The Celtic tribes in ancient Wales

Thus we can look, at the beginning of the Common Era, at a society long-established in the land, with ancient traditions and a strong conservative strain. Apart from Pictland, it was in essentials the same throughout the island, from western Wales up into the southern uplands of Scotland, across to the Wash and down to Cornwall. Their world for long had been a settled one, with no one to molest them but one another. At this time, however, there were signs of change. In the south-eastern part of south Britain, for a hundred years or more, large numbers of new arrivals had been coming in from northern Europe, settling, and disputing land and borders with the old-established tribes. These were Belgic tribesfolk, speakers of a Gaulish language quite similar to Brittonic.

 

1. 10. Women

 

Women had few rights but enjoyed a certain degree of security. If a woman were to marry, the husband would match her dowry with property of an equal value. If one of the partners were to die, the survivor would inherit this property and any profits earned. Funerals were considered a great event, the dead were cremated on a funeral pyre together with their favourite objects and at some time in the past, slaves and retainers had been burnt with their masters. 

 

1.11 Druids 

 
Another area where oral traditions were important was in the training of Druids. There has been a lot of nonsense written about Druids, but they were a curious lot; a sort of super-class of priests, political advisors, teachers, healers, and arbitrators. They had their own universities, where traditional knowledge was passed on by rote. They had the right to speak ahead of the king in council, and may have held more authority than the king.  The Druids officiated at religious ceremonies and were consulted on all aspects of the worship of the gods. They normally elected a chief Druid but sometimes rival factions fought for their preferred candidate. They met every year to decide legal disputes and were held in high regard. Caesar reported that Druidism had its roots in Britain and that students would travel there for instruction. He heard that their religion forbade them from writing about it and that it was transmitted in verse. There were so many verses that Druids might have to spend twenty years learning them. They acted as ambassadors in time of war, they composed verse and upheld the law. They were a sort of glue holding together Celtic culture. The Isle of Anglesey seems to have been held in special esteem by the Celtic-Welsh druids. 

 

1.12 The Celts at War

 
The Celts loved war. If one wasn't happening they'd be sure to start one. They were scrappers from the word go. They arrayed themselves as fiercely as possible, sometimes charging into battle fully naked, dyed blue from head to toe, and screaming like banshees to terrify their enemies.  
They took tremendous pride in their appearance in battle, if we can judge by the elaborately embellished weapons and paraphernalia they used. In war, the Celts used the sword and the spear. They carried an oval shield and their armies often made use of light chariots. From this chariot, drawn by two horses, they would throw spears at an enemy before dismounting to have a go with heavy slashing swords.  They are known to have used a particular style of war trumpet, an instrument which curved upward from the mouthpiece and terminated several feet above the user's head. The harsh sounds issued from the mouth of a grotesque animal head design fixed at the top. .  
They also had a habit of dragging families and baggage along to their battles, forming a great milling mass of encumbrances, which sometimes cost them a victory, as Queen Boudicca would later discover to her dismay. As mentioned, they beheaded their opponents in battle and it was considered a sign of prowess and social standing to have a goodly number of heads to display.  
The main problem with the Celts was that they couldn't stop fighting among themselves long enough to put up a unified front. Each tribe was out for itself, and in the long run this cost them control of Britain. 

 

1.13 Celtic appearance and art

 

We know from ancient writers and the evidence of portraits like the one above that the Celts wore their hair long and that men grew beards and moustaches.   
Roman stone reliefs show Celts  wearing  tunics or tabard style garments made of animal skins. Farmers are depicted wearing a knee length hooded cloak. The statue below is that of a Celtic warrior clad in a tunic of animal skins. Little is known about the clothing of Celtic women since they do not appear in Roman carving which typically features Celtic prisoners taken in battle.  

Celtic art reflects the way Iron Age people interpreted the world around them. The designs they used help us understand how they viewed themselves, their environment and their gods.

The Celtic art found in Wales is part of a much wider tradition in Britain and Europe, often called La Tène art, which developed during the Iron Age from about 500BC.

The earliest example from Wales is the Cerrig-y-Drudion bowl which was found in 1924 in a stone-lined grave in the county of Conwy. It is one of the few decorated artefacts from Britain to date to the 4th century BC and was probably made by British craftsmen influenced by Continental traditions.

Many more decorated objects are known from about 200BC by which time Britain had developed its own distinctive style. British craftsmen continued to produce swords, daggers, spears, brooches and horse equipment, but also other objects such as tankards, mirrors and spoons.

