By the Rev. J. L. Ross. 229 



" At the time of the Roman invasion there were three distinct 

 nations inhabiting Britain, the Gael, the Cymbri, and the Belgse. 

 The former were those who inhabited South Britain, including 

 Wales, and fought with Caesar; the second were the Caledonians 

 found in North Britain by Agricola ," (and probably the interior 

 of South Britain) ; " and the third were the people from Belgic 

 Gaul, who had formed trifling settlements on the coasts, but were 

 not either numerous or powerful. ... I am inclined to think 

 that the ancient Caledonians (the Cymbri or second nation men- 

 tioned) were the first inhabitants of all the British Islands, including 

 Ireland." . . Tacitus is the first who gives any succinct account 

 of these Northern Britons in his life of Agricola. 



" Whether " he " says the first inhabitants of Britain were natives 

 of the Island, or adventitious settlers, is a question lost in the mists 

 of antiquity. The Britons, like other barbarous nations, have no 

 monuments of their history. They differ in habit and make of 

 their bodies, and have various inferences concerning their origin. 

 The ruddy hair and lusty limbs of the Caledonians indicate a German 

 extraction. That the Silures (or Belgse) were at first a colony of 

 Iberians is concluded, not without probability, from the olive tinc- 

 ture of their skin, the natural curl of their hair, and the situation 

 of the country so convenient to the coast of Spain. On the side 

 opposite to Gaul, the inhabitants resemble their neighbours on the 

 continent ; but whether that resemblance is the effect of one com- 

 mon origin, or of the climate in contiguous nations, operating on 

 the make and temperament of the human body, is a point not easy 

 to determine. All circumstances considered, it is rather probable, 

 that a colony from Gaul took possession of a country so inviting by 

 its proximity. You will find in both nations the same religious 

 riles, and the same superstitions The two languages differ but II tie. 

 In provoking danger they discover the same ferocity, and in the 

 encounter the same timidity. The Britons, however, not yet en- 

 feebled by long peace, art; possessed of superior courage." 



There is a distinction drawn between the Caledonians (or Cym- 

 bri) and the Southern Britons (or Oeltio raoe). The former arc 

 ■aid to indicate a German origin by lair complexion, sandy hair, 



