Quote:
Originally Posted by Mynydd
I thought that you were a Cumbrian.
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Cumberland was an integral part of the Northumbrian Kingdom that the Kingly family whose graves have been discovered ruled over.
Individuals in the cemetery would doubtless have known the western end of Hadrian's Wall as well as the eastern. King Oswald (very likely the husband, or relative of the Queen they've discovered) has a fort on the western end of the wall named after him - Birdoswald (Buardd - Enclosure, with British word order being observed). The western side of the Pennines also has a settlement called Oswaldtwistle. The church in Grassmere in Westorland is dedicated to the very same St Oswald. King Oswiu, brother of Oswald married the heiress to the Rheged (Cumbrian) throne, Riemmelth (Rhiainfelth), and it may even be her grave that is in question).
My grandfather came from Northumberland, which was the heartland of the Bernician Kingdom that formed the northern half of Northumbria, therefore keeping its name. My male line may descend from Irish who came to Cumberland in the late Nineteenth Century, but it's difficult to prove.