18 CEANIA BRITANNICA. [OHAP. II. Chap. II.] VIEWS OP PEECEDING OBSEEVEES. 19
of Europe in the very earliest times. Prichard embraces it amongst his AUophylian races, or
perhaps may more truly he said to make it the foimdation of liis AUophyUans. To this people,
presumed to have heen thus extensively dispersed, and about whom the learned \vi-iters of
Scandinavia appear to be pretty unanimous, the term Turanio has been applied. Eetzius
ascribes to them a short and roimd skull, with a flattish occiput, having scarcely any tuberosity,
whilst the parietal protuberances are prominent; and assigns to this form of craniimi his
epithet of bracliy-cephalic. Those whom he regards to be theii- living representatives, he says,
have black haii-, brown eyes, and are of a short stature*. Prof. Eetzius's views concerning the
Celtic skull may be collected from what follows. He says, in living persons of the Celtic race,
chiefly hi Prance and England (in the sense of Britam, no doubt), the cranitun has a form
peculiarly long, compressed at the sides, narrow and mostly low in the forehead. Yet this is
not the common Celtic shape, which is somewhat broader, and not quite so compressed. He
fui-ther points out the peculiarities of the Cimbric Celtic skuH, which he adds occurs here and
there in southern Sweden and in Denmai-k, and is somewhat broader stm+. On another
occasion, again aUuding to the living representatives of the Celtic race, he remarks, they have a
higher stature than the Tui-anic people, long oval, narrow skulls, having a long compressed
occiput, and black haii-, mostly straight. To this division of crania he applies the term doUcliooephalic.
Dr. Knox's graphic delineation of the Celtic race, derived fi-om its modern representatives,
although too discui-sive to be quoted entire, must not be passed over :—" War is the game for
which the Celt is made. Herein is the/orfe of his physical and moral character. In stature
and weight as a race inferior to the Saxon; limbs muscular and vigorous; torso and arms
seldom attaining any very large development—hence the extreme rarity of athletfe amongst the
race; hands broad; fingers squared at the points; step elastic and springy; in muscular
energy and rapidity of action sm-passing aU other European races. Gceteris pariius—t]iAi is,
weight for weight, age for age, statui-e for stature,—the strongest of men. Jealous on the
point of honom-, his self-respect is extreme; admitting of no practical jokes; an admirer of
beauty of colour and beauty of form, and therefore a liberal patron of the fine arts. Inventive,
imaginative, he leads the fashions aH over the civilized world. His taste is excellent. The
musical ear of the race is tolerably good. In literature and science they follow method and
order, and go up uniformly to a principle; in the ordinary affairs of Ufe, they despise order,
economy, cleanliness; of tomorrow they take no thought; regular labour, unremitting, steady,
imiform, productive labour—^they hold in absolute horror and contempt. Irascible, warmhearted,
fuU of deep sympathies, dreamers on the past, uncertain, treacherous, gallant and
brave. They are not more courageous than other races, but they are more warlike i . "
The late Dr. Gustaf Kombst describes the characters of his Celtic race in the following
* In the year 1852, the Society of Sciences at Haarlem,
•srith the most laudable purpose of putting the philological
conjectures of Amdt, Rask, Rudolf Keyser and others to the
test of proof, proposed to award one of their prizes to a description
of the Laplanders and Basques, with their cranial
peculiarities, including an examination and comparison of each,
to be accompanied with specimens of the skulls themselves.
Such a rational inyestigation fairly conducted would in all probability
remove the hypothesis out of the domain of speculation,
and give it a real footing, or dissipate it altogether.
f Kraniologisches. Aus dem Schwedischen vom Fr. Creplin,
Miillcr's Archiv, 1849, p. 575. Professor Owen has
already made the remark, " that although many skulls may be
classed as 'long' and 'short,' such a distinction is artiificial,
and groups together individual skulls from various natural
races of mankind."—Catalogue of Osteological Series, p. 880.
J The Races of Men, by Robert Knox, M.D., p. 319, 1850.
