Battle of Raith
Battle of Raith | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Angles |
Britons Scots Picts | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Áedán mac Gabráin | |||||||
Strength | |||||||
Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown | Unknown |
The Battle of Raith was the self-acknowleged invention of E W B Nicholson [1], Librarian at the Bodleian Library, Oxford. He was aware of the poem "Y Gododdin" and was frustrated that no-one had identified the location "Catraeth". He parsed the name as "cat", battle, and "Raeth" and he recalled that there was a place in Scotland called "Raith".
This was a brave attempt at identifying, albeit a misrepresentation of, the battle mentioned in the Book of Aneirin in Y Gododdin as Catraeth, cath being Gaelic for battle or fight.[2][3]. Today this is usually recognised as the Battle of Catterick.
Nicholson's proposition was given added circulation when it was recycled by Lachlan Macbean [4] in the local history Book "Kirkcaldy Burgh and Schyre" [5] which he co-authored and edited.
Nicholson's claim was that this battle was fought in 596 AD to the west of present-day Kirkcaldy. An invading force of Angles landed on the Fife coast[6] near Raith and defeated an alliance of Scots, Britons and Picts under King Áedán mac Gabráin of Dál Riata.
References
- ^ The Celtic Review, Vol. 6 No. 23 (Jan 1910) pp214-236
- ^ Kirkcaldy Burgh and Schyre, Lachlan Macbean (1924), pp42-43
- ^ "excerpt from ''Kirkcaldy Burgh and Schyre''". Electricscotland.com. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
- ^ see also https://hymnology.hymnsam.co.uk/l/lachlan-macbean
- ^ "Kirkcaldy Burgh and Schyre" pp42/3 published in 1924 by the Fifeshire Advertiser (Macbean was also the paper's Editor).
- ^ "596 A.D. - The Battle of Raith | made by young people at Makewaves". Radiowaves.co.uk. 2009-05-21. Archived from the original on 2012-12-23. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
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