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.
Thanks to my discussion with Professor Patrick Sims-Williams about the etymology of the Bicoir name, and its possible relationship to the Irish word for 'beekeeper' [1], I feel fairly confident in allowing for Arthur son of Bicoir, who is said in Tigernach to be in Kintyre, to be a son of either the beekeeper Beachaire or a son of a British *Bikkorix or similar in Kintyre whose name was later replaced by the Gaelic beekeeper word.
Note Beacharr is on the coast of Kintyre, facing Islay. Hence the cold wind blowing over the latter island in the Annal entry.
There is no need, therefore, to attempt to link this Arthur to the Beccurus name found on in stone in NW Wales. Very difficult to account for a son from Gesail Cyfarch ending up in Kintyre.
Instead, this son of Bicoir would be an Arthur named after the earlier Dalriadan one, son of Aedan or Conaing, as Kintyre was a part of Dalriada. This Arthur may or may not have been a "Briton", but his name surely was.
Bannerman (STUDIES IN THE HISTORY OF DALRIADA, pp. 112-113) says the forts of the Cenel nGabrain (a dynasty that included the earlier Arthur) were Dunaverty in southern Kintyre and Tarbert in the north. Beacharr is directly between these two strongholds.
There is a dun at Beacharr, as well as a rather famous chambered cairn and standing stone.
Brittonic place-name expert Alan James was kind enough to send me this on the Dun Beachaire site:
"I see that Beacharr(a) is apparently the scotticised name for the chambered cairn, which is located on the Gaelic-named Dùn Beachaire, with Allt Beachaire flowing by. As I said, I think if the name was used specifically for the cairn, then it was likely to be *Am Beachair in the sense of ‘beehive’. But if Dùn Beachaire was the primary name, then it could have been ‘beekeeper’s fort’.
The neighbouring Beachmenach and North and South Beachmore add complication. My best guess would be that Beach- might be a contracted *Beachach, ‘abounding in bees’ used nominally for a ‘bee-place’ . If so, Beachmennach would be *Beachach (nam) manach’, ‘monks’ bee-place, monastic apiary’, which seems quite plausible given that this was probably a possession of the Saddell Abbey across the peninsula. And, if so, the beachair may have been the Cistercian bee-keeper: I think of my friend Fr Benedict of Pluscarden Abbey taking his beehives in summer to a rather similar location in Moray.
As for Lann Becuir/Bechaire, it would have helped if you’d explained where this is – both in your email and in your blog! I’ve managed to track it down thanks to Google, to Col. White’s 1905 article quoting Joyce – it was at Bremore, Balrothery, near Balbriggan, on the Irish Sea coast about 20 miles N of Dublin? So in the same Irish Sea zone as Kintyre.
But I would be reluctant, at least on a matter like this, to disagree with Patrick S-W, and indeed come to the same conclusion, that Becuir is unlikely to be Bechaire, though both it and Bicoir might be a personal name with the *bekk- ‘little’ root plus a suffix, and such a name could have suggested the ‘beekeeper’.
And it’s certainly interesting that St Molaga acquired that epithet. St Moluag, though pretty surely not the same in origin (both saints are obscure, and probably amalgams of several Mo-Lugs) was a very important figure in Argyll – especially associated with Lismore, where he was regarded as the founder of the church there, and venerated at two Kilmoluags, in Kintyre and Knapdale, as well as having dedications in several of the southern Hebrides and Mann. But again, the cult of Moluag was very much promoted by the Cistercians, especially from Mellifont, ‘honey-spring’, mother-house of Saddell , whose founding abbot St Malachy seems to have played a part in promoting Moluag - though there doesn’t seem to be any evidence for the bee-keeping connection in the Scottish sources for Moluag.
Still, I’d agree that it’s possible that Dùn Beachaire was associated with Moluag, and so with Molaga and with bees and honey . But I think the origin of that association is to be found among the 12th century Cistercians, not necessarily any earlier.
I'd agree that the dùn might have been associated with Bicor. In the 7th ct Islay and Kintyre would certainly have been Gaelic-speaking, so the name (whether Welsh, Clyde British or Pictish) would have been Gaelicised to something like *Biocoir, and - whether they knew anything of the story or not - the 12th ct Cistercian monks would have been happy to turn this obscure, and possibly pagan, warlord into their bee-keeping saint!"
