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Cumbric language
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Cumbric was the Brythonic Celtic language, sometimes considered to be a dialect of Welsh, spoken in the Hen Ogledd ("Old North") in what is now northern England and southern Lowland Scotland, the area anciently referred to as Cumbria. Place name evidence suggests Cumbric speakers may have carried it into other parts of Northern England as migrants from its core area further north. It may also have been spoken as far south as the Yorkshire Dales. Most linguists believe that it became extinct in the 12th century, after the incorporation of the semi-independent kingdom of Strathclyde into the kingdom of Scotland.
It is debated whether Cumbric should be considered a separate language or a dialect of Welsh.
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Cumbric was the Brythonic Celtic language, sometimes considered to be a dialect of Welsh, spoken in the Hen Ogledd ("Old North") in what is now northern England and southern Lowland Scotland, the area anciently referred to as Cumbria. Place name evidence suggests Cumbric speakers may have carried it into other parts of Northern England as migrants from its core area further north. It may also have been spoken as far south as the Yorkshire Dales. Most linguists believe that it became extinct in the 12th century, after the incorporation of the semi-independent kingdom of Strathclyde into the kingdom of Scotland.
It is debated whether Cumbric should be considered a separate language or a dialect of Welsh. The Brythonic speaking areas of the Old North were probably isolated from the Brythonic speaking kingdoms of Wales after the Battle of Chester in 616, which appears to have sealed the Northumbrian conquest of Cheshire, dividing the Brythonic peoples into three areas: modern Wales, Cornwall, and Northwest England/Southern Scotland. In the 10th Century the Brythonic speaking Kingdom of Strathclyde appears to have maintained hegemony over Cumberland - though possibly not Copeland - and the Eden Valley down to Stainmore. The original boundaries of the Diocese of Carlisle are said traditionally to mark the extent of the rule of Strathclyde. Cumbric placenames are also common in West and Mid Lothian, Peebleshire, Dumfriesshire and Ayrshire. They exist in Galloway but are overlayed and influenced by Gaelic settlement there. Many of these areas were outwith the supposed political control of Strathclyde and so Cumbric is not to be solely identified with that kingdom.
It is impossible for us to know whether language innovations were transmitted between Cumbria and the Welsh of Wales, or how long Brythonic speech persisted in areas under English political control; although, the Celtic place-name cluster around Wigan suggests that there may have been pockets in which the language survived for a considerable time.
The scarcity of linguistic evidence means that Cumbric's distinctness from Welsh is more deduced than proven. However, Cornish and Welsh evolved into separate languages with low mutual intelligibility in the period between 597 and 1000, after being geographically separated by the fall of the Cotswold region at the Battle of Deorham. It is therefore probable that the final stages of Cumbric were different from Welsh.
Problems with terminology
Dauvit Broun sets out the problems with the various terms used to describe the Cumbric language and its speakers . The people themselves seem to have called themselves *Cumbri the same way that the Welsh call themselves Cymry (from British *kon-brogi meaning 'fellow countrymen'). It seems possible that the Welsh and the Cumbric speaking people of what is now Southern Scotland and Northern England felt they were actually one ethnic group. The Gaels usually called them 'Breatnaich' or 'Cuimrich'. The Norse called them 'Brettar'. In Latin they were 'Wallenses' or 'Cumbrenses'. The traditional English usage was to call them Welsh. In Scots a Cumbric speaker seems to have been called 'Wallace'.
However, if we use the word Welsh to describe them - a term the Bishops of Glasgow used in the Middle Ages to describe the character of their episcopate - then there is confusion with modern Wales and the modern Welsh. The Cumbric speaking area was never politically part of Wales. If we call them Cumbrians then there is confusion with the modern English county as the people of Glasgow were never Cumbrians in this sense. However throughout the documents of the Diocese of Glasgow in the Medieval Period the terms Cumbria and Cumbrians are used. There Cumbria is described as:
- In Cumbria itaque: : regione quadam inter Angliam et Scotiam sita Cumbria: a region situated between England and Scotland.
The normal Latinate term for Wales is of course Cambria; it is therefore interesting and but also confusing that the Life of St Kentigern by Jocelin of Furness has the following passage:
- When King Rederech (Rhydderch Hael) and his people had heard that Kentigern had arrived from Wallia (i.e. Wales) into Cambria [i.e. Cumbria], from exile into his own country, with great joy and peace both king and people went out to meet him.
