''Abthain'' (or ''abthane'') is an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
or
Lowland Scots form of the middle-
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
word ' (
Gaelic
Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
'), meaning
abbacy. The exact sense of the word being lost, it was presumed to denote some ancient dignity, the holder of which was called or .
William Forbes Skene
William Forbes Skene WS FRSE FSA(Scot) DCL LLD (7 June 1809 – 29 August 1892), was a Scottish lawyer, historian and antiquary.
He co-founded the Scottish legal firm Skene Edwards which was prominent throughout the 20th century but disappeare ...
[''Historians of Scotland'', IV; ''Fordun'', II, 413.] holds that the correct meaning of ' (or ') is not "abbot" or "over-thane", but "abbey" or "monastery". The word has special reference to the territories of the churches and monasteries founded by the old
Celtic or
Columban monks, mostly between the mountain chain of the
Mounth
The Mounth ( ) is the broad upland in northeast Scotland between the Highland Boundary and the River Dee, at the eastern end of the Grampians.
Name and etymology
The name ''Mounth'' is ultimately of Pictish origin. The name is derived from ...
and the
Firth of Forth. Skene recommended the use of the words ' or '.
Many of these passed into the hands of laymen, and were transmitted from father to son. They paid certain ecclesiastical tributes, and seem to have closely resembled the ''
termonn
is an Gaelic (Irish) word meaning 'sanctuary, boundary'. Other spellings include '','' and . It denotes land belonging to Irish early Christian monasteries and churches on which right of sanctuary prevailed.
The word is common in many place ...
'' lands of the early
Irish Church.
See also
*
Crínán of Dunkeld
Crínán of Dunkeld (died 1045) was the hereditary abbot of the monastery of Dunkeld, and perhaps the Mormaer of Atholl. Crínán was progenitor of the House of Dunkeld, the dynasty which would rule Scotland until the later 13th century. He was ...
*
Lay abbot
Lay abbot ( la, abbatocomes, abbas laicus, abbas miles, ) is a name used to designate a layman on whom a king or someone in authority bestowed an abbey as a reward for services rendered; he had charge of the estate belonging to it, and was entitle ...
Notes
{{Catholic, wstitle=abthain
Abbots
Catholic ecclesiastical titles
Christian religious occupations
Ecclesiastical titles
English words
Monasticism
Organisation of Catholic religious orders
Religious leadership roles
Religious terminology