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AN INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

By JAMES MACPHERSON, Eſq

DUBLIN: Printed for JAMES WILLIAMS, at No 5. in Skinner-Row. M,DCC,LXXI.

PREFACE.

[]

INquiries into antiquity are ſo little the taſte of the preſent age, that a writer who employs his time in that way deceives himſelf if he expects to derive either much reputation or any advantage from his work. Prejudiced againſt the ſubject, we add contempt to its natural ſterility, and ſeem to wiſh for no information from a province which we have been taught to aſſign to fiction and romance. Under theſe impreſſions the Author of the Introduction wrote. Without any of the ordinary incitements to literary labour, he was induced to proceed by the ſole motive of private amuſement.

[] Notwithſtanding the ſmall hopes he entertains of reconciling the public judgment to the period which he has endeavoured to illuſtrate, he has taken ſome pains to preſent, in its moſt agreeable form, a ſubject not very capable of ornament. He has ſtudied to be clear in diſquiſition, conciſe in obſervation, juſt in inference. An enemy to fiction himſelf, he impoſes none upon the world. He advances nothing as fact without authorities; and his conjectures ariſe not ſo much from his own ingenuity, as from the proofs which the ancients have laid down before him.

The darkneſs, with which the prejudice and vanity of the Scots and Iriſh have covered their origin, has forced the Author to examine that point with a minuteneſs, which a diſpute ſo unimportant [] ſeems not to deſerve. But the diſquiſitions of many learned men had given a kind of conſequence to the ſubject, when they rendered it perplexed and obſcure. To extricate truth from the polemical rubbiſh of former antiquaries was a taſk of labour; and the candid will forgive the length, on account of the propriety, of the diſquiſition, eſpecially in a work which profeſſedly treats of the antiquities of the Britiſh nations.

In that part of his work which relates to the diſputes between the Britiſh and Iriſh Scots, the Author of the Introduction derives much of his information from the manuſcript notes of the late very ingenious Dr. Macpherſon, whoſe diſſertations on the antiquities of the northern Britain are in the hands of the learned. In the other provinces of [] his ſubject, he has availed himſelf of the induſtry of ſome modern writers; but he neither borrows their ſentiments, nor relies upon their judgment. He looks upon antiquity through the medium of the ancients, and thinks he ſees it in its genuine ſtate. His work is formed on the general reſult of the information which the writers of Greece and Rome have tranſmitted from every quarter; and if his ſyſtem is not ſatisfactory, it, at leaſt, is new.

CONTENTS.

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  • STATE AND REVOLUTIONS OF ANCIENT EUROPE.
    • Preliminary Reflections 1
    • The Celtoe 6
    • The Climbri 10
    • The European Sarmatae 12
    • The Slavi 16
    • Reflections on the Origin of the European Nations 18
  • AN INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN OF THE ANCIENT BRITISH NATIONS.
    • Preliminary Obſervations 21
    • The Gael 24
    • The Cimbri 28
    • The Belgae 32
    • Obſervations on the Three Britiſh Nations 35
    • Ancient Names of Britain 38
  • []ANCIENT SCOTS.
    • Preliminary Reflections 40
    • Origin of the Scots 46
  • THE ANCIENT IRISH.
    • Origin of the Iriſh 52
    • Letters unknown in Ancient Ireland 59
  • ANTIQUITIES OF THE BRITISH AND IRISH SCOTS.
    • Preliminary Obſervations 75
    • Spaniſh Extraction of the Iriſh examined and confuted 78
    • Scandinavian Extraction of the Iriſh confuted 89
  • IRISH EXTRACTION OF THE SCOTS EXAMINED.
    • General Reflections 94
    • The Scots not of Iriſh Extract 96
    • Proved from various Arguments 108
  • []THE PRETENDED TESTIMONY OF FOREIGN WRITERS EXAMINED, AND CONFUTED.
    • General Reflections 113
    • Claudian 115
    • Oroſius—Iſidorus 120
    • Gildas 122
    • Bede 125
    • Nennius—General Obſervations 133
  • ARGUMENTS AND PROOFS AGAINST THE IRISH EXTRACT OF THE SCOTS.
    • Stillingfleet and Uſher examined 137
    • Riſe and Progreſs of the Fiction 142
    • Negative Arguments 146
    • Poſitive Proofs 151
  • RELIGION OF THE ANCIENT BRITISH NATIONS.
    • Preliminary Reflections 157
    • Their Idea of the Unity of God 160
    • Their pretended Polytheiſm 163
    • Their pretended Worſhip of the Heavenly Bodies 166
    • Their ſuperſtitious Ceremonies 170
    • Their Divinations 175
    • Reflections 176
  • [] IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.
    • General Reflections 179
    • Opinions of the Celtae on that ſubject 183
    • The Paradiſe of the Ancient Britiſh Nations 188
  • CHARACTER, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS OF THE ANCIENT BRITISH NATIONS.
    • Their Character 197
    • Their Amuſements and Diverſions 203
    • Their Morality and Poetry 209
    • Their Perſons and Women 215
    • Their Manner of Life 224
    • Their Houſes, Navigation, and Commerce 234
  • GOVERNMENT OF THE ANCIENT BRITISH NATIONS.
    • Reflections on the Origin of Government 242
    • Form of the Ancient Britiſh Government 246
    • Their Juſtice 250
  • []LANGUAGE OF THE ANCIENT BRITISH NATIONS.
    • General Obſervations 255
    • The Language of Ancient Britain 261
    • The Latin and Gaelic compared 264
  • AN INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN OF THE ANGLO-SAXONS.
    • Preliminary Obſervations 273
    • Reflections on the Fall of the Romans 275
    • General Reflections on the Sarmatae 282
    • Origin of the Anglo-Saxons 289
  • RELIGION AND GOVERNMENT OF THE ANGLO-SAXONS.
    • Their Religion 294
    • Their Government 301

[] AN INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN and IRELAND.

STATE AND REVOLUTIONS OF ANCIENT EUROPE.

Preliminary Reflections.

The northern nations averſe to letters. THE northern nations, whoſe character was in many reſpects ſingular, were remarkable for their averſion to the ſtudy of letters. Fierce and untractable by nature, and bred from their infancy to incurſion and depredation, they [2] thought every purſuit not immediately ſubſervient to the profeſſion of arms mean and diſhonourable. They little conſidered that this prejudice was a fatal enemy to the fame which they ſought after with ſo much eagerneſs in the field. In vain were exploits worthy of memory performed, when the only certain means of tranſmitting them to poſterity were diſcouraged and deſpiſed.

The middle ages In the cloud of ignorance which involved them at home they advanced into the provinces of weſtern empire. Learning, which had long languiſhed among the Romans, expired with the power of that illuſtrious people; and Europe, in a great meaſure, returned to its original rudeneſs and barbarity. When the detached tribes who had ſubverted the government of the Romans formed themſelves into regular communities ſome knowledge of letters began to revive; but the Chriſtian clergy, following the policy of their predeceſſors the Druids, confined that knowledge to themſelves.

unfavourable to hiſtory. To record temporal events was not the firſt uſe made of letters by the religious of the middle ages. Miracles, viſions, and the lives of ſaints, were more important ſubjects, than the tranſactions of ſtates and kingdoms, in the eyes of a race of men whoſe influence depended upon keeping mankind in the ſhades of ignorance [3] and ſuperſtition. We find, accordingly, that monks and hermits became illuſtrious in cells and in deſerts, whilſt the monarchs of Europe ſat in obſcurity upon their thrones.

The feudal eſtabliſhments introduce hiſtorical inquiry. The North, which, upon the decline of the Romans, had filled the provinces of the weſtern empire with its colonies, ſent abroad freſh armies of adventurers in the eighth and ninth ages. Theſe, ſettling in ſome of the regions of the South, gave a new turn to the genius of the European nations. The feudal eſtabliſhments, introduced, or at leaſt, revived and confirmed by them, gave ſtability to government, and were highly favourable to a ſpirit of national dignity and independence. Lands and honours becoming hereditary, gave birth to a pride of family among the great barons; and they endeavoured to add luſtre to the diſtinctions which they had acquired by tracing their anceſtors through the ſame path of eminence to a remote antiquity. From individuals this genealogical enthuſiaſm ſpread to whole communities. Men poſſeſſed of the little literature of the times, and a talent for fable, either through ignorance or vanity, indulged the romantic paſſions of an ignorant race of men, by deducing the origin of their reſpective nations from very diſtant aeras. The antiquities of every country in Europe furniſhed [4] an ample field of fiction; and it was impoſſible to form tales too extravagant or improbable for the credulity of the age. It is therefore no matter of wonder that we poſſeſs ſuch a maſs of legends for the ancient hiſtory of thoſe nations, who, for many centuries, have made a figure in Europe.

The hiſtory of ancient Britain neglected. The revival of critical learning has enabled foreigners to extricate, in a great meaſure, their antiquities from the fables of the middle ages: In Britain we content ourſelves with looking back with contempt on the credulity of our anceſtors. From a pride incident to poliſhed times we are apt to think, and perhaps with ſome juſtice, that the tranſactions of the infancy of ſociety are as unworthy of remembrance as they are imperfectly known. But this obſervation has been made, not more to depreciate our anceſtors, than to cover a glaring defect in ourſelves. The Britiſh nations, till of late years, were much more remarkable for the performance of great actions in the field, than for recording them with dignity and preciſion in the cloſet.

Deſign of the Author. Men of abilities have removed this reproach from the nation. The latter periods of our hiſtory are reduced into form and preciſion; but the early part of our annals ſtill remains in the poſſeſſion of fiction and romance. To diſpel the [5] ſhades which cover the antiquities of the Britiſh nations, to inveſtigate their origin, to carry down ſome account of their character, manners, and government, into the times of records and domeſtic writers, is the deſign of this introduction. The abilities of the Author are perhaps inadequate to ſo arduous an undertaking; but as he travels back into antiquity with ſome advantages which others have not poſſeſſed, he flatters himſelf that he ſhall be able to throw a new, if not a ſatisfactory light, on a ſubject hitherto little underſtood. Though, for want of ſufficient guides, he ſhould ſometimes loſe his way in a region of clouds and darkneſs, his hopes of the indulgence of the public are greater than his fears of their cenſure.

The Celtae.

[6]

Two nations, the celtae and Sarmatae, poſſeſſed Ancient Europe. The Greeks threw the firſt feeble light on the Barbarians of the North and Weſt: They roſe diſtinctly to view in the progreſs of the Roman arms. Two nations, in a great variety of tribes, poſſeſſed the vaſt continent of Europe. The Celtae extended themſelves from the pillars of Hercules* to the banks of the Viſtula and Tanais, from the Helleſpont to the ſhores of the Baltic. The regions to the North-Eaſt of the Danube, from the Euxine Sea to the Frozen Ocean, were perambulated rather than inhabited by the European Sarmatae. Between the Baltic and the extremities of the North lay the ancient Scandinavians, whoſe poſterity, upon the decline of the Romans, carried into the South undoubted proofs of their Sarmatic extract.

The name of Celtae The Scythians of the weſtern Europe were, for the firſt time, mentioned under the name of Celtae, by Herodotus, in the eighty-ſeventh Olympiad. To inveſtigate [7] the origin of that appellation we muſt return into a period of remote antiquity. The Pelaſgi of Peloponneſus and the Iſlands of the Archipelago were the firſt of the European Nomades who quitted the ambulatory life of their anceſtors, and applied themſelves to the arts of civil life. Induced by the fine climate of Greece, they ſettled in fixed abodes; while yet their rude brethren to the North wandered after their cattle or game over the face of Europe. Improving their navigation by degrees, they ſailed to the Weſt, ſeized upon the neareſt coaſt of Italy*, and moving into the heart of that country, met with the Umbri, and roſe into a mixed nation under the name of Latins. Extending their navigation ſtill further into the Mediterranean, the Phoceans made an eſtabliſhment on the coaſt of Gaul; Maſſilia was founded by thoſe adventurers about the forty-fifth Olympiad, when the elder Tarquin is ſaid to have held the reins of government at Rome.

[8] derives its origin from Gaël. The improvements introduced by the Phoceans had a great and ſudden effect upon the manners of the Gauls. Agriculture, before imperfectly underſtood, was proſecuted with vigour and ſucceſs*. The means of ſubſiſtence being augmented, population increaſed of courſe; migrating expeditions were formed to eaſe the country of its number of inhabitants, and the regions of Europe being traverſed rather than peopled by the Nomades, received ſucceſſive ſwarms of Galic emigrants. Spain, Italy, Germany between the Rhine and the Baltic§, and the Britiſh Iſles were filled with colonies [9] from Gaul, in whom the old inhabitants, if they differed originally from the Gaël, were loſt. This revolution in the North of Europe extended to the greater part of its inhabitants the appellation of Celtae, which is an adjective derived from Gaël, the aboriginal name of the inhabitants of ancient Gaul.

Migrations of the Celtae, or Gaël. Though the expeditions of the Gauls, ſubſequent to the ſettlement of the Phoceans in their country, are the firſt mentioned in hiſtory, we have reaſon to believe that they pervaded Europe with their migrating armies* in a more remote period of antiquity. They firſt entered Italy, according to Livy, in the reign of the elder Tarquin: but other writers of good credit affirm that they were, in part, the anceſtors of the vagabonds who ſettled with Romulus on the banks of the Tiber. The Umbri, the moſt ancient inhabitants of Italy, were Gauls; and from the Umbri the Tuſcans and Sabins§, who were the founders of Rome, derive their origin. It is upon the whole, evident that the Gaël who inhabited the [10] vaſt country bounded by the ocean, the Rhine, the Alps, and Pyrenaean mountains, were the anceſtors of the Celtae, the extent of whoſe dominions we have already deſcribed*.

The Cimbri.

The Cimbri derive their origin The domeſtic improvements which, in the beginning of their progreſs in Gaul, enabled the inhabitants of that country to overrun the regions of the Weſt and North, had arrived at ſome degree of maturity long before the Romans penetrated beyond the Alps. Inſtead of wandering in ſearch of foreign ſettlements, the Gauls found it more convenient to cultivate thoſe which they already poſſeſſed. The ſpirit of conqueſt retired further towards the North; and the tide of migration, which had for ages flowed from Gaul, returned upon itſelf with redoubled violence. The German Celtae repaſſed the Rhine, committed terrible [11] devaſtations, and acquired a juſt title to the name of Cimbri, which ſignifies a band of robbers*.

from the Celtae, or Gaël. The extenſive regions between the Rhine and the Baltic were poſſeſſed by Galic tribes when Germany became firſt known to the writers of Rome. An unavoidable mixture with the Sarmatae beyond the Viſtula and the Baltic had an effect on the genius of the Celtae of Germany; and they departed, in ſome degree, from the purity of the language and from ſome of the manners of their anceſtors. They however retained ſo many marks of their Galic origin, that ſome have thought that the name of Germans proceeded from their ſimilarity in every reſpect to the inhabitants of Gaul.

Their migrations and conqueſts. More than three centuries prior to the Chriſtian aera, the German Celtae, under the name of Cimbri, ravaged all the regions lying between the Rhine and the Ionian ſea. They at the ſame time extended their conqueſts to Spain and to [12] Great Britain. The Luſitanians, according to Diodorus Siculus, were the moſt warlike branch of the Cimbri; and the Welſh retain, in their name, an undoubted mark of their Cimbric extraction. From theſe revolutions of the Celtae on the continent we ſhall, in a ſubſequent ſection, deduce the origin of the Britiſh nations.

The European Sarmatae.

Irruption of the European Sarmatae; The ſucceſſive migrations of the Barbarians of the North may be compared to the tranſient ſtorms of a ſhowery day. The Sun ſcarce returns after one cloud is paſt, before another begins to gather in the ſame quarter of heaven. The ſhort ſpace between is filled with that pleaſing but melancholy ſerenity which attends joys whoſe period is approaching in view.—The firſt irruption of the nations of the northern Germany happened, as we have already obſerved, more than three centuries before the commencement of our preſent aera. About two ages after, the Celtae beyond the Rhine threw another fleece of adventurers, under the name of [13] Cimbri, into the regions of the South*. A new people accompanied them in this expedition, who, in their deſignation of Teutoni, carried with them a proof of their Sarmatic origin.

their progreſs to the South. When the Celtae between the Elb and the Gulph of Bothnia evacuated their territories, and poured into the ſouthern Europe, about forty-five years after the death of Alexander, the Sarmatae of Scandinavia croſſed the Baltic, and ſettled between the Viſtula and the Drave under the general name of Goths and Vandals. The Celto-Germans who remained beyond the Elb on the ſhores of the ocean, and in the peninſula of Juteland, gave the name of TEUTIONI, or northern men, to [14] the Sarmatae; who, after having paſſed from Scandinavia, became their neighbours in Germany. Inſtead of contending about the poſſeſſion of the bleak ſhores of the Baltic, the Cimbri and Teutoni, in cloſe alliance with one another, endeavoured to procure for themſelves better ſettlements in a more favourable climate and ſoil.

The Scandinavian Sarmatae The Teutoni were the firſt of the Scandinavian Sarmatae who invaded the South. The calamities which overwhelmed thoſe adventurers in their expedition, diſcouraged their countrymen for more than two complete centuries from ſimilar attempts. In the reign of Marcus Aurelius, forgetting the misfortunes of their fathers, the Sarmatic Germans advanced into the regions of the South and Eaſt*. A new bulwark againſt their invaſion had ſtarted up in the power of the Romans. The military diſcipline of the legions ſtationed on the frontiers of Pannonia fruſtrated all the efforts of the Barbarians, and obliged them to content themſelves with the cold and ſterile ſeats of their anceſtors. But though they were unſucceſsful in many ſucceeding attempts, they never loſt ſight of the object, till the growing imbecillity of the empire opened the South and Weſt to their arms.

[15] the anceſtors of the modern Germans. The Celtae beyond the Rhine were either diſſipated in the dominions of Rome before the fall of the empire, or afterwards loſt in the inundations of the Sarmatic Scandinavians; who, paſſing over Germany, overwhelmed the regions of the South and weſt at the decline of the Roman power. The Goths and Vandals who extended their conqueſts to Spain, Italy, and Africa, were, in ſome meaſure, loſt in the countries which they ſubdued. The northern nations, deſcended from the ſame ſtock who trod on their heels when they moved into the provinces of the Roman empire, are the anceſtors of the preſent Germans. The Franks, having confined their migrating expeditions to Gaul, have ſtill preſerved their Vandalic name in that country. The Saxons ſettled in Britain are the moſt unmixed of the poſterity of the Sarmatae who firſt ſettled on the ſouthern ſhore of the Baltic.

The Slavi.

[16]

Reflections. When fate had decreed the fall of the Romans ſhe ſeemed to create Barbarians for the ſingle purpoſe of executing her favourite deſign. Nations appeared ſuddenly on the frontiers of the empire unheard of by others, and even unknown to themſelves. The memory of their former tranſactions was loſt in their own ignorance, and the name of their original ſeats was as it were forgot in the length of their march. They ſeemed to move forward under an impreſſion of the inconveniences they had left at home, more than from the hopes of ſucceſs abroad; having philoſophy enough to prefer the uncertainty of future evils to preſent miſery.

Origin and progreſs of the Slavi. The moſt obſcure of thoſe Barbarians who contributed to the deſtruction of the weſtern empire were the Slavi, whoſe poſterity now poſſeſs all the regions between the Euxine and the Frozen Ocean. Under the name of Avari they advanced even as far as Peloponneſus in the fifth century, and under that of Bulgarians they continued their irruptions into the South till the end of the eighth age. Purſuing and flying from one another, in ſucceſſive migrations, they filled the weſtern Ruſſia, [17] Poland, and the regions near the mouths of the Danube, with their colonies; and, having at laſt ſettled in fixed abodes, ſtarted up into ſeveral powerful nations. Some of them extended themſelves as far as Dalmatia and Illyricum, and at this moment, ſpeak the language of their anceſtors on the Adriatic.

A different people from the European Sarmatae. The Slavi ſeem, from their language as well as manners, to derive their origin from the Tartars of the North-Eaſt of Aſia. They were a very different race of men from the Scandinavian Sarmatae, the principals in the migrating expeditions which proved fatal to the Roman power. When the Goths, quitting their native ſeats to the Eaſt of the Viſtula, had advanced into Rhetia, Gaul, and Italy, the Slavi took poſſeſſion of their habitations. Growing numerous in Ruſſia and Poland they extended themſelves to the South-Weſt; and, if we regard their numbers and extent of dominion, they form, at this day, one third of the weight in the ſcale of Europe.—This ſhort account of the origin of the Slavi, though foreign to our preſent ſubject, comes in, with ſome propriety, in the revolutions which happened of old in the North.

Reflections on the Origin of the European Nations.

[18]

The Celtae, the Sarmatae, and Slavi, The ſuccinct account given of the ſtate of Ancient Europe lays open the ſecret ſprings from which its modern inhabitants derive their blood. The poliſhed nations who now excel antiquity itſelf in arts, and vie with it in arms, owe their origin to rude Barbarians, whoſe want of means of tranſmitting their hiſtory to poſterity has perhaps contributed to their fame. The Celtae, the Sarmarae, and Slavi, jumbled together by migration, conqueſt, and accidents of various kinds, formed that great maſs which has ſtarted up, in the courſe of ages, into thoſe powerful and illuſtrious ſtates which figure, at this day, in Europe.

the anceſtors of the European nations, Though ſcarce any one people from the pillars of Hercules to the Tanais are free from a mixture of the three great original nations whom we have ſo often mentioned, there are regions in that vaſt extent of country where the blood of each peculiarly prevails. The Celtae, whom their connection with the Romans had abandoned to conqueſt in Gaul, Spain, Italy, and its iſles, are the anceſtors of the majority of the preſent inhabitants of thoſe extenſive countries. The Sarmatic [19] Vandals, who, under a great variety of national names, ſucceeded the Romans in the dominion of the South and Weſt, bore no proportion to the conquered. They introduced among their new ſubjects their own form of government, their own regulations, the haughty ferocity of their character and manners, that want of neatneſs* which all the improvements of civilized times have not hitherto been able to remove; but the language of the vaſſals, a certain evidence of their ſuperiority in point of numbers, prevailed, at laſt, over that of their lords.

proved from In Germany, from the ſource of the Elb to the Baltic, from the Viſtula to the ocean; in England, in a great part of Scotland, the old Scandinavians, with little mixture, prevail. In the kingdoms of Norway and Sweden the blood of the ancient Sarmatae is tinctured with that of the Slavi, who ſtept into the vacant habitations of thoſe tribes that ſucceſſively, for many ages, diſcharged themſelves into the regions of the South from both the ſhores of the Baltic. The dominions of the Slavi we have already deſcribed.

their language, &c. But to wander no further into diſſertation: language, next to authentic records, is the beſt evidence of the extract of a people. The modern Europeans, [20] deriving their blood from three very different nations, ſtill preſerve among them the three original tongues of their anceſtors. Theſe are the Celtic, the Teutonic, and Sclavonic, all radically different from one another. Wherever any of theſe three languages is ſpoken with moſt purity, there the blood of the great nation, from which it takes its name, moſt prevails.

AN INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN OF THE Ancient Britiſh Nations.

[21]

Preliminary Obſervations.

General SHOULD a traveller of ordinary curioſity land at the mouth of the Nile, he might perhaps content himſelf with viewing the fine effect, which that noble river has on the appearance of the lower Egypt: One more inquiſitive might chuſe to trace the ſtream to where it falls from the deſert into the plains of Thebes: But he, indeed, muſt be uncommonly curious, who would wander in ſearch of its ſource to the Mountains of the Moon*. The novelty of the romantic [22] ſcenes on the way might recompenſe him for the fatigue of his journey, but mankind would ſcarce forget the folly of the undertaking in the pleaſure of hearing the detail of his diſcoveries.

obſervations. A writer who penetrates into antiquity to inveſtigate the ſprings from which a nation has iſſued, may, in like manner, have his amuſement for his labour Partial to themſelves, the bulk of the people regard only thoſe periods of their hiſtory which deſcend neareſt to their own times. Satisfied with the renown of latter tranſactions, they are as indifferent concerning their remote annals and origin as they who profit by the inundations of the Nile are about the diſtant fountain from which it takes its riſe. The traveller, to continue the compariſon, has, in ſome reſpects, the advantage of the writer; for the ſandy deſerts of Africa preſent not a more uncomfortable proſpect to the eye than the ſterile regions of national antiquities. This conſideration, though it ſhall not prevent, will contribute to ſhorten the preſent inquiry.

Britain little known before Julius Caeſar. Britain, before the arrival of Caeſar, was rather heard of than known. Foreigners had viſited its ports in purſuit of commerce; but they took no pains to extend their inquiries to the internal ſtate of the country. The information of the Romans accompanied the progreſs of their [23] new communities roſe gradually before them as they advanced into the heart of the iſland; till the whole body of its inhabitants came forward diſtinctly to view, when Agricola carried the Roman eagles to the mountains of Caledonia. But to inveſtigate the origin of our anceſtors with preciſion we muſt return to a period of more remote antiquity.

Affected by revolutions on the continent. The Britiſh Iſles, from their vicinity to the continent, muſt, in the nature of things, have been affected by the revolutions which we have in the preceding ſections briefly deſcribed. The circles, ſpreading from commotions in the center, muſt have vibrated, though perhaps faintly, in the extremities of Europe; and the ſhock was certainly felt beyond the limits to which conqueſt and migration actually extended themſelves. We can accordingly trace, in lively characters, in Britain, the effect of every great movement made on the continent by the body of the Celtae before the power of the Romans confined them to fixed abodes.

The Gaël.

[24]

A conjecture concerning the aera Whether Britain was inhabited, or rather perambulated, by a race of Barbarians before the Gaël of the continent extended their name with their arms into all the regions of Europe*, is a circumſtance which lies buried in impenetrable darkneſs. The name of Gaël, ſtill retained by the poſterity of the moſt ancient inhabitants of the Britiſh Iſles, ſeems to look for its origin to the firſt great revolution of the Celtae on the continent. The wild tribes who originally poſſeſſed the vaſt regions bounded by the ocean, the Mediterranean, the Rhine, the Alps, and the Pyrenean mountains, were, as has been already obſerved, the firſt of the European Scythians, if we except the Pelaſgi of Greece, who formed themſelves into diſtinct communities. Arriving at ſome degree of civilization, they became overſtocked with numbers at home, and they ſent armies of emigrants in queſt of foreign ſettlements. Britain could not fail to [25] attract the early attention of the Gaël. Its vicinity to their original country, the fertility of its ſoil, the mildneſs of its air and climate*, would have recommended it to that migrating nation in a degree ſuperior to thoſe regions of the Weſt and North, to which, it is well known, they extended themſelves in remote antiquity.

of their migration. It were idle to hope to aſcertain the aera in which the firſt migration of the Gauls into Britain ought to be placed. Its antiquity has left only room for conjecture. We ſhould, in all probability, look for it beyond the eſtabliſhment of the Phoceans in the diſtrict of Maſſilia. Though it is affirmed, both by Livy and Plutarch, that the Gauls for the firſt time, entered Italy in a hoſtile manner in the reign of the elder Tarquin, we have reaſon to believe, that partial emigrations from that nation croſſed the Alps many ages before the foundation of Rome itſelf was laid.

[26] into Britain. The Umbri, who were the moſt ancient inhabitants of Italy, were the poſterity of Gauls who penetrated into that country long before the commencement of hiſtory*. We may naturally ſuppoſe that the Gauls of Belgium would have found leſs difficulty in croſſing a very narrow channel into Britain than their countrymen at the foot of the Alps in clambering, with their wives and children, over the vaſt ridge of mountains which ſeparated them from Italy. It may therefore be concluded, that Britain received very conſiderable colonies from the Belgic diviſion of Gaul as early, at leaſt, as the Gaël of the Alpin regions ſeized upon Italy under the name of Umbri. But though it is impoſſible to fix with preciſion on the aera of the invaſion of Britain by the Gaël, no doubt can remain concerning the exiſtence of the fact itſelf. [27] The Gaël of Britain and Ireland retain a proof of their origin in their indigenous name. The writers of antiquity confirm it from every quarter, though their information extended not to the period in which that remarkable revolution happened in the Iſland.

The Cimbri.

[28]

The Cimbri. The Gaël were in poſſeſſion of Britain for many ages before they were diſturbed by a ſecond migration from the continent. The ſpirit of conqueſt paſſing from the Gauls to the Celto-Germanic colonies beyond the Rhine, the latter pervaded Europe with their armies*. We muſt judge of the aera in which this revolution happened from its effect on thoſe nations who had the means of tranſmitting their own hiſtory, as well as ſome account of their enemies, to after ages.

Aera of The German poſterity of the Gauls, under the name of Cimbri, traverſed, as has been in a preceding ſection obſerved, the vaſt regions between their own country and the ſea of Ionia. About half a century after the death of Alexander, they poured irreſiſtible armies into Greece, Thrace, and Macedonia; the latter of which, though recent from [29] the conqueſt of Aſia, they ſubdued and ruined. In their progreſs to the South and Eaſt they cut to pieces all the intermediate nations§ between their original ſeats and the Helleſpont; and ſome of them, paſſing the Propontis, filled the leſſer Aſia with their colonies; and ſpread the terror of their name far and wide by the fortune of their invincible arms*.

their migration. The irruption of the Cimbri was not merely depredatory. They left colonies in the conquered countries, and the manners which their ſucceſſors, in the ſame regions, brought down to aftertimes, was a kind of proof that they exterminated thoſe nations whom they ſubdued.—Whilſt a part of the Cimbri, or Celto-Germans, puſhed their conqueſts to the South and Eaſt, others directed their migration to the regions of the Weſt. We ſind traces of them as [30] far as the extremities of Europe; they were, in ſome meaſure, the anceſtors of the Luſitanians, and they roſe into a mixed nation with the Aborigines of the mountains of Gallicia. In Britain, their very name remains, with their blood, in the Cimbri of Wales.

into Britain. When ſome of the Cimbri appeared on the frontiers of Greece, others drove the ancient Gaël from the Belgic diviſion of Gaul. Caeſar obſerves, that the Belgae were the poſterity of German emigrants who ſettled in ancient times to the South of the Rhine, on account of the fertility of the ſoil§. Deſcrying, from their new ſettlements, the Iſland of Britain, they paſſed the narrow channel which divides it from the continent, and the Gaël, who had diffuſed themſelves over all the Iſland, contracted their limits towards the South to give room to thoſe new interlopers.

Etymon of Belgae. The Cimbri who remained in Gaul became afterwards to be diſtinguiſhed by the name of Belgae. As that appellation carries reproach in its meaning, it is likely that it was impoſed on that [31] warlike nation by the Gaël whom they had expelled from their Territories. BALGE or BALGEN, in the ancient Celtic ſignifies a ſpotted or party-coloured herd; and, in a metaphorical ſenſe, a mixed people, or an aggregate of many tribes. The name alludes either to Belgium's being peopled promiſcuouſly by the German tribes, or to the unavoidable mixture of the Celtic colonies beyond the Rhine with the Sarmatae of the Eaſt and North.

The Belgae.

[32]

The Belgae. When the Romans carried their arms into Britain, the whole Iſland was poſſeſſed by three nations ſprung originally, thought at very different periods, from the Gaël of the continent. Two of theſe we have already deſcribed; the third falls now under conſideration.—The Celto-Germanic tribes, who had driven the old Gaël from Belgium, ſettling in that diviſion of Gaul, roſe, in proceſs of time, into a variety of petty ſtates. Each of theſe, ſome time before the arrival of Caeſar, ſent colonies into Britain§; which, according to the teſtimony of the illuſtrious writer, retained the names of the ſmall communities on the continent from which they reſpectively derived their origin. The Cimbri, who had paſſed into Britain about three centuries prior to our aera, retiring from the preſſure of theſe new invaders, poſſeſſed the country to the Weſt of the Severn, and that which extended from the Humber to the Twe [...]d. The Gaël, under the general name of Caledonians, inhabited the reſt of [33] the Iſland to the extremity of the North.

The aera of their arrival in Britain. It is difficult to aſcertain the aera of this third migration from the continent. We ought to place it perhaps half a century prior to the arrival of Caeſar. Divitiacus, king of the Sueſſiones, who flouriſhed before that great commander, may probably have tranſplanted from Gaul thoſe tribes in Britain over whom he reigned.—The Belgae, when they tranſmigrated into Britain, brought with them thoſe arts of civil life which had made a conſiderable progreſs in Gaul before they left that country. The inhabitants of the maritime regions oppoſite to Gaul had almoſt attained to an equal pitch of cultivation with their brethren on the continent*. They ſowed corn, they had fixed abodes, and ſome degree of commerce was carried on in their ports.

The Brigantes This ſuperior civilization rendered them objects of depredation to the Cimbri who had retired to the North and Weſt from the preſſure of the Belgae. The Cimbri, it is probable, had remained in the ſame rude barbarity which their anceſtors brought with them from Belgium. Recent injuries joined iſſue with their love [34] of depredation. They made frequent incurſions into the Belgic dominions; and it was from that circumſtance that the Cimbri beyond the Humber derived their name of Brigantes, which ſignifies a race of freebooters and plunderers.

and Silures were Cimbri. The Silures on the weſtern banks of the Severn were the moſt conſiderable tribe of the Britiſh Cimbri. They varied ſo much from the Belgae, that Tacitus juſtly concluded that they were, in ſome meaſure, a different race of men. To deduce them from Spain was certainly an error. It is not in any degree probable that, in ſo early a period, the Spaniards, who were never a ſea-faring people, could tranſport themſelves over an immenſe ocean into Britain: Beſides, the poſterity of the Silures have come down to the preſent times; and, in their indigenous name of Cimbri, vindicate their origin.

Obſervations on the Three Britiſh Nations.

[35]

The Gaël, Cimbri, and Belgae, The three great Britiſh nations, whoſe origin we have endeavoured to inveſtigate, muſt have differed conſiderably from one another in language, manners, and character. Though deſcended from the ſame ſource, their ſeparation into different channels was very remote. The Gaël who poſſeſſed the northern Britain, by the name of Caledonians, having paſſed from the continent before the arts of civil life had made any conſiderable progreſs among them, retained the pure but unimproved language of their anceſtors, together with their rude ſimplicity of manners.

though deſcended from the Celtic ſtock, The Britiſh Cimbri derived their origin from the Galic colonies, who, in remote antiquity, had ſettled beyond the Rhine. Theſe, with a ſmall mixture of the Sarmatae, returned, in all their original barbariſm, into the regions of the South. During their ſeparation from their mother nation, their language and manners muſt have ſuffered ſuch a conſiderable change, that it is extremely doubtful whether their dialect of the Celtic and that of the old Britiſh Gaël were, at the arrival of the former in this Iſland, reciprocally underſtood by [36] both nations.—The third colony differed in every thing from the Gaël and Cimbri. Their manners were more humanized; and their tongue, though perhaps corrupted, was more copious. They had left the continent at a period of advanced civility. Their character changed with the progreſs of the arts of civil life; and new inventions had introduced new words and new expreſſions into their language.

ſpoke three different dialects. But though the three nations who poſſeſſed the Britiſh Iſles at the arrival of the Romans ſpoke three diſtinct dialects, and differed materially from one another in the formation of their phraſes, and conſtruction of their ſentences, the radical words uſed by all were certainly the ſame. The names of places in the Roman Britain, however much diſguiſed they may have been by the orthography of the writers of the empire, may be, with great facility, traced to their original meaning in the language ſpoken to this day by the poſterity of the Gaël in the northern Britain*.

[37] Obſervations. To deſcend into a minute detail of the various petty tribes into which the three Britiſh nations were ſubdivided, would neither furniſh inſtruction nor amuſement. The Cimbri and Belgae, falling under the power of the Romans ſoon after they were mentioned by hiſtorians, were loſt in the general name of Britons; and the internal ſtate of the Gaël of North Britain and Ireland, is covered with that impenetrable cloud which invariably involves illiterate nations who lie beyond the information of foreign writers.

Ancient Names of Britain.

[38]

Obſervations. Having briefly inveſtigated the origin of the people, it may not be improper to inquire into the name of the country. Etymology is a ſcience frequently full of deception, and always unentertaining and dry. But as the Author of the Introduction returns back into antiquity with ſome advantages which men of greater abilities have not poſſeſſed, he hopes to be, in ſome meaſure, ſatisfactory on this ſubject.

The etymon of Albion. Alba or Albin, the name of which the ancient Scots, in their native language, have, from all antiquity, diſtinguiſhed their own diviſion of Britain, ſeems to be the fountain from which the Greeks deduced their Albion. It was natural for the Gaël, who tranſmigrated from the low plains of Belgium, to call the more elevated land of Britain by a name expreſſive of the face of the countay. ALB or ALP, in the Celtic, ſignifies High, and IN invariably, a country.—The name of Albion being impoſed upon the Iſland by the Gaël, the firſt colony was known before the appellation which the Romans latinized into Britannia.

[39] and of The Cimbri, the ſecond Celtic colony who paſſed into Britain, arriving in Belgium, and deſcrying Albion, gave it a new name expreſſive of the ſame idea which firſt ſuggeſted the appellation of Albion to the Gaël. Comparing the elevated coaſt of Britain to the fenny plains of the lower Germany, they called it BRAIT AN, a word compounded of BRAIT high, and AN or IN a country*.

Britain. This new name never extended itſelf to the Gaël of North Britain; and the poſterity of the Cimbri have loſt it in the progreſs of time. The Scottiſh and Iriſh Gaël have brought down the name of Alba or Albin to the preſent age; the Welſh uſe no appellation. The aera of its impoſition ought to be fixed as far back as the arrival of the Cimbri in the Iſland. The Phoenicians of Gades and the Maſſilian Phoceans, who traded to the ports of Britain, learned the name of the natives, and communicated it to the writers of Greece and Rome.

ANCIENT SCOTS.

[40]

Preliminary Reflections.

Origin of the Caledonians uninveſtigated. IN proportion as we travel northward in ancient Britain, the darkneſs, which involves the antiquities of its inhabitants, thickens before us. The Cimbri and Belgae, after they were comprehended within the pale of the Roman dominions, were ſeen diſtinctly; but the more ancient inhabitants of the iſland, the Gaël, appeared only tranſiently, when, in an hoſtile manner, they advanced to the frontiers of the province. The arms of the empire penetrated, at different periods, into the heart of the country beyond the Scottiſh friths; but as theſe expeditions were not attended with abſolute conqueſt, and a conſequent ſettlement of colonies, the Romans made little inquiry concerning the origin and hiſtory of the natives of the northern diviſion of Britain.

By the Romans. Julius Agricola, who, for the firſt time, diſplayed the Roman eagles beyond the frith, was not more ſucceſsful in the field than he was happy in an hiſtorian to tranſmit his actions with luſtre to poſterity. But even the diſtinct and intelligent [41] Tacitus gives but a very imperfect idea of thoſe enemies, by the defeat of whom his father-in-law acquired ſo much reputation. We learn from him indeed, that the Caledonians were the moſt ancient inhabitants of Britain, that they were brave and numerous, that, though overcome in the field by the diſcipline of the Roman Legions, they were far from being reduced into any ſubjection which could deſerve the name of conqueſt.

Their hiſtory After Agricola was removed from the government of Britain, the writers of the empire for ſome years loſt ſight of the Caledonians. The incurſions of thoſe barbarians into the province, forced both Adrian* and Antoninus Pius to conſtruct walls, at an immenſe labor and expence, to exclude their ravages. In the reign of Commodus neither walls or the military abilities and conduct of Ulpius Marcellus could prevent them from [42] laying waſte the northern diviſion of the Roman Britain, till Severus, about the beginning of the third century, carried the war into their country with a numerous army. This is the ſum of what the Romans have related concerning the Caledonians for near two centuries after they were firſt mentioned: To their origin and internal hiſtory the writers of Rome were equally ſtrangers.

peculiarly obſcure. This defect in foreign writers, with regard to the ancient inhabitants of North Britain, is not ſupplied by any authentic monuments of their own. The Caledonians were not more deſtitute of the means of preſerving their hiſtory in the intermediate century between Agricola and Severus, than their poſterity were for a conſiderable time after the Romans had relinquiſhed the dominion of Britain. The climate and ſoil of Caledonia were far from being favourable to internal civilization; and a ferocity of manners, ariſing from an uninterrupted ſeries of hoſtilities, effectually prevented the introduction of the arts of civil life from abroad.

A reflection. But when the Scots look back with regret upon that want of letters which has involved in obſcurity and fable the origin and hiſtory of their anceſtors, they ought to conſider that it was, perhaps, from this circumſtance aroſe that national independence [43] which they tranſmitted to their poſterity. Had the Romans eſtabliſhed themſelves in Caledonia, we might indeed have known more of the ancient inhabitants of that country; but it is much to be doubted whether the Scots of this age would have been more concerned in their hiſtory, than the Engliſh of Middleſex and Eſſex are in the tranſactions of the Trinobantes, who poſſeſſed thoſe counties in the time of Julius Caeſar. The Romans, it is true, introduced the arts of civil life into the countries which they ſubdued; but with thoſe arts came in ſlavery, and a conſequent imbecillity of mind, which, in the end, abandoned the vaſſals, as well as their lords, to conqueſt, and even to extirpation.

Scots deſtitute of ancientdomeſtic writers. The firſt domeſtic writers of the hiſtory of North Britain were too ignorant, as well as too modern, to form any probable ſyſtem concerning the origin of their nation. Deſtitute of records at home, they found themſelves obliged to fill up the void in their antiquities with tales which had been growing in Ireland, for ſome ages before, in the hands of a ſucceſſion of ignorant Bards and Fileas. After the ſtudy of critical learning was proſecuted with ſucceſs among other nations, what part of it extended to Scotland was only employed to remove ſome [44] of the abſurdities of the old fables, and not levelled in a manly manner againſt the whole of that fabric of fiction which had ſo long diſhonoured the antiquities of that country.

Inaccuracy and indolence of their modern hiſtorians. The ingenious father Innes was the firſt of the Scots who had the courage to attack the puerile ſyſtem of their origin, which his countrymen had for many ages adopted. He wreſted the ſceptre of Scotland from the firſt Fergus, and thirty-nine of the ideal ſucceſſors of that pretended monarch, and paſſing over into Ireland diſcomfited that motley army of Bards, Fileas, and Senachies, which had been ſo long fortifying itſelf in rhimes, traditions, and fabulous records. But Innes was more ſucceſsful in deſtroying the indigeſted accounts of others, than in eſtabliſhing a more rational ſyſtem of his own. Setting out upon wrong principles, and being an utter ſtranger to the Galic language, he fell into unavoidable miſtakes; and endeavoured to obtrude upon the world opinions, concerning the origin of the Scots, no leſs improbable than thoſe tales which he had exploded with ſo much ſucceſs. Though Scotland has of late years produced men diſtinguiſhed for their talent in hiſtorical diſquiſition, none of them has thought proper to ſearch for the genuine origin and hiſtory of his anceſtors among thoſe [45] fables which obſcure the antiquities of the nation. Poſſeſſed of parts, perhaps, too valuable to be employed in inveſtigations of that kind, they haſtened to important periods of hiſtory where their abilities might with luſtre be diſplayed.

A learned Clergyman*, in one of the Scottiſh iſles, reduced lately into form and preciſion the antiquities which Innes had left in confuſion and diſorder. Had the ingenious writer extended his remarks as far as he might have been enabled to do by his erudition and great knowledge of all the branches of the Celtic language, there would, perhaps, be very little occaſion for this Eſſay. His obſervations are ſo judicious, and his arguments ſo concluſive, on ſeveral points of this ſubject, that to give him the merit of being the beſt antiquary that has treated of the origin of the Scots, is too ſmall a tribute to his memory.

Origin of the Scots.

[46]

General reflections on the origin of the Scots. It is unneceſſary to controvert the opinion of Cornelius Tacitus concerning the origin of the ancient inhabitants of North Britain*. The name by which the celebrated writer himſelf diſtinguiſhes their country, is ſufficient to demonſtrate that they came from a very different quarter of the continent than what he ſuppoſed. When the arms of the empire under Julius Agricola laid open all the nations of Britain to the enquiry of the Romans, it has been already obſerved that the whole iſland was poſſeſſed by three nations, whom Tacitus endeavours to deduce from communities on the continent very diſtant from one another. The poſterity of two of thoſe nations preſerve, to this day, in their names, proofs that altogether ſubvert this opinion. The Silures or Cumri of the ſouth, it has already appeared, had a much better title to a Germanic extraction than the Gael of Caledonia.

A colony of Gauls The Gaël, or ancient Gauls, having tranſmigrated from the continent at a period when the arts of civil life had [47] made but very little progreſs among them, muſt have maintained themſelves chiefly by hunting; and we may ſuppoſe, that in purſuit of their game they ſoon extended themſelves to the northern extremity of the iſland. A people whoſe ſubſiſtence ariſes chiefly from the chace are never numerous; it is conſequently natural to believe that the Cimbri met with little oppoſition from the Gaël, when the former paſſed from the continent and ſeized upon the ſouthern diviſion of Britain.

gradually advance into North Britain, and tranſmigrate into Ireland. In proportion as the Cimbri advanced towards the north, the Gaël, being circumſcribed within narrower limits, were forced to tranſmigrate into the iſlands which crowd the northern and weſtern coaſts of Scotland. It is in this period, perhaps, we ought to place the firſt great migration of the Britiſh Gaël into Ireland; that kingdom being much nearer to the promontory of Galloway and Cantyre, than many of the Scottiſh iſles are to the continent of North Britain. This vicinity of Ireland had probably drawn partial emigrations from Caledonia before the arrival of the Cimbri in Britain; but when theſe interlopers preſſed upon the Gaël from the ſouth, it is reaſonable to conclude the numerous colonies paſſed over into an iſland ſo near, [48] and ſo much ſuperior to their original country in climate and fertility.

Forced northward by the Belgae. The inhabitants of the maritime regions of Gaul croſſing, in an after age, the Britiſh Channel*, eſtabliſhed themſelves on that part of our iſland which lies neareſt to the continent; and, moving gradually towards the north, drove the Cimbri beyond the Severn and Humber. The Gaël of the north, reduced within limits ſtill more circumſcribed by the preſſure of the Cimbri, ſent freſh colonies into Ireland, while the Scottiſh friths became a natural and ſtrong boundary towards the ſouth to thoſe Gaël who remained in Britain.

Formed into a nation. It was, perhaps, after the Belgic invaſion of the ſouthern Britain, that the Gaël of the northern diviſion formed themſelves into a regular community, to repel the incroachment of the Cimbri upon their territories. To the country which they themſelves poſſeſſed they gave the name of CAEL-DOCH, which is the only appellation the Scots, who ſpeak the Galic language, know for their own diviſion of Britain. CAEL-DOCH is a compound made up of GAEL or CAEL, [49] the firſt colony of the ancient Gauls who tranſmigrated into Britain, and DOCH, a diſtrict or diviſion of a country. The Romans, by tranſpoſing the letter L in CAEL, and by ſoftening into a Latin termination the CH of DOCH, formed the well-known name of Caledonia. Obvious as this etymon of Caledonia appears, it was but very lately diſcovered*. Thoſe who treated of the antiquities of North Britain, were utter ſtrangers to that only name by which the Scots diſtinguiſhed the corner of Britain which their anceſtors poſſeſſed from the remoteſt antiquity. From an ignorance, ſo unpardonable in antiquaries, proceeded that erroneous ſyſtem of the origin of the Scots, which, for many ages, has been, with ſo much confidence, obtruded on the world.

