Prehistory
Cumbria has been inhabited for around 13,000 years and is rich in evidence of prehistoric life including stone circles, cairns, barrows and the famous Langdale Axe Factories. For most of prehistory we know little about the social attitudes of Cumbria’s inhabitants. It’s only from the Iron Age (c.500 BC–AD 80) that we begin to find possible evidence of queer lives.
Queer Celts
From the end of the Bronze Age or early Iron Age, people in Cumbria began adopting the language, religion and art styles of continental people we usually refer to as Celts. We can see this in some of our early Celtic river names (like Eden, Esk, Derwent and Kent) and in Roman inscriptions to Celtic gods (like Maponos, Toutates and Mogons). But did people here also adopt Celtic attitudes towards sex and gender?
Beginning with Aristotle in the 4th century BC, classical writers sometimes noted the fondness for same-sex sex among continental Celtic men, particularly within the warrior classes. The Greek historian Diodorus Siculus, writing in the first century BC, said:
The men of the Gauls pay little attention to their women, even though they are quite beautiful, but prefer unnatural intercourse with men. They sleep on the ground on the skins of wild animals, rolling about with their sleeping companions on each side. — Bibliotheca Historica
Eusebius of Caesarea even noted the practice of same-sex marriage among the Gauls of the 4th century AD:
Among the Gauls, the young men marry each other (gamountai) with complete freedom. In doing this, they do not incur any reproach or blame, since this is done according to custom amongst them. — Praeparatio Evangelica, VI.10.27
Different sources and translations vary in describing the practice as pederastic (between an older and younger man) or more generally homosexual or homoerotic. It is generally viewed in negative terms as a barbarian practice and it’s possible that these accounts are exaggerated or invented to portray the Celts as ‘other’. Few of the authors had direct experience of the Celts and were usually following earlier sources.
If the accounts are true, the Celts of Gaul may have had a relaxed or even positive attitude towards sexuality in general, or they may have permitted homosexuality only in specific circumstances, or among certain sections of society. We cannot know based on the evidence we have. We also can’t be sure that similar attitudes or practices were ever prevalent in Britain. None of the classical authors mention anything about British sexual attitudes.
Warrior Women
The Britons certainly had less rigid gender roles than in later periods, or women at least enjoyed greater power, wealth and status, sometimes becoming warriors, rulers and druids. Boudicca, who was queen of the Iceni tribe in Norfolk in the mid-1st century AD, is the most famous example. But her contemporary Cartimandua was far more powerful as queen of the large Brigantes tribe, which covered much of northern England, including Cumbria.
Cartimandua was a woman of noble birth who ruled the Brigantes in her own right during the period of Roman conquests in Britain. Her decision to cooperate with the Romans and apparently cheat on her husband, Venutius, with his armour bearer Vellocatus led to civil war among the Brigantes. Cartimandua was eventually forced to flee from her impressive capital at Stanwick (North Yorkshire) and Venutius took over the kingdom.