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.