Internal hiſtory unknown. Concerning the internal ſtate of Caledonia, and the diviſion of its inhabitants into various tribes in a very early period, we can find nothing certain. The account given by Ptolemy of the Epidii, Carini, Cantae, Logae, and other nations, is little to be regarded. Tacitus paſſed over thoſe petty communities in ſilence; and in the period between the [50] expedition of Julius Agricola, and the reign of Marcus Aurelius, under whom the Egyptian geographer flouriſhed, the Romans had no opportunity of being acquainted with the domeſtic arrangements of the Caledonions.

Their boundaries. Though the Scottiſh friths are generally allowed to have been the boundaries of Caledonia towards the South, it is more than probable that thoſe tribes who poſſeſſed the country between the walls were principally deſcended from the antient Gaël. The names of the Selgovae and Gadeni, two petty communities on the northern banks of the Solway and Tweed, ſeem to ſtrengthen this ſuppoſition. They carry in their ſignification a proof that the tribes who bore them were in a ſtate of hoſtility with their neighbours the Ottadini and Brigantes, which furniſhes a preſumption, that they derived their origin from a different quarter*.

The Maeatae. But as that tract of country which is comprehended between the Tweed and Solway, and the Scottiſh friths, was more [51] expoſed to invaſion than Caledonia, we may conclude that the Gaël who poſſeſſed it, were, in ſome degree, mixed with the Cimbric Ottadini and Brigantes, even before the invaſions of the Romans preſſed thoſe tribes towards the North. It was from this unavoidable mixture that the Selgovae, Gadeni, Damnii, and Novantes, were, in an after age, diſtinguiſhed by the name of Maeatae, which ſignifies a people deſcended from a double origin, as well as the inhabitants of a controverted country*.

THE ANCIENT IRISH.

[52]

Origin of the Iriſh.

Ireland firſt peopled from Britain. THE origin of the ancient Britiſh nations being inveſtigated, little difficulty can remain in tracing the old Iriſh to their genuine ſource. The vicinity of Ireland to two promontories in the northern Britain, furniſhes a ſtrong preſumption that the inhabitants of the former tranſmigrated, in an early period, from the latter*. Beſides, there is not a fact concerning any nation, beyond the pale of the Roman empire, better eſtabliſhed by the teſtimony of writers of unqueſtionable authority, than the Britiſh extraction of the old Iriſh.

proved from foreign writers; The ancients with one voice agreed to give to Ireland the appellation of a Britiſh Iſland. Ptolemy calls it the leſſer Britain, and Strabo in his Epitome gives the name of Britons to its inhabitants. Diodorus Siculus mentions it as [53] a fact well known in his time, that the Iriſh were of Britiſh extract, as well as that the Britons themſelves derived their blood from the Gauls. Cornelius Tacitus affirms that the nature and manners of the Iriſh did not, in the days of Domitian, differ much from the Britons*; and many foreign writers of great authority give their teſtimony to the Britiſh deſcent of the old inhabitants of Ireland.

acknowledged by domeſtic antiquaries. The moſt romantic abettors of the fabulous ſyſtem of Iriſh antiquities durſt not deny a fact ſo well aſcertained from every quarter. They acknowledged, on the authority of the Hibernian Senachies, that Britiſh colonies, a ſhort time after the univerſal deluge, tranſmigrated into Ireland from North-Britain. But theſe ill-fated Britons, like many other interlopers from various parts of the world, who ſucceeded them in Ireland, had the misfortune to fall under the diſpleaſure of the Senachies, and were inhumanly exterminated, [54] to make room for the Mileſian Scots, ſo famous in the fictions and rhimes of the Bards.

The Britiſh Gaël the anceſtors of the Iriſh. It is little to the purpoſe to enquire whether the Scythian Nomades, who, prior to the migrations of the Gauls, wandered over the vaſt regions of Europe, found their way into Ireland from the neareſt promontories of Britain. The name of GAEL, ſtill retained by the old Iriſh, ſufficiently demonſtrates, that they derive their blood from thoſe Gaël or Gauls, who, in an after period, were diſtinguiſhed in Britain by the name of Caledonians. The wildeſt enthuſiaſts in Hibernian antiquities never once aſſerted that the Caledonians, or their poſterity the Picts, were of Iriſh extract; yet nothing is better aſcertained than that the ancient Britons of the South gave to the Scots, the Picts, and the Iriſh, the common name of Gaël*; and conſequently that they very juſtly concluded that the three nations derived their origin from the ſame ſource, the ancient GAEL of the continent.

[55] Conjecture concerning the time of their tranſmigration. The Britiſh Gaël, in an early age, extending themſelves to the very extremities of the Iſland, deſcried Ireland from the Mulls of Galloway and Cantire, and croſſing the narrow channel which ſeparates the two countries, became the progenitors of the Iriſh nation. In proportion as freſh emigrants from the continent of Europe forced the ancient Gaël towards the North of Britain, more colonies tranſmigrated into Ireland from the promontories which we have ſo often mentioned. It is probable that it was after the arrival of the Cimbri in Britain, a Number of the GAEL, ſufficient to deſerve the name of a nation, ſettled themſelves in Ireland. But they became ſo numerous in that country before the arrival of the Belgae in Britain, that the colonies which tranſmigrated from that nation into Ireland were, together with their language, manners, and cuſtoms, loſt in the Gaël; ſo that in one ſenſe the Caledonians may be reckoned the ſole progenitors of the old Iriſh*.

[56] Etymon of the name of Erin; When the Gaël arrived firſt in Ireland they naturally gave it the name of IAR-IN, or the weſtern country, in contradiſtinction to their original ſettlements in Britain. From IAR-IN is not only to be deduced the EIRIN of the Iriſh themſelves, but thoſe various names by which the Greeks and Romans diſtinguiſhed their Iſland*. The appellation of IAR-IN was not altogether confined to Ireland by the Gaël of North Britain. They gave it alſo to thoſe numerous Iſlands which crowd the weſtern coaſts of Caledonia; but when by degrees they became acquainted with the vaſt extent of Ireland, when compared to the other Scottiſh Iſles, they called it by an emphaſis H'IARIN or H'EIRIN, the weſtern country or Iſland§.

and of Hibernia. Hibernia, the moſt common name by which the Romans diſtinguiſhed Ireland, may appear to ſome too remote in the [57] pronunciation and Orthography from IAR-IN, or H'EIRIN, to be derived from either. This difficulty is eaſily removed. Julius Caeſar mentions, for the firſt time, Ireland under the name of Hibernia. One of two reaſons induced the illuſtrious writer to uſe that appellation. He either latinized the HYVERDHON of the ſouthern Britains, or, what is more probable, he annexed to Ireland a name which ſuited his own ideas of its air and climate. The Romans, long after the expedition of Caeſar, entertained a very unfavourable opinion of the climate of Ireland: Strabo thought that the ſeverity of the weather rendered that Iſland extremely uncomfortable*, and Pomponius Mela was told that corn never ripened there on account of the inclemency of the ſeaſons. The attention of Caeſar was engaged by much more important objects than in informing himſelf minutely concerning the climate of a country to which he never intended to carry his arms. If Strabo and Mela, whoſe ſubject led to enquiries of that kind, ſuppoſed that the air of Ireland was extremely intemperate, it is no wonder that Caeſar ſhould have fallen into a ſimilar [58] miſtake; and we may from this circumſtance conclude that he formed the name of Hibernia from the adjective Hibernus. He thought that a perpetual winter reigned in Ireland; and he was informed that, in the leſſer iſlands in the neighbourhood, one winter night was equal to thirty in Italy.

Letters unknown in Ancient Ireland.

[59]

Obſervations. A deduction of the etymon of Hibernia from another fountain gave birth, perhaps, to a ſyſtem concerning the origin of the Iriſh, diametrically oppoſite to that which we mean to eſtabliſh. The world are well acquainted with the pretenſions which the Iriſh have made, for many ages, to very high antiquities, as well as to an original very different from the other inhabitants of the Britiſh Iſles. Inſtead of tranſmigrating from the neareſt continent, in the natural progreſs of migration, it ſeems that the firſt colonies came to Ireland, acroſs an immenſe ocean, at a period when the rude navigation of the other nations of Europe ſcarcely enabled them to waft themſelves over rivers and narrow arms of the ſea.

Pretenſions of the old Iriſh to letters. To ſupport this improbable tale, another was formed no leſs incredible in itſelf than the fact it was meant to aſcertain. The fabricators of the Iriſh antiquities found than an early knowledge of letters in their country was abſolutely neceſſary to gain credit to the ſyſtem which they ſo much wiſhed to eſtabliſh. Ireland therefore was made the ſeat of polite literature many ages before Greece itſelf roſe [60] out of ignorance and barbarity. To remove this ſupport from the antiquities of the Iriſh, is to deſtroy at once that whole fabric of fiction, which they poſſeſs for their ancient hiſtory.

Reflections. The art of perpetuating ideas, and of tranſmitting the wiſdom of one age to another, is the firſt means of civilizing mankind out of their natural ferocity and barbarity. When ſome certain marks are found to ſend down the memory of inventions and tranſactions through a ſeries of generations, a nation becomes poliſhed in proportion to the length of time it has been in poſſeſſion of that art. Before the Phoenicians taught the uſe of the alphabet to the Ionians*, Peloponneſus and the Iſlands of Greece were poſſeſſed by tribes as obſcure and contemptible as thoſe wild Indians, who wander through the foreſts of America. The progreſs of the Greeks towards the figure which they make in hiſtory, accompanied the gradual cultivation of polite learning in their country; and we find, that from a poſſeſſion of letters for a few centuries, they arrived at ſuch a pitch of civilization, that it was not without reaſon they diſtinguiſhed other nations by the name of Barbarians.

[61] Pretended civility of the old Iriſh, As the Iriſh pretend to have been even before the Greeks, in point of time, with regard to the reception of letters, we ought naturally to expect that they became civilized in a very early period. The annals of Ireland are accordingly full of the progreſs of civility, and the encouragement given to polite learning in that country, many ages before any other nation in Europe extricated itſelf from the ſhades of ignorance and barbarity. But theſe annals deſerve little credit on a matter of ſuch high antiquity. The Pſalter Caſhel, the oldeſt record of the Iriſh tranſactions, was written in the latter end of the tenth age, more than two thouſand years after the pretended importation of letters into Ireland.

confuted from the teſtimony of The only credible accounts of the manners of the old Iriſh, as well as of the other barbarous nations of Europe, muſt be derived from the writers of Rome; and theſe do not go beyond the commencement of the Chriſtian aera, which is, at leaſt a thouſand years poſterior to the period aſſigned by the Iriſh for the introduction of learning among their anceſtors. Unfortunately for the Hibernian ſyſtem of antiquities, by the teſtimony of foreign writers who extended [62] their enquiries to Ireland, the character of its ancient inhabitants is utterly incompatible with that civilization which invariably accompanies any knowledge of letters*.

Strabo, Strabo is the firſt writer who mentions any particulars concerning the manners of the old Iriſh. His account differs in no reſpect from the relations we have of the moſt unpoliſhed ſavages of Africa and America. In one place he affirms, that Ireland, which lies near Britain, is poſſeſſed by a race of men altogether wild and unpoliſhed; and in another he not only ſays that the Iriſh were much more barbarous than the Britons, but he even mentions ſeveral inſtances of their brutal ferocity of manners which decency obliges us to leave under the veil of a dead language.

[63] Diodorus Siculus, The teſtimony of Diodorus Siculus is not more favourable, than that of Strabo, to the national character of the Iriſh. They were in the days of that writer ſo far from being civilized by a long poſſeſſion of letters, that they were thought to feed upon human bodies. The authority of Diodorus not only deſtroys the fiction of the early knowledge of letters in Ireland, but alſo ruins that ſyſtem of antiquities, to ſupport which, the fiction itſelf was firſt framed. He ſhews that the Iriſh, ſo far from coming from a diſtant country, were a branch of thoſe Gauls who had poſſeſſed themſelves of Britain in the period we have already aſſigned.

Pomponius Mela, The account given of the Iriſh by Pomponius Mela is extremely unfavourable to their pretended civilization by a long poſſeſſion of letters. He calls them a race of men unpoliſhed, barbarous, and ignorant of every virtue*. Cornelius Tacitus, Cornelius Tacitus, after having deſcribed thoſe rude tribes in Britain whom the Romans had [64] not humanized, obſerves, that the inhabitants of Ireland did not differ much in their manners from the Britons. Neither was the national character of the old Hibernians mended at all in the ſecond or third century, Julius Solinus. when Julius Solinus ſtigmatized them with epithets of rude, inhuman, and inhoſpitable, a race of men who were in ſuch a ſtate of rudeneſs that they made no diſtinction between right and wrong.

Objections anſwered. In vain has it been ſaid that the writers, whoſe authority we have cited, were illformed concerning the manners of the Iriſh, and that barbarity in which their country was anciently involved. The Britons, who, according to Strabo, reſorted to Rome, could not have been ignorant of the ſtate of Ireland. From thoſe Britons, we may conclude that both Strabo and Mela derived their informations concerning the Hibernians; and in the days of Tacitus the ports of Ireland were ſo well known, that the celebrated writer could not poſſibly have been ignorant [65] of the real character of its inhabitants*. Solinus had even a better opportunity than Strabo, Mela, and Tacitus, to become acquainted with the manners of the Iriſh. Britain had been a province of the empire two centuries at leaſt, before Solinus wrote. Some communication muſt have been maintained between the two Iſlands during that period, and of courſe the Romans could not have been ſtrangers to the real manners of the inhabitants of Ireland.

The manners of the old Iriſh inconſiſtent with a knowledge of letters. The genuine national character of the Iriſh, at a time when their Senachies ſay they had been in poſſeſſion of letters for more than a thouſand years, being thus aſcertained, we find it abſolutely inconſiſtent with learning, and that civility which is the invariable companion of literature. It was from this conſideration that the moſt learned and unbiaſſed among the moderns rejected, as mere fable and romance, what is related concerning letters in Ireland, prior to the miſſion of Patrick, and the reign of Leogaire. The celebrated Camden looked upon the barbarity and ignorance of the ancient Iriſh as facts ſo well aſcertained, that he produces them as proofs that the Romans, who poliſhed thoſe nations whom they [66] ſubdued, never extended their empire to Ireland*. Sir James Ware, though very zealous for the honour of his country, gave no credit to the pretenſions of the Iriſh to any knowledge of an alphabet, before they were introduced with Chriſtianity; and the learned Uſher, by his ſilence concerning the affairs of Ireland beyond the fifth age, ſeems to join iſſue upon that head with Ware.

The old Iriſh illiterate, proved Bolandus and the induſtrious Innes have entered into a ſerious refutation of the pretenſions of Ireland to letters in the times of Paganiſm. Both theſe writers, as well as Ware, prove from Nennius, that the firſt alphabet was taught in that Iſland by St. Patrick. To ſtrengthen the aſſertion of Nennius, Ware produced the authority of Tirochan, who, in the ſeventh age, wrote the life of the apoſtle [67] of Ireland. To theſe authorities Innes ſubjoins ſome critical obſervations of his own, which in themſelves are enough to deſtroy the credit of the whole legend concerning the literature of the Pagan Iriſh.

from their uſing foreign terms in their letters, &c. The ingenious father very ſhrewdly obſerves, that the bare terms which the Romans uſed in their letters, arts, and ſciences, ſufficiently demonſtrate, without having recourſe to hiſtory, that they derived their polite learning from Greece*. In the ſame manner the proper terms by which the Iriſh in their vulgar language, expreſs every thing concerning letters and ſcience, being Latin words hibernized, leave no room to doubt that they were taught firſt to read and write by perſons who ſpoke the Roman language. But as the Romans never entered Ireland, it is [68] certain that the Iriſh did not receive thoſe terms immediately from that nation. The firſt preachers of the goſpel in Ireland, who had their education at Rome, were conſequently thoſe who introduced into that country the knowledge of letters, and the Roman terms by which their different uſes were expreſſed.

from their want of written monuments; In vain, continues Innes, has O'Flaherty, and the ingenious father might have added many other Iriſh writers, affirmed that Ireland is, or was poſſeſſed of any books, whether of poetry or hiſtory, written before the introduction of Chriſtianity into that Iſland*. This is manifeſtly begging the queſtion, till theſe books are given to the public with literal tranſlations and documents to prove their authority, their age, and where they have been preſerved through ſo long a ſeries of ages. The learned Ware, after all his enquiries, could not find one writer of Iriſh hiſtory or antiquities prior to the author of the Pſalter-Caſhel, whom he places in the tenth century; though from what Ware himſelf cites from the Pſalter in another place, it muſt have been written after the commencement of the eleventh age.

[69] from the form of their alphabet; The arbitrary order in which the Iriſh of the middle ages placed their alphabet, and the fanciful appellations they gave them, prove only that the Hibernian Senachies formed a very early deſign to deceive the world on the article of their antiquities. But arguments ariſing from thoſe two circumſtances can only deceive thoſe who have not compared old Iriſh manuſcripts with the records of any other nation in Europe, prior to the invention of printing. The perfect indentity obſervable in the forms of the letters in both ſufficiently confutes this idle tale, unleſs we are to ſuppoſe that the Iriſh, and not the Romans, humanized and taught letters to all the European nations.

from the improbability of their aſſertions. It is unneceſſary, with Bolandus and Innes, to purſue the abettors of the pretended literature of Ireland, before the miſſion of St. Patrick, through all the maze of a conteſt, in which poſitive aſſertions, on the ſide of the latter, ſupply the place of argument. To a brief detail of ſome other unanſwerable objections advanced by the two learned writers, we ſhall annex ſome additional obſervations, to put an end for ever to the diſpute. Keating, O'Flaherty, and Toland, upon the authority of the book of Lecan, a manuſcript ſcarcely three hundred and fifty years old, affirm that one Phenius Farſa invented the Hebrew, Greek, [70] Latin, and Iriſh alphabets, together with the Ogum of Ireland, little more than a century after the univerſal deluge. A legend which ſays that the Greek alphabet was invented many ages before Cecrops and Cadmus, and the Latin characters ſeventeen centuries before the Romans were a people, is too ridiculous to deſerve any ſerious conſideration. But this idle ſtory is not more pregnant with abſurdity than the mention that is made of Adam, Cain, Noah, the deluge, Moſes, Pharaoh, and many other names and tranſactions in the old teſtament, in annals ſaid to have been written many ages before Chriſtianity introduced into Europe any knowledge of the Jewiſh hiſtory and antiquities.

The Ogum a ſpecies of ſtenography. The Iriſh being in ſome meaſure obliged to acknowledge that the Bethluiſnion, notwithſtanding the arbitrary tranſportation of the letters, and the puerile fancy of impoſing upon them the names of trees, by the Bards and Senachies of the middle ages, was borrowed from the Latin, ſtill continue to inſiſt that their anceſtors in remote antiquity, made uſe of characters diſtinguiſhed by the name of Ogum. Ogum is a word which has no affinity with any other in the Iriſh language, and ſeems therefore to have been a cant-name impoſed upon a ſpecies of ſtenography or cypher, in which the [71] old Iriſh, like many other nations, wrote their ſecrets. Sir James Ware, whoſe authority is often cited to prove the exiſtence of the Ogum, ſhews plainly that it was a kind of ſhort hand, varied according to the fancy of thoſe that uſed it, and conſequently that it did not merit the title of an alphabet*.

Contradictions between the ancient and modern Iriſh annaliſts. There is no circumſtance more concluſive againſt the learning of the Pagan Iriſh, than the contradictions between the ancient writers, and thoſe of the modern annaliſts of Ireland. The antiquaries of that country, in proportion as the general hiſtory of the world became more and more known to them, reformed, new-modelled, and retrenched the extravagancies of the firſt rude draught of Hibernian antiquities formed by the Bards and Fileas. Had letters been cultivated in Ireland in ſo early a period as is pretended, ſyſtems of the hiſtory of that country would have been ſo anciently formed, and ſo well eſtabliſhed by the ſanction of their antiquity, that neither Keating or O'Flaherty durſt, in the ſeventeenth age, give a compleat turn to the Iriſh antiquities. But that no ſuch ſyſtem was formed, is demonſtrable from [72] the ſilence concerning the times of Heatheniſm, in the moſt ancient annals of Ireland, of the exiſtence of which we have any ſatisfactory proof*.

Deciſive proof againſt the pretended literature of the old Iriſh. To cloſe with one deciſive argument this controverſy: It is to be obſerved that the ſettlement of the Mileſians, under the name of Scots, in Ireland, about a thouſand years before the Chriſtian aera, is the capital point eſtabliſhed by the pretended literature of the Heathen Iriſh. Should this early ſettlement be once aſcertained, it naturally ought to follow that the Britiſh Scots derived their blood from thoſe of Ireland; if they did, they muſt have carried with them to Caledonia that learning, ſcience, and civility, which had made ſo great a progreſs in their mother-country before they tranſmigrated from it. But nothing is more certain than that the Britiſh Scots were an illiterate people, and involved in barbariſm, even after St. Patrick's miſſion to the Scots of Ireland. The abettors of the Iriſh antiquities are then reduced into this dilemma; either the Scots of North Britain did not derive their origin from Ireland, or elſe the Iriſh had not any [73] knowledge of letters when the Britiſh Scots tranſmigrated from their country. If the firſt poſition is true, the whole credit of the Mileſian ſtory is at an end; if the latter, on the other hand, is the fact, no memory remains in Ireland of tranſactions prior to the miſſion of St. Patrick, and the reign of Leogaire.

General concluſions. From the general reſult of our enquiry upon this ſubject, we may conclude with Sir James Ware, that nothing certain is known concerning the affairs of Ireland before the middle of the fifth age*. We may alſo, with the ſame learned writer, take it for granted that the account of their Heathen anceſtors, retailed by the annaliſts, antiquaries, and hiſtorians of Ireland, are the impoſtures of later ages. It were to be wiſhed that the writers of that country, who underſtood the ancient Galic, had not given room to ſuſpect that they themſelves were conſcious of thoſe impoſtures, by their concealing from the [74] public thoſe monuments of their ancient hiſtory from which they pretend to derive their information. But had they given them to the world, it is highly probable that external argument would be very unneceſſary to prove that the literature of Ireland commenced with the miſſion of St. Patrick.

Iriſh writers reprehended It is a matter of ſome wonder that the Iriſh remain ſo long wedded to a ridiculous ſyſtem of antiquities, which throws the reproach of credulity upon their nation. Every other poliſhed people, who, in the times of ignorance, had ſet up high ſchemes of antiquity, have now extricated their hiſtory from the fables of their dark ages. Had there been a ſcarcity of men of abilities and learning in Ireland, ſome excuſe might be framed for this blind attachment to the legends of the bards. But as that country hath produced very able men, and qualified to form a ſolid foundation for a true hiſtory of their anceſtors, they deſerve to be ſeverely animadverted upon, for not reſcuing their antiquities, from that obſcurity and fiction in which they have been involved, by ſome modern, prejudiced, and injudicious writers.

ANTIQUITIES OF THE Britiſh and Iriſh Scots.

[75]

Preliminary Obſervations.

General obſervation. THE dark regions of Iriſh antiquity oppoſe more than their barrenneſs to inquiry. To the common gloom, which covers the origin of other nations, the Bards of Ireland have added clouds of their own. The deſart of their ancient hiſtory, to uſe a metaphor, is haunted by goblins and ſtrange forms, which diſtract the attention and offend the eye. To encounter the abſurdities which the more ancient Iriſh poſſes for the annals of their remote ages, is not an arduous, but a diſagreeable and tedious taſk. The field is ample, but it produces no laurels; the combat is not dangerous, but the victory will be attended by no ſame. But the profeſſed deſign of this work gives propriety to a minute inquiry into the pretenſions of Ireland to high antiquities, and the public, it is hoped, will [76] forgive the prolixity of the diſquiſition, on account of the neceſſity which has impoſed ſo dry a ſubject upon the Author.

Concluſions againſt the domeſtic accounts of the Iriſh. From the principles already eſtabliſhed we may draw the following juſt concluſions: That the hiſtory of the Mileſian colony, which, it is pretended, tranſmigrated from Spain into Ireland under the conduct of Heremon and Heber, is abſolutely unworthy of any credit: That the long liſt of kings, who are ſaid to have held the ſcepter of Ireland, for thirteen centuries before the Chriſtian aera, had their exiſtence only in the diſtempered fancies of the Bards of latter ages; and, in ſhort, that every thing related in their domeſtic annals concerning the Iriſh, prior to the miſſion of St. Patrick, ought to be baniſhed to the region of fiction and romance. Whatever dreamers in remote antiquities may be pleaſed to ſay, it is an indiſputable fact, that the tranſactions of a nation, illiterate in itſelf, and too diſtant or obſcure to be diſtinctly ſeen by foreign writers, muſt for ever lie buried in oblivion. The Iriſh, we have already ſeen, were ſo far from having the advantage of the Greeks and Romans in an earlier knowledge of letters*, that, on the contrary, they remained [77] much longer in ignorance than the inhabitants of the regions of the Weſt and North, whom the latter of thoſe illuſtrious nations ſubdued and humanized.

Hiſtory of Ireland commences with St. Patrick. The only means the old Iriſh had to preſerve the memory of their actions were the rhimes of the Bards, a race of men retained by the illiterate nations deſcended from the great Celtic ſtock. Without inſiſting on the known uncertainty of hiſtory in rhime, we may affirm that a dull narrative of facts in verſe could never take hold of the human mind in a degree ſufficient to tranſmit a knowledge of events, by oral tradition, through any conſiderable length of time. Granting then every poſſible indulgence to the traditionary hiſtory of Ireland, we cannot admit that it extends much beyond the middle of the fifth age, if even to record the rhimes of the Heathen Bards had been the firſt uſe made of the alphabet introduced by St. Patrick. But as it is not, in any degree, probable that the firſt converts in Ireland would employ their time in collecting and recording hiſtorical poems, which were tinctured, perhaps, with the ancient ſuperſtition, we may naturally place the commencement of the fabulous, as well as of the true hiſtory of that Iſland, poſterior to the introduction of Chriſtianity.

Spaniſh Extraction of the Iriſh examined and confuted.

[78]

Spaniſh extraction of the Iriſh before the Chriſtian aera The Iriſh annaliſts have, for many ages, adhered invariably to the pretended deſcent of their nation from the old Spaniards. The confidence with which they have always ſpoken on this ſubject, induced ſome learned men, who gave no credit to an early knowledge of letters in Ireland, to ſuppoſe that there was ſome foundation in fact for a ſtory, concerning which, tradition had brought intimations from every quarter. But to thoſe who have well conſidered the ſtate of ancient Europe, it will appear juſt as improbable that the Spaniards could tranſport themſelves into Ireland before the Chriſtian aera, as it is impoſſible to believe that any memory of that event, had it actually happened, could have been preſerved by tradition to the introduction of letters by St. Patrick.

highly improbable. It does not appear that much of the knowledge of the arts of civil life was extended to the inhabitants of the mountains of Aſturia and Gallicia, from the ſettlement eſtabliſhed by the Phoenicians in the Iſland of Gades. So far were the [79] old Spaniards, who poſſeſſed the ſhore of the Atlantic, from improving themſelves in navigation by their vicinity to the ocean, that Strabo affirms*, that from their ſituation they were cut off from all commerce with the reſt of mankind. Of all the inhabitants of the Celtiberian diviſion of Spain, Diodorus Siculus remarks, that the Vaccaei were the moſt humanized, for they had ſome knowledge in agriculture. But if a ſmall ſkill in one of the earlieſt and rudeſt arts entitled the Vaccaei to the character of a civilized people, when compared to the neighbouring tribes, we may, with juſtice, conclude that thoſe tribes had not made a progreſs in navigation ſufficient to make them venture into the ocean, and tranſport a colony into Ireland.

Dropt as indefenſible. The ſcheme of deducing the Iriſh Scotch from the Spaniards prior to the Chriſtian aera, was dropt as indefenſible by thoſe of the moſt learning and judgment, who examined the ſubject. After Innes had deſtroyed the credit of the [80] Mileſian tale, he found it neceſſary to inveſtigate the origin of the Scots in ſome other way. He propoſed to himſelf as a queſtion, from whence, and at what period, came the Scots into Ireland? ‘"They came,"’ fays the ingenious father, ‘"either from Scandia or Cantabria, about the time of the incarnation, or rather a little time after it*".’

Vague concluſions of Engliſh antiquaries. The antiquaries of England either did not examine with attention the origin of the Scots, or, averſe to enter into a conteſt with the Iriſh about a matter in which their own nation was not materially concerned, ſpoke very undeciſively on this ſubject. Stillingfleet thought that the Scots were Scythians from Scandinavia; but the time of their tranſmigration he does not attempt to aſſign. Camden, contrary to his uſual preciſion, is full of uncertainty on this head. They were, ſays the celebrated writer, Scythians from Spain, Scandia, or Germany. At one time he makes them the poſterity of thoſe Goths whom Conſtantine expelled from Spain; at another time, they are a motley aggregate of many nations; and laſt of all they are deſcendants of thoſe Britons who firſt poſſeſſed themſelves of Ireland.

[81] Innes' ſcheme. It is idle, on this ſubject to liſten to the tales of the Bards, annaliſts, and antiquariers of Ireland; they have been heard out and confuted. Innes is the only writer who has reduced the origin of the Scots into a regular ſyſtem; and he endeavours to defend it. Should the ingenious father's ſcheme be deſtroyed, the Caledonian extraction of the Iriſh muſt of courſe riſe upon its ruins. The Scots, ſays Innes, were foreigners who invaded or conquered Ireland in the firſt age of Chriſtianity. Two kinds of proofs, obſerves the ingenious father, are neceſſary to eſtabliſh this propoſition; the teſtimony of cotemporary writers, and the effects ariſing from ſuch an invaſion and conqueſt.

Proofs from the ancients againſt it. In vain did Innes ſearch for the teſtimony of writers to ſupport the credit of this Hibernian revolution*. Diodorus Siculus, Diodorus Siculus, who mentions the Iriſh a little time before the Chriſtian aera, ſays expreſsly that they were Britons, who had derived their blood from the Gauls; Strabo, and Strabo, in the unfavourable account he gives of his cotemporaries of Ireland, gives no hint of the ſettlement of the Spaniards in that Iſland.

[82] Pomponius Mela, The acrimony of Mela's obſervations on the national character of the Iriſh is a ſtrong argument againſt the Cantabric deſcent of that nation. Mela himſelf was a Spaniard, he had ſome intereſt in the Gallaeci, and could not have been ignorant of the Cantabric war. Had he learned, and had any ſuch event happened it muſt have come to his knowledge, that, after all the efforts of Auguſtus in perſon, or by his lieutenants, Antiſtius, Furnius, Cariſius, and Agrippa, the Cantabri collected a body of men, committed themſelves to the ocean, and ſeized upon Ireland, from a natural partiality for his countrymen he would have treated the Iriſh with more decency and reſpect.

Tacitus, Cornelius Tacitus wrote the life of Agricola before the concluſion of the firſt age. Agricola had formed a plan to reduce Ireland under the Roman yoke. The low idea that great commander entertained of the number and valor of the Iriſh is an unanſwerable proof that the Cantabric deſcent of that nation is a mere fiction. Had any conſiderable body of thoſe brave Spaniards, who fought againſt Auguſtus and his lieutenants, tranſmigrated into Ireland, Agricola could not ſuppoſe that a ſingle legion was ſufficient [83] to ſubjugate and maintain the conqueſt of that Iſland. It is idle, in ſhort, to expect from Tacitus any ſupport to Innes' Spaniſh ſyſtem. The celebrated writer, from the beſt information,*, affirms, that the Britiſh and Hibernians were men of much the ſame genius and manners, and from that circumſtance we may infer that the two nations derived their origin from one common ſource.

Solinus. From the only favourable epithet beſtowed by Solinus on the Iriſh of the ſecond or third age, Innes concludes that the Scots, a valiant body of foreigners, were ſettled among them before the time of that writer. It is difficult to comprehend why a mixture of foreign blood ſhould be neceſſary to make the Iriſh a warlike people. If the ſituation of their country ſecured them from invaſion, the civil diſſentions ariſing from their being divided into a number of petty ſepts would have undoubtedly kindled and preſerved a martial ſpirit among them. But if a [84] colony from abroad was requiſite to entitle the inhabitants of Ireland to the character of a brave race of men, it is more natural to ſuppoſe that ſome of the Britons of the South, or of the Caledonians of the North, ſettled among them, than emigrants from Cantabria. Tacitus ſays, and indeed it is common ſenſe, that many Britons fled into Ireland from the tyranny of the Romans.

Ptolomy. Ptolemy, who wrote under the Antonines, has not once mentioned the Scots, though he is very minute with regard to inferior tribes ſettled in Ireland. The geographer found in the leſſer Britain the Brigantes, Vellabori, Cauci, and Menapii, but the redoubtable Scots of Cantabria totally eſcaped his notice. Camden, willing to humour the Iriſh in their pretenſions to a Spaniſh extract, has obſerved that the Lucenſii and Concani were neighbours in Spain, as the Luceni and Gongani were in Hibernia. If this is an argument, others of the ſame kind and of equal force may be produced to oppoſe it. The Cauci and Menapii were neighbours in Germany, and ſo were tribes of the ſame name, according to Ptolemy, in Ireland. Shall we then bring ſome Iriſh tribes from Cantabria, others from Germany, tranſport the Brigantes from South Britain, and totally exclude all emigrants from Caledonia, which is within [85] a few leagues of the Iriſh ſhore? Camden's obſervation might have been extended further; the Iberians and Albanians were contiguous to one another in Aſia; the Hibernians and Albanians poſſeſſed the Britiſh Iſles, divided from one another by a very narrow channel; and ought we from that circumſtance to infer, that the Caledonians and Iriſh came from the ſhores of the Caſpian?

Oroſius, In the days of Oroſius the Iriſh were diſtinguiſhed by the name of Scottiſh clans. Oroſius does not ſay from whence theſe Scottiſh tribes tranſmigrated into Ireland. Though a Spaniard himſelf, he has not mentioned, in treating of the Cantabric war, a circumſtance that would have done honour to his country; that a great body of the Cantabri, rather than ſubmit to Auguſtus, or to ſkulk in mountains and deſarts, or throw in deſpair their lives away like many of their countrymen, committed themſelves to the Ocean, and acquired in Ireland better ſettlements than thoſe for which they contended, with ſo much unavailing bravery againſt the Romans.

Florus Florus is another writer of Spaniſh extraction. He was evidently partial to the Cantabri, but he does not even furniſh an obſcure hint that either of the two warlike nations who were engaged in [86] the laſt Spaniſh war againſt the Romans, had, after their unſucceſsful efforts to defend their liberty, found new ſettlements in the neighbouring ocean. The greateſt part of the Cantabri, according to Florus, after being hard preſſed both by ſea and land, driven out of their faſtneſſes, hunted down like wild beaſts, and, at laſt, incloſed within lines of circumvallation, reſcued themſelves from ſlavery by a voluntary death. A ſeries of ſimilar miſfortunes purſued the Aſturians; after having incloſed themſelves within walls, they were taken by the armies of Rome, the whole nation were tranſplanted from their native mountains to the plain country, and an end for ever put to Spaniſh inſurrections.

The Iriſh not a Spaniſh colony proved from their language. In the whole hiſtory of the Cantabric war it is impoſſible to find a Spaniſh nation, hoſtile to the Romans, that were able to equip tranſports for a colony, eſcape the vigilance of the Roman navy, and numerous enough to conquer or people Ireland. In vain has Innes availed himſelf of a pretended analogy between the Biſcayan dialect and the language of Ireland, to ſupport his ſcheme of the Spaniſh extract of the Scots. That the moſt ancient inhabitants of Galicia were mixed with Celtes is a point ſufficiently eſtabliſhed by the authority of many of [87] the ancients*; and therefore that they originally ſpoke in part the ſame language with the Gaël who firſt tranſmigrated into Britain, may, from the circumſtance of the deſcent common to both nations, be inferred. The ſterility of the mountains of Galicia would never invite new ſettlers whom the bravery of the old inhabitants could not repel. They conſequently remained an unmixed people, and the ſimplicity of their manners preſerved their language from corruption. A ſimilar ſituation had a ſimilar effect on the Scots of the Britiſh Iſles. The north of Scotland received no colonies in any period that can be aſſigned; and the Iriſh remained, in a great meaſure, unmixed until the Engliſh conqueſt of their country. But notwithſtanding circumſtances common to the Cantabri and the Scots of both our Iſles, the language of the latter has leſs affinity with the modern Biſcayan, than the Engliſh tongue has with [88] that of the Moguls of the eaſtern Tartary*.

Scandinavian Extraction of the Iriſh confuted.

[89]

Pretended Scandinavian deſcent of the Iriſh confuted. If Innes had little reaſon to deduce the Scots from Spain, he had ſtill leſs to derive them from any of the nations of Scandinavia. Neither he or Stillingfleet were able, with all their erudition, to ſupport a Scandinavian migration into Ireland, in the firſt age, by the authority of any cotemporary writer. One argument will be perhaps ſufficient to deſtroy the credit of this part of the ingenious father's ſcheme. The language of the Scandinavians, being a branch of the Sarmatic, is radically different from the Hibernian and Britiſh Galic. It muſt be acknowledged that the ancients ſometimes diſtinguiſhed the Germans, as well as thoſe nations who inhabited beyond the Baltic, by the name of Scythians. But it is extremely puerile to infer, from the remote analogy between the name of Scythians and Scots, that the latter nation derived their blood either from the Germans or old Scandinavians. The Danes, for a ſimilar reaſon, might deduce themſelves from the Danai of Greece; and the Caledonians of North Britain trace themſelves to thoſe of the ſame name in Aetolia.

[90] Innes' viſioonary argument Innes endeavours to ſupport this branch of his ſyſtem with other arguments. ‘"The Romans, ſays the ingenious writer, after the conqueſt of Gaul found means to confine the Germans within their own territories. Being overſtocked with numbers at home, they were obliged to put to ſea, and try their fortune beyond the pale of the empire. The Germans, touching on the oppoſite ſhore of North Britain, were probably repulſed by the bravery of the Caledonians, upon which they ſteered their courſe to Ireland, and made a conqueſt of that country."’

from the population of Germany The legions of Rome it is certain fruſtrated, for ſome time, the attempts which the Germans made to extend themſelves towards the South. In the reign of Auguſtus they croſſed the Rhine without ſucceſs, and in that of Veſpaſian they aided, to no purpoſe, the rebellion of Claudius Civilis. When Domitian held the reins of government at Rome, the Germans attempted the conqueſt of Gaul, and they gave much trouble to many of his ſucceſſors in the imperial dignity. The Romans, ſays Cornelius Tacitus*, rather triumphed over, than ſubdued, the Germans; the victories which the imperial armies gained in their country being [91] attended with more glory than any ſolid advantage. To prevent the incurſions of enemies ſo formidable, the Romans had recourſe to political expedients to weaken their power at home. Both Auguſtus and Tiberius concluded treaties with the Suevi and Sicambri, and tranſplanted them into the fertile provinces of Gaul.

confuted. It does not appear that Germany was overſtocked with numbers, after the Roman legions had excluded their migrating armies from Gaul. In the attempts of the Germans upon that country, in the reign of Auguſtus, they loſt a great number of their braveſt ſoldiers; and the expeditions of Druſus depopulated whole diſtricts of their country. Tiberius was not leſs ſucceſsful in Germany than his brother Druſus, nor his many victories leſs deſtructive to the inhabitants of that country*. After his acceſſion to the imperial dignity, his nephew Germanicus, with eight legions ſupported by auxiliaries, ravaged all that tract of country, which lies between the Rhine and the Elbe, and made a general maſſacre of the whole nation of the Marſi. Germany, during that fatal period, was involved in civil wars. The ill-timed animoſities between Arminius and Segeſtes, the ravages of Maroboduus, [92] and the invaſion of the Romans, made it a ſcene of unparalleled miſeries. It is therefore certain that Germany, in the firſt century, was more depopulated, than it was in any former or after period, if we except the time in which the Franks, Allemans, and Lombards, evacuated their territories to ſettle themſelves in more fertile countries*.

The Iriſh deſcended of the Britiſh Gaël. It appears, upon the whole, that no colonies came to Ireland either from Spain or the North of Europe, between the commencement of the Chriſtian aera, and the cloſe of the third century, when the Scots are mentioned by Porphyrius for the firſt time. That the Scots came from either of thoſe countries by a long voyage [93] to Ireland, prior to the firſt century, is ſufficiently contradicted by the known barbariſm of the old Hibernians, as well as of all other nations whom an intercourſe with the Romans had not humanized. We muſt have recourſe, in the laſt reſort, to the Caledonian Britons for the genuine origin of the Iriſh. Their name of Gaël, their language, the conformity of their manners and cuſtoms with thoſe of the old Britons, all concur in proving, beyond any poſſibility of reply, that the Iriſh are the poſterity of the Gauls or Gaël, who. after having traverſed the Iſland of Great Britain, paſſed over, in a very early period, into Ireland from the promontories of Galloway and Cantire.

IRISH EXTRACTION OF THE SCOTS EXAMINED.

[94]

General Reflections.

General obſervation. NATIONS find it difficult to diveſt themſelves of a partiality for ſyſtems of antiquity, which, to the ſanction of ages, have added the authority of learned men. The Scots of both the Britiſh Iſles were former peculiarly attached to the abſurd tales, with which their bards had covered their origin. Many ſtill retain the unmanly credulity, which has been the reproach of their anceſtors, and think it a kind of ſacrilege to diſperſe the gloom, which involves the commencements of their hiſtory. The Author of the Introduction writes not for theſe; he has taken up arms againſt fiction and romance, and he will not lay them down till the whole are ſubdued. In deſtroying the fantaſtic fables, which deform the obſcurity of our ancient hiſtory, he may perhaps bury whole ages in darkneſs; but oblivion itſelf is better than inauthentic fame. The credit of the Mileſian tale is already deſtroyed, and it is perhaps ſuperfluous to refute the pretended Hibernian extraction of the Scots [95] Both ſtories depend upon the ſame authority, and they muſt both fall by the ſame argument. But to cloſe for ever a conteſt, which, though not material in itſelf, has employed the pens of many learned men, and attracted the attention of nations, we muſt diſcuſs the point at more length than its importance deſerves.

Nothing known of the Iriſh before St. Patrick. It has already appeared that nothing certain is known concerning the affairs of Ireland prior to the miſſion of St. Patrick*. The hiſtory of Caledonia, before the Roman eagles were diſplayed beyond the friths, muſt for ever remain in impenetrable darkneſs. Both countries were peopled many ages before the reign of Domitian, but how they were governed, or by what petty chieftains or kings, a Scottiſh or Iriſh Beroſus can only tell. Had a hundred Hibernian colonies, with a royal Mileſian at the head of each, tranſmigrated into North Britain, before the Roman arms penetrated into Caledonia, they muſt, without a revelation from heaven, remain involved in eternal oblivion. [96] It is as ridiculous to aſſert, as it would be downright anility to believe, that Caledonia received an Iriſh colony before Tacitus wrote the life of Agricola. To prove that no Iriſh colony tranſmigrated into Britain in or after the reign of Domitian, it is proper to review what the Romans have communicated concerning the ſtate of Caledonia from that period to the appearance of the Scots on the frontiers of the province.

The Scots not of Iriſh Extract.

No Iriſh migration happened in the firſt century. Julius Agricola employed his fourth campaign in ſecuring the acquiſitions which he had made to the ſouth of the Forth and Clyde; and could the bravery of his troops, and the glory of the Roman name, permit it, that able commander, ſays Tacitus, might find in thoſe friths a proper boundary for his conqueſts in Britain*. Agricola, in the fifth year of his expeditions, ſhipping his army in the Clyde, attacked nations till then unknown, in that part of Caledonia which lies over againſt Ireland. After ſeveral ſucceſsful engagements he ſtationed ſome [97] of his troops there to be in readineſs for an Iriſh expedition.

Firſt argument. The counties of Dumbarton and Argyle were the theatre of war in Agricola's fifth campaign. The inhabitants were ſo numerous, that, for a whole ſummer, they gave ample employment to the Roman army; and that, at a time, when, by the teſtimony of Agricola himſelf, a ſingle legion was ſufficient not only to ſubdue, but alſo to ſecure the conqueſt of Ireland.

Second argument. In vain will it be objected that the Roman commander might have been miſtaken in his calculation of the internal ſtrength of Ireland. He had in his camp an Iriſh prince who was no ſtranger to the ſtate of his own country. Should it be ſuppoſed that this exile, from a deſire of inducing Agricola to undertake an expedition, which might re-eſtabliſh himſelf in his dominions, gave a falſe account of Ireland, the Roman was too prudent to rely altogether on the intelligence of the Hibernian fugitive. The ports of Ireland were, in thoſe times, better known than thoſe of Britain; and Agricola muſt [98] have conſulted thoſe who traded into that country concerning the force of an Iſland which he intended to invade*.

Third argument. We may therefore conclude that Agricola formed, upon good intelligence, a juſt idea of the ſtate of Ireland, and conſequently that it was very thinly peopled, or that the military character of its inhabitants, on account of their extreme barbariſm, was very low. In either of theſe ſituations it is not in any degree probable, that the Iriſh, in the days of Domitian, would have made any attempts to ſettle in Caledonia; or that thoſe whom one legion was ſufficient to ſubdue at home, could make conqueſts abroad, among a people who employed the whole force of the Roman army.

Fourth argument. It is difficult to aſcertain with exactneſs the number of the troops of Agricola in his Caledonian expedition. Joſephus ſays that there were four legions ſtationed in Britain in the days of Domitian. We learn from Tacitus, that Agricola, at one period of the Caledonion war, divided his army into three bodies. The enemy attacked one of thoſe diviſions conſiſting of the ninth legion, which, according to the eſtabliſhed maxim of the Romans, muſt have been ſupported by a proportionable [99] number of auxiliaries. Upon the whole we may conclude, that the two counties of Argyle and Dumbarton oppoſed, for a campaign, thrice the number of troops, that, according to Agricola's opinion, was ſufficient to conquer the whole kingdom of Ireland.

Fifth argument. Had there been in the time of Agricola an Hibernian colony ſettled in the weſtern Caledonia, who had reſolution and numbers ſufficient to oppoſe that great man, it is impoſſible that their mother country could have been repreſented by him in ſo deſpicable a light. Neither is it probable that Tacitus, in his ſhort account of the Iriſh nation, where he obſerves that their genius and manners did not differ materially from the Britons*, would have omitted to ſay that the weſtern Caledonians derived their blood from Ireland, had that actually been the caſe. The celebrated writer, on the contrary, gave it as his opinion, that the Caledonians, in the moſt extenſive ſenſe of that name, and conſequently the inhabitants of Argyle and Dumbarton, were of German extract.

[100] Iriſh fables on the ſubject. The Iriſh, upon the authority of thoſe annals whoſe credit has been already deſtroyed, affirm that their anceſtors, in the days of Agricola, as well as in ſubſequent periods, were the life and ſtrength of the Caledonian armies. It will, perhaps, be thought unneceſſary to confute theſe unauthorized aſſertions, after what has been already ſaid concerning the faith due to Iriſh hiſtory before the time of St. Patrick. But to give every advantage to the zealous abetters of the old ſyſtem, we ſhall examine this tale without inſiſting on the impoſſibility that even tradition could extend to Ireland in the firſt century.

Improbable. Crimothan the firſt, it would appear, held the reins of government in Ireland, when Agricola carried the Roman arms into Caledonia. This monarch tranſported an army into North Britain, aided the Caledonians againſt the Romans, and after the departure of Agricola returned to Ireland laden with ſpoils and foreign trophies. Tacitus was extremely unjuſt to the happy valour of Crimothan againſt the Romans. The illuſtrious Crimothan, the ſupreme king of Ireland, was, it ſeems, inferior in command, in birth and valour, to the chieftain who was at the [101] head of the Caledonian confederacy. Tacitus expreſsly affirms, that Galgacus was ſuperior, in thoſe reſpects, to all the leaders of that army which fought Agricola near the Grampian mountains.

