Saint Cyllin

Saint Cyllin was a legendary, and possibly historical British king of the 1st century AD, early Christian saint and the last pendragon of Great Britain. His existence is based on very limited evidence.^[1]

Richard Williams Morgan claimed that a reference to him as a son of Caratacus was found in the family records of Iestyn ab Gwrgant and used this as evidence of early entry of Christianity to Britain; "Cyllin ab Caradog, a wise and just king. In his days many of the Cymry embraced the faith in Christ through the teaching of the saints of Cor-Eurgain, and many godly men from the countries of Greece and Rome were in Cambria. He first of the Cymry gave infants names; for before, names were not given except to adults, and then from something characteristic in their bodies, minds, or manners."^[2]

Reference to Saint Cyllin is also given in Iolo Morganwg's "Third series" of forged Welsh Triads.^[3] He is also discussed in the works of Rice Rees, Jane Williams, Sabine Baring-Gould and John Williams (Ab Ithel) as brother of Saint Eigen and father of King Coel.^[4][5][6][7] He is also noted in a manuscript giving the genealogy of Taliesin from the collection of Thomas Hopkin of Coychurch along with one from the Havod Uchtryd collection where he is called Cynan, a name often associated with Conan Meriadoc.^[8]

Notes

1. Anonymous (31 March 2004). The Genealogy Of Iestyn The Son Of Gwrgan. Kessinger Publishing. pp. 513–. ISBN 978-0-7661-8411-4. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
2. Richard Williams Morgan (1861). St. Paul in Britain; or, The origin of British as opposed to papal Christianity. pp. 161–. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
3. Iolo Morganwg (1801). The triads of Britain. Wildwood House. ISBN 978-0-7045-0290-1. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
4. Rice Rees (1836). An essay on the Welsh saints or the primitive Christians, usually considered to have been the founders of the churches in Wales. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman. pp. 82–. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
5. Jane Williams (18 November 2010). A History of Wales: Derived from Authentic Sources. Cambridge University Press. pp. 41–. ISBN 978-1-108-02085-5. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
6. S. Baring-Gould; John Fisher (30 June 2005). The Lives of the British Saints: The Saints of Wales, Cornwall and Irish Saints. Kessinger Publishing. pp. 218–. ISBN 978-0-7661-8765-8. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
7. John Williams (1844). The eccles. Antiquities of the Cymry; or: The ancient British church. Cleaver. pp. 63–. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
8. Mabinogion (1849). The Mabinogion, from the Llyfr coch o Hergest, and other ancient Welsh MSS., with an Engl. pp. 391–. Retrieved 10 August 2012.