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AN 
 
 ESSAY, 
 
 ETC. 
 
AN 
 
 ESSAY 
 
 0\ THE 
 
 PHYSIOGNOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY 
 
 OF THE PRESENT 
 
 Jnfiafiitant^ of I3ritain; 
 
 WFTH 
 
 REFERENCE TO THEIR ORIGIN, AS 
 
 GOTHS AND CELTS. 
 
 TOGETHER WITH 
 
 Bcmarlts upon t\)e ^9I)i)siognomicaI Cfjaractertstics of SrelantJ, 
 
 AND OF SOME OF TflE 
 
 NEIGHBOURING CONTINENTAL NATIONS. 
 
 BY THE REV. T. PRICE. 
 
 LONDON: 
 PRINTED FOR J. RODWELL, NEW BOND STREET. 
 
 1829. 
 
C. Wbittinghaui, Cliiswick. 
 
GiNsSS- 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 X H E following pages, though chiefly written 
 upon the subject of Physiognomy, yet 
 have no reference whatever to that science, 
 as connected with either its Lavaterian 
 or Astrological departments; but are 
 solely designed as a refutation of another, 
 and more pernicious system of opinions ; 
 that is, of the modern theory of original 
 national distinctions, and of generic diver- 
 sities of the human race ; and to remove 
 that stumblino:-block, which has of late 
 years so greatly cumbered the path of 
 History and Physiology. 
 
 r-r <r^ /r-i 
 
C. VVhittingliam, Chiswick. 
 
GNSK^ 
 
 (3 r n 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 1 HE following pages, though chiefly written 
 upon the subject of Physiognomy, yet 
 have no reference whatever to that science, 
 as connected with either its Lavateriax 
 or Astrological departments; but are 
 solely designed as a refutation of another, 
 and more pernicious system of opinions ; 
 that is, of the modern theory of original 
 national distinctions, and of generic diver- 
 sities of the human race ; and to remove 
 that stumbling-block, which has of late 
 years so greatly cumbered the path of 
 History and Physiology. 
 
 rr:tfT»ir-ft >- r-^-f^^^ 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 But, however the interests of science may 
 have suffered by the admission of false 
 principles, it is not merely in scientific 
 pursuits, that the errors of this unfounded 
 system call for correction : they have 
 extended themselves to subjects of much 
 higher importance, and have interfered even 
 with the declarations of Divine Revelation 
 itself. 
 
 While the physiological distinctions of 
 the human race were confined to the ancient 
 classification of the four temperaments of 
 Sanguine^ Thlegmatic^ Choleric^ and Melan- 
 choly^ with their several combinations, the 
 arrangement was confirmed by the actual 
 characters of individuals. 
 
 Or while they were merely applied to the 
 several complexions of White, Black, Red, 
 
PR K FACE. VU 
 
 and Tawny^ as connected with the four 
 quarters of the globe, however arbitrary the 
 geographical division, they yet were not 
 totally destitute of foundation. 
 
 Even when extended to six or more vari- 
 eties, according as Physiologists imagined 
 they could perceive shades of colour, how- 
 ever vague the terms, and confused the 
 lines of demarcation, yet to a certain extent 
 they were sanctioned by experience, and 
 consonant vvith existing national peculia- 
 rities ; and in all these various arrangements, 
 any errors, which might exist, were impor- 
 tant, only as far as they impeached accuracy 
 of observation in those with whom they 
 originated. 
 
 But when these varieties of complexion 
 are made to form a basis for a system of 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 scepticism and iiitidelity, and when men are 
 found, who dare assert them to be the 
 pecuhar and unchangeable properties ot so 
 many different species of creatures : that the 
 dark and fair complexions are not derived 
 from tlie same original parents, but are from 
 their hrst creation totallv .separate and di^- 
 tmct : then the question l^ecomes one of the 
 most vital concern ; and the blasphemous 
 character of such as^r^ertions cannot be too 
 severely reprehendt^d. For \\hate\'er latitude 
 of construction mav have been conceded, m 
 some passages of the Mosaic history of the 
 creation, on account of the alleged indetinite 
 meaning ot the terms employed ; yet, with 
 regard to the deri\ ation of the human race 
 from one original parent stock, no such 
 compromise can in the slightest degree 
 be permitted : for in this truth of our 
 common descent from Adam is involved 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 the whole doctrine of the tall and redemp- 
 tion of man. 
 
 To the believer in revelation, no other 
 evidence is necessary upon this subject, than 
 
 that it is written, '• HE liath made of 
 
 one blood all nations of men for to dzicll on 
 all the face of the earth/' But although the 
 Scriptures were not intended to instruct us 
 in philosophical researches, yet it is gratify- 
 in^r to tind that, whenever scientific facts are 
 plainly and explicitly declared, every real 
 discoverv in science tends to confirm and 
 illustrate their truth. 
 
 It is therefore presumed, that the contents 
 of the present volume will, by a forcible 
 train of arguments, from facts already ac- 
 knowledged, and by the developing of 
 
 PHYSIOLOGICAL CAUSES HITHER TO IN- 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 KNOWN, contribute materially towards the 
 general stock of knowledge, and place the 
 subject of which it treats, upon a foundation 
 entirely new. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 Modern System of Gothic and Celtic Physiognomy 
 
 examined and refuted 1 
 
 Effects of Climate on the Physiognomy 26 
 
 Of Habit 30 
 
 Celtic and Gothic Races — Cause of the Difference of 
 Complexion among the People of England, not con- 
 nected with Difference of Origin 35 
 
 Effect of Coal Fires upon the Colour of the Eye ... 36 
 
 Colonization and present Population of Britain ... 52 
 Celtic Tribes : — Welsh — Strathclyde Britons — Bretons, 
 
 &c 56 
 
 Wends, Walloons, &c 59 
 
 Waldensic Language not Irish 60 
 
 Caledonians . 67 
 
 Druidic Monuments near Culloden 68 
 
 Picts 72 
 
 Belgae 73 
 
 Language of the Belgae 76 
 
 Bretons 85 
 
 Gothic Tribes — Saxons 86 
 
 Danes 91 
 
 Normans 92 
 
Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 LOCAL PHYSIOGNOMY OF BRITAIN'. 
 
 Page 
 
 England 95 
 
 Scotland 97 
 
 Highlanders 98 
 
 Lowlanders 99 
 
 Norwegians of the Isles 100 
 
 Wales 101 
 
 Ireland 102 
 
 Danes, Ostmen, &c 108 
 
 Isle of Man 109 
 
 CONTINENTAL PHYSIOGNOMY. 
 
 France 110 
 
 Savoy 113 
 
 Switzerland 114 
 
 Germany 115 
 
 Belgium 116 
 
 General Remarks 117 
 
 Causes affecting the Mental Character 122 
 
AN 
 
 ESSAY, 
 
 ETC. 
 
 Few subjects have furnislied literary men with 
 a greater variety of fanciful theories^ and specu- 
 lative systems^ than the origin and personal 
 characteristics of nations : in discussing which 
 many able writers have employed far more 
 ingenuity than sound argument; wasting erudi- 
 tion in support of mere hypothesis. Yet from 
 PiNKERTON, the founder of the present system, 
 down to Dr. Macculloch, the last writer of 
 distinction^ who has given it his support, they 
 all appear, however differing upon collateral 
 points, to have adopted one fixed and common 
 principle ; the fallaciousness of which it is the 
 object of the present Essay to expose. 
 
 The system, which Pinkerton and his dis- 
 ciples have adopted, is the following. 
 
 That the Gothic and Celtic races were origi- 
 
nally and generically different: that this dif- 
 ference has ever been clear and distinct, in their 
 physiognomical, physiological, arid moral cha- 
 racter ; neither time nor accident having had 
 power to change it; so that the Gothic breed 
 or race is as distinct, and as distinguishable from 
 the Celtic^ at this day^ as it was two thousand 
 years ago. 
 
 The respective characteristics of the two 
 races they assert to be as follow s. 
 
 The Gothic tribes^ it is said, were and still 
 are red, or yellow-haired, blue-eyed, fair com- 
 plexioned, large of limb, and tall of stature. 
 
 The Celtic, on the other hand, dark-haired, 
 dark-eyed, of swarthy complexion, and small in 
 stature. 
 
 Now the existence of these characteristics, 
 as generic distinctions, I mean most positively 
 to deny, whether as between the Goths and 
 Celts of antiquity, or their descendants at the 
 present day. And I persuade myself, that I 
 shall be able to prove the several varieties of 
 physiognomical and physiological character to 
 have no connexion whatever with breeds, or 
 races ; but to be entirely the result of accidental 
 causes : and that, so far from being fixed and 
 unchangeable, as it is asserted by these writers, 
 national physiognomy and character are, on the 
 
contrary^ perpetually varying under varying 
 circumstances. 
 
 It is true that the Greek and Roman writers 
 do describe the various barbarous tribes of 
 Europe, as differing widely from each other 
 in their national character : representing some 
 to be of the fair, or, as it has been styled. 
 Xanthous complexion ; others of the dark, or 
 Blelanic : but they give not the slightest sanc- 
 tion to the supposition, that these characters 
 w ere the peculiar relative distinctions of Goths 
 and Celts. 
 
 For instance, Tacitus, in describing the 
 Germans, says, that the physical character, 
 although in so great a number of men, was 
 the same in all ; i. e. fierce, and blue eyes, 
 red hair, large and powerful bodies. " Habitus 
 quoque corporum, quanquam in tanto hominum 
 numero, idem omnibus : truces et cerulei oculi, 
 rutilae comae, magna corpora, et tantum ad 
 impetum valid a." Tag. de Mor. Germ. 
 
 Juvenal also speaks of the blue eyes and 
 yellow hair of the Germans, and adds, that it is 
 their universal character : 
 
 " Caerula quis stupuit Germani lumina, flavam 
 CEesariem, et madido torquentem cornua cirro ; 
 Nempe quod hsec illis natura est omnibus una?" 
 
 Sat. xiii. 
 
 b2 
 
4 
 
 And Horace mentions the blue-eyed youth of 
 Germany : 
 
 " Nee fera cserulea clomuit Germania piibe." 
 
 AusoNTUS also calls the Germans yellow-haired 
 and blue-eyed : 
 
 " Oculos caemla — flava comas," &c. 
 
 And Luc AN mentions the yellow-haired Suevi 
 — " flavos Suevos." 
 
 Lastly, SiLius Italicus has " auricomo Batavo" 
 — " the golden-haired Batavian." . 
 
 These extracts are sufficient to prove that 
 the ancient inhabitants of Germany were of the 
 Xanthous complexion : but there is not the 
 slightest authority for applying this character, 
 exclusively, to the Goths ; for it is said to be 
 universal in that country. And it will be shown 
 that it was likewise that of some Celtic tribes : 
 and that the term German comprised both the 
 Celtic and Gothic inhabitants of the north of 
 Europe ; for Pliny, in describing the five divi- 
 sions of the Germans, includes among them the 
 Cimbri, who are allowed, even by Pinkerton, 
 to have been a Celtic people. Pliny, speaking 
 of the North Sea, or the Baltic, and quoting 
 from Philemon, says, that it was called Mori- 
 
manisa, by the Cimbri, that is, the dead sea: 
 "MoRiMARUSAM a Ciiiibris vocari, lioc est 3Ior- 
 tuum Mare.^^ The word Morimarusa would be, 
 in the Welsh language, Mormariv : and as the 
 Welsh, at the present day, call themselves 
 Cymry, it is probable that they are of the same 
 stock with the Cimbri of Pliny, and conse- 
 quently that the Cimbri were Celts. 
 
 But whilst so many ancient authorities are 
 brought forward to establish this supposed 
 Gothic distinction of red hair, &c., the only 
 passage, which has ever been adduced, to prove 
 the dark complexion of the Celts, is the follow- 
 ing from Tacitus; who is describing one parti- 
 cular tribe of the Britons, that of the Siluri, a 
 people of South Wales. " Silurum colorati 
 vultus, et torti plerumque crines, et positu, 
 contra Hispaniam, Iberos veteres trajecisse, 
 easque sedes occupasse, fideni faciunt." " The 
 swarthy faces, and generally curled hair of the 
 Silurians, and their situation, opposite to Spain, 
 make us believe that the old Iberians passed 
 over, and occupied those seats." Tacit, in 
 Agric. 
 
 Now, it is upon this single passage that the 
 whole fabric of the Cel to-Gothic system rests ; 
 and upon this solitary instance have so many 
 learned men founded their opinion, that the 
 
6 
 
 whole of the Celtic race must have been of the 
 dark or melanic complexion ; although the evi- 
 dences to the contrary are fully as clear and 
 distinct^ with regard to the Celtic, as to the 
 undoubted Gothic tribes. For Pausanias avers, 
 that the Gauls in general surpassed other men 
 in stature : and as to their being red, and 
 yellow-haired, we have the testimony of a 
 variety of ancient authors. Thus Virgil, in 
 speaking of that people, says that they have 
 golden hair : 
 
 " Aurea caesaries ollis." 
 
 Ltvy also mentions the red hair of the Gauls : 
 
 " Rutilatae comae Gallorum." 
 
 And SiLius calls it red and golden : 
 
 " Auro certantem et rutilum sub vertice noduni." 
 
 So Claudian observes of the fierce and 
 yellow-haired Gauls : 
 
 " Inde truces flavo comitantur vertice Galli/' 
 
 And again 
 
 turn flava rcnexo 
 
 Gallia crine," &c. 
 
Strabo likewise remarks, that the Celts had 
 yellow hair ; and Dtodorus, that they were tall 
 and fair. Thus we see that the words Jlavns 
 and rutilus, yellow-haired and red-haired, are as 
 frequently applied to the Gauls as to the Ger- 
 mans; and, as far as these ancient authorities 
 extend, they decidedly refer to the Celtic inha- 
 bitants of Gaul ; and nothing but the most 
 determined evasion, or palpable recklessness of 
 authority, could induce any writer to maintain 
 the contrary. And yet, by some extraordinary 
 infatuation, it has been agreed upon to set aside 
 these evidences -, and to consider it as an esta- 
 blished fact, that the Celts were a dark and 
 swarthy race, &c. But as it would be endless 
 to quote from the works of all those authors, 
 who have allowed themselves to be misled, with 
 regard to this subject, I shall select only two, 
 PiNKERTON and Macculloch; men, who, from 
 their eminence as literary characters, and from 
 the decided manner in which they give their 
 opinions, may be considered as the chauipions 
 of the system. 
 
 Speaking on this subject, Pinkerton, in his 
 Inquiry into the History of Scotland, observes : 
 " The Celts of Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, 
 at this day, have black curled hair, and brown 
 faces ; those few amonc^ them, who liave fair 
 
8 
 
 faces^ and red or light liair^ the grand features 
 of the Goths^ are of Gothic extract." 
 
 " The Scandinavians ever have been^ and 
 are^ remarkable for red hair, as are the other 
 Germans. The Welsh and Irish are a black- 
 haired race." 
 
 In remarking upon the Highlanders and 
 Lowlanders of Scotland, he says : " The race 
 is so extremely distinct as to strike all at first 
 sight. In person the Lowlanders are tall and 
 large, with fair complexions, and often with 
 flaxen, yellow, and red hair, and blue eyes; 
 the grand features of the Goths, in all ancient 
 writers. The Highlanders are generally diminu- 
 tive, if we except some of Norwegian descent; 
 with brown complexions, and almost always 
 with black curled hair, and dark eyes." 
 
 Now, before we commence any observations 
 upon these peremptory assertions, it will be 
 well to call to mind that most excellent pre- 
 caution, of always ascertaining the existence 
 of a fact, before we attempt to account for 
 it; for I will venture to affirm that a greater 
 number of false statements were scarcely ever 
 brought together, in an equal number of words, 
 than in the above passages : and, so far are 
 the Highlanders from having, generally, dark 
 eyes, that whoever will make the experiment 
 
9 
 
 shall find that the light or gray eye predomi- 
 nates in the Highlands; and the dark occurs 
 so rarely^ as only to form an exception to the 
 general rule. But^ in truths what can be 
 expected from a person, who roundly asserts 
 that the present Germans are remarkable for 
 red hair ! 
 
 Among the Welsh also, although the inha- 
 bitants of Glamorganshire and the adjoining 
 districts have frequently dark eyes, and which 
 I shall hereafter account for, on quite other 
 grounds tlian those of national descent; yet 
 the people of North, as well as those of a 
 considerable portion of South Wales, are, 
 with few exceptions, a light or blue-eyed race, 
 and as fair of complexion as those of any other 
 part of the island. 
 
 As to the Irish — so far from being a dark- 
 eyed people, that feature is, among them, 
 almost universally of the gray or bluish cha- 
 racter: nor has their hair a greater tendency 
 to curl than that of their English neighbours. 
 And with regard to Pinkerton's assertions, 
 respecting the blue eyes of the Lowlanders of 
 Scotland, I will undertake to prove, that there 
 are a greater number of dark-coloured eyes 
 in one or two counties of the Lowlands, than 
 in all the Highlands put together. In short, 
 
10 
 
 whoever will take the trouble to make a few 
 observations upon national physiognomy will 
 be convinced^ that all this system of red and 
 black hair^ and of Gothic and Celtic peculiari- 
 ties^ is the most absurd and unfounded ever 
 adopted by a prejudiced mind: for he will find 
 that, at the present day, red hair is of such 
 exceeding rare occurrence, in any part of the 
 British dominions, compared with the brown 
 and dark, that, if it be received as an inse- 
 parable accompaniment of Gothic blood, then 
 it must needs be acknowledged that the Gothic 
 race is almost extinct and superseded by the 
 Celtic; an acknowledgment, however, which 
 will ill accord with the reiterated assertions of 
 the superiority and prevalence of the Gothic 
 race, and the diminished numbers of the Celtic. 
 Had PiNKERTON travelled in Germany, and 
 made personal observations upon the inhabi- 
 tants, so far from discovering that the Germans 
 are remarlzable for red hair^ he would have 
 found that trait as rare among the Gothic 
 Germans as among the Celtic Highlanders. 
 And not only in Germany, but in Norway 
 itself, the real Scandinavia, it is asserted, upon 
 good authority, that red hair is as rarely met 
 with as in England. 
 
