5 Albion was the first recorded name for the island of Britain, which was known to the Greeks in the 6th century B.C. as the “island of the Albiones.” This usage persisted for a thousand years. The venerable Bede began his History of the English Church and People thus: “Britannia, oceani insula, cui quondam Albion nomen fuit …” (Historical Works, ed. J. E. King (2 vols., London, 1929), I, 1011). The connotation of Albion changed through time; the Romans made “Albion” into a Latin pun on albus, “white,” for the cliffs of Dover. In German, it is still erroneously translated Weissland, “white land.” In French, “Albion” has become a pejorative for a nation which is thought to preach high ideals but not to practice them; an example was Napoleon’s sneer against “Albion perfide.” In the 19th century, romantic poets made Albion into an ornate alias for England rather than Britain, which was its original meaning.