Holinshed Chronicles: England, Scotland, and Ireland. Volume 1, CompleteHolinshed, Raphael
History
Holinshed Chronicles: England, Scotland, and Ireland. Volume 1, Complete
Holinshed, Raphael
Great Britain -- History -- To 1485; Great Britain -- History -- Tudors, 1485-1603
Thus we sée how that vnder the dominion of the king of England, and in
the south parts of the realme, we haue thrée seuerall toongs, that is
to saie, English, British, and Cornish, and euen so manie are in
Scotland, if you accompt the English speach for one: notwithstanding
that for bredth and quantitie of the region, I meane onelie of the
soile of the maine Iland, it be somewhat lesse to see to than the
[Sidenote: The wild Scots.]
[Sidenote: Redshanks.]
[Sidenote: Rough footed Scots.]
[Sidenote: Irish Scots.]
[Sidenote: Irish speech.]
other. For in the north part of the region, where the wild Scots,
otherwise called the Redshanks, or rough footed Scots (because they go
bare footed and clad in mantels ouer their saffron shirts after the
Irish maner) doo inhabit, they speake good Irish which they call
Gachtlet, as they saie of one Gathelus, whereby they shew their
originall to haue in times past béene fetched out of Ireland: as I
noted also in the chapiter precedent, and wherevnto Vincentius cap. de
insulis Oceani dooth yéeld his assent, saieng that Ireland was in time
past called Scotia; "Scotia eadem (saith he) & Hibernia, proxima
Britanniæ insula, spatio terrarum angustior, sed situ f[oe]cundior;
Scotia autem à Scotorum gentibus traditur appellata, &c." Out of the
14. booke of Isidorus intituled Originum, where he also addeth that it
is called Hybernia, because it bendeth toward Iberia. But I find
elsewhere that it is so called by certeine Spaniards which came to
seeke and plant their inhabitation in the same, wherof in my
Chronologie I haue spoken more at large.
In the Iles of the Orchades, or Orkeney, as we now call them, & such
coasts of Britaine as doo abbut vpon the same, the Gottish or Danish
speach is altogither in vse, and also in Shetland, by reason (as I
take it) that the princes of Norwaie held those Ilands so long vnder
their subiection, albeit they were otherwise reputed as rather to
belong to Ireland, bicause that the verie soile of them is enimie to
poison, as some write, although for my part I had neuer any sound
experience of the truth hereof. And thus much haue I thought good to
speake of our old speaches, and those fiue languages now vsuallie
spoken within the limits of our Iland.
INTO HOW MANIE KINGDOMS THIS ILAND HATH BEENE DIUIDED.
CAP. VII.
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