Alt Clut: The other Kings in the North.

Untangling the web of Kinship amongst the kings of Northern Britain.

Dyfnwal Hen, The Old King of Alt Clut

While touching on the theoretical high-kingship amongst the Coeling in Northern Britain it becomes apparent that this was not the only high-kingship as well, with another interconnected dynasty competing for primacy. The descendants of Ceredig of Alt Clut seem to have proliferated throughout the Hen Ogledd, beyond the borders of their native kingdom. I thought it might be worthwhile to look at some of these interpolations and see what can be gleaned.

The first place to start would be to establish a family tree of Alt Clut. This dynasty begins with one of the few solidly documented figures of the 5th century in Britain, Ceredig Wledig. Ceredig appears at the root of Alt Clut in some of the pedigrees, whereas sometimes his grandson Dyfnwal is given as the start. Ceredig himself is, in a rare instance corroborated by a contemporary source. St. Patrick himself penned a letter lamenting of abuses upon fellow Christians by Ceredig’s warband,

“Soldiers whom I no longer call my fellow citizens, or citizens of the Roman saints, but fellow citizens of the devils, in consequence of their evil deeds; who live in death, after the hostile rite of the barbarians; associates of the Scots and Apostate Picts; desirous of glutting themselves with the blood of innocent Christians, multitudes of whom I have begotten in God and confirmed in Christ.”

Ceredig’s men returning from a raid on Ireland.

While Patrick’s exact dates have been argued about heavily, placing him from the 4th century all the way into the mid-6th, knowing Ceredig was a contemporary to him makes it much easier to pin down. How do we know this was Ceredig of Alt Clut? It so happens that Muirchú in his Vita sancti Patricii speaks of 'Coirthech rex Aloo' or Ceredig King of Ail, Ail being Alt Clut, further strengthening the ties to the foundations of that kingdom. Many cast doubt on these dynastic heads, citing that they were convenient inventions for landholders to lay claims/ bolster their fame, but Muirchú likely was writing some time in the late 7th century, and would seemingly have had no such reason to attribute a kingdom to him falsely. This gives us strong evidence that Ceredig was in fact a real person, and an early ‘king’ of Alt Clut.

Dating Ceredig can be roughly done through the pedigrees, especially through the men associated with the latter half of the 6th century, such as Cynon ap Clydno who is one of the few survivors of the battle of Catraeth, which you can read about here. Catraeth is generally held to have happened ~600AD, but there is reason to believe that Catraeth was as early as 580, as discussed in the article linked above. Cynon then would have been old enough to fight in 580, so that gives us a range for the beginning of his floruit from 550 at the earliest and 580 at the latest. Working from here we can get a rough set of dates for Ceredig himself, assuming a roughly 30 year generational gap. Rhydderch Hael can also be used to further fine-tune these dates. It is said that he died the same year as St. Kentigern, either in 614 or 612. Rhydderch in addition to his epithet Hael ‘The Generous’, was also called Rhydderch Hen, or ‘The Old’, if this is taken at face value he must have been past the prime of his life at this time, likely older than 50. This gives him a potential range of 564 on the latest, and 534 at the earliest. Gwid who does not feature directly in the pedigrees (we will discuss him later) also participated in the battle of Catraeth, and as such shares roughly the same dates as Cynon.

Cynon (530 earliest, 560 latest) Clydno (500, 530) Cynfelyn (470, 500), Dyfnwal (440, 470), Cynwyd (410, 440), Ceredig (380, 410)

Rhydderch (534, 564) Tudwal (534, 504) Clinog (504, 474) Dyfnwal (444, 474), Cynwyd (414, 444), Ceredig (384, 414)

Gwid (530 earliest, 560 latest) Neithon (500, 530) Gwyddno (470, 500), Dyfnwal (440, 470), Cynwyd (410, 440), Ceredig (380, 410)

The later dates work much better for what we can surmise about Alt Clut during this early period, giving Ceredig a floruit from 430-460, which meshes well with established research on St. Patrick’s dates. Rhydderch was supposedly one of the participants in the battle of Arfderydd in 573 so a middle of the road approach fits better here, and Rhydderch as his epithet implies may have been particularly aged upon his death. This is not an insurmountable issue, with as little as five years per generation over three generations easily closes said gap. These two pedigrees are quite congruous, and as such are probably both reliable, further showing their veracity. From here we know roughly when most of these figures were operating and can place each generation within a rough time period, and when informed with small tidbits here and there, can give us a better picture of what was happening in this period.

