m unde nephewd r an Oct Ebissad n aso an , s hi , settle Scotlanddn i passage follows:—Th s a . s ei " Hengist sai Vortio dt - gern, I will invite my son with his cousin, for they are warlike men, that they may fight against the Scots, and give them regions which are in the north, near the wall which is called Gruaul; and he ordered that they shoul e inviteddb Octd Ebissd an an ;a a were invited with forty theycyulsd An , .whe n thenavigated yha d roun e Pictsdth , laid waste the Orkney Islands, and came and occupied many regions beyond the Mare Frisicum, as far as the confines of the Picts." I believe this to be a genuine old tradition ; and this statement that the Saxons had arrived on the British shores as early as the latter part fourte oth f h century thad an ,t they mad t leas settlementea o tw t e th n si country, one in Kent and the other in the extreme north, is remarkably corroborate Eomae th y db n historians. Ammianus Marcellinus, in recording the first outbreak of the bar- baric tribes upo e Eomath n n provinc Britain i eyeae th r n i 360 , says they consiste e genteth f o ds Scottorum Pictorumque 364n i d , fouan ; r years after this, describes the barbarian army as consisting of Picti, Saxonesque t Scotte , t Attacottie i thabodieo 4 s , 36 t betweed s an 0 n36 of Saxons had joined in invading the Eoman province. In 368 they slew Nictaridus comes tractus Maritimi. This maritime eth tracs wa t coast of Kent, which was under the'protection of an officer termed Comes; samthe e office409 in terme is rNotiti the but din a Imperi Comeas l sof the Saxon shore; and it is now thoroughly established that the Saxons had settlements on the shore, so that it is plain that one of the settle- ments mentioned by Nennius, viz. that on the Kentish shore, had taken place d 409betweean , 8 thu36 n s embracin earlieso tw s thi g datef o s 392d an . 4 37 The other settlement in the north, which Nennius says commenced with the Orkneys, and finally settled on the shore of the Mare' Fresicum, must also have been as early as this period; for Claudian, in referring to ANTIQUARIE3 17 SCOTLANDF SO . e expulsioth e barbarianth f no s fro e Komamth n provinc 369n ei , says, in describing the effect of his campaign—"Maduerunt Saxone fuso Orcades, incaluit Pictorum sanguine Thule, Scotorum cumulos flevit glacialis lerne." Thus, as icy Ireland wept her heaps of Scots slain, so the Orcades gre d witwre h Saxon blood n indicatioa , n which coincides remarkably with Nennius' notice tha northere th t n settlemen commenced ha t d with Orkney, and with the date of 374, which he attaches to the first arrival e Saxonsoth f . The name of Saxon was at this early period one of a very comprehen- sive character applies wa d numerouo dt an , s people who, known formerly by distinctive appellations, now appear under the general name of Saxous. It embraced all the cities on the northern shore of Holland and Ger- many, from the Ehine to the Elbe,1 and included among others the nation Frisiie bacr o hadth f fa o histors ka s a ,wh y reaches, bee inhabitante nth s low-lyine oth f g country extending fro Ehine Wesere mth th o et . That this early settlement of a people called by the general name of Saxons was in reality an offshoot from the Frisii or Frisians, appears from these facts :— 1st, Procopius says that Brittia lies between Britanni Thule,d an a y b which he evidently means North Britain; and "that it was inhabited by three nations, each under its proper king, viz., the Angli, the Frisones, anBritone dth s synonymous wit Islee hth . The Angles, we know, were the population of Northumberland, and settled there for the first time under Ida, their leader, in 547. By the Frisones or Frisians, he evidently meant the older colony under Octa and Ebissa. 2dly,legene Th Nenniu n di Frisiaa s si n legendgenealoge th d an , f yo Saxone th s there give Frisiana n genealogy deducee h r ancestorfo ;e sth s e leaderoth f f thiso s Saxon colony from f FolcwaldFinno n f o so , n so , Geta, who was " ut aiunt filius Dei." Now f FolcwaldFinno n so , s mentionei , mythia s da c her severan oi l

