Maeloc

Saturday, picked up girls from campsite on the banks of the Arosa estuary in Galicia and headed for home. We decided to stop off at Santiago de Compostella on the way back for a quick spin round the cathedral and a bite of lunch in our normal haunt, the 'O 46', a small down to earth bar that probably hasn't changed much in decades. I wouldn't call it typical because typical would mean geared towards enticing tourist, and this bar isn't. For lunch portions of octupus, boiled ham and cheese. Unfortunately this time, no local Ribeira wine, served up in a a jug and drunk from shallow porcelain bowls. I had a four hour drive back to Gijon to follow.

Anyway, why the blip of a jewellery shop instead of a photo of the Cathedral of Santiago, for which the world is surely waiting with baited breath? (Not)

Well the name of the jewellers Maeloc caught my eye as I thought I recognised it. A quick check when I got home confirmed that it was indeed a Brythonic (british-celtic) name (alternative spelling Mailoc), borne by a bishop of the Dioecesis Britoniensis, covering a large area known as Britonia in far north-east Galicia , and which survived for several hundred years until absorbed into a larger bishopric. It's centre at Bretoña (nowadays A Pastoriza), close to the border with Asturias

Most people have heard of the emigration of Britons to Brittany in France that occurred during the turbulent years of civil war and external attack that occurred after the withdrawl of the Roman legions from Britain in the 5th century.

Fewer are aware that a similar, migration of Britons to north-west Spain occurred at around the same time. Large enough for the community to have its own bishopric. Perhaps there were family connections. Many troops from north west Spain had served in Britain, such as the two Asturian cavalry wings posted at Hadrian's wall for many decades.

Perhaps it was out of the frying pan and into the fire. Spain suffered it's own barbarian invasions from the 5th century. Suevi, Visigoth, Vandal and Alan hordes crossing the Pyrenees, with the germanic Suevi establishing their own kingdom in northern Portugal and Galicia, later to be subjugated by the Visigoths who in turn eventually lost to the Moors.

There's a good page here describing the British settlement of Galicia.