 After this short, but I persuade myself 
 
11 
 
 complete^ exposure of the absurdity of such a 
 system, it is scarcely necessary to add any 
 thing further in the way of confutation. The 
 facts will speak for themselves. Nevertheless, 
 as the opinions of Pinkerton have had consi- 
 derable weight with other writers, it may not 
 be superfluous to give some further extracts 
 from his works, simply to show the prejudiced 
 state of that mind, whose hypothesis they have 
 so incautiously adopted. 
 
 '^ No doubt," says he, " a Celtic understand- 
 ing will always be a Celtic understanding; and 
 that folly imputed to the Celts by the Greeks 
 and Romans remains unimpaired." 
 
 " The Celts being natural savages, and 
 regarded as such by all writers of all ages" — 
 " For they are savages — have been savages 
 smce the world began; and will be for ever 
 savages, while a separate people; that is, while 
 themselves, and of unmixed blood." 
 
 " It is a self-evident proposition, that the 
 Author of nature, as he formed great varieties 
 in the same species of plants and of animals, 
 so he also gave various races of men as inha- 
 bitants of several countries. A Tartar, a Negro, 
 an American, &c. differ as much from a Ger- 
 man, as a bulldog, or lapdog, or shepherd's 
 
12 
 
 cur from a pointer. The differences are radical ; 
 and such as no climate or chance could pro- 
 duce/' &c> 
 
 " The Highland Celts alone remained ; and 
 for the first time thrusting their noses into the 
 world of letters^ they have, from the darkness 
 of their own minds, judged of an enlightened 
 age. — Alas, they know no better. To their 
 misty understandings," &c. &c. 
 
 In speaking of their language, he has the 
 following consistent assertions. In one place 
 he says, the '^ Old Saxon and the Welsh have 
 not many Latin words :" but in another, when 
 it suits his purpose, " The grammar of the 
 Welsh is indeed Cumraig, but the body of the 
 language is as much Gothic and Low Latin as 
 Celtic." 
 
 Again : "^ The Celtic, i will venture to say, 
 is of all savage languages the most confused, 
 as the Celts are of all savages the most deficient 
 in understanding." 
 
 " To derive Latin words from Celtic is a 
 sure mark of a Celtic understanding; which 
 always judges by the inverse ratio of rea- 
 soning." 
 
 " All etymology of names is folly ; but Celtic 
 etymology is sheer frenzy." 
 
13 
 
 In short, the following is liis mode of siun- 
 ming up the respective merits of the two 
 nations, and of striking a balance: 
 
 " The Goths, a wise, valiant, and generous 
 race," &c. 
 
 " The Celts being indeed mere savages, and 
 worse than the savages of America." 
 
 " What a lion is to an ass, such is a Goth 
 to a Celt." 
 
 It might have been expected that the scur- 
 rility and low spite of the above and numerous 
 other passages, of a similar character, would 
 have secured the public opinion from being- 
 influenced by this work : but it so happens 
 that the general erudition of the author, and 
 his laborious historical researches, have given 
 a currency to his very absurdities : so that 
 these idle notions, respecting Goths and Celts, 
 instead of being laughed at, as the aberrations 
 of an irritable and prejudiced mind, have, on 
 the contrary, been for the most part adopted 
 by the generality of succeeding writers ; and 
 among others by Dr. Macculloch, who repeats 
 them with a tone of decision truly surprising, 
 Avhen we consider the total absence of all 
 authority in his favour, both ancient and 
 modern. That the irascible and prejudiced 
 PiNKERTON should fall into this error, is not 
 
14 
 
 so much to be wondered at^ he being a man of 
 mere booklearning^ though^ it is true^ deeply 
 read. But Dr. Macculloch, in addition to 
 his merits as a scholar and historian^ is a man 
 of science and an experimental philosopher. 
 That such a man should so far forget his 
 principles, as gravely to reason upon utterly 
 unfounded premises, is far more strange. But 
 if the Doctor would only condescend to treat 
 this subject as he would any other scientific 
 experiment, examining facts for himself, instead 
 of being content with the gratuitous statements 
 of others, I have no doubt he would perceive 
 that the opinions contained in the following 
 extracts from his writings have not that sup- 
 port from facts, which their positive and 
 decided style of delivery would lead us to 
 suppose. 
 
 In his " Highlands and Western Isles of 
 Scotland," Dr. Macculloch remarks : " It is 
 the breed which is the only steady criterion 
 of national descent. Mixture may often intro- 
 duce difficulties into the use of this test; but 
 it will not often cause any that are insuperable. 
 Here, as I formerly intimated, nature cannot 
 err: and had the philologists in question been 
 equally physiologists, we might have been 
 spared half of the never-ending volumes which 
 
15 
 
 I have waded tliroiigli^ wading through fiction 
 and nonsense. As well might we hope to sec 
 a negro race become white, as to find a Goth 
 converted into a Celt, through any descent." 
 Again : " Languages may be cast off or as- 
 sumed, but the form and constitution never." 
 
 Now I w ill ask the Doctor a single question : 
 If nature never changes, how does it happen 
 that the present genuine descendants of the 
 Goths have lost that grand Gothic feature, 
 their red hair? Let him travel into Germany, 
 and he will find that trait as rare as in England. 
 At least, I have never been fortunate enough 
 to meet with it there, but as an exception to 
 the general character. 
 
 If it should be said that, although the rutllce 
 comce have disappeared, yet the complexion, 
 signified by the term Jlavus, is still seen among 
 the Germans, in their yellow hair, I reply that 
 the existence of the yellow hair will not make 
 up for the disappearance of the red. And 
 moreover, that although, in some places, hair 
 of a flaxen tint is not uncommon, yet the im- 
 mense tracts of that country, in which the 
 brown and dark hair, or as it has been called 
 the Celtic, prevails, will present a triumphant 
 exposure of any such subterfuge. 
 
 The ancient Caledonians are also described 
 
16 
 
 as having red hair and large limbs ; from which 
 their German origin was inferred. " Namque 
 rutilae Caledoniam habitantium comae, magni 
 artus, Germaniam originem asseverant." 
 
 Now I should be glad to know in what corner 
 of Caledonia any remains of this grand Gothic 
 feature may be found. I have traversed a good 
 portion of what was once the country of these 
 rutiloiis Caledonians^ and I am satisfied that 
 red hair has long ceased to be the universal 
 character; nor are the people larger limbed 
 than their neighbours. 
 
 We are also informed^ in . the old Gaelic 
 Duan^ which was recited by the court bard of 
 Malcolm the Third, A.D. 1057, that the High- 
 landers of that period were yellow-haired : 
 
 " A eolcha Alban nile 
 
 A shluagh feta foltbhuidle.^' 
 
 " O ye learned Albanians all, ye learned yellow-haired 
 hosts !" 
 
 But the yellow hair of the Albanians has 
 vanished as a national feature, and given place 
 to the black and brown. And to say nothing 
 of the Caledonians of Tacitus, or their disputed 
 origin, it appears that, among the undoubted 
 Gaelic Highlanders, what was yellow hair in 
 
 \ i 
 
17 
 
 the eleventh century, was red in the third : lor 
 in the ancient British Triads, a Gaelic coh)ny 
 from Ireland, which seems to correspond with 
 these Dalriads, or at least with their precursors, 
 of the Scoto-Irish race, is called that of the 
 " Gu'ijddijl cock or Yiverddon,'' the " Red Gael 
 from Ireland '."^"^ thus distinctly marking the gra- 
 dual change from the red hair of the first 
 settlers, in the third century, to the yellow of 
 the middle ages, and the brown of the present 
 day; which seems more congenial with the 
 habits of the present people of Britain, whether 
 Goths or Celts. 
 
 So much for the unchangeahleness of nature, 
 and the fixed character of breeds and races. 
 
 But it appears that Dr. Macculloch has 
 implicitly followed Pinkerton in another fancy, 
 respecting Highland origins. " It is necessary 
 to remark," says the Doctor, " that the Gothic 
 blood predominates among the Magnates, or 
 Duine Wassels, as the Celtic does among the 
 common people." And he quotes to this pur- 
 pose the Gartmore MS., in which it is stated, 
 that '' the principal people of the Highlands 
 are of a different race from the commons ; 
 being larger bodied than the inferior sort : they 
 are, in fact, taller and stouter." " And the 
 writer might equally have added," remarks the 
 
 c 
 
18 
 
 Doctor^ ^^ that the fair complexion is generally 
 found among them, and very rarely the Celtic 
 cast." And this difference he attributes, in 
 imitation of Pinkerton, to their Gothic blood 
 and descent, asserting that the better sort still 
 retain that superior rank in society which their 
 Norwegian ancestors assumed when they came 
 into Scotland as conquerors. " I mentioned, 
 originally," says he, '^ that the fair and tall 
 among the present Highlanders had been de- 
 rived from Norwegian blood." 
 
 Sir Walter Scott, in his poem of Marmion, 
 has also noticed this difference; though he has 
 not there attempted to account for it. In 
 describing the Highlanders at Flodden field, 
 he says — 
 
 " Their leg below the knee was bare ; 
 Their form was sinewy, short, and spare ; 
 
 And hardened to the blast. 
 Of taller race the chiefs they own ; 
 And by the eagle's plumage known.'' 
 
 Now the existence of this difference, betwixt 
 the chiefs and the clan, I do by no means intend 
 to deny : but I do most strenuously protest 
 against its being attributed to any difference of 
 origm ; for there can be no manner of doubt 
 that this variety of complexion and stature is 
 
19 
 
 altogether the result of the dillerence of hnbit 
 in the two classes of society. The chiefs and 
 their families being, from their infancy, well 
 fed, would naturally exhibit a more florid com- 
 plexion and robust frame than the common 
 people ; who are known to exist upon a more 
 scanty supply of food, and that too not of the 
 most nutritious quality. But that this difference 
 is not peculiar to the Highlanders, may be col- 
 lected from the observation of almost every 
 other people ; among whom the line of distinc- 
 tion between the two classes is as strongly 
 marked as in the Highland clans; and where 
 the higher orders are not enervated by luxury. 
 This fact has been observed among the inha- 
 bitants of the South Sea Islands, particularly 
 those of Sandwich, where the chiefs are gene- 
 rally taller and better looking than the common 
 people. The same has been remarked among 
 the Japanese. And Pallas, speaking of the 
 Circassians, says, " The men, especially among 
 the higher classes, are mostly of a tall stature." 
 It is also averred, that the American tribes, 
 which have been converted to Christianity, 
 have become more robust and strong; and this 
 change is attributed to more regular and better 
 living. The Arabs of the desert also are spare 
 and diminutive ; whereas those who live where 
 
 c2 
 
20 
 
 food is more plentiful present a much more 
 robust frame of body. But we have only to go 
 into our own manufacturing districts to see the 
 difl^erence between the well and ill fed of the 
 same race. In fact^ the change of quality and 
 quantity of food is known to produce very ex- 
 traordinary revolutions in every department of 
 the animal creation. For instance^ it is a well 
 established fact among graziers^ that breeds of 
 animals increase in bulk and weight according 
 to the improvement of their food. Thus the small 
 Highland cattle called kyloes^ when allowed to 
 propagate in the richer pastures of the south^ 
 even though kept separate and unmixed, will, 
 In a very few generations, become so much 
 improved in size, as to weigh almost double as 
 much as those of the orginal importation. 
 
 But if the tall large limbed Goths of anti- 
 quity never could furnish the smaller dark- 
 haired people of the present day, what then has 
 occasioned the change, which is so perceptible 
 in all parts of the world with regard to these 
 characteristics? For instance, it is recorded, 
 that when Charles Martel overthrew tJie Saracen 
 army, A. D. 732, he was greatly indebted for 
 his victory to the Germans from the banks of 
 the Rhine ; whose superior strength and stature 
 enabled them to carry such heavy battleaxes. 
 
21 
 
 that they overpowered the Saracens. Now I 
 will ask Dr. Macculloch, what has become of 
 this race of Rhenish giants, and why their 
 descendants no longer exhibit those charac- 
 teristics of the eighth century? For though I 
 have anxiously looked for some traces of this 
 gigantic race on the banks of the Rhine, I have 
 been no more able to meet with them than 
 with tlie red hair, and other grand features of 
 the Goths : nor can I discover that the people 
 are more remarkable for those qualities, at the 
 present day, than the inhabitants of other 
 countries. 
 
 Should it be objected here that although the 
 Rhine is mentioned, yet that these w^arriors 
 might possibly have come from some more 
 distant parts of Germany beyond that river, I 
 answer that I will readily admit even this 
 amendment, and will maintain, that no part of 
 the German empire can at this day furnish an 
 army of men of such gigantic frame, as to be 
 from absolute corporeal strength so formidable 
 to their southern neighbours. If such existed 
 at the present day, they must be found among 
 the German troops; but I have seen those 
 men, and can by no means trace among them 
 the characteristics of their ancestors. A man 
 
22 
 
 six feet high is a tall man in Germany, as well 
 as in other countries. 
 
 Again : Strabo describes the Britons of his 
 time as yellow-haired, and exceedingly tall of 
 stature; having himself seen some, in Rome, 
 taller by the head and shoulders, than the 
 people of that country. Now, if nature be 
 unchangeable, what has become of this race of 
 tall yellow-headed Britons? And how is it 
 that, neither among the descendants of the 
 Belgag, Saxons, or Celts, do we find any 
 remains of it? 
 
 Numerous instances might be adduced, of 
 the difference of complexion in people of the 
 same acknowledged origin, according to their 
 respective habits of life. And as Dr. Prichard, 
 in his " Physical History of Mankind," has col- 
 lected several valuable facts to the point from 
 the works of different travellers, I shall avail 
 myself of a few of his remarks, in confirmation 
 of my own opinion. 
 
 He informs us '^ that the Arabs of the Desert, 
 from their continual exposure to the sun and 
 atmosphere, are swarthy, and some almost 
 black: whereas those of the same race, who 
 are protected from that influence, are often 
 exceedingly fair." Also, that their shades of 
 
23 
 
 complexion vary with the temperature of the 
 climate ; for that Bruce, in describing some 
 mountains on the coast of Yemen, says : " The 
 people of the place have told me, that water 
 freezes there in winter, and there are some of 
 the inhabitants wlio have red hair and blue 
 eyes ; a thing scarcely ever to be seen but in 
 the coldest mountains of the east." 
 
 The Tartars, a widely extended people, differ 
 exceedingly in physiological character. Pallas, 
 speaking of the Votiacs, a Finnish or Lap- 
 landish race, observes : " There is no nation 
 among whom hair of a fiery red is so common 
 as among the Votiacs, yet there are individuals 
 who have brown, and others who have black 
 hair, but most generally it is of a chestnut 
 colour; they have, however, in general, red 
 beards." 
 
 From this quotation, as given by Prichard, 
 it appears that red hair, that grand feature of 
 the Goths, belongs equally to a tribe of Lap- 
 landers ; and further, that this feature is, by no 
 means, a criterion of courage, or a necessary 
 accompaniment of height of stature, as Plnk- 
 ERTON on behalf of his Goths would wish us to 
 believe; for the same traveller, Pallas, as 
 quoted by Dr. Prichard, says of the Tshere- 
 
24 
 
 misses, another Lappon liorcle : " They are of a 
 middle stature ; ahiiost all of them have hair of 
 a clear chestnut colour, or of a light red; these 
 colom*s are most conspicuous in their beards. 
 Their faces are very white, but their features 
 broad; they are by no means robust, and are 
 cowardly, timorous, thievish, and excessively 
 obstinate." 
 
 What would P[nkerton not have given for 
 such a description of the moral qualities of any 
 dark-haired Celtic race? The " colorati viilius^^ 
 of the Silurians would have been nothing to it. 
 But, unfortunately for him and his followers, 
 the swarthy Celtic Silurians are described as 
 a brave and tear like race: " Validani et pug- 
 nacem Silurum gentem ;" but that part of the 
 description is of course never commented upon. 
 
 But the difference of make and colour, in 
 accordance with the difference of climate and 
 habit, is observable in the whole of the animal 
 creation. Mountain hares are smaller and 
 blacker than those of the low grounds. And 
 Prichard remarks that sheep, transported into 
 tropical regions, exchange their fleecy covers of 
 wool for a coat of hair. There were originally 
 no horses in America. Therefore he concludes 
 that those now found there, whether tame or 
 
25 
 
 v.ild, were originally imported from Europe; 
 but it is remarkable that while the domestic 
 vary^ the wild horses are imifbrmly of the same 
 colour, like other wild animals. 
 
 Hogs were also imported from Europe : and 
 he remarks that they have become a variety^, 
 differing greatly from the European breeds. 
 
 Much more valuable information might be 
 collected from Dr. Prichard^s work; but the 
 foregoing is amply sufficient for the object of 
 the present Essay. 
 
 Having therefore exposed the fallacy of this 
 system of the unchangeableness of nature^ it 
 may be asked^ How then are we to account 
 for the variety of character, which we conti- 
 nually observe? I answer that the difference 
 of physiological character in the human race is 
 altogether the result of external and accidental 
 causes, and not of any original generic variety : 
 and these causes I consider to be comprised in 
 Climate and Habit. 
 
26 
 
 CLIMATE. 
 
 In the first place, with regard to the influence 
 of climate, it is a well understood fact, that 
 within the fortieth degree of latitude the inhabi- 
 tants are of the dark complexion, being dark- 
 haired and dark-eyed, except in those moun- 
 tainous districts where, in consequence of the 
 elevation of the land, the climate becomes more 
 temperate ; and there it is not unusual to meet 
 with the light complexion. 
 
 From the fortieth degree northward the com- 
 plexion becomes fairer, until it is again in- 
 fluenced by the extreme of cold. 
 
 But in whatever portion of the torrid zone 
 any nation is found, which has existed there for 
 a few generations, the complexion invariably 
 partakes of the dark or melanic character, even 
 though it be among the descendants of the 
 blue-eyed Goths and Vandals. The Xanthous 
 warriors of Genseric can not, at this day, be 
 recognised among their descendants in Africa, 
 and yet it is hardly credible that they should 
 all have been extirpated. 
 
