20 CRANIA BEITANNICA. [CHAP. II.
As one noteworthy result of these observations of Mi-. Bateman may be mentioned the
^screpancy m the order of his cranial forms with those of the Scandinayian antiquaades and of
Mr. Wilde. They uniformly ascribe the short, rounded form, brachy-cephalic, to the earliest
then' Tnramc, inhabitants. Mr. Bateman, on the other hand, finds the most opposite shape, the
dohcho-cephahc, or kiimbe-cephalic, the elongated or boat-shaped skull, to appertain to the
prmutive mhabitants; and it is only the next presumed race in succession which presents the
brachy-cephalic cranium ; - fact s that are ii-reconcilable with the doctrines of the Scandinavian
ethnologists, whether based upon the phUological views of Arndt, Bask and others or the
antiquarian researches of Eschriclit and NUsson; and ahke discordant with Prichard's
AUophyhan hyi^othesis. And again, another discrepancy may be noted, which if it does
not distiu-b the order of sequence, assui-edly does not tend to con&m it. Professor Nilsson
connects the brachy-cephalic, Tm-anic or AUophyhan people with the stone period of the
learned Coimcillor of State, Thomsen, of the Museum of Northern Antiquities at Copenhagenand
it IS only lus thu'd or Celtic race, possessing the intermediate form of skull, who introduced
the bronze period of the same antiquary. With this view Mi-. Bateman's observations have no
coherence. He not merely finds the kmnbe-cephalic cranium to belong to the aborigmal race
of the eai-hest stone period, but he considers the brachy-cephahc people to have existed at the
begmmng of the hronze period; doctrines which appear to disjoint all the connexions laid down
by the Scandmavian archaeologists. At the same time we ai-e fully awai-e both of there bein^
no absolute necessity that the order of sequence of races should be identical in Britain and i^
the northern countnes, and of the prevalence of much discrepancy of views upon these matters
amongst northern antiquaries*.
Previous to the publication of Mi-. Bateman's views, Mi-., now Professor, Daniel Wilson in
his most attractive volume on the Antiquities of the Northern portion of our Islandt had o-iven
a fuU exposition of the ophiions of the Scandhiavian archaeologists respecting the ditFerent Lms
of cramimi attached to the people of their ages of stone, hrome, and ¿.o^^extendino- and
illustratmg the subject by fresh examples beautifiiUy figm-ed and carefuUy measiu-ed His
opmions, however, and those of Mi-. Bateman who foUowed him in pubhcation, are in general
agreement, as to the succession of forms, and therefore equally at variance with the northern
authorities. He distinctly enumerates the skuUs thus : - " 1st, Primitive Dohcho-cephaHc or
Kumbe-cephaHc; 2nd, Brachy-cephahc; 3rd, Celtic;" and in his concludmg remarks after
very properly achnitting that "the data ai-e much too few to justify the dogmatic assertion of
any general inferences," uses this language : - "No t the least interesting indications which these
results afford, both to the ethnologist and the archaeologist, are the evidences of native primitive
races m Scotland prior to the intrusion of the Celtae; and also the probabihty of these races
ha^-mg succeeded each other in a diflPerent order from the primitive colonists of Scandinavia
Of the former fact, viz. the existence of primitive races prior to the Celtae, I thinlv no doubt can
now be entertained. Of the order of theh- succession, and the exact share in the chancres and
progressive development of the native arts which the archaeologist detects, we still stand in
need of further proof; and the assumed primeval position of the kumbe-cephalic race of
Scotland is advanced here only interrogatively, and with a view of inducmg others to take up
the same interesting inquiry J . "
CLIAP. I I . ] VIEWS OP PRECEDING OBSERVERS. 21
* ZurAlterthumskunde des Nordensvon J . J . A. VVorsaae,
S. 46, u. s. w. 1847; and Primeval Antiquities of Denmark,
p. 127, 1849.