Particular motifs and designs are introduced and often repeated, reinforcing their meaning. Archaeologists interpret these as symbolic and powerful with religious connotations. For example the three-fold character of the triskele (a three-legged design radiating from a centre) may represent the relationships between the living, the dead and the gods or the ongoing cycle of birth, life and death.

The crescentic plaque from Llyn Cerrig Bach (pictured) is decorated with an elaborate triskele, each limb ending with a trumpet and raised circle that suggests a stylised bird head. [8]

Stylised representations of people and animals become more common after 100BC with faces often hidden within complex patterns. Human heads surrounded by a flowing plant-like design can be seen on plaques from the Tal-y-Llyn hoard while a variety of cows, horses, boars and birds adorn a wide range of other artefacts. Ox head escutcheons (bucket-fittings) have been found in Wales (pictured - the Little Orme (Conwy) hoard also contained two Roman trumpet brooches, indicating that this Celtic style continued in use after the Roman conquest), showing the stylised characteristics and flowing lines of native British artistic styles. Mythical beasts are also hinted at, for example in the imaginatively constructed horse-cow heads that ornament the Capel Garmon firedog.

Celtic designs did not disappear with the Roman conquest, but continued to influence art. A bronze trulleus (saucepan) from Coygan Camp in Carmarthenshire was repaired with a sheet of metal sometime in the 3rd century AD. It was not decorated with a typical Roman design, but with a triskele motif, showing a continuing appreciation of Celtic art. [8]

SUMMARY

500 -100 BC was the time that the Celtic languages arrived in Britain, probably introduced by small groups of migrants who became culturally dominant in their new homelands, and whose culture formed part of a great unified Celtic "empire" encompassing many different peoples all over Northern Europe. The Greeks called these people, with their organized culture and developed social structure Keltoi, the Romans called them Celtai.

In spite of the fact that they were perhaps the most powerful people in much of Europe in 300 BC, with lands stretching from Anatolia in the East to Ireland in the West, the Celts were unable to prevent intertribal warfare. Their total lack of political unity, despite their fierceness in battle, ultimately led to their defeat and subjugation by the much better disciplined armies of Rome. Even the Celtic languages on Continental Europe eventually gave way to those stemming from Latin. But in Britain, at least for a few hundred years after the Roman victories on mainland Europe, the Celts held on to much of their customs and especially to their distinctive language which has survived today as Welsh.

The language of most of Britain was derived from a branch of Celtic known as Brythonic: it later gave rise to Welsh, Cornish and Breton (these differ from the Celtic languages derived from Goidelic, namely Irish, Scots Gaelic and Manx). Along with the new languages, new religions entered Britain, particularly that of the Druids, the guardians of traditions and learning. The Druids glorified the pursuits of war, feasting and horsemanship. They controlled the calendar and the planting of crops, and they presided over the religious festivals and rituals that honored local deities. Thus they constituted the first target for the invading Roman legions. But in Britain, at least for a few hundred years after the Roman victories on mainland Europe, the Celts held on to much of their customs and especially to their distinctive language which has survived today as Welsh.

The language of most of Britain was derived from a branch of Celtic known as Brythonic: it later gave rise to Welsh, Cornish and Breton (these differ from the Celtic languages derived from Goidelic, namely Irish, Scots Gaelic and Manx). Along with the new languages, new religions entered Britain, particularly that of the Druids, the guardians of traditions and learning. The Druids glorified the pursuits of war, feasting and horsemanship. They controlled the calendar and the planting of crops, and they presided over the religious festivals and rituals that honored local deities. Thus they constituted the first target for the invading Roman legions.

From Roman literature and archaeological evidence we know that the Celts were a warlike people, lovers of personal finery and ostentatious display. This is reflected in finds of elaborate jewellery, weapons and the remains of chariots. Iron Age warriors were equipped with a large shield, a spear or a sword. The shield was made of wood which was strengthened with a metal rim, a longitudinal rib and casing for the wooden boss which protected the hand grip. They fought on foot or from their chariots which were lightly made of wood and wicker and pulled by a strong, small horse or pony. The chariots were driven by a charioteer. The warrior fought either standing in the chariot or was driven into the battle where he jumped to the ground and fought his enemy in single combat. The chariot remained nearby so he could leap onto it and escape if he was hard pressed. Fighting rarely involved large numbers of men but was probably more often small skirmishes between tribes which sometimes involved stealing your neighbours cattle. Cattle were an important symbol of wealth in the Iron Age when there was very little money in coins and people had few possessions compared to today.

