Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 454

Academy of Saint Gabriel Report 454

This report is available at http://www.s-gabriel.org/454

Some of the Academy's early reports contain errors that we haven't yet corrected. Please use it with caution.

Greetings,

Here's the information we can give you on the Scottish name "Robert Macalba."

You said that you were looking for a name meaning "the Scot." "mac Alba" does translate literally as "son of Scotland," but in period this would only be understood in a literal way. "mac Alba" would mean "my father is a man named Alba" Since "Alba" wasn't used as a name for people, "mac Alba" isn't a possible Scottish name.

However, there are names which mean "Scottish" in both Scots and Gaelic.

In Scots, "the Scot" is a common byname. (1) "Robert the Scot" is a perfectly reasonable name for a Scots-speaking person from the 12th to 15th centuries.

In Gaelic, the word for "Scottish" is "Albanach." We found a person called "dubghall albanach mac mic cathail," (2) and based on this analogy you could use a name like "Roibert Albanach mac <father's

name>." "Robert" is a common Scots name, but it's very rare in
Gaelic. We only found one example, from 1467, spelled "Roibert." (3)

So, depending on the language you want, you could use the Scots name "Robert the Scot" or the Gaelic name "Roibert Albanach mac <father's name>." Either of these would be appropriate for a late-medieval person.

Bynames were used to distinguish one person from another. In many areas most people were considered Scots, so "the Scot" wouldn't have been a useful distinguishing term. "Robert the Scot" could be the name of someone living in England or in southern Scotland. "Roibert Albanach mac <father's name>" could have been the name of a Gaelic-speaking Scot living in Ireland, but it wouldn't have been used by a Gaelic-speaker who was living in Scotland. Depending on your persona's language and home, you may want to consider another byname.

Effric neyn Kenyeoch vc Ralte, Tangwystl verch Morgant Glasvryn, Arval Benicoeur, Margaret MacDuibhsidhe, and Talan Gwynek contributed to this letter.

We hope this has been helpful, and that we can continue to assist you.

In service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of S. Gabriel

(1) Black, G. "The Surnames of Scotland."

(2) O/ Baoill, Colm, "Scotticisms in a Manuscript of 1467," _Scottish Gaelic Studies_ XV, no. Spring 1988 (1988): 122-139.

(3) A photograph of the "1467 MS", a Gaelic genealogical manuscript, which is shelf-marked 72.1.1 in the Scottish National Library.