Reviric uf Reiieits, 1/10/OS. 



Leading Articles. 



389 



THE ORIGIN OF THE IRISH. 



Mr. Robert Dunlop contributes a most interest- 

 ing papt-r to th(- (J/Hirtcr/y Reriav on the origin of 

 the Iri.sh rare, .\fter glancing at the legends that 

 lirift like mist about the beginnings of Irish histor)-, 

 he proceeds to construct the prehistoric movements 

 of the peoples which >d to the first occupation of 

 Ireland. He says: — 



We have to imagine that in the dim past, long before 

 tlie dawn of liistory proper, a mountain people of Scythian 

 origin, abandoning their nomadic habits, came down from 

 tiieir seats between the Ural and Altai mountains and 

 formed a settlement in the neighbourhood of the Caspian 

 Sea. One branch of the family ithe Sumeriau or Sumero- 

 Akkadiani appeared as the pioneers of civilisation in the 

 valley of tlie Euphrates; another to which tlie name Pe- 

 lasgo-Alarodian has been given, including the Pelasgiaus, 

 Ktruscans, and Iberians) pushed itri way into Greece. Italy, 

 and Spain: a third itlie Finno-Dgrian) took a northward 

 course to the shores of the Baltic and the White Sea; 

 while a fourth (the Mongolian) journeyed eastward to the 

 shores of the Yellow Sea. .From their position on the At- 

 lantic seaboard, it may reasonably be presumed that the 

 Iberians were in the van of the movement. But centuries 

 must have elapsed before they reached their final Iiomes 

 on the shores of the .Atlantic. 



NOT A CELTIC RACE. 



Mr. Dunlop considers as a well-established fact 

 that Ireland was inhabited by the Iberians. The 

 same evidences of their habitation are to be found 

 there as on the ("ontinent.. and the name of the 

 island, Hibernia, seems conclusive on this point. 

 Ruined forts of the same type as are found in Ire- 

 land extend from Sicily and Bosnia through Hun- 

 gary and Prussia, the Low Countries, France and 

 the British Isles. Mr. Dunlop thus resumes his argu- 

 ment : — • 



We have good reason to believe that Ireland in prehis- 

 toric times was. like most of western Europe, inhabited b.v 

 a dark-skinned, dark-haired, long-headed race of Scythian 

 origin, to whom the name Ivernion seems most appro- 

 priate. From their original homes about the Caspian they 

 had' migrated thitlier. probably by following the course of 

 the Danube and Elbe. throug:h Scandinavia, in a thin inter- 

 mittent stream. \t first tlieir settlements were confined to 

 the coast, but gradually they pusV.ed their way into tlie 

 interior through a densely-wooded country. When we first 

 find traces of them they had long since passed be.vond the 

 nomadic stage. Though chiefly a pastoral people, they 

 were acquainted with the arts of navigation, agriculture, 

 and weaving. They lived together in settled communities, 

 each probably uniler its own chief or king. They knew 

 how to build houses of stone and earth; and round each 

 ?roup or village they tlirew up a strong rampart or pali- 

 sade of stone or earth, as the conditions of the ground 

 dictated. .Amongst their domestic animals they counted 

 the cow. tile sheep, the goat, the dog. and the horse. 

 Ther weai>ons and houseliold utensils consisted of stone, 

 bone, and bron/ye. the last of which they brought to a liigh 

 state of develoi)ment. They l)ur!ed their dead as often as 

 not in their own dwellings, and over their heroes or chiefs 

 they raised hu'.re megalithic buildings or tumuli. Their 

 religion took tie form of ancestor-worship, and culminated 

 in what we know as Druidism. whicli iirobably involveii 

 human sacrifices. They worshipped no visible gods made 

 with their own luinds. but they believed that the earth 

 and sea we'e inhabited by good spirits, and th;it the evil 

 genii dwelt in tlie air and wind. Finally, they probably 

 possessed some means of communicating their thoughts 

 in writing, of which Ogam is a later development. 



ct-;ltic in spkech. iberian in blood. 

 .\bout 400 B.C., Mr. Dunlo)) proc«H:^;ls, the ("elts 

 had pushed their wa\ westward across the Pvrene<'.s 

 and come into contact with the Iberians, with whom 

 they amalgamated, the nation Ix-ing thenceforward 

 called Celtiberians. Hut the Celtic language was 

 imposed on the whole people. \ow it was the mari- 



time Iberians that brought the Celtiberians from 

 Spain to Ireland. The process of assimilation that 

 had gone on in Spain repeated itself in Ireland. 

 In the end the Celt got the upper hand. Before 

 St. Patrick arrived, Ireland had become a Celtic 

 coun[r\ in government and language, but the basis 

 of its population remained Iberian. 



ASIATIC GREEK IN ART. 



St. Patrick came from Southern Gaul, which was 

 .satur. ted. with Oriental theology, customs and art, 

 the province of the Oriental Church, and he brought 

 with him that fomi of Christianity. The art of 

 ancient Ireland is as cleariy traceable to the East, 

 to Syria and Asia Minor, as beehive cell and round 

 tower. The Irish, says Mr. Dunlop, were excellent 

 pupils. They could copy, but they invented 

 nothing. The Danish invasion did not interrupt 

 the culture which Greek influences had raised to so 

 high a pitch. That culture died of inanition. 



It is not Irish patriots alone who will follow with 

 great interest Mr. Dunlop's fascinating pages. 



An I. D. B. Story. 



Mr. 1. S. Hamilton writes in the World's Work 

 on mining diamonds in South Africa, and mentions 

 that the Kaffir, working in the mines with chisel 

 and hammer, makes 5s. a day. He adds, the risk 

 of life in the mines is great. He tells this rather 

 striking ston of the way in whii-h the workers are 

 watched. He says: — 



The necessity of preventing the illicit diamond traffic, 

 too. has its baneful effect upon the lives of the honest 

 .■ind sensitive. A. fair idea of this last condition can be 

 drawn from the experiences of one officer of the De Beers 

 corporation. For three hundred and sixty-five days this 

 man had been luider the surveillance of the detectives of 

 the company. The men at the general offices thought th:^ 

 he was spending more money than he was earning. Oiie 

 day. after the detective had followed tlie man tor a whole 

 year, had played poker with him. visited saloons with him. 

 aud watched "every movement, another officer of the com- 

 pany approached him, and, laying hie hand upon his 

 shoulder, eaid— " I want to congratulate you. " What 

 about'" asked the object of suspicion. "Why. you're ail 

 right. You're an honest man." " Of course I'm an honest 

 man. What do you mean?" 



Tlie explanation was made. The suspected man learned 

 that the detective who had followed him had been his 

 closest personal friend all those months, knowing every 

 move he made, how much money he lost gambling, exactly 

 how much he won. how much he spent in high living, and 

 liow much for the necessities of life. 



" Now, according to our accounts of your doiuga for 

 the.^e weeks and days. " said the official to the man under 

 suspicion. " you ought to have ju.st three pounds in your 

 pocket this moment." 



The man who had been shadowed three hundred and 

 sixty-five days thrust his hand into his pocket and found 

 just a trifle less than three pounds. 



There is an article in the July number of the 

 (nuti (man's Magazine on General Wade's Road — ^the 

 nii!itar\ road from Newcastle to Carlisle — a strate- 

 gic road in the building of which many miles of the 

 <ild Roman wal! made by Hadrian were destroyed. 

 The writer describes the ])laces of interest through 

 which the road passes. 



