Setantii
Encyclopedia
The Setantii were a pre-Roman
British
tribe
who apparently lived in the western and southern littoral of Lancashire
in England
. It is likely the tribe were a sept
or sub-tribe of the Brigantes
, who, at the time of the Roman invasion
, dominated much of what is now northern England
.
of Claudius Ptolemaeus
. Recorded there is the placename Portus Setantiorum (Port of the Setantii). It could have long since been inundated by the sea. However, because of the pattern of Roman road
s in the area, is widely believed to have been located near the modern port of Fleetwood
off Rossall Point at the mouth of the River Wyre
. The tribe may also be remembered in the hydronym
of Seteia, also recorded by Ptolemy and assumed by its position in his text to refer to the River Mersey
.
The name of the tribe has been interpreted as meaning 'dwellers in the water country' and may be associated with the Irish
hero Cúchulainn
, whose birthname, Sétanta, bears clear similarities to it. Welsh
scholar, fellow
of the British Academy
, celticist
and the first Professor
of Celtic
at Oxford University, Sir John Rhys
, also suggested an association between these two and Seithenyn
, a Welsh
character known from the Black Book of Carmarthen
.
The extent of the Setantii territory is unknown, but it has been suggested that the southernmost boundary was the Mersey itself, with the northern reaches perhaps stretching as far as Borrow Beck
, just south of Tebay
, in Westmorland
(now southern Cumbria
).
In 2007 an Iron Age
settlement was discovered on Bourne Hill on the Fylde
, located between Fleetwood and Thornton
near to the River Wyre, with evidence of roundhouses
, an embankment, an ancient cobbled trackway and defensive embankments. Bourne Hill is one possibility for the location of Portus Setantiorum.
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
British
Brython
The Britons were the Celtic people culturally dominating Great Britain from the Iron Age through the Early Middle Ages. They spoke the Insular Celtic language known as British or Brythonic...
tribe
Tribe
A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...
who apparently lived in the western and southern littoral of Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is likely the tribe were a sept
Sept
A sept is an English word for a division of a family, especially a division of a clan. The word might have its origin from Latin saeptum "enclosure, fold", or it can be an alteration of sect.The term is found in both Ireland and Scotland...
or sub-tribe of the Brigantes
Brigantes
The Brigantes were a Celtic tribe who in pre-Roman times controlled the largest section of what would become Northern England, and a significant part of the Midlands. Their kingdom is sometimes called Brigantia, and it was centred in what was later known as Yorkshire...
, who, at the time of the Roman invasion
Roman conquest of Britain
The Roman conquest of Britain was a gradual process, beginning effectively in AD 43 under Emperor Claudius, whose general Aulus Plautius served as first governor of Britannia. Great Britain had already frequently been the target of invasions, planned and actual, by forces of the Roman Republic and...
, dominated much of what is now northern England
Northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North or the North Country, is a cultural region of England. It is not an official government region, but rather an informal amalgamation of counties. The southern extent of the region is roughly the River Trent, while the North is bordered...
.
Background
The setantii name is known from a single source only, the 2nd century GeographiaGeographia (Ptolemy)
The Geography is Ptolemy's main work besides the Almagest...
of Claudius Ptolemaeus
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
. Recorded there is the placename Portus Setantiorum (Port of the Setantii). It could have long since been inundated by the sea. However, because of the pattern of Roman road
Roman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
s in the area, is widely believed to have been located near the modern port of Fleetwood
Fleetwood
Fleetwood is a town within the Wyre district of Lancashire, England, lying at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 26,840 people at the 2001 Census. It forms part of the Greater Blackpool conurbation. The town was the first planned community of the Victorian era...
off Rossall Point at the mouth of the River Wyre
River Wyre
The River Wyre is a river in Lancashire, United Kingdom, which flows into the Irish Sea at Fleetwood. It is approximately 28 miles in length...
