Is there a connection among ancient Scythia, Scotland and Ireland?

Scythia was the ancient Greek designation for the vast expanse of the Eurasian steppes. The Scythians' territory, often termed Greater Scythia by ancient sources, extended across the Pontic-Caspian steppe, including modern-day Ukraine, southern Russia, and parts of the Caucasus and Central Asia, with cultural influences reaching as far as Siberia and the fringes of China. The Scythians were a confederation of nomadic Iranian-speaking tribes who emerged as a dominant force from the 8th to 7th centuries BC. These horse-riding pastoralists, skilled in archery and warfare, maintained a mobile lifestyle centered on herding and raiding, leaving behind no written records but abundant archaeological evidence in the form of elaborate kurgan (mound) burials.

During the Hellenistic period, the use of "Scythia" by Greek and Latin speakers was extended to also cover the southern Russian steppe in general, as well as the entire treeless steppe bounded by the Danubian plains in the west and the Chinese marches in the east.

Greater Scythia

Beginning in the late 4th century BC, another related nomadic Iranian people, the Sarmatians, moved from the east into the Pontic steppe, where they replaced the Scythians as the dominant power of that area. Due to the Sarmatian incursion, "Sarmatia Europea" (European Sarmatia) replaced "Scythia" as the name for the region.

In this blog we have covered some of the red-haired tribes that lived in that area.

The Budini (around 800 – 500 BC)

The Kipchaks and the Thracians

The Kipchaks in Eurasia, around 1200

Thrace within the Roman Empire

We also covered tribes a bit distant from that area, but which probably had ties with it.

The Yenisei Kyrgyz (3rd century BC - 13th century AD)

The Tarim Mummies (1800 BC - first centuries BC)

The Alat tribe

The Alat tribe probably lived in the area circled in red

Here’s what Wikipedia writes about Scythians’ physical appearance.

The Greek physician Hippocrates described the Scythians as having "ruddy" skin, which he attributed to the cold climate in which they lived. Callimachus and Clement of Alexandria described the Scythians as having "light" (xanthon) hair, Polemon recorded that Scythians had "red" (rubris) hair and "blue-grey" (glaucis) eyes, Galen wrote that the northern peoples such as Germans, Illyrians, Dalmatians, Sarmatians and Scythians had "reddish" (purrhas) hair, and Adamantius claimed that the Scythians had "light" (xanthe) and "whitish" (hupoleukos) hair.

And, apparently, these ancient descriptions are consistent with modern DNA analysis. I quote from the same page.

Most of the Scythians were predicted to have brown or blond hair, with a notable proportion of blue-eyed individuals. Several Scythians had MC1R gene variants associated with red hair, freckles, and skin, with a tendency to sunburn. Overall, these results are consistent with the descriptions of the Scythians provided by historical sources. (The genetic history of Scythia)

 But is there a connection between Scythia and the British Isles?

Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum

We find a first connections in the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum  (Ecclesiastical History of the English People) written by Bede the Venerable in about AD 731.

As you can read here (page 24), the Picts sailed from Scythia and landed on the northern shores of Ireland. Here, they begged the Scots to be allowed to settle among them, but the Scots replied that the island could not contain them both, so they suggested the Picts to move to the island nearby, called Britain. The Picts accepted and began to inhabit the northern parts of Britain. However, since they had no wives, they asked them of the Scots, who consented only on the condition that the Picts would choose a king from the female royal race rather than from the male.

Lebor Gabàla Erenn

The name Scythia comes back in The book of Ireland’s taking (Lebor Gabàla Erenn), a collection of poems and prose narratives in the Irish language intended to be a history of Ireland and the Irish from the creation of the world to the Middle Ages. There are a number of versions, the earliest of which was compiled by an anonymous writer in the 11th century.

