{{more citations needed, date=September 2018Meirchion Gul was probably a late 5th-century king of
Rheged
Rheged () was one of the kingdoms of the ''Hen Ogledd'' ("Old North"), the Brittonic-speaking region of what is now Northern England and southern Scotland, during the post-Roman era and Early Middle Ages. It is recorded in several poetic and ba ...
, a
Brythonic
Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to:
*Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain
*Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic
*Britons (Celtic people)
The Br ...
realm in the area of
Sub-Roman Britain
Sub-Roman Britain is the period of late antiquity in Great Britain between the end of Roman rule and the Anglo-Saxon settlement. The term was originally used to describe archaeological remains found in 5th- and 6th-century AD sites that hint ...
known as the ''
Hen Ogledd
Yr Hen Ogledd (), in English the Old North, is the historical region which is now Northern England and the southern Scottish Lowlands that was inhabited by the Brittonic people of sub-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages. Its population spo ...
'' (in the
North of England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...
and Southern Scotland today).
Next to nothing is known about Meirchion, although his epithet means ''the Lean''. He appears in the
Middle Welsh
Middle Welsh ( cy, Cymraeg Canol, wlm, Kymraec) is the label attached to the Welsh language of the 12th to 15th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This form of Welsh developed directly from Old Welsh ( cy, Hen G ...
genealogical text ''
Bonedd Gwŷr y Gogledd
''Bonedd Gwŷr y Gogledd'' ( en, The Descent of the Men of the North) is a brief Middle Welsh tract which claims to give the pedigrees of twenty 6th century rulers of the Hen Ogledd, the Brittonic-speaking parts of southern Scotland and norther ...
'' as the son of the equally obscure Gwrwst Lledlwm, a grandson of
Coel Hen
Coel (Old Welsh: ''Coil''), also called ''Coel Hen'' (Coel the Old) and King Cole, is a figure prominent in Welsh literature and legend since the Middle Ages. Early Welsh tradition knew of a Coel Hen, a 4th-century leader in Roman Britain, Rom ...
, and grandfather of renowned
Urien Rheged
Urien (; ), often referred to as Urien Rheged or Uriens, was a late 6th-century king of Rheged, an early British kingdom of the Hen Ogledd (today's northern England and southern Scotland) of the House of Rheged. His power and his victories, i ...
. He is assumed, like Urien, to have ruled Rheged, including Catterick. His two sons appear at the head of two later dynasties.
Cynfarch Oer
Cynfarch Oer ('Cynfarch the Dismal', also known as Cunomarcus or Cynfarch ap Meirchion) was probably a 6th-century king of the Sub-Roman Britain, Sub-Roman realm of Rheged, believed to be located in north-west England and south-west Scotland.
Ne ...
was Urien's father. Another son, Elidyr Lydanwyn (''the Stout and Handsome''), was the ruler of Rheged, according to the Gwynedd version of
Hywel Dda
Hywel Dda, sometimes anglicised as Howel the Good, or Hywel ap Cadell (died 949/950) was a king of Deheubarth who eventually came to rule most of Wales. He became the sole king of Seisyllwg in 920 and shortly thereafter established Deheubarth ...
's 'Welsh laws'. He was the father of
Llywarch Hen
Llywarch Hen (, "Llywarch the Old"; c. 534 – c. 608), was a prince and poet of the Brythonic kingdom of Rheged, a ruling family in the Hen Ogledd or "Old North" of Britain (modern southern Scotland and northern England). Along with Taliesin, A ...