 The Jews have frequently been instanced as 
 
27 
 
 a confirmation of the influence of climate ; and, 
 being an unmixed people, they afford a strik- 
 ing example. Those of Poland and Germany, 
 having assumed the European complexion, while 
 those of Africa are as swarthy as the Moors 
 themselves. And the various shades of com- 
 plexion among them will be found proportioned 
 to the time they have been settled in different 
 climates. 
 
 It must be allowed that we have no know- 
 ledge of the exact era in which any white nation 
 became black, even in the torrid zone. But 
 whenever such a change did take place, there 
 is much cause for concluding that it was, in a 
 great measure, in consequence of its having 
 lapsed into the savage state ; and then, of 
 course, its records would have shared the fate 
 of those of all other savage nations. And if the 
 temperature of our globe is continually decreas- 
 ing, as some have maintained, the greater degree 
 of heat in the early ages of the world will alone 
 account for a more rapid change of complexion 
 than can possibly take place at the present 
 day. 
 
 But, with regard to the influence of climate 
 upon complexion, the fact is so obvious, that 
 it would be but a waste of time to enter into 
 
28 
 
 further proofs of it : for as much as^ both in 
 Asia and Africa^ the original inhabitants nearest 
 the equator are, without exception, dark, and 
 those descendants of Europeans, who are found 
 among them, have lost the florid complexion of 
 their European relatives, and are evidently in 
 a state of approximation to the colour of the 
 aborigines, though civilized habits of life must 
 doubtless secure them against becoming black. 
 As an example of this we may instance the 
 English settlement in Jamaica. 
 
 Even the negroes of Africa themselves differ 
 extremely in physiognomy ; some tribes being 
 woolly-headed, others lank-haired, some tall and 
 well grown, others short and ill shaped. The 
 same remark has been made with regard to the 
 natives of India of the Hindoo race; some 
 castes being black, others tawny only. 
 
 In America, though the aborigines are uni- 
 versally of a dark complexion, yet, having no 
 record of the first peopling of that continent, 
 we cannot say whether the equatorial regions 
 would, in the course of time, produce a com- 
 plexion as dark as that of Africa : as there is 
 reason to believe that it did not receive its 
 population till long after the continent of Africa. 
 And as philological researches have not yet 
 
29 
 
 enabled us to ascertain whether the first colo- 
 nists of South America were blacks from the 
 tropics^ or whites from the north, we cannot 
 determine whether the American Indians have 
 been tanned, or bleached, to their present inter- 
 mediate colour, between black and white. But 
 it is probable that the climate of America would 
 never darken the skin, to the deg'ree, in which 
 it is seen in the negro. One thing however is 
 certain, that the native tribes of America, though 
 generally partaking of the copper colour, yet 
 vary considerably, with regard to the several 
 shades of that colour ; from dark brown to 
 almost white; as they also do in stature, and 
 feature. Whether this variety is caused by 
 climate and soil, or by food and habit, we have 
 not yet any facts, from which to determine. It 
 is however ascertained, that the elevated regions 
 are always inhabited by tribes of a lighter com- 
 plexion, than the flat seacoasts : there is like- 
 wise a great variety of feature, from the aquiline 
 nose to the low Calmuc physiognomy. 
 
30 
 
 HABIT. 
 
 It must be evident to every observer^ that any 
 material change of habit makes a visible differ- 
 ence^ even in the same individuals ; and that in 
 a very short time. The difference of appear- 
 ance between those classes^ whose circum- 
 stances enable them to live without labour^ 
 and such as are subject to a laborious life, and 
 hard fare, is so great, that if we did not know 
 them to be continually intermixing, we might 
 be inclined to consider them as distinct races : 
 just as PiNKERTON, and his disciples, do the 
 Highland chiefs, and populace. For persons, 
 occupied within doors, as are the inhabitants 
 of towns, naturally manifest a fairer and less 
 coarse texture of skin, than the rustic population 
 of the same countries. And, though towns are 
 continually supplied with inhabitants from the 
 country, yet even in one generation, so visible 
 a change takes place, that there can be little 
 doubt, that could any instance be discovered of 
 these two classes having been kept distinct for 
 a few centuries, they would appear to be two 
 several generic races, as the Pinker tonians 
 
31 
 
 would say. Every town will aftbrd examples 
 of this difference. But to see it to advantage, 
 we should contrast the delicate frame and 
 animated countenance of the genuine Parisian 
 female^ with the coarse ill favoured person, and 
 stolid expression of the Norman peasant. 
 
 As a further confirmation of this_, let us com- 
 pare the appearance of soldiers with that of 
 agricultural peasants. Let us, for example, 
 take a number of men, accustomed to a military 
 life, and bring them into contrast with their 
 brothers and relatives, who have never followed 
 any other occupation than that of ploughmen ; 
 even though the soldiers should be divested of 
 their military garb, and should have resumed 
 their former agricultural dress, yet such would 
 be the striking contrast, between the erect and 
 martial air of the one class, and the uncouth 
 clownish appearance of the other, that a person, 
 unacquainted with their origin, would be in- 
 clined to consider them as belonging to totally 
 different nations. 
 
 But it is not merely the physical character, 
 which is thus influenced by habit : even the 
 moral or mental seems to be subject to the 
 same agency ; as may be seen in the instance 
 of seamen ; who even in a few years acquire a 
 
32 
 
 character^ as decidedly different from that of 
 landsiiieii^ as can j30ssihly exist between two 
 different tribes : and^ if this were continued by 
 an hereditary naval life, we might expect to see 
 it still more distinctly marked. 
 
 We may likewise add, that the change^ 
 effected by climate, and habit, upon the physi- 
 ognomy, is not limited to the complexion alone. 
 Even the more solid parts of the face are sub- 
 ject to it. For Professor Camper, speaking of 
 the difference of formation, between the sculls 
 of Americans and Europeans, says, that it is 
 perceptible, even in those of Anglo-Ameri- 
 cans. '^ I have never," says he, " been able to 
 obtain possession of the cranium of a native 
 American, nor of an Anglo-American, which 
 has, however, some peculiarities that were 
 pointed out to me by that celebrated artist 
 Mr. West ; of which, as he was born in Penn- 
 sylvania, he was best qualified to judge. Their 
 face is long and narrow ; and the socket of the 
 eye surrounds the ball in so close a manner, 
 that no space is allowed for a large upper eye- 
 lid ; which is so graceful to the countenance of 
 most Europeans." And it appears that this 
 formation does not proceed from any peculiarity 
 of race ; for, speaking of the upper eyelid, the 
 
33 
 
 Professor adds : " The women of Ooimlaska 
 have the same pliysiognomy, and the same small 
 eyelids as those of Kamtschatka. Mr. West 
 informs me that this is a peculiarity observable 
 also in the English that are born in North 
 America." We might add to this, the remark 
 so often made upon the national physiognomy 
 of the Anglo-Americans, that the florid and 
 blooming complexion of Europe soon disap- 
 pears, and gives place to one more sallow : the 
 features also assuming a peculiar cast, which 
 enables travellers, at a glance, to distinguish 
 between Americans and English. 
 
 Professor Camper further remarks, that a 
 similar change takes place in other countries : 
 whereby the descendants of Europeans lose the 
 original character of their parents, and assimi- 
 late to the natives of the countries, in which 
 they are born. '^ The greatest singularity that 
 strikes me," says he, " equally in a Celebese, 
 a Chinese, and an Otaheitean, consists in the 
 rectangular form of the inferior maxilla. I 
 have also remarked the same in all the women 
 born in Asia of Dutch or English parents. This 
 renders the lower part of the face much broader 
 than it is in other nations." 
 
 But it appears, from the observations of 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 the same writer, that a considerable degree of 
 change is sometimes perceptible, even in the 
 same individuals. " It is probable/' says he, 
 '^ that the hair becomes long and straight, or 
 curled or frizzled, according to the nature of 
 the food, chiefly. It is remarkable that the 
 natives of Drent, and of the Bishopric of 
 Munster, have naturally sleek hair; but after 
 they have resided some years in Amsterdam, 
 it begins to curl. Of this we have many in- 
 stances." 
 
 Now, if such changes as these are produced, 
 in one or two generations, and even in the 
 same individuals, we must needs admit them to 
 be indisputable proofs of the effect of climate 
 and hahit, upon the human physiognomy. 
 And, even in the undoubted descendants of 
 the same ancestors, we often meet with differ- 
 ences of character, fully equal to those which 
 PiNKERTON and his followers would suppose to 
 exist between Goths and Celts ; and to form the 
 immutable distinctions of those two races. 
 
35 
 
 GOTHIC AND CELTIC RACES. 
 
 Haying seen how the physiognomy of nations 
 is affected by change of climate, it may next be 
 asked how we are to account for tlie difference, 
 which exists in the same climate ; in the island 
 of Britain, for instance, between the xanthous 
 and melanic temperaments, or between the 
 blue-eyed and dark-eyed races, which has been 
 the subject of so much discussion and unfounded 
 statement; and which has given rise to the 
 system of Gothic and Celtic distinctions. Here 
 then, we come to the principal object of this 
 Essay : which is to show that, even within our 
 own island, there exists a cause, sufficient to 
 produce this variety ; and whose existence has 
 hitherto not been even suspected by Physio- 
 logists. 
 
 And while these learned men have gone 
 roving about through Germany and Scandinavia 
 (in imagination, at least; for some of them 
 appear to have seen but little of the nations 
 they describe), in search of the grand features 
 of the blue-eyed Goths; and amidst Hyper- 
 borean twilight for the dark-eyed Celts; the 
 actual cause of this physiological distinction 
 
 d2 
 
36 
 
 was lying, all the while, close to them, — nay^ 
 even under their very feet. For it is a remark- 
 able fact^ and no less so, as having remained 
 so long unnoticed, that in Britain the dark- 
 coloured eye is always found to prevail in the 
 neighbourhood of coal mines ; and ivhere coal 
 is used as the general fuel : while, on the other 
 hand, the light or blue eye belongs to those 
 districts, in which that mineral is not used; 
 and notwithstanding the numbers of persons, 
 continually pouring into the coal districts, from 
 other parts of the country^ in consequence of 
 the demand for labour^ yet the prevalency, in 
 the former^ of the dark eye, especially among 
 the children^ is so evident, that whoever will 
 take the trouble to make the observation will 
 most assuredly acknowledge the accuracy of 
 this statement. In what way the sulphurated 
 hydrogen, &c. occasioned by the coal fires, 
 affects the pigment of the iris, it is not now my 
 intention to inquire. I consider it sufficient, 
 for my present purpose, to establish the con- 
 nexion hetiveen the use of coal, and the dark 
 colour of the eye: though, from repeated ob- 
 servations, I feel assured, that there are more 
 curious facts connected with the subject than 
 have yet come under the notice of physiologists : 
 and which, when properly developed, will con- 
 
37 
 
 siderably alter the bearing- of iiuiiiy opinions, 
 hitherto entertained. 
 
 But, as a system, so new, and unlooked 
 for, cannot be exj3ected to be received without 
 proof, I shall state such facts as, I trust, will 
 be sufficient, to place the matter beyond all 
 reasonable doubt. And as the Principality of 
 Wales affords a great variety of the different 
 characters alluded to, I shall therefore com- 
 mence with that portion of the island. And, 
 though writers upon this subject have generally 
 referred to the colour of the hair, yet I must 
 state my opinion, that it is by no means so 
 steady and decided a characteristic as that of 
 the eye. The hair is continually changing its 
 hue, even in individuals ; for w hat in the child 
 is yellow becomes in a few years bioirn, and, 
 at maturity, not unfrequently black: but the 
 colour of the eye is much more fixed, and 
 unchangeable : usually assuming its character 
 of hue, at a very early period of influicy, and 
 retaining it, without any great variation, to 
 advanced age. Besides, the light eye is ac- 
 companied by every shade of hair, whether red, 
 yellow, or black. And the colour of the eye 
 is apparently less influenced by those external 
 causes, which sooner or later must succeed in 
 changing the general physiological character. 
 
38 
 
 And while I am describing the several districts, 
 upon which I have made observation, I must 
 state, that in grown up persons I have generally 
 found the hair to have more or less a shade of 
 brown ; and, though black is not uncommon, 
 and red sometimes seen, yet the people of 
 Britain are, in the aggregate, a brown-haired 
 race. 
 
 But, to proceed with this physiognomical 
 survey : — Almost the whole of North Wales, 
 and a considerable portion of South Wales, is 
 occupied by a light or blue-eyed people. This 
 feature is so obvious, that Dr. Macculloch 
 attributes it decidedly to a Belgic extraction, 
 and says : " No other supposition will explain 
 the Gothic race, or blue eye of North Wales." 
 This temperament is observable in Angle sea, 
 Caernarvonshire, Merionethshire, and the ad- 
 joining districts, in which the people generally 
 use peat or wood fires ; until we come to the 
 south of Breconshire ; and approach the great 
 coal basin of South Wales : and then an almost 
 sudden change is observed. The light eye 
 ceases to be general, and the dark prevails ; 
 and continues to do so, through a great portion 
 of the counties of Glamorgan and Monmouth : 
 so much so that, in the vale of Neath, the coal- 
 black eye is very generally seen ; and, even in 
 
39 
 
 Mertliyr Tyclvil, uotwithstanding the continued 
 influx of strangers^ this feature is very dis- 
 tinguishable ; especially among the children of 
 those who have been some time settled there. 
 On coming from the districts of the peat and 
 wood fires into this part of the Principality, this 
 change in the colour of the eye is singularly 
 striking and observable. And it is a remark- 
 able coincidence that this is the very country of 
 the ancient Silurians, whom Tacitus describes, 
 as possessing characteristics, which might have 
 attended this feature and temperament, and 
 which induced him to suppose they might be 
 a colony from Spain. The ancient castle of 
 Dunraven in Glamorganshire, is said to have 
 been one of the strong holds of Caractacus. 
 
 But though the black eye still remains, I have 
 not been able to ascertain that the hair of the 
 present Silurians has a greater tendency to curl 
 than that of their neighbours : nor is their 
 complexion darker than that, which in Britain 
 naturally accompanies the melanic tempera- 
 ment. 
 
 Whether the ancient Silurians derived their 
 dark complexion from the use of coal, or 
 whether they were really a colony from Spain, 
 as Tacitus is inclined to suppose, I cannot 
 undertake to say ; but it appears certain, that 
 
40 
 
 they were acquainted with the use of coal, 
 which is found in such abundance in their 
 country; as Pennant informs us, that an ancient 
 flint axe was actually discovered in one of the 
 coal veins of Monmouthshire. 
 
 As we return from South Wales^ the change 
 becomes visible, in the course of a few miles : 
 for, as we quit the vicinity of the coal fires, 
 the light eye resumes its prevalency, until we 
 approach the coal of North Wales, in the 
 neighbourhood of Rhuabon, and Oswestry : 
 where the dark eye again appears ; notwith- 
 standing the smallness of the coal basin^ and the 
 number of strangers employed in working it. 
 
 But though the people of North Wales are 
 generally a blue-eyed race^ as Dr. Macculloch 
 has justly observed, yet that colour assumes 
 various shades ; and, from Conway to Holywell, 
 the iris has an extraordinary uniform leaden 
 hue. The dark shade, as I apprehend, being 
 thrown in, by the small supply of coal along 
 that coast. 
 
 It ought to be observed here^ that in towns, 
 where coal fires are used, even in the clay and 
 slate districts, the dark eye is not uncommon ; 
 as in the town of Llandovery for instance : while 
 the people of the surrounding country, who burn 
 turf and wood, are universally light-eyed. 
 
41 
 
 As we leave the Principality, and pass 
 through Herefordshire, where coal is not com- 
 monly used, the eye is uniformly of the light 
 hue, and continues so, witli very little modifi- 
 cation, towards Worcester and Birmingham. 
 But as we approach Wolverhampton, the 
 change to the dark eye is very perceptible : 
 and here we find another coal field. From 
 Shrewsbury to Chester, the dark blue eye is 
 very prevalent; forming an intermediate tint 
 between the black and blue varieties. 
 
 As we quit this coal district, and proceed 
 through Staffordshire, in a northern direction, 
 the eye resumes its gray character; until we 
 approach the coal of Newcastle-under-Line, 
 where symptoms of the use of that fuel present 
 themselves ; otherwise the gray character pre- 
 vails, until we approach Manchester : and, in 
 the vicinity of that extensive coal field, it be- 
 comes decidedly dark, and continues so, for a 
 considerable way on the road towards Preston. 
 And, in this country, I have noticed several 
 instances of an anomalous description, — i. e. of 
 dark eyes, accompanied by light hair. 
 
 As we proceed from Chester towards Man- 
 chester, the black eye is very rare; and at 
 Warrington particularly so ; and even onwards 
 to the environs of Manchester. What quantity 
 
42 
 
 of coal the common people use as fuel I have 
 not ascertained : but, on the road side^ I 
 noticed an extensive turf bog, with its stacks 
 of peat, piled up in great quantities ; indicating 
 that a considerable portion of the inhabitants 
 were supplied with fuel from thence. And, as 
 might be expected, the blue eye prevails in its 
 vicinity. 
 
 On passing Manchester through Stockport, 
 the influence of coal is again very perceptible : 
 but in the Derbyshire hills, where it is more 
 expensive, and of course more sparingly used, 
 the dark eye declines. On approaching how- 
 ever the great central coal field in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Matlock, it resumes its character. 
 
 As we skirt the borders of this coal field, 
 towards Derby, the blue eye becomes a good 
 deal darkened, and forms a sort of transition 
 from blue to black : but, if we dip into the 
 basin, at Nottingham, for instance, we find the 
 dark eye appear, and become more and more 
 frequent, so that at Mansfield it is pretty 
 general, and at Chesterfield decidedly the pre- 
 vailing feature. 
 
 If we return southward, through Leicester 
 and Coventry, we shall perceive the same effects 
 of coal; particularly at Nuneaton : as .also along 
 the line of canals. And as the facility of con- 
 
43 
 
 veying this fuel by means of canals and rail- 
 roads increases, we shall find that what is called 
 (he Gothic character will gradually give way to 
 the Celtic. 
 
