Old King Cole Was a Merry Old Sub-Roman Ruler

Coel Hen, sometimes remembered as Old King Cole, was a prominent figure in Welsh literature and early British legend. He is traditionally described as a leader in Sub-Roman Britain, around the period following the withdrawal of Roman authority, when Britain was governed by local rulers rather than emperors.

According to later tradition, Coel Hen ruled parts of northern Britain and became the ancestor of several important royal lines. Medieval genealogies even link him—through generations.

Granddaddy to Constantine the Great earned him the legendary title of Constantine’s forebear. While such claims cannot be fully verified, they reflect how memory, lineage, and authority were preserved through storytelling when written records were scarce.

The familiar nursery rhyme “Old King Cole” is not a historical account, but many scholars believe it echoes the distant memory of an early British ruler whose name survived long after the details of his life were lost. In this way, Coel Hen stands at the crossroads of history and myth - a real leader remembered through legend.

This story invites readers to explore how rulers of the early medieval world were remembered, how songs and stories carried fragments of truth across centuries, and how legend often preserves what history cannot fully explain.

I include this lineage (click on the poem below) not as a claim of authenticity, of course, but as an invitation to inquiry (and as entertainment for my own grandchildren). When records thin and certainty disappears, legends often survive in altered forms through poetry and imagination. This book, while planting seeds for a child’s future learning “connections,” honors how people try to piece together remnants of history and lore.