Reigned ca 410- ca 430 D.

Coel Hen (The Old) Ruler of the northern Britons, ca 410s-ca 430s. Whether the nursery rhyme about Old King cole has any connection with the real King Coel is unlikely, but that a real King Coel existed is indisputable, although records of him survive only from later songs and genealogies. He was almost certainly a native of Briton whose forebears had probably been high-ranking individuals amongst the Romano-British nobility. he was likely to be either from the British tribe of the Brigantes or, more likely, the Votadini. In the late fourth century and early fifth century the northern frontier of the Roman empire, which had retrenched along Hadrian’s Wall, came under fierce attack from the Picts to the north. Following the withdrawal of support from rone in 410, the British were left to fend for themselves. In such events leaders emerge, and it was under these circumstances that Coel emerged. Whether he was a dux bellorium, as John Morris has suggested, is not proven, but there is little doubt that he met the need for strong leadership to protect the northern British against the Picts as well as from incursions by the Irish who, over the last century, had made regular forays into the Galloway territory of what is now Scotland. Coel has become the name associaated with whichever leader first took control during this period of considerable unrest. Gildas and others record this as a period of civil wars, invasions and ultimately famine. It lasted for about a generation from some time after 410 to around 450. That period also saw the arrival of Saxons or other Germanic adventurers who probably came as mercenaries to help in Coel’s army rather than as invaders. Some may have received land in payment. It has been conjectured that Hengest’s lieutenant Oisc (sometimes described as his son) could have been the leader of these Germans, perhaps of a second and more significant wave that came across in the 440s or 470s.

The extent of Coel’s “kingdom” is uncertain. It is possible that it extended as far south as York, perhaps to a line between the Humber and the Mersey, and possibly as far north as the Antonine Wall between the Forth and the Clyde. This is a vast territory, too much for one man to govern, and covering more than one tribe. Coel would amost certainly have appointed a number of commanders, perhaps the leaders of the individual tribes. Whether or not these were related to him as later genealogies suggest can neither be proved nor disproved. One son, Garbaniawn (or Germanianus) ruled the sothern Votadini, the territory known to the British as Bryneich, which became Bernicia under the Angles. Coel’s son-in-law, Cunedda, ruled the territory of the northern Votadini, also known as the Gododdin, a realm later known as Lothian (from the ruler Lewdwn or Leudonus). Another son, Cenen or Ceneu, seems to have taken command of the lands south of Bryneich, around Deira but at this time probably known as Datraeth. To the west was Ceretic who commanded the territory of the Clyde, including Galloway and probably down into Cumbria, the territory of the Novantae and Selgovae. It is difficult to say for sure how definite these commands were. Coel might have moved his commanders about or, more likely, perhaps during or soon after his death the old tribal enmities returned with leaders fighting for supremacy. Whatever the case, their final power bases almost certainly formed the core of later (mostly short-lived) British kingdoms. Coel’s own headquarters are variously stated as being at York or in the area around Ayr, which is now called Kyle, posibly named after him. Coel seems to have dominated this area for perhaps twenty years, possibly up until the year 430 or beyond. One legend has it that he died fighting the Irish near ayr.

There is certainly no truth in the stories perpetuated by Geoffrey on Monmouth that Coel was the duke of Colchester, and that his daughter Helena married the Roman emperor Constantius. it seems that Colchester later adopted Coel as its own patron, because of the similarity of names. It is true that later generations of rules in northern Britain claimed themselves as “sons of Coel.” Whether this was literal, or whether it meant they had inherited the lands that he ruled, we cannot be sure. The most famous amongst them are Dumnagual (or Dyfnwal), Morcant, Eleuther, Peredur and Pabo.540