312 Henry Skene, Esq., on the Albanians. 



of the Mainotes or modern Spartans, the most warlike com- 

 munities of Greece, such as the islands of Hydra and Spetzia, 

 are formed of this nation, and not of Greeks. Attica, Argo- 

 lis, Phocis, and Boetia, are likewise all peopled by them, 

 and there are Albanian colonies even in Calabria and Sicily. 

 The Albanians call their language Skipt. It is totally 

 different from the Turkish, Greek, and Sclavonian dialects, 

 and it contains a great number of words, closely resembling 

 the Spanish, French, and Italian languages. This would imply 

 that they had undergone some process of amalgamation with 

 the remains of Roman armies. If this had not been really 

 the effect of their descent from the Prsetorian guards, it 

 might be attributed to an admixture with the troops of 

 Roger, king of Apulia, who fled to these mountains, and took 

 refuge there. Some of his soldiers may have remained as 

 settlers. The Albanian dress, also, is an exact antitype of 

 that of the Roman army, with the exception of the helmet, 

 which has been replaced by the red skull-cap, and, of the 

 coat of mail, which is imitated by the close embroidery on 

 the jacket. There are, likewise, Gothic words in the Alba- 

 nian language. These must have been derived from the in- 

 cursions of Alaricus, in the fifth century, when his Gotlis 

 made themselves masters of Epirus. It is recorded by Pro- 

 copius,* that Goths were to be found settled in Dalmatia, 

 when Justinian forcibly annexed that country to the Roman 

 Empire. Some of them may, therefore, probably have re- 

 mained also in Albania. Now, the ancient Illyrian lan- 

 guage was as completely distinct from the Greek tongue, 

 and, if it is not now extant in the form of the Skipt 

 or Albanian, it must be concluded that it has totally dis- 

 appeared ; which is hardly credible. There is no record 

 in history of the extinction of the Illyrian language and 

 people. If, then, the modern Albanians came directly 

 from Alba, in Italy, as some assert, what can have become 

 of that ancient tribe and dialect % The first mention of 

 the Albanians, by the Byzantine historians, although cur- 

 sory and imperfect, represents them as they now are ; and 

 Ptolemy, the geographer, who is the first of the ancient 



* De Bell. Goth., lib. i., c. 6, 7, 16. 