The terms Wallenses ~ Wallia from the English word for the Welsh and Wales, and Cymry ~ Cumbria ~ Cambria from the native word are equally applied to both the Cumbrians and the Welsh.
Equivalence with Old Welsh
Some linguists argue that the differences between Cumbric and Old Welsh are not enough to classify it as a language. Since, at some stages in its development and usage, it was probably mutually intelligible with Welsh, it is not certain whether and when exactly it should be classified as having existed as a separate language.
However it should be noted that such forms as *lanerc (grove) is invariably found without the [x] sound of Welsh llannerch. Examples are Lanark and Lanercost. Jackson thought that the development of [rk] to [rx] which happened in Welsh may have happened later in Cumbric or not at all. This feature is also found in Pictish or Pritennic placenames further north and it may be that in this Cumbric was closer to Pictish than to Welsh . It should be noted that Koch sees Cumbric going with Welsh rather than Pictish. Though it has to be said that place name evidence suggests that the three languages were quite similar . It may well be that during the period all three survived their speakers could understand each other. Certainly the Cumbric speakers and the Welsh both called themselves "Cymry" and Welsh tradition shows that they felt themselves to be close kin or even one people - 'Remnants of the True and Ancient Britons'.
Another possible difference between Welsh and Cumbric was noted by Jackson in the legal term "galnys" equivalent to Welsh "galanas" which he felt might show syncope. Similar syncope seems also to be found in the (presumably Pictish) name of the Mounth or even reflected in The Mount in Edinburgh (?= Cumbric *monidh).
Noted above was the apparent lack of aspiration found in Lanercost and Lanark, but the Cumbric word *monidh (Welsh 'mynydd')is regularly found apparently exhibiting both syncope and lack of aspiration in many place names e.g. Kinmont (as in Kinmont Willie) and Trimont (now a caravan site north of Carlisle). James mentions the lack of voice also found in many Cumbric place-names . One example (not James's)is Rutter Falls in Westmorland seems to contain the same word as in Rhayader in Powys, namely 'rhaeadr' - a cataract, but without voice of the [d], but there are many others.
Another feature is the loss of the semivowel [w]. Watson cites the Galloway dialect word "gossock" which is presumably the Cumbric equivalent of the Welsh "gwas" a servant or a knave with the diminutive -og ending (note again lack of voice). This lacks the [w] of the Welsh word. The same feature is apparently found in the personal name Gospatrick - in Welsh this would be 'Gwaspadrig'. The place-name Niddrie apparently represents a Cumbric equivalent of Newydd-dre, 'New Settlement' but again lacking aspiration and the semivowel [w]. We should also note the pronunciation of Carlisle as [karlail]. The Welsh for Carlisle is Caerliwelydd. In Bede it is Luel from a Latinised British Luguvalium. Caer was prefixed by Cumbric speakers after Bede's time. The point to note is that again the [w] sound has disappeared. Loss of [w] is not uniform however and Gospatrick in his charter refers to his wassenas or his retainers which seems to be a Cumbric wassen (Welsh gweision) with an Anglo-Saxon plural appended .
Syncope and lack of voice and or aspiration may reflect dialectal features of Cumbric, different to Welsh, but equally could reflect their pronunciation after being taken over by English speakers. However they are intriguing pointers.
Date of extinction
It is impossible to give an exact date of the extinction of Cumbric. However, there are some pointers which may give a reasonably accurate estimate. In the mid 11th century some landowners still bore what appear to be Cumbric names. Examples of such landowners are Dunegal (Dyfnwal), lord of Strathnith or Nithsdale; Moryn (Morien), lord of Cardew and Cumdivock near Carlisle and Eilifr (Eliffer), lord of Penrith
There is a village near Carlisle called Cumwhitton earlier Cumquinton. This appears to contain the Norman name Quinton There were no Normans in this area until 1069 at the earliest
In the battle of Northallerton in 1138, the Wallenses of Strathclyde are noted as a separate ethnic group. Given that their material culture was pretty similar to their Gaelic and Anglian neighbours, it is arguable that what set them apart was still their language. Also the castle at Castle Carrock – Castell Caerog dates from around 1160-1170. Barmulloch earlier Badermonoc (Cumbric *bod-ir-monoc – Monk’s Dwelling) was given to the church by King Mael Choluim IV between 1153-1165.