Archaeological investigation of settlements shows that many people in the Iron Age lived in hilltop enclosures or hillforts defended by one or more banks and ditches. The inner bank would have been topped by a wooden palisade or occasionally a stone wall.

 

 

 

Part II. Welsh mythology.

 

Many of the Welsh myths and legends refer to the the fairies or little people or in Welsh Ellyllon (the plural of ellyll).The Ellyllon are the Welsh faeries who haunt the groves and valleys, and correspond pretty closely with the English elves. Ellyllon have three passions: Toadstool mushrooms, silk, and human children. They are said to live on tiny islands and in the hilly parts of Wales, and are cattle-herders. But yes, they are tiny like one would think a faerie would be; they also have tiny cows! Unlike a lot of faeries that are said to steal children, ellyllon simply find them fascinating, and though they may steal children just because they like them so much, they don't do it to be mean or to steal their souls. Others believe that they are the souls of the ancient Druids, which, being too good for hell, and not good enough for heaven, are permitted to wander upon earth till the judgment day, when they will be admitted to a higher state of being.....Coming very soon is our directory of Welsh fairy tales...

Some of Celtic myths have been Christianized, especially those recorded in Wales. However, a particular feature of Celtic myths may have prevented this from happening more often: namely, the way in which deities have been euhemerized (given human form), so that, unlike the Greek myths, they are not obviously of a religious nature. We can see this ‘euhemerization’ clearly in the case of the god Lugh, who gives his name to the Irish summer festival of Lughnasadh. In the earliest Irish myths he is clearly a deity. As such, he offers himself as the saviour of the Tuatha dé Danann, the predecessors of the Milesians or Gaels. Seeking entry at the palace of King Nuada of the Silver Hand, at Tara, he announces each of his skills in turn – ‘Blacksmith, warrior, musician, poet, scholar …’. Each time he is refused entry, until he points out that no one else combines all these skills in one person, as he does.

In the Mabinogion, the main source of British myths, Lugh has become the much more human Lleu Llaw Gyfes, nephew (and possibly son) of the magician Gwydion. He is skilled, and protected by charms, but he is not obviously a god: in fact at one point he appears to be mortal.

Powerful though the gods were, the Celtic goddesses were perhaps even more so. They were closely associated with the land, and in this identification they sometimes seem to be aspects of a single all-embracing Goddess. Their link to the seasonal cycles, to fertility and death, may partly account for the fact that a single goddess often takes three forms, or aspects – usually maiden, mother and crone.

Celtic goddesses could be life-giving and sustaining, but were also, in their dark aspect, associated with sex and death, which in Celtic terms are part of the round of life. The most powerful Irish example is the red-haired shape-shifting Morrigan, said to have coupled with the Dagda.

Important reflexes of British mythology appear in the Four Branches of The Mabinogi, especially in the names of several characters, such as Rhiannon (‘the Divine Queen’), Teyrnon (‘the Divine King’), andBendigeidfran (‘Bran [Crow] the Blessed’). Other characters, in all likelihood, derive from mythological sources, and various episodes, such as the appearance of Arawn, a king of the Otherworld seeking the aid of a mortal in his own feuds, and the tale of the hero who cannot be killed except under seemingly contradictory circumstances, can be traced throughout Indo-European myth and legend. The children of Llŷr (‘Sea’ = Irish Lir) in the Second and Third Branches, and the children of Dôn (Danu in Irish and earlier Indo-European tradition) in the Fourth Branch are major figures, but the tales themselves are not primary mythology.

 
While further mythological names and references appear elsewhere in Welsh narrative and tradition, especially in the tale of Culhwch and Olwen, where we find, for example, Mabon ap Modron (‘the Divine Son of the Divine Mother’), and in the collected Triads of the Island of Britain, not enough is known of the British mythological background to reconstruct either a narrative of creation or a coherent pantheon of British deities. Indeed, though there is much in common with Irish myth, there may have been no unified British mythological tradition per se. Whatever its ultimate origins, the surviving material has been put to good use in the service of literary masterpieces that address the cultural concerns of Wales in the early and later Middle Ages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part III. Modern Celts

Modern Celts are those peoples who are speakers of Celtic languages, or who consider themselves, or have been considered by others, to participate in a Celtic culture deriving from communities that have formerly been Celtic-speaking.

The term is generally used for a number of peoples in Western Europe sharing various cultural traits, including those speaking languages with a common Insular Celtic origin, ultimately descending from the Celts of antiquity.

