General Notes

COEL HEN is a familiar figure in many ancient Welsh genealogies. Most of the Celtic British kings of the north of Britain could trace their descent from him in one form or another, as could many Welsh kings. In the short time after his life that Central and Northern Britain remained free of the invading Angles, between the start of the fifth century and mid-sixth century, all of the kingdoms that were established were by his sons or grandsons. Although the evidence is typically patchy, he appears to have lived from around 350 - 420, during the time when the last Roman officials returned to the heart of the faltering empire, leaving Britain and her people to fend for themselves.
Coel's particular association with the north of Britain has led to the well-founded suggestion that he was the last of the Roman Duces Brittanniarum (Dukes of the Britons). Only one existed at any time. They were selected as generals of the army with direct authority from the governor of Britannia to defend the coast from the increasing barbarian raids). The Roman dux disappear from the Notitia Dignitatum in about 400 and it is not unnatural to presume that Coel took his place. He seems to have made his headquarters at Britain's northern capital of Eburacum (York), and he certainly imposed his power over a great swathe of the country. Coel Hen can be considered by tradition to be the first king in, and of, Northern Britain, as seems to have overseen the transition from direct Roman rule to an independent Britain which took care of its own defence. In the Celtic tradition, because of his dominance, he is known fully as the High King of Northern Britain* (as opposed to other major kings of his generation, such as Cunedda Wledig, who was King of North Wales - later Gwynedd, or Antonius Donatus Gregorius (Anwn), who was King of South Wales - Demetia).
From his headquarters Coel Hen governed the territory between Eburacum and Hadrian's Wall (which formed the later British kingdoms of Ebrauc, Deywr, and Bernaccia), and west to cover the area of Rheged, (later North Rheged, South Rheged, Dunoting, Elmet, Caer-Guendoleu, and a kingdom which, to deduce its name from the later Saxon Pecset, was probably called the Kingdom of the Peak). According to later claims, he also had a hand in structuring the Goutoddin in the eastern territory between the Walls after the departure of Cunedda Wledig.
As a result of the many kingdoms which were inherited by his immediate descendants, Coel became the founding ancestor of what came to be known as The Men of the North (Gwy^r y Gogledd). These were the Britons of the surviving kingdoms who were fighting the advancing Angles in the 6th and 7th centuries. They were drawn from the kingdoms of Goutoddin and Rheged, from Strathclyde and various minor principalities, and together they upheld the tradition of battling Celtic warriors, feasting together before riding out with the warband to do battle with the enemy. Their stubborn resistance was dealt a fatal blow at Catreath (Catterick) in around 600, and these events (detailed in The Mabinogion) cemented the reputation of The Men of the North in their glorious, but ultimately futile, efforts of resistance to the Teutonic invaders.
Most people today will have heard of Coel Hen (or "King Coel" - with "Hen" the Brito-Welsh word for "old"), even if they don't realise it. He is immortalised in verse:
Old King Cole was a merry old soul
And a merry old soul was he.
He called for his pipe,
And he called for his bowl,
And he called for his fiddlers, three

The legends of the Northern British were preserved by Rhodri Mawr, when he became King of Gwynedd. One of those legends concerned Coel Hen's last campaign. It was during Coel's time as High King that immigrant Irishmen from the Scotti tribe of Dalriata (in the region of Ulster) began to settle the western coast of Pictland, around Argyle. Coel, fearing that the two peoples would unite against the British, sent raiding parties across his northern border to stir up discord between them. The plan backfired as the Picts and the Scots were not taken in. Coel merely succeeded in pushing the two even closer together, and they began to attack the British Kingdom of Strathclyde. Coel declared all out war and moved north to expel the invaders. The Picts and Scots fled to the hills ahead of Coel's army, who eventually set up camp at what became Coylton alongside the Water of Coyle (Ayrshire). For a long time, the British were victorious, while the Scots and Picts starved. Desperate for some relief, the enemy advanced in a last-ditch attack on Coel's stronghold. Coel and his men were taken by surprise, overrun and scattered to the winds. It is said that Coel wandered the unknown countryside until he eventually got caught in a bog at Coilsfield (in Tarbolton, Ayrshire) and drowned. Coel was first buried in a mound there before being removed to the church at Coylton. The year was circa AD 420. After his death, Coel's Northern Kingdom was divided between two of his sons:
Ceneu (St) assumed control of the kingdoms of the North & Midland Britain, remaining based at Ebrauc.
Gorbanian founded the dynasty that ruled over the Kingdom of Bernaccia (Bryneich), which was later taken over by the Angles, who pronounced it Bernicia.
Because of Coel's, and his son's, apparently continued use of Eburacum as a base of operations and also as the traditional Roman capital of North Britain, it makes sense to list the Kings of North Britain alongside the Kings of Ebrauc (as the evolving Brito-Welsh language dubbed it). There were only three of the former, with the next in line ruling only half the land of his father, as the rest of it had been inherited by his brother.

