02 Queen Scota Unfurls the Sacred Banner

In medieval Irish and Scottish

legend A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...

, Scota or Scotia is the daughter of an

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...

and ancestor of the

Gaels The Gaels ( ; ga, Na Gaeil ; gd, Na Gàidheil ; gv, Ny Gaeil ) are an ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man in the British Isles. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic langu ...

. She is said to be the origin of their

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 ...

name ''

Scoti ''Scoti'' or ''Scotti'' is a Latin name for the Gaels,Duffy, Seán. ''Medieval Ireland: An Encyclopedia''. Routledge, 2005. p.698 first attested in the late 3rd century. At first it referred to all Gaels, whether in Ireland or Great Britain, but l ...

''. Scholars believe she could be a fictional character who was named after the Scoti, rather than vice versa.

Early sources

Edward J. Cowan Edward James Cowan FRSE (15 February 1944 – 2 January 2022) was a Scottish historian. Biography Cowan was born on 15 February 1944 in Edinburgh, Midlothian. He was a professor of Scottish History at the University of Glasgow and Director of ...

traced the first mention of Scota in literature to the 12th century. Scota appears in the Irish chronicle ''

Book of Leinster The Book of Leinster ( mga, Lebor Laignech , LL) is a medieval Irish manuscript compiled c. 1160 and now kept in Trinity College, Dublin, under the shelfmark MS H 2.18 (cat. 1339). It was formerly known as the ''Lebor na Nuachongbála'' "Book ...

'', in a

redaction Redaction is a form of editing in which multiple sources of texts are combined and altered slightly to make a single document. Often this is a method of collecting a series of writings on a similar theme and creating a definitive and coherent wo ...

of the ''

Lebor Gabála Érenn ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' (literally "The Book of the Taking of Ireland"), known in English as ''The Book of Invasions'', is a collection of poems and prose narratives in the Irish language intended to be a history of Ireland and the Irish fro ...

''. The 9th-century ''

Historia Brittonum ''The History of the Britons'' ( la, Historia Brittonum) is a purported history of the indigenous British (Brittonic) people that was written around 828 and survives in numerous recensions that date from after the 11th century. The ''Historia Bri ...

'' contains the earliest surviving version of the story (centred on an unnamed

Goídel Glas In medieval Irish and Scottish legend, Goídel Glas (Latinised as Gaithelus) is the creator of the Goidelic languages and eponymous ancestor of the Gaels. The tradition can be traced to the 11th-century ''Lebor Gabála Érenn''. A Scottish varia ...

), but does not mention Scota even indirectly. The ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' states that Scota was the mother of

Goidel Glas The Gaels ( ; ga, Na Gaeil ; gd, Na Gàidheil ; gv, Ny Gaeil ) are an ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man in the British Isles. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic langua ...

the eponymous ancestor of the Gaels. This Scota was the daughter of an Egyptian pharaoh named Cingris, a name found only in Irish legend. She marries Goidel's Father Niul, son of

Fénius Farsaid Fénius Farsaid (also Phoeniusa, Phenius, Féinius; Farsa, Farsaidh, many variant spellings) is a legendary king of Scythia who appears in different versions of Irish mythology. He was the son of Boath, a son of Magog. Other sources describe his ...

(identified as a son of

Gomer Gomer ( he, ''Gōmer'', ; el, Γαμὲρ, translit=Gamér) was the eldest son of Japheth (and of the Japhetic line), and father of Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah, according to the "Table of Nations" in the Hebrew Bible (Genesis 10). The epo ...

) a Babylonian who traveled to Scythia after the collapse of the

Tower of Babel The Tower of Babel ( he, , ''Mīgdal Bāḇel'') narrative in Genesis 11:1–9 is an origin myth meant to explain why the world's peoples speak different languages. According to the story, a united human race speaking a single language and mi ...

. Niul son of Fénius returns to Babylon as part of an effort to study the

confusion of languages The Tower of Babel ( he, , ''Mīgdal Bāḇel'') narrative in Genesis 11:1–9 is an origin myth meant to explain why the world's peoples speak different languages. According to the story, a united human race speaking a single language and mi ...

. He is a scholar of languages and is invited by Pharaoh Cingris to Egypt to take Scota's hand in marriage. Scota and Nuil's son, Goídel, who was saved by a prayer from Moses after being bitten by a snake, and is said to have created the Gaelic language by combining the best features of the 72 languages then in existence. In Fordun's early Scottish version, Gaythelos, as he calls Goídel Glas, is the son of "a certain king of the countries of Greece, Neolus, or Heolaus, by name", who was exiled to Egypt and took service with the Pharaoh, marrying Pharaoh's daughter Scota. The ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' describes him as a

Scythia Scythia (Scythian: ; Old Persian: ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) or Scythica (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ), also known as Pontic Scythia, was a kingdom created by the Scythians during the 6th to 3rd centuries BC in the Pontic–Caspian steppe. His ...

n. Other twelfth-century sources state that Scota was the wife of Geytholos (Goídel Glas), rather than his mother, and was the founder of the Scots and

after they were exiled from Egypt. Other manuscripts of the ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' contain a legend of a Scotia who was the wife of Goidel's descendant

Míl Espáine In Irish origin myths, Míl Espáine or Míl Espáne (later Latinized as Milesius; also Miled/Miledh) is the mythical ancestor of the final inhabitants of Ireland, the "sons of Míl" or Milesians, who represent the vast majority of the Irish Ga ...

of ancient

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

. This Scotia's Grave is a famous landmark in Munster. The Gaels, known in Gaelic as ''Goídel'' and in Latin as ''Scoti'', are said to be named after Goidel and Scota. However, scholars believe they are fictional characters who were named after the Gaels themselves, rather than vice versa.

