. The earth and its inhabitants ... em. They are described by Greek writersas having curly hair and dark complexions, and as comparatively civilised in their * James Geikie, The Great Ice Critiques and Addresses, 1873. 80 THE BEITISII ISLES. habits. Of tliis dark race no trace exists at tlie present day, except perhaps inthe black hair and dark eyes of many Welshmen. Successive waves of Celtic invaders gradually dispossessed these earlierinhabitants of the most fertile districts, and drove them north and west into thehilly regions. The first to arrive were the forefathers of the Gaels, a
. The earth and its inhabitants ... em. They are described by Greek writersas having curly hair and dark complexions, and as comparatively civilised in their * James Geikie, The Great Ice Critiques and Addresses, 1873. 80 THE BEITISII ISLES. habits. Of tliis dark race no trace exists at tlie present day, except perhaps inthe black hair and dark eyes of many Welshmen. Successive waves of Celtic invaders gradually dispossessed these earlierinhabitants of the most fertile districts, and drove them north and west into thehilly regions. The first to arrive were the forefathers of the Gaels, and tothese sncceeded the Cymri. These latter gradually spread over the whole ofEngland and Scotland as far as the Tay, and perhaps even beyond that river,driving the Gaels into the more sterile mountainous parts, and into Ireland. InWestern Wales the Gaels, or Gwyddel, maintained their ground up to thesixth century, when the last remnants sought a refuge amongst their kinsmen in Fi-. U).—The Giakts Quoit at Lanyox. near Ireland; but long before that time the great Teutonic immigration, whichthoroughly changed the character of the population of England, had commenced. When Julius Caesar landed in England, fifty-five years before the Christianera, he found the coast in the occupation of blue-eyed, fair-haired BelgEc, whotilled the land, kept cattle, and made use of copper and iron rings for inland part, however, was inhabited by those who, according to existingtradition, were the aborigines of the island. These inland people, JuliusCaesar says in his Commentaries, for the most part do not sow corn, butlive on milk and flesh, and are clothed in skins. They all stain themselves withwoad, which makes them of a blue tinge, and gives them a fearful appearance in INHABITANTS. 31 battle ; they also wear their hair long, and shave every part of the body exceptthe head and the upper lip. Every ten or twelve of them have their wives incommon, especially brothers with
Size: 1724px × 1449px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectgeography, bookyear18