Impoſſible, Is it not ſomewhat ſtrange, that Galgacus has totally neglected to mention his ally Crimothan, and his Hibernian forces, in that excellent ſpeech with which he animated the Caledonian army*? And why did not Tacitus place the provocation given by Crimothan among thoſe reaſons which Agricola aſſigned for his intended expedition into Ireland? The celebrated writer, the truth is, knew nothing of Crimothan or his troops; and therefore we may conclude, that the redoubtable monarch, if he ever exiſted, never croſſed the Iriſh channel. It is upon the whole demonſtrable, that no part of Caledonia was poſſeſſed by an Hibernian colony in the days of Agricola; and that the ſtory of the pretended auxiliaries from Ireland is abſolute fiction.

The Caledonians ſuffered little from Agricola. The loſſes ſuſtained by the Caledonians during the expedition of Agricola were, perhaps, much exaggerated by Tacitus. But had they ſuffered even more than the hiſtorian affirms, they had time to recover [102] their former ſtrength during the long tranquility which ſucceeded the departure of Agricola, and continued to the reign of Hadrian. The incurſions of the Caledonians rendered it neceſſary for that emperor to come in perſon into Britain; but that the Barbarians ſuffered very little loſs by his arms we may naturally infer, from his relinquiſhing to them all that tract of country which extends from the Tine and Solway to the Scottiſh friths.

Formidable in the reign of Pius. Lollius Urbicus, in the reign of Antoninus Pius, defeated the Caledonians; and, driving them beyond the Forth and Clyde, excluded them by an earthen wall from the Roman Britain*. Though repelled by Urbicus, and afterwards by Ulpius Marcellus, in the time of Commodus, they were far from being reduced ſo low as to yield a part of their territories to the Romans, much leſs to a band of Hibernian adventurers. Before they were chaſtiſed by Marcellus, they had committed dreadful devaſtations in the province, and cut off a Roman general [103] with the greateſt part of his army. When Severus aſſumed the purple, they haraſſed the northern provincials with ſuch cruelty, and ſo little intermiſſion, that Virus Lupus was driven to the ſhameful neceſſity of purchaſing a peace from them with money.

Expedition of Severus. Some years after this ignominious treaty was patched up, the Roman lieutenant in Britain acquainted Severus that the northern Barbarians were every where in motion; that they overran, plundered, and laid waſte the province, and that therefore a powerful reinforcement, or the preſence of the emperor himſelf, was indiſpenſibly neceſſary*. Severus, deſirous of adding to the laurels he had acquired in the Eaſt and North, embraced with pleaſure, an opportunity ſo favourable to his ambition. Though oppreſſed with the gout and the weight of years, he undertook immediately an expedition into Britain; and, arriving with a great [104] army, made preparations for a vigorous and deciſive campaign. The Barbarians were alarmed, ſent an embaſſy to excuſe their conduct, and to offer overtures of peace. Severus for ſome time amuſed the ambaſſadors, and when every thing was prepared, marched northward, with a fixed reſolution to exterminate the whole nation of the Caledonians.

attended with no ſucceſs. But the flattering hopes of Severus vaniſhed into air, after the moſt vigorous exertions of courage, conduct, and force; after ſuſtaining incredible fatigues with amazing patience, and the loſs of fifty thouſand men, he was at laſt reduced to the old and inglorious expedient of building a wall to exclude from the province thoſe Barbarians whom he could neither extirpate or ſubdue. We may therefore infer, from this circumſtance, that the Caledonians, after all the toil and military efforts of Severus, ſo far from being annihilated, or even much weakened or humbled, continued a very formidable enemy.

Mileſian fictions. Some Iriſh annaliſts affirm, that the Picts, from the commencement of their [105] hiſtory, through a long ſeries of ages, were tributary to the Mileſian Scots of Ireland. It is obſervable, that the pretended records from which the incredible tale is extracted, make no mention of the Caledonian name, which circumſtance is very unfavourable to the credit of the annals of Ireland. The inhabitants of North Britain ceaſed to be diſtinguiſhed by the name of Caledonians about the cloſe of the fourth age; ſo that the Mileſian ſyſtem muſt have been fabricated in a period ſo modern as to place the fourth century beyond the reach of tradition. But, by whatever name the northern Britons were diſtinguiſhed, it is reaſonable to ſuppoſe that the monarch of Ireland would have ſent auxiliaries to his diſtreſſed vaſſals when Severus threatened the whole nation with extirpation. Herodian and Dion Caſſius then were very unjuſt to his Hibernian majeſty, for neither he or his forces are once mentioned in the minute account given by thoſe hiſtorians of the Caledonian war. The Roman writers with one conſent ſeem to have entered into a conſpiracy againſt the military fame of the royal line of Heremon. In vain did Crimothan diſcomfit legions in Britain; in vain did the redoubtable Nial carry his victorious arms to the banks of the Loire; it was to no purpoſe that [106] Dathy*, whom heaven alone could ſubdue, penetrated to the foot of the Alps; foreign writers, with a ſcandalous partiality, not only concealed the exploits, but even the very names of thoſe heroes.

State of Caledonia from Severus to the appearance of the Scots. In the long period which intervened between the acceſſion of the ſons of Severus to the imperial dignity, and the middle of the fourth age, the Caledonians were not once attacked within their own territories by the Roman armies. The exploits of Carauſius are mere fiction, and the feats of Conſtantine and his father Chlorus in Caledonia exiſted only in the rants of eccleſiaſtical panegyriſts. The frequent conteſts for the purple, between men ſometimes called emperors and ſometimes tyrants and uſurpers, in proportion as they were near or far diſtant from the capital; the public diſtractions which aroſe naturally from theſe diſputes, the growing imbecillity of the empire, and the invaſions of the Barbarians of the northern Europe, diverted the attention of the Romans from Caledonia. In a [107] period ſo long, and of ſuch tranquillity, the inhabitants of North Britain, inſtead of declining, muſt have greatly multiplied their numbers. In the tenth conſulſhip of Conſtantius, the ſon of Conſtantine, we meet with the Scots, a formidable nation in Britain. Ammianus Marcellinus, who found them firſt in the iſland, does not furniſh one obſcure hint that they derived their blood from a foreign country. The hiſtorian, on the contrary, gives to them and the Picts the character of wild nations, plainly in oppoſition to thoſe Britons whom the Romans had ſubdued and humanized*.

Proved from various Arguments.

[108]

Firſt argument. Bede is the firſt writer who poſitively affirms that the Scots of Britain derived their origin from thoſe of Ireland. Whether they originally obtained from the Picts the principality of Iar-gaël or Argyle by force or treaty, was a point which all his hiſtorical and traditional knowledge did not enable the venerable Anglo-Saxon to determine. The incapacity of Bede, who lived ſo near the pretended tranſmigration of the Iriſh, to ſolve this difficulty, is a kind of demonſtration that the whole ſtory is a fiction, impoſed upon that credulous, though pious writer.

Second argument. If the Picts were ſo ſeeble that a band of Iriſh adventurers could tear from them one third of their dominions, how came they ſo frequently to provoke the Roman legions, and haraſs the provincials from the time of Chlorus to the total dereliction of Britain by Honorius? To invade the territories of a warlike and diſciplined people when they ſuffered a great part of their own to be wreſted from them by a deſpicable enemy, is a folly too abſurd to gain any credit. But perhaps the Picts [109] gave the diſtrict of Argyle to their allies of Ireland, in conſideration of ſervices againſt the Romans. Theſe ſervices were extremely unneceſſary; for the Romans, till provoked by incurſions, were very inoffenſive towards the Barbarians beyond the walls. Nations, in ſhort, have been known to receive foreigners into the boſom of their country to repel invaſions, but it is ridiculous to think that any people would have recourſe to ſo dangerous an expedient for the pleaſure of harraſſing neighbours who did not in any degree offend them.

Third argument. It is difficult for the unprejudiced part of mankind to believe, that a colony, ſufficient to occupy the weſtern Highlands and Iſles, could have wafted themſelves, their wives, and children, at once, from Ireland into the northern Britain, in Curraghs or miſerable ſkiffs, whoſe hulls of wicker were wrapped up in a cow's hide. In theſe wretched veſſels, it is true, an irregular communication was kept up between both the Iſlands; but the navigation was dangerous, and performed only in the faireſt days of ſummer*. The [110] fertility of the ſoil of Iar-ghaël could never be an inducement to an Iriſh migration into that diviſion of Caledonia. If poverty, or their being overſtocked with numbers, compelled the inhabitants of the pretended Dalrietta, or the Route in the county of Antrim, to go in queſt of foreign ſettlements, they ought in common prudence to have tried their fortune in the ſouthern diviſion of their own country, and not in the ſterile mountains of the weſtern Caledonia.

Fourth argument. The Iriſh muſt have been wonderfully improved in military knowledge from the days of Agricola, if it was more difficult in the fourth century to extort part of their dominions from them, than from the Caledonians, who had better opportunies to be enured to arms. Turgeſius and his Norwegians did not find, in an after age, that the Iriſh were ſo obſtinately tenacious of their fertile lands, as the poſterity of the Picts were of their own barren country, when repeatedly attacked by all the efforts of Scandinavia.

Fifth argument. Should it be ſuppoſed that a band of adventurers were expelled from Ulſter by the preſſure of the ſouthern Iriſh, it is difficult to account how the Picts of Britain ſhould receive the fugitives. Either generoſity or ſelfiſhneſs would have prompted them, like the Earl of Pembroke, [111] to aſſiſt the exiles in recovering their territories; and, by that means, to endeavour to conquer a part of a fine country for themſelves. But the Picts were, it ſeems, ſtrangers to the moſt common maxims of policy; for, according to the ſyſtem under conſideration, they muſt have been of all nations the moſt tame, prodigal, and imprudent. In ſhort, if the Iriſh Scots voluntarily abandoned one of the beſt diſtricts of Ireland to ſettle in one of the moſt ſterile diviſions of North Britain, they muſt have been more abſurd than the Hibernians of latter ages have been, perhaps very unjuſtly, repreſented; if by violence they were driven from home, the Picts deſerve the ſame character for permitting a band of vagabonds to ſeize upon one third of their dominions.

Sixth argument. The Saxon auxiliaries of Vortigern were not ſo modeſt as the Iriſh Scots; or elſe the Picts were a people of much leſs ſpirit than the ſouthern Britons. When the Saxons raiſed their demands to an unreaſonable height, the Britons diſputed with them every inch of ground. They were at laſt overpowered; but it was after ſuch an expence of time and blood, that glory covered them in the midſt of ruin. Had the Hibernian mercenaries encroached upon the Picts, as the [112] Saxons did on the Britons, we might naturally ſuppoſe that the latter, inſtead of carrying war and deſolation into a foreign country, in conjunction with the Scots, would have found employment for their arms at home. The unanimity in expedition which ſubſiſted for ages between the Caledonian nations, is proof ſufficient that they derived their origin from one and the ſame ſource.

THE PRETENDED TESTIMONY OF FOREIGN WRITERS EXAMINED, AND CONFUTED.

[113]

General Reflections.

Firſt appearance of the Scots. ABOUT the middle of the fourth age, the unconquered barbarians of Caledonia became known to the Romans under the name of Picts and Scots. Marcellinus, who is the firſt hiſtorian who met them in Britain, was an abſolute ſtranger to their being a new people, who then made their appearance in the iſland*. In the period of time between the expedition of Julius Agricola and the reign of Conſtantius we have already ſeen, that the improbability of the tranſmigration of a foreign colony into North Britain is ſo great that, without poſitive evidence, the ſtory can never be believed. The abettors of the Hibernian antiquities, [114] finding that the credit of the domeſtic annals of Ireland could never eſtabliſh this fact, had recourſe to ſome paſſages of foreign writers, which they wreſted to their purpoſe.

The impoſſibility of an Iriſh migration into North Britain between the reign of Conſtantius and the dereliction of Britain by Honorius, is ſupported by arguments equally ſtrong with thoſe we have produced for the period before the firſt of thoſe emperors. Thoſe who after Conſtantius ſucceeded to the imperial purple, till the days of Valentinian, were rather inſulted than feared by the wild nations of Caledonia. The latter, therefore, were under no neceſſity to implore the aſſiſtance of foreign auxiliaries; neither can we ſuppoſe that they would cede to a pitiful band of Iriſh barbarians any part of thoſe territories, which they defended, with ſo much ſpirit, againſt the diſciplined armies of the lords of the world.

Claudian.

[115]

Claudian's pretended authority The ſupporters of the Hibernian extraction of the Britiſh Scots pretend to have found in Claudian a direct proof of their ſyſtem. That Poet, in his panegyric on Theodoſius, has the following lines.

Quid rigor aeternus coeli; quid ſidera proſunt,
Ignotumque fretum? Maduerunt Saxone fuſo
Orcades: incoluit Pictorum ſanguine Thule:
Scottorum cumulos flevit glacialis Ierne*.

But we may venture to affirm, that there is nothing in this paſſage concluſive in favour of the old Mileſian tale. Claudian indulged all the wantonneſs of a poetical fancy in this panegyric on Theodoſius. It was the poet's imagination only that ‘"warmed Thule with Pictiſh blood, moiſtened the ſands of Orkney with Saxon gore, and thawed the frozen Ierne into tears for the ſlaughter of the Scots."’ [116] It is idle, in ſhort, to ſearch for fact in the hyperboles of poetry; Marcellinus, though particularly fond of Theodoſius, has not recorded theſe prodigies of valour: Even Latinus Pacatius, though a panegyriſt, ſays no more, than that the Scot was driven back to his native fens*, and the Saxons deſtroyed in conflicts by ſea.

examined, Without inſiſting upon what ſhall hereafter appear at leaſt probable, that Ireland is not meant by the Ierne of Claudian, we may aver, that there is nothing in theſe verſes deciſive concerning the origin of the Scots. If the Hibernians were of Caledonian extract; if, from the ancient ties of conſanguinity, a friendly intercourſe was maintained between the Iriſh and the inhabitants of Albany; a perſon of a leſs warm imagination than Claudian might ſuppoſe that the former ſincerely lamented the misfortunes of their mother nation.

and confuted. In Claudian's panegyric on Stilicho, there is a paſſage which has been often tranſcribed with triumph in oppoſition to the antiquity of the Britiſh Scots.

[117]
Me quoque vicinis pereuntem gentibus inquit,
Munivit Stilico, totam cum SCOTTUS IERNAM
Movit; et infeſto ſpumavit remige Tethys.
Illius affectum curis, ne bella timerem
SCOTTICA, nec Pictum tremerem, nec litore toto
Proſpicerem dubiis venientem Saxona ventis.

Britain is here perſonified; ſhe makes her acknowledgments to Stilicho for his ſervices to her at a very perilous conjuncture. ‘"She owed her ſafety to that able commander when the Scot had put all IERNA in motion; when the ocean was agitated into a foam by hoſtile oars. He delivered her from the terrors of a Scottiſh war, from Pictiſh incurſions, and from beholding piratical ſquadrons of Saxons coming to her coaſts with the veering winds."’

It will be hereafter ſhewn that the name of Ierna may, without any violence, [118] be applied to the weſtern diviſion of Scotland, including the iſles: But ſhould the Ierna of Claudian be the ſame with Ireland, it would little avail the abettors of that ſyſtem which we now oppoſe. There is no neceſſity to believe that the poet adhered to hiſtorical fact. Virgil, without any authority, extended the victories of Auguſtus to nations, whom neither he nor his lieutenants ever looked in the face*; and why ſhould not the ſame privilege of invention, exaggeration, and flattery be allowed to the laureat of Honorius?

A critical remark. Not to inſiſt upon the improbability that the Iriſh in that ſtate of barbariſm in which they were certainly involved towards the cloſe of the fourth age, could annually tranſport armies into Britain, we may ſafely affirm, that the Tethys of Claudian was rather agitated into a foam by Saxon than by Hibernian oars. The Saxons, in the days of Honorius, were [119] in ſome meaſure a maritime people; Tethys ſignifies the ocean: the ſea between Germany and England has ſome right to that title, but the channel between Ireland and Caledonia was never dignified with ſo high a name. This criticiſm is ſufficient to deſtroy the whole force of the argument drawn from Claudian. It appears not from hiſtory that the Scots ever infeſted the Roman diviſion of Britain by ſea: Conſtantine appointed an officer called Comes littoris Saxonici, to take the charge of part of the coaſt of the province, which was moſt expoſed to the piratical depredations of the Saxons; but of a Comes littoris Scottici Hibernici we have never heard.

Concluſive arguments. If the province of Valentia comprehended the country between the walls, why did not the Hibernian Scots land every other ſeaſon in Galloway? How came not the Iriſh rovers to attempt a deſcent in either of the diviſions of Wales or in Cumberland? Was not the coaſt of Lancaſhire almoſt as near to the Iſle of Man, which, according to Oroſius, was poſſeſſed by Scottiſh tribes, as any part of the continent of Caledonia was to Ireland? Why, in the name of wonder, was a bulwark of turf or ſtone a better ſecurity againſt the Iriſh Scots than againſt the Saxons of Friezeland or Holland, as both were tranſmarine nations with reſpect to the [120] Province? Why did the Iriſh, with a peculiar abſurdity, land always on the wrong ſide of the Roman walls, which they muſt have ſcaled or deſtroyed before they could penetrate into the province? It is impoſſible to believe that all their expeditions could have been ſo ill-concerted; and this conſideration alone is ſufficient to demonſtrate that the Scots, whom the Roman writers ſo often mention, were inhabitants of Caledonia. Walls were conſtructed and legions employed to defend the province from their incurſions, but fleets were never fitted out to intercept or deſtroy them at ſea.

Oroſius.—Iſidorus.

The Hibernian ſyſtem being deprived of every ſupport from Claudian, let us next examine ſome paſſages of other ancient authors whom our adverſaries have raiſed to their aid. Oroſius. If Oroſius, a Spaniſh prieſt, found the Scots in Ireland about the beginning of the fifth age, Marcellinus met with them in Britain about the middle of the third*. Iſidorus. Iſidore of Seville, who flouriſhed in the ſeventh age, ſays, that in his time, Ireland was indiſcriminately [121] called Scottia and Hibernia; and that the latter name proceeded from its lying over againſt Iberia and the Cantabric ocean.

examined, On this etymon of Hibernia great weight is laid by the abettors of the Cantabric deſcent of the Iriſh. Should the name of Hibernia ariſe from the poſition of Ireland with reſpect to Iberia, Mauritania, and a part of Gaul ought to have obtained the ſame appellation, from a ſimilar ſituation with regard to Spain. Ireland itſelf, from a parity of reaſon, ought to have a name reſembling that of Britain, which lies ſo near it, rather than from Iberia, divided from it by an immenſe ocean. The biſhop of Seville, the truth is, knew very little about Ireland or its inhabitants; and his ridiculous derivation of the name of Scots, is a laſting monument of his talent in etymology.

and confuted. Iſidore is not the firſt learned prelate who gave to Ireland the name of Scottia; a biſhop of Canterbury, about the year [122] 605, beſtowed upon that iſland the ſame appellation. We ſhall not diſpute with the Iriſh that their country received the name of Scottia ſome centuries before it was appropriated to Caledonia. But no argument can ariſe in favour of their ſuperior antiquity from that priority. A colony of the ancient Grecians poſſeſſed themſelves of a diſtrict of the leſſer Aſia, which afterwards obtained the name of Ionia. That colony, and their anceſtors in Greece for a ſeries of ages, were called Ionians, but their territories in Europe never poſſeſſed the appellation of Ionia; and, from that circumſtance, will any man conclude, that the Ionians of Epheſus and Miletus were more ancient than thoſe of Attica?

Gildas.

Gildas examined, The teſtimony of Gildas ſeems, at firſt ſight, more favourable to the Hibernian ſyſtem than that of Iſidore. This writer, with an iraſcible diſpoſition, ſoured by the misfortunes of the times, was querulous, wrathful, ſcurrilous, and at no leſs enmity with the whole world than with the enemies of his country, the Scots, [123] Picts, and Saxons*. It is almoſt needleſs to obſerve that Gildas calls the Scots and Picts tranſmarine nations, as Bede has explained away that appellation in a manner that is not unfavourable to the ſyſtem which we endeavour to eſtabliſh. The ſtrength of the argument againſt us ariſes from the epithet of Hibernian robbers, with which the paſſionate Gildas has dignified the anceſtors of the Scots. Not to inſiſt upon the more proper reading of the paſſage, as it is reſtored by Dr. Gale, which deſtroys at once the authority in favour of the Hibernian deſcent of the Scots, we may, upon another foundation, [124] fairly deny the conſequences generally drawn from the vague expreſſion of Gildas. Propertius in one of his elegies gives the epithet of Hiberni to the Getes of Thrace. Gildas was remarkably fond of expreſſing himſelf in the language of poetry. His diction from ſo puerile an affectation partakes more of the turgid declamation of tragedy, than of the preciſion and ſimplicity of a grave hiſtorian. Had he, by way of ſarcaſm on the ſeverity of the climate of Caledonia, beſtowed the epithet of Hiberni on its inhabitants, he ſhould not have written improperly, unpoetically, or unlike his own manner.

and confuted. The Britiſh and Iriſh Scots ſpoke the ſame language, wore the ſame kind of dreſs, and were diſtinguiſhed by every characteriſtical mark neceſſary to make a foreigner believe that both nations were originally the ſame people. Whether the Scots of Hibernia, or thoſe of Albania, were the moſt ancient, every one was at freedom to reſolve in his own way. Had Gildas poſitively decided in favour of the former, his authority can go no further than his confeſſed knowledge in antiquities. But it appears from other circumſtances, that the Britiſh writer was a very bad antiquary. The Scots, according to him, infeſted for the firſt time, the Roman province, when Maximus withdrew the legions from Britain. There is [125] not perhaps any piece of ancient hiſtory better aſcertained, than that a tribe of the Caledonians, under the name of Scots, made incurſions into the province near ſeventy years before the rebellion of Maximus. The account which Gildas gives of the Roman walls betrays his ignorance in the tradition, as well as hiſtory, of his own country; and therefore it is difficult to ſay why the teſtimony of ſuch a writer, had it even been leſs equivocal, ſhould be thought deciſive concerning the antiquities of a people to whoſe tradition and hiſtory he muſt, in the nature of things, have been an abſolute ſtranger.

Bede.

Bede's Bede, a Saxon monk, flouriſhed in the monaſtery of Girwy upon the Tyne about the commencement of the ſeventh century, and diſplayed uncommon talents and learning for the age in which he lived. In his hiſtory of the Saxon churches the venerable writer diſtinguiſhes, with preciſion, the Britiſh Scots from thoſe of Ireland, and poſitively affirms that the former derived their blood and origin from the latter. Bede did not confine his genealogical enquiries to the Scots. He endeavoured to trace all the Britiſh nations to their reſpective origins.

[126] genealogical account of the Britiſh nations The Britons, properly ſo called, ſays he, were the firſt inhabitants of this Iſland, and they originally tranſmigrated from the Armorican diviſion of Gaul. The Picts, in an after age, ſeized upon North Britain; for to the name of Caledonia the Anglo-Saxon was an abſolute ſtranger. After the Britons and Picts had poſſeſſed the Iſland for ſome ages, Britain, in its northern diviſion, received a third nation from Ireland under the conduct of Reuda. Whether the Iriſh Scots obtained ſettlements of the Picts by force or favour was a point which Bede could not determine. He was however informed that they were called Dalreudini, from their illuſtrious leader Reuda, and from the Galic word deal, which, according to the venerable writer, ſignified a portion or diviſion of a country*.

never implicitly adpted. It is remarkable, that not one Engliſh or Scottiſh antiquary ever implicitly adopted every part of the Anglo-Saxon's ſyſtem. The Picts and Scots, according to him, as ſeparate nations, and from very different origins, poſſeſſed North Britain before the commencement of the Chriſtian aera. Camden, Uſher, the two [127] Lloyds, Stillingfleet, Innes, and many more, rejected, ſome one part or other, and ſome the whole of Bede's account of the ſouthern Britons; but all theſe learned men received without examination his ſyſtem of the Hibernian extraction of the Britiſh Scots.

His miſtakes Where we have an opportunity to examine Bede's account by the criterion of collateral hiſtory, we find that he has committed a very eſſential miſtake. The ſouthern Britons were ſo far from deriving their blood from the inhabitants of Armorica, that, on the contrary, the Armoricans had tranſmigrated from Britain not many ages before Bede's own time. If Bede therefore was in an error with reſpect to the origin of a people, whoſe hiſtory, on account of their connection with the Romans, was known, it is much more probable that he knew nothing certain concerning the antiquities of a nation, who had not among them the means of preſerving, with any certainty, the memory of events.

ariſe from various cauſes. From the political and religious prejudices which prevailed, in the days of Bede, between the Britiſh Scots and the Saxons, we may conclude that the venerable writer had very little converſation with the antiquaries or ſenachies of the former nation. Had he even conſulted them, very little light could be derived [128] from them in an age of ignorance, credulity, and barbariſm. Bede, on the other hand, entertained a friendly partiality for the Scots of Ireland. That people were, in his time, remarkable for monkiſh learning and aſcetic auſterities; which, together with their benevolence and hoſpitality to the Saxon ſtudents, who flocked into their country, recommended them, in a very high degree, to the venerable Anglo-Saxon*. The good man, we may take it for granted, embraced every opportunity of converſing with thoſe Hibernian miſſionaries and pilgrims who came over in ſwarms into Britain, in thoſe days of converſion and religious pilgrimage. From them he borrowed all that genealogical erudition which he diſplays in the beginning of his eccleſiaſtical hiſtory.

He received his accounts of the Scots from Ireland. The ſudden tranſition which Bede makes from the tale of Reuda to a panegyric on Ireland, furniſhes a ſtrong preſumption that he derived his information from that quarter. Having obſerved, in the courſe of a very favourable deſcription of Ireland, that no reptile is ſeen in that country, that the air deſtroys ſerpents, that the leaves of Hibernian trees and the ſhavings of timber are efficacious antidotes [129] againſt poiſon; after having remarked, that the happy iſland flowed with milk and honey, and was not deſtitute of vines; he concludes with a new declaration, as if that doctrine had been ſtrongly inculcated upon him by his Iriſh friends, that the Britiſh Scots derived their origin from that fortunate country.

confuted. It is apparent from another circumſtance, that Bede borrowed his account of the Scots from the Iriſh. He calls the inhabitants of Iar-gaël by the name of Dalreudini, an appellation utterly unknown to the hiſtorians, writers of chronicles, bards, and ſenachies of Scotland, though common in the annals of Ireland. Bede's account of the Picts being almoſt word for word what has been handed down in the hiſtorical rhimes of Ireland*, furniſhes a ſtriking proof of the Hibernian origin of the whole of the Anglo-Saxon's genealogical tale: Both the Iriſh and he ſuppoſed that the Picts were diſtinguiſhed by that name, which, according to them, is derived from a Latin epithet, near five compleat centuries before the foundation of Rome was laid by Romulus. The ſyſtem of Bede being thus traced to its ſource, the tales of the Iriſh bards, and thoſe tales having been already thrown into [130] diſcredit, we may infer, that the venerable writer's authority concludes nothing for the Hibernian deſcent of the Britiſh Scots.

Uſher's arguments in ſupport of Bede To deſtroy from another principle, the tale of Bede and the ſtory of Reuda, it may not be improper to obſerve, that the learned Uſher found out that a diſtrict in the county of Antrim, which has for many ages been diſtinguiſhed by the name of Route, is the Dalriada of the old Iriſh*. Dalriada, ſays the ingenious prelate, derives its name from Cairbre-Riada, the ſon of Conaire, who held the ſcepter of Ireland in the third century. But we may venture to affirm that Uſher, in this ſuppoſition, was very much miſled. Rute or Reaidh in the old Scotch language ſignifies a ram. From the firſt of theſe ſynonimous words, the territory in the county of Antrim, from which it is pretended, that the Britiſh Scots originally tranſmigrated, received the appellation of the Route, and from the ſecond is to be deduced the name of Dalriada, literally the valley of the Ram.

examined; Uſher quotes a patent which is preſerved in the Tower of London, wherein it appears, that John king of England granted to Allen lord of Galloway the territory of [131] Dalreth and the Iſland of Rachrin, which is ſituated over againſt that diſtrict. From the ſyllabication of the two local names in the patent, we may conclude that the etymon we have given of Dalriada is perfectly juſt. Rachrin, which may, with great propriety, be reckoned an appendage to the ROUTE, ſignifies the ram's promontory, in the Iriſh tongue; and Dalriada itſelf being expreſsly called the land of Rams, in the Iriſh patent mentioned by the primate himſelf, is a circumſtance that is deciſive in our favour.

confuted. Dalreath or Dalreadh, which was afterwards latinized into Dalriada, could not poſſibly, according to the genius of the Iriſh language, be derived from Cairbre-Riada, were it even certain that ſuch a monarch ever exiſted. Riada ſignifies a long-hand, an appellation joined to the name of Cairbre, on account of the ſingular length of his hands. The Route, therefore, in propriety of language, ought to have been called Dal-Cairbre, if it muſt at any rate receive its name from that pretended monarch.

Authority of Jocelyn and Tigernach The primate, with all his erudition, could only produce the authority of Jocelyn and Tigernach, writers of the eleventh [132] and twelfth ages, in ſupport of the Iriſh origin of the Scots in Britain. Had theſe writers even been leſs notoriouſly fabulous than they appear to be, it is certain that they flouriſhed in too modern a period to know any thing of the tranſactions of the Iriſh in the dark ages, prior to the introduction of Chriſtianity and letters by Patrick. The two writers, it is true, place the tranſmigration of the Scots into Britain on this ſide of that aera, but the teſtimony of the Roman writers ſufficiently deſtroys that abſurd poſition*.

exploded. Tigernach and Jocelyn contradicted one another materially, and Bede, who lived more than three centuries before the firſt of thoſe writers, differs toto coelo from both; but had all the three concurred in tranſporting the Scots into Britain under the ſame leader, and in the ſame year, we might, with reaſon, preſume that they were all miſtaken. Uſher has aſcertained the bounds of Dalriada, or the Route in Antrim, and found its whole extent about thirty miles. Were it even certain that Dalriada produced more men th n any diſtrict of the ſame ex [...]ent [133] in ancient Ireland, ſtill it is incredible, that an army could be muſtered there ſufficient to ſubdue the principality of Iar-ghaël. Should the dominion of Argyle only comprehend Braidalbin, Cantyre, Knapdale, and Lorn, the natives muſt have been an overmatch for the inhabitants of the ſmall country pent up within the river Boiſy and Glenfinneacht. Should it be admitted that the Dalriadans were ſupported in their expedition into Caledonia by ſome other Iriſh tribes, it is reaſonable to ſuppoſe that the eaſtern Picts would have aided their friends of the Weſt, at a time, when they confeſſedly had nothing to fear from any other foreign enemy.

Nennius.—General Obſervations.

Nennius. The teſtimony of Nennius deſerves little attention; he derived his intelligence concerning the origin of the Scots from the Hibernian ſenachies*, and their tales have been already examined and exploded. The ſyſtem of Iriſh antiquity which Nennius has preſerved is, in many inſtances, diametrically oppoſite to thoſe genealogical [134] ſchemes, which the modern writers of Ireland have new modelled and adorned; and hence an internal proof ariſes concerning the uncertainty of Hibernian annals.

Concluſive arguments As a concluding argument againſt the Hibernian extraction of the Scots, it may not be improper to obſerve, that the Caledonians might be called Hibernians, their country in general Hibernia, and the weſtern diviſion of it Ierna or Yverdon, without deriving their blood from the Iriſh. The Saxons of England, it is well known, had their Norfolk and Suffolk, and the appellation of Southerons and Norlands are not hitherto totally extinguiſhed among the Scots: The ancient Picts, in like manner, were divided into two great tribes, the Vecturiones and Deucaledones, the inhabitants of the northern and ſouthern diviſions, according to the teſtimony of Marcellinus*.

againſt the Hibernian extraction After the Caledonians, upon the decline of the Roman power in the ſouthern Britain, began to infeſt the province in ſeperate bodies, the two principal tribes in thoſe incurſions were diſtinguiſhed by the [135] names of Picts and Scots, by the hiſtorians of the empire. If the Picts ſpoke the Gaëlic or Caledonian language, they muſt certainly have called the territories of the Scots, Iar, Eire, Erin, or Ard-Iar, words, all of them, expreſſive of the ſituation of the country of the Scottiſh tribes, in oppoſition to the Pictiſh diviſion of Caledonia; if they ſpoke the ancient Britiſh, they would have diſtinguiſhed the country of the Scots by the name Yverdhon, or, as it is pronounced, Yberon or Yveron. Theſe names being communicated to the Romans by the Britons, or by Pictiſh priſoners, it was natural for them to latinize them into Ierna, Jouverna, or Hibernia. In common converſation, the weſtern Highlands are called by thoſe who ſpeak the Galic language IAR, or the Weſt; and when the Hebrides are comprehended in that diviſion of Scotland, the Galic appellation of Iar-in has been always given to the whole. The diſtrict of Atregathel, or rather Iar-ghaël, ſo often mentioned in the annals of Ireland and Scotland, as the firſt poſſeſſions of the Hibernian colonies in Britain, carries in its name a demonſtration of this poſition, [136] as well as a deciſive argument againſt the ancient ſyſtem of the origin of the Scots. Iar-ghaël literally ſignifies the Weſtern-Ghael, or the Scots, in oppoſition to the Eaſtern-Ghael, or the Picts, who poſſeſſed the ſhore of the German ocean.

of the Britiſh Scots. In the neighbourhood of Drumalbin, a ridge of hills which divided the Scottiſh from the Pictiſh dominions, there is a lake, which, to this day, is called Erin. The river Erin or Ern riſes from that lake, and gives its name to a very conſiderable diviſion of the county of Perth. In this diſtrict there are to be ſeen ſeveral Roman camps to this day. The Romans could not be ſtrangers to the name of a country where their armies remained long enough to leave ſuch laſting memorials of themſelves behind. Juvenal, from the ſoldiers of Agricola, might have heard of the diſtrict of Erin, which he ſoftened into Juverna; and the troops of Theodoſius might have carried the ſame intelligence to Claudian.

ARGUMENTS AND PROOFS AGAINST THE IRISH EXTRACT OF THE SCOTS.

[137]

Stillingfleet and Uſher examined.

Stillingfleet confuted, IN vain has Stillingfleet obſerved, that there muſt have been a ſea between Britain and the Ierna of Claudian.

Totam cum Scottus Iernam
Movit, et infeſto ſpumavit remige Tethys.

Tethys, or the ocean, it has been already ſhewn, was rather agitated into a foam by Saxon, than by Scottiſh rowers. But not to inſiſt upon that criticiſm, if by Ierna we are to underſtand IAR, the weſtern diviſion of Caledonia, from Glotta to Tarviſium, the many extenſive arms of the ſea, which indent that coaſt, will, at once, remove the learned prelate's [138] objection. Should we ſuppoſe that IAR-IN, or the weſtern Iſlands of Scotland, were the Ierna of Claudian, the objection will altogether vaniſh, as many of thoſe Iſlands are at a much greater diſtance than Ireland itſelf from the continent of Caledonia*.

The argument collected into one point. To collect the whole argument on this head into one point of view: The Scots of Britain lived in a cold climate; their country was ſituated to the Weſt of ſuch of their neighbours as had an immediate communication with the Romans. The Iriſh lay under the ſame diſadvantage of unfriendly ſeaſons; and their Iſland was ſimularly ſituated. The hiſtorians and poets of the empire, and the geographers of Greece and Rome exaggerated, from ignorance or prejudice, the ſeverity of the climate under which both the Scottiſh nations lived. From an exact conformity of genius, language, manners, dreſs, ſituation, and climate, the Scots of both the Iſles had a much better title to the common appellation of Hiberni, than Italy, Spain, and [139] a conſiderable part of Africa, had to the name of Heſperia. But whether the Hibernians of the Britiſh ſoil*, the Hibernian robbers of a much later age, and the Scots vanquiſhed by Theodoſius, derived their origin from Ireland, or were of Caledonian extraction, is a point which Eumenius, Claudian, and Gildas, have left undetermined.

Uſher examined, It is obſerved by Uſher, that Albania was not diſtinguiſhed by the name of Scotia, prior to the eleventh age. The antiquaries of Scotland have quoted ſeveral paſſages from Bede to refute the obſervation of the learned prelate. But had the remark been perfectly juſt, it is by no means concluſive in favour of the ſuperior antiquity of the Hibernian Scots. Were there no Scots in Ireland prior to the ſeventh century? for then, for the firſt time, that country received the name of Scotia from Iſidore and Lawrence of Canterbury. We may turn the primate's argument againſt his own ſyſtem. Marcellinus found the Scots in Britain a whole century before Oroſius diſcovered them in Ireland; and, from a parity of reaſon, we might conclude that the Britiſh Scots [140] are more ancient than the Iriſh friends of the ingenious prelate.

and anſwered. The learned Uſher is not more happy in the argument which he deduces from the appellation of Scotia Major given to Ireland in oppoſition to the Scotia Minor of Britain. Donald O'Neil*, a petty king or chieftain of Ulſter in the fourteenth century, and a charter granted by the emperor Sigiſmund to a convent of Scots and Iriſh at Ratiſbon, have made that diſtinction. But to a concluſion drawn in favour of the old ſyſtem, from theſe circumſtances, it may, from a parity of reaſon, be oppoſed, that the Hibernians of the age of Ptolemy were originally Britons, and not Spaniards, becauſe that geographer gave the name of the leſſer Britain to Ireland. The inhabitants of Hellas, by a ſimilar argument, ought to have derived their origin from the Italian Magna Grecia; that is, to ſpeak the language of ſome of thoſe who are moſt likely to oppoſe our ſyſtem, that the Greeks who poſſeſſed themſelves of a part of Italy were older than their anceſtors in Greece.

Similarity of local names It may be here, with great propriety, obſerved, that nothing is more deceitful, in traducing nations to their origin, than arguments deduced from a ſimilarity of [141] local names in different countries. Strabo thought it an extravagant fancy to derive the Spaniards from the Iberians of Aſia; yet the Aſiatic Iberia, as well as Spain, had its Iberus and Arragon*. But a conformity in a few particulars is not ſufficient to perſuade us, that the neighbours of the Caſpian could, in an early period, tranſport themſelves either by ſea or land into the European Iberia, no more than the Albanians of the ſame diviſion of Aſia could ſend colonies to Caledonia.

furniſhes no proof of a common origin. Italy, Macedonia, Aſia near Caucaſus, and North Britain, countries very diſtant from one another, produced four nations promiſcuouſly called Albanians. Nothing can be inferred from this identity, but that they all derived their names from the mountainous face of the regions which they reſpectively poſſeſſed. In the ſame manner, nothing can be concluded from the name of Hiberni, given, by ſome writers, indiſcriminately to the weſtern Caledonians, and the Iriſh, but that both nations lived under the ſame unfavourable climate, and that both were peculiarly diſtinguiſhed by the ſame characteriſtical qualities, which naturally aroſe from their common origin.

Riſe and Progreſs of the Fiction.

[142]

General obſervations. In vain have the Iriſh, and the abettors of their high antiquities, called in the aid of foreign writers to ſupport the pretended Hibernian origin of the Britiſh Scots. That part of their hiſtory, like the exploded Mileſian tale, muſt reſt entirely on the credit of their own domeſtic annals; but that no degree of faith ought to be given to thoſe annals beyond the introduction of letters, is a point which we have already very amply diſcuſſed. The authority of hiſtory having failed, it is natural to ſuppoſe that the adverſaries of our ſyſtem will have recourſe to objections ariſing from reaſon. To do all the juſtice in our power to the old and popular error concerning the origin of the Scots, we ſhall examine with attention thoſe objections, before we ſhall conclude for ever the controverſy by arguments, which, though obvious, are new and deciſive.

On the riſe and progreſs Could ancient tradition, the belief of ages, the poſitive aſſertions of Engliſh antiquaries and Iriſh annaliſts, and the univerſal acquieſcence of the hiſtorians of the Britiſh Scots be ſufficient to eſtabliſh the credit of the Hibernian deſcent of that nation, it muſt be confeſſed that it were idle to hope to reconcile the public [143] judgment to a new ſyſtem ſo diametrically oppoſite to the old. But we have ſeen that tradition could not have extended to that period in which the tranſmigration of the Scots is placed, and therefore the belief of ages, which was founded upon that pretended tradition, was no more than a popular error. This error rendered venerable by its antiquity, miſled, to ſay no worſe, the writers of the annals of Ireland, and deceived the hiſtorians of North Britain. The antiquaries of England, it muſt be confeſſed, could not be influenced by the prejudices which led aſtray the writers of both the Scottiſh nations; but the former were under no temptation to contradict or expoſe a tradition which was not diſagreeable to themſelves, though from a very different cauſe than that which rendered it ſo highly favoured in Scotland and Ireland.

of the Hiberno-Scottiſh fictions. It may not be improper, in this place, to inquire into the riſe and progreſs of thoſe traditionary fictions which have ſo much obſcured the antiquities of the Scots of both the Iſles. When the firſt dawn of learning roſe among thoſe barbarous tribes who had ſubverted the empire of the Romans, ſome ſcholars more profound than the reſt, traced the antiquity of their reſpective nations to illuſtrious names recorded in ancient hiſtory. The Romans, Greeks, Spaniards, and other nations [144] who figured in old times were placed at the head of the pedigree of barbarians, who, but juſt emerging from illiterate obſcurity, had loſt all memory of their own origin. The impoſtures of the half-learned writers of the middle ages were received with avidity and great credulity by the Engliſh, French, Spaniards, Germans, Danes, and Swedes: a part of an infatuation ſo univerſal muſt have extended itſelf to the Scots of Ireland.

Cauſe of the obſcurity which involves the ancient Iriſh. The letters which St. Patrick introduced into that Iſland in the fifth age, were not employed in recording hiſtorical tranſactions for ſome centuries poſterior to that period. The enthuſiaſm of the times turned all the little literature of the religious of Ireland to holier purpoſes than to regiſter temporal events; which, from the ſecluded ſituation of that country, muſt have been very unimportant. Miracles, viſions, and thoſe ſacred perſons who diſtinguiſhed themſelves in the work of converſion, employed the whole attention of the monks, at a time that the royal line of Heremon ſat in the midſt of obſcurity and anarchy on the Iriſh throne. The antiquities of the nation being thus left in the hands of illiterate bards and ſenachies, aſſumed ſo monſtrous a form, that the poliſhing they have received from ſucceeding writers has ſcarcely hitherto rendered them fit for the public eye.

[145] Aera of the Spaniſh fiction. The fable of the Hibernian extraction of the Britiſh Scots ſeems to have been fabricated in Ireland long before the bards thought of bringing a colony from Spain into that country. Bede, in the ſeventh age, had received intelligence of the firſt of thoſe ſtories from the Iriſh ſenachies, but his placing it in a period beyond the reach of tradition has thrown abſolute diſcredit upon the whole. In the period between Bede and Nennius, who, for the firſt time, mentioned the Cantabric deſcent of the Scots of Ireland, ſome learned bard or monk diſcovered that Spain was called Iberia, and, upon the ſimilarity between that name and Hibernia, built the whole fabric of the Mileſian tale. To obviate all ſcepticiſm concerning a ſtory which wore the face of improbability, it became neceſſary for ſucceeding writers to give aſſurances to the world, that letters and polite arts were cultivated in Ireland no leſs than ſeventeen hundred years before its converſion to the chriſtian faith by St. Patrick.

Cauſe of the darkneſs which covers the Britiſh Scots. When monkiſh learning flouriſhed in Ireland, the Scots of Britain, by an uninterrupted ſeries of hoſtilities with the Britons, Picts, and Saxons, were diverted from cultivating letters, which alone could enable them to look back into their antiquities, or to tranſmit any memory of their actions to poſterity. Their exploits [146] in the field died away for want of the means of perpetuating them in the cloſet. The monks of Ireland, as it was manifeſt to the whole world that both the Scottiſh nations were originally the ſame people, made an eaſy acquiſition of an illiterate, though brave people, and obtruded upon the world that ſyſtem of the origin of the Caledonian Scots, which has been, for many ages, almoſt univerſally received.

Negative Arguments.

Firſt argument. Had the more ancient genealogiſts of the little principality of Argadia* diſcovered that there was a conſiderable diſtrict in Peloponneſus, the name of which ſo nearly reſembled the latinized appellation of their own country, it is probable they would have traced their anceſtors to an Arcadian origin. The Arcadians were brave, and a reſpectable people in Greece, and their being older than Jupiter and the moon would have highly recommended them to the Scottiſh ſenachies.

Second argument. Had the firſt fabricators of the fabulous hiſtory of Scotland found out that there [147] were Albanians in the North of Aſia. Albanians in the army of Alexander the Great, and Alban ſenates and kings in Italy, it is at leaſt doubtful whether they would have condeſcended to deduce their nation from Ireland. This conjecture is neither fanciful or extravagant: The author of an old Scottiſh chronicle preſerved by Innes, having, it ſeems, read Solinus*, derives the Picts and Scots from the Albanian Scythians. But the monks of Ireland found out Iberia before the ſenachies of Caledonia had the good fortune to meet either with the Scythians, or any Albanian beyond the limits of their own country.

Objections anſwered. The Iriſh, it may be objected, were too obſcure and inconſiderable a people in Europe to tempt the Scots to deduce their origin from them, if the ſtory had not actually any foundation in fact; eſpecially as their neighbours and enemies to the South traced themſelves to an illuſtrious anceſtry of Romans and Trojans. The Scots of Albany entertained a very different idea of the Iriſh nation. Hibernian miſſionaries had converted the greateſt part of the Scots from the errors of the Pagan [148] ſuperſtition; Columba was the great apoſtle of the Picts, and became afterwards the tutelar ſaint of the united Caledonian kingdoms. Legions of monks and ſaints ſwarmed from Ireland into North Britain in thoſe days of converſion and religious peregrination. It was natural for an illiterate people, like the Britiſh Scots, to believe that a nation who produced theſe holy and very extraordinary men was one of the moſt illuſtrious in the world. Whether the zealous miſſionaries, among other pious frauds, endeavoured to inculcate on their converts a belief of the ſtupendous antiquity of the Iriſh nation, and the Hibernian extraction of the Scots, to promote the good cauſe of Chriſtianity, by procuring to themſelves a favourable reception in Albany, is very difficult to determine. That thoſe apoſtles ſerved in the double capacity of bards and teachers of the faith is apparent from the appellation of CHLERI*, given, in the old poems and traditions of the Scots, indiſcriminately to the Iriſh emigrants of both profeſſions.

The Hibernian tales inculcated by Iriſh miſſionaries and bards. But be that as it will, it is certain that ſwarms of Iriſh bards accompanied into Caledonia thoſe Hibernian miſſionaries [149] who firſt converted the majority of the Picts and Scots to Chriſtianity. It was convenient for the divine, that the bard ſhould propagate a belief of the connexion between the Scots of both the Iſles; and the authority of the former could eſtabliſh any doctrine in the minds of an ignorant, credulous, and ſuperſtitious people. The ſenachies were impudent, the bards formidable, and both were eloquent. If any ſcepticiſm remained againſt their well-told tales, the miſſionaries deſtroyed it altogether by the weight of their ſanctified character. This ſyſtem, once eſtabliſhed, was propagated, and became the traditional belief of after ages. The little progreſs that learning made in Scotland when its firſt hiſtories were written, could not enable the zealous abettors of its antiquities to overturn that ſyſtem of the origin of the nation, which had been ſo long obtruded upon the world; and the Scottiſh writers who, in a much later period, diſtinguiſhed themſelves in critical inquiries into the hiſtory of their anceſtors, were at more pains to adorn the fictions of their predeceſſors, than to expoſe their abſurdities.

