When the Scots were not ... Scots

When you think of Scotland, images such as bagpipes and kilts …

The Loch Ness monster

and, if one is a Trekkie, Scotty comes to mind.

But there was a time when those in Scotland were, in fact, not Scots.

Let the mystery unravel.

Back in the day

Rewind time a bit, to 400 A.D. to be exact. The world was a much different place in many ways. But let's focus on Great Britain.

The Roman Empire controlled what is now England and Whales and was called Britannia. On the northern border of Roman Britain, there was a wall, Hadrian's Wall, that keep the Northern barbarians out.

What barbarians? To the North of Britain were a group of tribes called the Picts.

To the West, on a large island (known by the locals as Éire), was a group called the Scoti.

So, the people in Scotland were not Scots, and those not in Scotland were called Scots? How can that be?

The times they are a' changing

The year 400 A.D. was during a dynamic, turbulent time for Europe. The Roman Empire would cease to exist within 30 years as it crumpled under barbarian attacks from barbarians all over Europe. In 407 A.D. the Roman army had to pull out, leaving the locals defenseless. When the Brits asked for help dealing with all the threats facing them Rome told them "You're on your own, folks!" OK, that's a loose translation. More accurately the Romans told them they must “look to their own defense.”

About this same time the Scoti decided that Pictland looked like a good place to live, so they started invading and soon took over the place.

Now the Scoti were in two places; back home on Éire, and their new home; the land formerly known as Pictland. In the process of time, the two parts separated with the Scoti in their old homeland becoming called Irish after the name of their land, and the Scoti in the new land becoming Scots.

And the Brits? They would be pushed into a corner of Britain by two invading Germanic tribes, the Angles and Saxons. Later Britain would become called England (or Angle-land). The native Britons ended up being called foreigners by the invaders, from which we get the name Whales.

And that gives us the Great Britain we know and love today.

Great Books

Abandoned

This historical fiction by Tim Walker takes place in Britain just after the Romans left. It is very well written, and does a very good job of placing the reader in the times and helps one appreciate the situation faced by the Britons as they had to reorganize themselves and set up defenses against invading barbarians.

This is the first book in a trilogy that ends up with the reign of King Arthur.

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