About Caer Clud

A little history of Caer Clud

The seeds of Caer Clud began with two people, both members of OBOD, who met at one of the Pagan Federation Scotland conferences. We discovered at that conference that we were both doing the OBOD course and we were at roughly the same stage. We exchanged contact information but not much else happened for a few months. Then we met again at one of the Glasgow moots and started talking in more depth, we arranged to meet again to talk about how we were getting on with the OBOD course

We started meeting roughly once a month, sharing our experiences and talking about a range of subjects including the fact that there wasn’t any kind of group that those interested in druidry could get together in Glasgow. After a time we decided that the only way there was going to be a group for druids was if we started one. That was in the autumn of 1998.

Between us we knew of a couple of others that might be interested in a druid group and we also wrote to OBOD asking for names and addresses of other OBOD members in Glasgow and we wrote to them explaining what we were hoping to do and asking if they would be interested.

We tried to arrange our first meeting in March 1999 but for various reasons the others couldn’t make it and it was just the two of us again. A couple of weeks later we went to the next PF Scotland conference and met a couple of others who were interested in druidry. We exchanged contact information and arranged another meeting.

On the 18th April 1999 the first meeting Caer Clud took place. There were nine of us there at that first meeting. Since then we have grown and shrunk and grown again. Two of those first nine members are now in the Summerlands, another leads the Druids of Albion, two have left us for various personal reasons and four have remained.

At the last couple of Caer Clud meetings we had over 20 people attending. We have grown, we have developed but we are still here. A group run by druids, for druids of all paths in Glasgow to come together and share.

Why Caer Clud?

When the idea to get interested people in the Glasgow area together to form a Druid seed group was first discussed, the sticky problem of finding a name inevitably came up. Vanora, who has lived in the area all her life and has done some research into Glasgow’s ancient history, suggested Caer Clud — so what exactly does our name mean?

Caer Clud was once an actual place: it was a stronghold in what is now the Townhead area, on the site of either the Royal Infirmary or the Necropolis, which probably had its origins as an Iron Age fort. When the Romans came, they occupied the fort. After they left — they were not here for long — the fort became known as Caer Clud, “the fortress of the Clyde”, and was occupied (or re-occupied) by the local kings.

At some point thereafter it became Glasgow Castle, which was on the Royal Infirmary site. The castle’s last remnants were demolished to allow the construction of the hospital. Now you can see why there is a Castle Street running up from Rottenrow past Provand’s Lordship, the Cathedral, the Royal Infirmary and Strathclyde University — but without a castle in sight.

Caer Clud, a name rooted in our city’s past, was an irresistible choice for our group’s name.

One final note: it is very difficult to find out anything about pre-Roman Glasgow; historians don’t seem to be very interested in the subject. If anyone knows of any good sources of information on that period, please do let us know.