statinn I g tha Saxone th t s extended fro RhinElbee e mth th givI o ,e t someea - 1 what wider signification to the name than is done by Zeuss and others ; but I con- sider that the name of Saxones was used in a looser sense than is generally sup- posed Germaincluded w an , Lo e ndth tribes extending Ehine froe Elbe th m th o et . 4 17 PROCEEDING SOCIETE TH F F SO YO

of the old Anglo-Saxon poems, and in one, termed the Traveller's Song, we have "Finn Folcwalding Fresna Cynne,"—Finn f Folcwaldo n so , f o , Frisian race. 3dly, These settlements were on the shore of a sea termed the Mare Fresicum or Frisian Sea, which must have taken its name from Frisian settlement s shoresit n so . Assuming it then to be clear that a people known by the general name of Saxons, but who were in reality Frisians, and to whom tradition assigns as leaders Octa and Ebissa, had appeared on the coasts of North Britain r mor o madd e ean , esettlementon s ther yeae earls ea th rs y a 374 , nexe th t questio , whanis shoree t th par f f Norto so t ho t Britaie w e nar thesr loofo eo k t settlement I thin d have an kw se? material deterr fo s - mining at least three localities. firse principad Th an t l sea thef o t m appear havo st e been the. northern Firte shorth f Forthf ho eo d extendinan , g alon e shorgth f Forfareo - shire, and perhaps Kincardine, as far as Stonehaven. Nennius describes them as occupying "plurimas regiones ultra mare Fresicum," and the Dur- ham commentators add "quod inter nos Scotorque est," which shows that Firte th Fortf ho meants hi thid confirmes san ;i d by Jocelyne Lifs hi en ,i of Kentigern, who terms the shore of Culross " Frisicum litus," or the Frisian shore. This district include whole sth Fiff Kinrossd eo ean d an , maritime th e pare Frisiaf Forfarth o t d nan ;settlement t prono -d sdi bably extend further inland than the secondary chain of the Ochils and Sidlaw Hills, which separateregiow lo ne th alons e shorgth e froe mth great straths of Stratherne and Strathmore. This region bears the indi- cation a Saxo f so n populatio peculiae th n ni r term appliehille th so t d whic hers hi frequento es , viz .frontiee Lawsth d an r; range itself bears the name of the Sidlaw Hills. fine verW da y peculiar word applie districe parto dt th f so t lyin- gbe twee Sidla e Ochile th n th wore d wthaseae d th san ds th Hillan i ,t d san Comgalls. notic d t Ser ol S Angu y f fb n eo a Culdeee n sI th nintwrote o th wh ,hn e i century Comgalle , th Culros n i e s saib si o betweedt n Sleavenochillr o , the Ochill Hills, and Muirnguidan, or the Sea of Guidan; and again, in Statisticad Ol e th l Accoun parise th f Inverkeillerf hto o , near Arbroatht i , is said, anciene "th t nam f thio e s paris Conghoilless wa h appears a , s ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND. 175

from a charter describing the lands of Boisach."1 This is evidently the same word. The name of Galls was applied by the Irish to the Danish and Norwe- gian pirate infesteo swh d their coastninte th hn si century thein i d r an ; traditionary histor applies i l foreigt yal i o dt n raceattackeo swh d them fro seae mth . They distinguishe e Norwegianth d s froDanee mth y sb terming the former Fingalls, and the latter Dubhgalls; and the district e settleNorwegianth y db n Irelani s d bore namth ef Fingall o e n I . same tha y native th th etwa e populatio Irelanf no d calle Norwegiae dth n pirates Fingalls and their settlement Fingall, so I think did the native population here call the Frisian pirates Comgalls, and their settlement the Comgalls corrohoration I . f thino t wilsi observee b l e dth thas i t i t same district, viz districe th . whicn i t a betweehse e Ochile th nth d san Culros s situatedsi , tha Irise s callei tth hy db authorit y Comgallsd an , by Joeelyn Fresicum litus, a Frisian shore. Though forming to a great exten populatioe th t thif no s district, they must