Venicones

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The Venicones were a people of ancient Britain, known only from a single mention of them by the geographer Ptolemy c. 150 AD. He recorded that their town was 'Orrea'.^[1] This has been identified as the Roman fort of Horrea Classis, located by Rivet and Smith as Monifieth, six miles east of Dundee.^[2] Therefore, they are presumed to have lived between the Tay and the Mounth, south of Aberdeen. Andrew Breeze has suggested that the tribal name probably means "hunting hounds".^[3] A slightly differing etymology, "kindred hounds", identifies the name with Maen Gwyngwn, a region mentioned in the Gododdin.^[4]

References

^ Ptolemy (150), Thayer, Bill (ed.), Geographia, Book 2, Chapter 2: Albion island of Britannia, LacusCurtius website at the University of Chicago (published 2008), retrieved 26 April 2008
^ A.L.F. Rivet and C. Smith, The Place-Names of Roman Britain (1979), pp. 372-3,491.
^ "Three Celtic names: Venicones, Tuesis and Soutra?", Scottish Language, 2006
^ J. T. Koch, The Stone of the Wenicones, in: Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies 29, 1982, p. 87ff.

[1] Ptolemy (150), Thayer, Bill (ed.), Geographia, Book 2, Chapter 2: Albion island of Britannia, LacusCurtius website at the University of Chicago (published 2008), retrieved 26 April 2008

[2] A.L.F. Rivet and C. Smith, The Place-Names of Roman Britain (1979), pp. 372-3,491.

[a_breeze2-3] "Three Celtic names: Venicones, Tuesis and Soutra?", Scottish Language, 2006

[4] J. T. Koch, The Stone of the Wenicones, in: Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies 29, 1982, p. 87ff.

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