Saint Patrick & Names along the Antonine wall

[Nathan Ross]

Then NEMETON IS compared with the various names (Gaelic) NEMTHUR & Latin (NEMTURRI). The main difference is a single letter ... the last n ... which could easily be a copy mistake for r (n/r)

Where are you getting 'Nemturri' from now?

All I see is a similarity in the first three letters, and a 'T'. As for 'copy mistakes' - this sounds like 'correcting names' to me.

We have three of the five lives saying Strathclyde and Dumbarton Rock.

All three based, I think, on the single note by the anonymous scholiast on Fiach - a medieval writer commenting on a earlier medieval semi-legendary saint's life.

Fiach's nemthur, as several writers suggest, is Gaelic for 'holy tower'. So not a place name, but a description. 'Nemeton' does not mean Holy Tower.

Patrick in his own words calls Latin a “foreign language”.

I still believe he does not - but the full text is available in both English and Latin, so let everyone decide for themselves.

If Patrick has been brought up within the Roman empire, by a Latin speaking Roman town councillor, not only would he have spoken Latin at home, but he would be expected to learn good Latin at School.

He did, it seems. He says that in his youth, before his captivity, "my sins... prevented me from really taking in what I read." What language do you suggest he was reading in?

I would guess that his cultural background was as much British as Roman/Latin - he apparently had an alternative British name - but by the 5th century, especially in the western districts of sub-Roman Britain, the standard of Latin was probably not very high anyway.