Damnonii

The Damnonii (also referred to as Damnii) were a Brittonic people of the late 2nd century who lived in what became the Kingdom of Strathclyde by the Early Middle Ages, and is now southern Scotland. They are mentioned briefly in Ptolemy's Geography, where he uses both of the terms "Damnonii" and "Damnii" to describe them, and there is no other historical record of them, except arguably by Gildas three centuries later. Their cultural and linguistic affinity is presumed to be Brythonic. However, there is no unbroken historical record, and a partly Pictish origin is not precluded. The Romans under Agricola had campaigned in the area in 81, and it was Roman-occupied (at least nominally) between the time that Hadrian's Wall was built (c. 122), through the building of the Antonine Wall (c. 142), until the pullback to Hadrian's Wall in 164. Ptolemy's Geography was written within this timeframe, so his account is contemporary. The tribe's name is nearly identical to that of the Dumnonii, a fellow British tribe who lived in Cornwall and Devon. The name is also similar to the Fir Domnann, a tribe who lived in Ireland. So far, no evidence point to the Damnonii, Dumnonii and Domnann being the same people or sharing a unique, common descent, and their similarities are likely to be based on their descriptive etymologies. Both the Dumnonii and the Domnann derive their name from the Celtic root *dumno- which means "the deep" or "inner earth". The Damnonii name could then be taken to mean "the deep ones", or the "deep valley dwellers", probably referring to their homeland being the valley of the Clyde and those of Ayrshire. A less likely theory states that the Damnonii were noted for their mining, which is where they got their names as "the deep ones" as the Clyde area has large amounts of natural ore deposits. The sole record of the Damnonii and their towns is their mention by Ptolemy (c. 80 – c. 168). They are found in no other source. Ptolemy says that the towns of the Damnonii were Vanduara, Colania, Coria, Alauna, Lindum, and Victoria.