Scota and the Stone of Scone

Baldred Bisset is credited with being the first to connect the

Stone of Scone The Stone of Scone (; gd, An Lia Fàil; sco, Stane o Scuin)—also known as the Stone of Destiny, and often referred to in England as The Coronation Stone—is an oblong block of red sandstone that has been used for centuries in the coronati ...

with the Scota foundation legends in his 1301 work ''Processus'', putting forward an argument that Scotland, not Ireland, was where the original Scota homeland lay. Bisset wanted to legitimize a Scottish (as opposed to English) accession to the throne when

Alexander III of Scotland Alexander III (Medieval ; Modern Gaelic: ; 4 September 1241 – 19 March 1286) was King of Scots from 1249 until his death. He concluded the Treaty of Perth, by which Scotland acquired sovereignty over the Western Isles and the Isle of Man. His ...

died in 1286. At his coronation in 1249, Alexander himself heard his royal genealogy recited generations back to Scota. Bisset attempted to legitimize a Scottish accession by highlighting Scota's importance as the transporter of the

from

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, during the exodus of

Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...

, to Scotland. In 1296, the Stone was captured by

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassa ...

and taken to

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

. In 1323,

Robert the Bruce Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventual ...

used Bisset's legend connecting Scota to the Stone in an attempt to return it to

Scone Abbey Scone Abbey (originally Scone Priory) was a house of Augustinian canons located in Scone, Perthshire (Gowrie), Scotland. Dates given for the establishment of Scone Priory have ranged from 1114 A.D. to 1122 A.D. However, historians have long bel ...

in Scotland. The 15th-century English chronicler

John Hardyng John Hardyng (or Harding; 1378–1465) was an English chronicler. He was born in Northern England. Biography As a boy Hardyng entered the service of Sir Henry Percy (Hotspur), with whom he was present at the Battle of Shrewsbury (1403). He the ...

later attempted to debunk Bisset's claims.

Later sources

Andrew of Wyntoun Andrew Wyntoun, known as Andrew of Wyntoun (), was a Scottish poet, a canon and prior of Loch Leven on St Serf's Inch and, later, a canon of St. Andrews. Andrew Wyntoun is most famous for his completion of an eight-syllabled metre entitled, '' ...

's ''Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland'' and

John of Fordun John of Fordun (before 1360 – c. 1384) was a Scottish chronicler. It is generally stated that he was born at Fordoun, Mearns. It is certain that he was a secular priest, and that he composed his history in the latter part of the 14th cen ...

's '' Chronica Gentis Scotorum'' (1385) are sources of the Scota legends, alongside Thomas Grey's ''

Scalacronica The ''Scalacronica'' (1066–1363) is a chronicle written in Anglo-Norman French by Sir Thomas Grey of Heaton near Norham in Northumberland. It was started whilst he was imprisoned by the Scots in Edinburgh Castle, after being captured in an a ...

'' (1362).

Hector Boece Hector Boece (; also spelled Boyce or Boise; 1465–1536), known in Latin as Hector Boecius or Boethius, was a Scottish philosopher and historian, and the first Principal of King's College in Aberdeen, a predecessor of the University of Abe ...

's 16th-century '' Historia Gentis Scotorum'' ("History of the Scottish People") also mentions the Scota foundation myth.

Walter Bower Walter Bower (or Bowmaker; 24 December 1449) was a Scottish canon regular and abbot of Inchcolm Abbey in the Firth of Forth, who is noted as a chronicler of his era. He was born about 1385 at Haddington, East Lothian, in the Kingdom of Scotlan ...

's 15th-century ''

Scotichronicon The ''Scotichronicon'' is a 15th-century chronicle by the Scottish historian Walter Bower. It is a continuation of historian-priest John of Fordun's earlier work '' Chronica Gentis Scotorum'' beginning with the founding of Ireland and thereb ...

'' included the first illustrations of the legends. The 16th-century writer

included the story of Scota in his ''Historia Gentis Scotorum'', and William Stewart made a verse translation in the

Scots language Scots ( endonym: ''Scots''; gd, Albais, ) is an Anglic language variety in the West Germanic language family, spoken in Scotland and parts of Ulster in the north of Ireland (where the local dialect is known as Ulster Scots). Most commonly ...

for the Scottish royal court.William Turnbull
''Buik of the Croniclis of Scotland'', vol. 1 (London, 1858), pp. 8-16
/ref>

Grave of Scotia

Scotia's Grave allegedly lies in a valley south of Tralee Town, Co. Kerry, Ireland. The area is known as Glenn Scoithin, "Vale of the Little Flower", but is more popularly referred to as Foley's Glenbr>(Foley's Glen)
A trail from the road leads along a stream to a clearing where a circle of large stones marks the grave site, as indicated by a County Council signpost.

Sources

Geoffrey Keating Geoffrey Keating ( ga, Seathrún Céitinn; c. 1569 – c. 1644) was a 17th-century historian. He was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, and is buried in Tubrid Graveyard in the parish of Ballylooby-Duhill. He became an Irish Catholic priest and a ...

, ''Forus Feasa ar Éirinn'

*

Seumas MacManus Seumas MacManus (31 December 1867 – 23 October 1960) was an Irish author, dramatist, and poet known for his ability to reinterpret Irish folktales for modern audiences. Biography Born James McManus on 31 December 1867 in Mountcharles, County ...

, ''The Story of the Irish Race'' (February 1970 The Devin-Adair Company New York) *

, ''The Story of the Irish Race'' (1990 edition printed by Wings Books) * Michael O'Clery, ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' (1616–1636 Donegal) * Benedict Fitzpatrick's (1901–1963) "Ireland and the Foundations of Europe"

References