་ 56 REVIEW-Logan's Scottish Gael. Third Part, are most conspicuous, an account of Riots at Norwich, during which the Cathedral was consumed, in 1272; some documents relative to the Crusade taken by Edward the First in 1269, and his attempted assassination at Acre; and the Will and Funeneral of Queen Anna of Cleves. We have reserved to be mentioned last, an article of general interest, as Queen Anne Boleyn is one of the cha racters in English history whose sex and misfortunes obtain almost universal sympathy. It is the letter of a Portuguese gentleman who witnessed her execution; and which has remained, unknown to English readers, in the archives of the monastery of Alcobaça, in Portugal, whence it is now extracted through the favour of Lord Viscount Strangford. The very penitent speech of Lord Rochford is given at considerable length; and the last moments of the Queen are then described as follows: "After this, on the next Friday, which was the 19th of the same month, the Queen was beheaded according to the manner and custom of Paris, that is to say, with a sword, which thing had not before been seen in this land of England. And a scaffold, having four or five steps, was then and there set up. And the unhappy Queen, assisted by the Captain of the Tower, came forth, together with the four ladies who accompanied her; and she was wholly habited in a robe of black damask, made in such guise that the cape, which was white, did fall on the outer side thereof. And then she besought the Captain of the Tower that he would in no wise hasten the minute of her death, until she should have spoken that which she had in mind to say; which he consenting to, she said as followeth : "Good friends, I am not come here to excuse or to justify myself, forasmuch as I know full well that aught that I could say in my defence doth not appertain unto you, and that I could draw no hope of life from the same. But I come here only to die, and thus to yield myself humbly to the will of the King my Lord. And if in my life [ did ever offend the King's Grace, surely with my death I do now atone for the same. And I blame not my judges, nor any other mauner of person, nor any thing save the cruel law of the land by which I die. But be this, and be my faults as they may, I beseech you all, good friends, to pray for the life of the King my Sovereign Lord and yours, who is one of the best princes on the face of the earth, and who hath always treated me so well that better could not be : wherefore I submit to death with a good will, humbly asking pardon of all the world." (Jan. "Then, with her own hands, she took her coifs from her head, and delivered them to one of her ladies, and then putting on a little cap of linen to cover her hair withal, she said, Alas, poor head! in a very brief space thou wilt roll in the dust on this scaffold; and as in life thou didst not merit to wear the crown of a queen, so in death thou deservest not a better doom than this. And ye, my damsels, who, whilst I lived ever showed yourselves so diligent in my service, and who are now to be present at my last hour and mortal agony, as in good fortune ye were faithful to me, so even at this my miserable death ye do not forsake me, And as I cannot reward you for your true service to me, I pray you take comfort for my loss; howbeit, forget me not; and be always faithful to the King's Grace, and to her whom with happier fortune ye may have as your Queen and Mistress. And esteem your honour far beyond your life; and in your prayers to the Lord Jesu, forget not to pray for my soul. And being minded to say no more, she knelt down upon both kuees, and one of her ladies covered her eyes with a bandage, and when they withdrew themselves some little space, and knelt down over against the scaffold, bewailing bitterly and shedding many tears. thus, without more to say or do, was her head stricken off; she making no confession of her fault, and only saying, 'O Lord God, have pity on my soul;' and one of her Ladies then took up her head, and the others the body, and covering them with a sheet did put them into a chest which there stood ready, and carried them to the church which is within the Tower, where, they say, she lieth buried with the others. And "The Council then declared that the Queen's daughter was the child of her brother; and that as the child of a private person, the child be forthwith removed from that place; and that the King should again receive that Princess who was the daughter of the former and the