A more controversial point is the surname Wallace. It means “Welshman”. It is possible that all the Wallaces in the Clyde area were medieval immigrants from Wales, but given that the term was also used for local Cumbric speaking Strathclyde Welsh it seems equally if not more likely that the surname refers to people who were seen as being “Welsh” due to their Cumbric language. Surnames in Scotland were not inherited before 1200 and not regularly until 1400. William Wallace (known in Gaelic as Uilleam Breatnach – namely William the Briton (or Welshman) came from the Renfrew area – itself a Cumbric name. Wallace slew the sheriff of Lanark (also a Cumbric name) in 1297. Even if he had inherited the surname from his father it is possible that the family spoke Cumbric within memory in order to be thus named.
There are also some historical pointers to a continuing separate ethnic identity. David I, before he was crowned king of Scotland was invested with the title Prince of the Cumbrians in 1124. William I of Scotland between 1173-1180 made an address to his subjects, identifying the Cumbrians as a separate ethnic group. This does not prove that any of them still spoke Cumbric at this time.
The legal documents in the Lanercost Cartularly dating from the late 12th Century show witnesses with Norman French or English names, and no obvious Cumbric names. Though these people represent the upper classes, it seems significant by the late 1100s in the Lanercost area Cumbric is not obvious in these personal names .
Given that the Anglicisation of the upper classes in general has happened before the Anglicisation of the peasantry in other areas which have given up speaking Celtic languages it is not implausible that the peasantry, "y werin" in Welsh terminology, continued to speak Cumbric for at least a little while after. Around 1200 there is a list of the names of men living in the area of Peebles. Amongst them are Cumbric names such as Gospatrick -servant or follower of St Patrick, Gosmungo - servant of St Mungo, Guososwald - servant of St Oswald and Goscubrycht - servant of St Cuthbert. This practice of putting 'gwas' meaning 'servant' in front of a saint's name is not found in Wales though it is found in Gaelic - where either 'maol' or 'gille' is put in front. Also, two of the saints - Oswald and Cuthbert are from Northumbria showing influence on Cumbric not found in Welsh.
By 1262 in Peebles jurymen in a legal dispute over peat cutting have names which mostly appear Norman French or English . Possible exceptions are Gauri Pluchan, Cokin Smith and Richard Gladhoc, where Gladhoc has the look of an adjective similar to Welsh "gwladog" = "countryman". In the charters of Wetherall Priory near Carlisle there is a monk called Robert Minnoc who appears as a witness to 8 charters dating from around 1260 . His name is variously spelled Minnoc/Minot/Mynoc and it is tempting to see an equivalent of the Welsh "mynach" - "Robert the Monk" here. However his name is the only one that can remotely be interpreted as Cumbric from among the witnesses.
The royal seal of Alexander III (who reigned 4 September 1241 – 19 March 1286) bore the title "Rex Scotorum et Britanniarum", or "King of Scots and Britons".
In 1305 Edward I of England prohibited the laws of the Scots and the Brets The term Brets or Britons refers to the native, traditionally Cumbric speaking people of southern Scotland.
It seems that Cumbric could well have survived into the middle of the 12th Century as a community language and even lasted into the 13th on the tongues of the last remaining speakers. Certain areas seem to be particularly dense in Cumbric place-names even down to very minor features. The two most striking of these are around Lanercost east of Carlisle and around Torquhan south of Edinburgh. If the 1262 names from Peebles do contain traces of Cumbric personal names then we can imagine Cumbric dying out between 1250 and 1300 at the very latest.
Linguistic evidence
Although the language is long extinct it is arguable that traces of its vocabulary persisted into the modern era. In the 19th and 20th centuries sheep counts and children's counting rhymes which are possibly derived from Cumbric were collected throughout northern England and southern Scotland: eg Yan, Tan, Tethera, Methera, Pimp compared with Old Welsh Un, Dou, Tri, Petwar, Pimp. Whether these counting systems bear any relation to the Brythonic dialects spoken in the region is a matter of some debate. It has been argued that these numerals were introduced to England by Welsh shepherds or monks during the medieval period. The fact that some have also been collected outside of the region in which Cumbric was spoken may indicate that they were a later introduction from Wales, or less probably that they are part of a wider Celtic sub-stratum. It is also possible that the counting systems were preserved in the Cumbric speaking region then exported into neighbouring areas.
More concrete evidence of Cumbric exists in the place-names of the extreme northwest of England and the South of Scotland, the personal names of Strathclyde Britons in Scottish, Irish and Anglo-Saxon sources, and a few Cumbric words surviving into the High Middle Ages in South West Scotland as legal terms.
