358 



THE BRITISH ISLES. 



inhabitants of wliu-li are clistinj:;uisho(l for ihoir enterprise, presentin<^ a singular 

 contrast to the sluggishness of their Gaelic neighbours. The descendants of 

 these hostile races have, like oil and water, long refused to mingle. It 

 would nevertheless be next to impossible to define the boundaries between the 

 various races throughout the country. Language certainly would prove no safe 

 guide, for many of the Gaels have given up their language and speak English. 

 Out of 3,500,000 Scotchmen only 250,000 are able to express themselves 



Fig. 178. — Linguistic Map of Scotland. 



Aoonrrlinp to K G ■Rivpns+pii. 



X 



^ ^D If '^. ^^ '^ _^_.ri 





68 



95toR0 

 per cent. 



Proportion of G>ielifi-*'Peaking Inhabitant" 



50 to fk> 

 per cent. 



in Gaelic, and of these only 49,000 are ignorant of English.* As to the Scandi- 

 navians, not one amongst their descendants now speaks Old Norse. The greater 

 number of them speak English, but many, too, have adopted Gaelic. In most of the 

 islands the names of places are Danish, although Gaelic has for centuries been the 

 t-poken language. Even in St. Kilda, remote as is its situation, an intermingling 

 of Gaels and Northmen has been recognised. f The use of Celtic was discon- 



* E. G. Ravenstein, " On the Celtic Lan.f^nag s in the British Isles." 

 t Sands, " Out of the World, or Life in St. Kilda." 



