146 



NA TURE 



[June 15. 1905 



Gaul a language or languages closely akin to 

 Goidelic or ancient Gaelic of the British Isles. Strange 

 to say, although every Celtist knows that the peoples 

 of the Gallo-Brythonic group had p for gii from time 

 immemorial--petor in Gaulish petorritum = Latin qua- 

 tuor— and that those of the Goidelic branch retained 

 qu like the Romans, the greater number have chosen 

 to assume that Gaulish was co-extensive with Celtic 

 on the Continent. In spite of the evidence of such 

 names as .'^quitania, Sequana, Sequani, it was the 

 fashion to suppose that qii was unknown in Gaul and 

 that all the Celts alike dropped the consonant /> of the 

 Indo-European parent speech, as, for instance, in 

 Aremorica, .-Xrmorica, where are is approximately equi- 

 valent to the Greek ■napa. In laying stress on the fact 

 that the retention of the old qu and Indo-European p 

 are characteristic of the Pictavian and Sequanian lan- 

 guages he has done valuable service to the cause of 

 philology, and recalled Celtic scholars from a path of 

 error. He does not, indeed, claim to be the first to 

 point out that the Celtic languages of the Continent 

 were not of one and the same type. He tells us that 

 as early as 1847 Jacob Grimm showed that the charms 

 in the work of Marcellus of Bordeaux were in a lan- 

 guage virtually identical with old Irish, and that Pictet 

 afterwards proved that Indo-European p was retained 

 in one of these charms in the prefix pro. Half a cen- 

 tury later (in February, 1891), in a paper read before 

 the Philological Society, Prof. Rhys brought together 

 certain qu names from the Continent to prove the same 

 thesis, and proposed that the language in Gaul akin 

 to Goidelic should be called Celtican. He insisted on 

 the significance of the words of Sulpicius Severus in 

 Dialog. I. 27, " Tu vero, inquit Postumianus, vel Cel- 

 tice, aut si mavis, Gallice loquere, dummodo jam Mar- 

 tinum loquaris." So, too, Mr. Macbain, in the intro- 

 duction to his etymological dictionary of the Gaelic 

 Language (Inverness, 1896), inserts among the q 

 group by the side of Goidelic " dialects in Spain and 

 Gaul." This was not long before the Coligny calen- 

 dar and the Rom inscriptions came to light, showing 

 that the Sequani and the Pictones, at any rate, spoke 

 languages belonging to the same group as old Irish. 



There can be no question that the book deserves 

 study. If it sometimes betrays inexperience — and the 

 author would be the first to admit this — it shows signs 

 of many-sided learning, and in some cases of rare in- 

 sight ; the whole breathes an impartiality and generous 

 candour which are wanting in many searchers after 

 truth. 



" The Mythology of the British Islands," by Charles 

 Squire, is an introduction to Celtic myth, legend, 

 poetry, and romance. It is intended, as we have seen, 

 not for the learned, but for the ordinary reader, and 

 the subject is approached from the literary rather than 

 from the scholastic standpoint. Believing that the 

 classic fount from which the poet so long drew inspira- 

 tion has lost its potency, that the Greek stories can no 

 longer be handled save by the genius alone, the author 

 has attempted to put the natives of these islands in 

 possession of a new heritage of myth and tradition, a 

 heritage which is as much their own as that of the 

 Teutons and Scandinavians. 

 NO. 1S59, VOL. 72] 



Although the Welsh mabinogi and romances, and 

 much of the Gaelic saga, have been made accessible in 

 translations, it is unlikely that the British public as a 

 whole can have formed anything like an adequate 

 idea of Celtic mythology. The works in ppint contain 

 but few explanations, and he who opens them for the 

 first time, while he may be sensible of their charm, 

 cannot but be bewildered by the novelty of his sur- 

 roundings. He feels that he has ventured into a new 

 world, peopled by characters whose very names are, 

 for the most part, unfamiliar. If he wishes to under- 

 stand their setting, to trace the connection between 

 them, he must peruse innumerable lectures and learned 

 essays, a task which is like to prove no light one. Mr. 

 Squire's book is calculated to meet his difficulty. In 

 it he will at last be formally introduced to the person- 

 ages of Celtic mythology, to the gods and giants of the 

 Gaels, to the champions of the Red Branch of L'lster — 

 heroes of an epic almost worthy to rank with that of 

 Troy — and to Finn and his Fenians. He will also 

 make acquaintance with the chief figures of the Bry- 

 thonic Pantheon, with the earlier race of gods, and 

 ivith Arthur and his knights, who will be seen to be- 

 long to the same company. 



.■\s our author does not claim to have written an 

 original work, it goes without saying that we are not 

 called upon to enter into a discussion of his subject- 

 matter. He has studied the works of the best scholars, 

 and for the most part he adheres to them faithfully. 

 It is possible that in some cases he may show him- 

 self over positive, that he may be inclined to treat as 

 certain what his authority has advanced as a conjec- 

 ture. But since his sole object in writing is to gain 

 a larger audience for the studies of others, slips of this 

 kind cannot be regarded as serious. 



In our opinion his book is both useful and attractive. 

 His treatment of his subject is thorough and conscien- 

 tious, and he has realised his hope of presenting it in 

 a lucid and agreeable form. It will be matter for sur- 

 prise if he does not inspire his readers with some at 

 least of his own enthusiasm. 



Of Mr. Maclean's " Celtic Literature " there is no 

 need to say more than a few words. It is some time 

 since it appeared, and we doubt not that many of the 

 readers of this Journal are already well acquainted with 

 it It is the first attempt to give in brief compass an 

 account of Celtic literature from the earliest times to 

 the present day. Like Mr. Squire's " Mythology," it 

 is intended to serve as a popular introduction ; at the 

 same time, it aims at satisfying those in quest of in- 

 formation as to original sources and books of reference. 

 From both points of view it has much to recommend 

 it ; it will leave the general reader with a clear idea of 

 the main outlines of the subject, while the student will 

 find in it a painstaking and. within certain limits, a 

 trustworthy guide. We are inclined to prefer the chap- 

 ters dealing with Celtic literature in modern times, 

 with the Highland bards before the Forty-five, with the 

 master gleaners of Gaelic poetry, &c. The pages 

 which describe the influence of Celtic on English litera- 

 ture are also interesting reading. The book ends with 

 a survey of Celtic studies and a list of Celtic scholars 

 past and present. 