Rhydderch Hael, and his flaming sword Dyrnwyn

When looking through the pedigrees for Alt Clut, there are a few irregularities, so listing each pedigree given with brief comments may be the best to help guide here. Below are pedigrees from Bonedd Gwŷr y Gogledd

Ryderch Hael m. Tutwal Tutelyt m. Kedic m. Dyuynwal Hen

Generally not suspect, and corroborated by the Harleian pedigrees as well, seen as “Riderch hen map Tutagual map Clinoch map Dumgual hen”

Mordaf m. Seruan m. Kedic m. Dyfynwal Hen

Nothing overly suspect here, Mordaf is one of the ‘Tri-Hael’ (Rhydderch, Mordaf and Nudd) who sought to avenge their cousin Elidir Mwynfawr’s death after invading Gwynedd to contest Rhun’s claim to it’s throne. Generally thought to be an apocryphal story, though the men behind it may be real.

Elffin m. Gwydno m. Cawrdaf m. Garmonyawn m. Dyfnwal Hen

A suspect entry, Cawrdaf may in fact be Caw, the supposed Pictish usurper of Alt Clut and nemesis of Arthur. Garmonian may be a genuine entry, or may be Caw’s father, interpolated in error. If a regnal list gave Caw ap Garmonion - Dyfnwal, It could easily be confused for a pedigree, leading to an extra son for Dyfnwal. Elffin ap Gwyddno here is clearly a conflation of Gwyddno ap Dyfnwal and Gwyddno Garanhir of the ‘Chwedl Taliesin’ narrative. There is some possibility for this to be a genuine entry, as Gwyddno is corroborated in a triad mentioning Porth Wyddno, and Elffin is a name of Northern origin.

Gauran m. Aedan Uradawc m. Dyuynwal Hen m. Idnyuet m. Maxen Wledic, Amherawdyr Ruuein

Also suspect, blending multiple pedigrees. Dyfnwal is EXTREMELY unlikely to be the grandson of Maxen Wledig (Magnus Maximus), and further the son and grandson given to Dyfnwal are clearly Gabran and Aedan of Dal Riata. No acceptable chronology would make this fit, and seems to be a garble of records. Clearly a corrupt entry overall. Aedan and Gabran are both known by the epithet Uradawc meaning ‘traitor’ though sometimes translated as ‘wily’. This could indicate that the early Scots of Dal Riata may have been acting as a client of Alt Clut as well, or possibly as Foederati, as well as the possibility of intermarriage within the line of Alt Clut. It does interestingly show that the early Scots may have been seen as cooperative allies at first, until a change of attitude under either Gabran or Aedan.

Elidyr Mwynuawr m. Gorust Priodawr m. Dyfynwal Hen

Likely genuine, and possibly the source of confusion in the Coeling pedigrees that erroneously given Eliffer ap Arthwys as a son of Gwrwst ap Ceneu.

From the Harleian Pedigrees

Beli map Neithon map Guipno map Dumngual hen

Guipno here is the same Gwyddno in the chronology section earlier, likely genuine.

Riderch hen map Tutagual map Clinoch map Dumgual hen.

Descent of Rhydderch Hael, indicating that Clinog/Clinoch and Kedic/Cedig are the same person. Likely genuine.

Clinog etin map Cinbelim map Dumngual hen

Clinog is probably a mispelling of Clydno, and Cinbelim is the same as the aforementioned Cynfelyn. Nothing suspect here.

Nudd Hael, the son of Senilli, the son of Cedig, the son of Dyvnwal

From Bonedd y Saint, gives Dyfnwal descent from Magnus Maximus as well, seemingly a pervasive later tradition, but ther later post-Dyfnwal portion is likely credible.

Dyfnwal is the big starting point for most of the spread of this dynasty, and so far we have Cedig, Garmonion, Gwyddno, Gwrwst, Cynfelyn. He is given another two sons, Gwidol, and Deigr. Gwidol is suspect and is given as Gwrwst’s father in the ‘Hanesyn Hen’ tract. Deigr is given three sons over a few different sources, Enfael, Arthrwys, and Arthen. The name Arthrwys here is of note. As I have discussed in my article on the ‘Brigantian High-Kingship’, one of these high-kings was likely Arthwys ap Mar. Arthwys is rendered Arthrwys as well in a pedigree for Peren ferch Greidal, the wife of Cynwyd ap Cynfelyn ap Arthwys ap Mar. This pedigree is corrupt and likely combines a proper pedigree and a regnal list, with Peren ferch Greidal ap Arthrwys as a genuine pedigree, and with the final portion Arthrwys ap Garmon being a mistake made from assuming Garbonion/Garmon/Garmonion Arthwys’ great-uncle as a father instead. Garbonion likely fulfilled the role of high-king amongst the Coeling directly before Arthwys.

