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HELLO TO ALL FELLOW CLANN GHRIOGAIR MEMBERS.....'S RIOGHAL MO DHREAM

I'll be sharing bits of Celtic folklore, customes, literature, and history I've come across in my heritage quest.

FEATURES

Who Were The Celts...parts 1 & 2

A Note On Languages

Take a stroll through history...in a book!

Superstitions

Bards

Ancient Scottish Kings

Poem 'To Scotland'

Our Goals

Superstitions

The Celtic people have recorded many instances of "second sight", or premonitions of future events. In my family certain omens are still discussed and noted. For example: A bird flying into a window is believed to be a portent of a death in the family. Other signs of impending ill will include:

• headless white dog (or other animal)
• small female figure dressed in white (sometimes called a banshee)
• the sound of shuffling feet
• distant voice calling ones name
• seeing a dark rider on a winged horse

Bards

Ancient Scottish Kings

Poem

by Regina Lynn Marsh, 1997

Our Goals

WHO WERE THE CELTS? (part one)

The earliest origins of the Celtic culture began in the prehistoric past of the Bronze and Iron Ages. It is generally believed that the Celts evolved from peoples living in Europe during those times. Since no written records of the Celts exist from the Bronze Age one must rely on archaeological findings for clues. These clues are evidence of the material aspects of their lives. At times some of these artifacts allow certain guesses to be made concerning religious beliefs or social aspects of prehisoric life. These remain, however, simply guesses.

In 1824 the existence of an Iron Age burial site was discovered at Hallstatt, a village in central Austria. Then in 1857 another site was found at LaTene, an area at the east of the Lake of Neuchatel in western Switzerland. The names Hallstatt and LaTene have since been used to indicate the Early and Late Iron Ages. The Early Iron Age (Hallstatt) from 800-500 BC and the Late Iron Age (LaTene) from 500 BC-AD 200. During the past century excavations of Celtic burial sites in Germany, France and England have yielded a variety of items from weaponry to drinking vessels.

It was not until the 5th and 6th century BC that the Celts are mentioned by classical writers. First we have Hecateus of Miletus, a geographer and writer, who identifies the Celts as those occupying the land of, or being neighbors to, the Ligurians. The Ligurians were in the area of what is now southeast France and northwest Italy. Then in the following century we have Herodotus, a Greek historian, who states the Celts cover an area from the River Danube and beyond the Pillars of Hercules at the east end of the Strait of Gibralter. This area encompasses southern Germany, France and Spain.

As stated previously the Celtic tribes of the Hallstatt phase are found mostly in Germany and Bohemia. The Celts later expanded to spread over much of Central Europe. Around 600 BC they are found in Gaul (modern day France and Switzerland). By 450 BC they reached Spain, probably by way of Gaul. Around 400 BC groups of Celts travelled over the Alps into Italy. Celtic warriors plundered Rome and Sicily. They raided Illyria, Pannonia and the Carpathians. In 279 BC they attacked Macedonia. Celtic tribes banded together to plunder the temple of Delphi. At the invitation of the King of Bythinia some 20,000 Celts settled in Asia Monor. By 270 BC those Celts were established in the area known as Galatia.

The move into southern territories by the Celts may have been due to pressures from the North by the Cimbri and Teutones. The Cimbri are first mentioned in writing around 113 BC. Greek and Roman historians recorded the Cimbri were forced from their homeland on the Jutland peninsula, what is now Denmark, by a tidal wave. They were joined by a people known as Teutones or Germans. Some evidence suggests that the Cimbri and Teutones were branches of Celtic peoples. This is based, in part, on the similarities of their languages and certain customes. However, there are also those who suggest the Cimbri were neither Teutonic nor Celtic. Instead they are grouped as a non Indo-European megalthic people who were trying to regain territories lost to the Celtic invaders.

last updated July 5, 1999.....haste ye back!

A Note On Languages

The Celtic languages belong to the Indo-European family of languages. This includes Teutonic, Balto-Slavic, Greek and Latin. The main Celtic dialects can be further divided into Gaulish, Goidelic (Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx) and Brythonic (Welsh, Breton and Cornish) The Pictish language may have been a form of Gaulish or Welsh but of an earlier form that is not recognizable as such today.

Take a stroll through history...in a book!

1066 THE YEAR OF CONQUEST by David Howarth 1977 ISBN:0880290145

THE FLOWERING OF IRELAND: SAINTS,SCHOLARS,AND KINGS by Katherine Scherman, 1981 ISBN:0760701261

THE HISTORY OF SCOTLAND by Peter and Fiona Somerset Fry 1982 ISBN:1566196655

THE STORY OF THE IRISH RACE by Seumas MacManus 1990 ISBN:0517064081

THE FORGOTTEN MONARCHY OF SCOTLAND by HRH Prince Michael of Albany 1998 ISBN:1862042349

FREEDOM'S SWORD:SCOTLAND'S WARS OF INDEPENDENCE by Peter Traquair 1998 ISBN:1570982473

Some graphics provided by Annika Buenz Gallery

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