Scotia
Scotia is a
Etymology and derivations
The name of Scotland is derived from the Latin Scotia. The word Scoti (or Scotti) was first used by the Romans. It is found in Latin texts from the 4th century describing an Irish group that raided Roman Britain.[2] It came to be applied to all Gaels.[3][4] It is not believed that any Gaelic groups called themselves Scoti in ancient times, except when writing in Latin.[2] Old Irish documents use the term Scot (plural Scuit) going back as far as the 9th century; for example, in the glossary of Cormac mac Cuilennáin.[5]
Oman derived it from Scuit (modern Gaelic scoith), meaning someone cut off. He believed it referred to bands of outcast Gaelic raiders, suggesting that the Scots were to the Gaels what the Vikings were to the Norse.[6][7]
The 19th-century author Aonghas MacCoinnich of Glasgow proposed that Scoti was derived from a Gaelic ethnonym (proposed by MacCoinnich) Sgaothaich from sgaoth "swarm", plus the derivational 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 the Scotia root (cf.
Medieval usage
Scotia translates to "Land of the Scots". It was a way of saying "Land of the Gaels" (compare Angli and Anglia; Franci and Francia; Romani and Romania; etc). It was initially used as a name for Ireland, originally with ethnic connotations, for example in
After the 11th century, Scotia was used mostly for the kingdom of Alba, or Scotland, and in this way became the fixed designation. As a translation of
In Irish sources
One of the oldest sources recorded was from medieval Monarchy. In the year 1005, after Brian Boru was crowned king, he adopted the title Imperator Scotorum, 'Emperor of the Scoti suggesting he saw himself as the overlord of all Scotia and Gaels.[12] The title was however adopted and not formally provided.
Within Irish Mythology,
Other uses
In geography, the term is also used for the following:
- the Canadian province of Nova Scotia (New Scotland)
- the village of New York State
- the New York Statenamed after a Scottish settler
- the Scotia Sea between Antarctica and South America
- the Scotia 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 wood millworkthat 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
- Scotia's Grave, in the hills, just south of Tralee, County Kerry
- Scottish Gaelic
References
- ^ a b c d Duffy, Seán. Medieval Ireland: An Encyclopedia. Routledge, 2005. p.698
- ^ a b "Online Etymology Dictionary". Etymonline.com. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
- ^ Seán Duffy (22 September 2015). "Crowning of Ireland's Last, Scottish High King". Trinity College Dublin. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
- ^ "The Story of the Irish Race". Homepage.eircom.net. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
- ^ Meyer, K. (ed.). Sanas Cormaic: an Old-Irish Glossary compiled by Cormac úa Cuilennáin, King-Bishop of Cashel in the ninth century. Dil.ie. Retrieved 16 February 2015.[permanent dead link]
- ^ C. 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 from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
- ^ Benedict's Fitzpatrick's Ireland and the Foundations of Europe, pp. 376-379
- ^ "Internet History Sourcebooks: Medieval Sourcebook".
- ^ https://www.tcd.ie/news_events/articles/crowning-of-irelands-last-scottish-high-king/
- ^ "The History of Ireland". celt.ucc.ie.