Blair Collection > Celtic gleanings, or, Notices of the history and literature of the Scottish Gael
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LECTURE I. 17
century their total extirpation by massacre was
strongly advocated in England. If such be the
result of antagonism of race, along, no doubt,
with other influences, is it not well to use every
measure that may possibly aid in removing
that antagonism, and doing away with false
and unfounded impressions that would seem to
foster it.
But, as essential to Celtic history, let us con-
sider fairly of what elements the population
of England is composed. Let us trace that
noble edifice, — for a noble edifice it is, — from its
base upwards. And, I presume, no ethnologist
will be disposed to deny that the lowest course
in it is a purely British one ; or, to change our
metaphor, that the lowest stratum in the popu-
lation of England is Celtic. Britons, represented
by the modern Welsh, inhabited England when
first invaded by the Eomans under Julius
Caesar, upwards of half a century before Christ.
We do read in Koman authors of the Littus
Saxoriicum ; but the Saxon inhabitants of that
region occupy no place of any prominence in
the pages of the early writers. That Britons
formed the larger portion of the inhabitants of
Britain during the Eoman occupation, is also
a statement that cannot be gainsaid. We do
not learn that there w^as Eoman immigration
B
century their total extirpation by massacre was
strongly advocated in England. If such be the
result of antagonism of race, along, no doubt,
with other influences, is it not well to use every
measure that may possibly aid in removing
that antagonism, and doing away with false
and unfounded impressions that would seem to
foster it.
But, as essential to Celtic history, let us con-
sider fairly of what elements the population
of England is composed. Let us trace that
noble edifice, — for a noble edifice it is, — from its
base upwards. And, I presume, no ethnologist
will be disposed to deny that the lowest course
in it is a purely British one ; or, to change our
metaphor, that the lowest stratum in the popu-
lation of England is Celtic. Britons, represented
by the modern Welsh, inhabited England when
first invaded by the Eomans under Julius
Caesar, upwards of half a century before Christ.
We do read in Koman authors of the Littus
Saxoriicum ; but the Saxon inhabitants of that
region occupy no place of any prominence in
the pages of the early writers. That Britons
formed the larger portion of the inhabitants of
Britain during the Eoman occupation, is also
a statement that cannot be gainsaid. We do
not learn that there w^as Eoman immigration
B
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Early Gaelic Book Collections > Blair Collection > Celtic gleanings, or, Notices of the history and literature of the Scottish Gael > (29) |
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Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/76269063 |
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Description | A selection of books from a collection of more than 500 titles, mostly on religious and literary topics. Also includes some material dealing with other Celtic languages and societies. Collection created towards the end of the 19th century by Lady Evelyn Stewart Murray. |
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Description | Selected items from five 'Special and Named Printed Collections'. Includes books in Gaelic and other Celtic languages, works about the Gaels, their languages, literature, culture and history. |
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