Alba Historical

  In search of  Hinba It's perhaps as important as lona - but where is it? The location of the island of Hinba is one of the great mysteries of Scottish history. Hinba is mentioned in Adomnan's Life of Columba in connection with some of the most significant episodes in the saint's life. It was there that the Holy Spirit appeared to Columba in the form of a divine vision, commanding him to ordain Aedan mac Gabrain as king of Dal Riata. He was also told many secrets, made clear on the obscurities of Scripture, and allowed to see into the past and future. The saint received some of his most prestigious visitors on Hinba including four Irish saints for whom he celebrated mass there. But Hinba also had its darker side. The island was used by the early Christians as a penitentiary. During one visit to the religious recluses there, called anchorites, Columba ordered that they be allowed an indulgence of food. To his displeasure, this was refused by one Neman mac Cathair. The saint...

 Saint Columba The 9th of June, in 597 AD, was a Sunday. An old man went out into the fields on the island of lona and blessed a barn by making the sign of the cross. The man was Columba. He was 75, and had spent 34 years away from his native Ireland, an 'exile for the love of God.' The lona monks worked hard in the fields as well as at their prayers. They shipped timber in from the Scottish mainland to build their dormitories. They ploughed and harvested, milked cows, made tools, baked bread, hunted seals for meat, and cut reeds for thatch. Columba was pleased their barn was full of grain and that they would have bread all year. But for the abbot himself, there was little time left on the island given to him by King Conall. On that Sunday, Columba was preparing to die. Back home in Donegal, he had been born to wealth and power. In his father's family, immediate kin ruled in the north and relatives ruled in the Irish midlands. The extended family shared the kingship of Tara...

  Viking Legacy Some parts of Scotland conquered by the Vikings, in the 9th century, belonged to Norway for hundreds of years.  The Western Isles were Norwegian until 1266.  Orkney and Shetland only returned to Scotland in 1469, and retain a strong connection to their Viking past. We can read the epic story of the Earls of Orkney, the Orkneyinga Saga, written down in Iceland around 1200.  Many of the Viking settlers in Iceland were from Scotland, and took the stories with them. The carving below is based on an Icelandic epic called the Saga of the Volsungs. It tells the story of Sigurd, Dragon Slayer, and shows the making of a sword. Many Scottish islands like Colonsay, Oronsay, Ulva and Uist have Norse names. The island of Cumbrae in the Clyde is half Norse, half Welsh. From cumbr, Welsh for Britons, and ae, Norse for island. So Cumbrae means island of the Britons. All the Scottish firths, like the Firth of Forth or Clyde, are Scots derivations of the Norse fjord. S...

  The massive Pictish chains are our most striking examples of post-Roman jewellery. These precious and weighty symbols of power were made using recycled Roman silver. Just 10 of these chains have been found, mostly in Southern Scotland . They belonged to the tribal rulers, worn around their necks on important occasions. The heaviest, found in 1809 Caledonian Canal near Inverness, d uring the construction. It originally weighed just over 3 kg (6% lb). These marvellous objects, Scotland's earliest Crown Jewels, can be admired in the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. Both Photos : The Whitecleuch chain,  was found in Whitecleuch, Lanarkshire, Scotland in 1869.

 In the steps of the Saints St Mungo, Glasgow Cathedral:  St Mungo, meaning 'dear beloved' was originally known as Kentigern. He founded a church by the Molindar burn in Glascu, 'the green hollow', giving modern Glasgow its name. His shrine lies in the crypt of the cathedral. Legend says he was born to St Thenew, later renamed as St Enoch after whom the railway station and shopping centre are named. St Conval, Inchinnan New Parish Church, Renfrewshire: Conval is said to have prayed with such power, that a block of granite known as 'St Conval's Chariot' carried him across the Irish Sea and up the Clyde. The stone, which is part of a collection of Christian stones at the church, is said to heal humans and cattle. St Ethernan, Isle of May, Fife:  Ethernan died among the Picts in 669. His grave on the Isle of May became a place of pilgrimage and the site of a series of monastic buildings that can be seen today. Boats trips leave daily from Anstruther, May/ Septe...

 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...

 Govan's ancient treasures It is easy to pass Govan Old Parish Church without suspecting the remarkable history that lies within. On the banks of the River Clyde, flanked by the Pearce Institute and the offices of a housing association, the church does not outwardly reflect antiquity. It was built in 1820, but the land on which it stands has been used for Christian worship since the 9th century when it was the Britons major Christian centre before that. It is home to a collection of early carved stones that attract archaeologists from all over the world.  Long before the birth of Christ, this was a significant place. Evidence has been found that Bronze Age people settled in Govan. It was then almost an island in the River Clyde, which could be reached only by a ford. It is not certain when the first church was built there, but the collection of sculpted stones spanning the 9th to 11th centuries suggests it was very early indeed. In fact, they represent a major school of stone-...