This is interesting for two reasons. First the implication that Arthrwys may not be an error, as it appears twice (it is still possibly an error), and second as we see with our chronology a grandson of Dyfnwal Hen would likely be born between 500 and 530, and may in fact be named for Arthrwys. While the relationship between these two rival Kingships in the north seems a bitter struggle, the uniting factor here may have been Caw. Caw is generally held to have been a usurping king of Alt Clut during the late 5th century, interpolated between Kedic/Clinog, and Tudwal/Tutagual. Arthur is said to have been a bitter enemy of Caw, who was said to have only ruled for six years in Alt Clut. Arthur/Arthrwys may have been the one to restore Alt Clut to Dyfynwal’s dynasty in this instance, possibly as a client kingdom of his own Northern High-Kingship. This would give reason for a son of Dyfnwal to name a child after a man who would later become an enemy.

Dyfnwal’s large number of sons seems to have kicked off an expansionist movement amongst the princes of Alt Clut, with many of his descendants seemingly becoming kings of neighboring kingdoms. The first, an most well known example of this is Clydno Eidyn, Dyfnwal’s grandson. Clydno’s epithet Eidyn implies a relationship with Din Eidyn, modern Edinburgh, often held as the seat of power of the kingdom of Gododdin. Prior to Clydno the Gododdin seem to have been ruled by the family of Letan Luyddoc. Letan may be the historical inspiration behind king Lot of Arthurian fame, and his son Gerguan a possible inspiration for Gawain. Letan is given another son in many traditions, the infamous Medraut or Mordred. This Medraut may be the one remembered in the Annales Cambriae’s entry for 537

The Strife of Camlann in which Arthur and Medraut fell and there was death in Britain and in Ireland.

The entry in the annals is vague, and doesn’t tell us much, just that the two died there. The Gododdin generally held an antagonistic attitude towards their expansionist southern neighbors, the Coeling, stretching all the way back to Coel himself in conflict with a young prince from Manau Gododdin, Cunedda, who would go on to establish the kingdom of Gwynedd. The enmity between the two powers is further corroborated more than 150 years later in Y Gododdin:

"In hosts, in hordes, they fought for the land
With Godebawg's sons, savage folk."

Godebawg was an one of Coel’s epithets, meaning ‘Shelterer’ or ‘Protector’, an apt name for the man who led the refortification of many sites from Ebrauc (modern York) to many fortresses along Hadrian’s wall.

Coel’s refortification of the north.

We do not know if Letan was related to Cunedda, but the old grudges held well on after Cunedda left for Northern Wales, and it would seem that Camlann may was likely a battle between these two major factions fighting for dominance in the wake of the extreme weather events of 536. Arthur himself is recorded as being slain ‘by a youth’ in the 13th century Vera historia de morte Arthuri

“Suddenly a certain youth – handsome in appearance, tall in stature, evoking by the shape of his limbs a strength of immense power... ...hurled the aforementioned missile into the King”

The early poem of Y Gododdin mentions that one of the men present at Catraeth, a battle taking place around 580, slew Athrwys and Affrai. Athrwys, Arthwys, and Arthrwys all seem to have been conflated quite easily with one another, and it may be that this is actually a mention of the death of Arthwys ap Mar. This Athrwys was certainly someone well known enough to be mentioned in an elegy as a famous person the warrior had killed.

Medraut, if he was indeed a son of Letan seems to have perished in the battle, and much like later tradition holds was probably on the opposing side to Arthur. It seems that after Camlann is when Alt Clut made a power play to control the kingdom of Gododdin, with Cynfelyn ap Dyfnwal possibly ruling for a time before Clydno becomes king. Clydno may have even been king at the time of the later battle of Catraeth, the Camlann of it’s time.

The sons of Dyfnwal didn’t stop there, and another who is likely a great grandson of Dyfnwal is mentioned.

"Steady as a standing stone,
Stubborn Gwid, son of Peithan"

Peithan is a corruption of Neithon, and it may stand that Gwid is the son of Neithon of Alt Clut. Some of the evidence behind the links between Alt Clut, Gododdin, and the Picts is the fact that Gwid shows up as the father of one (possibly three, the most likely chronology casts doubt on the last) early 7th century Pictish kings, Garnait III, Bridei II, and Talorc III. The Picts high-kingship is an interesting case, and was seemingly unstable, especially subject to interpolations from outside. It is generally accepted that Pictish kingship followed the matrilineal line, as the kings lists generally do not show a father-son transfer of power. This is a perfectly acceptable conclusion and may be the case, but there are a couple of things to note.

