Still Standing

     A great-grandson wrote his "family tree" the standard way it was to be described in around 750 A.D.  Written in Latin, what could be read by 1662, was translated into English:

      "Concenn was the son of Cattell,  Cattell the son of Brohcmail, Brohcmail the son of Eliseg, Eliseg the son of Guoillauc. Concenn therefore the great-grandson of Eliseg built this stone to his great-grandfather..."

       Written in Welsh, the family tree would be Concenn ap Cattell ap Brohcmail ab Eliseg ap Guoillauc. Stated to the fifth generation, the family tree was the standard necessary to be identified and accepted by your kindred. This would have been especially true if it was to be written on a stone column some 20 feet tall for all to see and agree. Hum, a genealogy recorded as described in the last post dated December 19th. This form of genealogy (kindred) was your name, and stating it legally and correctly to the great-grandfather, protected you and your rights among the many kindreds that surrounded your family. This identity was necessary for your survival, protection, and inheritance. This naming protocol continued until other social groups took control by ways of war and conquest, demanding their own naming system to be used. Unlike the standing stone of Eliseg that remains, the legal naming system of my Celtic ancestors has fallen. What remains of this proud column is shown below.

      

      A detailed description can be found in Annals and Antiquities of the Counties and Families of Wales by Thomas Nicholas, Vol. I, p.388, first published London 1872. The Latin inscription as translated in 1662 is given. A good description can also be found on page 36 of Heritage in Wales by David Robinson, first published 1989 by Queen Anne Press.

Good and Bad Behavior

       From the earliest Celtic writings (Ogam), the documentation of your father was paramount. (see last post) Regrouping one's family around the original settlement of the ancestors was part of the survival mode of the day. Members of a family group (kindred) consisted of those descending from the same great-grandfather, and sons of their father had equal claim upon the meadows, the woodlands, and the growing lands. (arable land) The sons could divide the land equally or work it together. If no sons, the land would descend to brothers, then cousins, and then to the second cousins. It was a man's standing in a network of kindred rather than his standing as the citizen of a state which determined his social status, his economic rights, and legal obligations.

      As my Celtic ancestors grouped themselves, and their language helped unite them as a multi-kindred society, who your father was gave social identity. At birth, a father would officially present his son to a gathering of the leaders, giving a single name like Henry. The new son would then be recognized and accepted as a member of the family clan as Henry son of, say David. The leaders of the tribe would then add David who was the son of Rice, who was the son of Peter, who was the son of Edward. The new son's name became "Henry ap David ap Rice ap Peter ab Edward". This became Henry's social security card for the rest of his life since each of the clan became responsible for Henry's good and his bad behavior.

P.S. Each son of the same kindred group would have their own first name followed by the name of their biological father. Then their remaining name would follow the same descent from "Edward" as described above. The word for this social structure is "agnate". My Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary (now much older) p.23, defines this word as a relative whose kinship is traceable exclusively through males. A genealogist would say a paternal kinsman. So would those who become Welsh would say.

Written In Stone

      If you were asked to write in a few words what you would want placed on your own tombstone, what would you write? "A good person", "a friend to all", "smiled a lot", etc., etc., etc., might be examples. What would you want future generations to remember about you? My Celtic ancestors began to write their examples many years ago. This was a giant leap into the known world since writing was taboo, and memory was the only way to transmit the past into the present. [see post 5 November] It must have been difficult to get this writing thing going since no pen and paper, and no experience! What would you do, and how would you do it? Let's see, make up your own alphabet, use this iron chisel, and put it all on stone starting from bottom to top, sounds like a good set of ideas.  Today it is called Ogam, and this is a photo of such a difficult task.

      It is a carving on stone written in notches diagonally across one edge. Can you believe it, what a group of doodlers! The language has 15 consonants in three groups of five, and 5 vowels. It appears to be a ceremonial stone, and read from bottom to top. The following is my attempt to understand what is written.

      It translates "degomacimocoidoetoi", or as I would understand, Dego Mac Imoco Idoetoi, meaning this Dego was the son of (mac), Idoetoi. A son writes a memorial to his father. What a deal, the first written Celtic script was genealogy. It fits in my pocket.

      The Alphabet is given in a text titled Celtic Languages And The Beginning of Literature , (chap. 9, p.207). The picture of the stone is from The beginnings of  Christianity , p. 4. It is gleaned from these texts, that about 300 inscriptions exist, with 40 in Wales, a few in Scotland and Isle of Man. Genealogy from the start and, written in stone.

Llan...The Where

       It was most likely that during the first two centuries after the Roman Empire collapse, the monastic movement came to life for my Celtic ancestors.  The gradual development of distinctive languages for each major Celtic group was also just beginning and, the Welsh language first showed itself in early written form around the middle of the sixth century. (see post of 29 October) Now when the written word "Llan" came to be, it must have occurred about this time, since the clan leaders certainly wanted their name to be associated and remembered to future generations down the family tree. The church and its enclosure, that was sponsored by the patriarch, got their name attached to this place. Llanedwen was the place name supported and founded by Edwen. Llangernwy was the place that patriarch Gernwy gave the church its beginning. Just how many and where all these enclosures were located are shown in the following map. It shows the present 13 counties of Wales and the number of place names for Llan. The total number for Llan is n=529. The range is 5-69 and the average (mean) is 41.

      Using my long, lost statistical skills, the 95th percentile is 27-55. Looking above, three counties colored orange, have numbers greater than 55 and, two have numbers less than 27 which are colored green.  To me this would indicate the southern counties would have a set of reasons for this higher number of Llan place names.  Likewise, the northern counties would have their own reasons for the numbers falling less than 3 standard deviations from the average of 41. My Celtic ancestors (Deceangl)  shown the least numbers of Llan place names of all 13 counties. What is up with this? Where are all the enclosed church places?