Calchfynydd (

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 peopl ...

''calch'' "lime" + ''mynydd'' "mountain") was an obscure Britonnic kingdom or sub-kingdom 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 hin ...

. Its exact location is unknown and virtually nothing certain is known about it. The name survives in the

epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

of Cadrawd Calchfynydd, apparently a 6th-century ruler of the district. Welsh sources refer to Cadrawd as one of the '' Gwyr y Gogledd'' or 'Men of the North', suggesting the area was located somewhere in northern

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 ...

William Forbes Skene William Forbes Skene WS FRSE FSA(Scot) DCL LLD (7 June 1809 – 29 August 1892), was a Scottish lawyer, historian and antiquary. He co-founded the Scottish legal firm Skene Edwards which was prominent throughout the 20th century but disappeare ...

suggested an identification with Kelso (formerly ''Calchow'') in southern

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and

Rachel Bromwich Rachel Bromwich (30 July 1915 – 15 December 2010) born Rachel Sheldon Amos, was a British scholar. Her focus was on medieval Welsh literature, and she taught Celtic Languages and Literature in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic a ...

agrees that a location somewhere in 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 sp ...

is most likely. Alistair Moffat in his history of Kelso supports this position, citing early references to "Chalchou," as well as the chalk area and Chalkheugh Terrace. John Morris placed it south of the realm of

Urien of 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 ...

.J. Morris, ''Age of Arthur: a history of the British Isles from 350 to 650'' (Weidenfeld and Nicolson 1973), 211 232. Hills of lime or chalk might refer to the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of J ...

or Chilterns.

Presumed rulers in the line of Cadrawd

*Cynwyd Cynwydion *Cadrawd Calchfynydd *Yspwys Mwyntyrch *Mynan

References

British traditional history Former monarchies of Europe History of the Scottish Borders Sub-Roman Britain Hen Ogledd {{Wales-hist-stub