Arberth in Penbro
Long ago, I demonstrated that the Briton Arthur son of Bicoir was, in fact, Arthur son of Petuir of Dyfed.
What I had not fully explored is the reason why Arthur son of Petr/Pedr of Dyfed was linked to Kintyre in the Irish sources.
I think this is pretty obvious: the ancient and, presumably, Dark Age capital of Dyfed was Arberth in Penbro. Penbro, like Irish Kintyre, means Land's End. Pen and Kin are cognates, and Welsh bro is found in its Irish form as OIr. mruig, MIr. bruig.
We have god reason for thinking the Dark Age Dyfed center was at or very near Arberth because of the survival of the Voteporigas stone:
"CASTEL-DAUYRAN (CASTELL-DWYRAN or DYRAM,) a chapelry, partly in the parish of KILMAENLLWYD, lower division of the hundred of DERRLYS, county of CARMARTHEN, partly in the hundred of DUNGLEDDY, county of PEMBROKE, SOUTH WALES, 4 1/2 miles (N.E.) from Narberth
Rhys/1896, 108--110, records that the stone had originally stood at Castell Dwyran...
Voteporigas was the great-grandfather of Arthur of Dyfed. The latter is thought (see Bartrum) to have been born c. 560. Mongan son of Fiachna was supposedly killed by Arthur son of Pedr in 625. The stone (elsewhere referred to as a dragon stone or piece of pitchstone, which was restricted geologically to the Isle of Arran next to Kintyre) Arthur uses to kill Mongan may be a folk reflection of the name Pedr or Petrus.
Two questions need to be answered. First, if Arthur son of Pedr has been wrongly placed in Kintyre, how did this error come about? And, two, how did the name Arthur end up in Dyfed among the Deisi-descended royal dynasty?
It is possible, I suppose, that the name Arthur was confused with the name of the location of Mongan's grave:
U625.2
Áedán son of Cumuscach and Colmán son of Comgallán migrate to the Lord; and Rónán son of Tuathal, king of Ind Airthir, and Mongán, son of Fiachna of Lurga, die.
1] Remarkable are the four over whom it has closed without recall,
2] The earth of Cluain Airthir churchyard today:
3] Cormac the Handsome,
4] And Illann son of Fiachu.
1] The other two—
2] Many territories do service to them—
3] Are Mongán son of Fiachna of Lurga,
4] And Rónán son of Tuathal.
Cluain Airthir has been identified:
c. airthir
7 bps. of, Ll. 374, I. 110 b 1; ¶ 7 sts. of, Lb. 24; ¶ Fionntan of, Ai. 150 b; ¶ now Magheracloone, c. Mon., Ch. 78, Au. i. 94, Mi., Cri.; ¶ Cailcú of, Mt. 35, Ll. 363; ¶ = Caelchú ó Lúi Airthir, Fg. 182; ¶ Mongan mac Fiachnae, lord of C. Airrthir, Hb. 64
https://research.ucc.ie/doi/locus/C
Airthir (airther) means "eastern."
But this seems a bit far-fetched.
Instead, I think we must look to the second question: why did Pedr of Dyfed name his son Arthur?
I have recently shown that the name Arthur apparently originated with Sawyl Benisel of Ribchester, and that it found its way into the Dalriadan royal house via Dal Fiatach connections:
Now Mongan belonged to the Dal nAraide in NE Ireland. To the north of the Dal nAraide were the Dal Riata, who founded Dalriada in Scotland. To the south of Dal Araide were the Dal Fiatach. These tribal groups were variously allied with each other or fighting against each other. The best recent account of the interactions of these kingdoms during the floruit of Mongan comes from pp. 4-5 of John Bannerman's STUDIES OF THE HISTORY OF DALRIADA:
The poem on the death of Mongan tells us the warriors who kill him were in Kintyre. Or, at least, they came from Kintyre:
T627.6
Mongan son of Fiachna Lurgan, stricken with a stone by Artur son of Bicoir Britone died. Whence Bec Boirche said:
Cold is the wind over Islay;
There are warriors in Cantyre,
They will commit a cruel deed therefor,
They will kill Mongan son of Fiachna.
If Mongan's killers really originated from Kintyre, then they were Dalriadans - that much is clear. Yet this scenario is impossible to square with what appears to be a steady alliance between the Dal nAraide and the Dal Riata.
But what if Kintyre in the Irish Annal is an error for Penbro? What if Pedr of Dyfed had married a Dal Fiatach princess, just as Sawyl Benisel had? And the name Arthur had come from the Dal Fiatach into the Dyfed royal house?
The year dates for the death of Mongan and the death of his father Fiachna mac Baetain fall within a year of each other. One finds, when going over the annals, that sometimes the same event is entered for different years. Suppose Mongan died with his father at Leithat Midind, and Arthur son of Pedr was on the side of the Dal Fiatach king Fiachna mac Demmain? An Arthur from Penbro could easily have been confused for the various Dalriadan Arthurs (Arthur son of Aedan or Conaing and Arthur grandfather of Feradach).
This solution to the Arthur son of Bicoir problem is particularly elegant in that it both accounts for how a Dyfed king could have been involved in warfare in the North as well as accounting for how the Arthur name came to be present in southwest Wales. Such a solution must, of course, remain purely speculative as we lack any genealogical information regarding Pedr of Dyfed's wife and queen.
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