OLD  KING  COLE AND THE COLE RACE
http://family-tree.hypermart.net/old__king__cole.htm

Meurig  (Mathew) Hen was related to Coel Hen (Old King Cole) and is thought to have written of him, from which the poem was later written. As smoking was not then invented it must be  assumed that the pipe and bowl were musical instruments equivalent to the modern flute or drum.

The children’s nursery song is now believed to have derived from the historical story of Coel Hen (Old King Cole) and because of this, or perhaps for younger readers the poem is reproduced below. Hen is the Welsh word for old.

Old King Cole was a merry old soul,
And a merry old soul was he.
He called for his pipe, and he called for his bowl,
And he called for his fiddlers three.
Now every fiddler had a fine fiddle,
And a very fine fiddle had he.
Tweedle dum, tweedle dee, went the fiddlers three,
Tweedledum-dee, dum-de-dee, dum-de-dee.

Old King Cole was a merry old soul,
And a merry old soul was he.
He called for his pipe, and he called for his bowl,
And he called for his harpers three.
Every harper had a fine harp,
And a very fine harp had he.
Twang-a-twang, twang-a-twang, went the harpers three,
Twang-a-twang, twang, twang-a-twang-a-twee.

Old King Cole was a merry old soul,
And a merry old soul was he.
He called for his pipe, and he called for his bowl,
And he called for his drummers three.
Every drummer had a fine drum,
And a very fine drum had he.
Rub-a-dub, rub-a-dub, went the drummers three,
Rub-a-dub, dub, rub-a-dub-a-dee.

The Cole family, referred to as the Cole race, ruled the biggest area of Britain (which at that time consisted of a combined England, Scotland and Wales) which encompassed present day Southern Scotland, Lancashire, Yorkshire, Northumberland and Cumbria. This compared with Wales which was split into five regions and extended east to Lichfield and the rest of Britain consisting of dozens of kingdoms.

The arrival and subsequent departure of the Romans did not much alter the Cole dynasty and it was the Danes and Saxons who eventually wiped them out, being completed by about 616.

Coel Hen himself (Old King Cole) reigned from about 350 to 420 and prior to Arthur, 'fighting duke' of the Coles, who later became a king. Coel Hen is thought to have ruled South West Scotland, Cumbria, Northumbria and Yorkshire down to York.

At the time of which we are speaking the outline of Britain was very much different than it is today. The land mass was much bigger in these dark ages, an example of which is that much of Cardigan Bay was land and a triangle of land existed between the North Wales coast to north of the Ribble. This latter area was occupied by a race of people known as the Setantii. Why no approximate maps exist showing the outline of this island prior to the huge rise in water levels during the dark ages is not understood as it would make the understanding of history very much easier.

Not much is known of the Cole race earlier than Coel Hen and his brothers. The brothers were Hen (the oldest) d about 420, Dyfynwal of Dumbarton and Clyde d about 440, Amlauit Wledic (or Lluch) d about 440, ruling East Cumbria, North Lancashire and most of Yorkshire, whose wife was Gwen, daughter of Cunedda and Arthur's maternal Great grandfather. The ruler of Setantii and lower Lancashire was Seithenin.

