Re: Bagaudae/Baucadae

> At the Harvard Celtic Colloquium today a paper was presented on

some

> peasant revolts in 4th and 3rd century Gaul and France (and

possibly Britain)

> by a group identified as "Bagaudae" or "Baucadae." The word is

apparently

> Celtic of some kind, but no one (including the presenter) knew of

an

> etymology for it. Any takers?

It is most like related to the Irish words bag "combat", and
bagach "combative", as well as Middle(?) Welsh kymwy (*com-bag-
) "affliction", and likely meant something like "combatants". It has
the same suffix as Gaulish alauda "lark" (alouette) and bascauda.
See Xavier Delamarre's "Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise" (which
is the best resource for Gallo-Brittonic etymologies right now).

- Chris Gwinn