Scotlandshire
Scottish political term referring to anglicisation or its relationship with England
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Scotlandshire is a term used[1][2][3] to denote either the anglicisation of Scotland or the subordinate political relationship with England. It is recorded as early as 1706 in James Hodges's anti-Union Third Treatise.[3]
By placing the suffix -shire after the country's name, the term parodies the early modern tendency to place the word -shire after some ancient Scottish regions, as well as implicating in a tongue-in-cheek manner that Scotland has the status of an English county, rather than that of a distinct nation. Hence, the term is political in nature.
Several historic regions of Scotland have at times had the suffix -shire added when Scotland broadly adopted English-style county councils during the 19th century.[citation needed]
- Argyll - Argyllshire
- Bute (County of) - Buteshire
- Fife - Fifeshire
- Moray - Morayshire (or Elginshire)
- Ross - Ross-shire
- Sutherland - Sutherlandshire
Others have alternative names ending in -shire.
