Proc Antiqc So Scot, (1991)1 12 , 295-327 Northumbriae Th n settlement Gallowan i s d yan Carrick: an historical assessment Daphne Brooke* ABSTRACT The Anglian settlements dating from the Northumbrian supremacy in Galloway and Carrick tracedare from place-names, church dedications, supportiveand historical, topo- graphical, archaeologicaland material. Their grouping reveals three 'shires' with some identified boundaries. These territories appear haveto co-existed with British occupied areas, presumably under tribute. Medieval place-name forms listedAppendix,an are in Appendicesand also give corresponding forms British,of Scandinavian, selectedand Gaelic place-names. INTRODUCTION This paper attempts to trace the extent of Anglian settlement in Galloway and Carrick perioNorthumbriae e th th (illuf n i do ) 1 s n supremacy fro mid-sevente mth tento ht h century. Evidence from place-name study and archaeology is related to documentary and literary sources e settlementTh . s examine detain di provisionalle ar l showd an y 1 nb y p listeap n di numbe n illuo r. Villages2 s , estate d churchean s e identifiear s thein i d r groupings round strategic and geographical nuclei. Some administrative divisions emerge. The conclusions attempt a rough numerical assessment, allowing that some evidence appears to have been destroyed by later settlers. Relations between Angle and Cymry are discussed in terms of territory e economy e sociath , th d l an structure, y e brie e an s b neerule t ha o Th ft d. dou consideratio culturae th f nr o religiou o l s qualit survivine f lifeyo Th . g British e estateth d san later Scandinavia offerin 4 n, wit 4 p settlement illud h& ap an s3 g 3 & e identifie 2 ar s p ap n di notes on the Gaelic-speaking settlement. The area covered comprises Galloway as defined before the introduction of regions (the erstwhile Stewartr f Kirkcudbrighyo e shirth f Wigtown)eo d an t Carrickd an , southere th , n divisio f Ayrshireno e boundarieTh . longeo n s r correspond precisely with current administra- tive divisions; but it is convenient and least confusing to keep the old names and limits. The text and appendices refer to the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright (its eastern boundary the river Nith), Wigtownshire Cree)e (westh Carrickd f o t an , southers it , n boundary show illun no & s2 3. The whole territory is wedge-shaped with sea to the west and south, the land tapering to the thin hammer-head of the Rhins peninsula in the extreme south-west. Illus 1 shows its relationship to neighbouring territories. * Craignair, Auchencairn, by Castle Douglas 296 SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND, 1991 ILLUS 1 Map showing location of Galloway & Carrick. TOPOGRAPHY Solwad an Irise a yTh hSe Firt encirclee har territoriey db earlse thath yn ti Christian period had as much in common with each other as each with its hinterland. Among the provinces of Ireland, southern Argyll, Strathclyde, CumbriaWalesd an n , GallowaMa , y occupie dcentraa l position brokes it d nan , coastline wit hdozena bay inletd san s were hospitabl shippingo et e Th . commerce acros narroe sth w seas range intenn di t from warfar slave-raidind ean trado gt d ean peaceable cultural exchange e pre-NorthumbriaTh . n monaster f Candidao y Casa trained Irishme priesthoode th r legende nfo sixth-centure th th d f an s,o y saint f Irelanso Waled dan s imply regular coming and going. This intercourse was not exclusive. The Picts could sweep down through the Hebrides intent on plunder, as the Vikings did later; and Galloway's interchange of goods and ideas ranged as far as south-western Gaul and the Mediterranean. Looked at from this perspective the chief havens and strongholds of Solway in the pre-Northumbrian era gain significance. The Mote of Mark can be seen guarding the estuary and por f Urre naturao t Th . l harbou Isle f Whithorth eo f o r n served Candida Casapora s a t until the Reformation; and Penrhyn Rionydd, commanding the harbour of Loch Ryan, was remembere Walen di three s 'onth sa f eeo throne f Britainso ' (Bromwich 1978, 85). Inland the rocky spine that divides Galloway from Carrick broadens as it runs eastward. The southern uplands border Galloway on the north, their protection breached by narrow defensible passes at the head of the Glenken and Nithsdale, and more hazardously by Annandale. The corridor of Annandale and the vale of Eden, opened up by Roman roads, has been a perpetual threat to Galloway's territorial security. Any power approaching from upper Tweeddale over the watershed of Clyde and Tweed, or northward from Carlisle, and controlling that corridor might hope to hold the