eventually have become subjec Pictise th o t th kingdom s Beda , e undoubtedly includee th n i t si provincia Pictorum t accounti t bu ; n somi s e Anglee degreth r f o fo se Northumbria havin r thirtgfo y years maintained possessio f thino s part of the provincia Pictorum ; and when that possession terminated in 686 wit defeae hth deatd an tEgfridf ho s rathei t i , r strikin observo gt e that appeare h o havt s e advance e Sidlath o t wd range without opposition; and that the great conflict with the Picts, in which the latter were victo- rious, took place at Dunnichen, in an attempt by the Saxons to penetrate throug Sidlae hth w range, which, accordin thio gt s view, must have been the barrier which separated the Pictish and the Frisian population. e extensio e Th Pictisth f o nh e boundar th e Forth th d an o t ,y expulsion of the Angles, which followed this victory, must have like- Frisiae th wis f o en d provesettlementen ruie d th dnan thin so s sidf o e the Firth. The second localit n whicyi tracn hI thinca ee thekw thams i t part e coasoth ff East-Lothiao t n wher t i eproject s intFirthe th o a grea, t promontory consistin e parisheth f o g f Dirletoo s Nortd an n h Berwick, Through the kindness of Mr Howe, W.S., I have obtained an extract of this 1 charter t describeI . lande sth Ballysaf so others—Jacend kan Baronin i . Eeide ad - castell Conghoillis, alias Innerkellour. 176 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY OF

and where there was anciently a ferry to the opposite coast of Fife, which is here not more than eight miles distance. Here we have North Berwick Law and the barony of Congalton, or the town of the Comgalls. It may be objected to this etymology, that it is placing the Saxon affix ton or town to a Celtic word; but in an old chartee baronth f f Congaltono ro y n whici , e boundarieth h e ar s pointe boundare th th givenf f o so fine e s termew y,di on d Knockingall- stane. Knockingall is unmistakeably Celtic, and means the hillock of G-allse th , thus confirmin e meaninth g f Comgallsgo have e w eth d an ; Saxon stane appended to it. You will recollec d notict Serol S e equivalen f th fe to e thath n i t f o t the Mare Fresicum was Muirn Guidan, or the Sea of Guidan. Bede, in describing the Firths of Forth and Clyde, says that the eastern, or Firth n media,i midse , o furbit e th Forthcitf r th n o o i tsGuidif yo s d ha , an , that the western has on the right hand of it the urbs or city Alcluitt. lattee Th knows ri e Dumbartob o nt n e contrasCastleth d an ;t between the expressions in media and supra se hoc est ad dexteram sui, shows sense th urbn a e n thai s tha urbe islandn wa a th t tsd n G-uido an ,s wa i the fort on Dumbarton rock was an urbs. e resemblancTh e nameth f o es Muirnguida urbd an ns o Guidto s i i striking not to show that the words are the same; and the probability is tha urbe th t s GuidFrisiaa s wa i n seat, because,—First pecue th s - wa t I , liarity of these early Saxon rovers to make their first settlement on small island Kentin see s, wher neashore islanwe the r the eas Thane,of d t was their first possession ; and secondly, the Durham copies of Nennius say e colonsth Octf Ebissd o y an a a occupied " plurimas regione- in t e s sulas," which can only refer to islands on the Firth of Forth. wore Th d Guida Guidd nan fros i shape , unquestionablmit th f eo ya s Cymriit n i ct ce mus w shapeformno t tt t i loo bu ;bu r , kfo rather in its Saxon or its Guidelian equivalent. The Saxon equivalent Gaelie th d c an ois/, fv gu.s i Thus Nennius' guitta Bedn i s i e vitta— guictgil s Vectgils.si Again Cymrie th , c gwr, a man Gaelin i s ,i c fear, Cymrithe cand guydh, Gaeliits treesin c is ,for forthmso fiadh. and ; The Saxon form of guid is therefore vid with a v, and the Gaelic is fid Opposit• . wit/ n ha e thi scoase parth f East-Lothia o f to t smala e nar l group of islands, including the towering rock of the Bass. The name of ANTIQUARIE SCOTLANDF SO . 