Details of the Ancestry of Ceretic Guletic
by David Nash Ford

CERETIC
GULETIC'S
ANCESTRY
Roman Family North of the Wall

Ceretic Guletic was a powerful Celtic monarch who ruled a considerable area around Caer-Brithon alias Alclud (Dumbarton). Though the Strathclyde region was his main power-base, he may have held sway over most of what is now Southern Scotland. His descendants certainly ruled kingdoms as far south as the Isle of Man. Though their pedigrees became confused in later generations and many mistakenly claimed descent from Magnus Maximus who had no connection with the North. Thus we find pedigrees of the following type in several early Welsh genealogical tracts, in this case the Bonedd yr Arwyr:

It appears that there was a prince named Dyfnwal amongst the early monarchs of Dyfed who have become confused with Dumnagual Hen, the great King of Strathclyde. His true ancestry, and that of Ceretic Guletic, is revealed in the Harleian MS.3859:

Ceretic's immediate ancestry appears to be pure Roman. Cynllwyb is a bit problematic, but Quintilius and Clemens are certainly good Latin names. This seems a little strange considering that the family lived some way north of Hadrian's Wall and thus outside Roman control. However, by the end of the Roman period, relations with the Northern tribes appear to have settled down somewhat. Those immediately over the border may have been pro-Roman allies, used as a buffer zone by the Imperial authorities. The ruling class would, no doubt, have been considerably Romanized, even down to their names.