Objections anſwered Some learned men have drawn an argument againſt our ſyſtem from the ſilence of the Romans concerning the Scots till after the commencement of the fourth age. Their not being mentioned before [150] that century, ſay they, argues ſtrongly that they muſt have been a new people in Britain. That this is an unjuſt concluſion will appear from collateral examples. Tacitus has not mentioned any national names in North Britain but thoſe of Caledonii and Horeſtii; yet it is certain that the Vecturiones and Deucaledones of Marcellinus, the Maeatae of Dion Caſſius, the Gadeni, Cantae, and Epidii of Ptolemy, poſſeſſed that country. Ptolemy, it muſt be confeſſed, knew nothing of the inhabitants of the northern Britain, under the name of Scots; he was equally a ſtranger to the Picts, Maeatae, and Attacotti. But, if he has neglected to mention the Scots of Britain, he has been equally unjuſt to thoſe of Ireland; a circumſtance very ſtrange, if that country was, as Bede ſays, overſtocked with tribes of that name before Caledonia received any colony from abroad.

by collateral examples. Tacitus in his deſcription of Germany has omitted the Saxons. Ptolemy, ſoon after that celebrated hiſtorian, found that warlike nation on the confines of the Cherſoneſus Cimbrica. Germany is for the firſt time mentioned by Julius Caeſar; and are we to ſuppoſe, from that circumſtance, that the inhabitants of that extenſive diviſion of Europe came, in the days of the illuſtrious writer, like a cloud of locuſts from an unknown country? [151] The Franks and Allemans were not heard of before the third century; yet thoſe nations, in whom the Catti, Chauci, Cheruſci, Agravarii, the Teutones, and the Cimbri, in a confined ſenſe, were loſt, were never once thought to have been a new people, who had enſlaved, deſtroyed, or expelled, the old inhabitants of thoſe territories which they poſſeſſed in Germany. Theſe collateral examples form a complete anſwer to the objection againſt our ſyſtem, which ariſes from the ſilence of the Romans concerning the Picts and Scots till the beginning of the fourth age.

Poſitive Proofs.

Proofs of the Caledonian extraction of the Scots. To dwell no longer on negative arguments againſt the Hibernian ſyſtem, we ſhall proceed to poſitive proofs of the Caledonian extraction of the Britiſh Scots. The very ingenious author of ſome diſſertations lately publiſhed, has diſcuſſed this ſubject with ſo much ability and exactneſs, that little is left to be done but to collect into one point of view the moſt ſtriking of his arguments. To theſe arguments we ſhall annex ſome obſervations, to quaſh for ever a ſyſtem which had been ſo long impoſed for truth upon the world.

[152] Firſt proof. Alba or Albin, it has been already obſerved, was the firſt name given to this iſland, by the Gaël, who tranſmigrated from Belgium into the more elevated country of Britain. Hence proceeded the Albion of the Greeks, and the Albium of the Roman language. The inhabitants of mountainous countries, who, from their ſituation, have very little intercourſe with other nations, and who were never ſubject to a foreign yoke, are remarkably tenacious of the local names, and their aboriginal cuſtoms, manners, and language. We accordingly find, that the ancient Scots, in all the ages to which our information extends, agreed in calling Scotland Alba or Albania. The Highlanders and the inhabitants of the Hebrides have, to this day, no other name but Alba for Scotland, and they invariably call themſelves Albanich, or genuine Britons. The uninterrupted uſe of this national appellation, from the earlieſt account we have of their hiſtory, furniſhes a moral demonſtration that they are the true deſcendants of the firſt inhabitants of Britain. Had they been of Iriſh extraction, they and their anceſtors would have undoubtedly aſſumed a name more ſuitable to their origin.

Second proof. The Belgic nations, who tranſmigrated into South Britain before the deſcent of Julius Caeſar, retained the name of thoſe [153] communities on the continent from which they reſpectively derived their blood*. The auxiliaries of Vortigern preſerved long their original name of Saxons, and the Scots who ſpeak the Galic language have no other name for England or its inhabitants than Saſſon and Saſſonich. But if the ancient Scots have preſerved among them the true name of the Engliſh, for ſo many ages after it has been diſuſed by that nation itſelf, it is much more likely that they muſt have retained their own indigenous name.

Third proof. Had the Scots been originally Iriſh, Erinich and not Albanich would have been their proper name. So far were they from adopting the name of their neighbours of Hibernia, that it is well known that both the old Iriſh and the inhabitants of the north of Scotland promiſcuouſly call themſelves Gaël, or the poſterity of the Gauls, who firſt tranſmigrated into Britain from the continent. The Welſh, in ancient times, diſtinguiſhed the Scots of both the Britiſh Iſles by the appellation of Gaidhel, which, as the DH are invariably quieſcent in Celtic words, is much the ſame with Gaël, in the pronunciation. Should then the Scots be of Iriſh extract, it muſt naturally follow that the [154] Picts ſprung from the ſame ſource, a doctrine no leſs abſurd than it is new.

Fourth proof. From the name of the diſtrict of Iar-ghael, which, it has been always ſaid, was the firſt territory poſſeſſed by the Hiberno-Scottiſh colony, there ariſes a very deciſive argument in favour of our ſyſtem. Iar-ghaël is not the name of the country, but of thoſe who inhabited it from the earlieſt times. It ſignifies the Weſtern-Gael in oppoſition to the Eaſtern-Gael, or the Picts, who poſſeſſed the ſhore of the German ocean. But what is concluſive againſt the Iriſh ſyſtem is, that Caeldoch, or the country of the Gaël, which the Romans ſoftened into Caledonia, is the only name by which the Highlanders diſtinguiſhed that diviſion of Scotland which they themſelves poſſeſs.

The Gaël of the continent We ſhall now leave it to the candour of the unprejudiced, and the con mon ſenſe of mankind, whether there does not, upon the whole, ariſe a demonſtration, that the firſt colony of Gael or Gauls who tranſmigated into Britai [...] from the continent, and were afterwards driven northward by the preſſure of other interlopers, are the progenitors of the Scots of North Britain and Ireland. The true cauſe why the name of Scotti was not heard of till the days of Marcellinus, or rather of Porphyrius is, that it was a contumelious [155] name*. It was for the ſame reaſon that the genuine offspring of the old Caledonians, the Highlanders, have never adopted a name which carried reproach in its meaning.

the immediate anceſtors of the Scots. Why the Iriſh obtained, in the days of Oroſius, the name of Scots, when their tranſmigration from Caledonia was ſo remote, requires to be explained. The name of Scotti was communicated to the Romans by the Picts and Britons. The Britons and Romans diſcovering a perfect reſemblance in the manners, cuſtoms, dreſs, arms, and language of the Iar-ghaël, or weſtern Caledonians, and the Iriſh, agreed to call both nations by one common name. The Iriſh being no ſtrangers to the military reputation that their friends of Caledonia had acquired againſt the Romans and their provincials, either adopted their name, or acquieſced afterwards in an appellation which ſome writers had impoſed upon them. The illiterate, and conſequently the bulk of the Iriſh nation, were never reconciled to this innovation. They preſerved the Caledonian deſignation of Gaël, or the name of Erinich, which they had aſſumed after their tranſmigration into Ireland, and the adventitious names of Scotti and Scottia fell at laſt into total deſuetude,.

[156] In the courſe of the preceding diſcuſſion, the Author of the Introduction has laid no ſtreſs upon the teſtimony of the Poems of Oſſian. Having rejected the Hibernian bards, there might be an appearance of partiality in drawing authorities from the ancient poet of Caledonia. In the preſent ſtate of the argument, there is no need of his aſſiſtance. The fabric we have raiſed demands no collateral prop; it even can beſtow the aid it does not require. The perfect agreement between Oſſian and the genealogical ſyſtem we have eſtabliſhed, has placed his aera beyond the commencement of the popular opinion of the Hibernian deſcent of the Scots; which was old enough to be placed in a period of remote antiquity by Bede, who flouriſhed in the beginning of the ſeventh age.

RELIGION OF THE Ancient Britiſh Nations.

[157]

Preliminary Reflections.

Obſervations. NO weary traveller ever iſſued forth with more joy from a barren deſart into the skirts of a pleaſant and well cultivated country, than the Author of the Introduction quits the ſterile ſubject of Scottiſh and Iriſh Antiquities. But to decide finally a point ſo long agitated was a part of the province which he had choſen for himſelf. The origin of nations, like a river near its ſource, preſents nothing that is either beautiful or great. It is only when hiſtory deſcends into the cultivated periods of a well formed community, that it becomes an object of pleaſure, and the means of improvement. We have ſtill a long journey to make; but the way is ſtrewed with ſome flowers.

[158] Modern hiſtorians blamed. To an inveſtigation of their origin, it may be proper to add a brief inquiry into the Religion of the Ancient Britiſh Nations. This ſubject has not ſuffered leſs from the negligence, than the former did from the vanity and prejudice of hiſtorians. Some complain that the ancients have not thrown any conſiderable light upon the northern nations; others affirm that the opinions and actions of Barbarians are unworthy of any memory. The firſt obſervation is unjuſt; the latter is the reſult of a pride incident to poliſhed times.

Author's double ſource of information Though few of the Romans, like the firſt Caeſar, carried a talent for writing into the field, the inquiries of their hiſtorians extended to the characteriſtical manners of the nations whom that illuſtrious people ſubdued. We find, accordingly, that there are facts preſerved ſufficient to prove that the beſt qualities of the modern Europeans are but the virtues of their anceſtors ſeparated from ferocity and barbariſm. Nor is it from the ancients only we are to derive our information. The opinions of our forefathers ought to be traced among thoſe of their poſterity, whom their ſituation excluded from any conſiderable commerce with ſtrangers; ſuch, till of late years, were the inhabitants of a part of Wales, and [159] ſuch ſtill are ſome Iriſh tribes, and the natives of the mountains of Scotland.

enables him to advance ſomething new. Poſſeſſed of this channel to a knowledge of the character of the ancient Celtae, we may, perhaps, be able to advance ſomething new upon the ſubject; and by applying the accounts of the ancients to the criterion of the living manners and indigenous opinions of an unmixed race of men, reſcue ſome facts from the ſhades of doubt and uncertainty. The character of a people muſt be gathered from an inquiry into thoſe prejudices and principles of the human mind which are the motives of their actions. To take a curſory review of the religious opinions of our remote anceſtors, is the moſt direct path to a knowledge of thoſe manners, which ſo remarkably diſtinguiſhed them from the poliſhed nations of antiquity. An ample field for diſquiſition preſents itſelf; but it is more the purpoſe of the Author to give a clear and conciſe idea of the ſubject, than to deviate into diſſertations, which, without being ſatisfactory, might aſſume an appearance of ingenuity and learning.

Their Idea of the Unity of God.

[160]

General remark on religion. Religion is one of thoſe few things which ſeldom receive any improvement from time. Being an univerſal concern, it naturally becomes a ſubject of general inquiry; and every time it is turned in the mind it ſuffers additional corruption, from thoſe vain ſuperſtitions and fears, which are inherent in human nature. The original opinions of mankind concerning GOD were the moſt ſimple, noble, and juſt. We find that an adequate n tion of the Divinity was ſo far from growing with the progreſs of the art of thinking, that the Celt, in the midſt of his foreſt, owned but one Lord of the Univerſe*, when the Academic on the banks of Ilyſſus, animated into Gods his own abſtracted ideas.

Religion of the Celtae. The information of the ancients did not extend to the Celtae when they continued in a ſtate of nature, and conſequently we can form no judgment concerning [161] their aboriginal ideas on the ſubject of religion. When they became firſt known to the writers of Greece and Rome, they were formed into communities, ſubject to ſome kind of government, and they had an order of men eſtabliſhed among them who were not only the ſuperintendants, but perhaps the inventors of their religious ceremonies and opinions. It is, however, probable that, like other ſavage nations, they had ſome imperfect notion of a Supreme Being, before the Druids formed that philoſophical ſyſtem of religion which had ſuch a wonderful effect on their national character and manners.

Characteriſtical n ame of God. The name, or rather title, by which the divinity is diſtinguiſhed in all the languages of the ancient, as well as moſt of thoſe of modern Europe, is ſufficient to demonſtrate that polytheiſm was not known to the old Celtae. The ΔΙΣ of the Greeks, their ΘΕΟΣ, and the oblique caſes of their ΖΕΥΣ, the Dis, Ditis pater, and Deus of the Romans, are manifeſtly derived from DE, DI, TI or [162] DIA, the only appellation by which God is known to thoſe who ſpeak the Galic of Britain and Ireland*. DE, DI or DIA literally ſignifies the PERSON, by way of eminence, or rather The HE, if we can, with any propriety, uſe that expreſſion.

Idea of his Unity. That the unity of the Supreme Being was one of the fundamental tenets of the religion inculcated by the Druids on their followers, we have reaſon to believe, notwithſtanding the poſitive aſſertions of many ancient writers to the contrary. The old Gauls were ſaid to worſhip three divinities under the appellations of TEUTATES, HESUS, and TARANIS; but theſe three names are manifeſtly titles of one Supreme Being, and not three ſeparate intelligences to whom divine honours were paid. TEUTATES, or DE-TAT-UAS ſignifies the God that is above: HESUS is derived from the ſame ſimple idea with DE; from ES, or, with [163] an emphaſis, HES, which means HE, or the Being; and TARANIS is the epithet of THUNDERER, given by all nations to the Supreme Divinity*.

Their pretended Polytheiſm.

Religion ſubject to corruption. The moſt rational ſyſtems of religion have been always found to deviate into abſurdity and ſuperſtition among the ignorant multitude. The human mind, naturally timid, is apt to clothe with terrors every thing which it does not ſufficiently comprehend. The bulk of the Celtae, therefore, almoſt corrupted into polytheiſm the philoſophical opinion of the Druids concerning God.

[164] Philoſophical opinion of the Druids on that ſubject. The doctrine concerning the Divinity, which Pythagoras and his diſciples firſt broached in the South of Europe, was the ſame with that of the Druids, and perhaps borrowed by the philoſopher* from that order of men. They looked upon the Divinity as the ſoul of the world; a ſpirit, which diffuſing itſelf through all nature, gave, in a particular manner, life to men and all other animals. From this ſyſtem of the univerſality of God, the Celtic nations naturally deduced an idea, that his preſence was moſt conſpicuous in thoſe parts of the univerſe which were endued with moſt beauty and action. The heavenly bodies, on account of their ſplendor, magnitude, and motion; the elements of fire, air and [165] water, on account of their rapidity and invincible force; were thought to poſſeſs an extraordinary proportion of that active ſpirit which prevaded the whole body of nature.

Reverence for great natural objects. According to this ſyſtem of theology, it was natural for the Celtae to direct their attention to thoſe objects in which the active principle which diffuſed itſelf through the univerſe ſeemed moſt apparently to exert itſelf. The heavenly bodies, and what philoſophers call the elements, were proper emblems of a Divinity, whoſe chief properties were immenſity, activity, and force. It is likely, therefore, that the veneration which the Celtae ſhewed, upon every occaſion, for the Sun, Moon, Stars, Fire, great collections of water, and for Foreſts and Mountains, proceeded originally from an opinion that theſe great objects were the beſt ſymbols of the Supreme Being*.

Belief in a Providence. The belief of a providence, without which no religion can exiſt, muſt, in a peculiar manner, have been the reſult of [166] that which the Celtae profeſſed. God was not only the ſole agent of the operations of nature, but even the principal part of which nature itſelf conſiſted; not ſo much the giver and preſerver of life, as he was that life itſelf which animated every living thing. From this philoſophical ſyſtem opinions aroſe among the bulk of the Celtae, which almoſt deviated into polytheiſm. As it was the buſineſs of God to do every thing, ſo they thought that the chief wiſdom of man ſhould conſiſt in penetrating into his deſigns, and in endeavouring to avert ſuch of his deciſions as might be detrimental to themſelves. They, for this purpoſe, not only addreſſed their prayers and ſacrifices to the Divinity through thoſe ſymbols we have already mentioned, but alſo uſed divinations to diſcover his intentions, and practiſed charms to turn the natural courſe of events.

Their pretended Worſhip of the Heavenly Bodies.

Subaltern intelligences. From their attention to the principal objects of nature there gradually aroſe a belief among the Celtae that the heavenly bodies and elements, inſtead of being [167] ſymbols of the Supreme Divinity, were the reſidences of ſubaltern intelligences*. Theſe inferior ſpirits, being immediately ſubordinate to God, had acceſs to know his intentions, and it was in their power to forewarn mankind of them by certain ſigns and tokens. But that divine honours were paid to thoſe beings who reſided in different natural objects was certainly the miſtake of the writers of Greece and Rome. To prove this ſeeming paradox we need only have recourſe to the true Celtic names of thoſe heavenly bodies which are univerſally ſaid to have been objects of the worſhip to the old northern nations.

Pretended worſhip of the ſun examined. CRI-AN, or GRIAN, from which ought to be deduced the Apollo Grannius and Grynaeus of the ancients, is the appellative by which, in all ages, the Celtae diſtinguiſhed the Sun. The [168] words are manifeſtly derived from CRI|'EIN, ſignifying the trembling fire, which, in the Galic language, carries an idea too mean to be applied to a God. RE, Eaſga, but moſt commonly GELLACH*, are the Celtic names of the moon; REUL, or rather RINNAC, ſignifies a ſtar. Theſe appellations carry in their meaning a demonſtration that the heavenly bodies were not worſhipped by our anceſtors. GELLACH is litterally a pale or wan complexion by an emphaſis; and RINNAC, a point of light; titles utterly inconſiſtent with the ſuppoſed divinity of the objects which bore them.

[169] The heavenly bodies animated by inferior intelligences. It is certain that the Celtic nations thought that the heavenly bodies were the reſidences of intelligences ſubordinate to God. Theſe ſpirits were diſtinguiſhed by the name of AISE, a word expreſſive of their feebleneſs and imbecillity in compariſon of DE, the Supreme Divinity. But we have reaſon to believe, from the following circumſtance, that GRIANAIS, or the Spirit of the Sun, was anciently peculiarly honoured in Caledonia. In the confines between Badenoch and Strathſpey, two diſtricts of the county of Inverneſs, there is a very extenſive heath which goes by the name of SLIA GRIANAIS, or the Plain of the Spirit of the Sun. The river Spey, which is there deep and rapid, borders this heath on the South; and a chain of craggy mountains, in the form of a half moon, interſperſed with precipices and a few naked trees, confines it on the North. It is entered towards the Weſt by a narrow paſs formed [170] by the near approach of the Spey and the mountains; and deep woods anciently ſkirted it on the eaſtern ſide.

A place of worſhip. This ſequeſtered heath ſwells towards the center into ſeveral eminences, upon the moſt of which there are ſtill to be ſeen ſeveral circles of ſtone, reſembling, though in miniature, the famous Stone Henge on the plain of Saliſbury. Theſe monuments of antiquity, ſtanding in a place altogether unfit for culture, have received no injury but from time, and are conſequently more entire than any other of the ſame kind in the Highlands and Scottiſh Iſles. The diameter of the area of the largeſt is not quite two hundred feet, and in the center of each ariſes a conical pile of looſe ſtones. Concerning the uſe to which theſe rude fabrics were anciently converted there remains not the veſtige of a tradition in that country; but the name which the place bears, demonſtrates that they were erected in honour of the Sun.

Their ſuperſtitious Ceremonies.

Reverence for inferior intelligences; Among an unmixed race of men, like the inhabitants of the mountains of Scotland, the ſuperſtitions and prejudices of their anceſtors are handed down without [171] much alteration through a long ſeries of ages. A ſtranger, in hearing the ancient Scots talking with great reſpect of the Spirit of the Sun, the Spirit of the Mountain, the Spirit of the Storm, and the Genius of the ſea, might be tempted to think, that, like what is reported of their Celtic anceſtors, they ſtill paid divine honours to the intelligences who were thought to reſide in the elements If he ſaw them avoiding to bathe themſelves in a ſpring, and never mentioning the water of rivers without prefixing to it the epithet of excellent*; if, above all, they ſhould be ſeen, according to an annual cuſtom, not hitherto altogether diſuſed, kindling a fire on a rock on the firſt of May in honour of the Sun, and giving to that luminary the titles of DAY, and the light of heaven , and avoiding to call him by his proper, though derogatory name, of GRIAN, any man might conclude that they ſtill remained in the ſhades of heatheniſh ignorance and ſuperſtition.

[172] for natural objects. But ſhould the ancient Scots themſelves be aſked why they ſhew ſuch a ſuperſtitious regard for natural objects, they would reply, That it is by no means proper to bathe themſelves in a fountain, leſt the elegant Genius that reſides in it ſhould be offended and remove to another place; and that the epithet of excellent ought in propriety to be prefixed to the water of rivers on account of its beauty, activity, and force. ‘"We kindle,"’ ſay they, ‘"the BEL-TEIN, or the Fire of the Rock, on the firſt of May, to welcome the Sun after his travels behind the clouds and tempeſts of the dark months; and it would be highly indecent not to honour him with the titles of dignity, when we meet him with joy on our hills."’

Ceremony of It is however certain that the Caledonians kindled the BEL-TEIN more for the purpoſes of divination and inchantment than as a mark of their reſpect for the Sun. The ceremonies ſtill uſed by the lower ſort of people, for ſuch only light up the BEL-TEIN in our days, are [173] evident remains of the ſuperſtitions of the Druidical ſyſtem of religion. It was a cuſtom, till of late years, among the inhabitants of whole diſtricts in the North of Scotland, to extinguiſh all their fires on the evening of the laſt day of April. Early on the firſt day of May ſome ſelect perſons met in a private place, and, by turning with great rapidity an augre in a dry piece of wood, extracted what they called the forced or elementary fire*. Some active young men, one from each hamlet in the diſtrict, attended at a diſtance, and, as ſoon as the forced fire was kindled, carried part of it with great expedition and joy to their reſpective villages. The people immediately aſſembled upon ſome rock or eminencee, lighted the BEL-TEIN, and ſpent the day in mirth and feſtivity.

the Beltien. The ceremonies uſed upon this occaſion were founded upon opinions of which there is now no trace remaining in tradition. It is in vain to inquire why thoſe ignorant perſons, who are addicted to this ſuperſtition, throw into the BEL-TEIN a portion of thoſe things upon which they regale themſelves on the firſt of May. Neither is there any reaſon aſſigned by [174] them for decking branches of mountainaſh* with wreaths of flowers and heath, which they carry, with ſhouts and geſtures of joy, in proceſſion three times round the fire. Theſe branches they afterwards depoſite above the doors of their reſpective dwellings, where they remain till they give place to others in the ſucceeding year.

Theſe and many other extraordinary and ſuperſtitious ceremonies, uſed upon this occaſion, have, it is certain, much of the appearance of religious worſhip paid by the ancient Caledonians to the Sun. The rude monuments which, as we have already obſerved, bear ſtill the name of GRIAN-AIS, ſeem, at firſt ſight, to put the certainty of the exiſtence of polytheiſm among the Celtae beyond any diſpute; but we may venture to affirm, that neither of thoſe circumſtances furniſhes a concluſive argument upon that head.

Their Divinations.

[175]

Divinations, ſacrifices, and inchantments. Though it was a fundamental maxim in the opinions of the Celtae concerning God, that he was the ſole agent in all operations of nature, they were far from ſuppoſing that his decrees were predetermined and unalterable. The firſt buſineſs, therefore, as has been already obſerved, was to penetrate into his deſigns by means of divination, and afterwards to endeavour to avert from themſelves ſuch of thoſe deſigns as might be detrimental, by the aſſiſtance of ſacrifice, prayers, and inchantment. The element of fire, and above all, the Sun, which is the ſource of it, were objects in which the ſoul of the world ſeemed moſt manifeſtly to exert itſelf; and conſequently they, more than any other part of nature, employed the attention of a ſuperſtitious people: and this attention ſoon degenerated into thoſe ridiculous ceremonies which we have juſt deſcribed. As ſuch circular piles of ſtones as we have already mentioned are only to be met with on plains, we may conclude that they were only artificial eminences raiſed for the BEL-TEIN, in places where rocks, from which it originally derived its name, could not be found.

Reflections.

[176]

The Sun not worſhipped by our anceſtors; We have in our hands a poſitive proof that the Sun was not an object of worſhip among the ancient Caledonians. A poem, the compoſition of which is placed beyond the introduction of Chriſtianity into the north Britain, has preſerved the real opinion of our anceſtors concerning the Spirit of the Sun. The ſubject of the piece is a war between two Scandinavian chiefs, in which one of them, having the misfortune to fall into the hands of his enemy, gives occaſion to the following ſimile:

‘"Seized amidſt the ſhock of armies—Clugar ſtruggled in all his thongs, and rolled in wrath his red eyes.—Thus hovering over the bleak waves of the North,—when GRIAN-AIS ſleeps, wrapt in his cloud, a ſudden froſt comes on all his wings.—He ſtruggles, he loudly roars.—Wide over the broad regions of ſnow is heard a voice!—His large red eyes flame through the duſky evening: The Cruglians ſhrink to their caves*."’

[177] nor objects of nature. Had GRIAN-AIS been a God in Caledonia, it is not probable that a bard of that country would have treated him with ſo little reſpect. The terrors which the poet has placed around him, ſerve only to highten the ridicule of his diſtreſs. The whole, in ſhort, is abſolutely inconſiſtent with that preſcience and power, which are attributes neceſſary to conſtitute a Divinity. But if the intelligence who reſided in the Sun, and who was peculiarly honoured by an unmixed branch of the Celtae, could not, in their opinion, extricate his wings from the effects of a froſty evening, we may juſtly conclude, that the ſpirits placed in leſs dignified objects of nature, were actually what they were called, AISE, or feeble ſhadows*.

[178] General reflections. To collect into one point of view the opinion of the Celtic nations upon the ſubject of religion, they originally believed that the Supreme Divinity DE, as the ſoul of the world, pervaded the whole body of nature. This philoſophical idea degenerated, among the bulk of the people, into a ſuppoſition that ſome objects of nature, inſtead of being animated by God himſelf, became the reſidences of ſpirits, who, in ſubordination to him, directed the operations of their reſpective portions of matter. To theſe intelligences they gave the name of AISE, or ſhadowy ghoſts, expreſſive of the vaſt diſproportion between them and that Being who was the ſource from which theſe ſpirits themſelves, as well as every thing poſſeſſed of life and motion, derived their exiſtence. It is, upon the whole, highly probable, that the rites which ſome of the ancients took for ſacrifices to ſubordinate Divinities among the Celtae, were no other than ceremonies uſed by thoſe Barbarians for the purpoſe of their pretended divinations and inchantments.

IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.

[179]

General Reflections.

The doctrine not coeval with man. THE doctrine of the Immortality of the Soul is not coeval with man. Whole nations have come down into the region of true hiſtory without having placed a tenet ſo eſſential to religion in their faith. The infancy of ſociety is not favourable to ſpeculative inquiry. Mankind, in their rudeſt ſtate, ſcarce ever extend their ideas beyond objects of ſenſe. They perceive, when death ſuſpends the functions of the body, that the man ceaſes to act and to feel; and the ſubſequent diſſolution of his whole frame eſtabliſhes the ſuppoſition, that his being is at an end. Nature herſelf confirms the opinion from every quarter by ſymptoms of decay. The oak [180] that has fallen by accident or age reſumes not its place on the mountain; and the flower that withers in autumn revives not with the returning year.

Unknown in the firſt ſtage of ſociety. Philoſophy only begins where the firſt ſtage of ſociety ends. As long as bodily labour is the only means of acquiring the neceſſaries of life, man has neither time or inclination to cultivate the mind. Speculative inquiry is the firſt fruits of the leiſure which civil life procures for individuals; but it is extremely doubtful whether the Immortality of the Soul is among the firſt truths which philoſophers have reſcued from ignorance and barbarity.

Aera of its being firſt broached in Greece. The moſt poliſhed nation of antiquity was late in its reception of the doctrine of the Immortality of the Soul. The Greeks, till the days of Thales*, had formed no idea at all concerning a future ſtate. It is even likely that Thales himſelf, who was the firſt dignified with the title of Wiſe, came too early into the world for the commencement of that opinion. Pherecydes of Scyros, according to the beſt authority, firſt introduced the doctine about the fifty-fifth olympiad; [181] and his diſciple Pythagoras greatly contributed to confirm the belief of another ſtate by the reputation of his philoſophy. It is however certain, that few of the Greeks gave into the opinion of Pythagoras and his maſter; for Pauſanias§ inſinuates, that even in the days of Plato only ſome of the Greeks believed that the Soul of Man was immortal.

Merely ſpeculative The Immortality of the Soul was, upon the whole, a doctrine merely ſpeculative among the ancient Greeks. Their Poets held it forth in their compoſitions; their philoſophers inculcated it upon their diſciples; it was a theme of diſputation in the ſchools; but the bulk of the people did not look upon it as a truth neceſſary to religion: and it is even a matter of doubt whether thoſe philoſophers who affirm that virtue muſt be loved on its own account, did not, in that inſtance, forget what they had advanced in other places concerning the rewards which await the good in another life.

[182] among the ancient Greeks. This ſcepticiſm of the Greeks in ſo eſſential a point of religion may appear ſtrange, to men who have not examined into the origin of that illuſtrious nation. The new people who chaſed the Pelaſgi from Peloponneſus and the Iſlands of the Archipelago, came from the coaſt of Phoenicia and the mouths of the Nile. They carried into Greece the Gods of Syria and of Egypt, but they could not carry along with them a doctrine which was not received in thoſe countries at the time of their migration. It is a matter of great doubt with many, whether the Jews themſelves admitted, in an early period, the Immortality of the Soul among the articles of their faith. This much is certain, that their lawgiver and prophets, if they ſpeak at all, ſpeak very obſcurely, as well as undeciſively, upon the ſubject.

Opinions of the Celtae on that Subject.

[183]

Philoſophy The Greeks and Romans affected to degrade, with the name of Barbarians, all the nations beyond the pale of their own reſpective dominions. The luxurious Perſian, in the midſt of the pomp and grandeur of the Eaſt, was not free from the ignominy of this injurious appellation, no more than the Scythian in the wild foreſts of the Weſt. We have however ſome reaſon to conclude, that, in an early aera, there was little foundation in fact for the diſtinction which Greece and Rome made between themſelves and the reſt of the world. The ſuperiority of the Perſians in the arts of civil life was manifeſt and acknowledged; and philoſophy itſelf took its riſe among thoſe whom the poliſhed nations of antiquity diſtinguiſhed by the name of Barbarians.

roſe firſt among the northern nations. We diſcover by the firſt dawn of hiſrory which roſe on the northern nations, that, though they had not made any conſiderable progreſs in the arts of civil life, they had turned their attention to philoſophical [184] inquiry*. An order of men ſeparated from the body of the people by the ſacredneſs of their character, had extended their ſpeculations to the Being and Attributes of a God. We have, in a preceding ſection, ſeen that the primary ideas of the Druids concerning the Divinity were the ſame with thoſe of the ancient Brahmins of the Eaſt; ‘"that God is the GREAT SOUL, who animates the whole body of nature."’

The Druids taught the Immortality of the Soul. The Druids, from the elevated inquiry into the exiſtence of the GREAT SOUL, deſcended into an examination of the nature and permanency of that active principle which animates the human body. In their reſearches upon this ſubject they departed from the opinion of the ancient Brahmins, who ſuppoſed that the ſoul of man was a portion of that irreſiſtible principle [185] which pervades and moves the immenſe body of the Univerſe. The ideas of the Druids concerning God were certainly the ſame with thoſe of the eaſtern philoſophers; but they placed in the human frame a diſtinct intelligence capable of happineſs, and ſubject to miſery. The Immortality of the Soul was the firſt principle of their faith, and the [186] great hinge upon which the religion of the ancient Britiſh, as well as of the other branches of the Celtic ſtock, originally turned. Upon this doctrine, which was with eagerneſs inculcated by the Druids, were founded thoſe characteriſtical manners which diſtinguiſhed the northern Celtae from the poliſhed nations of antiquity.

Their opinions concerning a future ſtate, In the infancy of philoſophy it is difficult for the human mind to form any diſtinct idea of the exiſtence of an immaterial Being. We are not, therefore, to wonder that the northern nations carried the buſineſs and paſtimes, though not the miſeries, of this life into their future ſtate. Without being acquainted with the PALINGENESIA of Pythagoras* and his followers, they clothed departed ſpirits with bodies not ſubject to decay; and they were ſingular in the opinion, that the ſoul left all unhappineſs behind it when it took its flight from this world.

which was free from miſery, But though the future ſtate of the ancient Britons was diſtinguiſhed by a total abſence of miſery, its pleaſures were of different degrees. The hero and ſoldier [187] who died in war enjoyed a more elevated felicity; but the peaceable and unwarlike were not, as among the Scandinavians, precipitated into a ſtate of abſolute miſery. Such was the ignorance of the Celtae of what we call Hell, that they had no name for any ſuch place in their language. This circumſtance diveſted Death of all his terrors; and to it we ought to aſcribe the unparalleled valour of the Celtic nations.

and full of felicity. The pleaſing proſpect which a future ſtate preſented to our anceſtors, rendered, by its contraſt, the preſent life very miſerable in their eyes. They wept over the birth of their children* as entering [188] into a ſcene of misfortunes, and they accompanied their dead with joy to the grave, as having changed a ſtate of unhappineſs for one of perfect felicity. Peculiarly fortunate in their error, if the opinion deſerves ſo harſh a name, they converted into means of joy what other ſyſtems of religion have rendered gloomy and melancholy. Death, with them, was the dark point which ſeparated a life ſhort and miſerable, from a long and happy immortality in another world.

The Paradiſe of the ancient Britiſh Nations.

The Paradiſe of the Celtae The ancient inhabitants of Britain, to enjoy the felicity of a future ſtate, aſcended not into heaven with the Chriſtians, nor dived under the ocean with the poets of Greece and Rome. Their [189] FLATH-INNIS, or NOBLE ISLAND*, lay ſurrounded with tempeſt, in the Weſtern ocean. Their brethren on the continent, in an early period, placed the ſeats of the Bleſſed in Britain; but the Britons themſelves, as we ſhall have occaſion to ſhew, removed their Fortunate Iſland very far to the weſt of their own country.

different from that of the North. The ancients are extremely imperfect in their accounts of the pleaſures which the Celtae enjoyed in their future ſtate; neither does the Iſlandic Edda, now in the hands of the learned, ſupply that defect. The nations to the North and Eaſt of the Baltic were a very different race of men from the more ancient inhabitants of the reſt of Europe. It was after the tyranny and civilization of the Romans had broken the ſpirit, and deſtroyed the virtues of the Celtae, that the Sarmatic Tartars of the Eaſt and North advanced into the South, and eſtabliſhed their opinions in the regions which they ſubdued. It is therefore in vain to trace the ſpeculative ideas of the ancient Britons, concerning their NOBLE ISLAND, in the legends of Odin's Hall.

[190] A Galic tale. On this ſubject we muſt derive our intelligence from a domeſtic ſource. The Scottiſh bards, with their compoſitions in verſe, conveyed to poſterity ſome poetical romances in proſe. One of thoſe tales, which tradition has brought down to our times, relates to the Paradiſe of the Celtic nations. The following extract will contribute to illuſtrate the detached informations which the writers of Greece and Rome have tranſmitted from antiquity, concerning the Fortunate Iſlands.

"In former days," ſays the bard, "there lived in SKERR* a magician of high renown. The blaſt of wind waited for his commands at the gate; he rode the tempeſt, and the troubled wave offered itſelf as a pillow for his repoſe. His eye followed the ſun by day; his thoughts travelled from ſtar to ſtar in the ſeaſon of night. He thirſted after [191] things unſeen. He ſighed over the narrow circle which ſurrounded his days. He often ſat in ſilence beneath the ſound of his groves; and he blamed the careleſs billows that rolled between him and the green Iſle of the Weſt ."

"One day, as the magician of SKERR ſat thoughtful upon a rock, a ſtorm aroſe on the ſea: A cloud, under whoſe ſqually ſkirts the foaming waters complained, ruſhed ſuddenly into the bay; and from its dark womb at once iſſued forth a boat with its white ſails bent to the wind, and hung round with a hundred moving oars: But it was deſtitute of mariners; itſelf ſeeming to live and move. An unuſual terror ſeized the aged magician: He heard a voice though he ſaw no human form. ‘"Ariſe, behold the boat of the heroes—ariſe, and ſee the green Iſle of thoſe who have paſſed away§."’

"He felt a ſtrange force on his limbs: he ſaw no perſon; but he moved to the boat. The wind immediately changed. In the boſom of the cloud he ſailed away. Seven days gleamed faintly round him; ſeven nights added their gloom to his darkneſs. His ears were ſtunned with ſhrill voices. The dull murmur of winds [192] paſſed him on either ſide. He ſlept not; but his eyes were not heavy: he ate not, but he was not hungry. On the eighth day the waves ſwelled into mountains; the boat rocked violently from ſide to ſide. The darkneſs thickened around him, when a thouſand voices at once cried aloud, ‘"The Iſle, the Iſle."’ The billows opened wide before him; the calm land of the departed ruſhed in light on his eyes*."

"It was not a light that dazzled, but a pure, diſtinguiſhing, and placid light, which called forth every object to view in their moſt perfect form. The Iſle ſpread large before him like a pleaſing dream of the ſoul; where diſtance fades not on the ſight; where nearneſs fatigues not the eye. It had its gently-ſloping hills of green; nor did they wholly want their clouds: But the clouds were bright and tranſparent; and each involved in its boſom the ſource of a ſtream; a beauteous ſtream, which, wandering down the [193] ſteep, was like the faint notes of the halftouched harp to the diſtant ear. The valleys were open, and free to the ocean; trees loaded with leaves, which ſcarcely waved to the light breeze, were ſcattered on the green declivities and riſing grounds. The rude winds walked not on the moontain; no ſtorm took its courſe through the ſky. All was calm and bright; the pure ſun of autumn ſhone from his blue ſky on the fields. He haſtened not to the Weſt for repoſe; nor was he ſeen to riſe from the Eaſt. He ſits in his mid-day height, and looks obliquely on the Noble Iſle."

"In each valley is its ſlow-moving ſtream. The pure waters ſwell over the banks, yet abſtain from the fields. The ſhowers diſturb them not; nor are they leſſened by the heat of the ſun. On the riſing hill are the halls of the departed—the high-roofed dwellings of the heroes of old."

General remarks. Thus far is the Tale worthy of tranſlation. Incoherent fables ſucceed the deſcription; and the employments of the Bleſſed in their Fortunate Iſland differ, in no reſpect, from the amuſements of the moſt uncultivated inhabitants of a mountainous country. The bodies with which the bard clothes his departed heroes have more grace, and are more active, than [194] thoſe they left behind them in this world; and he deſcribes with peculiar elegance the beauty of the women. After a very tranſient viſion of the NOBLE ISLE, the magician of Skerr returned home in the ſame miraculous manner in which he had been carried acroſs the ocean. But though in his own mind he comprehended his abſence in ſixteen days, he found every thing changed at his return. No trace of his habitation remained; he knew not the face of any man. He was even forced, ſays the Tale, to make inquiry concerning himſelf; and tradition had ſcarcely carried down his name to the generation who then poſſeſſed the Iſland of SKERR. Two complete centuries had paſſed away ſince his departure; ſo imperceptible was the flight of time in the felicity of the Celtic Paradiſe.

The ſouls of the departed viſited at times this world. The departed, according to the Tale, retained in the midſt of their happineſs a warm affection for their country and living friends. They ſometimes viſited the firſt; and by the latter, as the bard expreſſes it, they were tranſiently ſeen in the hour of peril, and eſpecially on the near approach of death. It was then that at midnight the death-devoted, to uſe the words of the Tale, were ſuddenly awakened by a ſtrange knocking at their gates; it was then that they heard [195] the undiſtinct voice of their departed friends calling them away to the Noble Iſle*.—‘"A ſudden joy,"’ continues the Author of the Tale, ‘"ruſhed in upon their minds: and that pleaſing melancholy, which looks forward to happineſs in a diſtant land."’ It is worthy of being remarked, that though thoſe who died a natural death were not excluded from the Celtic Paradiſe, the more pleaſant diviſions of the FLATH-INNIS, or NOBLE ISLE, were aſſigned to men who fell in war.

Cauſe of the contempt of death among our anceſtors. The animated deſcriptions which the Druids and Bards gave of FLATH-INNIS, or the NOBLE ISLE, rendered the Celtic nations careleſs about a tranſitory life which muſt terminate in happineſs. They threw away with indifference the burden when it galled them, and became in ſome meaſure independent of fortune in her worſt extreme. They met death in the field with elevation and joy of mind; they ſought after him with [196] eagerneſs when oppreſſed with diſeaſe, or worn out with age. To the ſame cauſe, and not to a want of docility of diſpoſition and temper, we ought to aſcribe their ſmall progreſs in the arts of civil life before the Phoenicians and Greeks, with their commerce, and the Romans, with their arms, introduced a taſte for luxury into the regions of the Weſt and North.

CHARACTER, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS OF THE ANCIENT BRITISH NATIONS.

[197]

Their Character.

Cauſe of variety in the characters of nations. THE principles of reaſon are ſo unchangeable in themſelves, that were men to form their actions upon them there would be little diverſity in the character of nations. The ſpeculative opinions of the Brahmin on the banks of the Ganges differed not materially from thoſe of the Druid on the Rhine; but there was no ſimilarity between the ignorant Indian and the illiterate German. The bulk of mankind deliver themſelves over to the direction of their paſſions; climate, conſtitution of body, mode of education, manner of life, and a thouſand circumſtances of leſs importance than theſe, give riſe to thoſe peculiarities which diſtinguiſh individuals from one another, and diverſify the characters of [198] nations. Without this variety, hiſtory would languiſh in the ſameneſs of events; for the motives which produce human actions furniſh more amuſement in narration than the actions themſelves.

The Ancient Britiſh paſſionate and impetuous, The Ancient Britiſh Nations, like their Celtic brethren on the continent, were fierce, paſſionate, and impetuous; ſudden in reſolution, ſanguine in expectation, impatient under diſappointment. This warmth and vehemence of temper proceeded, according to the ancients, from the full habit of their bodies, and the abundance of their blood*; and theſe circumſtances naturally led to a careleſs boldneſs, which threw diſgrace on their conduct, when it diſplayed their courage. warlike, War, which was their chief buſineſs, was their great amuſement. They were in love with ſlaughter, and, as Caeſar obſerves, born as it were in the midſt of battle and depredation. Public tranquility by no means ſuited their diſpoſition; they ſeemed to be of the ſame opinion with the king of Thrace, who ſaid, that he appeared to himſelf no better [199] than his groom when he was not engaged in war.

plain, goodhearted, upright, With all this violence and fierceneſs of diſpoſition, they were in private life plain and upright in their dealings, and far removed from the deceit and duplicity of modern times§. They were always open, ſincere, and undiſguiſed; ſimple, good-natured, and void of malignity*; and though cruel, and ſometimes barbarous, to their enemies, they were kind and compaſſionate to the ſupplicant and unfortunate. fickle, Fickleneſs and levity were the natural conſequences of their warmth of diſpoſition. Men of vivacity, and ſubject to paſſion, are, for the moſt part, inconſtant, changeable, raſh, curious, credulous, and proud. precipitate, All the branches of the Celtic nation determined ſuddenly upon affairs of the greateſt moment, and placed the foundation of reſolutions of the laſt importance upon uncertain rumours, and vague reports. [200] Their violence in ruſhing into new projects could be only equalled by their want of perſeverance in any plan. The tide ſeldom ran long in one direction; it was always with them a precipitate ebb, or a tempeſtuous flow.

curious, The curioſity which ſo remarkably diſtinguiſhed the ancient Gauls has come down with their poſterity to the preſent times. The Highlanders of North Britain are ſo fond of news, that even the pooreſt labourers, upon ſeeing at a great diſtance a traveller on the road, often quit their work, run to meet him, and, with great earneſtneſs, intreat him to tell them ſomething concerning the ſtate of public affairs. If he is communicative they accompany him perhaps for many miles, and they ſeem to think themſelves well recompenſed for the time they have loſt by the intelligence which they have received*.

hoſpitable, Our anceſtors were hoſpitable beyond example. To receive the ſtranger with cheerfulneſs, to lodge him in their beſt apartments, to treat him with their greateſt delicacies, was a law which cuſtom had rendered inviolable and univerſal. It [201] was not till after he ſignified his deſire of purſuing his journey that they inquired about his country and his name; and they excuſed this piece of curioſity in themſelves by ſaying, that they were anxious to know ſome few particulars concerning a perſon who had ſo much honoured their habitation with his preſence. When they ſaw a traveller upon the road they ran to meet him, and, with an earneſtneſs that bordered on compulſion, invited him to their houſes; and there was often a kind of jealouſy and contention between the neighbours about the honour of being the firſt who ſhould entertain the ſtranger. The deciſion in theſe diſputes was left to the traveller; and the diſappointed perſon uſed to ſay, that God was favourable to him who had the good fortune to be preferred*. At night they never ſhut their gates, ‘"leſt [202] the traveller, ſay they, ſhould come and be diſappointed, when we are aſleep, and not ready to invite or receive him."’

proud, and haughty. The haughtineſs, ſelf-conceit, and national pride which the ancients found among the Celtae, was not peculiar to that race of men. The vulgar of every country have a high opinion of their own nation. National pride is, at the worſt, an uſeful weakneſs; for men who think meanly of themſelves are ſeldom capable of great actions.—Theſe are the moſt ſtriking outlines of the character of the ancient inhabitants of Britain. To any man acquainted with the nature and genius of the unmixed part of the poſterity of the Celtae, in the northern diviſion of the Iſland, the authorities at the bottom of the page are ſuperfluous. He will be convinced of the juſtneſs of the deſcription, by the obſervations he himſelf has made; and he will be, at the ſame time, ſurpriſed to ſee the accurate exactneſs, with which the writers of Rome have drawn the portrait of our anceſtors.

Their Amuſements and Diverſions.

[203]

Amuſements of the ancient Britons The Britiſh branch of the Celtae, like the great ſtock from which they ſprung, were, almoſt in every thing, on the extreme. They placed their chief happineſs in the moſt perfect inactivity, or in the moſt violent exertions of the body. Wedded to the ſtrange opinion, that all labour, whether of body or mind, was mean and diſgraceful, they dedicated the whole time that remained to them from war and the chace, to ſleep, and a very few domeſtic diverſions*.

conſiſted in feaſts To feaſt together, and to regale themſelves, held the firſt place in their amuſements. Every ſlight occurrence was ſeized upon with eagerneſs, as an excuſe for conviviality and public entertainment. Without the banquet nothing important was ever done. The feaſt was, as it were, the ſeal which gave validity to public conventions, the ſanction which rendered inviolable private friendſhips. The name-day of every perſon in a family was kept, marriages were celebrated with uncommon feſtivity, and funerals ſolemnized with laviſh hoſpitality. The love of a [204] reputation for hoſpitality was carried ſo far, that the great men in the community often pitched tents and built huts on the public road, for the pleaſure of entertaining indiſcriminately all thoſe who paſſed that way. Theſe entertainments have been known to laſt a whole year; and the hoſpitable chief, not content with giving a general invitation to all the members of the ſtate, placed parties of men on the by-roads of the country, to bring paſſengers, by a kind of compulſion, to his table.

and public The diſhes at thoſe feaſts were not numerous, and there was little variety in the cookery. Fiſh of various kinds, the fleſh of tame animals, wild fowl, and veniſon, were ſerved up, as at preſent, in the three modes of boiled, broiled, and roaſted. They abſtained from tame fowl: Geeſe, ducks, and hens they only reared for pleaſure*. The utenſils uſed upon theſe occaſions were few in number and ſimple in their faſhion. Spits and large earthen pots were the whole furniture [205] of the kitchen; wooden, and ſometimes earthen and pewter platters*, that of the table. The gueſts, as to this day in France, brought along with them their own knives and forks, which hung from the girdle in the ſame ſheath with the dagger, which is called the BIDOC by the ancient Scots.

entertainments. The ſide-tables of the old Britons were not decorated with all the ſplendour of modern times. On them were only to be ſeen drinking cups of various ſizes, in number equal to thoſe who ſat at table. One of the cups was generally of ſilver, the reſt of wood, horn, earth, and ſometimes of ſhell. The better ſort ſat at a table in the center of the great hall. Their dependents, compleatly armed, as if on guard, formed a wider circle, and regaled themſelves, at the ſame time, [206] on long benches very little raiſed from the ground. They were waited upon at table by girls and boys not arived at the years of puberty§. When they had done eating, the moſt honourable man at the feaſt called for a cup of ale, the common drink of the Celtae, or of wine, after commerce had introduced it among them. He drank, as we do at preſent, to the next on his right hand; and the ſame cup being filled to the brim to each perſon, went round the whole circle. The women were* not only admitted but highly honoured at their entainments; they retired, as with us, before the men proceeded to downright ebriety.

