Ossian Collection > Thoughts on the origin and descent of the Gael

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vvords used in the Welsh language, as a proof of
the ancient Britons being of Gaulish extraction.
It is curious to observe, how much the Gaelic
language, as spoken in the Highlands of Scotland
and in Ireland, aids and illustrates the learned
Camden's observations drawn from the Welsh
language.
Camden's Brit. — " Servius tells us, that valiant
" men were by the Gauls called gessi;* and guass-
" dezvr amona: the Britons sianifies a stout and
" valiant manr Camden's Annotator remarks,
that givas signifies a servant, and guasdewr, a
stout servant.
We are told by Servius, that the Gauls called
brave men gcusi: " Gaesos quoq. Galli appella-
*' bant viros fortes." Virg. ^n. viii. 662. What
sort of weapon the gaisum of the Gauls was,
whether a spear or a missile weapon, it is not
agreed among the learned. These words of
Caesar, *' Hostes ex omnibus partibus, signo dato,
" decurrere ; lapides, gsesaque in vallum conji-
" cere,"f seem to decide the question in favour of
the opinion, that gcEsum was a missile weapon,
having been thrown, as were stones, into the
trenches of the enemy. Livy distinguishes this
weapon from the spear, J when he describes the
Gauls as " gsesis binis armati." The circum-
stance of being armed with two missile weapons
* G^suM. t Bell. Gal. B. iii. c. 4.
t B. viii. 8. B. ix. 36.