THE PBESIDBNT's ADDRESS. 867 



In or about 614, Eiwal, son of a Damnonian King arrived 

 with a large fleet on the north-east coast, and founded the colony 

 and principality of Damnonia on the mainland. Others arrived 

 on the west coast, and constituted the colony and principality of 

 Cornouaille. A modern Breton historian* has propounded a 

 theory that Armorican Cornouaille was settled by a company of 

 the defenders of the Wall of Severus, quartered at Carstopitum, 

 near Newcastle. This is based on a statement in the Notitia 

 that some Cornavii were sent to guard the wall, and secondly, on 

 the fact that the new capital in Armorica was called Curiosopitum, 

 and the people styled themselves Cornavii. He argues that 

 Cornwall was not so called till the 10th century. 



Now possibly enough, when the Notitia were compiled some 

 Cornavii from Shropshire and Cheshire may have been sent 

 to the wall, but it does not follow that this detachment remained 

 there, after the break up of the Eoman rule over the island, for 

 over a century. 



The inscriptions found at Carstopitum are generally in 

 Greek, and none lead to the supposition that a native detachment 

 was quartered there. 



It may be true, and it is true, that the Romans did not give 

 to Cornwall the name of Cornubia, but included it in the 

 kingdom of the Damnonii ; but Damnonia is a descriptive name 

 for the land, so also is Cornu for the Horn of Britain. The 

 designation Cern or Corn for the peninsula is found applied to 

 Glywys, son of Gwynllyw of Wentloog — the Gluvias of the Fal 

 estuary, — and attaches to his church as Coed Cerniw in 

 Monmouthshire. He belongs to the beginning of the 6th 

 century. We have already seen how Cormac employs the word 

 in the 9th century. And Carantog, assistant of S. Patrick in 

 the 5th was called Cairnech, "the Cornishman," in Ireland. f 



The name of the capital Curiosopitum is descriptive of its 

 being a cluster of Caerau or forts, and might be applied 

 anywhere that was suitable. 



The theory propounded would hardly deserve notice had it 

 not been very generally adopted by Breton writers. 



*De la Borderie : Hist, de Bretagne, Paris, 1896 ; T. I. 309—11. 

 flrish Nennius, ed. Todd & Herbert, Dublin, 1848, p. cxi. 



