The Curious Case of Scythia, Scotland and Ireland: From The Declaration of Arbroath to the Picts
Channel: Celtic History Decoded
Date: 2023-03-26

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The Curious Case of Scythia, Scotland and Ireland: From The Declaration of Arbroath to the Picts

In the 1320 Declaration of Arbroath, which was a letter signed by the Scottish nobility and sent to the Pope, asking him to recognise Scotland’s independence and Robert the Bruce as King, there is a curious reference to “greater Scythia.” The declaration states that the Scots “journeyed from Greater Scythia by way of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Pillars of Hercules, and dwelt for a long course of time in Spain… Thence it came, twelve hundred years after the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea, to its home in the west where it still lives today.” 

This is a subject I have previously covered but I wanted to revisit it as it’s so interesting. Scythians, after all, who were known for their equestrian skills, occupied a region that stretched from the Black Sea area of eastern Europe through the Russian steppe region and into parts of Afghanistan and other central Asian Republics. 

The Crimea region was apparently the centre of their powerful empire at points in their history. The Greeks referred to Scythia as all lands northeast of the Black Sea, and Scythia refers to both a region and various peoples and nomadic empires that emerged from this culture. The Greek historian Herodotus said that the Scythians name for themselves was the Scoloti. 
They existed in various forms from around the 8th century BC to around 2nd or 3rd century AD, coming under increasing pressure from the Sarmatians starting around the 3rd century BC. 

Some interesting points to note about the Scythians are that some Scythian women reportedly had fair hair and blue eyes, whilst some of the men had red hair. Certain sources also suggested that some Scythians had white hair, with these people referred to as Albani (Cowan 1984: 122). It is at least interesting to note that Scotland in Gaelic is called Alba, pronounced Alipa in Gaelic. Scythians also had a strong tradition of tattoos.  

Yet can we give any credence to this origin story of the Scots? What has an ancient people of the Ukraine, Russian Steppe region got to do with Scotland? I would love your thoughts below on this and any interesting sources you have come across.

Sources:

The Declaration of Arbroath, National Records of Scotland https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/Declaration 

Introducing the Scythians https://blog.britishmuseum.org/introducing-the-scythians/ 

Scythian https://www.britannica.com/topic/Scythian

Bede - Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Oxford University Press) quote from p.10. 

Bede, Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bede 

Cowan, E. (2008) For Freedom Alone: The Declaration of Arbroath, 1320 (Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited). 

Cowan, E. (1984). Myth and Identity in Early Medieval Scotland. The Scottish Historical Review, 63(176), 111-135.

Johnson, B. St Andrew, Patron Saint of Scotland, Historic UK https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/St-Andrew-Patron-Saint-of-Scotland/ 

Mackay, N. (26 April, 2020) The Picts: who really were our mythical ancestors? The Herald https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18406153.picts-really-mythical-ancestors/

National Records of Scotland, The Declaration of Arbroath: 700th Anniversary Display (1320-2020) https://www.nrscotland.govuk/files/research/NRS_DoA_English_booklet_700_Spreads_WEB.pdf

Scotland’s History (BBC) The Kingdom of the Gaels https://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/history/articles/kingdom_of_the_gaels/

The British Museum, Blog (30 May 2017) Introducing the Scythians https://blog.britishmuseum.org/introducing-the-scythians/

The Scotsman – The Newsroom (30 March, 2016) A brief history of the ancient Pict Kingdoms of Scotland https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/brief-history-ancient-pict-kingdoms-scotland-1479792 

The Scotsman, The Newsroom (13 Sep. 2006) The pharaoh's daughter who was the mother of all Scots https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/pharaohs-daughter-who-was-mother-all-scots-2507668 

Ancient Origins - Piecing Together the Origins of Ancient Near East Names in Scotland https://www.ancient-origins.net/history/piecing-origins-ancient-names-scotland-0010113 

#scotland #scythian #history 

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:40 Scythians 
2:37 Scythia and Scotland 
3:11 Saint Andrew 
3:44 Picts, Ireland and Scythia 
5:16 Scots, Egyptian Scota and Scythia