Caledonia
A country in the north of Britain, now called Scotland. The ancient Caledonia comprehended
all those countries which lay to the north of the Forth and the Clyde. It was never completely subdued by the Romans, though Agricola penetrated to the Tay, and
Severus into the very heart of the country. The name is probably the Latinized form of the
native name, Calido, and
first appears in Lucan (vi. 68). The root is found in the Welsh
celydd, “a woody retreat.” The Romans also called it Britannia
Barbara.
See Tac.
Agric. 11, 25, 26, 27; Marcell. xxvii. 8;
Plin. H. N. iv. 16; Ptolemy, ii. 3; Wilson,
Prehistoric Annals
of Scotland; Rhys,
Celtic Britain (2d ed. 1884); and the
article
Britannia.