 It may be noticed that^ in Lancashire^ the 
 eye^ which is generally blue^ has often a dark 
 circle on the outer rim of the iris ; giving it a 
 higher expression than when unaccompanied by 
 that finish : and having very much the character 
 of that of the people of Belgium ; — and which I 
 do not recollect having seen so general in any 
 other part of England ; though the inhabitants 
 of Cheshire partake of it. 
 
 As we quit the coal districts, and pass through 
 Westmoreland and Cumberland, towards the 
 north, the eye resumes the gray colour, and 
 retains it through the whole of those countries ; 
 and also through the southern part of Scotland, 
 for a distance of more than a linndred miles, on 
 the Glasgow road, until we approach the neigh- 
 bourhood of Lanark, and the great coal fields of 
 Scotland; where a change to the dark eye is 
 immediately perceptible. And at Hamilton, 
 that melanic tint becomes general, and con- 
 tinues to prevail along the whole of the coal 
 district, from Glasgow to Edinburgh, in so 
 decided a manner, that, when once the fact is 
 brought under notice, it is impossible not to 
 
44 
 
 connect it with the use of coal fuel. But when 
 we quit this district for the Highlands^ in which 
 coal is not found, and very little used, the gray 
 eye again makes its appearance : and, notwith- 
 standing the very positive assertions respecting 
 the dark character of that feature, among the 
 Highlanders, I do not hesitate to say that 
 whenever it does occur among them, it is so 
 unusual, as to form an exception to the general 
 appearance : whereas on the other hand, in the 
 country of the Gothic Lowlanders, where coal 
 is used, the gray eye forms the exception. So 
 much for the system of Goths and Celts. A 
 few facts accurately observed are worth all the 
 fanciful systems upon earth. 
 
 And here may be noticed a remarkable 
 instance of that delusive coincidence, between 
 real facts and imaginary theories, which occa- 
 sionally occurs ; and which has not unfrequently 
 succeeded in confirming prejudices already par- 
 tially adopted, however absurd and erroneous ; 
 for, on coming from England towards Glasgow, 
 it is impossible for the physiognomist not to 
 notice the sudden transition fi'om the gray to 
 the dark eye, as he approaches that city; and 
 never suspecting the real cause of this change, 
 and having nothing in his head but Goths and 
 Celts, to account for every variety of physiog- 
 
45 
 
 noDiical appearance, of course these black-eyed 
 people must be Celts. And it happens most 
 opportunely for his system, that this was the 
 country of the Strathclyde Britons, or Welsh 
 of Strathclyde (Stratclud-Walli), whose citadel 
 was on the rock of Dumbarton : and therefore 
 he is convinced that the people retain the Celtic 
 character of their ancestors to this day. And 
 this circumstance, in conjunction with that of 
 the same character occurrinof anions: the descen- 
 dants of the Silurians of South Wales, seems 
 to establish the fact to a demonstration : — The 
 blue-eyed Celts of the remainder of Wales, 
 Cumberland, and Ireland, being entirely over- 
 looked ; and these inconsiderable spots made 
 to represent the great Celtic race. 
 
 Whether the author of Ossian was afflicted 
 with the Celtogothic mania, and wished to 
 make his heroine a genuine Briton of Alclud, 
 or a Roman of Theodosia*, he certainly con- 
 trived to make her, in some respects, correspond 
 with the character of the country: for in describ- 
 ing Moina of Balclutha, in the poem of Carthon, 
 
 * Theodosia was the Roman name of Alclud, or Dum- 
 barton : and I am inclined to think, that it was the Twr 
 Tewdus of the Welsh ; i. e. The Tower of Theodosia: as that 
 name occurs in their old MSS. ; though it is now used to 
 signify the constellation of the Pleiades. 
 
46 
 
 he calls her " the daughter of strangers" — 
 " Moina with the dark blue eyes :" and says, 
 " Her hair was dark as the raven's wing." 
 
 Having never visited the coal-fields of Suther- 
 land, in the North of Scotland, I cannot say 
 whether that fuel has been used there, in suffi- 
 cient quantities, to influence the physiognomy 
 of the people. But as far as regards those 
 districts of the Highlands, which I have visited, 
 I never saw any thing to justify the assertion 
 of the dark complexion of the people. At 
 Inverness, it is true, the dark eye sometimes 
 occurs : but not in a greater degree than in 
 towns in general; where it always prevails 
 more in proportion, than in the country. I have 
 also, in this part of Scotland, met with some 
 remains of the Gipsy race; and am much 
 deceived if some of this Gipsy blood has not 
 been mistaken, by Dr. Macculloch, for that 
 of the aboriginal Celts ; as we know that, 
 some years ago, Gipsy families were very 
 numerous in Scotland. Meg Merilies' kraal 
 was one of those establishments, very frequently 
 met with. And, even in England, at this day, 
 in the militia regiments of those counties, in 
 which Gipsy encampments have been most 
 numerous, the Gipsy blood is very distinguish- 
 able, in the dark Asiatic countenance, which 
 
47 
 
 here and there meets the eye, as we pass along 
 the ranks, and forms a striking- contrast to 
 the fair and xanthous complexion of the old 
 agriculturists. Had this variety been noticed 
 in a Welsh or Highland regiment, the two 
 races would have been pronounced Goths and 
 Celts, beyond all recovery. 
 
 I must, however, frankly acknowledge here, 
 that I am aware in what degree this circum- 
 stance may be cjuoted against my own hypothe- 
 sis : inasmuch, as it may be asked, how, if the 
 physiognomy undergoes so great an alteration, 
 as I have stated, the Gipsies retain their pecu- 
 liar features unchanged. I answer that I deny 
 the fact of their remaining unchanged ; as it is 
 evident, that they are at this day less dark than 
 their ancestors, who first arrived here : for 
 Bishop Heber remarks, that the Gipsies, which 
 he saw^ in India, were blacker than those of 
 England. Their retaining so much of their 
 original character in Europe must be attributed 
 to the savage life which they always lead ; and 
 I have no hesitation in stating my opinion, that 
 if a colony of Gipsies would attach themselves 
 to the soil, in any one spot, and become an 
 agricultural and civilized people, even though 
 unmixed, they would soon change their Asiatic 
 character, for one more European. And, how- 
 
48 
 
 ever absurd the idea may at first appear, I am 
 satisfied from analogy, and a comparison of 
 facts, that, bad a colony of Senegal negroes 
 established themselves on the banks of the 
 Thames, or the Rhine, two thousand years ago, 
 and assumed the habits of civilized agricul- 
 turists, their descendants, at this day, would 
 scarcely have retained a trace of their African 
 origin. 
 
 But, to return to our survey. — If the melanic 
 complexion occurs in the north, it is but very 
 rarely. The gray eye uniformly predominates 
 throughout the whole of the Grampians, with 
 the exception of the towns, for a hundred and 
 fifty miles, until we approach Kinross, where 
 the coal-fields again connnence ; and there a 
 marked change takes place : for the eye is not 
 merely occasionally dark, as in other places, 
 but, here, generally so. And these observa- 
 tions will perhaps explain a fact mentioned by 
 Dr. Macculloch, in his chapter upon the Origin 
 and Kaces of the Highlanders, vol. iv. : — when, 
 speaking of the female beauty of Scotland, and 
 making handsome mention of Hay, Skye, and 
 the Highland borders of Perthshire, he con- 
 cludes : ^^ And generally it is true, that the 
 beauty of the females predominates on the line, 
 which allows the high and low countries to 
 
49 
 
 intermix/' Now, as he gives the fact from his 
 own observation, there can be no reason to 
 doubt its accuracy; though his mode of ac- 
 counting for it can by no means be admitted. 
 But it is deserving of notice, that the Highland 
 borders of Perthshire will just occur where the 
 light eye of the northern country merges in the 
 dark tint of the coal districts : and perhaps the 
 expression thrown into the gray eye, by this 
 tinge of black, contributes more towards that 
 beauty of countenance, to which he alludes, 
 than any imagined mixture of Goths and Celts : 
 for, whatever inferiority the dark complexion 
 may labour under, with respect to the hue of 
 the skin, yet it must be allowed, that it commu- 
 nicates a certain degree of expression to the 
 countenance, which the fair sanguine tempera- 
 ment never can possess. And, though the 
 claims of the fair complexion to mere beauty 
 cannot be disputed, yet it almost entirely de- 
 pends upon its protection from the sun and 
 weather: for, when the sanguine complexion 
 loses its fair hue, by exposure, the tine expres- 
 sion of the blue eye is completely lost : and in 
 men, when the face is much tanned by the sun, 
 there is a certain species of light blue eye, 
 which assumes an aspect, often exceedingly 
 sinister and unpleasant; so as perfectly to 
 
 £ 
 
50 
 
 explain the classic expression of truces ocitU: 
 but the dark complexion bears the influence of 
 the sun much better; and strong manly features 
 are generally even improved by its bronzing 
 effects. 
 
 In speaking of the influence of habit and 
 climate, upon the eyes and complexion^ it was 
 my intention to have confined my observations 
 to the island of Britain : but I cannot refrain 
 from noticing one circumstance^ in confirmation 
 of my opinions, even though occurring beyond 
 my intended limits. 
 
 In Germany it is well known that the gray 
 eye prevails, and, even in the Netherlands, the 
 xanthous character is retained ; though the 
 gray is changed into a fine deep blue: but 
 on approaching Liege, from Aix la Chapelle, 
 the dark eye suddenly makes its appearance. 
 When I first noticed this change, I was so 
 struck with its singularity, that I began to 
 doubt whether I had not prematurely condemned 
 the Celto-Gothic system ; and whether after all 
 it had not some foundation in fact. It even 
 occurred to me that this might possibly be a 
 remnant of some ancient Cimbrian or Trevirian 
 colony, of Celtic blood; and still retaining its 
 melanic character. But the whole phenomenon 
 
51 
 
 was presently explained^ by the appearance of 
 some coal-pits, with their machinery, by the 
 road side. And so true have I always found 
 this indication, that, if, on travelling among a 
 xanthous people, I should suddenly come to a 
 district of the melanic character, I should with- 
 out hesitation conclude that they had the use 
 of coal fuel. 
 
 I persuade myself that, in the judgment of 
 every unprejudiced person, I have now proved 
 to a demonstration that the people of Britain 
 are not distinguishable from each other, by any 
 marks of Gothic or Celtic origin, or by any 
 physical difference connected with those races : 
 but that what has hitherto been considered as 
 the Celtic distinction, i. e. the dark-coloured 
 eye and hair, is merely the physical character of 
 the inhabitants of those districts, in which coal 
 is used, as fuel; and that the blue and light 
 coloured eye, which has been so decidedly pro- 
 nounced the grand and peculiar feature of the 
 Goths, is alike the property of Celts, where 
 that fuel is not used. And thus I cannot but 
 believe that I have overturned a very foolish 
 and unfounded system, which has long perplexed 
 and misled both physiologists and historians. 
 
 e2 
 
52 
 
 POPULATION OF BRITAIN. 
 
 It is universally allowed^ that the first colonists 
 of the British islands were of the Celtic race^ 
 and were succeeded by the Gothic : so that 
 these two races form the great mass of our 
 population at the present day. But the arrival 
 upon our shores of the several nations^ which 
 branched out from these original stocks, took 
 place at various periods, and those very distant 
 from each other: their order, according to the 
 best authorities, being as follows : 
 
 I. Celtic Tribes, consisting of the Cipnraeg and Gaelic 
 Divisions, in the following Emigrations : 
 
 IN SOUTH BRITAIN. 
 
 Cymry, 
 Brytlion, 
 
 Loegrians, of the same stock, and settlers on the eastern 
 coast of England. 
 
 ^' , ,. f of disputed oriein, but probably 
 Men of Galedin, > ^< , . 
 
 Belgae, &c. J 
 
 ^' > Ancestors of the present Welsh, 
 on, 3 
 
 IN NORTH BRITAIN. 
 
 Cymry, latterly confined to the kingdom of Strathclyde. 
 Gael or Gwythyl, ancestors of the present Highlanders. 
 Caledonians, 
 Picts, 
 
 > of disputed origin. 
 
[ 
 
 53 
 
 II. Romans, probably composed of the Gothic and Celtic 
 
 III. Gothic tribes, consisting of the following emigrations 
 of the Scandinavian and German divisions of the Gothic 
 race. 
 
 FIRST INVASION. 
 
 Saxons, Jutes, 
 
 Angles, Prisons, 
 
 &c. &c. &c. 
 
 SECOND INVASION. 
 
 Danes. Norwegians. 
 
 THIRD INVASION. 
 
 Normans, generally considered Gothic, but, in reality, a 
 mixture of Scandinavians, Gauls, Franks, and Bretons. 
 
 LATER SETTLEMENTS. 
 
 Flemings, on the coast both of South and North Britain. 
 Jews, at present amounting to about twenty-two thousand. 
 Gipsies, about eighteen thousand. 
 
 In Ireland^ nearly the same Celtic and Gothic 
 settlements took place ; and, in modern times, 
 a small colony of Spaniards settled on the south 
 coast, in the reign of Elizabeth : also a con- 
 siderable number of Palatins or German settlers. 
 
54 
 
 from the Palatinate of the Rhine, came over in 
 the reign of Queen Anne. 
 
 Notwithstanding the variety of tribes, which 
 compose the foregoing catalogue, it is evident, 
 that the great mass of the people must be formed 
 of the Celtic and Gothic divisions of the human 
 race ; for, whatever nations might have con- 
 tributed to the formation of the Roman people, 
 it is probable that but a small portion of their 
 descendants are now remaining among us : the 
 Roman establishments in Britain being, in a 
 great measure, military ; and their people, there- 
 fore, continually changing their stations, and 
 ultimately quitting the island altogether. For, 
 had they formed any considerable part of the 
 population, they v,ould, of course, have intro- 
 duced their language, or at least have influenced 
 that of the natives, as they did those of Gaul 
 and Spain. But, so far was that from being 
 the case, that the Britons retained their ancient 
 tongue, with regard to its grammatical con- 
 struction, entirely uninfluenced by the Latin; 
 and with but a very slight introduction of Latin 
 words. And it is a singular fact that those 
 ancient poems, which exist in the British lan- 
 guage, even though composed in the very next 
 century, after the departure of the Romans, and 
 
p 
 
 55 
 
 some of them possibly during their dominion in 
 the island, yet have not the slightest resem- 
 blance, either in the turn of ideas, or in the 
 construction of the verse, to those of the 
 Roman poets. From all which we may con- 
 clude, that the mixture of Roman blood in 
 Britain is but small. 
 
 I may be excused for noticing, in this place, 
 a curious idea, which prevails in South Wales: 
 of the remains of a Roman colony still existing 
 in the neighbourhood of Caio in Caermarthen- 
 shire : once employed, it is averred, in working 
 the lead mines, the ancient openings into which 
 are still visible at a place called Gogovau (the 
 caverns), and also at Cilycwm ; those, who 
 believe the story, further imagine that they 
 can discover several ancient Roman names, at 
 this time, hereditary in those places ; as Powlin 
 (Paulinus), Awst (Augustus), &c. 
 
5G 
 
 CELTIC TRIBES. 
 
 The first divisions of the Celtic race consisted 
 of the Welsh^ who now occupy the principality 
 of Wales ; and who form the chief portion of 
 the people of Cornwall : among whom^ until 
 the last century^ a dialect of the Welsh was 
 spoken ; and who^ as late as A. D. 800^ formed 
 a separate kingdom^ bounded by the river Ex. 
 
 A considerable part of the inhabitants of 
 Cumberland must also be of this stock. These 
 maintained themselves^ as an independent king- 
 dom^ under the name of Cumbria^ until as late 
 as the year 945. And, though they were ulti- 
 mately reduced by the Saxons, there is no reason 
 for supposing the race to have been extirpated. 
 On the contrary, it is probable that they still 
 continue to occupy that countiy, and to form 
 the bulk of the present inhabitants, though their 
 ancient language has been exchanged for that 
 of the English. 
 
 The same people also, until the year 972, 
 were in possession of Clydesdale, in Scotland, 
 as an independent kingdom ; and were called 
 
57 
 
 the Welsh of Strathclyde"^. And thougli their 
 numbers must have been much reduced^ in the 
 desperate struggle, which they maintained for 
 so many centuries against tlieir surrounding 
 enemies, until their citadel of Dumbarton was 
 taken, about the year 972 ; yet it is unreason- 
 able to suppose them to have been entirely 
 exterminated. 
 
 On the continent, a portion of the same 
 people still exists in Brittany; where a colony 
 of Welsh settled in the fourth and fifth cen- 
 turies. And it is a curious fact, that it was 
 this small Welsh colony, which occasioned the 
 title of '' GreaV'' to be conferred upon our island 
 Britain. For, when these insular Britons emi- 
 grated from Wales to Armorica, they changed the 
 name of that province into '^ Britain :" and, in 
 order to distinguish the two countries from each 
 other, called the one " Great," the other " Little 
 Britain," which distinctions were adopted by 
 
 "^ The origin of the title of the celebrated Wallace has 
 somewhat j)uzzled antiquarians : but, as he is called, in 
 ancient documents, William de Walleys, I see no reason, in 
 default of better authority, why he should not have taken it 
 from the country of the WaJli, or Welsh of Strathclyde — the 
 Siratclud Walli, in which he resided. But whether lie was 
 a Goth or a Celt I shall not even in(j[uirc. 
 
58 
 
 the French^ in their Grande Sretagne and 
 Petite Bretagne : and also by the English 
 themselves, as well as by the other nations of 
 Europe. But as this assertion may startle 
 some, who have been in the habit of considering 
 this appellation as given by the act of union, 
 in the last century, and others perhaps who, 
 with a proud feeling of nationality, have always 
 looked upon it as the assumed as well as ac- 
 knowledged token of superiority, among nations ; 
 though both are in some measure right, yet the 
 following quotations will show them that the 
 appellation itself originated in the establishment 
 of the forementioned Welsh colony. • 
 
 " Armorica, in Gallia ad oceanum provincia, 
 incepit Britannia appellari, nomine accepto a 
 Britannis, quorum legiones duas ex insula Bri- 
 tannica, rebellante Maximo, in eam irruperunt, 
 duce Conano Britanno insulari." — Le P. La- 
 carry. 
 
