Alba: Encyclopedia - Alba

Alba

Alba is the ancient and modern Gaelic name (IPA: /ˈaɫapə/) for the country of Scotland (also Alba in Irish, and in Old Gaelic Albu).

The word ultimately comes from a Celtic word referring to the whole island of Great Britain, hence the early classical Albion. It was used by the Gaels to refer to the island as a whole until roughly the ninth or tenth centuries, when it came to be the name given to the kingdoms of the Picts and the Scots (Pictavia and Dalriada), north of the rivers Forth and Clyde, unified by Kenneth Mac Alpin. As time passed that kingdom incorporated others to the south. It became Latinized in the High Medieval period as "Albania" (it is unclear whether it may ultimately share the same etymon as the modern Albania or the ancient Albania in the Caucasus). This latter word was employed mainly by Celto-Latin writers, and most famously by Geoffrey of Monmouth. It was this word which passed into Middle English as Albany, although very rarely was this used for the Kingdom of Scotland, but rather for the notional Duchy of Albany. From the latter the capital of New York state takes its name.

See also

• Albion
• Caledonia

Category: Scotland

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Alba", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alba, used and available under the GNU Free Documentation License.