true Queen, as his own and real daughter, and as being his successor in the kingdom. And the King did so receive her with the utmost graciousness." The Scottish Gael; or Celtick Manners, as preserved among the Highlanders; being an Historical and Descriptive Account of the Inhabitants, Antiquities, and National Peculiarities of Scotland, more particularly of the Northern or Gaelic Parts of the Country, where the singular habits of the Aboriginal Cells are most tenaciously retained. By James Logan, F.S.A. Edin. 2 vols. 8vo. Plates. IT is observed by Du Cange, that where we cannot explain ancient manners and customs by reference to the Classics, we must ascribe them (at least in Gaul and Britain) to a Celtic 1831.] REVIEW-Logan's Scottish Gaël. origin. That this opinion is correct, it need only to be observed, that where History does not exist, we must judge by remains, which is no more than decision by phenomena in natural philosophy, and by circumstantial instead of positive evidence in jurisprudence. Of all that can be collected in authors concerning the Celts, there is no defect of literary information in the works of Pezron, Pelloutier, &c.; but the misfortune is, that this information is neither complete nor satisfactory, because the existing evidences ascend beyond history. Under such circumstances, the best that can be done is to congregate the evidences of all kinds existent, and to form conclusions from the whole. The danger is mere hypothesis; but no learned man does that, no more than a prudent one draws cheques upon a banker where he has no assets. In all ancient nations, two things are sure to occur, superstition and barbarism. The Celts were composed of nations who were advanced beyond the savage to the pastoral state, but no further. Pezron makes the Celts synonymous with the Titans and Cyclopes of mythology, and the giants of Scripture. Now this we believe to be the fact; for most certain it is that the celebrated structures of Tyrins and Mycena are ascribed by him to Celts, Titans, and Cyclopes, as one and the same race; and there are remains of a temple at Agrigentum, where these giants are personified, as facings of piers. Moreover, it is to be observed that Cyclopes is not derived from xuxλos and w; but from cheklubes, chekelelubes, a name given to them from the Phoenician chek, a bay, and lilybaum. This was a promontory, and the best illustration of their primitive habits is that of Virgil in reference to Polyphemus, and the earliest, as to profane history, that of Homer in the ninth Odyssey. They were pirates and cannibals. When Moses sent out the spies, he found that in Palestine there were giants, children of Anak, who dwelt in tall and fenced cities; and Cluver adds that agriculture was introduced there by the conquering Israelites. That the Canaanites expelled by Joshua, formed the hycsos or shepherd Kings of Egypt, and were (as to a certain portion of Valpy's Fundamental Origin of Greek Words, p. 154, note 8.-Rev. GENT. MAG. January, 1831. 57 them at least) the builders of Tyrins and Mycenæ, is authenticated by history. There is, in short, no reason to think but that the earliest notices of the Celts are to be found in the Pentateuch description of the giants and Canaanites, and Homer's account of the Cyclopes. Hence it ensues, that analogies have been found to stone circles, pillars, &c. in both Moses and Homer, and no where else. If objection be made to this identification of the Celts and Cyclopes, as affirmed by Pezron, we add that Appian makes the Celts to be descendants of Cellus, a son of the Cyclops Polyphemus, which Celtes or Celtus, seconded by his brothers Illetus and Gala, made himself master of all the country known under the name of the Celtic region. Now it is noticeable that this colonization illustrates Herodotus (Euterpe, 33), where he says that the Ister (i. e. Danube) rising in the country of the Celts by the river Pyrene, divides Europe in two parts; but the Celts are beyond the pillars of Hercules (i. e. beyond Gibraltar). From hence, then, we think that they came into Spain, Gaul, and Britain. As to the etymon from Celtes and Celtus, we answer that Asia was named, according to Diodorus, from Asia, daughter of Oceanus, and wife of Japet, Europe from Europa; and that if we ascend from history to mythology, we shall find numerous instances of such derivatives. It is very true that by punning upon a word in different languages, we may give a thousand origins, but it is always our rule to be guided