HELLO AGAIN.

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Hi everybody,

Sorry about the delay, it seems the only way to get comments is to go silent until people start knocking on the door.

A little more than half of you want the relationship to remain key until the last sentence, so it shall be done. PETRA will need a few more days, then.

About Celtic tongues in the UK and Spain. The people of the British Isles, [and please remember just how little hard evidence there is for pre Roman and early Roman era Celtic civilizations], are believed to have spoken Brythonic Celt, or p Celt. Remnants of this language are heard in Welsh and Cornish today. Celts in Ireland – prior to Roman records – were Goidelic or q Celt speakers, probably influenced originally by seagoing tribes from Spain, [where Celtiberians were also Goidelic].

Gaelic languages seem to reflect the Goidelic Celt tongues, and until the migrations of the Scoti people (et al) from Ireland to Scotland in the C3rd and C4th, Gaelic or its roots were not spoken in Scotland. Goidellic influence on Brythonic Celt in the Scottish lowlands esp, explains the development of separate Irish and Scottish Gaelic, with heavy French influence on the latter as time went on.

I used Scottish Gaelic place names only to distinguish indigenous settlements from Roman. Strictly speaking they are anachronisms, but one of the few constants in language development, with the exception of violent annexations, are place names. They seem to remain reasonably untouched, and all over Britain today places carry names that hark back to earlier dominant languages.

And the answer is yes: bears, wolves, boar and mountain lions were all native to the mountains of Scotland. Like the forests which once covered most of the British Isles, the native wildlife was decimated. Most species of large predators were hunted to extinction within recorded history.

Were the Picti, the painted people, tattooed? I cannot see any reason why they would not have been. They are only referred to by the Romans as ‘painted’, but in communities related culturally tattooing was known and practised. As far from Britain as the steppes of Russia and Mongolia, remains of men and women who have been heavily tattooed have been recovered, and the bog men of northern Europe also show evidence of tattooing.

It is possible of course, that woad was also applied ritually before battles or ceremonies, and it is also possible that my boys were particularly fond of ink… But, as I say, I have found nothing to argue firmly against the practice in iron age/Romano Celt society.

And the Druids.

I would say that the priests represented in HISPANIA are exhibiting precisely the practises shown by the religious leaders all over the Roman world. With the exception of the Druids and Judaism, Rome was tolerant of religions where ever she went. Rather than deny a conquered people their religious doctrine, Rome simply subsumed them; renamed or reassigned gods and goddesses and integrated ceremonies and holy days into the recognized calendar.

Judaism [later Christianity] and the Druids were not popular with Rome. How much of the cruelty and ritual mutilation reported by Roman historians of the Druids is true and how much was propaganda is still debated.

However, men who want omnipotence, no matter when or where in history, recognize the power inherent in religion. People who hold beliefs which are above the challenge of reason or circumstance can be manipulated by those with the authority to direct that system of belief. So, someone like Leucetius, who is a megalomaniac, would be drawn to a Romanized form of Celtic religion. Such distortions were made for – and by – men just like him.

I hope that is everything. Please continue to write. I enjoy hearing your views, and hope I can answer any queries. If there is a question you have, or something bugging you, chances are someone else is out there thinking the same thing. If you write, I can have a go at answering everyone.

letitia.coyne@gmail.com

Cheers all,
L.
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