7 17 one of these islands is Fidra. It is thus described in the Statistical Ac- pariscoune th f Dirletof o tho n :— " There are three islands belonging to the parish—Fidra or Fetheray, Ibri Eybroucheyr so Lambe th d .an , " The first of these is situated directly opposite the village of Dirleton, abou mila t e fro shoree ms th appearanc It . highls ei y picturesque th e; western part is of considerable elevation, and is united by an isthmus to the eastern part, which risecastellatea n si dcalles i for d Castle mdth an e of Tarbet. As early as the reign of William the Lion there was a chapel dedicated to St Nicholas on the island, of which the ruins still remain." The name of this island contains in it the Gaelic, and perhaps also the Saxon, equivalent of Gruidi.1 It possessed a castle and a castle chapel^ royaa s anlwa roya a islandt di n i lr chartefo , r grante 150n di Henro 9t y Congalton it is thus described:—" Insulamet terras de Fetheray unacum monte Castri earundem vocat Tarbet." Chartulare th n I Dryburgf yo s mentionei t hi vera t dya early period in connection with the chapel of St Nicholas as " insula de Elboitel." Elboitel is the name of an estate in the mainland immediately opposite s thera d iteo t an ;wer feweo n e r than eight Tarbet Scotlandn si l al , named from the narrow isthmus called a Tarbet, and as two of these were castles, this one appears to have been distinguished as Tarbet Elboitel. Unde nama r e almost identical with thitwics i t si e mentione Irise th hn di firse th 730td d timAnnal an year e an ,connection 1 i th e t s71 sa n with an important notice which throws much light on the subject. The notice is this :— 710. Devastation upon the race of the Comgalls, in which two sons of Doirgarto were slain. Angus, son of Maelan, slain upon the island ; Fiachra, son of Dungaile, among the Picts, slain.2

By the expression " in medio," Bede seems to imply merely an island at all 1 times surrounded by the sea. Thus, in his Life of St Cuthbert, he terms the island of Fame onlmileo ytw s fro shoree mth , "medin i o oceane, contradistinction "i o t n Lindisfarne, wherwatere w channee lo Th th et . a y e lanl dr betweeth s di d an t ni sea flows round Fidrl statetidee al th t f a.a so 2 Imbiarea apud genus Comgail iibi duo filii Nechtain me Doirgarto jugulati eunt. CEngus mac Maelac r inscfo n i jugulatus. Fiachr c Dungailma a e apud Cruithne VOL . PARIV . . TI M 8 17 PROCEEDING SOCIETE TH F F SYO O

famile Th f Doirgartyo o were Pictish belonged an ,e oppositeth o dt region, in which Lochleven was situated ; for the isle of Loohleven was granted to St Serf, as appears from the Chartulary of St Andrews, hy f BrudeDoirgartoo n so , d Congalf Doirgartoo an ; n so , e b s saii , o dt foundee e Castlth th f o f Lochlevenre o . year712n o I tw , s after, ther this ei s notice :—burnine "Th Tarbef go t Boitter, Congal, son of Doirgarto, is slain"—the name of Doirgarto con- necting this expedition wit formere hth . The second notice of this place is 730 : the burning of Tarbert Boitter by .Dungal. This was in the second year of the Pictish king Angus, son of Fergus same thith d en an s, i year brother's Dunga, hi as ,s ; n wa l sso we have, in a subsequent battle, the death of Dungal, son of Conguil, pon of Fergus ; hut this Angus, son of Fergus, is the Pictish king who, legene foundatioe th th n f i do t AndrewsS f no sais i ,grea a havo d t d ele t army agains Saxone th t Easf so t Lothian havo t d e fough,an e battlth t e with their king, Athelstane whicn ,i Andret hS w appeare himo dt , which is supposed to have been fought in the neighbouring parish of Athel- staneford e parisheth d f Gulanan ;o s d Nortan e h Berwic e botar k h dedicated to St Andrew; from which we may infer that this second burning of Tarbet took place in that expedition. It would lead to too great a digression to follow this part of the sub- jeclonpapee a er t n g i o further rs upoI hop o e t trud nth o bu e et ; his- veneratioe torth f yo t Andre S f o n wScotlandn i e foundatioth d an , f o n St Andrews.