Of ſinging, The bards held a conſpicuous place at public entertainments; and a great part of the amuſement of our anceſtors was derived from their ſongs. They repeated their compoſitions in every branch of poetry; the heroic, the elegiac, the ludicrous, the ſevere. The words were ſet to muſic; the bard recited nothing where the voice was not ſuſtained by ſome inſtrument. The harp was appropriated [207] to the ſerious; a flute or pipe accompanied the comic and lively.

dancing, That ſpecies of dancing which the Greeks diſtinguiſhed by the name of Pyrrhic, was an univerſal amuſement among the Celtic nations. A number of young men in complete armour ruſhed in ſuddenly before the gueſts, at a certain period of the warlike muſic, danced with great agility, and kept time by ſtriking their ſwords againſt their ſhields. When the ſpectators were, for a ſhort time, amuſed with this ſhew, the muſic ſuddenly changed, the armed dancers diſappeared with a ſhout of war, and a band of young women entered, tripping hand in hand to a merry air. They too, at a certain period of the muſic, vaniſhed at once; the young men entered again as if engaged in action, and to the ſound of the accompanying inſtrument exhibited all the incidents of a real battle*.

duelling, Neither were the gueſts at Celtic entertainments gratified with fictitious battles only; the young warriors frequently challenged one another to ſingle combat to ſhew their bravery. The gladiatorial ſpectacles at Rome proceeded from this [208] characteriſtical cuſtom of the Barbarians of the North of Europe; who, contrary to the opinions of all other nations, placed death itſelf in the number of their amuſements*. This peculiarity they carried to ſuch an extravagant pitch, that a ſtranger, if renowned for his valour, thought himſelf diſhonoured ſhould his hoſt neglect to give him an opportunity of breaking a ſpear with ſome brave man among his friends.

games of chance. The eagerneſs for games of chance, which Tacitus found among the Germans, was not entirely confined to the continent. The ancient Bards have tranſmitted to us, in their ſongs, many proofs that dice were not unknown among the Caledonians. The Bards, however, do not inform us that the northern Britons carried their paſſion for gaming ſo far as to place their liberty, which was more valuable than life itſelf in the eyes of the Celtae, upon a ſingle throw of the dye.

Their Morality and Poetry.

[209]

General reflections. Vice is not natural to man; he derives it from thoſe fictitious wants which grow with the progreſs of ſociety. Before property becomes the means of procuring ſenſual pleaſure, civil reſtraints are ſuperfluous, and morality itſelf an unneceſſary ſtudy. The contempt which the Celtic nations ſhewed for death, is a proof that they were not anxious about the poſſeſſion of the conveniencies of life; and that circumſtance ſhut up the great channel of corruption which pollutes the human mind in an advanced ſtage of civility. We may here without impropriety obſerve, that the vices of Barbarians proceed from prejudice, and their virtues from nature.

Morality taught by the Druids, The Druids, with their ſpeculative opinions on religion, inculcated upon their followers ſome general maxims of morality. The reſult of their inquiries in other branches of philoſophy, their diſcoveries in the nature and properties of matter, they confined to themſelves, to aſtoniſh into a veneration for their order a race of men whom they wiſhed to govern through the channel of prejudice and ignorance. [210] Darkneſs was favourable to the continuance of their power; and they encouraged into a ſettled contempt that diſlike to ſcience and the arts of civil life which the northern nations derived from their natural averſion to mental, as well as to bodily labour.

and Bards, The moral character of our anceſtors owed more to the compoſitions of the Bard* than to the precepts of the Druid. That elevation of ſoul which the firſt inſpired was more favourable to virtue than the cold dictates of the latter; for the mind which entertains a conſcious and dignified pride ſeldom harbours vice. The influence which the Bards derived from the inſtruction and amuſement with which their poems furniſhed their countrymen, raiſed them to equal honours with the Druids themſelves. The reſpect for their order was ſo great and univerſal, that armies engaged in action have been known to deſiſt from battle when the Bards threw themſelves between the lines. They [211] were held in as much veneration by the enemies of their nation as by their countrymen and friends; "for" as an ancient Bard expreſſes himſelf, ‘"the world is the country, and mankind the relations of every genuine Poet."’

who were divided into three claſſes. The compoſitions of the Bards, according to the ancients, comprehended the religion, the laws, and hiſtory of the Celtic nations. To commit thoſe poems to memory, to repeat them on ſolemn occaſions, was the great amuſement and ſtudy of their vacant hours. It is highly probable, though the obſervation is not made by the writers of Greece and Rome, that the order of the Bards were divided into three different claſſes. The Britiſh and Iriſh Scots had their FER-LAOI, or Hymniſts, who reduced the tenets of religion into verſe; their SENACHIES, who comprehended the fabulous hiſtory of their anceſtors* in a kind of unpoetical ſtanza; and their FER-DAN, who ſung the praiſes of men who had made a great [212] figure in war. Each of theſe claſſes kept its own province entire. They interfered not in the leaſt with one another; the FER-LAOI deſcended not into the region of the SENACHY, nor did the SENACHY riſe to the ſublimity of the FER-DAN, who derived from his poetical genius his only title to the name of Bard. The hymns of the FER-LAOI were loſt by the introduction of a new religion; and the works of the SENACHY expired in their natural dulneſs. A few of the compoſitions of the FER-DAN have triumphed over the ravages of time; and prove that the Bards inculcated the pureſt morals on their countrymen, and comprehended in their ſongs all thoſe virtues which render a man truly great, and deſervedly renowned.

Character of the ancient Britons formed on the poems of the Bards. The ancient Britiſh nations heard their poems with ſuch rapture and enthuſiaſm, that they formed their character and manners upon the model of the virtues which the Bards recommended in their ſongs. In an age unacquainted with ſcience men became diſintereſted, generous, [213] and noble, as individuals; as a nation they were inconſiderable and obſcure in the abſence of thoſe civil improvements which alone can render a community reſpectable and great. A publication which the Author of the Introduction has already given to the world eſtabliſhes the juſtneſs of the above obſervation. It at the ſame time ſhews, that the perſonal virtues of individuals avail little to perpetuate the fame of an uncultivated nation; and it alſo proves, that no dignity of character, no greatneſs of ſoul, can reſcue the prince from the oblivion which muſt involve his unpoliſhed and illiterate people. Fingal paſſed away unnoticed in Caledonia, at the time that Heliogabalus employed the page of the hiſtorian at Rome.

Subject of their poems. To recommend valour in war by the example of ancient times*, to encourage the generous feelings of the mind with penegyric, to animate the living to noble deeds by celebrating the great actions of the dead, were not the only ſubjects which employed the genius of the Celtic Bards. They travelled to the various [214] regions of poetry, to the ſentimental, the ludicrous, the ſevere. Of the two latter nothing of any antiquity remains. The ludicrous is local and temporary; and ſatire ceaſes to pleaſe when the follies it reprehends are loſt in length of time. The ſentimental is peculiar to no age; it ſuits the inherent feelings of the human mind; and when clothed with glowing imagery, and expreſſed in ſmooth verſification, it pleaſes the fancy, and adheres to the memory. It is to an union of all theſe circumſtances we owe the preſervation of the greateſt part of the poems of Oſſian, which contribute to finiſh the picture of our anceſtors, of which the outlines have been drawn by the writers of Greece and Rome.

The poets, in ſhort, were the great, the favourite inſtructors of the ancient Briton. He attended to the precept of the Druid with awe; he heard the ſentiment of the Bard with rapture. Reſerved, ſevere, and imperious, the firſt, when he enlightened, endeavoured to enſlave the mind; the latter elevated the ſoul with pleaſure, when he improved it with inſtruction.

Their Perſons and Women.

[215]

Perſons of the Celtae The inhabitants of modern Europe differ not more in their manners, than in the ſize of their perſons, from thoſe nations who poſſeſſed of old the regions of the North and Weſt. The Sarmatic Tartars, who moved into the provinces of the Roman empire upon its decline, were low of ſtature, a ſquat and ſwarthy race of men. The Celtic nations, under whatever climate they were placed, were tall, robuſt*, and luſty; of a ruddy complexion, with yellow hair, and [216] large blue eyes*. The Spaniard, expoſed to the burning ſuns of Gallicia, was as fair and florid as the German of the northern Europe.

of an enormous ſize. The ancients, aſtoniſhed at the enormous ſize of the Celtae, endeavoured to account for that phaenomenon in a phyſical way. Caeſar, in ſpeaking of the Germans, attributes their great ſtature to the groſs food with which they were nouriſhed, and to the continual exerciſe which was the natural attendant on the two occupations of hunting and depredatory war. The illuſtrious writer aſcribes it in part to the uninterrupted freedom of action they enjoyed in their youth; to the want of all application to ſtudy; and to the conſequent abſence of correction when boys. To all theſe cauſes combined the Celtae, according to Caeſar, owed that immenſe height of body which roſe ſo remarkably over the ſtandard of other nations.

[217] Cauſe of that phaenomenon. Theſe circumſtances may have contributed to the great ſize of the Celtic nations, but they were far from being the only cauſe. The Tartars, who migrated in the fourth and fifth ages into the provinces of the weſtern empire, differed not materially in their manner of life from the Celtae, yet they fell much ſhort of them in ſtature. Among mankind, as in other animals, there ſeem to be a variety of ſpecies; ſome are by nature mere pigmies, others of gigantic proportions. No climate, no change of food can raiſe the Laplander to the height of the German: and ſubject the latter for ages to the intenſe cold and ſcarcity of food in the arctic circle, and he will not dwindle into the mean ſtature of the preſent inhabitant of Lapland.

The Britiſh talleſt of all the Celtae. Of all the branches of the Celtae, the ancient Britons, the Germans not even excepted, were the greateſt in the height of their bodies*. They generally exceeded by half a foot the talleſt Romans in the days of Strabo; and they roſe beyond [218] the ſtandard of the Gauls, whoſe perſons, according to an exaggerating writer, were of more than human ſize. their women; The women did not yield to the men in ſtature, and they almoſt equalled them in ſtrength of body and in vigour of mind. They were fair, blooming, and ſtately; juſt and full in the proportions of their limbs; active, high-ſpirited, and bold. Their long yellow hair flowed careleſsly down their ſhoulders, and their large blue eyes animated their looks into a kind of ferocity leſs apt to kindle love than to command reſpect and awe.

their character; In modern Europe a fictitious reſpect is paid to women, in the ancient they poſſeſſed real conſequence and power. They were not then chained to the diſtaff, or confined to the trivial cares of domeſtic life. They entered into the active ſcenes of public affairs, and, with a maſculine ſpirit, ſhared the dangers and fatigues of the field with their huſbands and friends. They unmanned not their countrymen in the hour of peril with vain terrors and complaints; they animated them to action [219] with exhortation, and confirmed their valour with examples of perſonal courage. Routed armies have been known to return to the charge at their intreaty, battles have been gained by their timely interpoſition*. Strangers to the acquieſcing diſpoſition of other women, they ſcorned to ſurvive the defeat of their friends; they ſnatched the triumphs of victory from the hand of the enemy, and reſcued themſelves from ſlavery by a voluntary death. Inſtead of ſoothing the untractable minds of their huſbands into conceſſions that might procure ſafety, they encouraged them to loſe their lives rather than their liberty and independence.

their amazing influence, The picture we have drawn will not probably pleaſe the refined ideas of the preſent times. But the high ſpirit of the Celtic women gave them more influence over our anceſtors than our modern beauties derive from all their elegant timidity and delicacy of manners. The moſt unpoliſhed [220] Germans, according to Tacitus, thought that ſomething divine dwelt in female minds: Women were admitted to their public deliberations, and they did not deſpiſe their opinions or neglect to follow their advice. To ſuch a pitch had ſome branches of the Celtae carried their veneration for the fair ſex, that, even in their life-time, a kind of divine honours was paid to ſome diſtinguiſhed women§. The ancient Britons were peculiarly fond of the government of women. Succeſſion, where it was eſtabliſhed at all, went in the female as well as in the male line; and they convened with no leſs ardour round the ſtandard of a princeſs, than they followed with eagerneſs their petty kings and chiefs to the field*.

obſervations on the ſize of the Celtae. Some late writers have aſcribed the enormous ſize and corpulence of the Barbarians of ancient Europe to their uſe of beer, the univerſal beverage of all the [221] branches of the Celtic nations. Had the obſervation been juſt, the preſent Engliſh ſhould exceed their fathers in ſtature; but this is ſo far from being the caſe, that they fall ſhort of the modern Germans, and are ſcarce ſuperior, in that reſpect, to the French, who, from poſſeſſing the grape, have for ages diſcontinued the drinking of beer. To ſtrengthen the argument it may be here obſerved, that the inhabitants of London, who uſe beer the moſt, are of a ſmaller ſize than thoſe who live leſs luxuriouſly in other parts of the kingdom. To ſolve the difficulty we muſt have recourſe to a remark already made; that the Sarmatae, who, upon the decline of the Romans, advanced into the regions of the Weſt, were a very different race of men from the Celtae, and that they ſent down their low ſize, with their blood, to the preſent inhabitants of Europe, who are, in a great meaſure, their poſterity*.

[222] Effects of climate on the ſize of men, The great ſtature of the ancient Britons may, in ſome degree, be aſcribed to the humidity of the climate under which they lived. The ſame temperature of air which favours the extraordinary growth of vegetables, may contribute to increaſe the ſize of the human body, where it is not checked by that mode of life and hard labour which civil improvements have introduced into modern Europe. The inhabitants of cloudy regions and ſwampy countries, even at this day, exceed in ſtature thoſe who live under a ſerene ſky and on a dry and light ſoil. The Germans who poſſeſs the fens between the Scheld and the Elbe riſe beyond the ſtandard of the inhabitants of the upper Germany, and the Engliſh of the moraſſes of Lincoln exceed in ſize the inhabitants of the downs of Hampſhire.

and beauty of their women. But whatever effect the humidity of the air had on the ſtature of the northern Celtae, it certainly contributed to that whiteneſs of ſkin by which they were ſo remarkably diſtinguiſhed. The beauty of their women*, thoſe ruddy and florid complexions which glow in the deſcriptions of the ancients, may, in ſome meaſure, [223] be aſcribed to the moiſt atmoſphere which ſtill clothes our fields with a kind of perpetual green. But the ſuperior beauty of the Celtic women, as it was common to all the nations of ancient Europe deſcended from the ſame ſtock, muſt, like the ſtature of the men, have proceeded from their being a different race from the Sarmatae, who carried their homely looks with their ſmall ſize into the regions of the Weſt.

The uncorrupted chaſtity, the abſolute abſtinence from early venery, which a virtuous kind of prejudice eſtabliſhed into an inviolable law among the Celtic nations, muſt have conduced to the immenſe ſize of their bodies. To have any commerce with women before the age of twenty was one of the moſt diſgraceful and unpardonable of all crimes. Virgins were never given in matrimony till their twentieth year; and thus the young couple, coming together in full maturity and vigour, tranſmitted their own ſtrength and ſize to their children.

Their Manner of Life.

[224]

Obſervations. Our anceſtors had the misfortune, if there is any misfortune in the want of importance with poſterity, to be ſeen diſtinctly by foreigners before either time or accident had poliſhed them out of their natural rudeneſs and barbarity. Nations who have the advantage of being the recorders of their own actions cover the beginnings of their hiſtory with ſplendid fictions, or place them in the ſhade to heighten the features of their more authentic ſame. The light which the Romans threw upon the northern nations, in their uncultivated ſtate, by reſcuing their manners from oblivion, has taken away from their renown. Men accuſtomed to the luxuries of advanced ſociety look with a kind of c ontempton the inconveniencies of rude life. This conſideration has induced the Author of the introduction to confine, within narrow bounds, his obſervations on the manners of the ancient Britiſh nations; for where the road lies through a barren country the journey ought to be ſhort.

[225] Agriculture, &c. When the Scythian Nomades firſt became known to the Greeks they neither ſowed nor reaped; they derived their ſubſiſtence from the fruits which the earth naturally produced, from the chace, and the milk and fleſh of their flocks and herds§. The Gauls were the firſt branch of the Celtae who applied themſelves to agriculture; and that earlieſt and rudeſt of all arts had ſcarce paſſed the Rhine, when Caeſar diſplayed in Germany the Roman Eagle. The Britons were probably before the Germans, in point of time, in the cultivation of their lands. Their vicinity to Gaul enabled them to import its arts; and their ſoil and climate were more favourable to agriculture than the cold regions beyond the Rhine; yet, in the days of Strabo, many of the inhabitants of Britain were ſtrangers to the uſe of the plough*. In the infancy of agriculture, oats and barley were the only grains known in the north of [226] Europe. The firſt they parched before the fire and ground in hand-mills, as ſome of the Scots and Iriſh did till of late years; and of the latter they made their favourite beverage, beer.

intoxicating liquors. The art of extracting an inebriating liquor from corn§ was known among all the branches of the Celtae, before the Greeks and Romans extended their information to the regions of the Weſt. As the method of brewing this intoxicating liquid was not the peculiar invention of any particular country, it went under various name. The German appellation is ſtill retained in the Engliſh word Beer; and the LEAN, or LEUAN of the Scots and Iriſh is ſtill famous in the rhimes of their ancient bards. Beer however was not the ſole beverage of the ancient Britons; their Zythus, or water diluted with [227] honey, was in much requeſt; and they ſeem, with other northern nations, to have known a method of extracting a kind of cyder from wild apples*. When the Romans extended their arms to this ſide of the Alps the uſe of wine was introduced among the Celtic nations. The Germans, rude as they were in the days of Tacitus, were well acquainted with the juice of the grape; and we may conclude, from a parity of reaſon, that the Britons were not ſtrangers to wine at the firſt ſettlement of the Romans in their country.

Houſhold furniture. The houſehold furniture of the Britons was neither ſplendid nor convenient. The beſt accommodated lay on flock beds or on the ſkins of wild beaſts ſpread on ſtraw, ruſhes, or heath; and their chairs and tables were faſhioned with the axe. The ancient Germans were not peculiar in having a ſeparate table, when they eat in private, for each perſon in the family; at their public entertainments, they uſed but one table for each rank of the people invited. The old bards have tranſmitted [228] the memory of this, as a Britiſh cuſtom, to modern times. The veſſels uſed by our anceſtors were carved out of wood or made of earth. Their drinking-cups were, as has been already obſerved, originally either of ſhell or of horn§ though ſome more magnificent than others were poſſeſſed of goblets of ſilver.

Clothing The Celtae were better clothed than ſome learned men have ſuppoſed, from the teſtimony of the ancients. Their peculiar cuſtom of throwing away their looſe garments in action gave riſe to the opinion, that ſome of them went always naked. When the nations of antiquity firſt appeared in hiſtory they were but very ſlightly covered: the greateſt part of the body was left bare; and the Perſians were the firſt who adopted the womaniſh long ſtole of the Eaſt. In the various regions of Europe they uſed for clothing the materials in which the country moſt excelled; but the faſhion of their garments was univerſally the ſame.

of the various branches of the Celtae. In the northern regions, where game abounded, their upper coverings were made of the ſkins of beaſts*: In Germany [229] they uſed linen, eſpecially the women, who ſometimes wore printed garments, and often long robes of white. The Gauls, like the modern French, delighted in gawdineſs and ſhew. Their wool was coarſe§; but they rendered their garments leſs homely with gold and ſilver lace. In Spain, as at preſent, the wool was extremely fine**; the clothing of the Spaniards, therefore, was of ſlighter texture, and more elegant than that of the Gauls. The inhabitants of Britain uſed woollen clothing; neither were they ſtrangers to the manufacturing of linen.

Their make and faſhion. The party-coloured garments which the natives of the mountains of Scotland have brought down to the preſent times, were the univerſal taſte among all the [230] branches of the Celtic nation. The Sagum of the old Gauls and Spaniards was no other than the Scottiſh PLAID of various colours; the Braccae, from which a part of Gaul took its name, were the Highland Trouſe, and the ſame with that worn by the Germans; which being ſtrait and cloſe to the ſkin, exhibited the ſhape of the limbs. The ancient Britons, like the Germans, wore a cloſe jacket of party-coloured cloth, which generally reached no further than the waiſtband of the Trouſe. This jacket had a half ſleeve, which came down to the elbow*. The vulgar wore a kind of half-boot and ſhoe in one, made of raw hides, and laced faſt before with ſmall thongs*: the ſhoes of the better ſort of people were of tanned leather§.

Dreſs of the women. The dreſs of the women was ſtill more ſimple than that of the men. It conſiſted of a jacket without any ſleeves, and a petticoat which reached down a little below the knee. Their boſoms were expoſed [231] to view, and their arms were bare. Upon public occaſions they uſed likewiſe a party-coloured Sagum or PLAID of finer texture than that worn by the men; and women of condition and rank hung a chain of gold, by way of ornament, about the neck. In ſummer their jackets and petticoats were of linen ſtained with purple: In winter they were of wool, ſtriped with different colours. Printed linens ſeem to be of Celtic invention. The Spaniſh ladies, in the days of Strabo, wore linen robes ſtained with the figures of various flowers§.

Dreſs of the Celtae very ſumptuous. Though the Celtic nations had a particular averſion to the changing of the faſhion of their clothes, they became early luxurious and expenſive in the article of dreſs. The apparel of the Gauls and Spaniards eſpecially was extremely magnificent. When they wore linen it was [232] ſtamped or painted* with a variety of figures in different colours; and their woollen clothes were variegated, according to Strabo, with gold. The Germans themſelves as early as the beginning of the third century ſtreaked their garments with ſilver; and we may conclude that the ancient Britons were not behind the Germans in their love of finery and ſhow.

Their neatneſs and cleanlineſs. The Celtae were not only neat in their dreſs, they were alſo cleanly in their perſons. The character of dirtineſs, which we annex to the Barbarians of ancient Europe, came from the Eaſt with thoſe wild nations who overturned the empire of the Weſt. The Sarmatae, who were the anceſtors of the greater part of the preſent inhabitants of Europe, were dirty to a proverb§. The Celtic nations were peculiarly fond of cleanlineſs: They bathed regularly every day in the months of winter, as well as in the heat of ſummer; [233] and they carried their love of neatneſs ſo far, that, according to Ammianus Marcellinus, in all the provinces of ancient Gaul, not one man or woman, even the pooreſt, was to be ſeen with patched or mended clothes*. The ſame writer gives a ſtriking contraſt to the Celtic neatneſs in the naſtineſs of the Sarmatae, whoſe dirty and ragged poſterity croud, at this day, the ſtreets of the moſt opulent cities in Europe. The cleanlineſs of modern nations proceeds from luxury, and is not general; it was the reſult of nature among the Celtae, and was univerſal. Beggary and rags are of the improvements of advanced ſociety.

Their Houſes, Navigation, and Commerce.

[234]

Form of their houſes. Caeſar obſerves, that in Britain, which at his arrival ſwarmed with an infinite number of inhabitants, the houſes differed little in the architecture from thoſe of the Gauls*. The walls were conſtructed of boards or of hurdles; the latter of which were plaſtered over with different ſorts of clay of various colours, red, blue, yellow, and white, which made a ſplendid appearance where diſtance prevented the meanneſs of the materials from offending the eye. They were of a circular form, the roof roſe in a kind of cone to a great height, and was covered with ſtraw§. In the center of theſe halls, which were of great ſize, there was ſupported on four pillars of wood a kind of wattled funnel, which, being plaſtered with clay, ſerved [235] the purpoſe of a chimney, and carried the ſmoke through the conical point of the roof. This tube, which was very wide below, ſerved in part to light the hall. The ſleeping apartments, which were divided from the great hall by partitions of planks, or of hurdles plaſtered with mortar, were lighted with ſmall widows.

Stone and brick known, but little uſed. Stone buildings were very rare, and though brick and tile were not abſolutely unknown*, they were little uſed. It is probable after the Britons began to drop the old Celtic cuſtom of an annual diviſion of their lands, that ſome of their chiefs and petty kings had more convenient habitations than thoſe we have above deſcribed. The political motives which the Germans advanced for a frequent change of habitation either exiſted not at all, or were not ſo powerful in Britain as they were upon the continent. When men ſettle in fixed abodes for any conſiderable period of time, the conveniencies of life gradually grow up among them, and they become objects of depredation to their leſs cultivated neighbours. Motives of ſafety from ſudden incurſions would certainly have ſuggeſted to the more [236] poliſhed Britons of the South the idea of building with brick and ſtone even before the Romans introduced both among them with their government and arts.

The vulgar lived in huts. The inferior ſort of people, as they do to this day in the mountains of Scotland, lived in mean huts§: the walls of theſe huts were of ſod, and their roofs covered with a light kind of turf, which frequently ſtood out for twenty years together againſt the injuries of the weather. This ruſtic kind of architecture remained in Italy in the days of Virgil; for the clowns of Mantua and Cremona lived in the turf cabins of their Celtic anceſtors, at a time when Auguſtus boaſted of having converted the brick edifices of Rome into marble.

Situation of their houſes. In Britain, as in Gaul and Germany, the inhabitants built their houſes in copſes of wood*, to ſhade them from the heat of the ſummer, and to cover them from the violence of the winter winds. Naturally fond of cleanlineſs, they always fixed their reſidence on the banks of ſome brook or river into which they plunged [237] every morning as ſoon as they roſe from ſleep.

They had no towns. The Britons had ſcarcely any group of houſes built in one place, which could deſerve the name of a town, when Caeſar firſt arrived in Britain. Like the ancient Germans, they avoided to build in continued rows to ſhun the accidents of fire. Thick woods fenced round with a foſs and wall obtained, among the Britons, the name of a town§. This peculiar cuſtom gave its origin to the word BALL, by which a town is invariably diſtinguiſhed in the Gaëlic language; it being derived from BUAL, literally a fence or fold. It is not improbable but, even in the days of Caeſar, there might be ſome inconſiderable number of contiguous houſes on the banks of navigable rivers, and on the ſhores of convenient harbours. The commerce, which, even in thoſe days, was carried on in the ports of Britain, preſuppoſes, in ſome meaſure, the exiſtence of villages.

Their navigation, The navigation of the ancient Britiſh nations was deſpicable, if compared with the improvements of modern times. They, however, ventured, into the ocean [238] in ſmall craft of rude conſtruction, which they managed with great dexterity. The keels and kelſons of their longboats, for their veſſels deſerved not the name of ſhips, were formed of ſlight materials. The hull was made of wicker covered with raw hides*. Each end of the veſſel terminated in a ſharp beak, and it was rowed indiſcriminately either way. They uſed oars for the moſt part, though they were not unacquainted with the ſail; and they ſkimmed along the water with amazing facility and expedition. The ſize of thoſe veſſels muſt have been greater than is generally ſuppoſed, for the Saxon auxiliaries of Vortigern tranſported themſelves in three of them from Germany to Britain. As, to uſe a naval phraſe, they could live in any ſea, it is probable that ſome of thoſe boats were accommodated with ſlight decks.

[239] The inhabitants of the north of Europe, it is highly probable, ſailed, in a very early period, in veſſels of a larger ſize and better conſtruction than thoſe we have already deſcribed. The Suiones or ancient Scandinavians had their fleets in the days of Tacitus§; and before the time of the elder Pliny, the northern nations not only ventured into the tempeſtuous ſeas of Norway, but even paſſed over into Thule, which the learned ſuppoſe to be the ſame with the modern Iceland. Theſe voyages could not have been performed in open boats nor in hulls of wicker covered with raw hides. The art of ſhip-building, though perhaps in its rudeſt ſtate, was known in the North when the firſt feeble light of hiſtory roſe on its nations. Men who ſailed to Thule could ſcarcely be unacquainted with Britain; and had the inhabitants of the latter neglected an art which their maritime ſituation muſt have naturally ſuggeſted to them, they muſt have certainly adopted it from the Scandinavians. Rivers, narrow arms of the ſea, even the Britiſh and Iriſh channels might be navigated in open [240] ſkiffs by the inhabitants of the weſtern ſhores of Britain, but thoſe on the German ocean may be ſuppoſed to have known as much of navigation as the natives of the oppoſite continent.

Their foreign and domeſtic trade; The ancient Britiſh nations carried on ſome degree of foreign commerce, and exported commodities and manufactures*. The Iſle of Wight ſeems to have been their chief mart. The tin, which Cornwall produced in great abundance, after being ſmelted into bars or cubes was carried thither, and exported afterwards to the neareſt coaſt of Gaul; from which it was ſent by land-carriage to the mouth of the Rhone, and from thence conveyed by the Liguſtic ſea into Italy. Their next great commodity was raw hides; and, after the Romans had ſettled in the Iſland, corn. Their manufactures for foreign markets conſiſted, in the reign of Auguſtus, of bridles, glaſs, and earthen ware, veſſels made of a kind of a mixed metal, and other coarſe articles, upon which the Romans raiſed conſiderable duties in the ports of Gaul. The exiſtence [241] of a mercantile intercourſe with foreigners implies a degree of internal commerce. The ancient Britons, who ventured their ſmall craft on the ocean, may be reaſonably ſuppoſed to have converted the convenience, which their rivers afforded for water-carriage, to the purpoſes of domeſtic trade.

land carriage and chariots. Their land-carriage was performed, as at preſent, by the means of carts and waggons, long before the Romans introduced the conveniencies§ of life with their government. That they went in chariots to war is univerſally known*: that they uſed them for the convenience of travelling, as we do our poſt-chaiſes, is equally certain. Some of thoſe vehicles were more expenſive than the tawdry equipages of modern times; for the chariots in which their petty kings fought in battle were frequently of ſolid ſilver.

GOVERNMENT OF THE ANCIENT BRITISH NATIONS.

[242]

Reflections on the Origin of Government.

Riſe and progreſs of ſociety. SOCIETY is of greater antiquity than government. Civil regulations confeſs, in their own origin, the preexiſtence of public crimes. Mankind, like other animals, herded originally together through mere inſtinct; and they deceive themſelves who think that commuties were formed under a preconcerted ſyſtem of policy. Man, in his rudeſt ſtate, being deſtitute of property, neither fears nor meets with injuſtice: He poſſeſſes nothing which his own arm cannot defend, before the love of the conveniencies of life has overcome his neighbour's natural propenſity to juſtice. In the progreſs of ſociety individuals poliſh one another, as it were, by colliſion. The fruit of the ingenuity of one is adopted and improved by another: New inventions ſtart up in every quarter, and are [243] loſt in none: Luxury grows with the increaſe of the arts of civil life, rapacity treads cloſe on its heels; and then, for the firſt time, the check of law and regulation becomes neceſſary to the welfare, if not to the very being of the community.

Origin of monarchy. The popular form of government is more ancient than monarchy. The patriarchal authority from which ſome writers deduce the latter, is too much circumſcribed in degree and time to be the fountain from which monarchy flows. The power which a parent has over his children cannot be tranſmitted to his ſon. He derives it from nature. and it dies with himſelf. Regal government is a civil inſtitution, which in various countries owes its commencement to various cauſes. It generally takes its riſe from a kind of uſurpation; and, whatever theoriſts in politics may ſay, there were originally no ſtipulations made between the tyrant and the people. Length of time eſtabliſhes into a kind of right what, at the beginning, was an act of injuſtice; and the acquieſcence of the people conſtitutes into a moral duty that obedience which was at firſt the effect of fear.

Popular government older than monarchy. The ſimplicity of monarchical government has eſtabliſhed with many an opinion of its ſuperior antiquity. The infancy of ſociety, like that of man, muſt be awed, ſay they, into good behaviour by [244] the fear of obvious puniſhment. The ſlow movements of popular governments command no reſpect, and impreſs no fears; and therefore men naturally place the power of the ſtate where it can be exerted with moſt expedition and preciſion. They who argue in this manner are little acquainted with the character of barbarous times. In the firſt ſtage of ſociety there is no inequality between individuals: a man's mind muſt be opened with civilization before he will acquieſce in an opinion of his own inferiority. The Barbarian knows no perſon better than himſelf, and he ſubmits to the dictates of none; deriving, in fact, from the vigour and independence of his own mind, that liberty which we owe to an accidental conſtitution of government.

Monarchy begins in force, and is ſupported by influence. Though monarchy, for the moſt part, begins in the midſt of tumult and war, the very exiſtence of regal power preſuppoſes a conſiderable degree of civility in the community. The authority which the leader of a nation may acquire from perſonal merit in battle will die away in peace, unleſs the machine is kept in motion by the continued impulſe of influence; and this influence, which is the foundation, if not the origin, of kingly government, is only to be obtained by having ſomething to beſtow upon abettors and dependents. A few being gained. [245] through the channel of intereſt, the many are over-awed into ſubmiſſion; and that lenity and impartial juſtice, which prudence dictates in the firſt periods of monarchy, contributes to reconcile the minds of the people to the government of one.

Origin and nature of the popular form of government. In the early infancy of a ſtate, the only laws that ſubſiſt in the community are the opinions and prejudices of the people. Before property is well eſtabliſhed, the catalogue of crimes is very ſuccinct; and the puniſhments annexed to each are neither ſevere nor inflicted with preciſion. The people have not yet delegated their authority to a few; and the power that remains in the hands of the many ſeldom exerts itſelf with vigour. The ſociety is kept together more by habit, and the abſence of vice, than by any thing which deſerves the name of government. The people, who have the whole power in their hands, convene only when they are to carry war into an enemy's country, or to defend their own. They conſult together but on the external affairs of the community; its internal concerns are left to the opinions of individuals. This abſence of all regulation may be called the moſt ancient form of government; and it may be diſtinguiſhed by the title of a popular government, as the opinions of the people in general are the only checks upon the crimes and irregularities of individuals.

Form of the Ancient Britiſh Government.

[246]

The Ancient Britiſh nations, like the reſt of the inhabitants of the North of Europe, were extremely fond and very tenacious of their political freedom. Though, from a conviction that civil ſociety cannot maintain itſelf without ſubordination, they had their judges, their princes, and kings, the power of thoſe dignified perſons was very much circumſcribed§. In the midſt of barbarity they formed as juſt notions of liberty as other free nations have done in the moſt cultivated times. They were convinced, that they not only had a right to elect their magiſtrates, but alſo to preſcribe thoſe laws by which they choſe to be governed. The actions of the individual were cognizable by the BREHON or judge; the judge was accountable for his conduct to the general aſſembly of the people*.

[247] love of liberty. The Celtae in general were ſuch enthuſiaſts on the article of public freedom, that they affirmed it was the natural property of animals as well as of men. Their love of liberty was one of the reaſons they gave for their averſion to induſtry and the accumulation of property; ‘"for he that wiſhes to be free,"’ ſaid the Scythians, ‘"ought to have nothing that he is afraid to loſe."’ Poverty is certainly the beſt bulwark againſt tyranny; nor were our anceſtors much miſtaken when they believed that the man who loves riches is capable of ſelling his liberty for money. The Celtae through all their branches preferred their freedom to life itſelf. The firſt maxim in war was to maintain their independance, or to prevent ſlavery by a voluntary death§.

Their kings The department of the prince was to lead in war; in peace he ſunk into an equality with others. Inſtead of conſidering his will and pleaſure as a living law, they paid him no obedience but what he derived from their opinion of his merit*. They ſeemed to conſider the [248] chief magiſtrate, even after his authority had extended itſelf to times of tranquility, to be only the guardian of thoſe cuſtoms which occupied the place of laws. Their kings had no public revenue, and they ſtood in need of none when the ſubject attended them in war at his own expence; if indeed the equipping of an ancient Briton for depredatory expeditions required any expence at all.

Their general aſſemblies. It is certain that the ancient Britons, like their brethren on the continent, had their general aſſemblies of the people, in which all affairs of public concern were decided by the plurality of voices*. In the ſmall ſtates into which they were ſubdivided, it was not impoſſible for the majority of thoſe of perfect age to convene upon important occaſions. Their reſolutions muſt, in the nature of things, have been tumultuary and precipitate. They met principally for the purpoſe of making war, and they ruſhed with little deliberation into a ſtate which they naturally loved. Domeſtic affairs were ſeldom the ſubject of debate; for a people before the eſtabliſhment [249] of landed property and a conſiderable degree of commerce can ſcarcely be ſaid to have any domeſtic affairs.

Origin of repreſentation. The greateſt improvements in politics riſe from very ſimple and rude beginnings. When the ſtate became extenſive and populous, it was impoſſible for all its members to convene in general aſſemly. The expedient of delegation was obvious, and was naturally adopted; and length of time poliſhed into what is called a convention of the ſtates the democratical meetings of the Celtic nations. The delegates being freed of the interruptions and confuſions incident to the aſſemblies of the populace, found leiſure to determine upon domeſtic as well as foreign matters; and this was the ſource of theſe civil regulations we diſtinguiſh by the name of laws.—In the darkneſs which involves our remoteſt anceſtors it is impoſſible to trace their government through all its departments with preciſion. The abſence of thoſe vices which exiſt only in poliſhed ſociety was probably the chief cauſe of the domeſtic tranquility which they enjoyed. Crimes, to uſe at once a paradox and a metaphor, are the parents of civil regulations; and neceſſity, which is ſaid to have no law, is the ſource of all law.

Their Juſtice.

[250]

Man by nature juſt. Man is by nature juſt. The love of pleaſure, and the conveniences of civil life, warp his ſoul in advanced ſociety from the principles of rectitude and impartiality. The Celto-Scythians are repreſented by the ancients as the moſt juſt and equitable of men. The unbiaſſed feelings of a mind uncorrupted by ſelfiſh paſſions ſupply the place of civil regulation, and are even better than the coercive power of laws. The ſecurity derived from the innate integrity of men is more pleaſing than that which ariſes from their fears. The nation that boaſts of the multiplicity and ſalutarineſs of its regulations conveys ſatire in ſelf-applauſe; and, though the paradox is not in all caſes juſt, we may venture to affirm, that thoſe who have the beſt laws often need them the moſt.

[251] Simplicity and integrity of the Britons The open ſimplicity and integrity of the ancient Britons met with the approbation of thoſe who were moſt their foes; and they yielded not to the Celtae on the continent in their ideas and practice of juſtice between man and man. The ſtranger, the traveller, and the merchant, were ſecure in their perſons and property, not by the ſeverity of legal puniſhments, but from the natural propenſity of the people to juſtice. Theft and robbery within the territory of the community were reckoned unpardonable crimes; bebeyond the limits of the ſtate they took the name of depredatory war, and were covered with honour and renown*.

confined to their domeſtic conduct. In commending the juſtice and integrity of our anceſtors we muſt confine our applauſe to their conduct at home. To take every advantage of an enemy was one of their invariable maxims; and to carry devaſtation and death into the territory of their neighbours upon every ſlight occaſion was, inſtead of being thought diſhonourable, attended with fame. Though they did not, like the American Indians, excuſe their cruelties by an averſion to war, for, on the contrary, it was the amuſement and buſineſs of their lives, they frequently [252] committed barbarities which can admit of little apology. To alleviate the weight of this reflection it ought to be obſerved, that the oppreſſions of the Romans, in the firſt period of their government in Britain, were ſufficient to raiſe a ſpirit of implacable revenge in minds leſs iraſcible and haughty than thoſe of the ancient Britiſh nations. Neither were the Celtae, in any one of their branches, very tenacious of the faith of treaties; their fickle diſpoſition, and ardent love of liberty, rendered them careleſs in their obſervation of conditions impoſed upon them in their misfortunes.

Faithful in the ſervice of foreigners. Notwithſtanding this defect in their public faith, they boaſted frequently, and with juſtice, of the inviolable ſincerity of their profeſſions§. Their fidelity and attachment to the foreign princes whom they ſerved in war were without bounds, and beyond example. It muſt however be confeſſed, that gratitude for favours received had a greater influence upon their conduct in this reſpect, than a regard for the virtues of the perſon whoſe arms they bore. A Nero, a Vitellius, a Caracalla, were equally loved, and ſerved with [253] as much attachment as an Antonine, by the Celtic Germans; and the Britons, when they obeyed the Romans, made no diſtinction between a lawful prince and an uſurper.—The ancient Britiſh nations were equitable, juſt, open, and ſincere, in private life; in their public tranſactions, like their Celtic neighbours on the continent, they were ſometimes treacherous and cruel. The pale of their own dominions comprehended almoſt all their good qualities; they carried no virtue, except valour, into the territory of their enemies.

Their appeal to the ſword. There was a ſpecies of theocracy among the Celtae, as well as among the old Jews. Though they had magiſtrates and courts of juſtice, there was an authority ſuperior to both, to which, in doubtful caſes, they appealed. When either the queſtion of right or matter of fact, was not perfectly clear, the parties decided the ſuit by the ſword*. Even witneſſes, when they did not agree in their teſtimonies, were often obliged to ſettle the difference in their evidence by ſingle combat. The deciſion of arms was reckoned [254] more unerring than that of the magiſtrate: The appeal was to providence, and the judgment was that of God. To ſuch a pitch of extravagance was this peculiar cuſtom carried, that the candidates for public offices in the community, when their merit appeared to be equal, truſted their reſpective pretenſions to the deciſion of the ſword. Eccleſiaſtical dignities have been acquired in the ſame barbarous way; and the chief Druid himſelf ſometimes owed his elevation more to his dexterity in ſingle combat with his rivals, than to the ſuperior ſanctity of his own character.

LANGUAGE OF THE ANCIENT BRITISH NATIONS.

[255]

General Obſervations.

Nations tenacious of original tongues. NATIONS are not ſo tenacious of their cuſtoms and manners as they are of their aboriginal tongues. The firſt may gradually vaniſh in the growing improvements of civil life; the latter can only be buried in the ſame grave with the people themſelves. Conqueſt may confine the bounds of a language; commerce may corrupt it; new inventions, by introducing new words, may throw the old into diſuſe; a change in the mode of thinking may alter the idiom: but the extirpation of thoſe who ſpeak any orinal tongue is the only means, by which it can be entirely deſtroyed, even where letters have been altogether unknown. It retires from ſucceſsful invaſion [256] into rocks and deſarts; it ſubſiſts with the remains of a people; even mountains and rivers in part retain it when the people are no more.

The Latin not the mother of the language of France, &c. That the Romans eſtabliſhed their own language, in the regions of the Weſt and North which ſubmitted to their arms, is a poſition which the learned ſcarce ever doubted, and which the reſt of the world ſtill implicitly believe. The Latin has been conſidered as the fountain from which the Italian, French, and Spaniſh, derive their origin; and it muſt be confeſſed, that, in a confined degree, the opinion is extremely juſt. It is however certain, that this mark of their own greatneſs, which the Romans ſeem to have left in the conquered provinces, proceeded more from the reputation of their literature than from the power of their arms. The illuſtrious nation had too much ſenſe to endeavour to impoſe their own language upon the conquered; and, had they even departed from their uſual political prudence on that head, it is ſcarcely credible, that they could have ſucceeded in the attempt. All other conquering nations, to whom hiſtory extends its information, failed in their endeavours of the ſame kind. The victors have often adopted the tongue of the vanquiſhed; but the vaſſals have ſcarce ever been known to drop their own language for that of their lords.

[257] proved from collateral examples. The Arabs who conquered Perſia, the Perſians who ſubdued India, the Tartars who extended their empire over China, the Turks who reign in Greece and its Iſles, have not been able to eſtabliſh their own language in their conqueſts. The ſervants of the court, the attendants of the prince, the poſterity of the victors, in general, may retain the tongue of their original country; but the bulk of the people will alſo retain that which deſcended to them from their fathers. The Romans themſelves could never extend the Latin to the Provinces of the Eaſt; on the contrary, the language of their Greek vaſſals prevailed, at laſt, over their own. The obſtinate deſpotiſm of William the Conqueror, and the perſeverance of thoſe Norman and French princes who ſucceeded him in the throne of England, could not force the language of France on the Engliſh nation; and the Lombards and Franks loſt their own Sarmatic dialect in the tongues of Italy and Gaul. The cauſe is as obvious as the fact is true. The number of the conquerors bore no proportion to the vanquiſhed; and, in the article of language, the majority always prevails.

Cauſe of the connection of the French, &c. with the Latin. The connection between the Latin and the languages of Spain, France, and modern Italy, muſt be traced to another ſource than the government of Rome. [258] The nations who inhabited thoſe extenſive regions originally, and whoſe poſterity ſtill, in a great degree, poſſeſs them, were, in fact, the ſame people with the Romans. Thoſe Gaël, who in Italy went under the name of Umbri, were partly the anceſtors of the Banditti who ſettled with Romulus on the banks of the Tiber. The Romans, in their own averſion to commerce, vindicate, in part, their Celtic origin againſt their pretended deſcent from the Greeks of Magna Graecia, who were in ſome meaſure a commercial people. Some of their own writers join iſſue with us in this opinion. Their language, though tinctured with Helleniſms, is radically different from the Greek; and we ſhall, in a ſubſequent ſection, have occaſion to ſhew, that the primitives of the Latin tongue differ not materially from the language of a branch of the Celtae, to whom neither the literature nor the government of Rome ever extended themſelves.

The Celtic once the univerſal language in Europe. A ſimilarity in the language of different nations is, of itſelf, ſufficient to eſtabliſh the certainty of their common origin, Were all the hiſtorical monuments of the Engliſh and Germans, by ſome accident, loſt, the identity of the radical words common to the language of both, would convince mankind that one of thoſe nations muſt have originally migrated from [259] the other. When the Romans threw the firſt light on the immenſe track of country which they diſtinguiſhed by the name of Celtica, the ſame language as well as the ſame manners prevailed over the whole. The Aeſtiones, who inhabited Pruſſia and the banks of the Viſtula, ſpoke nearly the ſame dialect with the ancient Britiſh nations*; and the Baſtarnae and Scordiſci who lived on the Danube, differed not much in their language from the Aeſtiones. The Britons, in the days of Tacitus, ſpoke a dialect of the Celtic little different from that of Gaul; the Gothini of Sileſia retained the marks of their Gallic origin in their tongue§. The inhabitants of Spain, if we except the Iberians, were Gauls or Celtae, and muſt of courſe have ſpoken a dialect of the language of Gaul; and the Gallo-Graeci of the leſſer Aſia, being in ſome meaſure the deſcendants of the Baſtarnae and Scordiſci, muſt have retained a part, at leaſt, of the tongue of their anceſtors**. From [260] the pillars of Hercules to the mouth of the Danube, from the Helleſpont almoſt to the Baltic, one language though in a great variety of dialects, prevailed; and, from that circumſtance, ſhould no other proof be produced, we may conclude, that all the nations who poſſeſſed that immenſe extent of country ſprung originally from one and the ſame ſource.