 " Maximus Armoricanum regnum, quod postea 
 
 minor Britannia dicebatur, petivit Vocavit 
 
 igitur Maximus Conanum, et dedit illi Armori- 
 canum regnum, et minorem Britanniam jussit 
 appellari." — Matthew of Westminster. 
 
 " Maximus in Gallias transit; partem Galliae 
 sibi subditam Britonibus tradidit, unde usque 
 
59 
 
 ad banc diem uiinor Britannia appellatur." — 
 
 SlGEBERT. 
 
 " Tempore liiijus Lliotarii venerunt trans- 
 marini Britones in niinorem Britanniam." — Bre 
 TON Chronicle. 
 
 " Eximius Christi confessor Jodasus, de illustri 
 procedens genealogia Riwali, qui principabatur 
 de transmarina, sive majori^ Britannia, quas 
 modo dicitur Anglia, et postmodum in copiosa 
 navium miiltitudine et manu valida exteriorera 
 sibi subjecit Britanniam." — Life of St. Josse. 
 
 It is asserted also that the remains of the 
 same Celtic race may be found on the continent, 
 among the Wends of Lusatia, and the Walloons 
 of the Low Countries : but from what T have 
 heard spoken of the Walloon language, I cannot 
 persuade myself that it retains any more of the 
 Celtic, than is to be found in the early French ; 
 and am inclined to think that the Wendish does 
 not possess even so great a resemblance to it. 
 
 It may also be observed that a notion has 
 long prevailed that the Waldensic language, or 
 Vandois of Piedmont, bears a strong affinity to 
 the Irish : in confirmation of which the specimen 
 of the Waldensic, given in Chamberlayne's 
 " Oratio Dominica," is adduced ; and which, it 
 must be allowed, proves to be genuine Irish. 
 
60 
 
 On referring, however, to the language of the 
 Walclenses at the present day, we do not recog- 
 nise in it the least resemblance to the Irish. 
 And their old writings prove that they have not 
 for many centuries spoken a language different 
 in origin from the one now in use ; which is 
 nearly allied to the Romance, or old French : 
 being the corruption of the Latin, common to 
 that part of the continent, in the early ages. 
 But I am satisfied that I shall explain away the 
 whole difficulty, by merely stating, that, in the 
 time of Cromwell, a great number of Irish 
 Roman Catholics emigrated to the continent, 
 and were put in possession of those valleys of 
 Piedmont; from which the Yaudois had been 
 expelled during the persecutions, they suffered 
 from the church of Rome. It is therefore 
 highly probable, that Chamberlayne's specimen 
 is from the Irish of these very emigrants ; who 
 were afterwards in their turn so completely 
 expelled by the Vaudois, that there is now 
 no trace of the Irish left in those valleys. In 
 confirmation of this opinion I shall insert 
 Chamberlayne's specimen of the Waldensic, 
 together with the same in modern Irish. 
 
Gl 
 
 lord's prayer in waldensic, from chamber- 
 la yne's " ORATIO DOMINICA." 
 
 '^ Our naruie ata air iieaiub". Beanich atanini. 
 Gil diga do riogda. Gii deiita du lioill air 
 talnr. in mar ta ar neamb^. Tab liar d"im an 
 migli ar naran linib^ ail. agus raai dii^ine ar fiach 
 ambail near marhmid ar fiacha^ na leig si^n 
 amb^ aribh acli soarsa shin on olc^ or sletsa 
 rioghta combta agus gloir gu sibhiri. Amen." 
 
 the lord's prayer from the IRISH testament. 
 
 " Ar nathair ata ar neambh^ naomhthar liainm : 
 tigeadh do rioghachd. Deuntar do tlioil ar 
 an talamli^ mar do nitliear ar neamb. Ar 
 naran laeathamhail tabhair dbuinn a niu. Agus 
 maith dhuinn ar bhfiacha^ mar mbaithmidne dar 
 bhfeitheambnuibh fein. Agus na leig sinn a 
 cathughadh achd saor inn o olc. Oir is leaclid 
 fein an rioghachd, & an cumhachd agus an 
 ghloir go siorruighe. Amen." 
 
 Of the real language of the Waldenses, both 
 ancient and modern, abundant specimens may 
 be seen, in the works of the various travellers, 
 who have lately visited that interesting people. 
 
62 
 
 The following, which is said to be copied from 
 their old MSS., may here suffice to show the 
 origin of the language : 
 
 Non amar lo mond. Love not the world. 
 
 Fugir la mala consortia. Avoid bad company. 
 
 Si ez possible aver paiz con If possible be at peace with 
 
 tuit. all men. 
 
 Non contendre en judici. Strive not in law. 
 
 Non veniar si meseime. Revenge not yourselves, 
 
 Amar la enemie. Love your enemy. 
 
 The following lines, taken out of the ancient 
 Waldensic poem of the Nobla Leic^on, written 
 about the year 1100, will serve as a specimen 
 of the language of that time. 
 
 " Que sel troba alcun bon que vollia amar 
 
 Dio, e temer Jeshu Xrist ; 
 
 Que non vollia maudire, ni jurar, ni mentir, &c. 
 
 It appears moreover, that many parts of Eng- 
 land contain a greater portion of Celtic blood 
 than is generally supposed. I do not here 
 insist upon the Celtic origin of all those, whose 
 dark hair or eyes exhibit what has been called 
 the Celtic character : which however if I did, 
 the advocates of the system, I am opposing, 
 must by their own admission allow a large 
 majority of the English people to be Celts. 
 
63 
 
 But, as I totally disclaim this physiognomical 
 distinction, I shall rest my opinion upon very 
 ditierent grounds. For, though the Saxon 
 invasion was, in many instances, one of exter- 
 mination : yet it was so only, where the deter- 
 mined resistance of the natives to a superior 
 force rendered that alternative inevitable. But, 
 as conquest was the chief object of the in- 
 vaders, it is not probable that, where they met 
 with no opposition, they would have recourse to 
 extermination. And accordingly, it is recorded 
 of the Loegrians, one of the original Celtic 
 tribes of Britain, that they all " became Saxons," 
 except those of Cornwall, and of the district of 
 Carnoban, in Deira, and Bernicia. 
 
 The Welsh Triads are very particular in 
 specifying the several tribes and emigrations, 
 which came into the island of Britain: and, 
 according to their records, there arrived, first, 
 the Cymry, or ancestors of the present Welsh ; 
 who still call themselves by that appellation. 
 Next came the Urython, or Britons, another 
 branch of the Cymry, and speaking the same 
 language ; and the name Srython has always 
 been applied to the Cymraeg nation by the 
 Welsh themselves, as well as by strangers. 
 The Triad too says, that they came from 
 JLlydaic, or Armorica: and this statement is 
 
64 
 
 confirmed by Pliny; who remarks^ that there 
 was in Gaul a people called Britanni; and it 
 is well known that many of the Armoricau 
 names of places, mentioned by Csesar, corre- 
 spond exactly with those still retained in 
 Wales. 
 
 Thirdly, according to the Triads, came the 
 Loegrtvys, of the same original Cymraeg stock 
 and language, and settled on the south and 
 east coast of the island. And these are the 
 only tribes distinctly stated to be of the Cym- 
 raeg race. 
 
 The next tribe mentioned is that of '' Celyd- 
 don in the North." This undoubtedly is the 
 Caledonian nation; but of what race or lan- 
 guage they were, we are not informed. They 
 are merely said to have been a friendly colony. 
 
 The next was that of the Ginjddyl, or Gael, 
 " in the Albcoi'^ or Scotland. These are like- 
 wise mentioned, as being originally a friendly 
 people. 
 
 And then followed the meti of Galedin, in 
 ships without masts (open boats), to the Isle of 
 Wight; when their country was drowned by 
 the sea : and they had permission to reside in 
 Britain. But their language and origin are not 
 stated. They may have been a branch of the 
 ancient Gaulish tribe of the Caletes, which 
 
05 
 
 occupied the coast opposite the Isle of Wight ^ 
 between the Soinine ami the Seine. 
 
 The Triads then proceed to enumerate those 
 arrivals, which seem to partake of the nature of 
 hostile invasions, rather than peacet\il emigra- 
 tions. And the tirst of these was that of the 
 Coranians; who came from the land of Piryl, 
 and settled on the H umber, and on the coast 
 of the German ocean. This description points 
 them out as the Coritani of the Romans. But 
 their origin and language are left in obscurity ; 
 and we are only informed that they afterwards 
 leagued with the Saxons against the Loegrians. 
 
 It has been conjectured that the word Pivyl 
 signities pools, and designates the coast of 
 Holland; others suppose it to mean Poland. 
 It may as w ell signify simply the north ; Regie 
 Polaris. But, notwithstanding these opinions 
 of able antiquarians, I have little doubt that 
 the word Pwi/I signiHes Bcloium: more espe- 
 ciallv as the powerful tribe of the Belgii? is not 
 noticed at all in the Triads^ unless it be in this 
 place : and it seems highly improbable that so 
 important a settlement should be altogether 
 omitted. 
 
 The next tribe was that of the Givyddijl 
 Fjichfi, or Picts ; who came into Scotland 
 over the sea of LhjcJihjn, i. e. of Scandinavia, 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 or rather tlie north sea; and dwelt there, on 
 the coast of that sea. And lastly came the 
 Saxons. 
 
 The Triads also record the coming of the 
 Romans ; who are called Caesarians^, and who 
 afterwards entirely left the island. They like- 
 wise mention an ancient invasion of the Llych- 
 lynians, or Scandinavians ; who were expelled 
 by the Britons, at the end of the third gene- 
 ration : as also that of the later Llychlynians, 
 or Norwegians. And again they speak of the 
 Gwyddyl each, or " Red Gael, from Ireland ; 
 who came into Scotland." These must have 
 been the Scots, or Dalriads, who passed over 
 about the third century ; and, according to 
 some historians, were the first Gaelic people, 
 that appeared in Scotland; whilst those, who 
 feel jealous of the ancient honours of the 
 Caledonian Gael, assert, that they existed there 
 as a powerful people, under a long line of 
 kings, such as Fingal, Cowal, &c. &c. for many 
 centuries previous to the arrival of the Scots 
 and Dalriads from Ireland ; and even had the 
 honour of defending their country against the 
 Romans themselves. Unfortunately, there are 
 no authentic records, to settle this dispute : 
 but, if the two Triads, from which I have 
 quoted, and in which the Gaels are mentioned^ 
 
67 
 
 do not record tlie same events but allude to 
 emigrations, at periods separate and distant 
 from each other, then the existence of a Gaelic 
 people in Scotland, prior to the arrival of the 
 Scots and Dalriads, may be presumed, as far 
 as the authority of those ancient records is 
 admitted in history. 
 
 CALEDONIANS. 
 
 With respect to the origin of the Caledonians, 
 after the many years of hard disputation which 
 it has undergone, it is nevertheless left in such 
 hopeless obscurity, that it would be the height 
 of presumption, in any person, now to attempt 
 to settle the point, without the discovery of 
 some very decisive records : and most probably 
 it must ever remain in its present state, unless 
 the lost works of Ammianus Marcellinus should 
 be recovered. Tacitus, it is true, tells us that 
 the large limbs, and red hair of the Caledo- 
 nians asserted their German origin : but, 
 whether they were Gothic or Celtic, he does 
 not inform us. And we know, from ancient 
 authorities, that at that early period several 
 tribes of the Celtic race occupied a part of 
 what was called Germany, and were included 
 
 f2 
 
68 
 
 among the German nations. And as to their 
 red hair, that would no more prove them Goths 
 than Laplanders : for Professor Pallas ob- 
 serves, that the Votiacs, a Laplandish tribe, 
 are more red-haired than any people in exist- 
 ence. And Pallas must have seen enough of 
 the northern nations to be well acquainted with 
 their character. 
 
 It has also been contended, in proof of the 
 Celtic origin of the Caledonians, that Scotland 
 abounds with the remains of Druidical monu- 
 ments : and, whilst a great number of these have 
 been described, it is rather singular that the 
 most extensive collection in the whole country 
 should hitherto (at least as far as I can ascer- 
 tain), have escaped the notice of antiquarians : 
 I advert to the extraordinary assemblage of 
 earns and circles at Clava, on the banks of the 
 Nairn, near the field of Culloden, and of which 
 I have never been fortunate enough to meet 
 with a description. I was led to notice these 
 monuments, by accidentally finding, on the 
 south side of the muir, the remains of two 
 circles of upright stones, about a quarter of a 
 mile apart, and each consisting of several con- 
 centric circles : and in one I could distinguish 
 the remains of four such : three of them being 
 formed of separate stones, and one of an agger 
 
09 
 
 of loose stones. These circles seem to have 
 supplied materials for building part of the park 
 wall, or dylte, as it is called, near which the 
 two armies were drawn up, at the battle of 
 Culloden Moor. 
 
 On conversing with the people of the neigh- 
 bourhood, I was informed that there were others 
 of a similar description, a little to the south- 
 ward. I accordingly proceeded in that direc- 
 tion : and, on reaching the other side of the 
 Nairn, was absolutely astonished at the immense 
 number of earns, circles, and upright stones, 
 which covered the plain, on the banks of the 
 river, for nearly the space of a mile in length. 
 At first sight they appeared a perfect labyrinth 
 of ruins ; but, on a more accurate inspection, I 
 found them to consist of the remains of seven 
 or eight large earns ; each originally sun-ounded 
 by a circle : and in some instances by two 
 concentric circles of upright stones, at regular 
 distances ; besides innumerable (such to me at 
 least they seemed) smaller earns and loose 
 stones, scattered over the ground : the whole 
 forming one of the most singular and striking- 
 scenes I ever beheld, and evidently once be- 
 longing to some great metropolitan Druidic 
 establishment. 
 
70 
 
 Many of the earns have been greatly reduced^ 
 and their circles demolished, for the purpose of 
 building the neighbouring houses and fences ; 
 and doubtless many others have entirely dis- 
 appeared. The larger earns, including the 
 outer circle, are sixty or seventy feet in diame- 
 ter. The tall stones are about six feet high ; 
 and in some instances ten or eleven. One earn 
 is surrounded by a circle, consisting originally 
 of thirteen of these upright stones ; standing 
 twenty-four feet asunder, and twenty-four feet 
 from the central heap: which is upwards of 
 twenty feet in diameter and of proportionable 
 height. 
 
 Two other earns are each surrounded by a 
 circle of eleven upright stones ; and another by 
 a circle of nine stones of the same description : 
 though none of the circles are now in a perfect 
 state. In some instances the loose stones of 
 the central mound seem to have been removed : 
 in which case the floor is formed of a kind of 
 pitching of stones regularly laid. Whether 
 all these earns are constructed in this manner, 
 or whether these pitched areas were always 
 covered with a central conical heap of stones, 
 I could not determine, though upon that sup- 
 position I have here included them among the 
 
71 
 
 earns. There is likewise^ among the riiins^ an 
 oblong square enclosure,, one hundred and thirty 
 feet long, formed of a low agger of loose stones, 
 with an entrance, and having within it two other 
 enclosures of a similar description. 
 
 I have noticed the remains of earns, if such 
 they may be called, of the same construction, at 
 Aviemore, near Rothiemurcus in Strathspey : 
 and of a small one, near Aros in the island of 
 Mull, &c. * : but these on the Nairn are, without 
 exception, the most extraordinary of the kind 
 in the kingdom. And it is deserving of notice, 
 that some works connected with these monu- 
 ments may be traced to a considerable distance 
 along the adjacent country : for instance, on the 
 field of CuUoden ; where there may be observed 
 a great number of small mounds of earth : many 
 so low as to be scarcely discernible among the 
 heather; which the people of the neighbouring 
 cottages suppose to be breast-works, thrown up 
 by the Highlanders, as a protection against the 
 cannon of the English army. But this is hardly 
 probable; as the mounds are by no means in 
 military alignement, but irregularly scattered 
 
 * There was a similar cam at Cyfin, in the parish of 
 Llan-Gadvan, North Wales. See The Ca m drian Quarterly, 
 for January, 1829, p. 33. 
 
72 
 
 about. Nor are they particularly in the line^ 
 occupied by the clans on the day of the battle. 
 Some few of them may have been made by 
 digging for stone^ and searching for quarries^ 
 when the dyke was erected^ &c. But when I 
 traced them down to Clava Law^ and found 
 similar mounds among the ruins on that ground, 
 I could not avoid connecting some of them with 
 those extraordinary monuments. 
 
 PICTS. 
 
 Of the origin of the Picts we have no account^ 
 nor any physiognomical description of their 
 persons, and only one word of their language : 
 and as that, with the assistance of the Latin, 
 may be explained, both in Celtic and Gothic, 
 it leaves the origin of this people, if possible, 
 more doubtful than that of the Caledonians 
 themselves. Of these various disputed tribes, 
 therefore, there is one only still remaining to 
 be discussed. And that is the tribe of the 
 Belgae, which occupied part of the southern 
 division of the island. 
 
73 
 
 BELG.^. 
 
 The Belgic Britons, or British Belgae, occupied_, 
 at the time of the Roman invasion, our present 
 Wiltshire and Hampshire ; and probably much 
 of the surrounding country. And, as Pinkerton 
 asserts that they had spread themselves over 
 the eastern and southern coasts, I shall now, 
 for the sake of investigating the subject, so 
 far admit his position, rather than dispute it, 
 inasmuch as it signifies little to my argument, 
 whether the people of Kent were Belgae or 
 Canti. It is only their Gothic origin that I 
 mean to controvert. The origin of these Belgas 
 has been as strenuously contested as that of the 
 Picts and Caledonians ; but, after duly weighing 
 all the arguments, we can scarcely hesitate in 
 deciding in favour of their Celtic extraction. 
 
