Ace Warriors and a Very Old Joke

In last week’s exciting episode of “The History of Ancient Britain” (The Roman Invasion AD 43 to AD 410)Neil Oliver informed us that the name of the ancient British tribe  the Catevellauni means “Expert Warriors”.  Oh tosh! What a lousy translation.  I live in the Catevellauni territories – their tribal capital was about six miles to the north just the other side of St Albans – and I can tell you straight we would never have called ourselves “Expert Warriors”.  Not a chance.  We would have referred to ourselves as “Ace Warriors.” Get that Neil Oliver? Ace!

The leader who took on the Romans and regrettably lost was known as Cassiovellaunus which apparently translates as ‘Head of the Expert Warriors’ but he was clearly known to his mates as Cassio because it is in that familiar diminutive form that he is commemorated around Watford in local place-names such as Cassiobury, Cassiobridge etc. 

Quite why he is remembered so fondly in Watford is not at all clear but he may be the king who gave the town its name.  Legend has it that a king was riding casually one day through the ford at the bottom of the high street when he turned to his companions and said memorably “What ford is this?”  Thereafter the town became known as Watford but without the question mark.

The fact that nobody can remember which king or the name of his companion has led some historians to doubt the accuracy of this story, some going so far as to claim it is entirely apocryphal.  They insist that the name was coined by some peasant called Wat who lived on the banks of the river, possibly conning passing traffic out of a small fee by allowing them to cross the ford, thus giving the town the name Wat’s ford.  If that were so it would be called Watsford and since there is no more evidence for the plebeian Wat than there is for the geographically-challenged king I go with the king. 

If it were not Cassio, who was after all a local Hertfordshire man so should have known where he was at, then I nominate Ethelred the Unready whose soubriquet please note does not mean unready but is Anglo-Saxon for ‘ill-advised’.  I’d say that someone who rides into the middle of a river and then asks where he is would be most definitely ill-advised.

Anyway, after the king cracked this memorable joke it seems that for ages afterwards countless travellers felt it incumbent upon themselves to repeat it ad nauseum until the locals ceased to be amused, then ceased to show polite amusement, then got really narked and built a bridge. End of.

If you would like to know more about Watford's local history try The Ghostrider available in kindle and paperback editions.

If you would like to know more about Celtic Warriors try The Wonderful History of The Sword in the Stone also available in kindle and paperback editions.