The Latin deſcended from it in part. It is more natural to ſuppoſe that the Latin owes, in part, its origin to one of the dialects of the great and general tongue which pervaded ancient Europe, than that it was formed by a few vagabonds who aſſembled together, for ſelfdefence, on the ſhores of the Tiber. Some viſionary pedants have been known to attempt the creation of a new language; illiterate men have always contented themſelves with that which has been tranſmitted to them by their anceſtors. In the progreſs of ſociety, in the growth of inventions, a language is poliſhed in its phraſes, and enriched in the number of its words; but its firſt rude elements remain in its primitives, and ſerve to point out the fountain from which it originally flowed.

The Language of Ancient Britain.

[261]

General reflections. Time, which effectuates a change in every thing, has a peculiar influence on language. In the leſs poliſhed periods of ſociety it grows gradually with advancing civilization; and, like thoſe who ſpeak it, it becomes corrupted through improvement. When literature and philoſophy arrive at their height, for even theſe, like all human inventions, have their bounds, men of genius, as it were, arreſt language in its progreſs, and ſecure, by their writings, its permanency to future ages. They put their ſeals upon it, and ſend it down to poſterity in a kind of independence on accident. Before the eſtabliſhment of literature, or where it is imperfectly known, language, having no ſtandard by which it can be fixed, fluctuates with the changing manners of the ſociety; and the longer it runs down through time, it departs the further from its primitive ſimplicity.

Cauſe of diverſity of dialects. To this circumſtance, and not to a difference of origin, we muſt aſcribe that diverſity of dialects which Julius Caeſar found in Gaul. The Aquitani* were [262] not underſtood by the Belgae, nor could the Celt, at the foot of the Alps, hold any converſation with the Gaul at the mouths of the Rhine; yet no writer has ever affirmed that all Gaul was not poſſeſſed by one and the ſame people, though divided into ſeparate ſtates. The truth is, the identity of languages does not conſiſt in their being mutually underſtood by the nations who ſpeak them, but in the ſimilarity diſcernible between the names of things which are common to all countries, and to every ſtage of ſociety. The Doric of Syracuſe was not intelligible at Miletus; the Dutch can hold no diſcourſe with the Sileſians; yet the Sicilian and Ionian were Greeks; and one and the ſame nation poſſeſs the upper and lower Germany.

Three in Britain at the arrival of the Romans. We have, in a preceding ſection, obſerved that Gaul and the lower Germany had ſent colonies into Britain, at three different periods, before the arival of the Romans in the Iſland. The poſterity of theſe muſt have differed conſiderably from one another in point of language. The Gaël, who ſtill exiſt in North-Britain and Ireland, paſſed from the continent before [263] the arts of civil life had made any great progreſs in Gaul; and, in ſome meaſure, retain the unimproved language of their anceſtors. The ſecond colony were the poſterity of thoſe Gauls, who, being anciently ſettled beyond the Rhine, returned into the regions of the South, under the name of Cimbri. The Cumri of Wales are their deſcendants; and they preſerve in their tongue, a tincture of the Sarmatic of the Eaſt and North. The Britiſh Belgae ſpoke that dialect of the language of Gaul which ſtill ſubſiſts among their poſterity in lower Britanny. The three dialects which we have juſt mentioned, have been thought by many learned writers to be the only genuine remains of the ancient Celtic; and others have added to theſe the language of the mountaineers of Aſturias and Gallicia. Some have even gone ſo far as to affirm that theſe four languages are reciprocally underſtood by the Scots, Iriſh, and Welſh, the inhabitants of Britany, and the Spaniards who border on the Bay of Biſcay.

Obſervations on the Biſcayan, Armorican, Welſh, &c. The opinion is not juſt: The Biſcayan has not even the moſt diſtant connection with the Celtic; the other languages derive, it is certain, their origin from one ſource: they agree in many radical words, but their idioms are different. The Welſhman is as ignorant of the Gaëlic as the Spaniard of Arragon is of the dialect [264] of Dauphiny; and the Scot knows no more of the language of Britany, than the inhabitant of Palermo does of the tongue of Portugal.—In vain have the learned had recourſe to the rude dialects of the Celtic, which remain in Britanny and Wales, to form upon them ſome idea of that language. What they ſought after with ſo much eagerneſs abroad, was every day in their hands at home. The language of the Romans ſprung originally in part from the Celtic ſtock; and the French, Italians, and Spaniards ſpeak, in ſome meaſure, to this day, the tongue of their Celtic anceſtors. To render the firſt part of the poſition probable, is to prove the latter beyond the power of reply.

The Latin and Gaëlic compared.

Origin of the Romans. The Gallic Umbri*, and their poſterity, the Tuſcans and Sabins, were in poſſeſſion of a great part of the lower Italy before the foundation of Rome was [265] laid. Theſe were the ſame with the Aborigines, whoſe peculiar and rude manner of life bore teſtimony of their Celtic origin. When the Greeks, from their poſſeſſion of the arts which they had received from Phoenicia and Egypt, began to multiply their numbers in Peloponneſus and the Iſlands of the Archipelago, they ſent abroad colonies who ſettled on the ſhore of the lower Italy, and carried on ſome commerce in its ports. Out of the vagabonds of theſe two very different ſets of men Romulus collected the founders of Rome. The mixed manners, and the mixed language of the Romans, prove their double origin, and furniſh a kind of demonſtration that the illuſtrious nation derived their blood from the Celtae, as well as from the Greeks of Magna Graecia*.

They derived in part their language from the Celtae. The Latin derives many of its roots and primitive words from the Greek; it alſo draws ſome from the ancient Celtic. The Scots of Caledonia were never ſubdued by the Romans; and they had little connection with that illuſtrious people. The Roman language cannot be ſuppoſed [266] to have penetrated where neither the literature nor the arms of Rome ever entered; yet there is a wonderful ſimilarity, if not a perfect identity, between many primitives in the Gaëlic, and others that correſpond with them exactly in the Latin tongue. This circuſtance ſeems to demonſtrate, that the Gallic Umbri of Italy, who were partly the anceſtors of the Romans, and the Gaël of Caledonia, who were the ſole anceſtors of the ancient Scots, ſwarmed originally from the ſame hive.

Latin compared with the Gaëlic or Caledonian tongue. To prove the poſition by example a ſhort catalogue of correſponding words is ſubjoined in alphabetical order:

LatinGaelic 
AërAërAir
Aes ErisEris*Braſs
AetasEtte*An Age
AgnusUanA Lamb
AltusAltHigh
AmnisAmhonA River
AncillaBancillaA Servant Maid
[267]AnguillaA GhellacAn Eel
AnimaAnimThe Soul
AquaOichaWater
AquilaAcuilEagle
ArcaArcA Cheſt
ArgentumArgedSilver
ArmaArmArms
AroArTo plough
AurumOrGold
BetulaBëthA Birch Tree
BosBoA Cow
BulgaBolgA Budget
BufoBuafA Toad
CaballusCabulA Sorry Horſe
CaecusCaochaBlind
CanisCanaA Whelp or Puppy
CantorCainterA Singer
CandelaCaindelCandle
CannabisCannabHemp
CarusCaraDear
CaritasCaritasFriendſhip
CaſeusCaiſeCheeſe
CapraCabharA Goat
CathedraCathoirA Chair
CatusCattaCat
CellaCeallaA Cell
CentumCedAn Hundred
CeraCerWax
[268]CingulumCingul*A Belt
ChordaCordaA String
CicurCiocairTame
CirculusCirculA Circle
ColumbaColumA Dove
CortexCortBark
CretaCreadhChalk
CruorCruBlood
CulexCulacA Fly
CulterCultairCoulter of a Plough
CuneusCeunaA Wedge
CurrusCarruA Chariot
CuraCuramCare
DecemDecTen
DexterDeasRight
DiesDiDay
DeusDiaGod
DomusDomA Houſe
DuoDoTwo
DurusDurHard
EquusEachA Horſe
FagusFaigaA Beech Tree
FebrisFeabras§A Fever
[269]FloccusFloccasA Lock of Wool
FraterVratherBrother
FulmenFolmheinA Thunder Bolt
FundusFonGround
GallusCaollachA Cock
GladiusClaidheaA Sword
HoraUrhHour
HaſtaAſtasA Spear
HordeumOrdnaBarley
LacusLochLake
LatroLadran*Robber
LigoLeigeA Mattock
LinumLinLint
LoricaLurichA Coat of Mail
LunaLuanThe Moon
MalaMeilThe Jaw Bone
ManusMainThe Hand
MareMoirSea
MaterMatherMother
MatutinusMattin§Early
MilleMileA Thouſand
MonsMonnaA Mountain
[270]NoxNoichNight
NovemNoifNine
OceanusOiceanOcean
OlorEolaSwan
OctoOchtoEight
OvumOuffEgg
QuaterCeatherFour
QuinqueCuincFive
RexRiKing
SericumSericSilk
SexSeSix
SeptemSechtSeven
SolSolusLight or the Sun
SonusSuainA Sound
TellusTallu or TellurEarth
TaurusTaruA Bull
TerraTirEarth
TresTriThree
TuTuThou
TumulusTumA Hillock
TurbaTurbaA Multitude
UndecimHunc-decEleven
[271]VigintiFighintTwenty
UnusHunOne

A remark. This catalogue might be extended to a much greater length, but nothing can be more tedious and unentertaining than a dry liſt of words. To remove every ground of ſuppoſition that the Scots of either of the Britiſh Iſles borrowed any part of their language from the Latin it is neceſſary to obſerve, that almoſt every one word in the Gaëlic column is either a compound or derivative from ſome well known primitive in that language. The Gaëlic primitives are all monoſyllables. Wherever a word of more ſyllables than one preſents itſelf it is a compound; and all the adjectives are formed, by the addition of ſome termination or other, to a ſubſtantive noun.

Reflections To draw, in this place, a parallel between the Gaëlic, the Welch, and the language of Britanny, would not even have novelty to recommend it. The ingenious Mr. Lhud's comparative vocabulary is already in the hands of the curious; and to ſuch as are not fond of philological diſquiſition it is ſufficient to obſerve, that the three languages, though not reciprocally underſtood by the Scots, Welch, and the inhabitants of Britanny, are evidently deſcended from that tongue which [272] the nations of Gaul carried in their migrations to every quarter of Europe. It is even demonſtrable, were not the ſubject foreign to this Introduction, that the Italian, Spaniſh, and eſpecially the modern French, owe their origin, to ſpeak in a confined ſenſe, more to the ancient Celtic than to the Latin, which was itſelf, in part, a dialect of that language.

AN INQUIRY INTO THE Origin of the Anglo-Saxons.

[273]

Preliminary Obſervations.

Obſcurity of the remote antiquities of the Saxons. THE remote antiquities of the Saxons lie buried in the darkneſs which involved, in ancient times, the inhabitants of the northern Europe. Without the means of tranſmitting any account of themſelves to poſterity; at a diſtance from thoſe nations who poſſeſſed the uſe of letters, their tranſactions were either loſt in obſcurity or disfigured with fable. In their progreſs towards the South, they gradually roſe, as it were, from night; the light of hiſtory broke in upon them; and we ſee them, for the firſt time, in that rude form which a fierce combination of Barbarians wear in migration and depredatory war. After the ſoil and climate of Britain had attached them to fixed abodes, their natural ferocity was [274] mellowed down by degrees; the arts of civil life began to appear; and they were among the firſt of the European nations who committed their hiſtory to writing, and even whoſe tranſactions were worthy of being recorded.

Apology and deſign The character, private life, and government of the Anglo-Saxons, after their ſettlement in this iſland, furniſh an ample field for diſquiſition; the monuments which remain of their hiſtory on the continent are few in number; and the ſubject itſelf is, in ſome meaſure, barren, from its high antiquity. But as nothing that concerns a people who have made ſo great and ſplendid a figure can be unintereſting, either to themſelves or the world, the Author of the Introduction hopes to ſcreen his own want of abilities behind the importance of his ſubject. He even preſumes to think that he has thrown ſome additional light on thoſe antiquities which he has endeavoured to repreſent in their leaſt forbidding form. Should his confining himſelf to the hiſtory and manners of the Saxons in their rudeſt ſtate be the chief objection to his work, he may perhaps remove it by deſcending hereafter into a more fruitful period: ſhould the objection, on the other hand, ariſe from any defect in himſelf, he will derive ſome happineſs from the [275] thoughts of having ſpent but little time, in a province where he failed to pleaſe.

of the Author, To inveſtigate the origin of the Anglo-Saxons, to purſue their progreſs from Scandinavia with preciſion, it may not be improper to throw together ſome reflections on the fall of the Romans; the decline of whoſe power opened the regions of the Weſt to the migrations of the Barbarians of the northern Europe.

Reflections on the Fall of the Romans.

Cauſe of the ſtability of the Roman empire, The Romans differed not more from other nations in the riſe and progreſs, than in the extent and permanence of their power. The fall of the republic, by melting down into one maſs all diſtinctions of party, gave ſtability and weight to the ſtate, when it deſtroyed the importance of the members of which it was compoſed. Feeble and corrupted in the center, the empire threw all its vigour and ſtrength into its frontier, and became formidable abroad in the midſt of domeſtic decay. The diſputes about the purple, though frequent and bloody, were but partial ſhocks; they agitated and diſturbed, but did neither break nor ruin the great fabric of the ſtate. The ſtorms were violent, but they did not laſt long; [276] and things were ſoon reſtored to their original balance by the tranquility of abſolute government.

In what different from other monarchies. The deſpotic empires of Aſia raiſed by the abilities of one prince fall through the weakneſs of another: the fate of the ſtate is involved with the life of the monarch, and when he dies in battle, or by the hands of the aſſaſſin, the great body, of which he was the head, ſubmits to a foreign conqueror, or ſeparates into petty principalities under domeſtic tyrants. The imperial authority at Rome ſtood upon a more ſolid foundation. When the Julian family reduced the Roman republic into an empire for themſelves, they did not change in appearance the ancient form of government. Though a new power ſtarted up in the ſtate, all the old offices remained. Deſpotiſm had the decency to cover oppreſſion with a maſk, and to execute its moſt rigorous plans through channels neither unknown nor formidable in the days of freedom. The power of the firſt Caeſars conſiſted in influence; and an overawed and venal ſenate were the obvious inſtruments of their tyranny.

Why the permanency of the empire The interference of the imperial authority was confined to matters of ſtate. The detail of inferior government, the courſe of juſtice between individuals remained in the poſſeſſion of ancient forms. The oppreſſions of the worſt of the Caeſars [277] ſcarce ever extended beyond the walls of Rome; and the provinces which had languiſhed under the exactions of republican praefects flouriſhed under the lieutenants of a Caligula and a Nero. Though, veſted with the ſacredneſs of his tri [...]unitian authority, no laws could bind the emperor, the empire itſelf was governed, in fact, by a regular ſyſtem of laws; and therefore, when the tyrant fell, the ſtate was not involved in his ruin.

did not depend on the fate of the prince. There was one other cauſe which prevented the permanence of the Empire from depending on the fate of the prince. The hereditary ſucceſſion, which the Julian family endeavoured to eſtabliſh, expired with Nero; and the ſuffrage of the army, confirmed by the approbation of a timid and complying ſenate, became the only neceſſary title to the throne. Men raiſed by accidental influence to the imperial dignity, though they inforced obedience, could command neither reſpect nor attachment from a people among whom they themſelves had been ſo lately numbered as private perſons. The multitude, who are, in every age and nation, the great ſupporters of hereditary monarchy, found no reſting-place for their loyalty in the fluctuations of imperial ſucceſſion; and they acquieſced, without reluctance, in the government of any ambitious leader, who had paved his way [278] to the purple by private treachery or by open force.

The extenſion of the freedom of the city the firſt cauſe of decline. One of the beſt of thoſe, who held the reins of government at Rome, haſtened the diſſolution of the empire more than the very worſt of his predeceſſors. The firſt Antonine, by extending the freedom of the city to* all the provinces, broke down the fence of diſtinction which, even in the midſt of degeneracy, protected ſome ſmall remains of the old Roman ſpirit. When the excluſive privilege of citizens was no longer confined to Italy, the awe which the conquered nations had for the original ſeat of greatneſs gradually decayed. When, to be born within the walls of Rome no longer conferred any peculiar immunities, that myſterious tie, which bound the attachment of the citizen himſelf to the reſidence of his anceſtors, was broken; and the veneration once annexed to the Roman name became naturally feeble, when the name itſelf was diffuſed over half the world.

The abſence of all ſpirit in the provinces. But this cauſe of diſſolution was neither obvious in its commencement nor rapid in its progreſs. The total abſence of all [279] ſpirit in the provinces balanced, for ſome time, its decline in Italy. The debility which tyranny and luxury carried from Rome through all its dominions, even contributed, though the opinion is ſingular, to the permanency and ſtability of the empire. The conquered nations, by being deprived of their arms, applied themſelves to thoſe enervating arts, which, by adminiſtering to luxury, deprave when they poliſh the human mind. Timid and habituated to ſubmiſſion, they fell in love with the tranquillity of deſpotiſm; and in a kind of determination to continue ſlaves, they became indifferent about the title and virtues of their tyrant. The news of his acceſſion was enough to eſtabliſh the authority of any prince in the moſt diſtant regions of the empire; and many provinces were ſo diſpirited and paſſive, that a military force was found altogether unneceſſary to ſecure their obedience. No attempt at independence could be made by ſuch an inactive body. Men were either ignorant of the natural rights of their ſpecies, or meanly reſigned them for the abject ſecurity of ſervitude.

The general debility ſpreading to the army. The infectious debility which had ſeized the other ſubjects of Rome, did not, for ſome centuries after the extinction of liberty, overwhelm its armies. Born in the more diſtant parts of the empire, and ſtationed on its frontier, the ſoldier [280] was a ſtranger to thoſe enervating vices which extinguiſh the martial ſpirit. When the legions followed an ambitious leader to Rome, a diſmiſſion from ſervice was the common reward of their fidelity; and if they were depraved by licence, they were ſoon diſſipated and loſt in the general imbecillity of the body of the people. They were ſucceeded in the preſidial provinces by new levies of hardy and uncorrupted barbarians, who preſerved an appearance of vigour in the extremities of the empire, after the center had exhibited every ſymptom of political decay.

The removal of the ſeat of government. The impolitic vanity of Conſtantine, in removing the ſeat of empire to a new capital, gave a mortal blow to the Roman ſtate. The ſenate, whoſe conſequence and authority had declined with their virtue, were, in ſome meaſure, annihilated by being tranſplanted to another place. The name, even the very walls of Rome, contained ſomething within them which commanded obedience from the provinces. The opinion which ſupports all government was deſtroyed, by turning the attention of the people to a quarter to which they were not accuſtomed to look. They were habituated to obey implicitly the mandates of Roman emperors and Roman ſenates; but to Bizantine princes and aſſemblies they [281] paid only that cold and unwilling obedience which force extorts from ſlaves. To complete at once the ruin of that mighty fabric which the policy and virtue of ancient Rome had raiſed, Conſtantine, by creating new offices and by changing the names of many of the old, altered the conſtitution of the Roman government This prince, in ſhort, who covered with ſplendid exploits, in public life, the meanneſs and even wickedneſs of his private character, was more fatal to the permanancy of the Roman power, eſpecially in the Weſt, than the moſt wretched and impolitic of his predeceſſors in the imperial dignity.

gives a mortal blow to the empire. Julian, though endued with all the ſpirit, abilities, and even virtues of the old Romans, came too late into the world to ſtop the rapid progreſs of the ſtate to its decline. His untimely death extinguiſhed the laſt hopes of Rome. The vigour and prudence with which he conducted his meaſures in his early youth ſerve only to ſhew what he might have been in his riper years. Had he lived, there was a chance for the future permanency of the empire, a certainty of its temporary greatneſs. He fell, and the whole fabric of Roman power nodded to its fall when he died. The circumſcribed abilities of ſome of his ſucceſſors ſupported, for a few years, a part of the venerable ruin; but [282] with every rude blaſt that ruſhed from the North and Eaſt ſome ſhattered fragment fell. Province was cut off after province, till the mutilated body at laſt expired, when Rome itſelf was taken and ſacked by the Goths.

General Reflections on the Sarmatae.

Of the Barbarians who were the ſecondary cauſe of the fall of Rome. The bad policy of Conſtantine and the imbecillity which gradually aroſe from advanced civility and ſlavery, though they were the great, were not the only, cauſe of the ruin of Rome. The Barbarians of the North and Eaſt, who have even pervaded the regions of Aſia itſelf with their migrations, gave the finiſhing blow to a ſtate already tottering to its fall. Wandering like beaſts of prey on the ſkirts of their own deſerts, they ſaw the luxuries which prevailed within the Roman pale, and they made many attempts to break into the fold. Whilſt vigour and diſcipline remained among the legions on the frontiers, they repelled with eaſe the irregular incurſions of the naked Tartars of the North and Eaſt. But after the general effeminacy had extended itſelf to the army, enemies who, in the better days of Rome, were deſpiſed, became formidable and victorious. The fence being once broken down, the deluge ſoon [283] ſpread over the provinces of the Weſt; and that great fabric which was the work of many centuries, fell in leſs than the ſpace of one.

The obſcurity in which they were involved. It were in vain to attempt to penetrate the darkneſs which involved, at home, the Sarmatae, who ſucceeded the Romans in the regions of the Weſt. Deſtitute of means of conveying their own annals to poſterity, the firſt feeble light of hiſtory was thrown upon them when they ſhewed themſelves, in a hoſtile manner, on the frontiers of the empire. The writers who have ſent down the earlieſt account of their invaſions, aſtoniſhed at their appearance, and alarmed at their cruelties, ſeem to have been more anxious to deſcribe what they then were, than what they had formerly been. They puſhed not their inquiry into the origin of Barbarians whoſe ravages conveyed the firſt news of their name; and they were little ſolicitous about examining into the previous hiſtory of a rude race of men, whoſe incurſions into the Roman territories were perhaps their firſt public tranſaction. To ſupply, in ſome meaſure, this defect in the latter writers of Rome, we muſt return to antiquity, and recapitulate ſome part of what has been already advanced concerning the ſtate of Ancient Europe.

Europe poſſeſſed originally by the Celtae and Sarmatae: When the Greeks and Romans had extended their inquiries beyond the Danube and the Alps, they found, in the vaſt [284] track of country which they diſtinguiſhed by the name of Scythia, two nations different from one another in manners, cuſtoms, and language. To the inhabitants of the regions of the Eaſt and North-Eaſt of the Danube they gave the name of Sarmatae; the Celtae extended themſelves to the Weſt and the ocean. The character of the Sarmatae, and their manner of life, was as oppoſite to thoſe of the Celtae as the barbariſm common to both could permit.

the contraſt between their characters. The Sarmatae, like the Celtae, made war the buſineſs of their lives; but their troops conſiſted altogether of cavalry. They were ſo much addicted to riding* that they, in ſome meaſure, loſt the uſe of their limbs. They held their aſſemblies, tranſacted their affairs, they eat, they even ſlept on horſeback The fleſh of their favourite animal, the horſe, was numbered among their greateſt delicacies; his blood mixed with milk was their moſt delicious beverage§. [285] Before their migration to the South they wore the loſe ſtole of the Eaſt, which deſcended down to their heels; their arms conſiſted chiefly of the bow and the arrow. They were given to polygamy**. Their wives accompanied them to battle as well as to war*; and their daughters, a ſingular mark of the ferocity of their manners, were debarred from marriage until they had ſlain an enemy in the field. The character of the Celtae was, in ſome reſpects, in the other extreme. Though they were not unacquainted with the uſe of cavalry, their chief ſtrength conſiſted in foot. They drew their ſubſiſtence from their flocks and herds, from the chace, and the produce of their lands. Their dreſs was faſhioned to the ſhape of their bodies and limbs; and, in place of the bow [286] and arrow, they carried the buckler and ſpear to war. Polygamy was unknown among them; and though their wives and daughters accompanied them in their expeditions, women never engaged in battle but in the worſt extreme of fortune.

Boundaries of their reſpective dominions. The European branch of the Sarmatae, whoſe manners and character betray their Tartar origin, extended themſelves over Poland§, the weſtern Ruſſia, and the regions between the Baltic and the extremities of the North. The Celtae poſſeſſed the weſtern Europe, Spain, Gaul, Italy, the Britiſh Iſles, and a great part of Germany. Theſe two great nations meeting one another on their frontiers, formed a third race of men, whoſe character, manners, and language, bore the ſtrongeſt mark of their mixed origin. Such were the Peucini, the Venedi, and Fenni, of Tacitus, who, though claſſed among the old Germans, were tinctured with the looſe manners and characteriſtical dirt and lazineſs of the Sarmatae.

[287] Progreſs of theSarmatae to the South. In the period of time between the days of Tacitus and the reign of Marcus Aurelius, the mixed breed of the Celto-Sarmatic Germans of the North became ſo numerous on the ſhores of the Baltic, that, under the name of Vandals and Marcomanni they advanced into Pannonia, croſſed the Danube, and ravaged the Roman territories§. The emperor oppoſed them in perſon, and after, in his ſecond expedition, he died at Sirmium, the Barbarians were driven back by the valour and conduct of Pertinax, who commanded in Dacia and the two Maeſias. Recruited by new migrations from the Sarmatae beyond the Viſtula and the Baltic, they attempted to break into the Roman dominions in the reign of Commodus, but with not ſucceſs: Maximin and Diocleſian obtained ſignal victories over them*; and, in ſhort, as long as the empire retained any vigour on its frontier, the legions found means to repel the depredatory armies of the northern Sarmatae.

[288] The anceſtors of the Barbarians who overturned the empire. The enemies with whom the Romans contended in the decline of their empire were far from being the ſame race of men who oppoſed them when they firſt penetrated with their arms beyond the Alps. The whole dominions of the Celtae, excepting a part of Germany, the northern Britain, and Ireland, fell under the power of Rome during its political vigour. The Sarmatae of Scandinavia, with that fondneſs for migration which they exhibited in all ages, advanced gradually into Germany, and, being ſtopt in their progreſs by the legions ſtationed on the Rhine and Danube, ſettled between the Baltic, the ocean, and the two great rivers juſt mentioned, and roſe into various petty nations, whoſe manners bore evident marks of their mixed origin. The blood of the Sarmatae ſeems however to have moſt prevailed; for the language and character which the Barbarians who overturned the empire carried with them into the South of Europe were much more nearly allied to the Sarmatic Tartars of the Eaſt than to the Celtic nations who poſſeſſed the Weſt. The writers therefore who affirm, that the preſent language of Germany is the remains of the old Celtic, deceive themſelves and the public. The truth is, the modern Germans are almoſt as little concerned in thoſe barbarous tribes, whom Tacitus ſo [289] elegantly deſcribes, as the Turks of Peloponneſus are in the hiſtory and manners of the ancient Spartans.

Origin of the Anglo-Saxons.

Goths and Vandals. The Goths and Vandals, who made ſuch a great figure in Europe, originally poſſeſſed a part of that immenſe tract of country which lies between the Baltic and the northern ocean. In a period of remote antiquity they quitted their ancient ſeats in Scandinavia, and ſeized on the ſouthern ſhore of the Baltic from the mouth of the Viſtula to the Elb and the German ocean. The Vandals were the principals in this great migration, which muſt have happened a conſiderable time before their firſt appearance on the confines of the Roman dominions in the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Their ſituation in Germany was to the Weſt of the Goths; and they were ſubdivided into a variety of ſmall communities, each of which made [290] a diſtinguiſhed figure in the inundation of Barbarians which overwhelmed the weſtern empire after the death of the firſt Theodoſius.

Origin of the Angli. The Angli, from whom the majority of the Engliſh nation derive their blood, and the whole their name, were one of the ſmall ſtates which the Romans comprehended under the general name of Vandals. Tacitus has had the good fortune to have dignified his account of the Germans with the firſt mention of a nation who have ſince made ſuch an illuſtrious figure in the world§. They, however, promiſed but little of their future greatneſs in the days of the elegant writer. He paſſes ſlightly over them in a catalogue of obſcure tribes, who were remarkable for nothing but the peculiar worſhip they paid to Hertha, or the earth, well known to be the great goddeſs of the Scandinavian Sarmatae, who were the anceſtors of the Angli. They ſeem to have been in poſſeſſion of that part of the ſhore of the Baltic which extends from the Vekel to the Drave. The Elb bounded their territories to the South; the tribe of Vandals, diſtinguiſhed by the name of Varini, bordered with them on the Eaſt, and their friends and allies the Saxons lay between them and the German ocean.

[291] Of the Saxons. The Saxons derived their origin from the ſame ſource with the Angli. The perfect identity in point of cuſtoms, manners, and religion, which ſubſiſted between theſe two tribes, their unanimity in expedition and war, the facility with which they were loſt in one another in their Britiſh conqueſts, prove, beyond diſpute, that the names of Angli and Saxons were but two appellations for one and the ſame people. The weſtern Vandals are, for the firſt time, mentioned under the name of Saxons by Ptolemy*, who flouriſhed in the reign of Marcus Aurelius. The ſignification of their name is involved in that impenetrable darkneſs which covered their original country, the ancient Scandinavia; and the learned men who have attempted to inveſtigate its etymon have expoſed their own ignorance without having thrown any light on the ſubject.

Their progreſs to the South. When the Roman empire began to decline, the Saxons, like the reſt of the Sarmatic Germans, availed themſelves of its debility, and indulged their natural love of depredation by deſcents on the coaſts of the maritime provinces. The [292] ſituation of the Angli on the ſhore of the Baltic, that of the Saxons on the German ocean, and the knowledge of naval affairs which both derived from the Suiones, who were their anceſtors in Scandinavia, rendered them a troubleſome enemy to the empire a whole century before its fall. During that period they gradually poſſeſſed themſelves of the whole ſhore of the German ocean from the Elb to the Rhine; and after the Franks had forced their way into Gaul, the Saxons ſucceeded them in their ancient ſeats in Germany, and formed an ample dominion in that country, before they found means to eſtabliſh themſelves in a better ſoil and climate.

Their hiſtory on the continent little known The hiſtory of the Saxons before their arrival in Britain is comprehended in the tranſient notice taken of their piracies by the writers of Rome. Like the other nations whoſe expeditions proved fatal to the power of the Romans they advanced in a cloud of darkneſs into the regions of the South. Ignorant of letters, they had not the means of tranſmitting any account of themſelves to after ages, and thoſe who could record their actions were the [293] natural enemies of their fame. Neither is the loſs which their poſterity have ſuffered from this circumſtance either conſiderable or to be much regretted. The Barbarians of the northern Europe carried ſcarce any virtue, except valour, into the conquered provinces. Their object was to get ſettlements for themſelves, and not to procure ſubjects; and to obtain the former, they exerciſed every ſpecies of inhumanity againſt the latter. Time, however, has, in its progreſs, worn off their ferocity; and the nations of modern Europe have been rendered independent of the abſence of hiſtory among their anceſtors by their own proper fame.

RELIGION AND GOVERNMENT OF THE ANGLO-SAXONS.

[294]

Their Religion.

General obſervations. MEN not favoured with revelation give their own paſſions and prejudices to the divinities whom they adore. Brought up in battle, and habituated to blood, the northern nations made their Gods as fierce and untractable as themſelves. The character which they give of Odin differs, in no reſpect, from the pictures we have of thoſe bold and intrepid warriors who led them into the regions of the South. His hall was not better furniſhed than the rude manſion of a Saxon chief, nor was his table provided with any other fare than the fat of an inexhauſtible wild boar*, which, though regularly boiled every morning for dinner, remained at night entire. Ale, the favourite [295] beverage of the North, went round in the ſkulls of the enemies of his followers and friends; and arms, which were the delight of the Saxon in this life, continued to be his amuſement in another world. Battle was the daily paſtime, and ſlaughter itſelf the recreation, of the bleſſed. The deaths which were the conſequences of theſe conflicts, were, however, temporary; for the ſlain, upon the approach of the time of dinner, ſtarted up as if nothing had happened, rode* into the Valhalla, and ſat down to ſerious drinking.

Their mode of worſhip. The mode of worſhip among the Saxons was as ſimple as their ideas of the divinity were unrefined. A great log of unfaſhioned wood perpendicularly raiſed in the open air was the common repreſentative of Odin. This idol they diſtinguiſhed by the name of IRMINSUL, a word which, in their language, ſignified the univerſal pillar which ſuſtains the [296] world. There is a kind of philoſophy in this meaning which agreed but little with the general character of the ſanguinary God. The Sarmatae, who worſhipped him under the figure of a ſword, formed more ſuitable ideas of a Power who delighted in human blood.

Their three divinities, Some writers, who have unneceſſarily raked up the antiquities of the North for arguments in favour of our preſent religion, have hugged themſelves in the thoughts of having found a Trinity in the mythology of the old Scandinavians. Odin, Thor, and Frea* are ſaid to have been the only powers dignified with places of worſhip and ſtatues, though a number of inferior intelligences were reſpected and venerated. But Thor is only the title of Thunderer, annexed, by all nations, to the Supreme Divinity. Odin was worſhipped under that name as preſiding over the regions of the air, as the ruler of tempeſts, the director of thunder, the lord of the weather, and protector [297] and nouriſher of the fruits of the earth.

Frea, Odin's wife. The Saxons and their Scandinavian anceſtors having given human paſſions to Odin, accommodated him alſo with a wife. Contrary to the practice of the Celtae, they admitted a female divinity into the catalogue of their Gods; which furniſhes another argument of their Sarmatic origin. The Angli, in the days of Tacitus, worſhipped the Earth under the name of Hertha; and it was the ſame divinity who afterwards obtained the title of Frea, the ſpouſe of the great Odin. Men who deduce every ſyſtem of religion from rational principles, may reſt the origin of that of the Saxons on philoſophy. Odin was the irreſiſtible principle which gives motion to every thing that breathes; and Hertha, Frea, or the Earth, furniſhed that portion of matter which is animated into living creatures, by the active and pervading ſpirit, which is diſtinguiſhed under the name of God.

Worſhip of Frea, under the name of Hertha, or the Earth. Tacitus, with his uſual preciſion and elegance, deſcribes the veneration which the Angli and their neighbours on the Baltic paid to the ſpouſe of Odin. Her worſhip filled the minds of her devotees [298] with ſentiments very oppoſite to thoſe which the bloody altars of Odin inſpired. During the feaſt which was held in honour of Hertha, an univerſal joy ſpread over the country. Benevolence and hoſpitality prevailed in every quarter; war and diſcord ceaſed; and it was then only that peace and quiet were either known or loved. The univerſal parent of mankind did not, they thought, delight in the deſtruction of her race; and therefore every inſtrument of death was ſhut up during her ſuppoſed reſidence in the land. When ſhe retired to her ſacred grove, her warlike worſhippers, whoſe bent to humanity was only temporary, recoiled with violence into the favourite occupation of ſlaughter and war*.

Human ſacrifices. Though no apology can waſh away the ſtain which the blood of human victims has left on the hands of our anceſtors, there are circumſtances which may leſſen the horror which naturally ariſes in the mind againſt a practice ſo oppoſite to every idea of humanity. An uninterrupted acquaintance [299] with danger created, among the northern nations, a contempt for death, which, in the firm belief of an immediate entrance into a life of joy and feſtivity in Odin's hall, they looked upon as a bleſſing rather than a misfortune. A demiſe through violence, in battle, through ſuicide, or by the hands of the prieſt, procured an immediate admiſſion into the northern paradiſe. It was only the unfortunate perſons who died of diſeaſe or age that were precipitated into the dark dominions of Hela. Self-preſervation, that firſt principle of the human mind, ſeems to have vaniſhed before the ſtrength of this extraordinary prejudice. When danger roſe to its height it became a ſource of elevation and joy, as it brought within view a certainty of perpetual felicity in another world.

The Scandianvian and Celtic paradiſes compared. The paradiſe of the Sarmatae differed in many reſpects from that of Celtae. The Valhalla, or hall of Odin, was placed on the top of the high mountains of Sevo; the Celtic nations ſurrounded their Fortunate Iſland with tempeſt in the Atlantic ocean. Among the Sarmatae, only thoſe [300] who fell by the ſword were admitted to the table of Odin: Such as died of diſeaſe or age went to the regions of Hela under the earth. Men ſlain in battle were, among the Celtae, entitled to a more elevated degree of happineſs in their paradiſe; but the peaceable and unwarlike had alſo a beautiful Iſland of their own. Fighting, drinking, and the miniſtration of young virgins comprehended the joys of the Valhalla: the Celtic heroes wandered after a variety of rural pleaſures over the face of a beautiful and extenſive country. The heroes of the former were always in the preſence of Odin: There is no mention made of the Divinity in the Celtic Paradiſe*. The Sarmatae remained for ever in the Valhalla; the ſouls of the departed retaining, among the Celtae, a warm affection for their country and living friends, often returned to viſit them. The Sarmatae admitted a good and a bad principle in their mythology; they had their Hell as well as their Heaven: the Celtae placed nothing but endleſs felicity beyond the limits of the preſent life.

Their Government.

[301]

General obſervations. The want of information, which induced the writers of Rome to remove the northern limits of ancient Germany to the pole, was a ſource of error to the learned of modern times. The latter have extended the general character of the Celtic nations between the Rhine and the Elb, to the inhabitants of Scandinavia and the ſhores of the Baltic. In vain have the wild nations of the north advanced into the ſouthern Europe with poſitive proofs of their own Sarmatic origin; men of letters have choſen to make them Celtae; and Celtae, in ſpite of all evidence to the contrary, they muſt remain. To differ from the learned in this point is neither precipitate nor preſumptuous. The ancients give no countenance to their opinion, and the unmixed poſterity of thoſe nations, who overwhelmed the empire of the Weſt, argue againſt them with all the force of language, manners, and government. To the origin of the latter we ſhall, at preſent, confine our inquiries.

Monarchs abſolute among the Scandinavians; The Scandinavians, in the days of Tacitus, were ſubject to abſolute monarchy. [302] They were a commercial people*; eſtabliſhed property had attached them to fixed abodes. Wealth was honoured among them, and they acquieſced under the unlimited deſpotiſm of one. Secured by their ſituation from foreign enemies, their domeſtic ſpirit declined. They ſuffered themſelves to be diſarmed by their princes; and thus the tyranny of Aſia, in the abſence of its luxury, prevailed under the pole. The Sitones of Norway were even more abject than their brethren to the Eaſt of the mountains of Sevo. They not only degenerated from liberty but even from ſlavery itſelf: they ſubmitted to the government of women, and added diſgrace to ſervitude§. This attachment to hereditary ſucceſſion continued among the colonies which Scandinavia eſtabliſhed to the South of the Baltic. The Rugii, the Lemovii, all the Vandals from the Iſle of Rugen to the German ocean, as well as their brethren the Sarmatic Gothones [303] on the Viſtula, were diſtinguiſhed by their obedience to kings*.

very limited among the anceſtors of the Saxons, It is however certain, that the monarchs of the Scandinavian Sarmatae loſt their influence in the progreſſive migrations of their ſubjects towards the South. The Goths and Vandals, the undoubted anceſtors of the modern Engliſh, were remarkable for their attachment to civil liberty. Though the crown was hereditary in certain families, though their princes vaunted their deſcent from Odin the firſt of the Gods, their power, and even the poſſeſſion of their dignity, depended upon the general aſſembly of the people, whoſe reſolutions they were always obliged to carry into executions§. In expedition and war the king was reſpected; but deſtitute of the power of inflicting any puniſhment upon the diſobedient, his authority was nugatory**. With war the reverence for his perſon was at an end. Indignity was added to his want of conſequence and [304] power; the meaneſt of his ſubjects ſat with him at table, joined in his converſation, uſed him with contempt, and diſgraced him with ſcurrility*. The kings of the Goths, a nation deſcended from the ſame ſtock with the Saxons, enjoyed no honour and met with no reſpect. The rabble being, by the ſtrength of eſtabliſhed cuſtom, admitted to the entertainments of the prince, the unhappy man, inſtead of being treated with the reverence due to his rank, was often obliged to purchaſe with preſents a decency of behaviour from his barbarous gueſts.

who frequently dethroned and puniſhed with death their kings. This ſpecies of rude liberty degenerated ſometimes into licence in the extreme. Barbarians who uſed ſuch freedoms with their Prince, muſt naturally have a contempt for his character and authority. They ſometimes perſecuted him to death itſelf, for no other cauſe but that they were determined to ſubmit to the commands [305] of none. He was expelled from his throne upon every frivolous and unjuſt pretence.—Should they happen to be unſucceſsful in war, ſhould the fruits of the earth, through the inclemency of the ſeaſon, fail, the unhappy monarch was degraded from his dignity, and became the victim of diſappointment and injuſtice. He was anſwerable for the fate of battles in which he was not obeyed; and, though deſtitute of authority among men, he was puniſhed for not having the power of a God over the weather.

Their greater aſſembly: The northern Germans had two aſſemblies for the management of their foreign and domeſtic affairs. The greater aſſembly conſiſting of the body of the people for matters of ſtate*: the leſſer compoſed of the prince and his aſſeſſors for the adminiſtration of juſtice. Every man of perfect age††, and without any diſtinction of degree, had a voice at this general [306] convention. The multitude came compleatly armed*, and all had a right to deliver their ſentiments with the utmoſt freedom. Alliances were made, wars reſolved upon, treaties of peace concluded, in the great aſſembly; whoſe power extended alſo to capital puniſhments for offences againſt the ſtate.

The leſſer. The general aſſembly of the people elected annually one hundred out of their own number to attend the perſon of the prince, and to ſerve as his aſſeſſors when he ſat in judgment. Theſe gave weight to his deciſions, and inforced his decrees. They ſat at his table, accompanied him in his progreſs, they were his guard in peace, his protection in war. To ſupport the expence of entertaining theſe conſtant attendants of his preſence he received from the people a voluntary and free gift of cattle and corn§, and he alſo derived a kind of revenue from the fines impoſed upon petty offenders. The [307] prince and his aſſeſſors formed the leſſer aſſembly; and differences between individuals were heard and determined before them.

Their legal puniſhments. Traitors againſt the ſtate, and deſerters to an enemy, were tried among the old Germans before the general aſſembly of the people, and, upon conviction, hanged*. Cowards and men of infamous lives were drowned under hurls in ſtagnant and muddy pools. The laws of the ancient Saxons on the continent were particularly ſevere againſt incontinency and adultery. Should a virgin in her father's houſe, or a married woman in that of her huſband, be guilty of incontinence, ſhe was either ſtrangled by her relations in private, and her body burnt, or ſhe was delivered over to a ſpecies of public puniſhment the moſt ignominous and cruel. Cut ſhort of her clothing by the waiſt, ſhe was whipped from village to village by ancient matrons, who, at the ſame time, pricked her body with knives till ſhe expired under their hands. Virtue, [308] in this caſe, degenerated into unpardonable barbarity.—They animadverted upon petty offenders with ſlighter puniſhments. A fine in cattle, proportioned to the degree of the offence, was levied by authority of the king and his aſſeſſors upon the delinquent; even homicide itſelf was expiated by a certain [...]ulct payable to the prince and the relations of the perſon ſlain§. Such were the rude elements which time has improved into the preſent conſtitution of Engliſh government.

Concluding reflection. To enter into the character and manners of the Saxons, in this place, would pre-occupy a province which we have reſerved for another occaſion. Before their arrival in Britain we have only tranſient and interrupted glimpſes of their hiſtory through the obſcurity in which their progreſs towards the South was involved. Their chief virtue was a ferocious bravery; their ſole occupation was war. They certainly performed great actions, but they themſelves were unacquainted with the means of tranſmitting them to poſterity; and their fame being left in the hands of their enemies, came down through time mutilated and incomplete.

Appendix A INDEX.