t The Archeology and Prehistoric Annals of Scotland,
chap. ix. 1851.
i Ibid. p. 177. The reader of Dr. Wilson's most pleasing
It will have been already noticed that Tacitus describes the colour of the hair of the native
tribes of Britain as differing materially—that of the Caledonians being ruddy, whilst that of the
Silures was dark. This subject, colour of hair and comidexion, comprehends questions that have
been discussed somewhat vehemently, and about which opinions are by no means very decided, as
is not to be wondered at when the evidence derived from the same people at the present day by
different observers is so contradictory *. In a very unpretending pamphlet, a recent competent
witness, who determined to examine the question of the colour of the hau- of the present inhabitants
of Britain for himself extensively, without any foregone conclusion, gives us the result of
his observations in a tabulated formf. This smaU publication is a summary of much attentive
research, and deserves to be considered in this place. From it we at once leai-n in the general, that
those sharp distinctions, so common to theorists and cui-sory observers, do not properly apply to
the colour of the hair and eyes. On the contrary, the most opposite colours run into each other
by a great variety of intermediate shades. They occur also in the same district, inhabited by
people of the same origin, so as to lead us fan-ly to the inference, that in aU probability the
primeval Britons themselves presented a great diversity of shades in their hair—that they
no more agreed with certain races, as the North American Indians, the Esquimaux and
Mongohans, in esiiibiting a unifoi-m hue of hau-, than the present inhabitants of Britain.
This inference, which we now mention as probable, we shaU be able subsequently to estabKsh by
reference to examples from the bai-rows. Dr. Beddoe goes even further than this, and thinks he
discovers some affinity between what have been regarded as the colours most discordant, red or
clear bright yeUow and black. He says he frequently observes them together, and refers to Wiltshire
where both are remarkably rare. AUuding to Prichard's statement that m the Western
Highlands, beUeved to be the retreats of the purest Celtic breeds, the prevalent characters
are " rather dark brown hau-, uncurled, with a comidexion not very fair, but with grey eyes,"
which Dr. Beddoe considers to be accurate, he teUs us:—" I did not find black hair at all
confined to particular districts: it appeared to be common in aU parts of the HigMands, as
compared with those parts of England and the Scottish Lowlands, where the poijulation is
supposed to be pretty piu-ely Teutonic. It is also common in the borders of GaUoway. But
in some districts this frequency is exaggerated. In Ayrshire, where hair of a clear bright
yeUow seems very common, that which is coal-black is not much less so. In Kintail black
hau- is smgidarly common, but the proportion of fair han- (chiefly yellowish) is above the
average. Red hah- is more frequent in Marr than in any other district I have visited; and here too
a coal-black hue is very common." The foUowing is Dr. Beddoe's account of the other physical
characters of the Western Highlanders:—" Complexion generally dark or sallow —a t least
more commonly so than in any other district I am acquainted with. Eyes generally clear light
grey, passing into various shades of darkish grey; often blue; sometimes black and piercing;
seldom or never hazel. Eyelashes dark. Pace oval, and generaUy narrow in women; but in
and instructive volume will perceive that only a slight attempt
appears to have been made to discriminate the sexes to which
the skulls might be referred ; and that the number of examples
IS obviously quite inadequate for any trustworthy conclusion ;
further inquiry has produced a serious question of the authenticity
of some of the series. The skulls of the supposed Druids
of lona and the Hebrides Dr. Thurnam has ascertained are
doubtless those of Christian monks of the eighth or ninth century.
* See an Essay on the Physiognomy and Physiology of the
Present Inhabitants of Britain, by the Rev. T. Price, 1829 ;
who was so far devoted to the efficacy of external influences in
modifying man, that he attributed the black colour of the
iris, more prevalent in certain parts of the country than others,
to the use of coal fires ; and actually supposed the fuliginous
fumes and the coal-black eye to be conterminous.
t A Contribution to Scottish Ethnology, by John Beddoe,
B.A., M.D., 1853.