this way, the mythic history of Britain before the Roman invasion can be reduced, in point of time, within a very reasonable compass, and the wonderful achievements, stripped of their poetical embellishments, may become sober realities. And keeping in mind the evidence of a mixed population set forth by these writers, corroborated, moreover, by the veritable authors who succeeded them, it is to be conceived that there existed within the compass of the island many peoples—not a community: some in a degree of civilization approaching that of the nations of antiquity; others, and by far the greater number, in a rude and barbarous state. The Druid priest- hood, indeed, who were likewise the lawgivers, by their superior knowledge, as well as through the superstitious deference of their votaries, maintained a community of power in all affairs, civil and religious; but in other respects we see no evidences of that combination of classes which constitutes a nation. In most parts of the island the king or military chief of a tribe, and his principal warriors, usurped the lion's share in the resources of his dominion; while the herd, the tiller of the soil, and the hunter, stood in much the same relation as that of an Irish kerne of the fifteenth century to his feudal superior. On parts of the coast, however, communities of a more settled and more uniform character were held together by the mutual interest of traffic, and the benefits ensuing from an intercourse with strangers from the opposite shores, as in the instance of the Trinobantine mart of London, which is described by Tacitus (a.d. 62) as a place most renowned for the concourse of merchants, and for its stores of goods. The period quoted is only nineteen years after the Romans had got possession of South Britain, and were still struggling to maintain it, and therefore not likely to have had a part in the establishment of this early seat of British commerce. Allowing for this, and taking a broad view of the fabulous relations, we may observe the growth of a population fed by the incursions of wandering and adventurous bands, who flowed on these shores in successive waves of population. Striving for a footing in the land, the conquerors or colonists still brought in an accession of strength or diversity of character, such as, by a view of subsequent annals, we observe to have been infused down to the period of the Norman conquest. Hence, it may be conceived, was derived that spirit of enterprise which has obtained for the British race such a wide geographical extension, and so potent a predominance. The original colonists, a branch of the Celtic family, to whom, as the descendants of Japheth, were given the isles of the Gentiles, were replenished by successive offshoots of the same prolific stock, carrying with them such modifications of character as had been induced by the influences of climate and situation, and the nature of their resources. Hence, whatever features of barbarism may appear in our first view of the Britons, as they are delineated by the authenticated writers of antiquity, these may be looked upon rather as proper to a condition declined from early civilization, than as the signs of a primitive state. If, for instance, they were incapable of steering their wicker, hide-covered vessels any distance beyond that of a mere coasting voyage, or, at the furthest, to the neighbouring islands, they must have, then, been in a worse condition than when they first effected a landing on these shores;—and if they be found dwelling in holes and caves, or in miserable huts of daub and wattle, and we contrast with such mean fabrics the colossal and symmetrical structures of Stonehenge, Avebury, and other similar monuments, whose vast relics seem the production of a race of giants and sorcerers — these must appear, in such a point of view, the vestiges of a vastly superior age, or the memorials of a race elevated far above those who surrounded them.
But respecting these considerations there is but slight footing even for speculation; for the few authentic authors of antiquity who treat of the Celtic Britons, evidently do so upon very partial information. That Britain had become the seat of several tribes differing greatly in many respects, and bringing with them the characteristics of their race, is evident in the observations of authors of the period, especially those of Tacitus, who, in his Life of Agricola, thus writes:—"Now what manner of men the first inhabitants of Britain were, foreignly brought in, or born in the land as among a barbarous people, it is not certainly known. Their complexions are different, and thence may some conjectures be taken; for the red hair of the dwellers in Caledonia, and mighty limbs, import a German descent. The coloured countenances of the Silures,[1] and hair most commonly curled, and site against Spain, seem to induce that the old Spaniards passed the sea and possessed those places. The nearest to France likewise resemble the French, either because they retain of the race from which they descended, or that in countries abutting together, the same aspects of the heavens do yield the same complexions of bodies. But, generally, it is most likely the French, being the nearest, did people the land."[2] Diodorus Siculus, whose Bibliothecaæ Historicæ is considered to have been written shortly after the death of Julius Cæsar, places the Britons somewhat on a parallel with the
1↑ The inhabitants of South Wales (Deheubarth). The qualification appears here to mean naturally swart or dark, and not the artificial appearance produced by dyeing the skin, said to have been practised by the Britons.
2↑ Grenewey's Trans.