[]
A
  • ADrian's Wall 41.
  • Adultery, its puniſhment 307.
  • Aeſtiones ſpoke the ſame language with the ancient Britiſh Nations, 259.
  • Agravarii, 151.
  • Agricola, Julius croſſes the Clyde, 9.
  • Aiſe, 169. The ſame with Aſes of Scandinavia, 176.
  • Albion, Etymon of 38.
  • Ammianus Marcellinus finds, for the firſt time, the Scots in Britain, 107.
  • Amuſements of the ancient Britiſh Nations, 203. Feaſts, ibid. Singing, 206. Dancing, 207. Duelling, ibid. Games of chance, 208.
  • Angli, their origin, 290. A tribe of the Vandals, ibid. Firſt mentioned by Tacitus, ibid. Their original ſeats on the Baltic, ibid. Worſhip Hertha, 297.
  • Anglo-Saxons, 273. Their origin, 289. Their religion, 294. Their government, 301.
  • Antoninus Pius's Wall, 41. Extends the freedom of Rome to the provinces, 266.
  • Arminius, 91.
  • Aquitani, 257.
  • Attacotti, 150.
  • Avari the ſame with Slavi, 16.
B
  • Bards, highly honoured among the ancient Britiſh Nations, 206. Subject of their ſongs, 213. . Form the moral character of the ancient Britons, 210. [] The reſpect paid to their order, ibid. Divided into three claſſes, 211. Recommended valour and virtue, 213. The favourite inſtructors of the ancient Britons, 214.
  • Baſtarnae, 259.
  • Bede, the firſt writer who affirms the Iriſh extract of the Scots, 108. His character, 125. Examined and confuted, 125, 126, &c.
  • Beer, the common beverage of the Celtae, 226.
  • Belgae, etymon of their name, 30. The third colony which tranſmigrated into Britain, ibid.
  • Beltein, ſuperſtitious ceremony of, 172.
  • Bethluſnion, 70.
  • Biſcayan Language, totally different from the Celtic, 86, 87, 88.
  • Bolandus, 66.
  • Braccae deſcribed 230.
  • Brigantes, etymon of their name, 50. A tribe in Ireland, 84.
  • Britain, firſt peopled, 24. Poſſeſſed by three nations, ibid. Etymon of its name, 38. Its navigation, 237. And commerce, 240.
  • Britiſh Nations ancient, 22. Their origin, ibid. Divided into three nations, 24. Their character, 197. Paſſionate, warlike, impetuous, plain, goodhearted, and upright, 198, 199. Fickle, precipitate, curious, hoſpitable, 200. Proud and haughty, 202. Their [] amuſements, 203. Their feaſts, ibid. Their enormous ſize, 216. Their women, 218. Their clothing, 228. Their houſehold furniture, 227. Their navigation, 237. Their houſes, 234. Their ſhipping, 238. Their manufactures and commodities, 240. Their commerce, 241. Their land carriage, ibid. Uſe chariots in journies as well as in war, ibid. Their government, 246. Fond of political freedom, 247. Their kings, ibid. Their general aſſemblies, 248. Their juſtice, 250. Their cruelty in war, 251. Faithful in foreign ſervice, 252.
  • Bulgarians, a branch of the Slavi, 16.
C
  • Cairbre-Riada, 130.
  • Caledonia, its etymon, 49. Its internal ſtate unknown, ibid. Its boundaries, 50. Its hiſtory, 98, &c.
  • Caledonians, the moſt ancient inhabitants of Britain, 41. Anceſtors of the Scots, 151. And of the Iriſh, 94, 155. Send an embaſſy to Severus, 104.
  • Cantabri. 85.
  • Cantabric war, 86.
  • Cantae, 49.
  • Carini, ibid.
  • Catti, 151.
  • Cauci, 84.
  • Celtae, their dominions, 6. Firſt mentioned in hiſtory, ibid. Their origin, 8. Etymon of their name, 9. The German [] Celtae, 10. Mixed with the Sarmatae, 11. Their firſt expedition to the South, 14. Diſſipated in the Roman dominions, 15. Their idea of God, 160. Their great ſize, 215. Ruddy in complexion, with yellow hair and blue eyes, 218. Neat in their dreſs, 232. Cleanly in their perſons, ib. Their character 284.
  • Chariots, uſed in journies by the ancient Britons, 241.
  • Chriſtian clergy imitate the Druids, 2.
  • Chance, games of, 208.
  • Character of the ancient Britiſh Nations, 197. Of the Sarmatae, 283. Of the Celtae, 284.
  • Cimbri, their origin, 10. Penetrate to the Ionian ſea, 11. Extend their conqueſt to Britain and Spain, ibid. Anceſtors of the Welſh, 27.
  • Claudian, his authority examined, 115.
  • Claudius Civilis croſſes the Rhine, 90.
  • Clothing of the ancient Britiſh nations, 228. Of the men, 229. Of the women, 230,
  • Columba, the apoſtle of the Picts, 148.
  • Concani, 84.
  • Conſtantine, by removing the ſeat of government, 280. gives a mortal blow to the empire, 281.
  • Conſtantius Chlorus, 106.
  • Crimes, the parents of civil regulations, 249.
  • Crimothan, a fictitious monarch of Ireland, 100.
  • [] Cruelty of the Celtae in war, 251.
  • Curraghs, a kind of miſerable ſkiffs, 109.
D
  • Dalmatia, 17.
  • Dalrietta, or the Route, 110.
  • Dalreudini, 126.
  • Damnii, 51.
  • Dancing, one of the amuſements of the Celtic nations, 207.
  • Dathy, a fictitious Iriſh prince, 106.
  • Deucaledones, 150.
  • Diocleſian, obtains ſignal victories over the Sarmatae, 287.
  • Diodorus Siculus, his character of the Iriſh, 63.
  • Divinations, 175.
  • Dobuni, etymon of their name, 36.
  • Donald O'Neil, a petty king of Ulſter, 140
  • Druids, their ſacred character, 184. They extend their inquiries to the Being and Attributes of God, ibid. Believe in the immortality of the ſoul, 185. Inculcate morality, 209. Contend for dignities with the ſword, 254.
  • Druſus depopulates Germany, 91.
  • Duelling, 207.
E
  • Eaſga, 168.
  • Edda, Iſlandic, 189.
  • Epidii, 49.
  • Erin, ancient name of Ireland, its etymon, 56.
  • Europe, poſſeſſed by two nations, 6. Origin of its preſent inhabitants, 18.
F
  • Feaſts of the ancient Britiſh nations, 203.
  • Fenni, 286.
  • Ferdan, 211.
  • Ferloi, ibid.
  • Feudal eſtabliſhments introduce hiſtorical inquiry, 3. Favourable to national ſpirit, ibid.
  • Fileas, Iriſh, 44.
  • Flath-Innis, 189.
  • Florus, his account of the Cantabric war, 86.
  • Fowl, tame, not eaten by the ancient Britons, 204.
  • Franks, 15.
  • Frea, the wife of Odin, 297. The ſame with Hertha, ibid.
G
  • Gael, their expeditions, 8. The firſt colony which tranſmigrated into Britain, 24. Forced northward by the Cimbri, 47. Anceſtors of the Iriſh, ib.
  • Gadeni, 51.
  • Galgacus, 101.
  • Gallaeci, 82.
  • Gallicia, 86.
  • Gaul, its boundaries, 9.
  • Gellach, 168.
  • Germanicus maſſacres the Marſi, 91.
  • Germans, ancient, their bravery, 90.
  • Gildas examined and confuted, 122.
  • God, original opinions concerning him, the moſt ſimple, noble, and juſt, 160. The Celtae looked upon him as the ſoul of the world, 164.
  • Gothini, 259.
  • [] Goths, their origin, 289.
  • Government, reflections on the origin of, 242. The popular form more ancient than monarchy, 243. Its nature, 245. Government of the ancient Britiſh nations, 246. Of the Anglo-Saxons, 301.
  • Grannius, its etymon, 167.
  • Greeks threw the firſt light on the northern nations 6.
H
  • Hall of Odin, 294.
  • Heber, 76.
  • Hell unknown to the Celtae, 187.
  • Helleſpont, one of the boundaries of the Celtae, 6.
  • Heremon, an ideal monarch of Ireland, 76.
  • Hertha worſhipped by the Angli, 297.
  • Heſus, its etymon, 162.
  • Hibernia, its etymon, 56.
  • Hiſtorians, Scottiſh, reprehended, 44.
  • Homicide puniſhed by fine, 308.
  • Horeſtii, 150.
  • Hoſpitality in the extreme, 205.
  • Houſehold furniture of the ancient Britons, 227.
  • Houſes of the ancient Britons deſcribed, 234. Stone and brick buildings not unknown, but little uſed, 235.
I
  • Iar-ghael, its etymon, 154.
  • Ierna, 116. Its etymon, 135.
  • Jews believed not in a future ſtate, 183.
  • Immortality of the ſoul, reflections on, 179.
  • Incontinence, its puniſhment, 307.
  • [] Integrity of the ancient Britons, 251.
  • Innes, 44. Cuts off forty ideal Scottiſh monarchs, ibid. Cenſure, ibid. His arguments againſt the knowledge of letters in ancient Ireland, 66, 67, 68. His opinion of the origin of the Scots, 81.
  • Jocelyn, an Iriſh writer, 132.
  • Ireland, called a Britiſh Iſland, 52.
  • Iriſh, their origin, 52. Of Britiſh extract, 53. Derive their blood from the Gaël, 54. Ignorant of the uſe of letters, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, &c. Their pretended civility, 61. Character of them by the ancients, 61, 62, 63. Their manners incompatible with the knowledge of letters, 65. Deciſive proof againſt their knowledge of letters, 72. Their hiſtorians reprehended, 74. Their antiquities peculiarly obſcure, 76. Their hiſtory unknown before the miſſion of St. Patrick, 77. Their Spaniſh extraction examined and confuted, 78, 79, &c. Their Scandinavian extraction confuted, 89. Deſcended from the Caledonian Britons, 92.
  • Irminſul, 295.—Iſidorus, 120.
  • Julian, the emperor, commended, 281.
  • Julius Solinus, his character of the old Iriſh, 64.
  • Juſtice of the ancient Britons, 250.
K
  • Kings, their office among the ancient Britons, 247. Abſolute among the Scandinavians, 301. And hereditary, [] 302. Their power very limited among the Saxons, 303. Diſreſpected, 304. Put to death for no cauſe but becauſe their people were tired of being commanded, ibid. Dethroned for bad crops, 305. Their revenues, 306.
L
  • Lace, gold, uſed by the ancient Gauls, 229. Silver lace uſed by the Germans, 232.
  • Language, three languages in Europe, 20. Nations tenacious of their original tongues, 255. Cauſe of the connection between the French, Spaniſh, and Italian, 257, Celtic tongue once univerſal in Europe, 258. Compared with the Latin, 264.
  • Latin compared with the Gaëlic, 264.
  • Latinus Pacatius, 116.
  • Lean, or Leuan, what, 226.
  • Learning, its revival in modern Europe, 4.
  • Lecan, the book of, 69.
  • Letters, their uſe in the middle ages, 2. Unknown in ancient Ireland, 59.
  • Logae, 49.
  • Lollius Urbicus, 102.
  • Lombards, 257.
  • Lucenſii, 84.
M
  • Marcus Aurelius, repels the Sarmatae, 14. Dies at Sirmium in Pannonia, 287.
  • Matae, 50.
  • Marcomanni, 287.
  • Maroboduus, 91.
  • [] Marſi, a general maſſacre of them, ibid.
  • Maximus, his rebellion, 124.
  • Mela, Pomponius, his character of the Iriſh, 63.
  • Middle ages, ſubject to credulity, 2.
  • Meleſian Scots, 54. Their migration from Spain an abſolute fiction, 76.
  • Monarchy, its origin, 243. Leſs ancient than the popular form of government, ibid.
  • Morality of the ancient Britons, 209.
N
  • Navigation of the ancient Britons, 237.
  • Nennius, 66. His teſtimoy deſerves little attention, 133.
  • Nomades, 7.
  • Northern nations, their averſion to letters, 1. Their ſucceſſive migrations, 11. Their firſt irruption into the South, 12. Conquer Gaul, Spain, Italy, &c. 18. Anceſtors of the Germans, 19.
O
  • Oats and barley the only grain known in the north of Europe, 225.
  • Obſervations on language, 255.
  • Odin, the great God of the Sarmatae, 294. His hall, ibid. His image a log of wood, or a ſword, 295. Married to Frea, or the earth, 297.
  • Ogum, a ſpecies of ſtenography, 70.
  • Oroſius examined, 121.
  • Oſſian, why no ſtreſs is laid on his authority, 156.
  • Ottadini, 51.
P.
  • Pallingeneſia, 186.
  • Pannonia, invaſion of, 14.
  • Paradiſe of the ancient Britons, 188. Placed in the weſtern ocean, 189. Surrounded with tempeſt, ibid. Deſcribed, 190. Different from that of Scandinavia, 189. Called Flath-Innis, or the Noble Iſland, ibid.
  • Party-coloured garments, the univerſal taſte among the Celtic nations, 229.
  • Pelaſgi, the firſt who ſettled in fixed abodes, 7. They ſeize on the coaſt of Italy, ibid. Chaſed from Peloponneſus, 182.
  • Pertinax repels the Sarmatae, 287.
  • Peucini, 286.
  • Philoſophy, firſt among the northern nations, 183.
  • Pherecydes, 180.
  • Phoceans, build Maſſilia, 8. Introduce agriculture in Gaul, ibid.
  • Poetry, 209. Its effect on the character of the ancient Britons, 212, 214.
  • Polygamy uſed by the Sarmatae, 285.
  • Pomponius Mela, his character of the Iriſh. 63.
  • Porphyrius mentions, for the firſt time, the Scots, 92.
  • Printedlinen uſed by the ancient Britiſh women, 229. By the Spaniſh women, 231.
  • Providence believed by the Celtae, 165.
  • Pſalter Caſhel, the oldeſt record of Iriſh tranſactions, 61.
  • [] Ptolemy mentions the Saxons for the firſt time, 150.—Pythagoras, 181.
R.
  • Re, 168.
  • Reflections on the hiſtory of ancient Britain, 4. On the invaſions of the northern Sarmatae, II. On the northern nations in general, 15. On Iriſh antiquities, 75. On Scottiſh antiquities, 94. On religion, 160. On the origin of government, 242. On the fall of the Romans, 275.
  • Religion of the ancient Britiſh nations, 157. Subject to corruption, 163. Remark on religion. 160. Religion of the Anglo-Saxons, 294.—Reuda, 126.
  • Repreſentation, its origin, 249.
  • Rinnac, its etymon, 168.—Rhetia, 17.
  • Robbery, beyond the limits of the ſtate not infamous, 251.
  • Romans, eſtabliſhed not their own language in their conqueſts, 256. In ſome meaſure the ſame with the Gaël, 257. Their origin, 264. Derive in part their language from the Celtae, 265, Reflections on their fall, 275. In what different from other monarchies, 276. The permanency of their empire, ibid. Did not depend on the fate of their princes, 277. The extenſion of the freedom of the city, 278. The debility of the provinces, 279. And of the Army, ibid. The removal of the ſeat of government, [] 280. Gives the finiſhing ſtroke to their empire, 281.
  • Route, the ſame with Dalriada, 130.
S.
  • Sagum deſcribed, 230.
  • Sarmatae, their dominions, 288. They croſs the Baltic, 13. Settle between the Viſtula and the Drave, ibid. Low ſtature when compared to the Celtae, 219. Their want of neatneſs, 232. General reflections on them, 282. Their obſcurity, 283. Their character, 284. Their irruption into the South, 287.
  • Saxons, the moſt unmixed branch of the Sarmatae, 15. Their remote antiquities obſcure, 273. Their origin, 291. The ſame with the Angli, ibid. Mentioned firſt by Ptolemy, ibid. Their depredations, ibid. Poſſeſs by degrees the whole ſhore of the German ocean, 292. Their religion, 294. Their form of government, 301.
  • Scandinavians, their dominions, 6. Their origin, ibid. Anceſtors of the Germans, 19. Of the Engliſh and ſome of the Scots, ibid.
  • Sclavonic language, 17, 19, 20.
  • Scordiſci, 259.
  • Scottia firſt mentioned by a biſhop of Canterbury, 121.
  • Scots, 40. Their hiſtory obſcure, 41. Deſtitute of domeſtic records, 43. Their origin, 46. Deſcended from the [] Gauls, ibid. Formed into a nation, 48. Poſitive proofs of their Caledonian extract, 151.—Segeſtes, 91.
  • Selgovae, 51.—Senachies, 211.
  • Severus, arrives in Britain, 42. His expedition into Caledonia, 104.
  • Ships of the ancient Britons deſcribed, 238. Manner of navigating them, ib.
  • Shoes of the ancient Britons, 230.
  • Sicambri tranſplanted into Gaul, 91.
  • Simplicity of the ancient Britons, 251.
  • Silures, etymon of their name, 34. A branch of the Cimbri, ibid.
  • Singing, a great amuſement among the Celtae, 206.
  • Slavi, the moſt obſcure of the Barbarians who deſtroyed the Roman power, 16. They extend themſelves to Peleponneſus, ibid. And to Illyricum and Dalmatia, 17. Derive their origin from the Tartars of the North and Eaſt. ib.
  • Soul, leaves all miſery behind it in this world, 186. Viſits at times this world, 194.—Stillingfleet confuted, 137.
  • Strabo, his character of the Iriſh, 62.
  • Subaltern intelligences, 166.
  • Suevi tranſplanted into Gaul, 91.
  • Suiones, a ſea-faring people, 239.
T.
  • Tacitus, Cornelius, his character of the Iriſh, 63.
  • Tanais, the eaſtern boundary of the Celtae, 6.
  • Taranis, 162.—Teutates, ibid.
  • Teutoni, the etymon of their name, 13. [] Allies of the Cimbri, 14. Their grand expedition, ibid. The ſame with the Scandinavian Sarmatae, ibid.
  • Teutonic language, 20.
  • Thales firſt broached the immortality of the ſoul in Greece, 180.
  • Theocracy, a ſpecies of, among the Celtae, 253.
  • Thor, the ſame with Odin, 296.
  • Thule, 115—239. The ſame with Iceland, ibid.
  • Tigernach, an Iriſh writer, 131.
  • Tirochan, writer of the life of St. Patrick, 66.
  • Towns of the ancient Britons, 237.
V.
  • Vaccaei, the moſt cultivated of the Spaniards, 79.
  • Valentia, province of, 119.
  • Valhalla, 295.
  • Vandals, their origin, 13—287. Endeavour to break into Pannonia, 14. Extend their conqueſts to Spain, Italy, and Africa, 15. The principals in the Scandinavian migration, 289.
  • Vecturiones, 150.—Vellabori, 84.
  • Venedi, 286.
  • Viſtula divided the Celtae and Sarmatae, 6.
  • Virius Lupus purchaſes peace of the Caledonians, 103.—Ulpius Marcellus, 41.
  • Umbri, 7. The moſt ancient inhabitants of Italy, 9. Were Gauls, ibid. Anceſtors of the Tuſcans and Sabines, ibid. And in part of the Romans, ib.
  • [] Unity of God, 160.—Vortigern, 238.
  • Uſher archbiſhop, his arguments in ſupport of Bede, 130. Examined and confuted, 131.
W.
  • War, the amuſement as well as buſineſs of the ancient Britiſh nations, 251.
  • Ware, Sir James, gives no credit to the pretenſions of the old Iriſh to letters, 66.
  • Welſh, their origin, 27.
  • Witneſſes engage in ſingle combat, 253.
  • Women, Celtic, their ſize, 218. Fair, blooming, and ſtately, ibid. Juſt and full in their proportions, ibid. Their character, ibid. High ſpirited, 219. Their amazing influence, ibid. Admitted to public deliberations, 220. Divine honours paid to them in their life-time, ibid.
  • Women, Britiſh, the ancient Britons fond of their goverment, 220. Female ſucceſſion, ibid. Beauty of the Britiſh women, 222. Their chaſtity, 223. Not given away in marriage till their twentieth year, ibid. Their cloathing. 228. Their dreſs deſcribed, 230. Wear chains of gold, 231.
  • Wool, Spaniſh, very fine, 229. Coarſe in Gaul, ibid.
Z.
  • Zythus, water diluted with honey, 226.
Notes
*
‘Celtae occidua Europae uſque ad Gades incolunt. Strabo, lib. ii.
‘Sarmatia, intus, quam ad mare latior, ab iis, quae ſequuntur, Viſtula amne diſcreta. Pomp. Mela, lib. iii.
‘Circa Tanaim Sarmatarum gentes degunt. Plin. lib. ii.
*
[...] Dion. Halic. lib. i.
‘Tempore Tarquinii regis ex Aſia Phocenſium juventus in ultimas Galliae ſinus profectus, Maſſiliam condidit. Juſtin, lib. xliii.
*
‘Ab his Galli uſum vitae cultioris et agrorum cultus didicerunt. Juſtin. lib. xliii.
‘Galli occidua Europae uſque ad Gades incolunt. Strabo, lib. ii.
‘De tranſitu in Italiam Gallorum haec accepimus. Priſco Tarquinio Romae regnante, Gallia adeo frugum hominumque fertilis fuit, ut abundans multitudo vix regi videretur poſſe. Ambigatus, magno natu ipſe jam, exonerare praegravente turba regnum cupiens Belloveſum ac Sigoveſum, ſororis filios impigros juvenes miſſurum ſe eſſe in quas dii dediſſent auguriis ſedes oſtendit. Belloveſo in Italiam viam dii dederunt. Livius, lib. v. ‘— [...] Diod. Sic. lib. v.
§

‘Ac fuit antea tempus cum, Galli propter hominum multitudinem agrique inopiam, trans Rhenum colonias mitterent. Caeſar, lib. vi.

‘Validiores olium Gallorum res [...]uiſſe ſummus auctorum Divus Julius tradit eoque credibile eſt Gallos in Germanium tranſgreſſos. Tacit. Germ. xxviii.

‘In univerſum tamen aeſtimanti Gallos vicinum ſolum occupaſſe credibile eſt. Tacit. vit. Agric. xi.

‘Britanninon multum à Gallicâ differunt conſuetudine. Caeſar, lib. v.

*
‘Ferox natio pervagata bello prope orbem terrarum. Livius, lib. xxxviii.
‘Umbrorum gens antiquiſſima Italiae exiſtimatur. Plin. lib. iii.
‘Umbri prima veterum Gallorum proles. Servius in Aeneid xii.
§
‘Zenodotus Traezenius, qui Umbrorum hiſtoriam conſcripſit, narrat Sabinos pro Umbris appellatos. Dionyſ. Halic. lib. ii.
*
‘Galli a candore corporis primum appellati ſunt. Eucher. Epiſ. Lugdun. de Gent. iv.—GEAL, in the Gaëlic language ſignifies fair. [...] Diod. Sic. de Gallis, lib. v.

‘Celtae [...]ive Galli quos Cimbros vocant. Appian. in Illyr.

[...] Plutarch in Mario.

*
[...] Plutarch in Mario. ‘— [...] Strabo, lib. vii.
‘Forma et moribus et victu adſimiles ſunt Gallorum. Itaque rectè mihi videntur Romani hoc nomen eis indediſſe cum eos fratres eſſe Gallorum vellent oſtendere. Strabo, lib. vii.
‘Hae ſunt nationes quae tam longe ab ſuis ſedibus Delphos profectae ſunt. Cicero pro Fonteio, xx.
[...] Diod. Sic. lib. v.
*
‘Sexcenteſimum et quadrageſimum annum urbs noſtra agebat cum Cimbrorum audita ſunt arma. Tacit. Ger. xxxvii.
The learned have thrown away a great deal of uſeleſs erudition upon the etymon of this word. It is a Celtic one ſignifying northern men: Tua north taoni men, a word of the ſame import with the Normans of after ages. The Celtic Germans naturally diſtinguiſhed the Scandinavian Sarmatae by a name expreſſive of the ſituation of their country.

‘Ex Scanziâ inſulâ, cum regi ſuo, nomine Berich, Gothi quondam memorantur egreſſi. Jornandes de rebus Gothicis.

‘Meminiſſe debes, me initio de Scanziae inſulae gremio Gothos dixiſſe egreſſos. Jornand. ubi ſupra.

‘Pari etiam modo Vandalorum, ab inſula, quae Scandinavia dicitur. adventavit. Paul. Diacon. lib. i.

‘Igitur egreſſi de Scandinaviâ Vandali. Paul. Diacon. lib. i.

‘Gothi Vanda'ique ab antiquis Sarmatis originem ducunt. Procop. Vandal. lib. i.

*
Dio. Caſſ. lib. lxxi.
‘Ubi ergo Poloniam finem facit, pervenitur ad Slavorum ampliſſimam provinciam.’
*
‘Sordes Sarmatarum. Tacit. Germ. xlvi.
*
The ſource of the Nile is ſaid to lie in mountains of that name beyond the line.
*
‘Ferox natio Gallorum pervagata bello prope orbem terrarum. Livius, lib. xxxviii.
‘Gallia adeo frugum hominumque fertilis fuit, ut abundans multitudo vix regi videretur poſſe . . . . . Ambigatus, miſſurum ſe eſſe in quas dii dediſſent auguriis ſedes, oſtendit. Livius, lib. v.
‘Gallos vicinum ſolum occupaſſe credibile eſt. Tacit. Vit. Agric. xi.
‘Solum patiens frugum, foecundum. Tacit. Vit. Agric. xii.
*

‘Loca ſunt temperatiora quam in Gallia, remiſſioribus frigoribus. Caeſar, lib. v.

‘Aſperitas frigorum abeſt. Tacit. Vit. Agric. xii.

Titus Livius, lib. v.

‘Umbrorum gens antiquiſſima Italiae exiſtimatur. Plin. lib. iii.

‘Umbri antiquiſſimus Italiae populus. Flor. lib. i.

*

‘Bocchus abſolvit Gallorum VETERUM propaginem Umbros eſſe. Solin. lib. viii.

‘Umbri prima VETERUM Gallorum proles. Auguſt. in Sempron.

‘Umbros VETERUM Gallorum propaginem eſſe Marcus Antonius re [...]ert. Servius in Aeneid. 12mo.

The epithet of VETERES, applied to the Gauls, is perhaps intended to diſtinguiſh the progenitors of the Umbri, the old Gaël, from the Cimbro-Germanic Gauls, who, in an after age, pervaded all the regions of Europe.

The Umbri were the inhabitants of the upper Italy, and they ſeem to derive their name from the ſituation of their country. Oambruich literally ſignifies the declivity of a ridge of mountains.

‘Ferocitate excellent Galli qui ad arctum remoti, ſicut Britanni a quibus Iris (Hibernia) habitatur. Diod. Sic. v.

‘Gallis ſimilis ſunt, durante originis vi. Tacit. Vit. Agric. xi.

‘Ingenio Gallorum ſimiles ſunt. Strabo, lib. iv.

*
‘Cimbri magnam Europae nec exiguam Aſiae partem [...]ibi tributariam [...]ecere agroſque debellatorum a ſe occuparunt. Diod. Sic. lib. v.
‘Cimbri [...] undique copiis, ad Ionicum mare conve [...] [...] Illyriorum, et quicquid gentium ac Macedonas [...] habitat, imo ipſos Macedonas oppreſſere. Pauſ. Attic. iv.
‘Gens aſpera, audax, bellicoſa, domitis Pannoniis, et hortante deinde ſucceſſu, diviſis agminibus alii Graeciam, alii Macedoniam, omnia ferro proterentes, petivere. Juſtin. lib. xxiv.
§
‘Extorres inopia agrorum, profecti domo, per aſperrimam Illyrici oram, Paeoniam inde et Thraciam, pugnando cum ferociſſimis gentibus, menſi has terras ceperunt. Livius, lib xxxviii.
‘Tantae foecunditatis Juventus, ut Aſiam omnem velut examine aliquo implerent. Juſtin, lib. xxv.
*
‘Tantus terror nominis et a [...]orum invicta felicitas. Juſtin, lib. xxv.
‘Agros debellatorum a ſe occuparunt. Diod. Sic. lib. v.
‘Omnium Cimbrorum fortiſſimi ſunt Luſitani. Diod. Sic. lib. v.
§
‘Reperiebat Caeſar Belgas eſſe ortos ab Germanis Rhenum antiquitus tranſductos, propter loci fertilitatem ibi concediſſe; Galloſque qui ea loca incolerent, expuliſſe. Caeſar, lib. ii.
§
‘Maritima pars ab iis qui ex Belgis tranſierant. Caeſar, lib. v.
‘Omnes fere (Belgae in Britannia) iis nominibus civitatum appellantur, quibus orti ex civitatibus eo pervenerunt. Caeſar, lib. v.
*
‘Ex his omnibus longe humaniſſime ſunt qui Cantium incolunt; quae regio eſt maritima omnis: neque multum a Gallica differunt conſuetudine. Caeſar, lib. v.
‘On lui donna ce nom à cauſe des pillages qu'il faiſoit ſur les terres de ſes voiſins. BRIGAND ou BRIGANT, Brigand, Pillard, voleur de grand-chemin. Bullet Memoires ſur la Lang. Celt. tom. i.
SIOL a race of men, URUS the river emphatically, in alluſion to their ſituation beyond the Severn.
*

Cantium, Kent; Canti, end of the Iſland.

Trinobantes, Trion-oban, marſhy diſtrict; the inhabitants of Middleſex and Eſſex.

Durotrigae, Dur-treig, the ſea-tribe; the inhabitants of the coaſt of Dorſetſhire, in alluſion to their ſituation.

Dobuni, Dobb-buini; living on the bank of the river: they who of old poſſeſſed the county of Glouceſter, alluding to their ſituation on the banks of the Severn.

Belerium, Bel-eir; Weſtern-rock: Cape Cornwall.

Dimaetae, Di-moi-atta; inhabitants of the ſouthern plain: The tribe of Cimbri who poſſeſſed the counties of Caermarthen, Pembroke, and Cardigan.

Ordovices, Ord-tuavich: northern mountaineers: The inhabitants of North Wales.

*
‘La Bretagne peut auſſi avoir tiré ſon nom de ſa grande étendue. Brayd ou Brait ſignifie vaſte, le plus grand. An Iſle Bretan, la plus grande Iſle. Memoires ſur la Langue Celtique, tom. i. But as it is extremely doubtful whether Britain was known to be an Iſland at the arrival of the Cimbri, we muſt take Brait in its original ſenſe, ſignifying High; as in Braid-Albin, High-Albany, the moſt elevated diſtrict in North Britain.
*
‘Murum per octoginta millia paſſuum primus duxit qui Barbaros (Caledonios) Romanoſque divideret. Spartian. in Hadriano, xi.
‘Britannos per Lollium Urbicum legatum vicit, alio muro ceſpitio ſubmotis Barbaris ducto. Jul. Capitolin. in Antonino, v.
[...] Dio. Caſſ. lib. lxxii.
*
Dr. John Macpherſon, Miniſter of Slate in the Iſle of Sky.
*
‘Rutilae Caledoniam habitantium comae, magni artus, Germanicam originem aſſeverant. Tacit. Vit. Agric. cap. xi.
*
Maritima pars (Britanniae) ab iis, qui praedae ac belli inferendi cauſa, ex Belgis tranſierant: . . . . . et bello illato ibi remanſerunt, atque agros colere coeperunt. Caeſar de Bell. Gall. lib. v.
*
This etymon firſt occurred to the Author of this Eſſay, and he communicated it to Dr. Macpherſon, who adopted it from a conviction of its juſtneſs.
*
SELGOVAE is plainly SELGOVICH latinized. SELGOVICH literally ſignifies bunters, in a metaphorical ſenſe plunderers; a name by which their ſucceſſors in the ſame country ought to have been diſtinguiſhed till within little more than a century back. GADENI is plainly from Gadecbin, robbers; a name which aroſe from the ſame love of depredation with their friends and neighbours the Selgovae.
*
MOI-ATTA, or MOI-ATICH, the inhabitants of the plains: MAEAN-ATTA, the poſſeſſors of the middle country: MOAI-ATTA, a mixed people. [...] Dion. Caſſ. lxxvi.
*
‘L'Irelande eſt ſi voiſine de la Grande Bretagne qu'on perſuade aiſément qu'elle lui doit ſes premiers habitants. Bullet Mem. ſur la Langue Celtique.
Camden in Hibernia, cap. i.
[...] (Gallorum) [...] Diod. Sic. lib. v.
*
‘Ingenia cultuſque hominum haud multum a Britannia differunt. Tacit. Vit. Agric. cap. 24.

Feſtus Avienus ſhews, from Dionyſius, where he treats of the Britiſh Iſles, that Ireland was peopled by Britons.

Hae numero geminae, pingues Solo, ceſpitis ampli,
Dira Britannorum ſuſtentant agmina terris.

[...] Euſtath. ad Dionyſ. Perieg. [...] Stephan. de Urb.

*
Mr. O 'Connor, who lately gave to the public ſome wild, incoherent tales, concerning the ancient Iriſh, endeavours to obviate the ſtrength of the argument, which riſes againſt his ſyſtem from the name of GAEL, by diſguiſing the word, by the inſertion of the intermediate letters, Db, as thus, Gadbel. The ſubterfuge avails nothing. Db are univerſally quieſcent, or at moſt ſound like a Υ, in every dialect of the Celtic language.
*
The Firbolg, ſo often mentioned in the traditions of the Iriſh, were Belgic colonies who tranſmigrated from Britain after the Belgae had ſeized on the ſouthern diviſion of England. They are mentioned very frequently under the name of Siol na m Bolga in the poems of Offian.
IAR-IN, or as the Iriſh pronounce the word, EIR-IN, is compounded of Iar, Weſt; and In, Iſland. EIR-IN is the name which the natives, in all ages, gave to Ireland.
*
Juverna, Ierna, Iris, [...], Hibernia.
§
The proper and more ancient general appellation of the Scottiſh Iſles is IAR-IN, and from that name, as ſhall hereafter appear, Claudian derived his Ierna. After the conqueſt of the Hebrides by Harold Harfager king of Norway, the whole ſtring of iſlands which ſtretch along the weſtern ſhores of North Britain, were called by the Scots on the continent, Inch-Gaul, or the Iſlands of Foreigners.
*
Strabo, lib. ii.
‘Supra, Britanniam Juverna eſt . . . . . . coeli ad maturanda ſemina iniqui. Pomp. Mela, lib. iv.
‘Qua ex parte eſt Hibernia . . . . . . . complures praeterea minores objectae Inſulae exiſtimantur; de quibus inſulis nonnulli ſcripſerunt dies continuous xxx ſub bruma eſſe noctem. Caeſar de Bell. Gall. lib. v.
*
‘Gentium conſenſus tacitus, primus omnium conſpiravit ut Ionum literis uterentur. Plin. lib. vii.
Kennedy's Genealogy, pref. p. 26.
*
Innes' Critical Eſſay, p. 428.
[...] Strabo, lib. ii.
[...] Agreſtiſſimi omnium Britannorum (ſunt Hiberni) homines edunt, plurimum cibi vorant; pro honeſto ducunt mortuorum parentum corpora comedere, et palam concubitum inire cum matribus et ſororibus. Strabo, lib. iv. It is but juſtice to obſerve that Strabo does not vouch for the authenticity of the above account; but it is impoſſible to ſuppoſe that even the report of ſuch barbarity could exiſt, had the Iriſh been more humanized than their Celtic brethren in Britain.
[...] Ferociſſimi Gallorum ſunt qui ſub ſeptentrionibus habitant; dicunt ex iis nonnullos Anthropophagos eſſe ſicut Britannos qui Irim incolunt. Diod. Sic. lib. v.
*
‘Cultores ejus (Hiberniae) inconditi, et omnium virtutum ignari, Pomp. Mela, lib. iv.
‘Ingenia cultusque hominum non multum a Britannia differunt. Tacit. Vit. Agric. xxxiv.
The preciſe time in which Julius Solinus wrote is not well aſcertained.
‘Hibernia in humana ritu incolarum aſpera, gens inhoſpita; fas atque nefas eodem animo ducunt. Solinus, xxxvi.
[...] Strabo, liv. iv.
*
‘Melius aditus portusque per commercia et negotiatores cogniti. Tacit. Vit. Agric. xxiv.
*
‘Animum vix inducere poſſum ut hanc regionem, (Hiberniam) in Romanorum poteſtatem, ullo tempore, conceſſiſſe, credam. Fauſtum ſane felixque Hiberniae faiſſet, ſi conceſſiſſet; certe barbariem exuiſſet; ubicunque enim Romani victores erant, victos humanitate excoluerunt. Nec ſane alibi per Europam, humanitatis, literarum et elegantiae cultus, niſi ubi illi imperarunt. Camden, in Hibernia.
‘Per exiguam ſupereſſe notitiam rerum in Hibernia geſtarum ante exortam ibi Evangeiii auroram liquido conſtat. Notandum quidem deſcriptiones fere omnium, quae de illis temporibus (ante Patricii in Hiberniam adventum,) extant, opera eſſe poſteriorum ſeculorum. War. de Antiq. Hiberniae.
‘Uſſerius in analibus ſacris.’
‘Sanctus Patricius ſcripſit Abietoria 365 et eo amplius numero. Nenn. lix.
‘Unde conſtat opinor, abgetoria ſignificare alphabetum, [...]ive elementa quae ſcripſit et docuit S. Patricius. War. de Script. Hibern. lib. ii.
*
‘Grammatica, Rhetorica, Logica, Philoſophia, cum multis aliis.’
Litera, Lietar; Liber, Leabar; Lego, leagmi; Scribo, Scribmi; Penna, Penn, &c. &c. It is an unaccountable overſight in O'Flaherty, or in the Senachies, from whom he derived his information, to give the name of Taible filea to thoſe wooden tables, upon which, it is pretended, the Pagan Iriſh wrote. Taible, if it is not derived from the Engliſh word Table, certainly owes its origin to the tabula of the Romans. Had the credulous antiquary uſed the Iriſh Clar, he might have avoided a circumſtance which bears hard upon his own ſyſtem.
Ogygia xxx.
*
Innes' Critical Eſſay, p. 44.
Ware, de preſulibus Hiberniae.
*
‘Praeter Caracteres vulgares utebantur veteres Hiberni variis occultls ſcribendi formulis, ſeu artificiis Ogum dictis, quibus ſecreta ſua ſcribebant. Ware, de Antiq. Hibern. ii.
*
Theſe are the annals of Ulſter, Tigernach, and Innisfail, all of which begin the hiſtory of Ireland about the middle of the fifth age, and end in the eleventh century. Vid. Waraeum de Scriptoribus Hiberniae, paſſim.
*
‘Ad predeceſſores Leogarii quod attinet, eos certe conſilio omiſi quia pleraque quae de iis traduntur, ut quod ſentio dicam, vel fabulae ſunt, vel fabulis et anachroniſmis mire admixta. War. de Antiq. Hib. cap. iv.
‘Per exiguam ſupereſſe notitiam rerum in Hibernia geſtarum, ante exortam ibi Evangelii auroram, liquido conſtat. War. de Antiq. Hib. praef. i. p. 1.
‘Notandum quidem deſcriptiones fere omnium, quae de illis temporibus, antiquioribus dico, extant. OPERA ESSE POSTERIORUM SECULORUM. Waraeus, ubi ſupra.
*
Ken. Geneal. pref. p. 26.
*
[...] Strabo, lib. iii.
[...] Diod. Sic. lib. v.
*
Innes' Critical Eſſay.
Stillingfleet, Orig. Britan.
Camden. Britan. in Scotis.
*
Innes' Critical Eſſay, p. 509.
‘Ferociſſimi Gallorum ſunt, qui ſub ſeptemtrionibus habitant; dicunt ex iis nonnullos Anthropophagos eſſe, ſicut Britannos qui Irin tenent. Diod. Sic. lib. v.
Strabo, lib. iii.
Pomponius Mela, lib. iii.
*
‘Saepe ex eo (Agricola vel ipſo Hiberno; nonnulli enim exiſtimant C. Tacitum in Caledonia militaſſe) audivi, legione una et modicis auxiliis debellari obtinerique Hiberniam poſſe. Tacit. Vit. Agric. cap. 24. ‘Agricola expulſum ſeditione domeſtica, unum ex regulis gentis (Hibernicae) exceperat, ac ſpecie amicitiae in occaſionem retinebat. Tacit. Vit. Agric. cap. 24.
‘Hibernia inhumana ritu incolarum aſpera. Gens inhoſpita et bellicoſa: [...]as et ne [...]as eodem animo ducunt. Solin. cap. 36.
*
‘Ephorus ingenti magnitudine facit Celticam; quod illi (ſcilicet Celtae) pleraque ejus Terrae, quam nunc Iberiam vocamus, loca uſque ad Gades tenuerint. Strabo, lib. iv. ‘Galli occidua uſque ad Gades incolunt ſecundum Eratoſthenem. Strabo, lib. ii. ‘Hi (Celtiberi) duo enim populi lberes et Celtae. Diod. Sic. lib. v. Martial, ſpeaking to Lucius, of Spain their common country, ſays, ‘Nos Celtis genitos. Martial Epig. ‘Gallorum Celtae miſcentes nomen Iberis. Lucan, lib. vi. ‘Venere Celtae ſociati nomen Iberiss Silius Ital. lib. iii. Vid. Appian. Hiſp.
*
That the language of the mountaineers of Galicia, and that part of Spain which ſtretches along the Bay of Biſcay, bears a near analogy to the language of the old Iriſh, has been an axiom univerſally admitted. This has been the laſt reſort, the unanſwerable argument, to which all the Iriſh antiquaries have referred the certainty of the Spaniſh extraction of their nation. Unfortunately for the old Hibernian ſyſtem, a dictionary of the Biſcayan language is, at this moment, in the poſſeſſion of the Author of the Introduction, and he publickly declares that there is leſs affinity between the Biſcayan and Iriſh languages, than between the latter and the tongue of the moſt diſtant nations in the eaſtern Aſia. The curious may ſatisfy themſelves upon this head by looking into Diccionario Trilingue del Caſtellano BASCUENCE y' Latin, written by the Padre Manuel de Larramendi, and printed in 1745 at St. Sebaſtians. This diſcovery ſeems to confirm the opinion of Varro, who, as he is cited by Pliny, inſinuates that the Iberians of Spain were of African origin. The language of the modern Biſcayans, it is certain, bears no affinity to the other European tongues, which are radically deſcended from the ancient Celtic. The name of Iberians given to them in contradiſtinction to the Celtae is a proof of their being a different people. Lucan ſeems to inſinuate this fact in a line already quoted; Gallorum Celtae miſcentes nomen Iberis; and the Venere Celtae ſociati nomen Iberis of Silius Italicus, together with the expreſs teſtimony of Diodorus Siculus and Appian, confirms the opinion.
*
‘Proximis temporibus triumphati magis quam victi. Tacit. de Mor. Germ. cap. 37.
*
Velleius Paterculus, lib. i.
*
It muſt be confeſſed that ſeveral tribes in the North-Eaſt angle of Scotland have preſerved in their traditions, and the genealogical hiſtories of their families, pretenſions to a German origin. The Clancattin, or the tribe of Catti, conſiſting of a great variety of branches, the moſt numerous of which are the Macpherſans, Mackintoſhes, and Sutherlands, affirm, with one conſent, that the famous Catti of ancient Germany were their anceſtors. Though this opinion very probably took its riſe from an identity of names, it is far from being unlikely that ſome Celto-Germanic tribes tranſmigrated, at different times, into that part of Britain which was not ſubject to the Romans; but it is morally impoſſible that a migration, ſufficient to people Caledonia and Ireland, could have happened, without falling within the knowledge of the writers of Rome, who certainly extended their enquiries to the tranſactions of the wild nations on the frontiers of the empire.
*
‘Perexiguam ſupereſſe notitiam rerum in Hibernia geſtarum, ante exortam ibi Evangelii Auroram, liquido conſtat. War. de Antiq. Hib. ‘Ad predeceſſores Leogarii ille enim ſolium Hibernicum ſub adventum Patricii tenuit) quod attinet, eos certe conſilio omiſi, qui [...] pleraque quae de iis traduntur, ut quod ſentio dicam, vel fabula ſunt, vel fabulis et anachroniſmis mire admixta. War. de Antiq. c. iv.
*
‘Ac ſi virtus exercituum et Romani nominis gloria pateretur, inventus in ipſa Britannia terminus. Tacit. Vit. Agric. xxiii.
‘Eamque partem Britanniae quae Hiberniam aſpicit, copiis intravit, in ſpem magis quam ob formidinem. Tacit. Vit. Agric. xxiv.
‘Saepe ex eo audivi, legione una et modicis auxiliis debellari, obtinerique Hiberniam poſſe. Tacit. Vit. Agric, xxiv.
*
Tacit. Vit. Agric. xxiv.
*
‘Ingenia cultuſque hominum haud multum a Britannia differunt. Tacit. Vit. Agric. xxiv.
‘Caledoniam habitantium rutilae comae, magni artus, Germanicam originem aſſeverant. Tacit. Vit. Agric. xi.
O'Flaherty in Ogygia.
‘Inter plures duces genere et virtute praeſtans. Tacit. Vit. Agric. xxix.
*
Tacit. Vit. Agric. xxx.
‘Murum per octingenta millia paſſuum primus duxit, qui Barbaros Romanoſque divideret. Spartian. in Hadriano, xi.
*
‘Britannos per Lollium Urbicum Legatum vicit, alio muro ceſpititio ſubmotis Barbaris ducto. Capitolin. in Antonin. v.
[...] Dion. Caſſ. lib. lxxii.
[...] Dion. Caſſ. lib. lxxv.
*
[...] Herodian. lib. iii.
[...] Dion. Caſſ. lib. lxxvi.
*
Dathy was an Iriſh prince, who, according to the Hibernian ſenachies, peretrated with an army to the Alps, and was killed by a flaſh of lightning at the foot of th [...]ſe mountains. Dathy, though placed beyond chriſtianity in Ireland, derives his name from David the ſon of Jeſſe, which of itſelf proves that the exploits of Dathy were of the figmenta poſteriorum ſeculorum of Ware.
*
‘Conſulatu vero Conſtantii decies, terque Juliani, in Britanniis cum Scotorum Pictorumque gentium ferarum excurſus, &c. Ammianus Marcellinus, lib. xx.
*
‘Mare quod Britanniam et Hiberniam interluit undoſum et inquietum, toto in anno non niſi aeſtivis pauculis diebus eſt navigabile. Navigant autem viminiis alveis quos circumdant ambitione tergorum bubulinorum, Solin. xxxv.
*
Amm. Marcell. lib. xx. The very learned and ingenious Dr. Macpherſon has, in his critical diſſertation on the Britiſh and Iriſh Scots, proved againſt the biſhop of St. Aſaph, that Ammianus Marcellinus does not furniſh even an obſcure hint, that the Scots were a new people in Britain, in the reign of Conſtantius.
*
Claudian. de quart. conſulat. Honorii.
*
‘Redactum in paludes ſuas Scottum. Latin. Pacat in Panegyr. Theod.
Should it be admitted that the Scots of Valentinian's time were ſkilled in maritime affairs, and had paſſed from Ireland into North Britain, they ought, after Theodoſius had chaſed them to their veſſels, to have directed their flight to their native iſland. On the contrary, Claudian's hero, or rather Claudian himſelf, purſues them ſword in hand, into the Hyperborean ocean.
SCOTTUMque, vago mucrone, ſecutus
Fregit Hyperboreas remis audacibus Undas.
*
Incedunt victae longo ordine gentes.
Hic Nomadum genus et diſcinctos Mulciber Aſros:
Hic Lelegas, Caraſque, ſagittiferoſque Gelonos
Finxerat. Euphrates ibat jam mollior undis;
Indomitique Dahae
Virg. Aeneid. viii.
Super Garamantas et Indos
Proferet imperium, jacet extra ſidera, tellus
Extra anni ſoliſque vias.—
Hujus in adventum jam nunc et Caſpia regna
Reſponſis horrent Divûm et Maeotia tellus.
Virg. Aeneid. vi.
*
Ammian. Marcellin. lib. xx.
‘Scottia eadem et Hibernia, proxima Britanniae inſula, ſed ſitu foecundior. Haec ab Africo in Boream porrigitur, cujus partes priores Iberiam et Cantabricum Oceanum intendunt; unde et Ibernia dicta: Scottia autem quod ab Scottorum gentibus colitur. Iſidor. Orig. lib. xiv.
‘Scotti propria linguâ nomen habent a picto corpore, eo quod aculeis [...]erreis cum atramento, variarum figurarum ſtigmata annotentur. Iſidor. Orig. lib. ix.
*
‘Ex in Britannia (ſo Gildas and Bede, in imitation of the Romans, called that part of the Iſland which had been ſubject to the empire) duabus gentibus tranſmarinis vehementer Saevis, Scottorum a Circo, Pictorum ab Aquilone, calcabilis multos ſtupet gemitque per annos.—Tum erumpens grex [...]atulorum, (Sax [...]nes) de cubili leaenae barbariae tribus, &c.’ ‘"Then that kennel of whelps (the Saxons) iſſued out upon us from the den of the barbarous lioneſs:"’ And in another place this paſſionate writer ſays, ‘"The fierce Sax [...]ns of ever execrable memory, deteſted by God and man, were admitted into the Iſland like ſo many wolves into the fold."’
‘Tranſmarinas autem dicimus h [...]s gentes, non quod extra Britaniam eſſent poſitae, ſed quia a parte Brittonum erant remotae, duobus ſinibus maris interjacentibus. Bede, Hiſt lib. i. c. 12.
‘Revertuntur ergo impudentes graſſatores Hiberni domus, poſt no [...] multum temporis reverſuri.’
Vid. Gale's edition of Gildas. Inſtead of revertuntur Hiberni domus the doctor reads more grammatically Hibernas domus; that is, that the Scots after committing their depredations returned home for the [...]nter.
*
‘Duce Reuda de Hibernia egreſſi, vel amicitia vel ferro, ſibimet, inter eos, (Pictos) ſede, quas hactenus habent vindicarunt; a quo duce . . . . hodie Dalreudini vocantur.’—It is to be obſerved that deal does not ſignify portion or diviſion.
*
Bed. Hiſt. lib. iv. c. 26.
*
Keating, p. 60, 61, 62.
*
Uſſer, Brit, Eccleſ, Antiq. p. 320.
Uſſer. ubi ſupra.
Tigernach carries down his annals to A. D. 1088, in which he died. Jocelyn compiled a life of St. Patrick from all the [...]utile tales and traditions he could collect, and publiſhed it in the year 1175, at the deſire of Thomas O'Connor, archbiſhop of Armagh.
*
Ammian. Marcellin. lib. xx.
Uſſer. ubi ſupra.
*
‘Sic mihi peritiſſimi Scottorum (Hibernorum) nun [...]averunt. Nennius edit. Rog. Gale, p. 101.
*
‘Eo tempore Picti in duas gentes diviſi, Deucaledonas et Vecturiones. Ammian. Marcellin. lib. xxvii. ‘Camdenus, vir in patria hiſtoria illuſtranda accuratiſſimus, legendum putat Deucaledonios, velut ſic nominatos ab occidua Scotiae ora, quà Deucaledonius oceanus irrumpit.’
IAR ſignifies the Weſt; Eir is a corruption of Iar; Erin is the ſame with the weſtern country, and Ard-Iar is the Galic name for the weſtern quarter.
*
Stillingfleet remarks, that if Strathern, in the county of Perth, ſhould be admitted to be the Ierna of Claudian, it would be ridiculous in the poet to ſay, that the Scots put in motion the whole of a ſmall diſtrict of their county. The biſhop did not recollect, that it was very common with the ancient poets to put a part of a country for the whole. Latium is often uſed for the Roman empire; Mycaene for all the ſtates of Greece; and Thule, by Claudian himſelf, for North Britain.
Quem littus aduſtae
Horreſcit Lybiae et ratibus impervia Thule.
*
Eumen. Panegyr.
Gildas xv.
Claudian. de Quart. Conſulat. Honor.
Brit. Eccleſ. Antiq. p. 383.
*
In O'Neil's letter to Pope Boniface.
*
Cellarius in Iberia Aſiatica.
Dr. Macpherſon's Diſſertation, x.
*
The principality of Iar-ghaël, or Argyle, was called Argadia by the monkiſh writers of the middle ages.
[...], &c. Strabo, l. viii.
‘Gentes albo crine naſcuntur ab aſſiduis nivibus, et ipſius capilli color genti nomen dedit, et inde vocantur Albani, de quibus originem duxerunt Scotti et Picti. Innes' Critical Eſſay, Append. No. 2.
*
Solin. Polyhiſt. xxv.
*
Chleri, from Clericus.
*
Caeſar, lib. v.
*
Dr. Macpherſon's Diſſertations.
*
‘UNUM DEUM, [...]ulguris effectorum, Dominum hujus univerſi SOLUM agn [...]unt. Procop. Goth. lib. iii. ‘Regnator omnium DEUS, caetera ſubjecta atque parentia. Tacit. de m [...]r Germ. xxxix. ‘Non diffitentur UNUM DEUM in coe [...]s. Helmold. lib. i. ‘Celtae colunt quidem Deum, Max. Tyr. Diſſert. xxxviii.
Some tribes of American Indians have an imperfect idea of God. The Choctaws, in particular, acknowledge that there is a NAHULLA CHITO, or Great Spirit, but as he never met either them or their fathers in the woods, to aſſiſt them in the chace, or taught them thoſe arts which he communicated to the Europeans, they pay him no divine honours.
*
E in the Galic language ſignifies HE, which, by prefixing the article D makes DE, or, as it is pronounced, DI, or DIA, literally the BEING, or GOD, emphatically.
‘Aerem et aquam venerantur . . . . . . . . Adorant autem tantummodo et Deum nuncupant illum qui coelum et terram fecit.’
Et quibus immitis placatur ſanguine diro
TEUTATES, horrensque feris altaribus HESUS,
Et TARANIS Scythicae non mitior ara Dianae.
Lucan. lib. i.
*
It has been the opinion of ſome learned men that TEUTATES is a compoſition of DI or DEU, God, and TAD or TAT, father. But we may oppoſe to this etymon, that TAT for father is only uſed in a familiar ſenſe by very young children, when they addreſs themſelves to a parent; for, according to the genius of the Galic language, it can never be uſed by grown perſons. It is not therefore in any degree probable that a title, in itſelf a diminutive, was applied to that Great Spirit who pervaded the vaſt body of the univerſe. Were a ſtranger to hear ſome very good Chriſtians in the mountains of Scotland addreſſing, at this day, their prayers to the Supreme Being, he might ſuppoſe that the worſhip of TEUTATES, TARANIS, and HESUS were not yet aboliſhed in that country. O DHE TAT 'UAS! 'STU HESAS aird! 'Sleat TORAN nan Nial ſein. O God, WHO ART ABOVE! Thou art HE, the higheſt! Thine is the MURMURING noiſe of the Clouds.
*
Pythagoras, it is ſaid, travelled into Thrace, and borrowed many of his philoſophical opinions from the Thracians. Vid. Joſeph. cont. App. lib. i. He paſſed the later years of his life in Magna Graecia; and conſequently became acquainted with the theology of the Samnites and other Celtic nations, who poſſeſſed the neighbourhood of Crotona. He alſo ſtudied philoſophy under Abaris, the Hyperborean; (vid. Suid. in Pythag.) and, according to the teſtimony of one of his followers, heard the opinions of the Gauls concerning religion. ‘Alexander in libro de ſymbolis Pythagoricis, vult Pythagoram Gallos audiviſſe. Clem. Alex. Strom. lib. i.
‘Deum eſſe animum per naturam rerum omnem intentum et commeantem ex quo noſtri animi carperentur, Cicer. de Nat. Deor. lib. i. ‘Deus eſt animus per univerſam rerum naturam commeans et intentus, ex quo etiam animalium omnium vita capiatur. Min. Felix. xix.
*
‘Eos (ſcilicet Barbaros) DINO in the Celtic language TIEN or TIN ſignifies Fire) ait nymphodorus ſub dio mactare exiſtimantes ignem et aquam Deorum eſſe ſimulacra. Clem. Alex. Cohort. ad Gent. ‘Barbari omnes Deum quidem admittunt ſigna vero alii alia. Ignem Perſae quotidianum, voracem, inſatiabilem . . . . . . . . Mons Capadocibus et Deus et juramentum et ſimulacrum. Palus Maeotis et Tanais Maſſagetis. Max. Tyrius. Diſſ. xxxviii.
*
‘Thulitae complures Genios colunt. Aereos, Terreſtres, Marinos et alia minora Daemonia, quae in aquis ſontium et fluminum verſari dicuntur. Procop. Goth. lib. ii.
We may venture to affirm that both Virgil and his old commentator Servius were miſtaken in their etymon of Grynaeus.
His tibi, Grynaei nemoris dicatur origo
Nequis ſit lucus, quo fe plus jacet Apollo.
Virg. Eclog. vi.
‘A Gryna Maeſiae civitate, ubi eſt locus, arboribus multis jucundus, gramine floribuſque variis, omni tempore, veſtitus. Servius in vi. Eclog. There was ſome years ſince a ſtone dug out of the ruins of the Roman pretenture, between the Scottiſh firths, inſcribed to Apollo Grannius. It was an eſtabliſhed maxim of policy among the Romans, rather to adopt the Gods of the nations whom they had ſubdued, than to propagate their own religion among the conquered. Grynaeus and Grannius are evidently derived from the Celtic GRIAN; which is compoſed of CRI, trembling; and TEIN, fire. In the oblique caſes TEIN makes THEIN, which is pronounced EIN, or AN; the conſonants which begin the nominative of Celtic words being invariably quueſcent in the genitive; ſo that CRI-EIN, or CRI-AN, literally ſignifies the trembling fire, in alluſion to the ſun's appearance to the eye. Oſſian countenances this etymon of CRIAN in his addreſs to that luminary. 'Stu CRI aig dorſa n'airdiar. When thou TREMBLEST at the gates of the weſt.
*
Gellach is derived from GEAL, fair or pale. RE ſignifies a ſmooth, and EASGA a wan complection. RE-UL, a ſtar, ſeems to be derived from RE-EIL, as it were another noun: and RINNAC means literally a point or a ſpark of light. The full moon is alſo called LUAN, i. e. [...] which the Luna of the Romans, Vid. ſect. on the Celtic language.
AISE, generally uſed in the Galic language with the article D' or T' prefixed to it, ſignifies a ghoſt or ſpirit. AISE is perhaps the original of the Aſae of the northern nations. ‘Duodecim ſunt Aſae divinis afficiendi honoribus . . . . . . Odinus ſupremus et antiquiſſimus Aſarum.’ Edda Iſland. DE ALMEGTE-AAS, in the language of Scandinavia, ſignifies Almighty God. It is remarkable that the Highlanders, when they ſpeak contemptuouſly of the perſon and parts of any man, call him An D'AISE, or the ghoſt; which is an argument that their anceſtors did not worſhip the AISE, or the ſpirits which reſided in the elements.
*
FIR-UISC, or genuine water, in oppoſition to ſtanding pools, or ſmall brooks, which are ſimply called UISC.
AN LO, the day; by way of eminence.
SOLUS NEAV, the light of heaven. The Roman Sol is perhaps derived from the Celtic SOLUS, which ſignifies light.
Min-thais in Tobair.
BEL-TEIN is a compoſition of BEL, a rock; and TEIN, fire. The firſt day of May is called La Bel tein, or the day of the fire on the rock.
The Armoricans and the Gael of North Britain call the winter, and particularly the month of November, MIS-DU, or the black month; becauſe in that ſeaſon the ſky is generally obſcured with clouds. Lhuyd. Archae. Brit.
*
TEIN-EGIN, or the forced fire. The practice of extracting the TEIN-EGIN is not yet altogether diſcontinued among the ignorant vulgar.
*
Clou-äan BEL-TEIN, i. e. the ſplit branch of the fire on the rock. Thoſe who have ingraſted Chriſtianity on many of the ſuperſtitions of their remoteſt anceſtors have now converted the Clou-än BEL-TEIN into a croſs.
*
Cealta meaſc comhſri nan Sloi'
Do Spairn, CLUGAIR a neart nan ial.
Thionta 'huil dearg bholtach na chean.
Marfin, air Tón frioghach, fa noir
Nuar Shuanas GRIAN-AISE na nial fein
Thic reöda air itta gu tean.
'Sé ſpairn 'Sé ſgarta gu geur.
Fadda 'hâl air [...]huar thir ant' 'heachda,
Chualas gu'—A dhearg—huil mhór;
Laſſa roi ſmal dubrha na h'oicha.
Dhruit ſiol Chrugli do charric na ncós.
*

