Alba

(Provençal) Term for a troubadour poem in which lovers part at dawn after a furtive nocturnal meeting. Among the few such poems that survive only two have music, by Giraut de Bomelh and Cadenet.

Examples of this medieval lyric genre usually exhibit a popularizing tone, with relatively unsophisticated versification and the use of a refrain containing the word alba (dawn). They combine affective and narrative elements: there may be a narrator and one or more speakers, and the passage of time is crucial since the song is a response to dawn, when lovers must separate. The earliest known example is a macaronic text from Fleurysur-Loire. The Occitan corpus is difficult to define; 18 examples are collected by Martin de Riquer (1944), but only nine plus a further four possible ones in B. Woledge's contribution to Eos: An Inquiry into the Theme of Lovers' Meetings and Partings at Dawn in Poetry (ed. A. T. Hatto, 1965), Woledge's criteria being more stringent and his collection correspondingly more homogeneous. Even so, the character of the alba varies widely: though many are anonymous, others are attributed to well-known troubadours; and though most are resolutely secular, there are several whose main tonality is religious, the most famous being that by Giraut de Bornelh. As a result, the origins of the genre are surrounded in controversy: is it clerical, and closely related to dawn hymns, or popular, and connected with other quasi-narrative lyric genres? The alba was clearly most successful in Occitania. There are five Old French examples in Woledge, and the form was also exploited in other languages.

[Sarah Kay]

The Scottish Gaelic and Modern Irish name for Scotland; see also ALBU.

Bibliography

• T. F. O'Rahilly, “‘On the Name Alba’”, in Early Irish History and Mythology (Dublin, 1946), 385–7

[AHL-bah] An important wine town of about 30,000 people situated in the wine-producing area south of Turin in Italy's piedmont region. Several Italian docs use Alba in their name-barbera d'alba, dolcetto d'alba, nebbiolo d'alba and Dolcetto di Diano d'Alba. The well-known DOCGs of barolo and barbaresco are also near Alba. In addition to red wines, the area around Alba is also known for its white truffles.

This article is about a name for Scotland. For other uses please see Alba (disambiguation)

Look up Alba in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Coronation of King Alexander III on Moot Hill, Scone on 13 July 1249. He is being greeted by the ollamh rígh, the royal poet, who is addressing him with the proclamation "Benach De Re Albanne" (= Beannachd Dé Rígh Alban, "God Bless the King of Scotland"); the poet goes on to recite Alexander's genealogy.

Alba is the Scottish Gaelic name (pronounced [ˈaɫapə]) for Scotland. It is cognate to Alba in Irish and Nalbin in Manx, the other Goidelic Insular Celtic language, as well as similar words in the Brythonic Insular Celtic languages of Cornish (Alban) and Welsh (Yr Alban) also meaning Scotland.

Contents 1 Etymoloy 2 Modern uses 3 References 4 See also

Etymoloy

The term first appears in classical texts as Ἂλβιον or Αλουίων (in Ptolemy's writings), later as Albion in Latin documents. Historically, the term refers to Britain as a whole and is ultimately based on the Indo-European root for "white".^[1] Roughly by the ninth or tenth centuries, it came to be used in the form of Alba (dative Albainn, genitive Albann, now obsolete) by Gaelic speakers a the name given to the kingdoms of the Picts north of the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde, traditionally regarded to have been conquered by Kenneth MacAlpin. The region Breadalbane (Bràghad Albainn, the upper part of "Alba") takes its name from it as well.

As time passed that kingdom incorporated others to the southern territories. It became re-Latinized in the High Medieval period as "Albania" (it is unclear whether it may ultimately share the same etymon as the modern Albania). This latter word was employed mainly by Celto-Latin writers, and most famously by Geoffrey of Monmouth. It was this word which passed into Middle English as Albany, although very rarely was this used for the Kingdom of Scotland, but rather for the notional Duchy of Albany. From the latter the capital of the U.S. state of New York, Albany, takes its name.

Modern uses

Scotland welcomes arrivals on the A7, Fàilte gu Alba

Michel Roger Lafosse who claims the Scottish throne, has styled himself as "HRH Prince Michael James Alexander Stewart, 7th Count of Albany" since 1978.

Runrig recorded a song called Alba on their album, The Cutter And The Clan.

In the mid-1990s, the Celtic League started a campaign to have the word "Alba" on the Scottish football and rugby tops. Since 2005, the SFA have supported the use of Scots Gaelic by adding Alba on the back of the official team strip.^[2] However, the SRU is still being lobbied to have "Alba" on the national rugby strip.^[3][4]

A satellite television channel aimed at the Scottish Gaelic community, BBC Alba, was launched in September 2008 and is a joint venture between MG Alba and the BBC.

A new welcome sign on the historic A7 route into Scotland was erected in 2009, with the text Fàilte gu Alba.

References

1. ^ MacBain, A An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language Gairm 1896, reprinted 1982 ISBN 901771 68 6
2. ^ "BBC Scotland - Gaelic added to Scotland strips". http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/5282936.stm. 
3. ^ Scottish Rugby Union: "Put 'Alba' on Scottish Ruby Shirt" | Facebook
4. ^ "BBC Alba - Gàidhlig air lèintean rugbaidh na h-Alba". http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/alba/naidheachdan/story/2008/06/080624_rugby_gaelic.shtml. 

See also

• Albanactus
• Kingdom of Alba
• Caledonia
• Scotia

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