Neithon son of Guipno (died c. 621) was a 7th-century ruler of

Alt Clut Dumbarton Castle (, ; ) has the longest recorded history of any stronghold in Scotland. It sits on a volcanic plug of basalt known as Dumbarton Rock which is high and overlooks the Scottish town of Dumbarton. History Dumbarton Rock was forme ...

, a Brittonic kingdom based on

Dumbarton Rock Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,99 ...

. According to the

Harleian genealogies __NOTOC__ The Harleian genealogies are a collection of Old Welsh genealogies preserved in British Library, Harley MS 3859. Part of the Harleian Library, the manuscript, which also contains the '' Annales Cambriae'' (Recension A) and a version of ...

, he was the son of Guipno map

Dumnagual Hen Dyfnwal Hen or Dumnagual Hen ("Dyfnwal the Old") was a ruler of the Brittonic kingdom of Alt Clut, later known as Strathclyde, probably sometime in the early 6th century. His biography is vague, but he was regarded as an important ancestor figure ...

. Alfred Smyth suggests he is the same man as King Nechtan the Great of the

Picts The Picts were a group of peoples in what is now Scotland north of the Firth of Forth, in the Scotland in the early Middle Ages, Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and details of their culture can be gleaned from early medieval texts and Pic ...

, and perhaps the Nechtan son of Canu the ''

Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' () are annals of History of Ireland, medieval Ireland. The entries span the years from 431 AD to 1540 AD. The entries up to 1489 AD were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luin� ...

'' record as having died in 621. The '' Senchus fer n-Alban'' indicate that Gartnait, the son of

Áedán mac Gabráin Áedán mac Gabráin (; ), also written as Aedan, was a king of Dál Riata from 574 until c. 609 AD. The kingdom of Dál Riata was situated in modern Argyll and Bute, Scotland, and parts of County Antrim, Ireland. Genealogies record that Áe ...

, King of

Dál Riata Dál Riata or Dál Riada (also Dalriada) () was a Gaels, Gaelic Monarchy, kingdom that encompassed the Inner Hebrides, western seaboard of Scotland and north-eastern Ireland, on each side of the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North ...

, sired a son named Cano, but unless the Harleian genealogies are to be ignored, this would make Gartnait and Dumnagual Hen the same persons, as the respective fathers of Gartnait and Guipno. However, it is possible that either as an Alt Clut

Briton British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs modern British citizenship and nationality, w ...

ascending the throne of Pictland, or as a Pict ascending the throne of Alt Clut, his genealogy might have been altered, and it is notable that in the Pictish king-lists he is called "''Nechtan, nepos Uerb''", suggesting that it was a descent from Uerb that mattered in Pictland, and not his unimportant father Guipno/Canu.

Alan Orr Anderson Alan Orr Anderson (1879–1958) was a Scottish historian and compiler. The son of Rev. John Anderson and Ann Masson, he was born in 1879. He was educated at Royal High School, Edinburgh, and the University of Edinburgh. In 1908, after fiv ...

pointed out that Uerb is probably the Pictish form of ''Ferb'' (genitive ''Feirbe''), a female name. Alan MacQuarrie suggests that Neithon was indeed the Pictish king Nechtan, but does not take any stance on the Guipno/Canu problem.Alan MacQuarrie, "The Kings of Strathclyde", in A. Grant & K.Stringer (eds.) ''Medieval Scotland: Crown, Lordship and Community, Essays Presented to G.W.S. Barrow'', (Edinburgh, 1993), p. 9.

Notes

References

Anderson, Alan Orr Alan Orr Anderson (1879–1958) was a Scottish historian and compiler. The son of Rev. John Anderson and Ann Masson, he was born in 1879. He was educated at Royal High School, Edinburgh, and the University of Edinburgh. In 1908, after fiv ...

, Early Sources of Scottish History: AD 500–1286, 2 Vols, (Edinburgh, 1922). * * MacQuarrie, Alan, "The Kings of Strathclyde", in A. Grant & K.Stringer (eds.) ''Medieval Scotland: Crown, Lordship and Community, Essays Presented to G.W.S. Barrow'', (Edinburgh, 1993), pp. 1–19. * Williams, Anne, Smyth, Alfred P., and Kirby, D.P., (eds.), ''A Biographical Dictionary of Dark Age Britain'', (London, 1991), s.v. "Nechtán", p. 183

External links

Annals of Ulster

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clut, Neithon of Alt 7th-century deaths Monarchs of Strathclyde 7th-century Scottish monarchs Year of birth unknown Year of death uncertain