by the authors nearest the times, and by contemporary practices. It is to no purpose allegating, that these were only mythological beings, for that is only true if they are allegorical personifications. With regard to the origin of the Celts, that cannot be true; nor is it true that Polyphemus owed his name to mere mythology; for Homer mentions a valorous Prince of the same appellation. The difference between the manners and custoins of the Celts (indicated by the Gauls, Germans, Spaniards, Britons,) from those of the Roman empire, confirms the statement of Herodotus, that the Danube was the partition line between the Celts or Western Europeans, and, according to Diodorus (see Rennel's Herodotus, i. 55), the Scythians on the east. 58 REVIEW.-Logan's Scottish Gaël. Such are our opinions. We mean not to controvert those of others, but we believe in the statement made, viz. that by the giants of the Septuagint, the Titans and Cyclopes of mythology (i. e. Homer's Cyclopes), and the nations expelled by Joshua, we are to understand the earliest known ancestors of the Celta. We also believe that there was an emigration which caused the occupation of the west of Europe, and might have been headed by a son of that terrific savage Polyphemus, an idea not more monstrous than that the bugbear of children Boh, was derived from a relative of Odin so denominated. Mr. Logan very properly observes (i. 3), that 6 6 "To derive the term Celta from hills,' or woods,' or waters,' or from western or northern position, when the people so designated occupied all parts of an extensive continent, and filled its islands, is manifestly absurd. It has been supposed that the Greeks applied the term to denote the milky whiteness of the skin; but in this point the difference between the two people seems insufficient to give rise to a designation which the Celts retained as their own proper uame." Now we as much believe that there might have been a man named Celtes, as one named Romulus; and we know that it was an ancient custom to name places from persons, and to invest them with a mythological history, like popish saints with a legend. " The word Celts certainly ascends to that period when the " Geographie Mythologique," as it is called by Ravaut de S. Etienne and the French antiquaries, prevailed to such an extent, that in the name of a place we could find the imaginary founder, as in France, Francus son of Antenor; in Thoulouse, Tolus; in Nismes, Nemausus, and so forth. Mythological as this may be, it is the real origin of the most ancient names of places. In Chapter II. Mr. Logan treats of Britain, and the origin of its ancient inhabitants. He will not admit, that the Scilly Islands were the Cassiterides of the ancients. Major Rennel is of opinion, that the term Cassiterides ought to be extended to Cornwall at least; and Herodotus certainly knew the British Islands in part, as being the place from whence the Phenicians, and from them the Greeks, had their tin, without which they could not harden their copper so as to make it answer the purposes of iron, in weapons or in armour. Diodorus Siculus (L. [Jan. v. c. 2) has some curious particulars respecting an island near the British coast, to which carriages laden with tin came at low water, in order to its being embarked on vessels for the Continent (Rennel's Geogr. of Herodotus, i. 4). Dr. Withering, in his Memoirs, mentions discoveries of axes, &c. made in the Cornish mines, which clearly prove that they were worked in the early periods alluded to; and we think that there has been a time when carriages could pass at low water from the main land to St. Michael's Mount. The word "Brettannia," says Mr. Logan (i. 39), is first mentioned by Aristotle; and Borlase asserts, that no British word begins with B as a radical (p. 40). Now, we who have more respect for our old friend Sammes, than our brother antiquaries are willing to allow him, do think that the term was taken from the Phenician BARATANAC or BRATANAC, significant of the tin and lead found in these islands. (See Sammes, p. i.) As to Albion, a preceding Greek appellation, it ascends to the æra of the mentioned; for there was a giant AlMythological Geography" before bion, who was with Hercules when he was beat at the foot of the Alps. Cassiterides, according to Sammes (p. 2), also signified the same, as Bralanack, the Tin Islands. Of the Cells and Cymri, we have spoken in our review of Major Rennel's Geography of Herodotus. Eratosthenes first gave a rude idea of the