Lothian (Lowden in Scots, Lodainn in Gaelic) forms a traditional region of Scotland, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills. Constituencies and council areas The City of Edinburgh and the West Lothian council areas are entirely within the region Scots ( The Scots leid) refers to Anglic varieties derived from early northern Middle English spoken in parts of Scotland and Northern Scottish Gaelic ( Gàidhlig) is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. The Firth of Forth ( Scottish Gaelic: Linne Foirthe) is the Estuary or Firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows The Lammermuir Hills, usually simply called the Lammermuirs ( An Lomair Mòr in Gaelic) (occasionally Anglicised Lammermoors) in southern

Historically, the term Lothian is used for a province encompassing the present area plus the Scottish Borders region. The Scottish Borders, often referred to simply as the Borders, is one of 32 local government council areas of Scotland. The name is related to the legendary British King Loth or Lot. The Brythonic languages (or Brittonic languages or British languages) form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family the other being Lot or Loth is king of Lothian, Orkney, and sometimes Norway in the Arthurian legend. In the 7th century it became the northern part of the Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria.

Subsequent Scottish history saw Lothian subdivided into the shires of West Lothian, Midlothian and East Lothian — leading to the phrase "the Lothians". The counties of Scotland were the principal divisions of Scotland until 1975 West Lothian ( Lodainn an Iar in Gaelic) is one of the 32 unitary Council areas in Scotland, and a Lieutenancy area. Midlothian ( Meadhan Lodainn in Gaelic) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. East Lothian ( Lodainn an Ear in Gaelic) is one of 32 Unitary council areas in Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. Occasionally these were known by the anglicised names of "Linlithgowshire", "Edinburghshire" and "Haddingtonshire", which omitted all reference to Lothian. Linlithgow ( pronounced) ( Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Iucha, Scots Lithgae) is a town and former Royal Burgh in Haddington is a town and former Royal Burgh in East Lothian, Scotland

Lothian Regional Council (1975–1994)

The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 abolished the counties and burghs as local government units, replacing them with Regions and Districts. The Local Government (Scotland Act 1973 (1973 c 65 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, that reformed local government in Scotland The regions and districts of Scotland were established under the Local Government (Scotland Act 1973 as a two-tier system of Local government in Scotland. Lothian Regional Council formally took over responsibility in May 1975.

The Region was responsible for education, social work, water, sewerage, transport (including local buses within Edinburgh). Certain services provided by joint boards with neighbouring Borders Regional Council - notably for Lothian & Borders Police and the Lothian & Borders Fire Brigade. These joint authorities continue.

The two-tier system of local government was criticised by some as providing needless duplication. Lothian Regional Council was abolished in 1994, replaced by a unitary system of local government from 1996. The former District Council areas of West Lothian, City of Edinburgh, Midlothian and East Lothian were used as the basis for the new Councils. Edinburgh ( ˈɛdɪnb(ərə Dùn Èideann) is the Capital of Scotland and is its second largest city after Glasgow. The last convener of Lothian Regional Council was Eric Milligan, who later served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh. Eric Milligan may refer to Eric Milligan (politician, Scottish politician Eric Milligan (rugby player, Scottish rugby player Lothian Regional Council also organised a series of lectures known as the Lothian Lectures, a notable speaker was Mikhail Gorbachev. Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev ( Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachyov;; born 2 March 1931 in Privolnoye Stavropol Krai) is a Russian politician

Lothian continues to have joint boards for valuation and electoral registration. Lothian Health Board (NHS) was not a local government responsibility.

The name lived on in the LRT, or Lothian Regional Transport, bus company, known as Lothian Buses from 2000, and the NHS Lothian trust. Lothian Buses Plc is the largest municipal bus company in the United Kingdom and the largest provider of Bus services in Edinburgh, NHS Lothian is one of the fourteen regions of NHS Scotland. It provides healthcare services in the City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Mid Lothian

Language

In the post-Roman period, Lothian was dominated by Brythonic speakers whose language was akin to Welsh and Cornish and came to be part of Hen Ogledd. The Brythonic languages (or Brittonic languages or British languages) form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family the other being Welsh ( cy Cymraeg or cy y Gymraeg, kəmˈrɑːɨɡ and {{IPA|[ə ɡəmˈrɑːɨɡ]}}, is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic For the Cornish-English dialect see West Country dialects and List of Cornish dialect words. Yr Hen Ogledd is a Welsh term meaning 'The Old North' and referring to the sub-Roman Brythonic kingdoms of what is now Northern England Remnants can be found in placenames such as Lothian, Tranent, Linlithgow and Penicuik ^[1]. Tranent is a town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is close to the A1 road and approximately 11 miles east of Edinburgh. Linlithgow ( pronounced) ( Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Iucha, Scots Lithgae) is a town and former Royal Burgh in Penicuik is a burgh in Midlothian, Scotland, lying on the west bank of the River North Esk.

Lothian is notable in Scotland for being the only part of the nation to have been mainly Anglo-Saxon throughout the history of the Kingdom of Scotland and was described by Adam of Dryburgh as "The land of the English in the Kingdom of the Scots". For their language see Anglo-Saxon language. Anglo-Saxon is the term usually used to describe the invading Tribes in the south The Kingdom of Scotland ( Gaelic: Rìoghachd na h-Alba, Scots: Kinrick o Scotland) was a State in northwest Europe Adam of Dryburgh (c 1140 &ndash 1212 was a late 12th and early 13th century Anglo - Scottish theologian writer and Premonstratensian and Carthusian

Although one of the few areas of mainland Scotland where the Gaelic language did not achieve dominance — the presence of the language is attributed to the "temporary occupation…the presence of a landowning Gaelic-speaking aristocracy and their followers for something like 150-200 years" ^[2] — there are some placenames from the language ^[1][3], e. Scottish Gaelic ( Gàidhlig) is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. g. Dalry, Dunbar, Balerno and Cockenzie. Dalry is an area close to the centre of the Scottish capital Edinburgh. Dunbar is a town in East Lothian on the southeast coast of Scotland, approximately 30 miles east of Edinburgh and 28 miles from the English Border Balerno is a Suburb of the Scottish capital Edinburgh. It is considered one of the wealthier suburbs and lies to the far south west of the city next Cockenzie and Port Seton (The local pronunciation of the name is "Koh- kinn -ie" Scottish Gaelic: Cùl Choinnich, meaning cove of Kenneth

Over time and due to various factors the language of the Lothians and the former Kingdom of Northumbria, a northern variety of Middle English, also known as Early Scots came to displace Gaelic as the language of lowland Scotland and adopted for itself the name "Scottis" ("Scots") which had previously been used to refer to Gaelic, which later became known as "Erse" ("Irish") — now considered derogatory. Middle English is the name given by Historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion of Early Scots describes the emerging literary language of the Northern Middle English speaking parts of Scotland in the period before 1450 The dialects of the Lothians, are sometimes considered to be part of Central Scots. Central Scots is a group of Dialects of Scots language. It was spoken by Robert Burns.

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Ancient Lothian. cyberscotia. net.
2. ^ W. F. H. Nicolaisen (2001). Scottish Place Names. John Donald Publishers, 240 pp. ISBN 0-859-76556-3.  
3. ^ Craig Cockburn. "Gaelic roots need to be unearthed", BBC News, 2005-11-02. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1570 - A Tidal wave in the North Sea devastates the coast from Holland to Jutland, killing more than 1000  

External links

• Lothian Buses
• NHS Lothian