North Britain is a term which has been occasionally used, particularly in the 17th and 18th centuries, for either the northern part of Great Britain or Scotland, which occupies the northernmost third of the island. "North Britains" could also refer to Britons from Scotland; with North Briton later the standard spelling. Its counterparts were South Britain, generally used to refer to England and Wales and West Britain, usually referring to Ireland. Origin Early uses of the designation have been noted after the 1603 Union of the Crowns of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland. In early use the term could refer to inhabitants of Scotland as well as the country itself; since at least the late 15th century, "Britain" could be equivalent to "Briton", even being used interchangeably in early texts. Accordingly, "North Britain" was sometimes used as equivalent to "North Briton". Francis Bacon wrote in 1604 that the union made "The people to be the South-Brittains and North-Brittains". The Oxford English Dictionary cites the poet Richard Brathwait, the play Wit at Several Weapons, and Sir William Mure of Rowallan as early 17th-century appearances of the name for Scotland as a whole. King James VI and I, the first joint monarch of both kingdoms, used the terms "South Britain" and "North Britain" for England and Scotland respectively, most famously in his Proclamation of 1606 (here) establishing the first Union Flag, where Scotland and England are not otherwise named: This usage was repeated in Charles I's Proclamation of 1634 on the use of the flag, though adding England and Scotland too for explanation: After the Acts of Union 1707, Scotland was sometimes referred to as "North Britain" officially. In 1707, the Royal Scots Greys were renamed the "Royal North British Dragoons". Similarly, the "Scots" in the name of the Royal Scots Fusiliers was changed to "North British", a name which lasted until 1877, when it became the "21st (Royal Scots Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot". In 1712, The Boston News-Letter in British North America was using the term "North British". The Oxford English Dictionary cites Matthew Prior using the spelling "North Briton" in 1718. In Rob Roy (1817), Sir Walter Scott refers to a Scottish person in England as a North Briton, sometimes in the mouth of an English character but also in the authorial voice. Historic use "North Britain" is often used historically, referencing the period before the formation of Scotland