such by all writers of all ages* What a lion is to an ass*
&uch is a Goth to a Celt.” p
Dr. Macculloeh, who however was a writer of a -very/dif-
ferent class from Mr. Pinkerton, has adoptednhis notions concerning
the phy si cal c h arac ters of the Celts, and has confirmed
them as far as general and somewhat vagu e-assertions ean be
thought to afford confirmation.*
The opinions of Mr. Pinkerton and Dr. Macculloch havebe'te
fully.diseussed and refuted in an ingeniouswork written expressly
with that view by the Rev. T. Price. To that work I beg?to refer
my; readers w^are:desl«ou%ofestimatingthe merits of this controversy
$. and I should now go. on to collect what evidence the
ancients have given.respecting the physical; characters of bhe
Celts^weraat-not in the first place necessary, to advert-to what
has been said on this. subject by a writer. whose*opimon's-are
on all occasions entitled, though not fpi^pMci^eonfidence, yet
certainly to a most attentive and deferential consideration;- In
the first edition of Niebuhr’s Roman histoiyy'publishedfindM2,
there is an admirable and striking portraiture of the Gauls who
attackedRome,containingthe general results;of the information
left by the ancient writers respecting the physical chamcterfand
habits.ofjhe Celts^ NiebuhrV expressions are so coficise -and
characteristic that I am unwillingto weaken themby translation
In describing the personal attire of the Gauls, he says, ‘4;Mit
Gold schmückte sickyeder wohlhabende
in der Schlacht nackt erschien* so trug er doeh gbldnexEetten
an den Annen, und dicke goldne Ringe um den Hate Ihre
bunten, gewürfelten, mit Regenbogenfarben schimmernden
Mäntel sind noch die mahlerische Tracht ihrer Stammgenossen
* Dr- Macculloch, though highly informed and distinguished on subjects con-
neaeted with geology, was so ignorant of ethnography as to suppose the Celt® a Semitic
race. I mention this circumstance in order to prove that the characteristic
distinction of human raceswas a subject to which he only directed his attention incidentally.
A writer under such circumstances who was led to make for a particu-
lar purpose some not very profound inquiries into the history of the Highlanders,
was likely to prefer the authority of such ä man as Pinkerton, of clear and strong
seßse, though somewhat peremptory and wrong-headed, to the weak and childish
dreams of the Celtic antiquarians who had preceded him, and who descant with
amazing absurdity through entire volumes upon their Phoenician, Punic, Scythian,
Spanish, and Magogian .aneestryi
der Berg-Schotten, welche die Brakken der alten Gallier abgelegt1
haben. Grosse Körper, ein- langes struppichtes gelbes
Haar, wilde * Zugs, machtenrihren Anblick furchtbar : ihre
Gestalt,.ihr wilder- Math, ihre uneiauessliuKe JÜahl* der betäubende’.
Darm einer Ungeheuern Menge Hörner und Trompeten
bey ihren Heeren, und diegsäiÄfcen Verwüstungen welche
dem«' Siege folgten, lähmten die Völker welche sie überzogen
In the last'edition of-his Roman* history Niebuhr bas made
sorrte^laiifee in* Ms* descripribffbf tbb-'Gaufej but none, as it'
appear^, in his‘opinion. He shys- that on-this- subject’ he had
bete honoured 'by a letter-full *of information from an- a-Uony-
m bus British Scholar, wbO-äsShred himthat all the-Celts now have
black hair,and hence infers that in all ÄöSepässageä quoted in
tbefi-rst- editionwhicbäsdribed tö th at peopley ellb w hair, the Celts
must ha ve beeneonfounded byancient writers with* the Germans.
Mebuhr professednimself inclined^©. eobeUr in this;view ybat
he^föündltMh1 evidence of AmraianUs -Maroelbnus, who himself
had* resided in Gaul, -very decisive on the5 tebj ect?,' that -He
adheres* t'hb'^opinion which^asoribes to "the- uneiebt Celtic
Gft.ul^dÄ) w hair/“ until some-ohd shall - h aV'e Sol ved1 the diffl-
Cultyihow-"AmfiiiänUs".could' pöSribly'.be f-rib mistaken’ as to
ascribe a;Sanguine ör xanthöUä;öbmp‘löxionitoth^pebpleanrotig
whopa he -was- constantly living,'and'--who, according-to the:
hypotheses maintained, were a black-haired ’-swarthy- tribe/”®1
: There*is.a passagC'Un’' Srträbö w-hidfr-might1 have furnished«1
Sblle explanation h f -this difference to Mb Niebuhr, and; it is-
singular that itshould have-escaped’him; Strabo in-describing
thcyBritbns, ^distinguishes their*physical- character from-that
Of the Grids, and says that, with otbor-differencthey/were
not so'Jxantbous- or yellow-haired as the Gauls. The difference
* « “Evjery wea lth y 'Graul adprned h i m s e l f ».gofd : even when he appealed
naked in battle,'fee wore golden chains uponj.feis. arms and gcdden rings around Ms
neck. Their mantles, checkered, and displaying all the colours of the rainbow, are
still th?',picturesque costume of their kindred-race the Highlanders, who have laid
aside the brace® of the ancient Gajils. Their gr,eat bodies^ long shaggy yellow hair,
qndouth features, made their appearance frightful; their figures, their savage courage,
their immense nüfrifeets, the deafening noise of* the numerous horns and trumpets
in'tlieir armies, and the terrible devastatiöii ^hiatfolld#edrthefr vfetedes paralysed
with terror, the- nätjons whoim they invaded.,”