80 



THE BEITISII ISLES. 



habits. Of tliis dark race no trace exists at tlie present day, except perhaps in 

 the black hair and dark eyes of many Welshmen. 



Successive waves of Celtic invaders gradually dispossessed these earlier 

 inhabitants of the most fertile districts, and drove them north and west into the 

 hilly regions. The first to arrive were the forefathers of the Gaels, and to 

 these sncceeded the Cymri. These latter gradually spread over the whole of 

 England and Scotland as far as the Tay, and perhaps even beyond that river, 

 driving the Gaels into the more sterile mountainous parts, and into Ireland. In 

 Western Wales the Gaels, or "Gwyddel," maintained their ground up to the 

 sixth century, when the last remnants sought a refuge amongst their kinsmen in 



Fi"-. U). — The "Giakt's Quoit" at Lanyox. near Penzance. 



Ireland; but long before that time the great Teutonic immigration, which 

 thoroughly changed the character of the population of England, had commenced. 



When Julius Caesar landed in England, fifty-five years before the Christian 

 era, he found the coast in the occupation of blue- eyed, fair-haired BelgEc, who 

 tilled the land, kept cattle, and made use of copper and iron rings for money. 

 The inland part, however, was inhabited by " those who, according to existing 

 tradition, were the aborigines of the island." These "inland people," Julius 

 Caesar says in his " Commentaries," " for the most part do not sow corn, but 

 live on milk and flesh, and are clothed in skins. They all stain themselves with 

 woad, which makes them of a blue tinge, and gives them a fearful appearance in 