 It is rather extraordinary that, although the 
 British Triads are so particular, in enumerating 
 the several tribes which came into the island 
 of Britain, whether in a friendly or a hostile 
 manner, they should not once allude to any 
 people of the name of Belgce. And as it is 
 not likely, as I formerly observed, that such a 
 powerful tribe should be overlooked^ it seems 
 
74 
 
 to me possible that the word Piryl, the country 
 from which the Coraniaid are said to have 
 come^ may have been the ancient British pro- 
 nunciation of that, which by the Romans was 
 written Belgium: for, should the word Pivyl 
 be converted into an adjective, it would be 
 written Pwylaeg and Bivylaeg : a word not 
 much more dissimilar in sound to BeJg, than 
 many other Latinized names to their British 
 originals. The only objection I see is the dif- 
 ference between the country occupied by the 
 Coranians, which was on the Humber, and that 
 of the Belgse in Wiltshire. 
 
 The Triads describe the Coranians as origi- 
 nally a hostile tribe, and subsequently coalescing 
 with the Saxons : but there is nothing in this 
 description to induce a belief that they were 
 not Celts ; for the Irish, a Celtic people, were 
 perpetually at war w ith their kindred Celts, the 
 Britons; and so were the British tribes with 
 each other : and so far is their uniting with the 
 Saxons from being any proof of their Gothic 
 origin, that the Loegrians, who were avowedly 
 a Celtic people, became, we are informed, with 
 very few exceptions, united with the Saxons, 
 and even adopted their language. 
 
 But it is clear, from the manners of the 
 people, that the Belgae were Celts. It is uni- 
 
75 
 
 versally allowed that the Gothic nations had no 
 Druids: '^ Neque Druidas habent." But in the 
 description^ which the Roman writers give of 
 Britain, it is stated, not only that Druidism was 
 the religion of the island, but that it was in 
 Britain that the system flourished in its greatest 
 perfection : insomuch that the principal families 
 of Gaul sent their sons over into Britain^ to be 
 educated according to the Druidic principles. 
 Now^ in all this there is no exception made^ 
 w itii regard to the Belgas ; but on the contrary, 
 there is every reason to conclude that they also 
 acknowledged the Druidic system. 
 
 It is true C^sar says, that the continental 
 Belgce were for the most part descended from 
 the Germans : " Plerosque Belgas esse ortos a 
 Gennanis." But as a long period had elapsed 
 between the arrival of the Belgae in Britain, 
 and the time of Ccesar, it is possible that the 
 continental tribes had undergone a German 
 mixture ; as the word " plerosqiie^^ would indeed 
 imply. But, after all, the word German was of 
 such vague signification, that it cannot always 
 be ascertained, whether it was descriptive of the 
 Gothic or Celtic tribes, inhabiting Germany. 
 
76 
 
 LANGUAGE OF THE BELG^. 
 
 It is evident that the Belgic tribes of Britain 
 3poke a dialect of the Celtic : for Tacitus says, 
 that the Britons resembled the Gauls, and dif- 
 fered but little from them in language. " Sermo 
 haud multum diversus." And here he certainly 
 speaks of the Celtic Gauls, who cultivated 
 Druidism. Strabo also tells us, that the con- 
 tinental Belgae differed but little in language 
 
 from the Gauls : juiKpov e^aXXaTTowrag rt] yXwcTcrri, 
 
 We are likewise informed, that the Britons 
 differed but little from each other in language. 
 Now, had the continental Belgae been Goths, 
 they could not have resembled the Celtic Gauls 
 in language. And had the British Belgae been 
 Goths, they could not have spoken a language 
 similar to the other Britons, who were Celts, 
 and cultivators of Druidism. But, clear as this 
 argument must appear, we have been neverthe- 
 less repeatedly assured, that the Belgic Britons 
 were Goths, and this upon no other grounds 
 than that they were tall and yellow-haired, and 
 made a vigorous stand against the Romans ! ! 
 But the writers, who make such hardy asser- 
 tions, seem to forget that courage was the most 
 
77 
 
 prominent character of the Celts^ and expressly 
 enjoined by Druidic principles *. And a higher 
 compliment is paid by Tacitus to the Siluri^ a 
 decidedly Celtic tribe, than to any other in 
 the island, when he calls them, " Validam^ et 
 pugnacem Silurum gentem," — " The have and 
 warlike nation of the Silurians. '''' And yet has 
 this expression been studiously neglected by 
 the Pinkertonians ; who would persuade us that 
 cowardice was the characteristic of the Celts. 
 Nor do they ever willingly advert to the gallant 
 
 * That courage was an especial principle with the Celts, 
 the two Druidic Triads, preserved by Pomponius Mela and 
 Diogenes Laertius, will testify : 
 
 *' Ut forent ad bella meliores ; 
 ^ternas esse animas ; 
 Vitamque alteram ad manes." 
 
 P. Mela. 
 
 " To act bravely in war ; 
 That souls are immortal; 
 And another life after death.' 
 
 "If/3£iv0£oiyc; 
 
 Kat iUT)Csv KUKOP ^pay j 
 
 Kai avcptiav a^tceiv." 
 
 D. Laert. 
 
 " To worship the gods ; 
 
 To do no evil ; 
 
 And to exercise fortitude. 
 
78 
 
 resistance^ which the Sihiriaiis iimde to the 
 Romans^ under their illustrious leader Carac- 
 TACUS ^ ; even long after the Belgae and other 
 eastern tribes had submitted. 
 
 * I consider it but justice to the memory of this brave 
 man, to rescue his character from the injury, which it has 
 been long suffering at the hands of his modern historians, 
 through, what appears to myself, a misconception of the 
 language of the Roman annalist. For in the celebrated 
 speech of Caractacus, before the Emperor Claudius, given 
 by Tacitus, Ann. lib. 12, we have the following words: " Si 
 quanta nobilitas et fortuna mihi fuit, tanta rerum prospe- 
 rarum moderatio fuisset, amicus potius in banc urbem quam 
 captus venissem." Now the various translators of this pas- 
 sage make Caractacus reproach himself with the vices of 
 excess. " Had my moderation in prosperity been equal to," 
 &c. : and some have even proceeded to criticise and censure 
 his conduct accordingly. But as Murphy's translation is 
 the one most generally known, the following extract from 
 that work may serve as a specimen of the others. 
 
 " If to the nobility of my birth and the splendour of 
 exalted station I had united the virtues of moderation, Rome 
 had beheld me not in captivity, but a royal visiter and a 
 friend." But it appears evident to me that this is by no 
 means the sense of the original. The obvious meaning of 
 the passage, to myself, is as follows : " Had the measure of 
 my prosperity been equal to the nobleness of my birth and 
 my exalted station, I might have come into this city, rather 
 as a friend than a captive." The Silurian chief was here 
 asserting his dignity as a prince, and not confessing faults, of 
 which he had never been accused. 
 
79 
 
 But it appears that, having once adopted a 
 system, they are determined to maintain it, 
 even at the expense of truth itself. And the 
 mode of argument is worthy of the system 
 adopted. For example, when any ancient 
 writer mentions some tribe of Celts, as being 
 yellow-haired, or occupying a part of Germany, 
 they say that he knows nothing at all about the 
 matter; but is all the while describing Goths, 
 under the name of Celts: and that, by virtue 
 of the Celto-gothic system of physiognomy, 
 which they have just invented, they are now, 
 after a lapse of two thousand years, enabled 
 to know more about the subject, than those 
 authors who lived in the very ages and countries 
 which they describe. Again, when any of the 
 Celts are mentioned as a brave and hardy race, 
 they insist upon it that they still must have 
 been Goths ; their system forbidding the Celts 
 to possess any virtues whatever. So again, 
 when the warlike virtues of any avowed Celtic 
 tribe are so thrust upon them, as not to admit 
 of any such subterfuge, as in the case of the 
 Silurians aforementioned, they entirely pass 
 them by, as if no such description had ever 
 been written. But, on the other hand, when 
 the vices of barbarous nations are mentioned, 
 thev never fail to attach them to the Celts; 
 
80 
 
 *^ the Goths being a wise^ valiant, and generous 
 race; while the Celts were mere dastardly 
 savages." See PinkertoN;, passim. 
 
 In addition to the foregoing facts, it may be 
 urged, that, had the Belgas spoken a Teutonic 
 dialect, they would have })een acknowledged by 
 the Saxons as a kindred people. We find, 
 however, on the contrary, that the Saxons made 
 no distinction between the Belgae and the 
 Welsh ; calling them all Waeh/t, or Gaulish ; 
 the name, by which the Gothic nations of Ger- 
 many distinguished the people of Gaul. And 
 by their bestowing this appellation upon the 
 Belgae, it is clear that they considered them as 
 of the Celtic race. For the Saxon Chronicle 
 speaks of Hengist engaging the Welsh of Kent 
 and Sussex; which, according to Pinkerton, 
 were of the Belgic stock : and it appears that 
 these Belgae evinced the same hostility towards 
 the Saxons, that the Welsh themselves did ; 
 and also acknowledged the same chieftains and 
 pendragons with them : as they likew ise did 
 upon the landing of the Romans. But although 
 there are numerous inferences to be drawn from 
 the Roman and British writers, strongly corro- 
 borative of the Celtic extraction of the Belgae, 
 there is one authority which places this question 
 beyond a doubt ; by giving actual specimens of 
 
81 
 
 the ancient British language, as found in several 
 districts of what must have been the territory 
 of the Belgae. And these specimens are not 
 only Celtic, but of the Cyniraeg or Welsh dia- 
 lect of the Celtic. For Asserius Mencvensts, 
 in his life of King Alfred, records several 
 ancient British local names, together with their 
 translation into Latin : and it is rather surpris- 
 ing that this fact has not been noticed by those, 
 who have given so much time and labour to the 
 investigation of this very subject. 
 
 In speaking of the invasion of Mercia, by the 
 Danish army, he says : '^ In Merciam venit, et 
 Scnotengaham adiit; [quod Britannice Tigguo- 
 cobauc interpretatur, Latine autem Spelun- 
 carum domus.] " " It came to Mercia, and 
 proceeded to Nottingham ; which in the British 
 language is interpreted Tigguocobauc, and in 
 Latin the house of caverns." Now this word 
 is pure Welsh ; and, according to the modern 
 orthography, would be written, Ty-gogovawc, 
 and Tygogovawg, the cavernous house. So 
 that from this passage it appears that the Welsh 
 language was once spoken at Nottingham, and 
 as that was in the territory of the Coritani, the 
 inference is that they were Welsh, and conse- 
 quently a Celtic tribe. 
 
 The same author speaks of Exeter in Devon- 
 
82 
 
 shire, observing, '^ Locum, qui clicitur, Saxonice 
 Eaxanceastre, Britannice Cairw isc ; Latine quo- 
 que civitas Exae, quae in orientali ripa fluminis 
 Wise sita est." " A place which in the Saxon 
 is called Eaxanceastre ; in the British, Cairwisc : 
 and, in Latin, the city of the Ex." This place 
 was in the country of the Damnonii, and the 
 language here called British is Welsh ; Caer 
 signifying a city ; and Wysc, the name of the 
 river ; which word in Welsh also signifies water 
 in general, and is the name given in Wales to 
 the river Usk. 
 
 He also speaks of a place in Selwood Forest, 
 in Somersetshire, " Quae est in orientali parte 
 saltus, qui dicitur Selwdu, Latine autem Silva 
 magna, Britannice Coitmaur." " Which is in 
 the eastern part of the grove called Sehvood ; 
 and, in Latin, the great wood : in the JBritishy 
 Coitmaur.^'' Now the Welsh word for the great 
 tvood is Coed-mawr, or Coetmaiur : and if Sel- 
 wood Forest was not actually within the terri- 
 tory of the real^ it was at least within that of the 
 Pinkertonian Belgae ; and near enough to the | 
 former, to prove that the people of that part of i 
 the island were not altogether Gothic : for the [ 
 Haedui at all events spoke the Welsh language, | 
 if not the Durotriges also. 
 
 AssER also speaks of the town of Cirencester 
 
83 
 
 as being called by a British name : " Cir- 
 
 renceastre adiit^ qui Britannice Cairceri nomi- 
 
 natur." " Came to Cirencester, tvliich, in 
 
 the British, is called Cairceri.''^ 
 
 He likewise alludes to a river in Wiltshire, 
 called in the British, AbOxN ; i.e. Avon: the 
 connnon Welsh word for river ; and of very 
 frequent occurrence in Wales, and other parts 
 of the island: and which shows that the Welsh 
 was used even in the country of the Belgse 
 proper. 
 
 Though the foregoing British words, taken 
 from the Annals of Asserius Menevensis, may 
 not all apply to the Belga? of the Romans, yet 
 they show that the people of the countries, to 
 which they refer, were not of a Gothic stock, 
 but of the same with that of the Celts of Wales. 
 And they also serve to refute the opinion, 
 which some have rashly advanced, respecting 
 the Gvvyddelian, or Irish origin of the Coritani, 
 and other tribes of the eastern parts of the 
 island. From a fancied Irish style of ortho- 
 graphy, in some proper names, such as Vorti- 
 gern, Catigern, &c., it has been concluded, that 
 the language was Gwyddelian. But when we 
 see such words as Tygogovawc, Coetmawr, &c. 
 given as the names of places, being significant 
 only in Welsh, and unintelligible in Irish, we 
 
 g2 
 
84 
 
 must conclude that the language of the people, 
 who imposed them, was real Welsh. 
 
 That this G wyddelian orthography was used 
 by the Irish ecclesiastics cannot be denied : but 
 it by no means follows that all those persons^ 
 whose names are written in that style, were of 
 the Irish race : for it is equally certain that 
 this orthography was in use among the British, 
 as well as the Irish writers of the same period, 
 in their Latin works ; and I am inclined to think 
 that it was the fashion of a certain era, rather 
 than the style of any particular country. In con- 
 firmation of which I would observe that Welsh 
 names, found in this orthography, occur only in 
 works, written in Latin ; but that the same 
 names, occurring in compositions, written in the 
 Welsh language, are invariably found in the 
 Welsh orthography. Gildas and Nennius, 
 though acknowledged to be of the Cymraeg 
 race, as they wrote in Latin, used this supposed 
 Irish style, even when mentioning names of 
 undoubted Welsh origin : but their country- 
 men, of the same era, who wrote in the Welsh 
 language, have used the Welsh character of 
 orthography, in the very same names : and 
 some of those persons, whose names have been 
 so changed, were undoubted natives of Wales. 
 If there exist any names of undisputed Cymraeg 
 
85 
 
 origin^ the following are among them, Cyndeyrn 
 (ap) Owain (ap) Urien ; and they have been 
 barbaro-latinized into Kentigern^ Eogan^ and 
 Urbgen. We have also^ in later times, seen 
 Oicen latinized into Audoenus. 
 
 But whatever weight the above arguments 
 may possess, it must be allowed that enough 
 has been shown to confirm the assertion re- 
 specting the changeable nature of national 
 physiognomy, and to prove the absurdity of 
 attempting to establish that most variable and 
 uncertain index in the place of historical evi- 
 dence. 
 
 The foregoing, then, were the tribes which 
 formed the population of Britain at the time 
 of the departure of the Ronians. That the 
 greater number were of the Celtic stock is 
 clearly demonstrated by history ; and whether 
 any were Gothic is altogether doubtful. How- 
 ever that may be, they comprised the whole of 
 the Celtic population of Britain : nor did any 
 complete Celtic tribe, after that period, settle 
 in the island ; as the Bretons, who came over 
 with William the Conqueror, did not form any 
 detached colony ; being dispersed over the 
 country, as was the rest of the Norman army, 
 according to the possessions assigned them for 
 their services. 
 
8(5 
 
 It is a remarkable instance of the vicissitudes 
 of nations^ that these Bretons returned^, as con- 
 querors, to the very country^ from which their 
 ancestors had been expelled, by the Saxons^ 
 five hundred years before : and thus, by a severe 
 retribution, at length requited the oppressors 
 of their race, and imposed upon them the yoke 
 of slavery, in return for the injuries of expul- 
 sion. And it may be observed, that many of 
 the ancient noble families of England, which are 
 usually called Norman, are in reality of Breton 
 origin. 
 
 THE SAXONS. 
 
 But after the departure of the Romans, came 
 various tribes of undisputed Gothic blood, 
 consisting of Saxons, JutCvS, Angles, Frisians, 
 &c. These tribes are said to have been of the 
 xanthous temperament ; and to possess those 
 marks, which the classic authors assign to the 
 natives of Germany : but, notwithstandino- the 
 vast multitudes, which must have poured in 
 continually (and it is even stated that whole 
 nations left their ancient seats on the continent, 
 and transplanted themselves into Britain), yet 
 their descendants at the present day retain none 
 
87 
 
 of the qualities, ^\ liicli are described as charac- 
 teristic of the ancient Germans. Nevertheless 
 the physiognomical distinctions between Goths 
 and Celts have been as strenuously insisted 
 upon, as if the present English exhibited their 
 universal character of red hair, blue eyes, and 
 gigantic stature. 
 
 But it is not only in this instance, that the 
 love of system carries its supporters into the 
 extreme of prejudice : for this Gothic blood is 
 made to engross all the virtues of the kingdom. 
 For example, it is usual, when discussing the 
 merits and origin of our admirable constitution 
 and national liberty, to attribute all these ad- 
 vantages to the German origin of the Saxons. 
 The representation of the people in parliament, 
 trial by jury, rights of free citizens, all origi- 
 nated, it is alleged, in the German woods ! ! ! 
 
 This assertion is about as true as that re- 
 specting the distinction between red and dark- 
 haired races. And, most unfortunately for this 
 system, those woods do at the present day afford 
 just as few proofs of love of liberty, as of red- 
 haired nations, notwithstanding the unchange- 
 ahleness of nature. 
 
 It is said that the Germans elected their 
 kings, and that therefore the representation of 
 the people in parliament was derived from them. 
 
88 
 
 But this practice was by no means peculiar to 
 the Germans. The ancient Scottish monarchy 
 was elective : and the Britons elected their 
 pendrag-on. But this is any thing but a cri- 
 terion of liberty ; for in later times monarchies 
 have been elective^ and at the same time exces- 
 sively despotic. 
 
