The Tribe of Witches: The Religion of the Dobunni and Hwicce [Paperback]

Stephen Yeates (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1842173197 | ISBN-13: 978-1842173190 | Publication Date: June 1, 2008

Until now the old religions of Britain have only been looked at in a piecemeal way. This book presents a detailed and focused investigation of the religion of the Dobunni and the Hwicce peoples who occupied the Severn valley and the Cotswolds immediately before and after the Roman occupation. It uncovers some secrets of the old religion of Britain that have lain hidden in reams of unconnected and largely forgotten information, from a variety of sources. The first part of the book concerns the deification of the natural world; the second, the deities of the tribal groups. It explores the deities of the different areas of the Dobunnic/Hwiccan territory; identifying the goddess of the Cotswolds, and describes how the worship manifested itself. Yeates demonstrates how the deification of rivers was important and how this has led to the location of a number of ancient river shrines as well as the identification of a number of monumental arrangements used by the peoples in their religious activities and folk-group identity; numerous recognisably pre-Old English folk-names are also shown to relate specifically to river-names, town-names, and folk-group-names. The religious use of the hill-forts, of which there are so many dotted over the landscape, and their shrines is discussed. These are connected with mineral extraction, warfare, nemetons, and sacred groves. The use for standing totems and burial practices is also covered. Once the associations are made between deity, river, and folk-group, and all other aspects of religion have been discussed the deity who resided over the Dobunni is revealed. Her cult, which was evident in the major Roman towns, can be traced back into the Iron Age, and can be identified as the inspiration for the tribal name Hwicce. This shows an element of continuity in British culture, not recognised previously because of the assumed obliteration of British culture due to the extent, success, and longevity of the Roman occupation and Anglo-Saxon migration. Understanding the tribal goddess also explains why this people were "the tribe of witches". Finally, it is recognised that these gods did not perish but persisted in medieval legends, traditions and place-names. Although at its core this is a study of two British tribes, the work will have a major impact on the understanding of pre-Christian religion not only in Britain but also in Western Europe generally.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Oxbow Books (June 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1842173197
• ISBN-13: 978-1842173190
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,253,699 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thorough, somewhat disjointed, interesting to both academics and Wiccans, July 30, 2008

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Artemesia - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tribe of Witches: The Religion of the Dobunni and Hwicce (Paperback)

This book examines in great detail the toponyms, topography, tribe(s) and history of an important then-forested area of Southwestern England, the Cotswold hills, close to South Wales. The author connects the local tribe(s), Iron Age, Roman-era, and Saxon-era, to the toponyms and topography of the local area and makes the argument that the Celtic tribes deified natural landscape and that the principal local goddess of the local tribe, the Dobunni tribe, (later in "Anglo-Saxon" England the Hwicce tribe,) was associated with this landscape. He proposes continuity, that the Hwicce (Anglo-Saxon name) and the Dobunni (Romano-Celtic) were one and the same tribe at different times. He goes on to discuss the iconography showing "Rosmerta" with her tub (cauldron) and "Mercury", iconography widespread in the Celtic world (Britain and mainland Europe). He names the principal goddess (who has a tub or cauldron) and the principal gods of the area (including a hunter god) and suggests that the Old-English name of the tribe, Hwicce, is connected with this goddess and her cauldron. You'll have to read the book to get the name of the principal goddess and god and to find out more about them!

Some of his theses are something of a stretch but they are plausible and fascinating. There is no question that continuity of people and culture in England through the changes in language is now proven. The old idea that the "Anglo-Saxons" displaced the Celtic-speaking Britons is oversimplified. The author really does a thorough job at gathering circumstantial evidence for his theses concerning the Dobunni and presenting it. I imagine that some lay-readers will find the detail heavy-going and uninteresting. But for some readers the revelations will be worth the wait.

One major frustration I had was that the author never explicitly connects the different parts of the book together. He leaves the reader to connect the arguments into a larger synthesis. Possibly, he wanted to be cautious as an academic. Or perhaps he did not want to connect the arguments together resulting in a grand synthesis because he wants his reader to make up her or his mind. On this level, the book is a thorough academic examination of the local tribe and its geography and religion from different perspectives. As such it comes across as somewhat disjointed.


I'm going to stick my neck out and say that this leaves us with the slim possibility that in the early 1950s, Gerald Gardner or a local "coven" in the nearby New Forest area, had based their religion (now called Wicca) on an albeit transmuted local tradition based on very old local Celtic religion. IF so, it seems most likely to me that they were "reconstructionists" of their time (1950s), mixing many of the influences described in Prof. Hutton's book "Triumph of the Moon", one such influence I would suggest having perhaps been (in the light of the material in Stephen Yeates' book) the Old Celtic Religion of a local tribe, the Dobunni/Hwicce. The author may have had this in mind.

The book loses two stars (in my judgement) for lack of clarity and structure, but gains one star for bravery of his thesis and methodology, and deserves at least four stars for the thoroughness of his job.