Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian > Volume 1

JO A DISSERTATION CONCERNING
their histories contain little information con-
cerning the origin of the Scots. Even Bu-
chanan himself, except the elegance and vi-
gour of his style, has very little to recommend
him. Blinded with political prejudices, he
seemed more anxious to turn the fictions of
his predecessors to his own purposes, than to
detect their misrepresentations, or investigate
truth amidst the darkness which they had
thrown round it. It therefore appears, that
little can be collected from their own histo-
rians, concerning the first migration of the
Scots into Britain.
That this island was peopled from Gaul
admits of no doubt. Whether colonies came
afterwards from the north of Europe is a mat-
ter of mere speculation. When South Britain
yielded to the power of the Romans, the un-
conquered nations to the north of the pro-
vince were distinguished by the name of Ca-
ledonicms. From their very name, it appears,
that they were of those Gauls, who possessed
themselves originally of Britain. It is com-
pounded of two Celtic words, Ca'el signifying
Celts, or Gauls, and Dun or Don, a hill ; so
that Cael-don, or Caledonians, is as much as
to say, the Celts of the hill country. The High-
landers, to this day, call themselves Ca'el, and
their language Ca'elic, or Galic, and their coun-