|
Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!
You asked about a 13th or 14th century Scottish Gaelic version of the name <Black Peter>.
The name <Peter> was borrowed into Gaelic in a variety of forms. In the 13th century the usual English form was <Peres>, based on the Old French <Piers>. [3, 4] This was borrowed into Gaelic as <Piaras> no later than the 14th century. [2, 5] In the many Latin records of the time the name appears as <Petrus>, but in English records forms similar to <Peter> don't appear until the middle of the 14th century or later. [4] Since the Gaelic <Peadar> is based on <Peter>, it is probably too late for your persona. However, <Petrán>, later <Peadrán>, is a Gaelic diminutive of <Petrus> that was occasionally used in Ireland as early as the 7th century. (The slash represents an acute accent over the preceding vowel.) It was never very popular, but in Scotland it appears to have been in use no later than the first half of the 14th century. [1, 2]
All in all, we think that <Piaras> is the most likely Gaelic form of <Peter> for your period, but <Peadrán> is also a possibility. (These names are pronounced roughly \PEE-a-rahs\ and \PYAH-drahn\, respectively.) We're not sure that either was in use in Scottish Gaelic in the 13th century, but it seems likely that by c.1300 both were available.
The usual Gaelic byname meaning 'black' is <Dubh>, pronounced roughly \doov\. [1, 5] It can mean either 'dark-haired' or 'swarthy of complection' and was common in both Scotland and Ireland. <Piaras
Dubh> is a very straightforward Gaelic version of <Black Peter> (or
<Blake Peres>, as it would more likely have been in the English of
the time), but <Peadrán Dubh> (roughly 'Black Peterkin' or 'Black
Petey') is also possible. (Middle English <blake> 'black' was
pronounced approximately \blahk\.)
You mentioned that your persona, though resident in Scotland, is 'ultimately' descended from a Belgian crusader and a Moorish concubine, and you wondered what he would have been called in his birthplace.
We're not quite sure how to answer this. On the one hand, 'ultimately the descendant of' suggests a gap of at least a generation or two between Peter and the crusader and his concubine. In that case we've no idea where he's supposed to have been born. On the other hand, the question itself suggests that Peter is intended to be their son, born in the Near East; we've assumed that this is what you meant.
Unfortunately, we still can't really answer the question. The problem is that the idea of a crusader bringing home his Muslim bride and bastard child is historically unlikely to the point of being virtually impossible. By far the most likely home for a <poulain> (a person descended from natives of the Holy Land and crusaders) is the Holy Land itself.
We should also mention that the state of Belgium was only created in 1831. In your period that part of Europe was a collection of duchies, counties, and cities ruled by a variety of overlords. The most familiar of these are probably Flanders and Brabant. In Scotland a man from one of these polities might have been been known as a <Flamang> or <Brabounare>, but he couldn't possibly have been a 'Belgian'. (Versions of these terms can be found much of western Europe. In northern French he might have been a <Flamens> or a <Brabanchon>; in German a <Vleming> or a <Brabender>; and in Dutch a <Vlamink> or a <Brabanter>.)
Arval Benicoeur, Margaret Makafee, Pedro de Alcazar, and Walraven van Nijmegen also contributed to this letter. We hope that it is useful and that you will write again if you have any further questions.
For the Academy,
Talan Gwynek
[1] Black, George F. _The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History_ (New York: The New York Public Library, 1989).
[2] O/ Corráin, Donnchadh & Fidelma Maguire. _Irish Names_ (Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990).
[3] Reaney, P.H. & R.M. Wilson. _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ (London: Routledge, 1991).
[4] Withycombe, E. G. _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_ (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984).
[5] Woulfe, Patrick. _Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames_ (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1967).