Note 174 — Chapter III · BRITAIN AFTER THE ROMANS.

These names, Bernicia and Deira, are taken from the British names of the same districts, Deifr and Byrneich. Nennius has a curious notice which shows that these Anglic kingdoms did not first arise from colonies as late as 547. He says of Soemil, four generations before Ella, ‘Ipse primus separavit Deur o Berneich.’ The race from which Ella sprang must have been some generations before in the country.