. The tribe may also be remembered in the hydronym
Hydronym
A hydronym is a proper name of a body of water. Hydronymy is the study of hydronyms and of how bodies of water receive their names and how they are transmitted through history...
of Seteia, also recorded by Ptolemy and assumed by its position in his text to refer to the River Mersey
River Mersey
The River Mersey is a river in North West England. It is around long, stretching from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and ending at Liverpool Bay, Merseyside. For centuries, it formed part of the ancient county divide between Lancashire and Cheshire....
.
The name of the tribe has been interpreted as meaning 'dwellers in the water country' and may be associated with the Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
hero Cúchulainn
Cúchulainn
Cú Chulainn or Cúchulainn , and sometimes known in English as Cuhullin , is an Irish mythological hero who appears in the stories of the Ulster Cycle, as well as in Scottish and Manx folklore...
, whose birthname, Sétanta, bears clear similarities to it. Welsh
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
scholar, fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
of the British Academy
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
, celticist
Celtic Studies
Celtic studies is the academic discipline occupied with the study of any sort of cultural output relating to a Celtic people. This ranges from linguistics, literature and art history archaeology and history, the focus lying on the study of the various Celtic languages, living and extinct...
and the first Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of Celtic
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
at Oxford University, Sir John Rhys
John Rhys
Sir John Rhys was a Welsh scholar, fellow of the British Academy, celticist and the first Professor of Celtic at Oxford University.-Early years and education:...
, also suggested an association between these two and Seithenyn
Seithenyn
Seithenyn is a figure from Welsh legend, apparently contemporary with King Gwyddno Garanhir. He is the protagonist of a poem in the Llyfr Du Caerfyrddin...
, a Welsh
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
character known from the Black Book of Carmarthen
Black Book of Carmarthen
The Black Book of Carmarthen is thought to be the earliest surviving manuscript written entirely or substantially in Welsh. Written in around 1250, the book's name comes from its association with the Priory of St. John the Evangelist and Teulyddog at Carmarthen, and is referred to as black due to...
.
The extent of the Setantii territory is unknown, but it has been suggested that the southernmost boundary was the Mersey itself, with the northern reaches perhaps stretching as far as Borrow Beck
Borrow Beck
Borrow Beck is a stream running through Cumbria, England.Rising at Borrowdale Moss near Lord's Seat, the beck runs a southeasterly course, being joined by Crookdale Beck before running through Borrowdale....
, just south of Tebay
Tebay
Tebay is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, England, within the traditional borders of Westmorland. It lies in the upper Lune Valley, at the head of the Lune Gorge. The parish of Tebay had a population of 728 recorded in the 2001 census,...
, in Westmorland
Westmorland
Westmorland is an area of North West England and one of the 39 historic counties of England. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974, after which the entirety of the county was absorbed into the new county of Cumbria.-Early history:...
(now southern Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
).
In 2007 an Iron Age
British Iron Age
The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron-Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric Ireland, and which had an independent Iron Age culture of...
settlement was discovered on Bourne Hill on the Fylde
The Fylde
The Fylde ; Scandinavian: "field") is a coastal plain in western Lancashire, England. It is roughly a 13-mile square-shaped peninsula, bounded by Morecambe Bay to the north, the Ribble estuary to the south, the Irish Sea to the west, and the Bowland hills to the east...
, located between Fleetwood and Thornton
Thornton, Lancashire
Thornton is a village on the Fylde, in Lancashire, England, about four miles north of Blackpool and two miles south of Fleetwood. It is in the Borough of Wyre...
near to the River Wyre, with evidence of roundhouses
Roundhouse (dwelling)
The roundhouse is a type of house with a circular plan, originally built in western Europe before the Roman occupation using walls made either of stone or of wooden posts joined by wattle-and-daub panels and a conical thatched roof. Roundhouses ranged in size from less than 5m in diameter to over 15m...
, an embankment, an ancient cobbled trackway and defensive embankments. Bourne Hill is one possibility for the location of Portus Setantiorum.