Ossian Collection > Poems of Ossian, the son of Fingal

THE POEMS OF OSSUN. 343
clinatlon. They were not, therefore, improperly called, by their
neighbours Scuite or the luander'mg tiation ; which is evidently
the origin of the Roman name of Scoti.
On the other hand, the Caledonians, who possessed the east
coast of Scotland, as the division of the country was plain and fer-
tile, applied themselves to agriculture, and raising of corn. It was
from this, that the Galic name of the PiBs proceeded ; for they
are called in that language, Cruithmch, i. e. the tuheat or corn-eaters.
As the Pifts lived in a country so different in its nature from that
possessed by die Scots, so their national charadler suffered a ma-
terial change. Unobstru£led by mountains, or lakes, their com-
munication with one anotlier 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, produced so great a
difference in the manners of the two nations, that they began to for-
get their common origin, and almost continual quarrels and ani-
mosities subsisted between them. These animosities, after some
ages, ended in the subversion of tire Pi£tish 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 Pi6ts
was lost, and those that remained were so completely ingorporated
with their conquerors, that they soon lost all memory of thtir own
origin.
The end of the Pidish government is placed so near that period,
to which authentic annals reach, that it is matter of wonder, that
we have no monuments of their language or history remaining.
This favours the system I 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 Pidtish dominions, and the very names of their kings,
which are handed down to us, are of Galic original, which is a
convincing proof, that the two nations were, of old, one and
the same, and only divided into two governments, by the effecft
which their situation had upon the genius of the people.
The name of Flcis was, perhaps, given by t;he Romans, to the
U u ij Caledonians