Alba Historical

 Central and Southern Scotland Place names rooted in Welsh Many place names in central and southern Scotland are derived from British, the language very close to Welsh which was spoken by the Northern Britons, Glasgow, originally Glasgau, means the green hollow in Britonic.  Edinburgh first appears in Welsh sources as the fort of Din Eidyn. When the Bernicians took over they translated this into English as Edinburgh. Lanark Lanerc: the clearing (Welsh-lanerch).  Peebles-Pebyl: the shielings (Welsh-pebyll).  Partick-Perthec: the copse (Welsh-perth); also the derivation of Perth, Paisley-Pasaleg a church word based on Basaleg, a Welsh borrowing from Latin-basilica, mother-church. Penicuik-Pen y gog: cuckoo's headland.  Cramond Caer Amond: the fort on the River Almond.  Moscow-Maes coll: Hazelfield (Welsh-maes and coll).  Bathgate-Baeddgoed: Boar-wood (Welsh-baedd and coedi)  Melrose Moelrose: the bald/bare headland.  Ecclefechan: perhaps the li...

 Dinogad's Coat Specked, specked, Dinogad's coat,  I fashioned it of pelts of stoat. Twit, twit, a twittering, I sang, and so eight slaves would sing.  When your daddy went off to hunt,  Spear on his shoulder,  club in his hand,  He'd call the hounds, so swift of foot:  "Giff, Gaff-seek 'im, seek 'im, fetch, fetch.  He'd strike fish from a coracle As a lion strikes a small animal.  When to the mountain your daddy would go,  He'd bring back a stag, a boar, a roe,  A speckled mountain grouse, A fish from Derwennydd Falls,  Of those daddy reached with his lance,  Whether a boar or a fox or a lynx,  None could escape unless it had wings. This Briton cradle song, composed around the year 650, may be the earliest recorded poem by a woman. Here, set to music - 

 Ystrat Clud Britons are the ancestors no one seems to have heard about. They were Christians, spoke Welsh, worshipped at Govan, and ruled from Carlisle to Glasgow for 600 years. They are the nearest thing we have to a 'native' people! They called it Ystrat Clud - Strathclyde. Their church was at Govan, their hunting estate at Partick, their stronghold was Cadzow near Hamilton. They were the Welsh forefathers of today's Glaswegians. They were the Britons. Of all the peoples who made up Scotland in the early historic period, the group who are probably least well. Known to the average Scot was the Britons. This is odd, as these are the people who were here when written history began, the nearest thing Scotland has to a “native” people. When the Romans arrived in Britain, first in the 1st century BC, and then during their forays into Scotland in the 1st century AD, Britain was inhabited by Britons from south to north. The Romans called them Brittones. The languages spoken thro...