Here, we read that Fénius Farsaid is the forebear of the Gaels. Fénius, a prince of Scythia, is described as one of 72 chieftains who built the Tower of Babel. His son Nel weds Scota, daughter of the Egyptian pharaoh Cingris, and they have a son named Goídel Glas. Goídel crafts the Goidelic (Gaelic) language from the original 72 languages that arose after the confusion of tongues. Goídel's offspring, the Goidels (Gaels), leave Egypt at the same time as the Israelites (the Exodus) and settle in Scythia. After some time, they leave Scythia and spend 440 years travelling the Earth, undergoing trials and tribulations akin to those of the Israelites. Eventually, they conquer Iberia, where Goídel's descendant Breogán founds a city called Brigantia (apparently, modern-day A Coruña). The first people to arrive in Ireland are led by Cessair, daughter of Bith, son of Noah. They are told to go to the western edge of the world to escape the oncoming Flood, so they set out in three ships, but two are lost at sea. They land in Ireland, at Dún na mBárc on Bantry Bay, forty days before the Flood. 

The Declaration of Arbroath

Last but not least we have the Declaration of Arbroath, a letter, dated 6 April 1320 at Arbroath, written by Scottish barons and addressed to Pope John XXII. It constituted King Robert I's response to his excommunication for disobeying the pope's demand in 1317 for a truce in the First War of Scottish Independence. The letter asserted the antiquity of the independence of the Kingdom of Scotland, denouncing English attempts to subjugate it. Submitted in Latin, the Declaration was little known until the late 17th century, and is unmentioned by any of Scotland's major 16th-century historians. In the 1680s, the Latin text was printed for the first time and translated into English in the wake of the Glorious Revolution, after which time it was sometimes described as a declaration of independence.

Here are the first lines: 

Most Holy Father and Lord, we know from the deeds of the ancients and we read from books -- because among the other great nations of course, our nation of Scots has been described in many publications -- that crossing from Greater Scythia, via the Tyrhennian Sea and the Pillars of Hercules, and living in Spain among the fiercest tribes for many years, it could be conquered by no one anywhere, no matter how barbarous the tribes. Afterwards, coming from there, one thousand two hundred years from the Israelite people's crossing of the Red Sea, to its home in the west, which it now holds, having first thrown out the Britons and completely destroyed the Picts, and even though it was often attacked by the Norse, the Danes and the English, it fought back with many victories and countless labours…

Full text here.

Modern scholars agree that the goal of these texts was to provide a history for Ireland and Scotland that could compare to that of Rome or Israel, and which was compatible with Christian teaching. Probably, Bede mentioned Scythia because this land was seen both as ancient and barbarian, and obviously the Irish and the Scottish people never doubted what Bede wrote. So, a Scythian origin was useful to legitimate their ancient cultures.

However, it is also worth noting that here the editor of Bede’s Ecclesiastic History writes that by Scythia Bede meant Scandinavia.

As of now, modern DNA analyses don’t show a connection between ancient Scythians and ancient Picts.

I quote from Wikipedia:

A study published in 2023 sequenced the whole genomes from eight individuals associated with the Pictish period, excavated from cemeteries at Lundin Links in Fife and Balintore, Easter Ross. The study observed "broad affinities" between the mainland Pictish genomes, Iron Age Britons and the present-day people living in western Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Northumbria, but less with the rest of England, supporting the current archaeological theories of a "local origin" of the Pictish people.

The same goes for the Gaels.

In any case, it’s interesting that a connection exists, although “mythical”, among these red-haired peoples. It’s also interesting the connection with Egypt, since some of the ancient pharaohs had red hair. Besides, we know that sometimes myths have some truth in them, so it is possible that, in some way we don’t know yet, this connection among these peoples is real. 

 

More red-haired ancient tribes: the Budini

The Budini were an ancient Scythian tribe that lived in the valley of the Vorskla river (we’ll get back to Scythia in a following and more detailed post).

During the 6th century BC, the city of Gelonus was built in the country of the Budini, where the Gelonians set up an important industrial, commercial, and political centre. The Budini and Gelonians both lived in Gelonus, although each population lived in separate sections of the city: the Gelonians in the eastern earthwork, the Budini in the western earthwork. The Budini led a largely nomadic life and were dependent on hunting otters, beavers, and other animals, whose skin they used to make cloaks. It seems they engaged in ritual cannibalism.

Herodotus of Halicarnassus’s Histories is the main ancient source about the Budini. In Book IV, chapter 108 (or 109, depending on the edition) Herodotus mentions Budini’s red hair.

