Friday, April 6, 2012

Isla


Meet Isla (Vinlands Isla).

Owners of the name Isla have energy, drive and ambition.

Islay is the name of an island in the Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland and is known today for birdwatching and malt whiskey. It is also the name of two rivers in Scotland.




One story suggests that the name derives from a Pictish princess called Ile, who lived around 650-700 AD.

The earliest known reference to Islay comes in the biography of the Irish saint, Columba, written in about 720 AD. St Columba visited Islay on his way north, before starting the famous monastery on the island of Iona, off the south-west tip of Mull. At that time it was called 'Ilea' and was described as an inhabited green island. In a text in 740, it is spelled 'Ili'; by 1095 it had become Yle. From then on, it is commonly Ila, Yla and Ilay. The present spelling was not widely adopted until about 1800.

Another theory about the name comes from a story about a Danish Princess called Iula who left Denmark with an apron full of stones of different sizes. As she traveled, some of the stones fell out, becoming Ireland, Rathlin and Texa. The remainder of the stones fell out and became the string of islands from Ardbeg to Kildalton. She perished in the soft sands off that coast and was taken to Seonais Hill above Loch Cnoc and buried there. In 1794 a grave there was attributed to "a daughter of one of the Kings of Denmark" and it's marked by two small standing stones about 10 m apart. Islay is said to have gotten its name from this lady, or perhaps she may have taken her name from Islay.

Isla is a tricolor (black, tan and white) female with a full collar and blaze. She has double dewclaws on both rear feet.

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