 But so far is the British constitution from 
 being derived from the Saxon ancestors of the 
 English people, that previous to the reign of 
 Alfred the Saxon laws were exceedingly con- 
 fused and defective; and that great monarch 
 remodelled them^ or rather enacted entirely new 
 laws : and the person, employed in this great 
 work, was neither Saxon nor German : but 
 AssER Menevensis, a Welsh ecclesiastic, who, 
 from the ancient laws of Wales, assisted by 
 those of the Roman code, and guided by the 
 principles of the Bible, possibly too with the 
 addition of some few existing Saxon customs, 
 laid the foundation of that extraordinary struc- 
 ture, which was afterwards gradually erected 
 upon it ; and w hich has become the w onder and 
 admiration of the world. This is the true origin 
 of the British Constitution. 
 
 It is not therefore to the Pagan Saxons that 
 our boasted privileges can, in the slightest 
 degree, be attributed. Whatever our constitu- 
 
89 
 
 tion possesses of excellence is derived from 
 another^ and a higher source. And we are 
 unsj)eakabl} more indebted to the light of 
 Christianit} ,, for our national liberties, than to 
 any Pagan maxims or customs whatever. Asseu 
 Menevensis was himself a churchman, of the 
 ancient British church ; and it is upon Christian 
 and scriptural principles that the British laws 
 are to this day professedly enacted and ad- 
 ministered, and not after any imaginary heathen 
 model. 
 
 But whatever merits the ancient Saxons might 
 possess, as warriors and freemen, on their first 
 arrival, and it is possible they enjoyed, in its 
 full extent, that kind of equality, which is 
 generally found among a marauding people, 
 as the Buccaneers, and other banditti ; yet it 
 appears that a few centuries made a consider- 
 able change in their moral, whatever they may 
 have done in their physical, character. For 
 when, about the ninth century, England was 
 invaded by the Danes, the Saxons were so far 
 from resisting them, like a brave and spirited 
 people, that, on the contrary, they for many 
 years submitted to their tyranny, in a manner 
 the most abject and slavish : while those bar- 
 barians were traversing the land at their 
 pleasure, exacting the most oppressive tribute. 
 
90 
 
 and committing all sorts of atrocities. Aucl 
 here I cannot refrain from the remark^ that the 
 Welsh^ whom Pinkerton desp ses^ and loads 
 with abuse^, so far from submitting to the Danes^ 
 on the other hand opposed them^ with such 
 spirit^ that they were never able to effect a 
 settlement in Wales, nor even a landing; ex- 
 cept in detached predatory parties, along the 
 coast. 
 
 Again : When the Normans invaded Britain, 
 the Welsh resisted their aggressions, and those 
 of their successors in England, with the most 
 determined bravery, for upwards of two hun- 
 dred years. Whereas the Saxons were com- 
 pletely subdued in one single battle : and such 
 was their spiritless conduct, that they never 
 once as a nation attempted to release them- 
 selves from the galling yoke imposed upon them 
 by their conquerors, though of the most repul- 
 sive and degrading nature. Even the tyranny 
 of the Curfew Bell could not rouse them, nor 
 the oppression of the Forest Laws! Surely 
 this is not a people to be proud of, as the 
 parent stock of the English nation. And if 
 mixture of blood has any influence upon the 
 moral character, it is well for Britain that such 
 streams of Celtic or other blood have flown into 
 the veins of the English, from Wales, from 
 
91 
 
 Scotland, and from Ireland, 8cc. for the last few 
 centuries. Doubtless the energy of Britain is 
 more indebted to this than to any predominance 
 of Saxon blood. And probably there are but 
 few persons of eminence in the kingdom, who 
 cannot trace in their family some such whole- 
 some admixture of kindred. 
 
 THE DANES. 
 
 The next race to be considered is that of the 
 Danes; and though they occupied the Saxon 
 parts of Britain, for a considerable time, yet, 
 in all probability, they were ultimately so re- 
 duced, and so generally expelled the kingdom, 
 that, but a very few remained behind. There- 
 fore we can only consider their descendants as 
 forming a trifling portion of the present popula- 
 tion ; and, as their physiognomical character is 
 scarcely defined, at the time when they held 
 possession of England, it is in vain now to 
 make any inquiries concerning it. 
 
92 
 
 THE NORMANS. 
 
 The next race, which took possession of Eng- 
 land, was that of the Normans ; a mixed people^ 
 consisting" of GaulS;, Franks, Bretons^ Flemings, 
 and Scandinavians, &c., but deriving their name 
 from the Northmcnis, or Northmen : a people 
 from the shores of the Baltic : who, after having 
 long ravaged the southern coasts of Europe, at 
 length, about the year 900, collected a powerful 
 army, and under their leader Rollo, one of those 
 Scandinavian rovers, or pirates, which then 
 infested the European seas, effected a settle- 
 ment in France, in the province of Neustria; 
 the name of which they changed into that of 
 Normandy. And they seem to have formed 
 the last wave of the great Gothic deluge, which 
 had for so many ages inundated the Christian 
 world. 
 
 But although the Normans conquered that 
 part of France, it is obvious that they did 
 not exterminate the original inhabitants ; nor 
 even materially diminish their numbers :• for 
 although there had elapsed but a period of one 
 hundred and sixty years, from their first land- 
 ing in France to their conquest of England in 
 
93 
 
 1066^ yet they had in that short space of time 
 entirely lost their ancient Scandinavian or 
 Gothic tongue ; and had adopted that of the 
 French : which was the Gaulish corruption of 
 the Latin : a circumstance impossible to have 
 occurred^ had not the Gauls still continued by 
 far the most numerous of the two races. And 
 it is a w ell ascertained fact^ that the Noruians^ 
 who came into England, with William the Con- 
 queror, were a very mixed race, and not less 
 clear that those of pure Scandinavian blood 
 formed but a small portion of his army : so 
 that, in a physiological inquiry like the present, 
 it wonld be ridiculous to seek for their character 
 in England ; and could we but now see the 
 followers of the Conqueror, as they appeared 
 on their landing at Hastings, instead of finding 
 one uniform character pervading the whole, it 
 is probable that we should behold every possi- 
 ble variety of feature, which the various coun- 
 tries, soils, and habits of the people could 
 produce. But, however this may have been,' 
 it appears that at the present day the Norman 
 character, like every other of any antiquity, is 
 no longer distinguishable among us. 
 
 It has been supposed that the old Normans 
 were a red-haired race ; and there is some 
 
94 
 
 reason for believing this notion to be correct. 
 It may be inferred nevertheless that, about the 
 Norman conquest of England,, this character 
 had ceased to be general ; because we find 
 that, when red hair did occur, it was considered 
 so much a personal peculiarity, as to occasion 
 its owner to be designated by it, as in the case 
 of William Rufus (the red-haired). 
 
 From such an examination of the elements, 
 of which the British people are composed, it is 
 certain that, whatever peculiar character any 
 portion of them may originally have possessed, 
 it has in every instance been completely changed, 
 as far as any original distinctions have been 
 made known to us. And, as this change has 
 been effected by accidental causes, it may not 
 be uninteresting, and certainly not irrelevant 
 to our subject, to take a cursory view of the 
 inhabitants of Britain, as they are at this day 
 distinguishable, by their respective characteris- 
 tics. 
 
95 
 
 LOCAL PHYSIOGNOMY 
 
 OF 
 
 BRITAIN. 
 
 ENGLAND. 
 
 It has already been remarked that the natives 
 of England^ when arrived at maturity^ are 
 generally brown-haired ; but that the colour 
 of the eye has no uniform correspondence with 
 that of the hair. 
 
 In the next place stature and frame of body^ 
 as well as complexion, depend upon accidental 
 circumstances : a robust conformation and florid 
 countenance being usually the result of health- 
 fulness of employment and wholesome food. 
 Therefore in some districts we find the peasants 
 well fed and ruddy, and in others ill fed and 
 sallow : there seem likewise some causes con- 
 nected, more or less, with climate and atmos- 
 phere, producing a difference of stature and 
 make of body, even in people of the same 
 acknowledged race. 
 
96 
 
 In the south of England^ the natives are of a 
 moderate stature ; and not remarkable for any 
 distinguishing bodily character. In the midland 
 counties^, they are of a very coarse and homely 
 style of appearance ; both with regard to stature 
 and features : and in the fenny counties^ re- 
 markably so. 
 
 But as we proceed northwardS;, a visible 
 change takes place. In Lancashire and York- 
 shire^ where the influence of manufacturing 
 habits has not readied, the natives are of a 
 taller stature than in the south ; but, at the 
 same time, of an awkward make, and apparently 
 less capable of action. 
 
 In Lancashire, the blue eye prevails, with the 
 dark rim around the iris, contributing greatly 
 to expression. The females have often been 
 celebrated for their beauty. Their features are 
 certainly more regular than those of some of 
 their southern neighbours : the face is longish, 
 and tapering towards the chin : the nose thin, 
 and well chiselled. In the coal districts the 
 eye is dark. 
 
 The people of Cumberland, beyond the in- 
 fluence of the coal, have nothing to distinguish 
 them from those of some of the southern coun- 
 ties. 
 
97 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 The natives of the southern parts of Scotland 
 differ but little from those of Cumberland : and 
 indeed it would be difficult, from mere external 
 aspect, to distinguish there between a Scotch- 
 man and an Englishman. Though I have heard 
 of the peculiarities of Scottish physiognomy, I 
 have never been able so to class them, as to 
 define them in words. We have been told, 
 it is true, of high cheek bones, and harsh fea- 
 tures : but these are not peculiar to Scotland. 
 It must however be allowed, that, taking the 
 nation in the aggregate, one is led to believe, 
 that he perceives a shade of difference, how^ever 
 difficult to define, between the Scottish and 
 English physiognomy. But here, as in every 
 other country, there are local varieties. 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 HIGHLANDERS. 
 
 The Highlanders of Scotland are a middle 
 sized race, rarely tall ; but well formed, and 
 apparently of an active make. They are gene- 
 rally brown-haired : in some districts rather 
 sandy. They are said to be seldom bald- 
 headed ; and in this respect to differ from 
 the Lowlanders, whose hair is usually more 
 scanty. 
 
 On the coast of Lorn in Argyleshire, I have 
 frequently noticed, among the Highlanders, a 
 good Roman style of countenance ; at least the 
 nose had that character ; being high and angular, 
 though, generally speaking, the features cannot 
 be called handsome. The eye is almost univer- 
 sally gray, and small : and, like that of many 
 other uncultivated districts, does not exhibit a 
 sufficient portion of the white. 
 
 The Highlanders speak the same language 
 with the Irish, and were originally the same 
 people ; but tliey do not, either in their moral 
 or physical qualities, bear much resemblance to 
 them at the present day. There is not the 
 
99 
 
 same uniformity of physiognomy, pervading the 
 people ; their features are more varied, and 
 often better ; but in person they are not so tall 
 as the Irish in general ; and certainly do not 
 evince that lively and humorous disposition, 
 which their Hibernian relatives possess. In 
 Ireland, we cannot move a step, without being 
 surrounded by wit and humour. It is abso- 
 lutely thrust upon us. Indeed, there is no other 
 country, that I have ever visited, in which, 
 with regard to those qualities, the inhabitants 
 do not appear to a disadvantage, after those 
 good humoured eccentrics. 
 
 LOWLANDERS. 
 
 The Lowlanders of Scotland do not differ from 
 the Highlanders, more than the natives of low 
 countries, in general, do from those of moun- 
 tainous regions ; or than might be expected 
 among people, who have for so many ages 
 followed such widely different modes of living. 
 
 H 2 
 
100 
 
 NORWEGIANS OF THE ISLES. 
 
 Notwithstanding all that has been said about 
 the descendants of the Norwegians in the 
 Highlands, and Western Islands, I have not 
 been able to discover the existence of any 
 characteristic, which could induce me to sup- 
 pose that there is at present any difference 
 whatever between the inhabitants : and indeed, 
 if the prevalence of the Gaelic language be 
 allowed as an argument, we may conclude that 
 the people, who speak that language, were at 
 all times by far the most numerous. 
 
 What race prevailed in Moray, on the east 
 coast, I have never learned; but have heard it 
 observed, that the people of some part of that 
 country are remarkable for a larger size, and 
 different formation of head ; and which I can- 
 not describe better than in the words of the 
 Highlander, who called my attention to the 
 fact : " That the difference of size would be 
 found so great, that a hat, which fitted the 
 head of a Highlander, or an Englishman, would 
 not go on that of a Moray-man of this district." 
 His theory, of their Lapland origin, of course j 
 
101 
 
 did not attend to; and I was not craniologist 
 enough to ascertain the fact. However, if the 
 modern phrenological system^ respecting the 
 capaciousness of the scull, and proportionate 
 quantum of intellect, has any truth, the advan- 
 tage is obviously on the side of these Moray 
 men. 
 
 WALES. 
 
 In the Principality of Wales, the Celtic race 
 and language have always predominated. Yet 
 in no country have I seen so great a variety of 
 feature as among the Welsh; and that, not so 
 much in the character of particular districts, as 
 of individuals; for among them I have seen 
 every style and class of physiognomy, from 
 that of the harshest description of feature, to 
 the finest and most classic. And I think the 
 Roman nose, in its various gradations, is more 
 frequently seen among them, than any other 
 peasantry in the British Islands, though this 
 feature prevails in some districts more than in 
 others. The dark or light colour of the eye 
 depends, as in other parts of the kingdom, upon 
 the use of coal fuel. 
 
102 
 
 The people of Wales are not usually above 
 the middle stature ; but generally strongly built, 
 and in some places remarkably so. It has been 
 affirmed, that the militia of Caermarthenshire 
 require more ground to form their line upon 
 than that of any other county. 
 
 In some parts of North Wales the inhabitants 
 are more tall and slender; and the people of 
 Snowdon are as fine a race of peasantry as any 
 in the kingdom : the females also having a 
 much more delicate and lady-like style of per- 
 son, than is often met v^ith even in more polished 
 districts. Their eye is blue, and their features 
 rather small, and below the classic standard; 
 but, at the same time, very far from unpleasing. 
 
 IRELAND. 
 
 From the annals of Ireland it appears, that the 
 inhabitants of that island are composed of as 
 great a variety of nations as Britain itself; for 
 it seems, that it has been successively colonized 
 by Milesians, Iberians, Firbolgs, Tuathdeda- 
 nans, &c.; besides the later colonies of Saxons, 
 Danes, Welsh, Normans, and English. But 
 the principal part of the population may, like 
 
103 
 
 that of Britain^ be summed up under those two 
 original nations of Europe, the Celts, and the 
 Goths. But, whatever the elements may have 
 been, which entered into their composition, the 
 people of Ireland, at this day, may be divided 
 into two great classes, — the well fed ^ and the ill 
 fed. And I have not been able to discover 
 that there exists any other difference among 
 them : nor do I recollect seeing any where so 
 great an uniformity of feature, and of moral and 
 physical character, as in Ireland. 
 
 Among the Irish peasantry the hair is gene- 
 rally dark, and in some districts particularly 
 black, especially about Roscrea and its vicinity : 
 and this character may be observed to prevail 
 throughout a great portion of the south of 
 Ireland : but, with this excessive blackness of 
 hair, the eye is uniformly gray or bluish. Turf 
 fuel does not appear to darken the iris as coal 
 does. But their distinguishing trait is the 
 lower eyelash ; which is remarkably dark, and 
 thick ; more so than in any other people I have 
 ever seen, except the natives of Savoy : and 
 this, combined with the light eye, forms a very 
 marked feature among the Irish. 
 
 But, though the eye is so universally of the 
 xanthous character, yet, as in everv other 
 
104 
 
 country, there are local varieties, and shades 
 of difference. For instance, near Carrigogun- 
 niel, on the banks of the Shannon, the blue 
 assumes a much deeper tint than in the neigh- 
 bouring districts : but the cause of this variety 
 I have not been able to discover. I have some- 
 times seen persons of a sandy complexion ; but 
 it has been chiefly among those classes, whose 
 circumstances admit of a more varied mode of 
 living; and though I have heard that com- 
 plexion ascribed to the Irish indiscriminately, I 
 have never visited any part of the country in 
 which it was general among the peasantry ; 
 though I have seen tracts of considerable ex- 
 tent, wherein the dark hair prevailed. 
 
 Among the lower orders, the face is longish, 
 but the nose small, and inclined to turn up ; 
 and rarely rises to the form, styled Roman. 
 Nor can we fail to remark the contrast between 
 the coarse and ordinary cast of countenance, so 
 general among them, and their straight grown 
 limbs, and symmetry of person. Indeed, it has 
 been observed, that what nature has denied 
 in beauty of feature, she has compensated in 
 growth. But as I see no restraining law, nor 
 any necessity for this drawback, on the bounty 
 of nature, I can only say that at present I 
 
105 
 
 cannot pretend to assign a reason why the same 
 causes^ which produce good symmetry in tlie 
 form of the limbs, should not extend their in- 
 fluence to the features also. But though the 
 Irish are generally w^ell grow n, yet this procerity 
 is not altogether universal ; there being several 
 extensive districts, in which the people are by 
 no means tall, nor even above the middle size. 
 Neither are there many places in which they can 
 compete, in stature, with the natives of York- 
 shire and Lancashire : but it would be difficult, 
 in any part of Ireland, to find among the pea- 
 santry a person of deformed growth, or even so 
 much as one of those knock-kneed or bandy- 
 legged men, which in some other countries are 
 by no means uncommon. 
 
 It is said that a change for the worse has 
 taken place within the last generation in the 
 appearance of the Irish peasantry : that forty 
 years ago every cottage had its cow; and the 
 people, possessing a plentiful supply of milk, 
 with their potatoes, and their constitutions not 
 being injured by hard labour, were a remark- 
 ably fine grown race. Since which time, in 
 consequence of the immense increase of popu- 
 lation, and the minute subdivisions of land in 
 many places, the cow^ has disappeared, and the 
 
106 
 
 people now subsist upon potatoes and water. 
 Those who have had opportunities of observing 
 this change cannot but exceedingly lament the 
 very visible physical deterioration in the lower 
 orders. And should this state of things con- 
 tinue, or should the evil increase, as it threatens 
 to do, we must expect to find the Irish pea- 
 santry reduced to a character the very reverse 
 of that which their fine soil and mild climate 
 would, under favourable circumstances, natu- 
 rally impress them with. 
 