form of Britain, but was ignorant of the existence of Ireland; and Major Rennel suspects, that it was unknown to the Greeks during the time of their independence. Strabo knew of it, but has greatly erred in the situation of it; and the first writer who approximates to correctness in that particular is Pliny. Rennel, ub. sup. i. 53, 54. Pausanias has(Attic. p. 32, ed. Sylb.) νησον Ὠκεανος έχει των Βρεττανών. But in Arcadic. (273) Вpirтavia. Britannia was not therefore the original word. CHAPTER III. relates to the Aboriginul forests, and mentions some curious discoveries of their remains now submerged under the sea. CHAPTER IV. is devoted to the Population, Person, Dispositions, Military Education, and Institutions, &c. of the Celts. This is a very interesting Chapter. 1831.] REVIEW-Logan's Scottish Gaël. CHAPTER V. Customs in War, and Military Tactics. The word hubbub had the following origin: "It was also usual to convey intelligence, by one or more persons ascending an eminence, and there raising a loud shout, which being heard at a distance by others, was reported to those who were farther distant, and in this manner information was transmitted with surprising expedition. This practice was continued among the Irish and Welch, until late times, and was called the Hubub. In Wales, when any thing hap; pens, a person goes to an eminence and there cries the Houboub. Those who hear it do the same, and the country is speedily in arms.' Bub in Gaelic is a yell." Literal Translation. Offspring of the chiefs Of snorting steeds, high bounding, Ambitious heart without dismay, Chief of the host of severe sharppointed weapons, Cut down to death, So that no white sailed bark Thy forward eye like the flaming bolt; Unwavering be thy heart; As the flame of night be thy sword. Of the hue of blood As a ***** Offspring of the chiefs Of snorting steeds, Cut down the foes to earth. Now he who can suppose that the Clergyman wrote an original Gaelic song, which others knew as well as himself, and that Macpherson knew nothing of it, might be expected to affirm, that a forged bank-note was not imitated from a real one. As to the internal evidence, we have shown in our review of "Africa" an assimilation among the Hebrews to the Biblical songs; and from the original Gaelic here printed, we see that the poetical measure was the Scriptural parallelism. Though the text in Macpherson is printed continuously, yet the breaks appear in the short sentences, as thus: Fingal arose in arms -Thrice he reared his dreadful voice-Cromla answered around,”&c. &c. &c. That Macpherson has paraphrased Ossian, sometimes successfully, sometimes otherwise, is beyond doubt. But we as much believe in the existence of 59 It might have astonished (were there not invidious feelings existent in all ages) any Scotchman, at any time, to hear it affirmed that Macpherson's Ossian was a forgery. To any person acquainted with the Highlands and Caledonian manners, the hypothesis was even silly. In p. 161, we have a copy of a war song, which the Rev. Mr. Gallie, of Kincardine in Ross, communicated to the Highland Society, from memory. book of Fingal, as translated by MacIt is to be found in the 4th pherson, and we shall place the literal translation in contrast with Macpherson's paraphrase. Macpherson's Paraphrase. Strong arm in every perilous toil, Chief of the pointed arms of death- Let no white sail Bound round dark Inistore. Be thine arm like Thunder, Thy heart of solid rock, Whirl round thy sword as a meteor at night. Lift thy shield Like the flame of death! Son of the chiefs, Cut down the foe, destroy. that Bard, as we do in that of Homer. He may not have written all the Gaelic songs, no more than David did all the Psalms; but he was the poet distinguished for excellence, and therefore the presumed or ascribed author. Mr. Logan says, that hills are better divisions than rivers (p. 169). This we do not admit; but we allow the fact, that "To the inhabitants of the valley, all within the visible horizon was a country. The great contention was always for the sky of the hill.' And long as it is since this Celtic division has been politically unknown, the districts inhabited by certain clans are still called their countries."-p. 169. It is well-known, that in our own parochial perambulations, it was recently a custom to flog a boy at each boundary, that he might be sure to remember it; and we believe that it is still usual to seize a spectator, and bump his posteriors against the stone. 60 REVIEW.