Here’s the Greek version along with the English translation.

Greek:

Βουδῖνοι δέ, ἔθνος ἐὸν μέγα καὶ πολλόν, γλαυκόν τε πᾶν ἰσχυρῶς ἐστι καὶ πυρρόν.

γλαυκόν comes from γλαυκός (glaucòs) which means bluish green, blue, grey  This is the same root of a word like glaucoma.

πυρρόν comes from πυρρός (pyrròs) which means flame-coloured, red, tawny, yellowish red and it was also used for red-haired people  This is the same root of words such as pyromaniac or pyrotechnics.

English: 

The Budini are a large and powerful nation: they have all deep blue eyes and bright red hair.

Obviously, one could wonder how reliable Herodotus is, and, as a matter of fact, some historians claimed he never visited those lands, and that his work is based only on second-hand Greek sources.

However, according to this article, he was quite accurate. I quote from the conclusion:

“In summary, we can see that Hero­dotus gives relatively accurate descriptions of the way of life of the nomads who were in fairly close contact with the Greeks, as, for example, in his description of the burial process. But he is considerably more vague about details of tribes far away, where the evidence he had was hearsay and passed through many hands, as in his discussion of the Agrippaeans. He does, however, have a tendency to exaggerate, or to generalize from specific or unique observations. Nevertheless, from a comparison with currently available archaeological evidence, it is clear that Hero­dotus as an ethnographer was more often right than wrong.”

So, probably, not all Budini had red hair and blue eyes, but some of them did.

More posts about ancient redheads: The Yenisei Kyrgyz, More Red-Haired Ancient Tribes,  Did Genghis Khan and His Son Have Red Hair?, The Tarim Mummies, The Red-Haired Mummies of Peru and Chile, Pliny's Natural History and red hair (maybe). 

Red Hair in Art: Gaston Bussière

 Gaston Bussière (April 24, 1862 – October 29, 1928 or 1929) was a French Symbolist painter and illustrator.

He found inspiration in the theatre works of Berlioz (La Damnation de Faust) as well as William Shakespeare and Richard Wagner. He became in demand as an illustrator, creating works for major authors. He illustrated Honoré de Balzac's Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes published in 1897, Émaux et camées, written by Théophile Gautier, as well as Oscar Wilde's Salomé. He also illustrated several works by Flaubert.

Elsa and Lohengrin

Juventa

Les iris

Helen of Troy

Brunhild

Tristan and Iseult

Ophelia

Embrace in Evening Light

Leilah

Red Hair in Art: Teodor Axentowicz

Teodor Axentowicz (13 May 1859 – 26 August 1938) was a Polish-Armenian painter and university professor. He was also the rector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków.

Axentowicz was born in Brassó, Hungary (now Brașov, Romania), to a family of Polish-Armenian ancestry. Between 1879 and 1882 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. From there he moved to Paris, where he started a long cooperation with various journals and started his career as a copyist. He also made numerous travels to London and Rome. In 1893, while he was in London, he married Iza Henrietta Gielgud, daughter of politician Adam Giełgud as well as aunt of Val and John Gielgud of the theatrical dynasty.

In 1895 Axentowicz moved to Kraków, where he became a professor at the local Academy of Fine Arts. He was also active in the local society and cooperated with various societies devoted to propagation of arts and crafts. In 1897 he founded an artistic conservatory for women and soon afterwards became one of the founders of the Sztuka, the Society of Polish Artists.

Throughout his life he had numerous exhibitions, both in Poland and abroad and was awarded many gold medals at both national and international exhibitions.

The red-haired model we see in many of his paintings is Ata Zakrzewska.

