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. In Lothian there is Edinburgh City, West Lothian, Mid Lothian and East Lothian. The principal settlement in Lothian is the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. Towns include Livingston, Linlithgow, Bathgate and Dunbar.
Historically, the term Lothian is used for a province encompassing the present area plus the Scottish Borders region. The name is related to the legendary British King Loth or Lot. In the 7th century it came under the control of the northern part of the Angle Kingdom of Northumbria for a time, but Anglian grip on Lothian was quickly weakened following the Battle of Dun Nechtain in which they were defeated by the Picts. Lothian's distinction from Northumbria is indicated in the survival of its original Brythonic Celtic name, used even by English Chroniclers. In 1018 AD Lothian was annexed by the Kingdom of Scotland.[1]
Subsequent Scottish history saw Lothian subdivided into the shires of West Lothian, Midlothian and East Lothian — leading to the phrase "the Lothians". These were also known by the names of "Linlithgowshire", "Edinburghshire" and "Haddingtonshire".
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The name of Lothian is said to derive from the Brythonic name "Lleuddiniawn" (in modernised spelling), from the time of the Gododdin.
For a time, Lothian came under the control of the Kingdom of Bernicia, to the south. In due course Bernicia was united with Deira to form the Kingdom of Northumbria.
Little is recorded of Lothian's history specifically in this time. After the Norse settlements in what became Yorkshire, Northumberland was effectively cut in two. How much Norse influence spread to the English north of the Tees is uncertain. Their position must have been weakened, and by 1018 AD the King of Scots had annexed all Lothian. William of Malmesbury wrote though that Edgar King of the English ceded Lothian to Scotland in exchange for a renewed oath of fealty in the tenth century.
William the Conqueror invaded Lothian as far as the River Forth[2] but did not re-annex it. At this time Lothian appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as Loðen or Loþen.
Henry of Huntingdon describes the southern boundary of Lothian as the River Tweed, describing a meeting on that river at Roxburgh.
The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 abolished the counties and burghs as local government units, replacing them with Regions and Districts. 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 ended by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, resulting in the abolition of Lothian Regional Council, and its replacement by a unitary system of local government. The former District Council areas of West Lothian, City of Edinburgh, Midlothian and East Lothian were used as the basis for the new Councils. The last convener of Lothian Regional Council was Eric Milligan, who later served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh. Lothian Regional Council also organised a series of lectures known as the Lothian Lectures, a notable speaker was Mikhail Gorbachev.
Lothian Joint Valuation Board handles valuation and electoral registration in the region. 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.
In the post-Roman period, Lothian was dominated by Brythonic speakers whose language is generally called Cumbric and was closely related to Welsh. In Welsh tradition Lothian is part of the Hen Ogledd. Remnants can be found in placenames such as Lothian, Tranent, Linlithgow and Penicuik.[3]
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"[4] — there are some placenames from the language,[3][5] e.g. Dalry, Dunbar, Currie, Balerno and Cockenzie.
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 or Inglis, came to displace Gaelic as the language of all of lowland Scotland and over time 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. The dialects of the Lothians are sometimes considered to be part of Central Scots.
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