The Celtic AISE is the fountain from which we ought to derive the [...] dii and AESAR of the ancient Hetrurians, as well as the ANSES or ASES of the northern nations.

[...] dii apud Tyrrhenos. Heſych. ‘Quod AESAR Etruſcâ linguâ Deus vocatur. Sueton. Auguſt. cap. 97.

‘Gothi proceres ſuos . . . . . . . . . Non puros homines ſed ſemideos, id eſt ANSES vocaverunt.’

*
‘Thales PRIMUS dixit animas eſſe immortales. Chaerilus Poeta.
‘Primus nomine Sapientis ornatus. Suidas.
‘Pherecydes Scyrus primus dixit animos hominum eſſe ſempiternos. Cic. Tuſc.

‘Hanc opinionem Pythagoras ejus (ſcilicet Pherecydis) diſcipulus maximè confirmavit. Cic. Tuſc. Quaeſt. lib. i,

[...] Diod. Sicul. lib. xviii.

§
Pauſan, Meſſeniac, xxxii.
See the State of Ancient Europe at the beginning of the Introduction.
Biſhop of Glouceſter's Divine Legation of Moſes.
‘Philoſophiam a Barbaris initium ſumſiſſe aſſerunt. Diog. Laert.
*
‘Philoſophia olim floruit apud Barbares, per gentes reſplendens. Poſtea autem etiam venit ad Graecos. Ei autem profuerunt . . . . . . Gallorum Druidae. Clem. Alex. Strom. lib. i. ‘Eam ſpem quae eſt poſt mortem, non ſolum perſequuntur qui barbaram philoſophiam agnoſcunt, &c. Clem. Alex. Strom. lib. iv. Celtarum ii qui philoſophati ſunt. Clem. Alex. Strom. lib. i.
‘Pirrum Attima, or the GREAT SOUL, who is immaterial, one, inviſible, eternal, and indiviſible, poſſeſſing omniſcience, reſt, will, and power. Dow's Diſſert on the religion of the Indians. ‘—It is a fundamental article in the Hindoo faith, that God is the Soul of the world—and is conſequently diffuſed through all nature. Dow's Diſſert. &c. ‘—Conditor et adminiſtrator mundi Deus univerſum eum pervadit, Strabo, lib. xv.
‘This was the opinion of the emperor Julian, who probably borrowed it from the Gauls, among whom he reſided for many years.’ ‘—Julianus nocte dimidiata exurgens . . . . occulte Mercurio ſupplicabat, quem mundi velociorem ſenſum eſſe, motum mentium ſuſcitantem Theologicae prodidere doctrinae. Amm. Marcell. lib. xvi. ‘—Qui univerſam mundi naturam amplectitur. Dionyſ. Halic. lib. i. ‘—Deus eſt animus per naturam rerum omnem intentus et commeans, ex quo noſtri animi carperentur. Cic. de Nat. Deor. lib. i. ‘—Deus eſt animus per univerſam rerum naturam commeans et intentus, ex quo etiam animalium omnium vita capiatur. Min. Felix, c. 19. ‘Animus per omnes mundi partes commeans et diffuſus, ex quo omnia quae naſcuntur animalia vitam capiunt. Salv. de Provid. lib. i. ‘—Definiverunt quod eſſet Deus, animus per univerſas mundi partes, omnemque naturam commeans atque diffuſus, ex quo omnia quae naſcuntur vitam capiunt. Lactan. Inſtit. lib. i.
‘Unum ex iis quae praecipiunt in vulgus e [...]uit . . . eternas eſſe animas, vitamque alteram ad manes. Pomp. Mela, lib. iii. ‘— [...] Diod. Sic. lib. v. ‘Immortales autem dicunt hi (Druidae) animos eſſe. Strabo, lib iv. ‘—Inter hos Druidae ingeniis celſiores . . . . . deſpectantes humana, pronuntiarunt animas immortales. Amm. Marcell. lib. xv. ‘—Unum illud inſitum erat priſcis illis quos Caſcos appellat (illi enim de Celtis fuere) Ennius, eſſe in morte ſenſum neque exceſſu vitae ſic deleri hominem. Cicer. Tuſc. Quaeſt. lib. i. ‘—Imprimis hoc volunt perſuadere, non interire animas. Caeſar, l. vi. c. 14.
*
‘Pythagoras non [...] ſed [...] eſſe dicit, hoc eſt redire, ſed poſt tempus. Serv. ad Aeneid. iii. ‘—Sententia de [...] antiqua eſt. Primus dogma propoſuit Pythagoras. Auct. Vet.
[...] Diod. Sic. lib. v. ‘— [...] Appian. de antiquis Germanis.
*

‘Lugentur apud quoſdam puerperia, natique deflentur. Pomp. Mela, l. ii. ‘—Natales hominum flebiliter, exequias cum hilaritate celebrant. Val. Max. lib. ii. ‘—Apud plurimos luctuoſa ſunt puerperia, denique recentem natum [...]etu accipit. Controverſum laeta ſunt funera, adeo ut exemptos gaudio proſequantur. Solin. xv.

[...] Herodot. lib. v.

Vobis auctoribus, umbrae,
Non tacitas Erebi ſedes, Ditiſque profundi
Pallida regna petunt; regit idem ſpiritus artus
Orbe alio: longae (canitis ſi cognita) vitae
Mors media eſt. Certe populi, quos deſpicit Arctos,
Felices errore ſuo, quos ille timorum,
Maximus haud urget leti metus. Inde ruendi
In ferrum mens prona viris animaeque capaces Mortis.
Lucan. lib. i.
*
Flath-innis, or noble-Iſland, is the only name in the Gaëlic language for the Heaven of the Chriſtians. The appellation ſpeaks for itſelf.
‘Beatorum inſulae dicuntur eſſe in occidentali oceano. Euſtath. ad Dion. Perieg.
*
Skerr ſignifies in general a rock in the ocean.
A magician is called DRUIDH in the Gaëlic language. This word is the original of the Druidae of the ancients. It ſeems to be a primitive, though ſome have traced its etymon in Dru, or rather Daru, an Oak.
[...] Diod. Sic. lib. v. ‘—Multa praeterea de ſideribus, atque eorum motu, de mundi ac terrarum magnitudine, de rerum natura, de Deorum immortalium vi atque poteſtate diſputant. Caeſar, l. vi. ‘—Inter hos Druidae ingeniis cel [...]ores, . . . . . . . . queſtionibus occultarum rerum altarumque erecti, et deſpectantes humana. Ammian. Marcellin. lib. xv. ‘—Hi terrae mundique magnitudinem et formam, motus coeli ac ſiderum ac quid Dii velint, ſcire pro [...]itentur. Pomp. Mela, lib. iii.
‘Celebratae illae beatorum inſulae dicuntur eſſe in occidentali oceano. Euſtath. ad Dion. Perieg.
§
Vid. Plutarch. de Orac. Defect.
*
There is a great ſimilarity between this paſſage and the romantic deſcription given by Procopius of thoſe whoſe office it was to tranſport departed ſouls to the Celtic Paradiſe.—‘Narrant indignae, ſe id habere munus, ut in orbem, ſua quiſque vice, deducunt animas. Hi, primis tenebris dant ſe ſomno, rei praeſidem expectantes. Intempeſta nocte pulſari fores, ſeque ad opus, obſcura voce, acciri audiunt. Ad littus extemplo vadunt, ignari qua vi impellantur ſed tamen coacti. Paratas ibi Scaphas vident, hominibus penitus vacuas, &c. Procop. Goth. lib. iv.
*
‘Intempeſta nocte pulſari ſores, ſeque, obſcura voce, acciri audiunt. Procop. Goth. lib. iv.
‘Germani mortem contemnunt quia credunt ſe revicturos. Appian. Celt. ‘—Germani contemptu mortis caeteris validiores. Hegeſipp. lib. ii. ‘—Getae cum ſe non mori, ſed aliò migrare exiſtiment, multo paratiores ad ſubeunda pericula. Julian. Caeſar de Trajano.
‘Cimbri in acie exultabant, tanquam glorioſe et feliciter vita exceſſuri. Valer. Max. lib. ii.
‘Nec ſenibus nec aegrotis fas erat vitam producere. Procop. lib. iii.
Prodiga gens animae . . . . . .
Impatiens aevi ſpernit noviſſe ſenectam,
Et fati modus in dextra eſt.
Silius Ital. lib. i.
Conſummatamque ſenectam
Non ferro finire pudet.
Sidon. Apoll. v. 43.
*
‘Septentrionales populi largo ſanguine redundantur. Veget. i. ‘—Sub ſeptentrionibus nutriuntur gentes largo ſanguine. Vitruv. vi.
[...] Herodian. lib. iii.
‘In bello latrociniiſque nati. Caeſar, lib. vi.
§
[...] Diod. Sic. lib. v.
*
‘Galli homines aperti, miniméque inſidioſi, qui per virtutem, non per dolum dimicare conſueverunt. Caeſar de Bello Afric. ‘— [...] Strabo, lib. iii.
‘Hoſpitibus boni miteſque ſupplicibus. Pomp. Mela, lib. iii.
‘Rumoribus atque auditionibus permoti, de ſummis ſaepe rebus conſilia ineunt. Caeſar, lib. iv.
*
‘Eſt autem hoc Gallicae conſuetudinis, ut et viatores, etiam invitos, conſiſtere cogant, et quod quiſque [...]orum de quaqua re audierit aut cognoverit, quaerant. Caeſar, lib. iv.
‘Mortalium omnium erga hoſpites humaniſſimi. Procop. de Aediſ. lib. iii.
[...] Did. Sic. v.
*
[...] Diod. Sic. lib. v.
‘Celtae januas aedium nunquam claudunt, Agath. lib. i.
‘Hoſpites violare, fas non putant, qui quaqua de cauſâ ad eos venerunt, ab injuria prohibent, ſanctoſque habent; iis omnium domus patent, victuſque communicatur. Caeſar, lib. vi.
‘Celtae magna de ſeipſis ſentiunt, Arrian. Exped. Alex.
*
‘Plus per otium tranſigunt, dediti ſomno. Tacit. Germ. lib. xv.
Athenaeus, lib. iv.
[...] Poſidonius apud Athenaeum. [...], &c. Diod. Sic. lib. v.
*
Caeſar, lib. v.
*
[...] Poſidon. apud Athen.
[...] Idem apud eundem.
‘Cornibus barbari ſeptentrionales potant. Plin. lib. xi. ‘Cornua ab labris argento circumcludunt. Caeſar, lib. vi.
[...] Poſid. ubi ſupra.
§
[...] Diod. Sic. lib. v.
*
‘Ductae in eos conventus auxores. Athen. lib. x.
Xenophon. Exped. Cyr. lib. vi.
‘Mulieres etiam ſaltant, una alteram manu tenentes. Strabo, lib. iii.
*
Xenophon. Exped. Cyr. lib. vi.
*
‘Mortem pro joco habent. Athen. lib. iv.
‘Extremo ac noviſſimo jactu, de libertate et de corpore contendunt. Tacit. Germ. lib. xxiv.
*
‘Viguere ſtudia laudabilium doctrinarum inchoata per Bardos. Amm. Marcell. lib. xv.
[...] Diod. Sic. lib. v.
[...] Strabo, lib. iv.
*
‘Celebrabant carminibus antiquis, quod unum apud illos memoriae et annalium genus eſt. Tacit. Germ. lib. ii.
‘Bardi quidem fortia virorum facta, heroicis compoſito verſibus, cum dulcibus lyrae modulis cantitarunt. Amm. Marcell. lib. v.
Vos quoque, qui fortes animos belloque peremptos
Laudibus in longum vates dimittitis aevum,
Plurima ſecuri fudiſtis carmina Bardi.
Lucan. lib. i.
*
‘Bardi quidem fortia virorum illuſtrium facta, heroicis compoſita verſibus, cantitârunt. Amm. Marcell. lib. xv.
‘Celtae hymnorum ſuorum argumentum faciunt, viros qui in proeliis fortiter pugnantes occubuerunt. Aelian. Var. Hiſt. lib. xii.
*
‘Sunt Celtae procerae ſtaturae. Arrian. Exped. Alexandr. ‘—Procerae ſtabant Celtorum ſigna cohortes. Silius Ital. ‘— [...] Diod. Sic. lib. v.
‘Mollia et fluida corpora Gallorum. Tit. Liv. lib. xxxiv.
[...] Diod. Sic. lib. v. ‘—Fuſa et candida corpora. Tit. Liv. lib. xxxviii.
[...] Diod. Sic. lib. v. ‘—Flavis promiſſis crinibus. Plin. ii. ‘—Inde truces flavo comitantur vertice Galli. Claudian. in Rufin. lib. ii.
Arcto â de gente comam tibi, Leſbia, miſi,
Ut ſcires quanta [...]it tua flava magis.
Martial. Epig. v.
*
‘Germani truces et caerulei oculi. Tacit. Germ. lib. iv. ‘—Natio vehementer caeſiis oculis. Herodot. lib. iv.
‘Eulgore nivali corporis Hiſpanus. Silius Ital. lib. xvi.
‘Non multum frumento, ſed maximam partem lacte atque pecore vivunt, multumque [...]unt in venationibus, quae res et cibi genere, et quotidiana exercitatione et libertate vitae (quia a pueris, nullo officio aut diſciplina aſſuefacti, nihil omnino contra voluntatem faciant,) et vires alit, et immani corporum magnitudine homines efficit. Caeſar, lib. iv.
*
[...] Proceriſſimi Celtarum ſunt Britanni. Strabo, lib. iv. ‘—Caledoniam habitantium magni artus Germanicum originem aſſeverant. Tacit. Agric. lib ii. [...] . . . . Strabo, lib. iv.
‘Gallis inſubribus corpora plus quam humana erant. Florus, lib. ii.
[...] Mulieres Celtarun non proceritate tantum viros aequiparant, ſed anim quoque viribus illos aemulantur. Diod. Sic. lib. v.
‘Mulieres in proelium proficiſcentes milites, paſſis manibus implorabant, nec ſe in ſervitutem Romanis traderent. Caeſar, lib. i.
*
‘Memoriâ proditum eſt, quaſdam acies inclinatas jam et labantes, a foeminis reſtitutas, conſtantia praecum et objectu pectorum, et monſtrata cominus captivitate. Tacit. Germ. lib. viii.
‘Conjuges Cimbrorum ea re non impetratâ a Mario, laqueis, nocte proxima, ſpiritum eripuerunt. Valer. Max. lib. vi. ‘Mutuis concidêre (Cimbrorum conjuges) vulneribus. Florus, lib. iii.
‘Ineſſe quinetiam ſanctum aliquid, et providum putant: nec aut conſilia earum aſpernantur aut reſponſa negligunt. Tacit. Germ. lib. viii.
§
‘Vidimus ſub Divo Veſpaſiano Velledam, diu apud pleroſque numinis loco habitam. Sed et olim Auriniam, et complures alias venerati ſunt, non adulatione, nec tanquam facerent Deas. Tacit. Germ. lib. viii.
‘Solitum quidem Britannis foeminarum ductu bellare teſtabatur. Tacit. Ann. lib. xiv. ‘Neque enim ſexum in imperiis diſcennunt. Tacit. Vit. Agric. lib. xvi.
*
Dio. Caſſ. lib. xlii.
*
The general uſe of ſpirits, which has much prevailed of late in Europe, may have contributed to leſſen the ſize of the preſent race. Diſtilled liquors certainly check the growth of the human body; neither is wine itſelf favourable to it. This much is certain, that the inhabitants of the mountains of Scotland have fallen much ſhort of the ſtature and robuſt habit of body of their anceſtors, within this laſt century, during which they have been acquainted with the ſtill. Ale was their common and favourite beverage from all antiquity.
*
[...] Diod. Sic. lib. v.
[...] Celtae pulcherrimas habent uxores. Athen. lib xiii.
‘Intra annum vigeſimum foeminae notitiam habuiſſe, in turpiſſimis habent rebus. Hoc ali ſtaturam, ali hoc vires, nervoſque confirmare putant. Caeſar, lib. vi.
‘Sera juvenum Venus, eóque inexhauſta pubertas. Nec virgines feſtinantur; eademque juventa, ſimilis proceritas, pares, validique miſcentur: ac robora parentum liberi referunt. Tacit. Germ.
Herodot. lib. vi. Nomades non ſunt aratores. Arrian. Indic.
§
Herodot. lib. iv. 46.
‘Germani agriculturae non ſtudent majorque pars victus eorem, in lacte et caſeo et carne con [...]iſtit. Caeſar, lib. iv.
*
‘Quidam Britannorum hortos colendi et aliarum partium agriculturae prorſus ignari ſunt. Strabo, lib. iv.
‘Avenam Germaniae populi ſerunt. Plin. l. xviii. ‘— [...] Dion. Caſſ. lib. xlix.
‘Non ad panem conficiendum ſed ad torrendum. Herodot. lib. iv.
§
‘Ligure [...] utuntur potu hordeaceo; [...] Strabo, lib. iv. ‘—Eſt et Occidentis populis ſua ebrietas, fruge madida. Plin. lib. xiv.—The ancient Celtic nations were acquainted with the method of baking bread with yeaſt. ‘Galliae et Hiſpaniae frumento in potum reſoluto, quibus diximus generibus, ſpumá ita concretâ, pro fermento utuntur, qua de cauſa levior illis quam ceteris panis eſt. Plin. lib. xviii.
‘. . . . [...] Diod. Sic. lib. v.
*
Hic longas noctes ducunt et pocula laeti
Fermento et acidis imitantur vitea ſorbis.
Virg.
‘Apud Germanos ſeparatae ſingulis ſedes et ſua cuique menſa. Tacit. Germ. lib. xxii.
‘Ex eadem materia (fictili) ſunt patinae. Nonnullis patinarum loco, caniſtra lignea vitilibus contexta. Athenaeus, lib. iv.
§
‘Vinum poculis corneis ac ligneis. Diod. Sic.
‘Eſt videre apud Germanos argentea vaſa. Tacit. Germ. lib. v.
*
‘Ei pecudum ſulvis velantur, corpora ſetis. Virg. de Hyperboreis Georg. iii. ‘—Germani gerunt ferarum pelles. Tacit. Germ. lib. xvii.
‘Foeminae ſaepius lineis amictibus velantur, eoſque purpurâ variant. Tacit. Germ. lib. xvii. ‘—Foeminae fatidicae Cimbrorum, albo veſtitu, carbaſinis ſupparis. Strabo, lib. vii.
[...] Diod. Sic. lib. v.
§
‘Lana eorum aſpera. Strabo, lib. v.
[...] Strabo, lib. iv.
**
[...] (populus Hiſpaniae) [...] Strabo further obſerves, that ſuch was the reputation of Spaniſh wool, that a talent was frequently the price of a ram when ſold to other nations. Strabo, lib. iii.
‘Verſicolori veſte, Livius. lib. vii.
‘Locupletiſſimi Germanorum veſte diſtinguuntur ſtrictâ ſingulos artus exprimente. Tacit. Germ. xvii.
*
‘Veſtis alta, ſtricta, verſicolor, vix appropinquans poplitibus (this ſeems to be the jacket and felibeg in one, worn by the Scots of the mountains) manicae ſola brachiorum principia velantes. Sidon. Apol. lib. iv.
*
‘Pedes perone ſetofo, tales aduſque, vinciebantur, Sidon. Apoll. lib. iv.
§
The Learach Carti of the northern Scots.
‘Nec alius foeminis quam viris habitus, niſi quod foeminae ſaepius liniis amictibus velantur, eoſque purpura variant, partemque veſtitûs ſuperioris, in manicas non extendunt nudae brachia et lacertos ſed et proxima pars pectoris. Tacit. Germ. lib. xvii.
[...] Dion. Caſſ. lib. lxii.
. . . . Lactea colla auro innectuntur.
Virg.
§
‘Hiſpanorum mulieres floridis veſtibus ( [...]) utuntur. Strabo, lib. iii.
*
‘Hiſpani linteis praetextis purpura tunicis, candori miro fulgentibus conſtiterant. Livius, lib. xxii.
[...] Strabo, lib. iv. ‘—Auro virgatae veſtes, Sil. Ital. lib. iv.
‘Germani Chlamydes argento variegatas geſtant. Herod. lib. iii.
§
‘Sordes Sarmatarum. Tacit. Germ. xlvi.
‘Statim è ſomno lavantur. Tacit. Germ. xxii. ‘—Germani locis frigidiſſimis lavantur in fluminibus. Caeſar, lib. iv.
*
‘Terſi pari diligentiâ cuncti et mundi, nec in tractibus illis poterit aliquis videri, vel ſoemina, licet perquam pauper, ut alibi fruſtis ſqualere pannorum. Ammian. Marcell. xv.
‘Nec alia Hunnis domeſtica veſtis, alia forenſis, ſed ſemel obſoleti coloris tunica collo inſerta, non ante deponitur, aut mutatur, quam diuturnâ carie in pannos defluxerit, defruſtata. Amm. Marcell. lib. xxxi.
*
‘Hominum in Britanniâ eſt infinita multitudo; creberrimaque aedificia, fere Gallicis conſimilia. Caeſar, lib. v.
[...] Strabo, lib. iv
‘Quaedam loca diligentius illinunt, terra ita pura et ſplendente, ut picturam ac liniamenta colorum imitetur. Tacit. Germ.
§
‘Caſae, more Gallico Stramentis erant tectae. Caeſar, lib. v.
*
[...] Herodian. lib. vii.
§
[...] Dion. Caſſ. lib. xxxix.
‘Congeſtum ceſpite culmeu. Virg. Ecl. i.
*
‘Circumdata ſunt ſylvâ domicilia Gallorum; qui vitandae aeſtus cauſâ, plerumque ſylvarum ac fluminum petunt propinquitates. Caeſar, lib. vi.
‘Statim è ſomno lavantur. Tacit. Germ. lib. xxii.
[...] Dion. Caſſ. lib. xxxix.
§
‘Oppidum Britanni vocant, quum ſilvas impeditus vallo atque foſſa muniverunt. Caeſar. lib. v.
‘Etiam nunc in Britannico oceano naves vitiles corio circumſutae fiunt. Plin. lib. vii.
*

‘Carinae primum et ſtatumina ex levi materia fiebant, reliquum corpus n [...]vium viminibus contextum coriis integibatur, cujus generis eum uſus Britanniae docuerat. Caeſar, Bel. Civ. lib. i.

‘Mare quod inter Britanniam et Hiberniam interluit, navigant vimineis alveis, quos circumdant ambitione bubul [...]rum. Solin. xxv.

Tacit. Germ, xlvi.
[...] Procop lib. iv.
§
‘Suionum civitates, in ipſo oceano, claſſibus valent. Tacit. Germ. xlvi.
‘Sunt qui et alias prodant, Scandiam, Dumnam, Bergos maximamque omnium Nerig [...]n; ex qua in Thulen navigetur. Plin. lib. iv.
*
[...] Diod. Sic. lib. v.
‘Itinere pedeſtri per Galliam ad oſtia Rhodani deportant. Diod Sic. lib. v.
[...] Strabo, lib. iv.
§
Diod. Sic. lib. v.
*
‘Britanni dimicant non equitatu modo aut pedite verum et Bigis et curribus. Pomp. Mela, lib. iii.
[...] In itineribus utuntur Bigis. Diod. Sic. lib v.
‘Nil tam conſpicuum in triumpho, quàm rex ipſe Bituitus, diſcoloribus armis, argenteoque carpento, qualis pugnaverat. Florus, lib. iii.
§
‘Nec regibus infinita aut libera poteſtas. Tacit. Germ.
‘Eliguntur in iiſdem conciliis et principes, qui jura per pagos, vicoſque reddunt. Tacit. Germ. xii.
*
‘Coeunt omnes certis diebus. Tacit. xi.
‘Libertatem natura, mutis etiam animalibus datam. Civilis apud Tacit. Hiſt. lib. iv.
‘Nihil parare quod amittere timeant. Juſtin. lib. ii.
§
‘Nec aliud ſibi reliquum quam tenere libertatem, aut mori ante ſervitutem. Tacit. Ann. lib. ii.
*
‘Reges auctoritate ſuadendi magis quam jubendi poteſtate. Tacit. Germ.
*
[...] Statu populari plurimum reguntur. Dion. Caſſ. de Caledoniis, lib. lxxvi. ‘—Coeunt certis diebus. Tacit. Germ. ‘—De majoribus omnes. Tacit. Germ. ‘—Antiquitus unum quotannis principem, itemque belli ducem multitudo diligebat. Strabo de Gallis, lib. iv.
Diod. Sic. de Britannis, lib. v.
‘Plus (apud Celtas) boni mores valent, quam alibi bonae leges. Tacit. Germ. xviii.
‘Juſtitia gentis ingeniis culta, non legibus . . . . quippe divitiarum cupido eſt, ubi et uſus. Juſtin. lib. ii. ‘—Juſtiffimi hominum quia communia haben bona. Nicol. Damaſc. apud Stob. S. lib. xxxvii.—So diſtinguiſhed for juſtice were the Celtae, that Agathias ſays, ‘Januas aedium nunquam claudunt. Lib. i.
*
‘Latrocinia nullam habent infamiam, quae extra fines cujuſque civitatis fiunt. Caeſar, lib. vi.
‘Gallica in foederibus inconſtantia. Polyb. lib. ii. ‘Foedifraga gens. Sid. Apoll. lib. vi.
§
‘Nullos mortalium armis aut fide ante illos eſſe. Tacit. Ann. lib. xiii.
Sueton. Neron. xxxiv.
*
‘Rigido jus dicitur enſe. Ovid. Triſt. lib. v. ‘—Libido cuncta armis agendi. Tacit. Ann. lib. xiii. ‘—Cum controverſias invicem habent, arma ſumunt, et tanquam aperto marte congrediuntur; et putantur juſtiora dicere, qui adverſarium occidunt. Nicol. Damaſ. ap. Stobaeum, lib. viii.
‘Corbis et Orſica patru [...]les fratres, de principatu civitatis ambigentes, ferro ſe certaturos profeſſi ſunt. Livius, lib. xxviii.
‘Nonnunquam etiam de principatu Druidae armis contendunt. Caeſar, lib. vi.
*
‘Dextero Suevici maris litore Aeſtiorum gentes aluuntur: quibus ritus habitus Suevorum, lingua Britannicae proprior. Tacit. Germ. xlv.
‘Scordiſci Galli. Strabo, lib. vii. ‘Baſtarnae Scordiſcis lingua et moribus aequales. Livius, lib. xl.
‘Sermo haud multum diverſus. Tacit. Agric. xi.
§
‘Gothinos Gallica lingua coarguit. Tacit. Germ. xliii.
‘Galli occidua Europae uſque ad Gades incolunt. Strabo, lib. ii.
**
Juſtin. xxxii.
*
[...] Strabo, lib. iv.
Strabo ſays, that the nations of Gaul differed very little from one another in point of language [...] Strabo, lib. iv.
*
‘Bocchus abſolvit Gallorum veterum propaginem Umbros eſſe. Solin. viii. ‘Umbros veterum Gallorum propaginem eſſe Marcus Antonius refert. Servius in Aeneid. xii.
‘Zenodotus Traezenius qui Umbrorum hiſtoriam conſcripſit narrat Sabinos pro Umbris appellatos. Dionyſ. Halic. lib. ii.
*
‘Vereſimile barbarici etiam generis reliquias nonnullas e vicinis et priſcis incolis cum Graecis ſe conjunxiſſe. Dionyſ. Halic. lib. ii. Be that as it will, the Sabins were received into the city of Rome under Titus Tatius; and the Sabins were Umbri, and the Umbri Gaël.
*
Lhud's Archae. Britan.
*
Lhud's Archae. Britan.
Pronounced Avon.
From Ban, or Bean, woman; and Cilla, pronounced Killa, ſervant. It is obſervable that the C of the Latin is pronounced invariably like K in the Gaëlic language; which is a kind of proof that the Romans pronounced it in the ſame way; for inſtance, the Latin Cera, (wax) is pronounced KER in the Galic, though it is always written Ger.
Lhud's Archae. Britan.
Or Cent, pronounced Kent.
*
Cingal, pronounced Kingul, ſignifies literally any thing that is wrapped round the waiſt.
From Car, turning round; in alluſion to the wheels.
As in Di-Luar, Monday.
§
From Fea, a vein; and Bras, quick; literally a quick pulſe.
Literally ruſhing fire.
*
From Lader, ſtrong; in alluſion to the force uſed by robbers.
Luan is literally the full moon, from Lan, ſull.
Mor, greatneſs emphatically.
§
Mattin literally good or precious light.
Pronounced Aikean, or Aigen.
*
Dion Caſſius ſays, that this was the act of Ant. Caracalla, but other writers of credit affirm the contrary. It was only, perhaps, the freedom of Latium that was extended to the provinces by Antoninus Pius; that of the city by Caracalla.
*
‘Sarmatae equo viventes. Tacit. Germ. xlvi. ‘—Equis prope affixi Sarmatae. Amm. Marcell. lib. xxxi.
Zozim. lib. vi.
‘In ipſis (equis) cibum ſumunt et potum, et inclinati cervice anguſtae jumenti, in altum ſoporem ad uſque varietatem effunduntur ſomniorum. Et deliberatione ſuper rebus propoſita ſeriis, hoc habitu omnes in commune conſultant. Amm. Marcell. lib. xxxi.
§
‘Sanguinis potator equini. Virg. Georg. iii. Plin. lib. xviii.
Pauſan. Attic. xxi.
**
‘Connubiis mixtis utuntur Sarmatae. Tacit. Germ. xlvi.
*
‘Gens bellatrix, libers, indomita, et uſque eò immanis atque atrox ut foeminae etiam bella cum viris ineant. Pomp. Mela, lib. iii.
‘Arcus tandere, equitare, venari, puellaria penſa ſunt; ferire hoſtem adultarum ſtipendium eſt; adeo ut non percuſſiſſe, pro flagitio habeatur, ſitque eis poenae virginitas. Pomp. Mela, lib. iii. ‘— [...] (Vandalorum) [...] Dion. Caſſ. lib. lxxi.
Vid. Character, Manners, &c. of the Ancient Britiſh Nations.
§
‘Viſtula amne diſcreta Sarmatia. Pomp. Mela, lib. iii.
‘Peucinorum, Venedorum, et Fennorum nationes Germanis an Sarmatis adſcribam dubito. Sordes omnium ac torpor; procerum connubiis mixtis, nonnihil in Sarmatarum habitum foedantur. Tacit. Germ. xlvi.
Marcomanni ſignifies borſe-men in the Celtic language; a proof of their Sarmatic origin.
§
‘Pannonias ergo, et Marcomannis, Sarmatis Vandalis extinctis, ſervitio liberavit. Capitolin. in Antonin. Philoſoph. xvii.
[...] (ſcilicet bello Vandalico et Marcomannico) [...] Dion. Caſſ.
*
‘Ab aquilone barbarae feraeque nationes Sarmatarum domitae. Pomp. Lat. lib. lxxi.

‘Ex Scanzia, cum regi ſuo, nomini Berich, Gothi quondam memorantur egreſſi. Jornandes ſub initium libri de rebus Gothices.

‘Gothi ſiquidem, Wandalique, nec non etiam aliae feroces et barbarae nationes e Germaniâ ab inſulâ quae Scandinavia dicitur prodierunt. Paul. Diac. lib. i.

‘Vandeli, quorum pars Burgundiones, Varini, Carini, Angli, Guttones. Plin. lib. iv.
§
‘Aviones et ANGLI, et Varini, fiuminibus et ſylvis muniuntur. Tacit. Germ. xl.
*
[...]
[...] Zoſim. lib. iii.
‘Erupit Saxonum multitudo, et oceani difficultatibus permeatis Romanum limitem gradu patebat intento. Amm. Marcell. lib. xxvii.
The Franks and Saxons infeſted the coaſt of Gaul in the reign of Diocleſian. Eutrop. lib. ix.
*
‘Sufficere illis queat lardum apri, qui Scrimner vocatur. Is quotidie elixatur, ſed veſpere integer remanet. Edda Iſland. Mythol. xxxiii.
‘In craniis inimicorum brevi bibam in praeſtantis Odini Aula. Regn. Lodbrog.
‘Recreatio autem mono heroum quotidiana haec eſt . . . mutuis ſternentur caedibus. Hic illorum ludus. Inſtanti vero prandii tempori omnes incolumes in aulam equitant et ad potandum confident. Edda Iſland. Mythol. xxxv.
*
The Sarmatae, it ſeems, carried their favourite animal, the horſe, into their paradiſe.
‘Truncum ligni non parvae magnitudinis, in altum erectum ſub dio colabant, patria eorum linguâ, IRMINSUL appellantes quod Latinè dicatur univerſalis columna quaſi ſuſtinens omnia. Adam Berm. vi.
‘Mors omnium Scytharum deus; ei pro ſimulacris enſes. Pomp. Mela, lib. ii.
*
‘Suecis trium deorum erectae imagines habebantur, Thor, Odin, et Frea. Ericus Olaus, lib. i.
‘Unum Deum fulguris effectorum ſolum agnoſcunt. Procop. Goth. ib. i.
‘Thor praeſidet in aëre, tonitrus et fulmina, vent [...]s imbreſque, ſerena et fruges gubernat. Thor cum ſceptro Jovem exprimere videtur. Adam. Brem. ccxxxiii.
Paul. Diacon. Hiſt. Longob. lib. i.
*
‘In commune Hertham, id eſt, terram matrem, colunt. Eſt in inſula oceani caſtum nemus, dicatum in eo vehiculum veſte contectum. Sacerdos adeſſe deam penetrali intelligit vectamque bobus feminis multa cum veneratione proſequitur. Laeti tunc dies, feſta loca quaecunque adventu hoſpitioque dignatur. Non bella ineunt, non arma ſumunt clauſum omne ferrum: pax et quies tunc tantum nota, tunc tantum amata, donec ſacerdos Deam templo reddat. Tacit. Germ. lx.
‘Helam vero in Nifflheimum demiſit, [...] imperiumque dedit ſuper mundos novem, ut manſiones inter eos qui ad ipſum mittuntur, diſtribuat. Hic ſunt omnes ex morbis et ſenio mortui homines. Edda Iſland. Mythol. xxviii.
‘In acie exultabant, tanquam glorioſe et feliciter vita exceſſuri. Lamentabantur in morbo quaſi turpiter et miſerabiliter perituri. Valer. Max. lib. ii.
*
The Druids, conſidering the Divinity as the pervading ſpirit which gave life and motion to the whole body of nature, formed no ideas of him as a perſonal exiſtence.
*
‘Suionum hinc civitates, in ipſo oceano, claſſibus valent. Tacit. Germ. xliv.
‘Eſt apud illos et opibus honos; eoque unus imperitat, nullis exceptionibus, non precario jure parendi. Tacit. Germ. xliv.
‘Subitos hoſtium incurſus prohibit Oceanus. Tacit. Germ. xliv.
§
‘Foemina dominatur: non modo à libertate, ſed etiam à ſervitute degenerant. Tacit. Germ. lxv.
‘Rugii et Limovii; omniumque harum gentium inſigne . . . . erga reges obſequium. Tacit. Germ. xlvi.
*
‘Gothones regnantur, paulo jam adductius quam ceterae gentes. Tacit. Germ. xliii.
‘Reges habent ex genere antiquos. Adam. Brem.
‘Nondum tamen ſupra libertatem. Tacit. Germ. xliii. ‘—Rex apud eos modicae aeſtimationis eſt. Helmold. de Rugiis, lib. ii.
§
‘Quod in commune laudaverint omnes illum confirmare oportet. Adam. Brem. ubi ſupra.
‘In proelium euntes omnem praebent obedientiam regi. Adam. Brem.
**
‘Neque animadvertere, neque vincere, neque ver [...]erare permiſſum. Tacit. Germ. vii.
*
[...] Procop. Rer. Gothic. lib. i.
‘Ne honore quidem ac reverentiâ inter eos rex potiebatur. Theod.
[...] Procop. Rer. Goth. lib. ii.
‘Regem aliquando interfecerunt, nullam ob aliam cauſam niſi quod ſub nullius imperio eſſe vellent. Vid. Procop. in eod. libro.
‘Apud hos, ritu veteri poteſtate depoſitâ removetur, ſi ſub eo fortuna titubaverit belli, vel ſegetum copiam negaverit terra . . . . . at ſacerdos eſt perpetuus, obnoxius diſcriminibus nullis, ut reges. Amm. Marcell. lib. xxviii.
*
‘Coeunt certis diabus. Ut turbae placuit conſidunt armati. Mox rex, vel princeps, prout aetas cuique, prout nobilitas, prout decus bellorum, prout facundia audiuntur. Si diſplicuit ſententia, ſremitu aſpernantur, ſin placuit frameas concutiunt. Tacit. Germ. xi.
††
‘Omnes puberes armati convenire cogebantur. Caeſar, lib. v.
*
‘Armatum multitudinis concilium. Caeſar, lib. v.
‘De majoribus omnes. Tacit. Germ. xi.
‘Licet apud conſilium accuſare quoque, et diſcrimen capitis intendere. Tacit. Germ. xii.
‘Eliguntur in iiſdem conciliis centeni ſingulis (regibus) ex plebe comites conſilium ſimul et auctoritas. Tacit Germ. xii.
‘In pace decus, in bello praeſidium. Tacit. Germ. xiii.
§
‘Mos eſt civitatibus ultro ac viritim conferre principibus, vel armentorum, vel frugum aliquid; quod pro honore acceptum etiam neceſſitatibus ſubvenit. Tacit. Germ. xv.
‘Pars mulctae regi exſolvitur. Tacit. Germ. xii.
*
‘Proditores et transfugas arboribus ſuſpendunt. Tacit. Germ. xii.
‘Ignavos et imbelles et corpore infames, coeno et palude, injecta inſuper crate, mergunt. Tacit. Germ. xii.
‘In antiqua Saxonia, ſi virgo in paternâ domo, vel maritata ſub conjuge ſit adulterata; manum propriâ ſtrangulatam cremant; aut cingulo tenus veſtibus abſciſſis, flagellant eam caſtae matronae, et de villa in villam miſſae occurrunt novae flagellantes, et cultellis pungunt, donec interimant. Bonifacius Epiſcopus, in epiſtolâ ad Ethelbaldum, Anglorum regem.
§
‘Luitur enim etiam homicidium certo armentorum et pecorum numero, receptique ſatisfactionem univerſadomus. Tacit. Germ. xii.
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Zitationsvorschlag für dieses Objekt
TextGrid Repository (2020). TEI. 4792 An introduction to the history of Great Britain and Ireland By James Macpherson. University of Oxford Text Archive. . https://hdl.handle.net/21.T11991/0000-001A-5946-2