This description of the Celtic race, especially of its moral characteristics,
is fully corroborated by Mr. Ellis in his • Irish
Ethnology, socially and politically considered,' and by the late
^gi-ms ; " Physiological: The skull elongated from front to back, moderate in breadth and
length; dark sallow complexion; dark brown eyes and black hair, with a disposition to turn
grey at an early age, and to fall out, constitutmg bald head, commonly not curled; middle
size; not slender make; legs curved somewhat inwards, as in females; narrow chest; narrow
hips; face and upper part of skull the exact form of an oval; heels and ankles slender; feet
smaU; temperament bilious, and bilious-nervous prevailing. Intellectual and moral: Quickness
of perception; great powers of combination and application; love of equality of society, of
amusement and glory; want of candour and prudence." Of this picture we may observe that it
appears to be more ideal than exact.
Dr. E. G. Latham, in his comprehensive work on the Varieties of Man, gives the following
summary of the physical conformation of the Celts, who appear to constitute one of the gi-eat
divisions of his Japetidffi, the " Occidental Japetidffi" Pre-eminently (according to Eetzius)
dolikhokephaUc. Cheek-bones prominent; complexion, referable to—a. The Silurian type.—
Eyes and hair black: complexion dark, with a ruddy tinge; chiefly found in South Wales.
h. The Ribernian type.—Eyes grey; han- yellowish, red, or sandy; complexion light*."
Mr. Bateman, an antiquary, who, from imparting the quality of exactness to his observations,
renders them worthy of great respect, gives this account of the remains of the ancient
people of north Derbyshire, probably the Cornavii of Ptolemy, from a very extensive investigation
of their barrowsf. Mr. Bateman expresses some degree of reserve, lest his facts
should be too scanty for generalization. He says, those barrows which contain chambers and
galleries formed of immense stones (chambered barrows) may be assigned to the most remote
antiquity. In these an elongated and boat-shaped skull (kumbe-cephalic of Dr. D. Wilson) has
imiformly been foimd by him, rarely accompanied by any iastrmnents, but in one or two
instances by arrow points of flint, besides bones of the ox, hog, deer, and of the dog family. The
next description of barrow may be distinguished by being of less size, and covering a cist made
to contain one or two bodies only. The crania obtained from these barrows are of the short,
roimd form, with full or swelling sides, though they sometimes present a little variation. The
other bones indicate a tall and well-grown population, only just beginning to employ metallic
implements. The fiu-ther contents of these barrows are beads of bone and Kimmeridge coal, a
few small awls of bronze, some trifling bronze ornaments, and pottery decorated in a variety of
patterns formed by combinations of straight and angular lines. In the period of a third class of
barrows the use of bronze for weapons and implements had become general, and in barrows of
this class daggers and celts, or axes of bronze, are common. There does not, says Mr. Bateman,
appear to be any great difference in the form of the skull of those who lived in these early
metallm-gic ages ; the prevailing formation is still a shortened one. Lastly, the barrows of the
iron age, wherein we find interment by inhumation to have been most extensively practised,
present crania which approximate much more nearly to the oval form of the heads of the
modern race now inhabiting the same coimtry. The bones of the leg and thigh prove the
people to have been frequently taU. Iron weapons, generally a knife or spear, and sometimes a
sword, occm- in these barrows i.
brilliant Irish orator Mr. Shiel in his " Sketches." The latter,
however, more ingeniously than ingenuously, attributes its imperfections,
not to natural propensities, but to political influences.
* The Natural History of the Varieties of Man,p.530,1850.
t Professor Phillips thinks the highlands of Derbyshire
may have been part of the district of the Brigantes.—Rivers,
Mountains and Sea Coast of Yorkshire, p. 198, 1853.
t These latter are doubtless tumuli of the Anglo-Saxon period.
Mr. Bateman's views are contained in a paper in the
Journ. of the Brit. Archseol. Soc. vol. vii. He considers them
to be confirmed by his subsequent researches.
B 2