[Ts um EDITOR or tae "SPECT.,7074"] SIR,—Allow me to correct
a slip in your last issue. Ireland has never been known as Parva Britannia. In Gregory of Tours and later chroniclers Britannia may stand equally well for Great Britain and Brittany. In the Lives of British, Saints Brittany is often termed Britannia Minor, when there is a possibility of confusion. The French to this day dis- tinguish between Bretagne (Brittany) and Grande Bretagne. Except in the comprehensive term "British" or "Britannic Isles," the name "Britannia" has never been extended to
[We cannot, we are sorry to say, give chapter and verse, but we are strongly under the impression that in the old maps- i.e., those of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries—Ireland was sometimes marked as Parva Britannia and England and Scotland as Magna Britannia—the two forming Britain or the British Isles. Does our correspondent suggest that the diplomatic form, "His Britannic Majesty," is wrong, and should be "His United Kingdom Majesty"? We suggest that he should look at the text of the Royal Proclamation— referred to in the Act of Union with Ireland—in which the Royal title is set forth.—ED. Spectator.]
Previous page
