A little bit of history and culture for a change of pace


Most people understand that there is a common link between the people of Ireland and Scotland. Everyday similarities and common links are made with links in last names and sport. In truth, the link is shared more closely by blood than most realize. We may share our names beginning in "Mac" and "Mc" and our Glasgow Celtic, but we are brothers and sisters in terms of nations as well.

When the Roman forces withdrew from southern Scotland in the late 4th century AD, they left behind the unconquered tribes of the Picts and the Caledonii. These fiercely independent peoples eventually combined to form the Pict nation mainly residing in the lower Scottish Highlands. Elsewhere in Scotland around this time, tribes of the East Antrim kingdom of Dalriada were arriving in what is now Argyll.

The truth of the matter is that the first name in the oldest record of Scottish royal pedigree, the Book of Ballymote, is Angus Turbech of Tara; a name which denotes direct lineage from the High Kings of Ireland. Angus was High King from 384 to 325 B.C., according to the Annals of the Four Masters. The Scottish royalty is therefore directly related to the derivation of the extinct blood-line of Irish royalty.

The Latin words Scoti and Scotia were originally used by the Roman's to refer to the Irish Gaels and Ireland respectively but eventually came to represent the Irish from the Dalriada kingdom in Argyll. After the 9th century, these ancient Gaels were further known as the Scottish and the land they inhabited as Scotland, literally the "land of the Irish."

This migration explains the strong similarities between Ulster Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic. It also explains the strong ties that the Scots and Irish still share; especially culturally.

There is one link between these two sister countries that makes my stomach turn though. That is the terrible plight of sectarianism. Glasgow to Antrim, this link terrorises youths and the elderly alike. What is the point of this violence? I hope that someday in a near future, bigoted eejits will open their eyes and see that they really are not much different than those they hate.   ¶ 9:50 p.m.