Cynfarch Oer
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Cynfarch Oer (also known as Cunomarcus or Cynfarch ap Meirchion) was probably a 6th century king of the Sub-Roman realm of Rheged, believed to be located in north-west England and south-west Scotland.
Next to nothing is known about Cynfarch. He appears in the Old Welsh pedigrees of the Brythonic 'Men of the North' as the son of the equally obscure Meirchion Gul (Marcianus the Lean) and father of the slightly better documented Urien Rheged. His name was well remembered however and his family were known as the 'Cynferchyn' in his honour. His unflattering epithet Oer means 'the Dismal'.
It is assumed that Cynfarch ruled in Rheged before Urien. Accepting H.M. Chadwick's suggestion that Senyllt ap Dingad was a king of Galloway, expelled to the Isle of Man around 550, David Nash Ford suggests that Cynfarch was his oppressor. Hence the apparent 'Rheged' placename at Dunragit near Stranraer and tales of Mark ap Meirchion (or Cun-mark ap Meirchion) in the same area. He may also have been a participant in the Battle of Arfderydd in 573.
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