edinburgh27 AD 600 King Mynyddog and His War-Band Feast in Din Eidyn In about AD 600, three hundred men gathered around their King Mynyddog, in his stronghold of Din Eidyn. This is the first mention of the place which we call Edinburgh. The war-band were mainly from the local tribe, the Gododdin, part of the ancient Celtic population of Britain, the descendants of the Votadini. They were prepared to attack the Angles, recent heathen invaders from Europe. In the taper-lit hall the war-band pledged themselves in strong drink to die for their King. And almost all did die, on a raid into territories of the Angles, at Catterick in Yorkshire. Shortly after, in AD 638, Din Eidyn was besieged and taken by the Angles and the place seems then to have received the English name which it has kept ever since - Edinburgh.