The Battle of Alclud Ford was fought in c.580

580

Year 580 was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 580 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Ethelbert becomes king of Kent.* The Roman...

 at an unknown ford near Alt Clut, the original name for Dumbarton Rock

Dumbarton Castle

Dumbarton Castle has the longest recorded history of any stronghold in Great Britain. It overlooks the Scottish town of Dumbarton, and sits on a plug of volcanic basalt known as Dumbarton Rock which is high.-Iron Age:...

 which could also be used for the whole of the kingdom of Strathclyde

Kingdom of Strathclyde

Strathclyde , originally Brythonic Ystrad Clud, was one of the early medieval kingdoms of the celtic people called the Britons in the Hen Ogledd, the Brythonic-speaking parts of what is now southern Scotland and northern England. The kingdom developed during the post-Roman period...

 in modern day Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It is known from two poems in the Book of Taliesin

Taliesin

Taliesin was an early British poet of the post-Roman period whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the Book of Taliesin...

.

According to Taliesin

Taliesin

Taliesin was an early British poet of the post-Roman period whose work has possibly survived in a Middle Welsh manuscript, the Book of Taliesin...

 the Anglian king Ulph "came with violence on his enemies" and was met in battle and killed by Urien map Cynfarch

Urien

Urien , often referred to as Urien Rheged, was a late 6th century king of Rheged, an early British kingdom of the Hen Ogledd . His power and his victories, including the battles of Gwen Ystrad and Alt Clut Ford, are celebrated in the praise poems to him by Taliesin, preserved in the Book of Taliesin...

, King of Rheged

Rheged

Rheged is described in poetic sources as one of the kingdoms of the Hen Ogledd , the Brythonic-speaking region of what is now northern England and southern Scotland, during the Early Middle Ages...

 (probably Cumbria

Cumbria

Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...

 and/or Galloway

Galloway

Galloway is an area in southwestern Scotland. It usually refers to the former counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire...

), and his son Owain mab Urien

Owain mab Urien

Owain mab Urien was the son of Urien, king of Rheged c. 590, and fought with his father against the Angles of Bernicia. The historical figure of Owain became incorporated into the Arthurian cycle of legends where he is also known as Ywain, Yvain, Ewain or Uwain...

, as noted in two separate poems. The Bernician attack would have been faced by spear and javelin armed horsemen, who made up the bulk of the Rheged

Rheged

Rheged is described in poetic sources as one of the kingdoms of the Hen Ogledd , the Brythonic-speaking region of what is now northern England and southern Scotland, during the Early Middle Ages...

ian warriors, whilst the Bernicians themselves would have primarily consisted of infantry as was the standard for Anglo-Saxon warriors of the period. Ulph was probably one of the sons of King Ida of Bernicia

Ida of Bernicia

Ida is the first known king of the Anglian kingdom of Bernicia, which he ruled from around 547 until his death in 559. Little is known of his life or reign, but he was regarded as the founder of a line from which later Anglo-Saxon kings in this part of northern England and southern Scotland...

, most likely Theodulf, which puts the battle at c.574

574

Year 574 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 574 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Byzantine Empire :* Emperor Justin II retires,...

 or c.590

590

Year 590 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 590 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Byzantine Empire :* Summer – Maurice agrees to...

, or potentially Frithuwolf

Frithuwald of Bernicia

Frithuwald of Bernicia ruled from 579 to 585. He was the sixth known ruler of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Bernicia.Frithuwald was the son of Ida of Bernicia, founder of the kingdom of Bernicia. Nothing is known of Frithuwald's life and reign...

, also known as Freothulf or Frithuwald, which would put the Alclud Ford at c.580

580

Year 580 was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 580 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Ethelbert becomes king of Kent.* The Roman...

.

The battle was fought at a time when Rheged was at its ascendancy, and the armies under Urien and Owain were the most powerful in the north.