The Vacomagi were a people of ancient

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

, known only from a single mention of them by the

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

c. 150. From his general description and the approximate locations of their neighbors, their territory was the region roughly comprehending the old districts of Banffshire, Elginshire, Nairnshire, and the eastern portion of Inverness-shire. Ptolemy says that their towns or principal places were called 'Bannatia', 'Tamia', ''

Pinnata Castra ''Pinnata Castra'' (Ancient Greek: Πτερωτον Στρατοπεδον, ''Pteroton Stratopedon'') was a settlement located in the north of the island of Great Britain, featuring in Ptolemy's 2nd century ''Geography'' as one of the four places l ...

'', and 'Tuesis'.

Etymology

The origin of the name ''Vacomagi'' is uncertain. A possibility is that ''Vacomagi'' may come from the old British words vaco, a bay or firth, and ''magh'', a plain. Hence, the people of the plain of the firth.The Place names of Elginshire by Donald Matheson. Pg.9 & 10

Andrew Breeze Andrew Breeze FRHistS FSA (born 1954), has been professor of philology at the University of Navarra since 1987. Early life Breeze was born in 1954 and educated at Sir Roger Manwood's School, the University of Oxford and the University of C ...

's proposed etymological genesis from

Brittonic 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 ...

''*wocomiugi'' meaning "‘those who are strongly bound together" (>

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

''gogyfiaw'') has been adjudged unlikely due to the number of textual amendments required.

References

* {{Iron Age tribes in Britain Historical Celtic peoples Picts Tribes mentioned by Ptolemy