Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian, the son of Fingal > Volume 1

THE K?.A OF OSSIAV. 5
land, and which are undoubtedly Celtic, one would be
tempted to dliFer in opinion from diat celebrated writ-
er. The Germans,^ properly so called, were not the
same with the ancient Celtas. The manners and cus-
toms of the two nations were similar, but their lan-
guage different. The Germans'- are the genuine de-
scendants of the ancient Dase, afterwards well knowa
by the name of Daci, and passed originally into Eu-
rope by the way of the northern countries, and settled
beyond the Danube, towards the vast regions of Tran-
silvania, Wallachia, and Moldavia; and from thence
advanced by degrees into Germany. The Celt?s, i it
is certain, sent many colonies inco that country, all of
v/honi retained their own laws, language and customs;
and it is of them, if any colonies came from Germany
into Scotland, that the ancient Caledonians were de-
scended.
But whether the Caledonians were a colony of the
Celtic Germans, or the same with the Gauls that first,
possessed tliemselves of Britain, is a matter of no mo-
ment at this distance of time. Whatever their origia
was, we find them very numerous in the time of Ju-
lius Agricola, which is a presumption that they v/ere
long before settled in the country. The form of their
government was a mixture of aristocracy and mo-
narchy, as it was in all the countries where the Druids
bore the chief sway. This order of men seems to
have been formed on the same system with the Dac-
tyli, Idasi, and Curetes of the ancients. Their pre-
tended intercourse with heaven, their magic and divi-
nations, were the sam.e. The knowledge of the Dru-
ids in natural causes, and the properties of certain
things, the fruit of the experiments of ages, gained
them a mighty reputation among the people. The
esteem of the populace soon increased into a venera-
tion tor die order; which a cunning and ambitious
cStraba, 1 7 f Cxs, 1. 6. Liv. 1. 5. Tac. demor. Germ,