From this scanty evidence, little can be deduced about the singular characteristics of Cumbric, not even the name its speakers used to refer to it. What is known is that the language was Brythonic Insular Celtic, descended from Old North Welsh, related to the presumed Brythonic Pictish language, and to Cornish and Breton. Due to its location, it is likely that Goidelic and Scandinavian loan-words were incorporated into the language before its demise.
Counting systems of possible Cumbric origin
| * | Keswick | Westmorland | Eskdale | Millom | High Furness | Wasdale | Teesdale | Swaledale | Wensleydale | Ayrshire |
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| 1 | yan | yan | yaena | aina | yan | yan | yan | yahn | yan | yinty | |
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| 2 | tyan | tyan | taena | peina | taen | taen | tean | tayhn | tean | tinty | |
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| 3 | tethera | tetherie | teddera | para | tedderte | tudder | tetherma | tether | tither | tetheri | |
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| 4 | methera | peddera | meddera | pedera | medderte | anudder | metherma | mether | mither | metheri | |
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| 5 | pimp | gip | pimp | pimp | pimp | nimph | pip | mimp(h) | pip | bamf | |
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| 6 | sethera | teezie | hofa | ithy | haata | - | lezar | hith-her | teaser | leetera | |
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| 7 | lethera | mithy | lofa | mithy | slaata | - | azar | lith-her | leaser | seetera | |
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| 8 | hovera | katra | seckera | owera | lowera | - | catrah | anver | catra | over | |
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| 9 | dovera | hornie | leckera | lowera | dowa | - | horna | danver | horna | dover | |
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| 10 | dick | dick | dec | dig | dick | - | dick | dic | dick | dik | |
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| 15 | bumfit | bumfit | bumfit | bumfit | mimph | - | bumfit | mimphit | bumper | - | |
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| 20 | giggot | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Jiggit | - | |
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The numbers show some similarity to one another, and commonly go into folk etymology, e.g. bumper or into rhyming patterns, e.g. yan, tan or leetera, seetera. In some cases, there is also some shift, e.g. in Ayrshire, "seetera" means seven, but in Keswick, "sethera" is six.
The Cumbric origin of these counting systems is debatable, but there is a clear Celtic component in their origin, e.g. pethera/methera Welsh pedwar. Similar Yan Tan Tethera counts have been collected throughout upland England. This may show some support for James's theory of the diaspora of Cumbric speakers moving out from the Clyde basin and settling widely across northern England
Cumbric placenames
Cumbric placenames are found in Scotland south of the firths of Forth and Clyde. Brythonic names north of this line are arguably Pictish. They are also found commonly in the historic county of Cumberland and bordering areas of Northumberland. They are less common in Westmorland with some in Lancashire and the adjoining areas of North Yorkshire. As we approach Cheshire, late Brythonic placenames are probably better described as being Welsh rather than Cumbric. As noted above, however, any clear distinction between Cumbric and Welsh is difficult to prove. For references see Armstrong et al , Watson and Jackson . It should be noted that there remain many Brythonic place-names in Northern England which should not be described as Cumbric because they originate from a period before Brythonic split into its daughter dialects e.g Welsh, Cornish, Breton and - arguably - Cumbric.
Here is a list of some of these names and their translations.
- Blencathra, Cumbria. This is apparently equivalent to "blaen cadair" = "seat shaped summit" or potentially "blaen cythraul" = "devil's peak". The mountain actually looks like a huge seat from the south.
- Bryn, Lancs. 'bryn', meaning hill.
- Cardonald, Glasgow. As in the Welsh "Caer Ddynfwal" meaning Donald's Fort. In Cumbric'*cair can mean a fortified farm and does not necessarily signify such a grand place as a Welsh "caer", being more similar in usage to Breton "ker" ,
- Culcheth, Cheshire. "Cil coed" = "Wooded Nook"
- Culgaith, Cumbria. "Cil coed" again
- Cumdivock, Cumbria. "Cwm Dyfog" - "Dyfog" is either a personal name - or a nickname referring to the dark coloured tarn (now drained)
- Dunragit, Wigtownshire. "Din Rheged" = "the fort of Rheged". Though it could also be "Din rhag coed" a fort built against a wood.
- Glasgow, Scotland. From words equivalent to Welsh 'Glas gau' (green hollow - possibly that below Glasgow Cathedral)
- Hailes, Lothian. From a word similar to Cornish Hal - a moor. Also found at Haile near Egremont Cumbria.
