22 
distinction,‘have attributed to Clydesdale what should really be 
said of Cumberland, and have thus given rise to the traditions on 
the strength of which Kilpatrick claims to be the birthplace of our 
saint. 
Now as to the second point; it is more difficult but“less im- 
portant to localise the name—‘“ Banaven of the camps.” The 
epithet “of the camps” surely applies better to Cumberland, 
bristling as it did with Roman stations, than to any other locality 
in Britain. No other part of the island is so thickly dotted with 
camps as this ; no other part of the island was the scene of such 
prolonged warfare ; no other part of the island therefore would 
better deserve the designation. The inference remains that 
St. Patrick’s birthplace would be somewhere in the vicinity of 
Hadrian’s Wall; and as it was on a coast exposed to the attacks 
of Irish pirates it would be, not on the east side by the Tyne, but 
on the west, that is in Cumberland. May we go a step further, 
and try what particular part of Cumberland best fits in with our 
story? Here we shall have to rely upon any evidence we can get 
out of the proper names. What then is the meaning of Banaven ? 
I suppose it signifies the mouth of a river—the opening of some 
water. Avon or Afon is one of the commonest Keltic names for 
water. It is found in names of rivers all over our island, and is 
parallel with Axe, Exe, or Oich, or with the Aln, Allen, or Ellen 
with which we are more familiar. The prefix Bun or Ban is also 
not an uncommon one, being synonymous with Inver and Aber, 
as in Inverness or Aberdeen, and meaning the mouth or opening 
of a river, the junction of one stream with another. Thus for 
example: There is a Bunoich at Fort Augustus, a Bunawe on 
Loch Etive, and a Banavie by Fort William—all meaning precisely 
the same thing, and the latter being almost the same form 
as we find in St. Patrick’s story. In this connection the name 
helps to particularise the locality we are seeking by requiring the 
presence of some stream, and its confluence with another or with 
the sea; and so would exclude such inland camps as those at Old 
Carlisle and Papcastle, or the stations actually on the Wall. The 
prefix Ban might indeed be translated White, as we find it in the 
