v BRITISH ETHNOLOGY. 2G5 



ethnological speculation, and has nowhere worked 

 greater scientific and practical mischief than in 

 the ethnology of the British Islands. 



What is known, for certain, about the languages 

 spoken in these islands and their affinities may, I 

 believe, be summed up as follows: — 



I. At the time of the Roman conquest, one lan- 

 guage, the Celtic, under two principal dialectical 

 divisions, the Cymric and the Gaelic, was spoken 

 throughout the British Islands. Cymric was 

 spoken in Britain, Gaelic * in Ireland. 



If a language allied to Basque had in earlier 

 times been spoken in the British Islands, there is 

 no evidence that any Euskarian-speaking people 

 remained at the time of the Eoman conquest. The 

 dark and the fair population of Britain alike spoke 

 Celtic tongues, and therefore the name " Celt " is 

 as applicable to the one as to the other. 



What was spoken in Ireland can only be sur- 

 mised by reasoning from the knowledge of later 

 times; but there seems to be no doubt that it was 

 Gaelic. 



II. The Belgce and the Ccltm, with the offshoots 

 of the latter in Asia Minor, spoke dialects of the 

 Cymric division of Celtic. 



The evidence of this proposition lies in the 



[* I have been told thnt the terms " Cymric " and 

 " Gaelic " are antiquated and improper. The reador will 

 please substitute Celtic dialect A and Celtic dinlpct B f^r 

 them, and consult, on this subject, especially with regard 

 to proposition III., Professor Rhys' Early Britain- -1894.] 



