The Roman Map of Britain Sillina? Scilly Isles
Corsula (R&C
275) next
Silumnus, var. Silimnus Pliny NH iv
103
Sylinancim insulam, var Sylinam insulam Sulpicius
Severus II 51 3-4
Sillanes insulae 925-930
Syllingar 1150
Sully 1193
Sillinis insulis Camden
While Corsula
is often considered an error for insula1, consideration should
be made of another possibility. Corsula is positioned first on the
cosmographer's island list. The listing, which proceeds from the south to the
north, would logically begin with the Scilly Isles.
If Cor- were considered intrusive2, the
remaining sequence of SULA (or SILLA) would have fit into
the etymology of Scilly. Mona, the next entry, could have
contributed further to the name's corruption.
PNRB pp. 457-9 presents a detailed discussion of the
name.
1. It could be an assimilation to the
name of the Umbrian town of Corsula.
2. A text divider followed by a mark resembling an apostrophe ( /' ) could have
provided the initial Cor-.