St. Molaga is interesting in another way: his bees came from St. David's in Dyfed, Wales. And he had, apparently visited St. David's. See https://www.omniumsanctorumhiberniae.com/2014/01/saint-molagga-of-timoleague-january-20.html?m=1. Arthur son of Petr of Dyfed has an estimated birthdate of 560.
The Stone that "Killed" Mongan at Dun Beachaire?
I'm thinking that the "stone" used by Arthur son of Bicoir to kill Mongan may be a error for the stone where Mongan was killed. And the stone in question is the great standing stone at the site. From
(a) Beacharra Standing Stone (fig. 2, No. 6 on map).—The dimensions
of this stone are given in the Old Statistical Account as 16 feet above
ground, 4 feet broad, 2| feet thick, while in the Neiv Statistical Account
it is further stated that "a grave at the base of the obelisk, covered
with turf, is 18 feet 7 inches in length, and 4J feet in breadth." In
June 1892 this " grave," known locally as " Leac-an-fhamhair " (i.e. " the
flagstone of the giant"), was excavated by the Kintyre Scientific Society,
when it was found to consist of three cists. From these were recovered
six clay vessels, one flint implement, and one jet object, now preserved
in the Museum at Campbeltown. An account of these operations, fully
illustrated, was printed in the Proceedings of this Society ten years later.4
These six round-bottomed urns are representative of the types of vessels
belonging to the period of the late Stone Age.
It was learned from the tenant of Beacharra recently that the excavations
above referred to only embraced the northern portion of the burial
area, as the southern portion was found to have been excavated on some
unknown former occasion.
The Beacharra standing stone, which so far as the writer is aware is
the highest in Kintyre, may easily be seen against the skyline to the left
of the main road by anyone travelling south, shortly after passing
through the village of Killean. It is situated 105 feet to the south-westof the burial cairn (magnetic bearing 38°), while at a distance of 120 yards
to the south-west of the standing stone there are the remains of a stone
fort where many large embedded stones still lie scattered all over the
turf-covered site, some apparently in their original positions.
At the present time, the standing stone serves as a " straining post"
for a wire fence, three wires of which encircle it at a height from the
ground of 2 feet 5 inches, 3 feet 3 inches, and 3 feet 10 inches, the fence
running south-east from the stone. It is perhaps desirable to note this,
as instances have occurred where the pressure of fence wires has resulted
in a series of grooves of somewhat mysterious appearance. No cup-marks
were observed on the Beacharra standing stone.
Dimensions: the measurements quoted above from the Old StatisticalAccount were found to be almost correct, but the height might be more
accurately recorded as 16 feet 4 inches, while the breadth at base is 4 feet
6 inches.
This was the "stone of the giant", and there are many folklore stories about giant's hurling stones for this or that purpose. Quite possibly there was some local folklore about Arthur using this great standing stone to kill Mongan.
This was the "stone of the giant", and there are many folklore stories about giant's hurling stones for this or that purpose. Quite possibly there was some local folklore about Arthur using this great standing stone to kill Mongan.
Arthur threw Queen's Crag at Guinevere in Northumberland.
And see the several Arthur's Quiots or cromlechs, called for large flat roof stones of dolmens. Quiot from ME coyte "flat stone".
[1]
Patrick Sims-Williams in his “The Celtic Inscriptions of Britain: Phonology and Chronology, c. 400-1200″, provides a couple of etymologies for the name Beccurus. His first is that the name comes from British *Bikkorix or “Little King”. His alternate derivation would be a name from *bekko-, “beak”. He does not, however, make the connection to an attested Irish noun, Becuir, found as a variant of Bechaire or “bee-keeper” in the church name Lann Becuir/Bechaire. The “bee-keeper” references either St. Modomnoc or St. Molaga of this religious establishment. The former brought his bees with him from Wales, where he had been educated under St. David (born c. 485?) at Mynyw/Menevia/St. David’s in Dyfed. The latter had been to both Scotland and Wales (St. David’s again) and had obtained some bees from Modomnoc.
When I asked Professor Sims-Williams about the possiibility that Bicoir could be related to the Irish Becuir, he responded:
“I’m not sure that Becuir can be a variant of Bechaire. The place name Lann Bechaire could be a distortion/rationalisation of Lann Becuir, and the latter name may have nothing to do with bee-keeping, though it could be related to Bicoir.”
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