Saints in Scottish Place-Names
Funded by a Leverhulme Trust Project Grant
Oswald king of Northumbria
Introduction
Oswald was a powerful English king of the seventh century. After a period of exile among the Gaels he returned to his native Northumbria, defeated the British ruler Cadwallon ap Cadfan, and brought together the kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira. Bede promotes Oswald as a saintly king. It was he who brought Gaels from Iona to Lindisfarne to help promote Christianity. He was killed in 642 by Penda of the Mercians. His dismembered body-parts were dispersed, helping to diffuse his cult: his head was at Lindisfarne (then Durham), his arms were at Bamburgh (also Ely, Durham and Gloucester) and his body was buried at Oswestry, and then translated to Bardney (ODS, 379-80).
Gender
Male
Associated places
Northumberland
Obituary
642
Territory or Ethnicity (broad)
Anglo-Saxon
Related Saints
Belongs to the group Oswald (ns) (certain)
Related Personal Names
Name
Oswald (certain)
Feast days
Day of Year
August 5
Calendar
Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee
Source code
Mart. O
Source title
Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee
Editors
Stokes, Whitley
Year
1905
Notes
Full title is Félire Óengusso Céli Dé, The Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee, critically edited from Ten Manuscripts, with a Preface, Translation, Notes and Indices.
Quote from source
la hOsualt nóeb náilme, ardrí Saxan sóerdae
Notes
There are various alternative readings – huasal, hosualt, osualt, lasoalt .i. la hosulat etc. notes in F: Osualt .i. Lann fina mac Ossa. [Stokes notes that here the scholast confounds Oswald with Aldfrid]
Day of Year
August 5
Calendar
Source code
Mart.T
Source title
Martyrology of Tallaght
Editors
Best, R. I. and Lawlor, H. J.
Year
1931
Notes
From the Book of Lesinter and MS 5100-4 in the Royal Library, Brussels.
Quote from source
Osuualdi regis et aliorum .ii.
Day of Year
August 5
Calendar
Source code
Mart. G
Source title
Martyrology of Gorman
Editors
Stokes, Whitley
Year
1895
Notes
Full title is Félire Húi Gormáin, The Martyrology of Gorman edited from a manuscript in the Royal library, Brussels, with a preface, translation, notes and indices. It is published by the Henry Bradshaw Society.
Quote from source
Osuald
Day of Year
Oct 8
Notes
Translation feast at Evesham and Gloucester
Saint in place-names
Names
| Place known as | Name (plus degree of certainty that this saint is commemorated here) |
| Kirk Oswald, eccles. Kirkoswald | Ecclesia Sancti Oswaldi (certain) |
| Kirk Oswald, eccles. Kirkoswald | Kirk Oswald (certain) |
| Kirkcarswell, ~eccles. Rerrick | Kirkcarswell (probable) |
| St Oswald's Chapel, Avondale | St Oswald's Chapel (certain) |
| St Oswald's Chapel, Carluke | St Oswald's Chapel (certain) |
| St Oswald's Church, Kelton | Ecclesia Sancti Oswaldi Martyris (certain) |
| St Oswald's Church, Whittingehame | Ecclesia Sancti Oswaldi (certain) |
| St Oswald's Well, Avondale | St Oswald's Well (certain) |
| St Oswald's Well, Gordon | Fons Sancti Oswaldi (certain) |
Place-name data
The place-name data featured in this resource is copyright of the University of Glasgow.
Map Layers
The map interface was produced using the Leaflet.js library. Attribution for the base layers is as follows:
Default map:
Tiles © Esri — Esri, DeLorme, NAVTEQ, TomTom, Intermap, iPC, USGS, FAO, NPS, NRCAN, GeoBase, Kadaster NL, Ordnance Survey, Esri Japan, METI, Esri China (Hong Kong), and the GIS User Community
Satellite map:
Tiles © Esri — Source: Esri, i-cubed, USDA, USGS, AEX, GeoEye, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, UPR-EGP, and the GIS User Community
Satellite map with labels:
Base map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA, Imagery © Mapbox
Modern OS map:
Ordnance Survey OpenData. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right (2010)
OS 1840-1880 map:
National Library of Scotland Historic Maps
OS 1920-1933 map:
National Library of Scotland Historic Maps
