Kentish

[jgs]

Am i correct in thinking that, aswell as Cornwall, Scotland and Wales, Kent remained a Celtic region of Britain after the Romans landed, even though they landed in Kent? (I know that, instead of ultimately fleeing to the furthest reaches of this island, some celtic tribes accepted the Roman rule and worked with them in return for certain freedoms)

If so, does Kent have a similar case to Cornwall and Wales with regards devolution..?!

Finally!!! Could this be why someone or something of, relating to, or being from Kent is known as Kentish? (Kent and Cornwall seem to be the only counties which can have an 'ish' attached to them in the same way that countries do)

[Tatty Rollox]

........ whilst we are waiting for a more informed answer than I can give you, here are some Fair Maids of Kent ...

[Octavius]

I suspect jgs means Cornish, but then I doubt the 'ish' alone makes them unique. Roman soldiers landed at Richborough and defeated the southeastern British tribes under Caratacus, and captured his capital Camulodunum or Colchester.

The Cantiaci or Cantii were a Celtic or Belgic people living in Britain before the Roman conquest, and gave their name to a civitas of Roman Britain. They lived in the area then called Cantium, now called Kent, in south-eastern England. Their capital was Durovernum Cantiacorum, now Canterbury.

Julius Caesar landed in Cantium in 55 and 54 BC, the first Roman expeditions to Britain. He recounts in his De Bello Gallico v. 14: "Ex his omnibus longe sunt humanissimi qui Cantium incolunt, quae regio est maritima omnis, neque multum a Gallica differunt consuetudine."

"Of all these (British tribes), by far the most civilised are they who dwell in Kent, which is entirely a maritime region, and who differ but little from the Gauls in their customs".

Most tribes at the time were supplicant to Rome. The Roman client kingdoms in Britain were native tribes who chose to align themselves with the Roman Empire either because they saw it as the best option for self preservation or for protection from other hostile tribes.

The expansion of the Catuvellauni under Cunobelin in the south east had given their neighbours cause to align themselves with Rome. These included Cogidubnus of the Regnenses, Prasutagus of the Iceni and Cartimandua of the Brigantes and, probably, Boduocus of the Dobunni.

[henneth]

Apart from Kentish from the Cantii = Kent and Cornish from Kernow = Cornwall, people from the Isle of Wight are sometimes referred to as Wightish.

[Octavius]

Our -ish is a suffix that forms adjectives from nouns or other adjectives. Some of the senses existed in Old English (then spelled -isc but pronounced the same way), such as 'of, being, or pertaining to', used to form adjectives indicating a national, ethnic, or religious origin (British, Jewish).

An ending cognate with -ish is found in various Germanic languages. It is related to the Greek diminutive suffix -iskos; the suffix -esque (picturesque) is ultimately from the Germanic source of -ish but was borrowed through French.

The Cantii were made up of Celtic and Beligic (from Belgae, now Belgium) hence the influence.

[jgs]

IAP, not sure why you should think that Kent NEVER having been peopled by Celts would be a source of disallusionment for me.

The fact remains though that Celts did once live there....(except maybe they were posh ones....there, how does that sound?)

Thanks for the other info....didn't know about the Wightish people and i live just across the Solent from them....thanks.

[dzug]

ISTR there is a difference between a Kentish man and a man of Kent - different parts of the county maybe?

[Octavius]

A Man of Kent comes from the area to the east of the River Medway and a Kentish Man comes from the west of the river.

[mike b]

For what it's worth, if you ever need to remember which is which in a Weakest Link type situation, they're in alphabetical order left to right: Kentishmen - Men of K. Well, I could never remember which way round...