Two of Coel's sons were Ceneu and Gorbanian of whom nothing else is known. Another son was thought to be Meirchawn whose uncle Mor and cousin Morydd were thought to be father and brother of Merlin. Meirchawn had two sons, March  500 - 530 and Llyr Merini, with two sisters Eliffer and Gwenddoleu. Rhodric Mawr was an ancestor of Coel Hen, as was Mathew Hen, son of Brochfael Ysgythrog King of Powys.

Seithenin's family was Gwyddno, a son, who died about 470, by which time the sea had submerged his and his fathers kingdom. Another son was Arwystal Cloff who married Tywanwedd, the sister of Arthur's mother Ygerne, and therefore became Arthur's uncle. Arwystal Cloff had a daughter Machell. Another son of Seithenin was Llyr Merini (the 1st of that name, see above) whose name meant Sea Marine. Senewr d. 470 was another son of Seithenin and the last was named Menestry. Seithenin also had a grandson Cei who became one of Arthurs closest companions.

Other notes about the Cole or Coel family are as follows. Padarn Peisrudd was the grandfather of Cunedda of Gododin, who with Urien of Rheged and Gwallauc of Elmet were the warrior leaders of the Cole dynasty. Owein the son of Urien was a Cole family member so must have married into the family. Talhearn, who lived at the time of Arthur, was a family member and his son Aneirin died about 600.

By the 6th century the Anglo Saxons were pressing the Cole empire seriously, hampered severely by 'King' Arthur and by 547 the Saxon King Ida had taken Northumbria. This was the beginning of the end for the Coles.

Although much material is held on the Cole race, nevertheless reference has been made extensively to 'Old King Cole and the Real King Arthur' to collate and extend notes to write this article.


Source:  Britannia EBK Biographies
http://www.britannia.com/bios/ebk/coelhnt.html

Coel Hen, King of Northern Britain
(c.350-c.420)
(Welsh-Coel, Latin-Coelius, English-Cole)


Coel Hen or Coel the Old is known to most of us through the famous nursery rhyme:

Old King Cole was a merry old soul
And a merry old soul was he.
He called for his pipe,
And he called for his bowl,
And he called for his fiddlers, three.

He is also a familiar figure in ancient Welsh genealogies, for most of the Celtic British monarchies claimed descent from him in one form or another. He appears to have lived around the turn from the 4th to the 5th century, the time when the Roman officials returned to Italy, leaving Britain and her people to fend for themselves. Coel's particular association with the north of Britain has led to the suggestion that he may actually have been the last of the Roman Duces Brittanniarum with his headquarters at York. He certainly imposed his power over a great swathe of the country, and can be considered the first King in Northern Britain. (This Coel should not be confused with the legendary Coel Godhebog "the Magnificent", Lord of Colchester, whose daughter, St. Helen, supposedly married the Emperor Constantius Chlorus two centuries earlier.)

There is an old story told in the north about Coel's last campaign. What is now Scotland was originally inhabited by the Pictish race. It was during Coel's time that immigrant Irishmen from the Scotti tribe began to settle the Western coast around Argyle. Coel, fearing that the two peoples would unite against the British, sent raiding parties across his northern border to stir up discord between them. The plan, however, backfired for the Picts and the Scots were not taken in. Coel merely succeeded in pushing the two even closer together, and they began to attack the British Kingdom of Strathclyde. Coel declared all out war and moved north to expel the invaders. The Picts and Scots fled to the hills ahead of Coel's army, who eventually set up camp at what became Coylton alongside the Water of Coyle (Ayrshire). For a long time, the British were triumphant, while the Scots and Picts starved. Desperate for some relief, however, the enemy advanced an all-or-nothing attack on Coel's stronghold. Coel and his men were taken by surprise, overrun and scattered to the winds. It is said that Coel wandered the unknown countryside until he eventually got caught in a bog at Coilsfield (in Tarbolton, Ayrshire) and drowned. Coel was first buried in a mound there before being removed to the church at Coylton. The year was about AD 420. After his death, Coel's Northern Kingdom was divided between two of his sons, Ceneu and Gorbanian.