south-west under tribute. BROOKE NORTHUMBRIAE TH : N SETTLEMENT GALLOWAN SI CARRICD YAN K 297 ILLU S2 Locatio f Angliano n place-names p 1liste. ap n di That tribut worts ewa h exacting. Carrick comprises upland wit narroha w coastal plain, its north-flowing rivers watering good grazing land s traditionaIt . l food-rents were rendered mainl cheesen yi t Gallowabu , thad mord yha e an t offer o et rivere du slopes th n It . d sru san south warme Th . , alluvial valley f Urrso , Dee, Fleet, Cre Lucd ean e invite cultivatore dth e th ; pastur s richewa enoug r horse-breedinghfo . Salt coul e pannedb d alone e coastth gth d an , waters, 'both salt and fresh, teemed with fish. The forests offered oak for building and boat-construction abundancn a d an , f gameeo e hillTh .s betweeprovinceo tw e nth s hele dth additional lur preciouf eo s metal s- copper , silverlittla d e an ,gol d- sough boty b t h Britisd han Anglian craftsmen. The west coasts gave access to established trading centres. Excavation has reveale e impordth f luxurieo t s fro e Continenmth t pre-Northumbriaa t n Whithore th d nan Mote of Mark: glass-trailed beads, millefiori rods for jewellery-making, Merovingian glass, E-ware, and wine (Hill 1990, Laing 1975). This spelled wealth and mercantile opportunity. Galloway was a prize, and unless strongly defended, it lay open both by sea, and across the ford f Nito d Solways han , overland. THE EVIDENCE It is no accident, therefore, that the history of settlements along the northern shore of Solway is so complex. The extent of Anglian settlement in this complexity has been questioned. Dunca ns commented (1975ha ) 65 , : 'The faintest writin n thio g s Gallovidian palimpsest is Anglian, probably not so much that it was later obliterated, as because it was always slight'. This sums up the prevailing view (Smyth 1984, 23-4). The Anglian population was 'mornature th scattere a n ef i eo d upper-crus landlordf o t s tha nrealla y thick settlemenf o t I SOCIET 8 29 ANTIQUARIEF YO SCOTLANDF SO , 1991 ILLUS 3 Location of Brittonic place-names listed in app 2. peasants' (Jackson 1955, 84)purpose Th . muco s e t refuthero ht no s ei e these judgemento t s sa replace generalizations with a more detailed survey. About 35 years ago place-name scholars identified certain Old English (OE) place-name elements implying habitation which were widely use n Britaii e dearl th yn i n centurief o s Anglo-Saxon settlement and thereafter became obsolete. A minimum of early Anglian settlements were identified in southern Scotland, only a few of them in the south-west. These contai e suffinth x -ingaham (homestea so'd an s peopleo s Edinghaf n i do s a ) perhapd man s Cunningham suffie th ; x -ham (homestead, village Peninghamn i s a ) possibld ean y Twynholm; and the element botl (hall, village) as in Buittle and Maybole (Nicolaisen 1964, 76-7). Archaeolog increases yha r knowledgdou e throug excavatioe hth Mote th f Markf eno o , Ardwall Island Whithornd an , systematia n i , c surveearle th f yyo medieva l sculpturey b d an , some chance discoveries. Dedication churchesf so , crosses, well faird alsn usese an ca so b s da tentative indicators of Anglian settlement. e NorthumbriaTh n Church honoure dlimitea relativeld dan y easily identifiable calendar of saints eight e t leasa ,th n i th century Virgie t Peteth S . d n ran wer e both popular dedications in Northumbria proper, but dedications to St Peter do not appear in Galloway apart from the seventh-centur t Peter'yS s ston t Whithornea e universalitth e Virgid th e cul an ,f th o n t f yo Mary make t impossibli s o identift e r commemorationhe y s specificalla s y Anglian. Similar difficulties wil e discusseb l relation di t LaurencS o nt Martyre eth . Dedication e apostlth o t s e Andrew e contraryth n o , , appea maro t r e presenckth f eo Anglian influence in Galloway. The cathedral church of Hexham was dedicated to St Andrew in 674, and dedications at Balmaghie and Porton appear to have been among the earliest Northumbrian foundations in the south-west. The cult of King Oswald, Northumbria's first BROOKE NORTHUMBRIAE TH : N SETTLEMENT GALLOWAN SI CARRIC9 D 29 YAN K ILLU S4 Locatio f place-nameno f Scandinaviaso n origin. 3 , p listeap n di martyr s establishewa , d before Adamnan's Lifef Columbao s writtes wa hi c 692( d n an ) dedications, along with thost AndrewS o et mar y Northumbriae ma ,k th firse som f th o t f eo n churche Gallowayn si . Dedication t CuthberS o s t hav y ema t been slightly later t Cuthbert';S s bod s translateywa Lindisfarno dt founs e uncorrupteb wa o 698t dn d i e an , d (Farmer 1978, 105), a sign to his contemporaries of great sanctity.