Arthuret

Arthuret is a civil parish in the Carlisle district of Cumbria, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,434, increasing to 2,471 at the 2011 Census. The parish includes the small town of Longtown and the village of Easton. It is bounded by the River Esk to the west and the River Lyne to the south.

The interpretation of the name Arthuret has presented problems. The name can possibly be associated with the battle of Armterid recorded in the mid-10th century Welsh Annales Cambriae as having taken place in c. 573; Armterid (spelt Arfderydd in Modern Welsh) is composed of arm-, perhaps meaning "arms, weapon" (arf in Modern Welsh, borrowed ultimately from Latin arma, "arms, armour") – or perhaps an Old Welsh cognate of Old Irish airm meaning 'place' – and a second element terid "ardent, fierce; flaming, blazing; fast, nimble, swift" (terydd in Modern Welsh, a loan from Latin torridus, "scorched, parched, burned"). However, "...it seems safer to leave the interpretation of ' Armterid' an open question."

The site of the church overlooks a suggested site of the Battle of Arfderydd, fought in 573 A.D., mention of which appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Vita Merlini and also in the Annales Cambriae (written c1100 A.D. where it appears as 'Bellum armterid'). The battle took place very early in the reign of the King of Strathclyde, Rhydderch Hael, (patron of St. Kentigern, and Myrddin's supposed brother-in-law), between the Warlord Gwenddoleu ap Ceidio and his cousins Peredur and Gwrgi, Princes of either Ebrauc (Modern York), or possibly from Gwynedd. In this battle, Gwenddoleu loses his life, and it is not known if one of his brothers, Nudd and Caw, survived to succeed him as king of Arfderydd afterwards.

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