On the Early Frisian Settlements in Scotland

Abstract

The author presents the argument that the Frisian people settled in the UK before the Saxons. Firstly he tries to establish the date in which the Saxons first came to Britain by analysing the contents of a number of chronicles including Bede and Nennius. From these accounts he concludes that in the fourth century the Saxons settled in the UK in both Kent and somewhere in Scotland. Using documentary sources and place-name analysis, he proposes three locations in Scotland where these Frisian settlements may have been. He also briefly discusses Frisian settlers in Ireland.