Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian

24 Dhsertution on
or the icandering nation; which is evidently the
origin of the Roman name of Scoti.
On the other hand, the Caledonians, who pos-
sessed the east coast of Scotland, as this division of
the country was plain and fertile, applied themselves
to agriculture, and raising of corn. It was from
this, that the Gaelic name of the Picts proceeded;
for they are called in that language Cruithnich, i. e.
the wheat or corn eaters. As the Picts lived in a
country so different in its nature from that possessed
by the Scots, so their national character suffered a
material change. Unobstructed by mountains or
lakes, their communication with one another was
free and frequent. Society, therefore, became
sooner established among them than among the Scots,
and, consequently, they were much sooner governed
by civil magistrates and laws. This, at last, pro-
duced so gi'eat a difference in the manners of the
two nations, that they began to forget their common
origin, and almost continual quaiTels and animosities
subsisted between them. These animosities, after
some ages, ended in the subversion of the Pictish
kingdom, but not in the total extirpation of the
nation, according to most of the Scots writers, who
seemed to think it more for the honour of their
countrymen to annihilate than reduce a rival people
under their obedience. It is certain, however, that
the very name of the Picts was lost, and those that
remained were so completely incoi-porated with their
conquerors, that they soon lost all memory of their
own origin.
The end of the Pictish government is placed so
near that period to which authentic annals reach,
that it is matter of wonder, that we have no monu-
ments of their language or history remaining. This
favours the system 1 have laid down. Had they
originally been of a different race from the Scots,
their language of course would be different. The
contrary is the case. The names of places in the