Poster for the 2nd exhibition of the Society of Polish Artists "Sztuka" (Ata Zakrzewska)

Wiosna (The Spring, Ata Zakrzewska)

Jesien (Autumn)

Przed lustrem (In front of a Mirror)

Portrait of a Young Woman in Krakòw Costume

Young Lady with Pearls

Rudowlosa (The Redhead)

Portrait of a Lady with a Fur

Rudowłosa 1 (The Redhead, Ata Zakrzewska)

Rudowlosa 2  (The Redhead, Ata Zakrzewska)

Portrait of Sarah Bernhardt in the third act of Tosca

Portrait of Ata Zakrzewska With A Fan

Red Hair in Art: Helene Schjerfbeck

Helena (Helene) Sofia Schjerfbeck (July 10, 1862 – January 23, 1946) was a Finnish modernist painter known for her realist works and self-portraits, and also for her landscapes and still lifes. Throughout her long life her work changed dramatically, beginning with French-influenced realism and plein air painting. It gradually evolved towards portraits and still life paintings. At the beginning of her career she often produced historical paintings.

Schjerbeck's birthday, July 10, is Finland's national day for the painted arts.

Redhaired Girl

Girl Against a Green Background

Fragment

Figure Study

Red Hair in Art: Marianne Stokes

 Marianne Stokes (née Preindlsberger; 1855–1927) was an Austrian painter.

She was born in Graz, Styria and first studied in Munich. Then, having been awarded a scholarship for her first picture, she moved to France. In 1883 she visited Pont-Aven (Brittany, France), where she met the landscape painter Adrian Scott Stokes (1854–1935), whom she married a year later.

The two lived in St Ives (Cornwall) and regularly travelled abroad, frequently to the Tyrol, and in 1905 to Hungary and the High Tatra. Here they spent about half a year sketching and painting in the villages of Važec, Mengusovce and Ždiar. Adrian Stokes concentrated on landscapes, with images of hay-harvesting and picturesque cottages, while Marianne Stokes painted portraits showing the fine detail of the garments. These paintings provide a valuable record of the Slovak culture.

Marianne Stokes was an Associate of the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours.

The Passing Train

The Garlic Seller

An Angel

A Tearful Child

The Frog Prince

Madonna and Child

Red Hair in Art: Phoebe Anna Traquair

Phoebe Anna Traquair (24 May 1852 – 4 August 1936) was an Irish-born artist, who achieved international recognition for her role in the Arts and Crafts movement in Scotland as an illustrator, painter and embroiderer. Her works included large-scale murals, embroidery, enamel jewellery and book illuminations. In 1920, she was elected as an honorary member of the Royal Scottish Academy.

Phoebe's elder brother was William Richardson Moss, a keen art collector who owned a number of works by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Traquair shared with her brother this love of art, including a particular fascination with the work of Rossetti and that of William Blake, and her style and choice of subject matter remained deeply influenced by Blake and Rossetti's art and poetry throughout her life.

Phoebe Anna Traquair, Self-portrait

During 1885 and 1886, Traquair created a series of murals for the Mortuary Chapel of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh. The mural is of Three Maidens (Divine Powers) which is bordered by images within lunettes of writers, artists and critics, such as Edward Burne-Jones, William Bell Scott, Noel Paton and John Ruskin. This was her first work as a professional artist. The work was completed in 1886 and before the building was further developed in 1894, the murals were transferred to a new site and Traquair restored and installed them, albeit in a simpler composition, between 1896 and 1898.

Her murals of the song school of St Mary's Cathedral (1888–92) won Traquair national recognition. Within a tunnel-vaulted interior, the east wall depicts the cathedral clergy and choir. The south wall depicts Traquair's admired contemporaries such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Holman Hunt, and George Frederic Watts. 

Salvation of Mankind (detail)

Traquair's best-known work is in the vast former Catholic Apostolic Church (1893–1901) on Mansfield Place (now called the Mansfield Traquair Centre) at the foot of Broughton Street, which has been called "Edinburgh’s Sistine Chapel", and "a jewelled crown". It was this work which "helped to confirm her international recognition."

Traquair was a prolific artist who, as well as her murals and embroidery, produced hundreds of pieces of jewellery. She was invited to exhibit at the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893, and her four silk-embroidered panels The Progress of the Soul were displayed in St. Louis in 1904.

The Red Cross Knight

St. George slaying the dragon (detail)

The four panels of The Progression of the Soul

For more pictures: Wikimedia Commons, Postcard from Scotland: The Embroideries of Phoebe Anna Traquair, Phoebe Anna Traquair by Adèle Geras, Phoebe Anna Traquair at the Art UK site.