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.
[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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