Obituary Notices. 
xvii 
appear, subordinate to the king who is supreme, and with inherent 
though undefined rights in the soil. That the inormaer became 
eventually the earl, and the toisech the thane (chief and captain of 
clan among the modern Highlanders) seems to be established. But 
the relationship of these dignitaries to each other, to the king, 
and to the mass of the people ; their mode of life ; their beliefs ; 
their judicial system, are shadowy in the extreme. The materials 
for filling in the vague outline given in the Book of Deer are to 
be gathered from stray notices and allusions in native records, 
but chiefly by comparison and analogy from Irish, Welsh, Saxon, 
and Norse sources, and these have by no means been exhausted by 
Mr Skene. 
The case is different with respect to the ecclesiastical history of 
these people. The chapter on the literature of the Scottish Celt is 
meagre ; but the history of the old Church of Scotland, as written 
by Mr Skene, is full and reliable. Additional facts are daily coming 
to light ; but the main conclusions arrived at in this volume are not 
likely to be materially shaken. In this field the record is fuller, 
and the author was perhaps more in sympathy with his subject. 
Vol. ii. of Celtic Scotland is virtually accepted as authoritative, 
being quoted as such by writers of various creeds. The mission of 
Nennius is overshadowed by that of Columba. The early Scottish 
Church is essentially Columban, an offshoot of the Church of Ireland. 
The creed, organisation, and discipline of the old Church of 
Scotland have been the subject of hot controversy. The Apostle 
of the Piets was, as Bede says, a presbyter. Mainly because of this 
fact, some have held that the Columban Church was Presbyterian. 
There were bishops in Iona in early days. To that extent, at least, 
the old Gaelic Church in Scotland was Episcopal. But these 
bishops had no dioceses, and in the monastery they were under the 
jurisdiction of the abbot, who was supreme. One thing is clear. 
The early Church of Ireland and of Scotland was not Eoman. 
During the fifth and sixth centuries, the Church in the British Isles 
was in practical isolation from the Church abroad. Considerable 
differences had meanwhile emerged. . But when Columbanus came 
into collision with the bishops in France, instead of adopting their 
views on the matters in dispute, he stoutly asserted his independ- 
ence both of them and of Kome ; and in the great conference at 
