MYRDDIN, MARS CONDATIS AND ST. MARTIN: A CONFLUENCE OF GOD AND SAINT?

The Rivers Liddel and Esk at Willow Pool 

(https://www.trout-salmon-fishing.com/river-liddle-photos.htm)

We all know the story of how Myrddin was buried where the Powsail ('Willow Pool') meets the Tweed.  I have shown that this is a relocation for the Willow Pool at the confluence of the Esk and the Liddel, near the site of the Battle of Arderydd and the Caer Gwenddolau of Carwinley.  A tributary of the Liddel is called the Tweeden, with extant early forms that match that of the Tweed in Scottish Borders.

Given that Myrddin appears to have been replaced by St. Martin in the Liddesdale region, I happened to recall that St. Martin had died at Candes in Gaul, that is Condate, 'the confluence'.  In this case, the confluence of the Vienne and Loire.  

In Britain, we find a god named Mars Condatis or Mars 'of the confluence'.  Attestations are from Chester-le-Street, Bowes and Piercebridge, as well as Cramond.  

The Cramond inscription has puzzled scholars, as it does not occur at a river confluence:

"Condatis probably means ‘god of the confluence of waters’, and was perhaps entreated so that his power of healing might affect the waters in a certain region. Mars was suitable as a combinatory god, since he sometimes possessed a healing function. The majority of dedications are in County Durham, therefore Condatis is likely to have originally referred to the confluence of specific rivers. 23 But a dedication to the same god in Cramond, near Edinburgh, has shed new light on Mars Condatis. 24 There is no confluence of rivers in the region, at least not according to the modern geography, therefore it seems as though a soldier has once again taken his god with him when he was dispatched to the fort at Cramond. We might reasonably assume that he travelled from County Durham."

[https://www.academia.edu/6202611/An_assessment_of_the_evidence_for_the_cult_of_Mars_in_Roman_Britain]

But Cramond itself is from "Caer Almond", the fort on the river Almond (from *amb-ona-), and it lies where the river empties in the Firth of Forth.  So in all likelihood the 'watersmeet' in this case is meant to be the Almond and the Forth estuary? 

Mars Condatis sites with Esk-Liddel Confluence

Of course, as with most of the Romano-British gods, we know nothing about the cult of Mars Condatis. Rivers were often deities and it is possible Mars Condatis was a god whose function embraced the joining and mingling of twin divine rivers.  Confluences were often good fishing spots, but they could also be full of dangerous eddies and currents.  Although Mars often had non-martial aspects among the Celts, two rivers coming together can be envisioned as battling streams.  

Tradition does connect Myrddin with the pole of a fish weir.  This extract is from the entry on Myrddin in P.C. Bartram's A CLASSICAL WELSH DICTIONARY:

"Myrddin on a Pole 

There are some obscure references in Welsh poetry and prose to Myrddin ar Pawl, ‘Myrddin on a Pole’. There was a proverb: To talk as much as the son of seven locks [of hair], To talk as much as Myrddin on a Pole. (See Thomas Parry, Gwaith Dafydd ap Gwilym, p.538). The ‘pole’ seems to have been the pole of a weir although this may have been forgotten in some of the allusions. There are references in poetry to Myrddin's talking ‘on a pole’ and to his dying on the pole of a weir: More he says without ceasing ... than Myrddin ... son of seven locks. (Gwaith Dafydd ap Gwilym, p.347), and in Gwaith Lewys Môn, p.17: I am Myrddin ... dignified, who was in torment on the top of a pole. And again in Cwrtmawr MS.14 p.18: Myrddin when he went to his end on the Pole of the Weir, there was his destiny. The whole prophecy went with Scolan. In the dialogue between Myrddin(?) and Ysgolan in the Black Book of Carmarthen (BBC p.81) are the words: For a whole year I was placed in wattle on the pole of a weir. Eurys Rowlands considers that the references can only be reconciled by supposing that Myrddin lived in agony, transfixed on a pole for a period and died on it in the end. There is a clear connection here with the death of Lailoken, transfixed on a pole in a fishpond (see Llallogan). Also perhaps with the birth of Taliesin. See also s.n. Ysgolan. ‘Son of seven locks’ was presumably a surname of Myrddin referring to his wild appearance and dishevelled hair. See articles by Eurys Rowlands in Llên Cymru, IV.117-9, V.87-88, and by Thomas Jones in Llên Cymru, IV.179-180."

Could it be that Myrddin was offered as a sacrifice for a successful fish run?  "Atlantic salmon season in the UK usually lasts three or four weeks, from mid-October to mid-November, contingent upon autumn's first heavy rains (https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/salmon-run-an-upstream-battle-that-ends-in-life-and-death-9806329.html)." St. Martin died on November 8 at Candes.  His Western feast day is November 11 and his Eastern feast day November 12. 

November 8 is important here, as this was also one of the days on which the Romans held a solemn festival for the manes or spirits of the dead.  November 1, the old Samhain, was replaced by All-Hallow's Eve, our modern Halloween.  Taliesin's hide-covered basket (coracle?) came into the weir with the salmon on Samhain.  

From http://www.classics.upenn.edu/myth/php/tools/dictionary.php?regexp=MANES&method=standard:

They [the manes] dwell below the earth, and only come forth at certain seasons of the year. On the Mons Palatinus at Rome, there was, as in other Italian towns, a deep pit with the shape of an inverted sky, known as mundus, the lowest part of which was consecrated to the infernal gods and also to the Manes, and was closed with a stone, lapis manalis, thought to be the gate of the nether world. This stone was lifted up three times a year (August 24th, October 5th, November 8th), and the Manes were then believed to rise to the upper world: on this account those days were religiosi, i.e. no serious matter might be undertaken on them. Sacrifices were offered to them as to the dead; water, wine, warin inilk, honey, oil, and the blood of black sheep, pigs, and oxen, were poured on the grave; ointments and incense were offered; and the grave was decked with flowers, roses and violets by preference. Oblations, which chiefly consisted of beans, eggs, lentils, bread and wine, were placed on the grave, and the mourners partook of a meal in its neighbourhood. Besides the private celebrations there was also a public and universal festival, the Parentalia, which lasted from the 13th to the 21st of February, the last month of the older Roman year; the last day had the special name Feralia. During these days all the temples were closed, marriages were prohibited, and the magistrates had to appear in public without the tokens of their office. The festival of the dead was followed by that of the relations on February 22nd, called Caristia. This was celebrated throughout the town by each individual family, the members of which exchanged presents and met at festal banquets.

If Myrddin had originally been Mars Condatis at the confluence of the Liddel and Esk and his sacrifice performed yearly was meant to ensure the salmon run, and that salmon run happened to correspond in date with the death of St. Martin at Condate on the day the door to the underworld was opened and the manes were released, then we might be able to account for both strands of the Welsh tradition.

NOTE: The name Martinus is a diminutive of Martius, 'of Mars', 'warlike, martial.'