Caledonia (Roman)

Caledonia (; ) was the Latin name used by the Roman Empire to refer to the forested region in the central and western Scottish Highlands, particularly stretching through parts of what are now Lochaber, Badenoch, Strathspey, and possibly as far south as Rannoch Moor, known as Coed Celedon (Coed Celyddon using the modern alphabet) to the native Brython (Britons).
Today, it is used as a romantic or poetic name for all of Scotland.
During the Roman Empire's occupation of Britain, the area they called Caledonia was physically separated from the rest of the island by the Antonine Wall. It remained outside the administration of Roman Britain.

Latin historians, including Tacitus and Cassius Dio, referred to the territory north of the River Forth as "Caledonia", and described it as inhabited by the Maeatae and the Caledonians (). The name is derived from the word Celyddon in Common Brittonic.

History

Etymology

means 'the forested region’; it is derived from the Welsh word meaning + the Welsh ''-on'' suffix which derives names of places, regions or groups.

in turn derives from the Welsh word ''cêl'' meaning + the Welsh ''-ydd'' suffix which derives names of places, things or agents.

Using the original Latinised Brythonic alphabet, Celyddon would have been spelt ''Celedon'' (or ''Celidon'').

Toponymy

The name of the Caledonians may be found in toponymy, such as ''Dùn Chailleann'', the Scottish Gaelic name of the town of Dunkeld, meaning 'fort of the Caledonii', and possibly in that of the mountain , the 'fairy hill of the Caledonians'. According to , the site of the seventh battle of the legendary King Arthur was a forest in what is now Scotland, called in early Welsh. The name seems to relate to that of a large central Brythonic tribe, the , one amongst several in the area and perhaps the dominant tribe, which would explain the binomial Caledonia/Caledonii.

Modern usage

The modern use of "Caledonia" in English and Scots is either as a historical description of northern Britain during the Roman era or as a romantic or poetic name for Scotland as a whole.

The name has been widely used by organisations and commercial entities. Notable examples include Glasgow Caledonian University, ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne, and the now-defunct British Caledonian airline and Caledonian Railway. The Caledonian Sleeper is an overnight train service from London to Scottish destinations.

The Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. is a professional football club. In music, "Caledonia" is a popular Scottish patriotic song and folk ballad written by Dougie MacLean in 1977 and published in 1979 on an album of the same name; it has since been covered by various other artists, most notably Frankie Miller and Van Morrison. An original rock piece titled Caledonia appeared on Robin Trower's fourth album, "Long Misty Days", where coincidentally Frankie Miller cowrote another track on that album. The web series ''Caledonia'' and associated novel is a supernatural police drama that takes place in Glasgow, Scotland.

Ptolemy's account in his ''Geography'' also referred to the ''Caledonia Silva'', an idea still recalled in the modern expression "Caledonian Forest", although the woods are much reduced in size since Roman times.The extent of the reduction is a matter of debate. This association with a ''Silva'' (literally the flora) reinforces the idea that Caledonia was a forest or forested area named after the Caledonii, or that the people were named after the woods in which they dwelt.

Some scholars point out that the name "Scotland" is ultimately derived from Scotia, a Latin term first used for Ireland (also called Hibernia by the Romans) and later for Scotland, the Scoti peoples having originated in Ireland and resettled in Scotland.Bede used a Latin form of the word Scots as the name of the Gaels of Dál Riata. Another, post-conquest, Roman name for the island of Great Britain was Albion, which is cognate with the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland: ''Alba''.

There is an emerging trend to use the term Caledonia to describe New Caledonia in English, which reflects the usage in French of Calédonie (where the full name is La Nouvelle-Calédonie). The New Caledonian trade and investment department promotes inward investment with the slogan "Choose Caledonia".

See also

*Battle of Mons Graupius
* Caledonian Ocean
* Caledonia Waterfalls

Notes

References

Bibliography

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External links

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''Anglia Scotia et Hibernia''
– 1628 map of the region by Mercator and Hondius
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Clans of Caledonia
– Strategy board game based in historic Scotland

{{Use British English, date=December 2018

Terminology of the British Isles
Scotland in the Roman era
Culture of Scotland