Ossian Collection > Essay on the authenticity of the poems of Ossian

OF OSSIAN'S POEMS. 59
they spoke, the Celtic. This common origin
and common language may still be traced,
especiall}^ in Spain, Gaul, and Britain, in the
names of tribes, provinces, cities, mountains,
and rivers, which are undeniably of Celtic
origin.
It appears, from Pliny, Tacitus, and other
writers of antiquity, that there existed, at
the same time, in the north of Europe, a
numerous and warlike race of men, called
Teutones and Gothones, who are represented
as having a different origin, and speaking a
different language, from the Celts. It ap-
pears from the testimony of Cffisar, that,
even in his time, this last race of people
were continually advancing to the westward,
and encroaching on the territories of the
Celts. The Belgae, one of their most power-
ful tribes, had crossed the Rhine, and, even
then, occupied a part of Gaul. Tacitus re-
cords the opinion, that this race had passed