-Nicolas's State of Historical Literature. [Jan. It appears to have been an old Celtic practice; for we are told, upon the authority of Martin, that in the Isles and other parts of Scotland, "boys, that the boundaries might not be mistaken, were taken to the spot, and received so sound a flogging, that it was by no means likely they should, while they lived, forget the place of execution.”P. 170. (To be continued.) Observations on the State of Historical Literature, and on the Society of Antiquaries, and other Institutions, for its advancement in England; with remarks on Record Of fices, and on the proceedings of the Record Commission. Addressed to the Secretary of State for the Home Department. By Nicholas Harris Nicolas, Esq. Barrister at Law. 8vo, pp. 212. Remarks, addressed to the Right Hon. Visc. Melbourne, Secretary of State for the Home Department, in reply to a Pamphlet addressed to him by Nicholas Harris Nicolas, Esq. and entitled "Observations on the State of Historical Literature," &c. By Francis Palgrave, Esq. of the Inner Temple, Barrister at Law. 8vo, pp. 62. CONFINING ourselves to a temperate review of the works before us, we shall at once commence with Mr. Nicolas's pamphlet, because it relates to fact and circumstance; and then proceed to Mr. Palgrave's answer, because it applies to personalities. The work of Mr. Nicolas is divided into ten Chapters. The two first take for their position the imperfection of the existing Histories of England; and the obligation thence arising to publish all that can be acquired concerning that subject. We by no means deny the truism, that when history and biography, and legal evidence, are involved in doubt, information cannot be too complete; but Sir Robert Walpole said, and said truly, that history (as to critical minuteness) must necessarily be a lie. It is not so as to the palpable broad fact; but it is a thousand to one that it is so in representation of the particulars. If we read an affair of history, we do not know the party necessity, or corrupt motive, which influenced adoption of the measure; and, if it be one of biography, we do not know the private feeling or the friendly interest which occasioned the advancement of the individual. And were it not so, contemporaries and intimates can alone explain the real causes. Representations addressed to the public are made for disguise, and except in glaring cases are unfaithful and insincere. Who could search record or history ad infinitum concerning the last Stafford Duke of Buckingham, Cromwell Earl of Essex, Strafford the prime minister of Charles 1., and others temp. Charles II., and find them otherwise than libelled, because they were marked out for victimation? This, and more may be said, in defence of History as it exists, and as it must from necessity continue-at best imperfect. To aim at perfection, will, however, in most cases lead to improvement. Mr. Nicolas has shown that much light may still be thrown on English History; and of this truth the Excerpta Historica, which we review in another page, is a striking proof. On this point, therefore, but with a less sanguine enthusiasm, we partially concur with Mr. Nicolas. Chapter III. is devoted to the Society of Antiquaries. Mr. Nicolas most certainly considers the duties of the Society to refer exclusively to that amplification of historical and biographical materials, in which he deems (as we presume) the sole merits of Archæologists to consist. To judge from hints, slights, and sneers, he seems to consider such persons as Sir R. C. Hoare, Dr. Meyrick, Messrs. Fosbroke, Higgins, &c. as mere collectors of pins, and their works only as pincushions. But here his taste will be disputed by philosophers. They know that arts and sciences are both enlarged and eternized by archæological records; that retrogression in civil benefits is thus rendered impracticable; and that even the very follies of past ages deserve reminiscence, because they are warnings. We can have no guard against the future but through the past, as no child can have a clear conception of the danger of fire and water, but from the admonition of parents. We could put a question to Mr. Nicolas. If the Society of Antiquaries had limited themselves to his very contracted view of Archæology, what would have become of that tasteful revival of the Gothic,* which so orna It should be remembered that, besides the numerous architectural plates in the Vetusta Monumenta, the Society has issued distinct publications on the Cathedrals of |