Scotia
Scotiais aLatinplacename derived fromScoti,a Latin name for theGaels,[1]first attested in the late3rd century.[1]The Romans referred toIrelandas "Scotia" around 500 A.D. From the 9th century on, its meaning gradually shifted, so that it came to mean only the part of Britain lying north of theFirth of Forth:theKingdom of Scotland.[1]By the later Middle Ages it had become the fixed Latin term for what in English is calledScotland.
Etymology and derivations
[edit]The name ofScotlandis derived from theLatinScotia.The wordScoti(orScotti) was first used by the Romans. It is found inLatintexts from the 4th century describing an Irish group that raidedRoman Britain.[2]It came to be applied to allGaels.[3][4]It is not believed that any Gaelic groups called themselvesScotiin ancient times, except when writing in Latin.[2]Old Irishdocuments use the termScot(pluralScuit) going back as far as the 9th century; for example, inthe glossaryofCormac mac Cuilennáin.[5]
Omanderived it fromScuit(modern Gaelicscoith), meaning someone cut off. He believed it referred to bands of outcast Gaelic raiders, suggesting that the Scots were to the Gaels what theVikingswere to theNorse.[6][7]
The 19th-century author Aonghas MacCoinnich ofGlasgowproposed thatScotiwas derived from a Gaelicethnonym(proposed by MacCoinnich)Sgaothaichfromsgaoth"swarm", plus thederivational suffix-ach(plural-aich).[8]However, this proposal to date has not been met with any response in mainstream place-name studies. Pope Leo X (1513–1521) decreed that the use of the name Scotia be confined to referring to land that is now Scotland.[9][10]
Virtually all names for Scotland are based on theScotiaroot (cf.DutchSchotland,FrenchÉcosse,CzechSkotsko,ZuluIsiKotilandi,MāoriKoterana,HakkaSû-kak-làn,QuechuaIskusya,Turkishİskoçyaetc.), either directly or via intermediate languages. The only exceptions are theCeltic languages,where the names are based on theAlbaroot; e.g.,ManxNalbin,WelshYr Alban ",Irish"Albain."
Medieval usage
[edit]
Scotia translates to "Land of the Scots". It was a way of saying "Land of the Gaels" (compareAngliandAnglia;FranciandFrancia;RomaniandRomania;etc). It was initially used as a name for Ireland, originally with ethnic connotations, for example inAdomnán'sLife of Columba,[1]or byIsidore of Seville,who wrote in 580 CE that "Scotia and Hibernia are the same country" (Isidore, lib. xii. c. 6).[11]This is how it was used, for instance, by KingRobert I of Scotland(Robert the Bruce) and Domhnall Ua Néill during theScottish Wars of Independence,when Ireland was calledScotia Maior(greater Scotia) and ScotlandScotia Minor(lesser Scotia).
After the 11th century,Scotiawas used mostly for the kingdom of Alba, or Scotland, and in this way became the fixed designation. As a translation ofAlba,Scotiacould mean both the whole kingdom belonging to theKing of Scots,or just Scotland north of the Forth.
Pope Leo Xof theRoman Catholic Churcheventually granted Scotland exclusive right over the word, and this led to Anglo-Scottish takeovers of continental Gaelic monasteries (e.g., theSchottenklöster).
In Irish sources
[edit]One of the oldest sources recorded was from medieval Monarchy. In the year 1005, afterBrian Boruwas crowned king, he adopted the title Imperator Scotorum,[12]"Emperor of the Scoti" suggesting he saw himself as the overlord of all Scotia and Gaels.[13]The title was however adopted and not formally provided.
Within Irish Mythology,Geoffrey Keating'sForas Feasa ar Éirinn,Ireland's "ninth name was Scotia; and it is the sons ofMíleadhwho gave that name to it, from their mother, whose name wasScota,daughter of PharaoNectonibus;or it is why they called it Scotia, because that they are themselves the Scottish race fromScythia".[14]According to theMiddle Irish languagesynthetic historyLebor Gabála Érenn,she was the daughter of PharaohNecho IIof Egypt. Other sources say that Scota was the daughter of PharaohNeferhotep Iof Egypt and his wife Senebsen, and was the wife of Míl, that is Milesius, and the mother ofÉber DonnandÉrimón.Míl had given Neferhotep military aid against ancientEthiopiaand was given Scota in marriage as a reward for his services. Writing in 1571,Edmund Campionnamed the pharaohAmenophis;Keating named himCincris.
Other uses
[edit]In geography, the term is also used for the following:
- theCanadian provinceofNova Scotia(New Scotland)
- the village ofScotiainNew York State
- theScotia-Glenville High SchoolinNew York Statenamed after a Scottish settler
- theScotia Seabetween Antarctica and South America
- theScotia Plate,a tectonic plate located to the south of South America
The term also is used/for the following purposes;
- to describe a piece of woodmillworkthat is used at the base of columns and in stair construction
- Scotiabank,a trade name for the Bank of Nova Scotia
- (rarely) as a feminine first name
- Pride Scotia,Scotland's national LGBT pride festival, involving a march and a community based festival held in June
See also
[edit]- Scotia's Grave,in the hills, just south ofTralee,County Kerry
- Scottish Gaelic
References
[edit]- ^abcdDuffy, Seán.Medieval Ireland: An Encyclopedia.Routledge, 2005. p. 698.
- ^ab"Online Etymology Dictionary".Etymonline.com.Retrieved16 February2015.
- ^Duffy, Seán (22 September 2015)."Crowning of Ireland's Last, Scottish High King".Trinity College Dublin.Retrieved4 November2021.
- ^"The Story of the Irish Race".Homepage.eircom.net.Retrieved16 February2015.
- ^Meyer, K. (ed.).Sanas Cormaic: an Old-Irish Glossary compiled by Cormac úa Cuilennáin, King-Bishop of Cashel in the ninth century.Dil.ie.Retrieved16 February2015.[permanent dead link]
- ^Charles Oman,A History of England before the Norman Conquest,London, 1910, p.157.
- ^Sir Charles Oman. A History of England before the Norman Conquest.
- ^MacCoinnich, Aonghas.Eachdraidh na h-Alba(Glasgow 1867).
- ^"Scotia, my Scotia, or bringing back the real Scotland!!".Reformation.org. Archived fromthe originalon 24 September 2015.Retrieved16 February2015.
- ^Benedict's Fitzpatrick's Ireland and the Foundations of Europe, pp. 376–379.
- ^"Internet History Sourcebooks: Medieval Sourcebook".
- ^"Crowning of Ireland's Last, Scottish High King".
- ^"Crowning of Ireland's Last, Scottish High King".
- ^"The History of Ireland".celt.ucc.ie.