Celtic Scotland : $b A history of ancient Alban. Volume 1 (of 3), History and ethnologySkene, W. F. (William Forbes)
History
Celtic Scotland : $b A history of ancient Alban. Volume 1 (of 3), History and ethnology
Skene, W. F. (William Forbes)
Celts -- Scotland; Civilization, Celtic; Scotland -- Antiquities, Celtic; Scotland -- History -- To 1603
It is usually stated by modern writers that Ida landed in 547 with a
body of Angles, and founded the kingdom of Northumberland, but the
older authorities give no countenance to the idea of a colony under
Ida. Nennius has no hint of his having come into the island from the
Continent. Bede, in the short chronicle annexed to his History, has
‘Anno 547, Ida regnare cœpit, a quo regalis Nordanhymbrorum prosapia
originem tenet et duodecim annis in regno permansit.’ This statement
is repeated by the _Saxon Chronicle_, which adds, ‘And built
Bambrough, which was at first enclosed by a hedge, and afterwards by a
wall,’ and by Florence of Worcester. Simeon of Durham has simply, ‘Ida
rex annis regnavit xi.’ William of Malmesbury, however, connects Ida
very clearly with the earlier settlements; for, after narrating how
Octa and Ebissa seized the northern parts of Britain, he says, ‘Annis
enim uno minus centum, Northanhimbri duces communi habitu contenti,
sub imperio Cantuaritarum privatos agebant: sed non postea stetit hæc
ambitionis continentia, seu quia semper in deteriora decliva est
humanus animus, seu quia gens illa naturaliter inflatiores anhelat
spiritus. Anno itaque Dominicæ incarnationis quingentesimo
quadragesimo septimo, post mortem Hengesti sexagesimo, _ducatus in
regnum mutatus_, regnavitque ibi primus Ida, haud dubie nobilissimus,
ætate et viribus integer; verum utrum ipse per se principatum
invaserit, an aliorum consensu delatum susceperit, parum definio.’ The
first writer who mentions the colony is the anonymous author of the
tract ‘De primo Saxonum Adventu,’ and he is copied by John
Wallingford. After repeating the usual statement, ‘Ida primus rex ex
Anglis cœpit regnare in Northanhymbrorum provincia,’ he adds, ‘Venerat
autem Ida comite patre Eoppa cum lx. navibus ad Flamaburch, indeque
boreales plagas occupans, ibidem regnavit duodecim annis.’ The
statement seems to be adopted from the account of Octa and Ebissa’s
colony.
Footnote 174:
These names, Bernicia and Deira, are taken from the British names of
the same districts, Deifr and Byrneich. Nennius has a curious notice
which shows that these Anglic kingdoms did not first arise from
colonies as late as 547. He says of Soemil, four generations before
Ella, ‘Ipse primus separavit Deur o Berneich.’ The race from which
Ella sprang must have been some generations before in the country.
Footnote 175:
Contra illum quatuor reges Urbgen et Riderchen et Guallauc et Morcant
dimicaverunt.—_Gen. Nennius._ The genealogy of these four kings is
given in the Welsh pedigrees annexed to Nennius.—_Chron. Picts and
Scots_, pp. 15, 16. The reader is referred to the _Four Ancient Books
of Wales_, vol. i. pp. 336-355, for the historical poems relating to
the battles fought in this war.
Footnote 176:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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