CAMBRIA

'Cambria' is a latinised form of 'Cymru', which is the Welsh name for Wales. The name Cymru is thought to derive from an old Brythonic word "combroges", meaning "compatriots", and derives from the struggle with the Anglo-Saxons.

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Cambria in legend

Legacy

Cambria in legend

Legend has it that the Trojan Brutus had three sons among whom he divided his lands. His elder son, Locrinus, received the land between the rivers Humber and Severn, which he called Loegria. His second son, Albanactus, got the lands beyond the Humber, which took from him the name of Albany. The younger son, Camber, was bequeathed everything beyond the Severn, and is called after him "Cambria".
This legend was hugely prevalent throughout the 12th-16th centuries, but came under serious attack in later times, and there now seems to be little documentary evidence to support it.

Legacy

The name "Cambria" lives on in much contemporary literature. It is also used in geology to denote the geologic period between around 542 million years and 488.3 million years ago, now known as the Cambrian; it was in Wales that rocks from this age were first studied.