 HoLiNSHED, speaking of the Irish Gallow- 
 glasses, says they were " strong, robust men, 
 chiefly feeding on beef, pork, and butter." But 
 many changes have taken place, in Ireland as 
 w^ell as in other countries, since the days of 
 O'Neil, and his tall retainers. 
 
 The peasants, in many parts of Ireland, espe- 
 cially in the South, have a habit of keeping the 
 mouth almost wide open ; which gives the chin 
 a receding character, and the lower part of 
 the face an appearance of uncomely lengthiness, 
 and produces something of a look of stupidity. 
 But, should the pliysiognomist decide upon this 
 trait, never would he be more mistaken; for, 
 the moment he speaks, the listener is convinced 
 that the Irish peasant is no idiot. The smooth 
 
107 
 
 and rapid flow of clever and well- worded 
 language^ in which these uneducated fellows 
 express themselves upon every occasion^ is 
 really surprising: and their fine natural talents, 
 continually thrusting themselves into contrast 
 with their ragged and forlorn appearance, gives 
 them such an air of incongruity, as, could their 
 real misery be forgotten, would be truly ludi- 
 crous. 
 
 When a stranger lands in Ireland, the first 
 thing that strikes him is the immense number 
 of ill fed wretched-looking people surrounding 
 him, and asking for charity. And he will see 
 crowds of able-bodied men willing to accept 
 the most trifling donation, as alms, with such 
 fervour, and volubility of gratitude, as might 
 lead him to suppose they were utterly incapa- 
 citated, by mental and corporeal infirmity, from 
 doing any thing to help themselves; and yet 
 every one of these is a wit, an orator, and a 
 philosopher. 
 
108 
 
 DANES AND OTHER SETTLERS. 
 
 I SHALL not attempt to discover tlie remains of 
 the Danes, Ostmen, or Saxons, or any other 
 early colony which may have settled in Ireland ; 
 as all these must long ago have been assimi- 
 lated to the other inhabitants. Even later 
 settlements have shared the same fate. Fitz- 
 gerald's Welshmen and Strongbow's Normans, 
 the armies of Elizabeth and of Cromwell, 
 however, at one period, varying in character, 
 have long ago yielded their distinctions to the 
 influence of accidental causes. And even the 
 Palatins, who came over but a century age 
 from the banks of the Rhine, though they have 
 rarely intermixed with the original Irish, anc 
 are still known by the name of Germans, yev 
 are scarcely distinguishable from the genuine 
 Milesians. He would be a confident physiog- 
 nomist, who should undertake, from personal 
 appearance, to separate the Switzers and Cor- 
 neills from the O'Briens and O'SulUvaiis. 
 
 In addition to the foregoing races, it is 
 asserted, that the remains of the Spanish settle- 
 ment, made in the South of Ireland, in the 
 reign of Elizabeth, may still be recognised in 
 
109 
 
 the neighbourhood of Dingle: and that the 
 Spanish style of countenance is yet retained. 
 I have not, however, seen enough of that 
 coast, to say whether I should attribute the 
 few nielanic countenances, I noticed in the 
 South of Ireland, to a Spanish origin, or some 
 other cause. Not having visited any part of 
 Ireland, in which the use of coal fuel is general 
 among the inhabitants, I cannot instance its 
 effect upon the colour of the eye, in that 
 country, with the same certainty as in Britain. 
 
 ISLE OF MAN. 
 
 The Manx people are gray-eyed, and by no 
 means well favoured, either in features, or 
 person. 
 
110 
 
 CONTINENTAL PHYSIOGNOMY. 
 
 Having finished this examination of British 
 Physiognomy^ I shall now offer a few remarks 
 upon that of the adjacent nations of Europe. 
 
 FRANCE. 
 
 When an Englishman lands in France, he can- 
 not avoid noticing a remarkable difference 
 between the peasantry of that country and his 
 own : the peasants of France being sallow, and 
 possessing none of the florid complexion and 
 good looks of the English. Which, however, 
 cannot be the effect of climate; but must be 
 attributed to the difference of food : the French 
 peasantry being known to live much more 
 hardly and poorly than the English. But in 
 the French towns the florid complexion is seen 
 sufficiently often to convince the spectator, that 
 the absence of it is not the necessary charac- 
 
Ill 
 
 teristic^ either of the climate or people of 
 France. Even in England^ the inhabitants vary 
 exceedingly in this respect ; as all parts of the 
 kingdom do not exhibit the same healthy or 
 ruddy complexion. In the poorer districts of 
 Ireland and Scotland, there is a deficiency of 
 it : but^ in neither of these countries^ are the 
 country people so ill favoured as in France. 
 
 But it is not merely in the hue of the com- 
 plexion^ that the natives of France differ from 
 those of England : there is also a marked differ- 
 ence in the contour of the visage; that of the 
 Frenchman being round, while the Englishman's 
 is oval. And so general is this difference^ that, 
 in the description of the features given in pass- 
 ports, those two terms will almost invariably 
 be found, as the respective distinctions of the 
 two nations. 
 
 This rotundity of contour prevails through- 
 out a great portion of the continent; and is 
 caused, anatomically speaking, by the projec- 
 tion of the angles of the jaw-bones beneath the 
 ears ; assuming, in the German visage, a certain 
 squareness of form. The eyes also, in the 
 continental countenance, are further apart, and 
 more prominent, than in the English. 
 
 It is possible that a native of the continent, 
 on observing this difference, would ascribe the 
 
112 
 
 inferiority to the English physiognomy. Of 
 course there can be no arguing upon that point, 
 unless we admit the existence of some standard 
 of taste. But, if the antique be allowed to be 
 such, I should conclude that the oval form 
 approaches nearest to it : the ancient classic 
 models never exhibiting those exaggerated fea- 
 tures, which are so characteristic of the people 
 of the continent. 
 
 It is true the jaw, in the ancient statues, is 
 more square than in modern countenances ; and 
 perhaps more so than was often found in the 
 living model, even in those countries and ages, 
 which produced such wonderful specimens of 
 art. At least Professor Camper has arrived at 
 this conclusion, from comparing the beau ideal 
 of the ancient statues of imaginary characters 
 with the portraits of real personages, of the 
 same age and country. But then, the square 
 jaw of the ancient statues is totally different 
 from that which characterizes the present con- 
 tinental nations: that of the ancients being most 
 perceptible when the face is seen in profile, 
 giving an uprightness and elegance to the facial 
 line ; whereas that of the present nations of the 
 continent is most observable in the full face, in 
 the projecting corners of the jaw, just beneath 
 the ears. 
 
113 
 
 Witli regard to the French^ a strong contrast 
 exists between the }3easantry and the inhabitants 
 of towns; the former being universally ill 
 favoured^ while the latter are good looking. 
 
 Among the peasantry the eye is gray, vapid, 
 and without expression. Among the towns- 
 people it is, on the other hand, animated, 
 expressive, and varying in colour. 
 
 In Normandy, not a trace remains of the red 
 hair, supposed by some to belong to the early 
 Norman colony. In Burgundy, the light brown 
 hair, and gray eye, have succeeded to the 
 asserted rutilous character of its ancient con- 
 querors. Nor can the descendants of the Franks 
 be distinguished by any Gothic characteristic 
 from those of the Gauls. 
 
 SAVOY. 
 
 From France we enter the territory of Savoy, 
 the country of the ancient Allobroges, probably 
 the progenitors of the present inhabitants. If 
 I advocated the system of breeds, I should say 
 that the Savoyards have every character of 
 being an unmixed race. But, as I disclaim 
 that system, I shall rather suggest that they 
 appear to have resided in the same country, 
 
 I 
 
114 
 
 for a long succession of generations^ and to 
 have followed the same habits of life. 
 
 They are generally small; rarely above the 
 middle size ; but of active make : though, if 
 they were better fed, some of them would not 
 be ill looking. The face has the square conti- 
 nental jaw, to a greater extent than among 
 any other people I ever saw. The eye is gray, 
 or hazel, and the hair dark : but that, which 
 chiefly distinguishes them, is the lower eyelash ; 
 being so exceedingly dark, and strongly marked, 
 that they always reminded me of colliers, 
 who had not washed the coal dust out of their 
 eyelashes. 
 
 SWITZERLAND. 
 
 Whether there was anciently any difference 
 between the AUobroges and Helveti, I know 
 not. But there is, at the present day, a de- 
 cided one between the Savoyards and Swiss ; 
 the latter being better grown, and better look- 
 ing, though still marked by the angular jaw. 
 The eye is also very different; being neither 
 gray, nor hazel, but sky-blue ; accompanied 
 with an extraordinary glare, not always plea- 
 sant. They have not the dark under eyelash 
 
115 
 
 of the Savoyards. Their hair is brown. But 
 these traits, though generally correct, vary in 
 some Cantons. 
 
 As an examination of the physiognomy of 
 the natives of Italy would not tend to illustrate 
 the present subject, I shall proceed to those 
 countries, in which a people of a kindred origin 
 with those of Britain are to be found. 
 
 GERMANY. 
 
 The German peasantry are a fair-complexioned, 
 gray-eyed race; with hair, of some shade of 
 brown : in some districts flaxen, or yellowish ; 
 but very seldom red. The form of the face is 
 square, the jaw angular, the nose rarely aqui- 
 line, but low at the root, and rather " currish," 
 if I may use such an expression. There are 
 exceptions; but generally speaking, the Ger- 
 man peasants are not a handsome race. Though 
 more athletic in person than some other nations 
 of the continent, yet they do not now by any 
 means possess that gigantic stature, for which 
 their barbarian ancestors were so celebrated. 
 A man six feet high is a tall man in Germany, 
 as well as in England. 
 
116 
 
 As may be expected in a country of such 
 extent^ great varieties exist among them. In 
 towns^ the eye is darker; and has greater 
 expression than among the uncultivated Bauers; 
 and with a more intellectual cast of counte- 
 nance. 
 
 The great width between the eyes is one of 
 their strongest traits ; and though this character 
 is very perceptible among the French^ yet I 
 have seen in Germany eyes such a monstrous 
 distance apart^ that^ had I not been assured of 
 the total expulsion of that horde of savages, I 
 might have thought myself gazing upon the 
 descendants of the ancient Huns of Attila. 
 
 BELGIUM. 
 
 To the traveller, on quitting Germany, and 
 entering the Netherlands, a visible change 
 occurs ; for here the Belgic eye presents itself 
 It is of a deep blue colour, — perfect Prussian 
 blue; the iris bordered by a darker circle on 
 the outer rim ; and forming a gratifying and 
 advantageous change, after the monotonous 
 gray eye of the Rhenish provinces of Germany. 
 But, some how or other, from its intense blue 
 tint, and its perpetual occurrence, we are glad 
 
117 
 
 to see it exchanged for one of a softer shade, 
 whether of blue or black. 
 
 The Belgian visage is longer than the Ger- 
 man, and the nose more frequently approaching 
 to the classic form, though real classic features 
 are rare in every country. Where coal fires 
 are used, the eye is decidedly dark. 
 
 Now, although these several nations are 
 allowed to be descended fi'om the two original 
 stocks, of Goths and Celts, and a great portion 
 of them are considered as of the pure unmixed 
 Gothic race ; yet, having long been divided 
 into separate communities, with separate habits, 
 they do at this day bear as many different 
 characters, as they form nations. And so un- 
 equivocally are their respective characteristics 
 stamped upon them, that if a single regiment 
 should be formed out of the peasantry of these 
 several nations, taking a hundred men out of 
 each, and mixing them together in the ranks, 
 I would undertake, by these national traits, to 
 separate ninety out of each hundred^ and refer 
 them to their respective countries. 
 
 The British, in general, would be known by 
 the absence of the square jaw, and of the width 
 betwixt the eyes : but to distinguish between 
 
118 
 
 the natives of England^ Wales^ and Scotland^ 
 would not be so easy a task. 
 
 The Irish I should point out by the absence 
 of the Roman nose^ and by the gray eye^ and 
 dark under eyelash : and should separate them 
 from the Savoyards^ by the absence of the 
 square jaw. 
 
 The French I should know by the rotundity 
 of their countenance^ and by their widely situated 
 and prominent hazel eyes. 
 
 The Swiss by the light glare of their azure 
 coloured eyes. 
 
 The Germans by their square physiognomy^ 
 and widely separated gray eyes. 
 
 The Belgians by their deep blue eyes^ and 
 dark outer rim of the iris. 
 
 And thus it will appear, that every people 
 of whatever race, when formed into separate 
 communities, will acquire peculiar characteristic 
 features, according to their habits and local 
 circumstances : and that the very same race 
 will be found to vary exceedingly in different 
 ages and countries. Had this only been at- 
 tended to, and had authors been travellers as 
 well as scholars, it would have saved us all 
 the learned absurdity, whioh has been compiled 
 upon this subject from Pinkerton down : not to 
 
119 
 
 mention the perversion of ancient autliorities, 
 the accusations of ignorance and error brought 
 ao'ainst the most learned and accurate writers 
 of antiquity, together with the false descriptions 
 of modern national physiognomy, which have 
 been recurred to, in order to support this most 
 absurd and ridiculous system of Goths and 
 Celts — of red and black races. But I persuade 
 myself that the facts, stated in the present 
 Essay, with the arguments deduced from them, 
 will so far conciliate the attention, if not con- 
 vince the understanding, of that portion of the 
 literary public, which takes an interest in such 
 investigations, that those, who have hitherto 
 been deluded by the gratuitous assertions of 
 prejudiced writers, will, from henceforward, 
 judge for themselves, instead of blindly sub- 
 mitting to such assumed and defective autho- 
 rity. And let it be hoped, for the sake of 
 common sense, that we shall hear no more of 
 the grand features of the Got/is^ and the un- 
 changeahleiiess of nature. 
 
 If any one, however, should still doubt, 
 let him go over to the country of the Goths, 
 in search of that red-haired nation. Let 
 him begin his search at the nearest Gothic 
 point, at Ostend, for instance, and proceed 
 
120 
 
 straight onwards to Vienna : let him thread 
 the needle through the German states^ the real 
 seats of the ancient rutilous fiery Goths of 
 Cesar and Tacitus ; and of their present un- 
 doubted descendants: let him even penetrate 
 to the very Gothic cradle, to Norway itself, the 
 real Scandinavia; and I am much mistaken if 
 both his time and patience will not be pretty 
 well exhausted, before he is fortunate enough 
 to find them. And this, not because the people 
 have changed, but because their physiognomy 
 has, and what was once the Gothic, as well as 
 Celtic, character, of those countries, no longer 
 remains ; circumstances have obliterated it. 
 
 By the foregoing observations, it will ap- 
 pear, that among the causes of the great variety, 
 which exists in nations of the same climate, with 
 regard to stature and complexion, one of the 
 most prominent, is food: — the well fed being 
 florid and robust, except v.here this is coun- 
 teracted by intemperance and dissipation, &c. : 
 while those, who are deprived of the necessary 
 supply of sustenance, or subsist upon that of 
 an unwholesome quality, are of a sallow com- 
 plexion, and spare habit. In towns, where the 
 extremes of high and poor living are known 
 to exist, there may be seen every variety of 
 
121 
 
 appearance : from the most gross and corpulent 
 to the most emaciated. Whilst^ at the same 
 time^ there may be generally observed a greater 
 shrewdness of look^ and intelligence of eye, than 
 amongst a rustic population, where the mental 
 faculties have not received an equal degree of 
 cultivation. 
 
 Among the peasantry, I have noticed that 
 those of the wine countries are spare, sallow, 
 and ill favoured : which must be attributed to 
 the scantiness of provisions, especially of animal 
 food. The people of rich agricultural districts 
 
 I are robust and ruddy, yet have a clownish and 
 awkward appearance. But those of pastoral 
 countries, where the supply of food is sufficient, 
 are more symmetrically formed, of better car- 
 riage, and more intelligent expression, and in 
 
 I every respect a superior race to the mere tillers 
 of the soil. 
 
 K 
 
122 
 
 CAUSES AFFECTING THE MENTAL 
 CHARACTER. 
 
 Though the physiological character is formed 
 by the accidental causes before enumerated^ 
 yet it would seem that the moral and mental 
 disposition is more independent of them^ or 
 more remotely connected with them : inasmuch 
 as a certain hereditary structure of mind seems 
 to be continued among some nations^ even after 
 the physiognomical character has undergone an 
 alteration. But even this mental stamp is sub- 
 ject to change, equally with the bodily, though 
 from the operation of different causes. To the 
 influence of laws, religion, and early education 
 or Jiahit, may be attributed the most material 
 phenomena of the mind : though it is obvious 
 that climate, food, and atmosphere are also not 
 without their effect. 
 
 It has been often observed that the inhabi- 
 tants of low and flat countries are of a more 
 phlegmatic temperament, than those of moun- 
 tainous regions ; the latter being choleric and 
 irascible. How far this excitability is attribut- 
 able to the difference of atmosphere, I am not 
 
I 
 
 123 
 
 competent to determine : but I would remark, 
 that tliose, who have attended to their feelings, 
 when ascending mountains, have always acknow- 
 ledged that they have experienced in elevated 
 situations a buoyancy of spirits, and an alert- 
 ness of mind, far exceeding that, which they 
 usually possessed in the plains. From which it 
 seems evident that the state of the atmosphere 
 has a perceptible influence upon the com- 
 plexion of the mind, and when this influence is 
 continued for a succession of generations, it 
 may tend to fix a corresponding temperament, 
 as the character of the people — though doubt- 
 less this is liable to be counteracted by other 
 causes. And in a more refined and artificial 
 state of society, these effects are greatly modi- 
 fied, and perhaps may be totally obstructed. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 C. VVhittingham, Chiswick. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page 18, line 17, for below read above. 
 Page 18, line 21, for And read Were. 
 
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