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Answer:
The Scots were a Gaelic-speaking tribe
from N.E.Ireland who settled in the west of Alba (the Gaelic name for Scotland).
Given the geographical closeness of the two countries it was inevitable that
there would be trading and cultural links. Over time more and more of the Irish began
to settle on the west coast of Scotland and they founded the kingdom of Dalriada
around the C5th. For most of the time there was a
peaceful co-existence between the Scots and the Picts - the Scots in the west
and the Picts in the east. There was dynastic rivalry but also intermarrige
between the two and they were finally united under the kingship of the Scot,
Kenneth MacAlpin (who is believed to have ancestors on both sides) in the face
of Viking raids. Opinion is divided as to whether this was a merger or a
takeover. It's probably significant that the surviving name for this union was
'Scot' and not 'Pict'; and that the Gaelic langauge has survived and the Pictish
has not. We have no idea what the Picts called their country but the word
'Pictavia' has been used to describe the eastern Pictish heartland. It wouldn't
be right to say that Scotland has Irish origins. The name certainly is derived
from these Irish settlers but Scotland was settled by many people: Picts, Irish,
Britons, Angles, Saxons, Scandinavians and so on. The Irish influence is just
one of many.
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