Everything about Alba totally explained
Alba is the
Scottish Gaelic name for
Scotland. It is cognate to
Albain in
Irish Gaelic and
Albey in
Manx, the other
Goidelic Insular Celtic language, as well as similar words in the
Brythonic Insular Celtic languages of
Cornish (
Alban) and
Welsh (
Yr Alban) also meaning Scotland.
Hence also the early classical name
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
Dál Riata), north of the
River Forth and the
Clyde estuary, traditionally considered to have been unified by
Kenneth Mac Alpin.
As time passed that kingdom incorporated others to the southern territories. 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). 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 the
U.S. state of
New York,
Albany, takes its name.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Alba'.
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