jugulatus . 709an ul.n d a tA On. e would naturall inclinee yb supposo dt e thae tth genus Comgall were a Dalriadie tribe, the descendants of Comgall, king of Dalriada; just as the descendants of Gabran, his brother, were termed genus Gabran; but there does not appear to have been a Dalriadie tribe so named. The tract in the Book of Ballymot Albanie th n eo c Scots, mention Cineae sth l Gabran, Cineal -ZEngud san Cineal Joaviu only, and includes in the territories of the Cineal Gabran the district ' of Ooingaill, or Corvall, called after this Comgal. And this is corroborated by Tighernac, who, in 574, mentions Duncan, son of Conall, son of Comgall, among e " servth i filiorum Gabran. notice genue th Th f "es o Comgal 710n i l , places them evidently among the Rets, and apparently in Kinross-shire, as Sir J. Balfour men- tion traditiosa n tha Castle tth Lochlevef eo anciene "s th nwa t habitatio Congalf no , son of Doirgart, who founded the samen ;" and the Annals of Ulster have, at " 711, Congal macDoirgarto moritur." ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND. 179 The third locality in which we find traces of a Frisian settlement, I fin Willian di Malmesburyf mo , who mentioninn i , discovere gth e th f yo supposed sepulchre of Walwin, nephew of King Arthur, in the year 1087, says:—" He reigned a most renowned knight in that part of Britain whic s stilhi l named "Walweitha drives wa t n bu fro, s kingmhi - dom by the brother and nephew of Hengist, of whom I have spoken in my first book." By the district named Walweitha is meant G-alweithia, or Galloway ; and in referring to his first book, we find he alludes to this same colony of Frisians, supposed to have been led by Octa and Ebissa. This statement—from which we may infer that a part of Galloway had been occupie thesy db e Frisians—is confirme passaga y db Jocelyne'n ei s Lif Kentigernf o e e sayH s. tha Kentigern'n o t s return from Waleo t s Glasgow e stoppeh , t Holdema d r Hoddelmeo , n Dumfriesshirei , d an ; there, desiring to preach, to the people, the ground on which he stood miraculously rose up, so that he could address them from an eminence. The substanc discourss tole hi ar d f e o tha w demon e gives ei d h t an n; - strated to them that Woden, whom they believed to be their principal god, and especially the Angli, from whom they deduced their origin, and to whom they dedicate weeke mortaa a th s f fourtd e o wa ,d th an l y hda kina man d f Saxonsgo an , . cleas i populatioe t I rth Dumfriesshirf no e must e havth f eo beee non Saxon tribes. Amon e citiegth f Britaio s n enumerate y Nenniusdb , there are two, Caer Breatan and Caer Pheris ;[ and as the first is certainly Dumbarton meand Britainse th an cite , f I th think yt, o lattee so , tb , r was Dumfries, or the city of the Frisians. Before concluding wisI , alludo ht e very shortl peopla o yt e mentioned traditionare inth y histor Irelandf yo , who samm e I believ th ee witb o et h these early Frisian pirates. The callee yar Irisn di h traditio Fome nth - orians Fomhoraidhr o , appead an , r throughou whole th t e traditionary his- ractora f s sea-piratesyea o , occasionally infestin coastse th goccad an , - sionally settling on its shores and subjugating its inhabitants. They are called in these legends African pirates ; but the same name of Afri- can s attributei s Procopiusy b ds preserve ha o wh , d Frisia Saxod an n n traditions o themt , . The e alsyar o called Lochlannaibh, which clearly 1 The names of the twenty-eight cities given by Nennius still remain, with few exceptions, unidentified. The usual identifications are merely conjectural. M 2 180 PBOCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY OF

