42 



urably above our heathen forefathers, both as to intellect and 

 civilization. But, how many of the mechanics of our day have 

 either the patience or the ability to fashion the implements 

 that were used by our forefathers? How many (the birdmen 

 excepted) would risk the elements on the high seas in small 

 crafts as did the Viking, the "Celt," or the Phoenician of old? 

 Truly, the human race has advanced immensely in certain 

 directions, and relapsed in others, but the intellects of antiquity 

 were fully equal to those of today. It was the vision and vivid 

 imagination of the ancients, that led them to high endeavors 

 whereof no feat stands out in more shining glory than their 

 development of astronomy. The high type of intelligence of 

 our prehistoric forefathers is amply proved by the invention 

 of their respective alphabets. The untutored, uninitiated multi- 

 tudes of those days referred to the writings of their own leaders 

 or bards as runes. "Rune" is a truly "Celtic" word and is 

 still in present day dictionaries. In Welsh it is called rhin. 

 It has several meanings as: Secret, mystery, deceit, craft, 

 subtlety; a purpose, design, intention, etc. We are wont to 

 apply this word to the Norse alphabet. It is one of hundreds of 

 words that have survived in the Scandinavian dialects from 

 pre-historic Celtic times, for the Scandinavians received them 

 from their old friends, the Gauls. That even the Latin language 

 rests in part upon a Celtic substratum is indisputable. The 

 same reasoning applies to the old Norse language and its deriva- 

 tive, the English. Therefore, the Celtic language and its lore 

 are, to a great extent, our own, and their cultivation and pres- 

 ervation is a duty devolved upon us, — a duty which should 

 be much more precious since it would tend to establish an un- 

 breakable intellectual entente between kin now separated into 

 distinct linguistic groups: The Romance, the Anglo-Saxon, and 

 the Scandinavian. 



To return to a consideration of common factors of the various 

 centers of European civilization, we meet with the alphabet of 

 the Celt, the alphabet of one of the oldest languages of Europe. 



The first letter of the Celtic alphabet (as will be seen in the 

 following figure) is ailm, or "A." Although ailm has been 

 associated by some with the pine or palm there is stronger 

 philologic ground for deeming the word as signifying the Wych 

 elm (Ulmus montana), ailm thus being cognate with English 