- Helvellyn, Cumbria. Possibly from Cumbric words representing Welsh Moel felen - a yellowy coloured bald fell. The form in Hell- only dates from the 18th Century and may represent a miscopying from an earlier map. The Welsh moel generally appears as mel- in placenames in England and Scotland.
- Ince, three places Lancashire/Cheshire. Meaning 'island', equivalent to Welsh 'ynys'.
- Lanark, Lanarkshire. A grove similar to Welsh llannerch.
- Lindow, Cheshire. "Llyn Du" giving the translation 'black lake' (possibly meaning a bog).
- Niddrie, Edinburgh. Newydd-dre meaning 'new town'
- Pendle, Lancs. 'Pen' is 'hill', mixed with the Old English word 'hyll', also meaning hill.
- Penketh, Cheshire. "Pen coed" meaning 'wooded hill'.
- Penrith, Cumbria. From "Pen rhudd" (red), meaning 'red hill' - Red Pike is the modern name of the hill above the town.
- Penruddock, Cumbria. Nearby to Penrith, it comes from the words 'pen' and 'rhudd' with the suffix 'og', meaning 'little red hill'. An area exists between Penrith and Penruddock still called 'Redhills'.
- Pen-y-Ghent, Yorks. From '*pen' meaning 'head' or 'hill' and possibly a word similar to Welsh gwynt - wind, or obsolete Welsh caint - edge or border.
- Renfrew, Renfrewshire. As in the Welsh rhyn-ffrwd - a torrent by narrows.
- Rochdale, Lancs. This comes from the name of the river 'Roch', which it has been said also comes from the name of the kingdom Rheged, or possibly the words "Rhag coed" meaning "by the forest". 'Dale' is Old Norse for valley, meaning 'valley of the Roch'.
- Treales, Lancs. This comes from 'tre' (settlement) and 'llys' (court).
- Tranent, Lothian. 'Tre' means settlement. The word 'nant' (plural 'nentydd') in Welsh means a stream. In Brittonic it meant a steep sided valley and it keeps this meaning in Cornish and Breton. However other place name evidence suggests that Cumbric used the word nant like Welsh and so Tranent means 'farm by the streams'.
- Tulketh, Lancs. This probably comes from the words 'Tal coed' (wood), meaning 'end of the wood'.
Scots and English words of possible Cumbric origin
A number of words occurring in Scottish and Northern England dialects of English have been proposed as being of possible Brythonic origin. Ascertaining the real derivation of these words is far from simple, due in part to the similarities between some cognates in the Brythonic and Goidelic languages (see Linn below, for instance) and the fact that borrowing took place in both directions between these languages. Another difficulty lies with some words which were taken into Old English as in many cases it is impossible to tell whether the borrowing is directly from Brythonic or not (see Brogat, Crag). The following are possibilities:
- Bach - cowpat (cf Welsh baw "dung", Gaelic buadhar)
- Baivenjar - mean fellow (Welsh bawyn "scoundrel")
- Brat - apron; often cited as a relic of Brythonic, the word is found in the Welsh language ("apron", originally "cloak"), Scots and northern English dialects but originates in Old Irish brat "cloak". Possibly spread into English by Hiberno-Norse settlers.
- Brogat - a type of mead (Welsh bragod "bragget" - also found in Chaucer)
- Coble - small flat bottomed boat (also North East England), akin to Welsh ceubal "a hollow" and Latin caupulus
- Crag - rocks (either from Brythonic craig or Goidelic creag)
- Croot - a small boy (Welsh crwt, Gaelic cruit "someone small and humpbacked")
- Croude - type of small harp, as opposed to clarsach (Welsh crwth, Gaelic croit)
- Galnes - weregeld, or fine for homicide (Welsh galanas)
- Linn - pool in river; waterfall (Welsh llyn, Gaelic linne, compare "King's Lynn", Norfolk, which retains its Celtic topographical element)
- Lum - Well known Scottish word for chimney (Middle Welsh llumon "chimney")
- Peat - probably from Brythonic for "piece" (Welsh peth "thing")
- Pen - pointed conical hill (Welsh pen "head, top")
- Poll - a pool (Welsh pwll "pool", Goidelic poll "hole")
- Vendace - fish of Lochmaben, Derwent Water and Bassenthwaite Lake, possibly cognate with Welsh Gwyniad
See also
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