Page:History of Manchester (1771), Volume 1, by John Whitaker.djvu/143

 U4 THE HI ST" ORY Book I. « former name is equally expreffiw as the latter of this the joint fupremacy of both over the towns of Latacafhire. The latter, which from the Roman termination of the word fuffickntly ap- pears to have been Caer Coccui, imports literally the City of Su- premacy : and the former, which may be either Rigod-dunum or Rigo-dunum, and which analogy requires and hiftory hereafter evinces to have been anally RigocUdunum 5 , as literally Signifies the Fortrefs of Royalty. The Britons appear frequently to have adopted fuch abftrad terms as thefe to denote their Kings and to denominate their Capitals. Such are Bren, Pend, and Vint, all fignifying properly the higheft place or the greateft dignity, and all apphed constantly to the higheft perfon or the greateft town*. Such more particularly is Ragae, the Roman name of the prefent Leicefter and the Rritifh appellation of the Coritaniaa capital;- Rageu and Rigod being equally the Britifh terms for Royalty, and equally with Coccui the defignation of a metropo- lis ' And a duplicate of names appears to have been not un- common among the Britons in general for their fortrefies in the woods, Camulodunum and Cambodunum being two names for the fame fortrefe, and the Bovium of Antoninus being only a different name for the Banchorium of Richard. Thus was the Britifh fortrefs whkh ftood upon the fite of the Roman Coccium the metropolis of the kingdom of Lancashire, before the Brigantes defcended from the hills of Yorkshire and over-ran the country. And it muft have been within the com- pafs of that great fbreft which remained three or four centuries ago under the denomination of Horwich Foreft, and the black and dreary fite of which ftill continues very near unto it under the appellation of Horwich Moor. There muft it have been placed by the Britons of Lancafhire upon the alarming irruption of the Carnabii into the counties of Flint, Shrewfbury, Stafford, Lei- cefter, and Warwick. Upon fuch an alarm* the firft precaution of the Siftuntii would naturally be to fortify their expofed fron- tier on the fouth, and to conftruft the fortrefies of Veratin and Mancenion. The fecond would be to fettle other fortreffcs in other parts of their little kingdom, to which the inhabitants might