Reigns longer than 15 years are exceedingly rare outside of Drest Gurthinmoch, and Bridei son of Maelchon. Two of the interpolations both center around men named Gartnait, both who ruled the Picts at the tail end of the lives of two men who held variants of the name Arthur, Arthwys ap Mar, and Artuir mac Aedan. This may be blind coincidence but it is quite compelling evidence, you can read more about those particular interpolations here. I would suggest that generally Pictish kingship followed a matrilineal line, but with a focus on the most senior elder of the different 'Royal' families amongst the different Pictish clans. This possibly accounts for such short reigns among so many, and also allows for these interpolations without conquest by way of a Pictish mother. It may have been that Gwid had a Pictish wife, and as such his children had claim to the Pictish High-Kingship, creating a large and powerful coalition in the late 6th century between Alt Clut, Gododdin, and the Picts.

A Pictish Warrior

There are a few other notable descendants, such as Morgan/Morcant/Morken Mwynfawr, who my friend

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has made a strong case is the actual man behind the assassination of Urien of Rheged. Morgan was a brother of Rhydderch Hael found in the Hanesyn Hen tract, and features heavily in stories of St. Kentigern. Neithon ap Gwyddno may also have ruled the Picts as well for a time, showing up in their regnal list as Nechtan nepos Uerb. Nechtan ruled from 595 to 616. With our most likely established chronology he would have roughly been 86 years old at the time of his death. Looking at many of the other interpolations this is very well possible, especially with the proposal of a sort of Gerontocracy amongst the nobility of the various Pictish clans, favoring the most senior men outside of a handful of interpolations.

Y Gododdin gives us further insight into how intertwined these kingdoms were, with warriors coming from many different locales in the North, and even as far south as Gwynedd, possibly giving credence to the ‘founding myth’ of Cunedda that has been discounted by many scholars.

From over the border, nobleman, horseman
from beyond Bannog, Cian’s only son.

While at the front, the Gododdin told,
no braver man than Llif was killed.

Here we see part of the elegy for a warrior named Llif, a man who is said to be from ‘beyond Bannog’, which is most likely a reference to Pictland. There is also Yrfrai.

Usually on a spirited horse, fighting for Gododdin,
ahead of the bravest in the action.
Usually hunting, swift on the deer’s track.
Usually before the Deiron army he’d attack.
Usually trusted, the word of the son of Golystan,
though not a prince.
Usually, for Mynyddawg, shields were shattered.
Usually his spear was bloody, Urfai, lord of Eidyn.

Ufrai

The interesting part is his father Golystan, which John Koch has identified to actually be the Germanic name Wulfstan or Wolstan. This may indicate early cooperation between the Angles of Bernicia and the greater Hegemony of Alt Clut. To further drive this home, within the Pictish kings lists a son of Eanfrith of Bernicia is given to have ruled in the 650s. We find other warriors mentioned, coming from Aeron and Nouant, identified as the area around the River Ayr, likely lost to the Coeling during their expansion north of the wall in the early 6th century.

The expansion of these men into these various kingdoms indicates that these connections are either largely fabricated to bolster claims to territory, or genuinely represent the intertwining of the kingdoms of Alt Clut, Gododdin, the Picts, and even Dal Riata, truly were. Many have come to the former conclusion, but it is honestly a little harder to believe in my opinion. If these were being fabricated to bolster ancestral claims, why the many branches which lead to dead-ends? The actual age of these pedigrees is generally difficult to ascertain, and while I generally believe they are much older, if we take it that they are being fabricated to bolster claims why not go all in and claim that Owain ap Hywel Dda was the rightful ruler of all of these former Brythonic territories? The political motivation is a little far stretched to disprove the Pedigrees, especially when we see so much other corroboration from other sources.

The most likely scenario considering all of the evidence is that Alt Clut wielded significant power in the Hen Ogledd, and was the primary rival of Coeling Kingdoms to the south. Coeling expansion north (likely a result of strong Angle settlements to the south) probably precipitated the necessity of an Alliance of these northern kingdoms leading to a High-Kingship to rival the considerable power of the Coeling. Dyfnwal Hen seems to be the springboard for this expansion, an understandable situation considering his many sons. The contemporary Coeling rulers would have been Meirchion Gul in the west, and later his son Cynfarch, Llenneac ap Mar in Elmet (who was most likely policing the southern border of Coeling territory), Pabo Post Prydein (also probably policing a southern border) and Arthwys ap Mar. Meirchion and Arthwys (who is a prime candidate for the start of the ‘Arthur’ legend) are probably largely responsible for the expansion of the Coeling north of Hadrian’s wall, as

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has demonstrated, annexing much of Dumfries and Galloway. This may have precipitated an alliance of necessity between Alt Clut, Gododdin, the Picts, Dal Riata, and early Foederati from Anglian Bernicia.