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Concept
Bernicia
Summary
Bernicia (Bernice, Beornice; Bryneich; Bernicia) was originally the Brittonic Celtic kingdom of Bryneich from the late 4th century and later the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of 'Bernicia' established by Anglian conquerors of the late 6th century in what is now southeastern Scotland and North East England.
The Anglian territory of Bernicia was approximately equivalent to the modern English counties of Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, and Durham, as well as the Scottish counties of Berwickshire and East Lothian, stretching from the Forth to the Tees. In the early 7th century, it merged with its southern neighbour, Deira, to form the kingdom of Northumbria, and its borders subsequently expanded considerably.
Bernicia occurs in Old Welsh poetry as Bryneich or Brynaich and in the 9th-century Historia Brittonum, (§ 61) as Berneich or Birneich. This was most likely the name of the native Brittonic kingdom , whose name was then adopted by the Anglian settlers who rendered it in Old English as Bernice or Beornice . The counter hypothesis suggesting these names represent a Brythonic adaption of an earlier English form is considered less probable .
Local linguistic evidence suggests continued political activity in the area from the time of the Roman retreat from Britain and before the arrival of the Angles. Important Anglian centres in Bernicia bear names of British Celtic origin, or are known by British names elsewhere: Bamburgh is called Din Guaire in the Historia Brittonum; Dunbar (where Saint Wilfrid was once imprisoned) represents Dinbaer; and the name of Coldingham is given by Bede as Coludi urbs ("town of Colud"), where Colud seems to represent the British Celtic form, possibly for the hill-fort of St Abb's Head.
Analysis of a potential derivation has not produced a consensus. The most commonly cited etymology gives the meaning as "Land of the Mountain Passes" or "Land of the Gaps" (tentatively proposed by Kenneth H. Jackson). An earlier derivation from the tribal name of the Brigantes has been dismissed as linguistically unsound.
Official source
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