marks them out as being pirates from the north coast of Germany. An early kin Bhreass g i Frisiane th r o , . Their principal strongholn o s dwa a small island called Tory Island, where they had a fort called Tur Conaing, after the name of a leader—Conaing, the Saxon for king. Their chief seat, this small island called after a leader, being nearly parallel to their chief seat in the Forth, likewise a small island called the city of Guidi, who othemo believI n e rb tha o et Guittae Guechta f no th n so , , of Nennius f Vecta Vittae also o th o n f wh Bede d o so ,appear, d an , an , s e Pictisth n i h Chronicl s Guidia e d Gadbrechach e worTh d. Fo-mor mean Iriscountrd w s ol lo undeh e e namseaye th Th lyinrth r . efo g east Ehine oTirfothuinnth s f wa e lane th ,d unde wavese th r , fro s beinmit g supposed to be lower than the sea; so was it also called Tirformor, the land under the sea, and its inhabitants Fomorians or Fomhoraigh. They appear in intimate connection with the Cruthens or Picts. It would taklono to eo quotg t e numerouth e s passages which show this traditionary connection between them, but it runs through the whole of their traditionary .history; and I cannot help suspecting that they have left their name in the parish in the county of Aberdeenshire termed Foveran, as the Cruthens have in the neighbouring parish of Cruden. The reason tha I tmentio n this traditionary peopl s thaei t they were the great builders of Cyclopean forts in Ireland. Two great fortresses callee on , d Bath Cimbaot Dalaradian i t , now part of Down anothed an , Meathn i r saie tradition ar di , havo t n e beee th n wor fouf ko r celebrated builder Fomoraighe th f so . Conaing theif o e r on , leaders sais i ,hav o t d e buil strona t g towe Torn i r y Islandcoase th n t o , of Donegal, hence called Torinis d Balaan ; r Beman, another famous champion of the Fomorians, erected another fort oh Torinis called Dun- Balaird ar greaa , t for Balarf o t . t abovBu e allgreae ,th t Cyclopean for Aelechf o t Aelecr o , h Fririnn i , Londonderry—said in old poem, of all the works of Erin the oldest is Aelech Fririn—is sai havo dt e been erecte Gaibhay db Frirind nan o tw , celebrated builder Fomoraighe th f so . " Aelech Fririii, the level platform, noblese Th t Royal Fortres worlde th n si , To which stronghold led Horse roads through fine ramparts; ANTIQUAKIE1 18 SCOTLANDF SO .

Many its houses, rare its stones, And great were its tributes. Lofty castle is Aelech Fririn, The Rath of this worthy man, Pleasant stone fortress, Protecting house of heroes." (From the " Dimhettnckai") The fortress of Aelech was of a circular form, built of large stones well fitted together and of great strength, constructed in the style of Cyclopean architecture. There are still considerable remains of the stone fortresse walth ld variean , fifteeso t fro n mnte fee thicknessn i t d ,an f immenso s i e strength e circumferencTh . f thieo s buildin almoss gwa t 100 yards, and it was surrounded by three great earthen ramparts. thesn i f I e tradition Fomhoraige th f so h ther preserves ei d some recol- lections of these forerunners of the Saxons and Angles, those Frisians who unde e generith r c nam f Saxoneo s first investe coastr dou madd san e settlement shoresr ou probabls i n t i o ,s e tha muse w t t attribut theo et m man f thosyo e stupendous hill fort e founb s o whict d e withiar h o n great distance from the eastern shore, and especially those which crown summite th hille th sf so terme d "Laws, probabld "an y mansepule th f yo - chral remains; while it is not impossible that the Cat Stane, with its in- scriptio f "Iturpulnc o nho o jacet Vettafilius Victi, commemoraty "ma e by a Eoman hand the tomb of their first leader Vitta, son of Vecta, the traditionary grandfather of Hengist and Horsa.