Since the Enlightenment, the term "Celtic" has been applied to a wide variety of peoples and cultural traits present and past. Today, Celtic is often used in order to describe the people, and their respective cultures and languages:i.e. the Bretons, the Cornish, the Irish(especially the Gaeltacht), the Manx people, the Scots (Gàidhealtachd) and the Welsh (Cymry), i.e. the members of the modern "Celtic nations". Except for the Bretons, all groups mentioned have been subject to strong Anglicization since the Early Modern period, and are hence are also described as participating in an Anglo-Celtic macro-culture. By the same token, the Bretons have been subject to strong Frenchification since the Early Modern period, and can similarly be described as participating in an Franco-Celtic macro-culture.

Less common is the assumption of "Celticity" for European cultures deriving from Continental Celtic roots (Gauls and Celtiberians), since these have been either Romanized or Germanized much earlier, before the Early Middle Ages. Nevertheless, "Celtic" origins are sometimes implied for continental groups such as the Asturians, Galicians, French, Swiss or Austrians. The names of Belgium and theAquitaine hark back to "Gallia Belgica" and "Gallia Aquitania", respectively, in turn named for the Belgae and the Aquitani. The Latin name of the Swiss Confederacy, "Confoederatio Helvetica", harks back to the Helvetii. The name of Galicia to the Gallaeci. The name "Britain"itself derives from that of the Priteni.

History of 'Celticity'

'Celt' has been adopted as a label of self-identification by a variety of peoples at different times. 'Celticity' can refer to the inferred links between them.

During the 19th century, French nationalists gave a privileged significance to their descent from the Gauls. The struggles of Vercingetorixwere portrayed as a forerunner of the 19th-century struggles in defence of French nationalism, including the wars of both Napoleons (Napoleon I of France and Napoleon III of France). Basic French history textbooks could begin with the famous words "Nos ancêtres les Gaulois..." ("Our ancestors the Gauls..."). A similar use of "celticity" for 19th century nationalism was made in Switzerland, when the Swiss were seen to originate in the Celtic tribe of the Helvetii, a link still found in the official Latin name of Switzerland, "Confœderatio Helvetica", the source of the nation code CH.

Before the advance of Indo-European studies, philologists established that there was a relationship between the Goidelic and Brythoniclanguages, as well as a relationship between these languages and the extinct Celtic languages such as Gaulish, spoken in classical times. The term "Celtic" therefore came to be widely applied in the 18th century (for the first time) to the Goidelic and Brythoniclanguages, and by extension to the peoples that spoke them.

At the same time, there was also a tendency to play up alternative heritages in the British Isles at certain times. For example, in the Isle of Man, in the Victorian era, the "Viking" heritage was emphasised, and in Scotland, both Norse and Anglo-Saxon heritage was played up.

A romantic image of the Celt as noble savage was cultivated by the early William Butler Yeats, Lady Gregory, Lady Charlotte Guest, Lady Llanover, James Macpherson, Chateaubriand, Théodore Hersart de la Villemarqué and the many others influenced by them. This image coloured not only the English perception of their neighbours on the so-called "Celtic fringe" (compare the stage Irishman), but also Irish nationalism and its analogues in the other Celtic-speaking countries. Among the enduring products of this resurgence of interest in a romantic, pre-industrial, brooding, mystical Celticity are Gorseddau, the revival of the Cornish language, and the revival of the Gaelic games.

3.1. Modern 'Celticity'

 

After World War II, "race" went out of fashion and "culture" took its place. Many of the same stereotypes and caricatures of Celticity once attributed to the Celtic or Alpine race, were thus recycled under the label of culture. But since the 1960s, Celticity has been put to a somewhat different use. The peoples of the "Celtic fringe" found in Celticity an explanation for their peripheral "otherness", as well as a source of pride which could galvanize them into demands for development and regeneration. Nationalists in Northern Ireland sought an end to endemic discrimination with the Civil Rights Movement. Breton regionalists participated in the May 1968 revolt under Breton flags and with the slogan "Bretagne=Colonie".

The "modern Celtic" groups' distinctiveness as "national", as opposed to regional, minorities has been periodically recognised by major British papers. For example, a "Guardian" editorial in 1990 pointed to these differences, and said that they should be constitutionally recognised::"Smaller minorities also have equally proud visions of themselves as irreducibly Welsh, Irish, Manx or Cornish. These identities are "distinctly national" in ways which "proud people from Yorkshire", much less proud people from Berkshire will never know. Any new constitutional settlement "which ignores these factors" will be built on uneven ground." ["The Guardian", editorial, 8 May 1990]

The Republic of Ireland, on surpassing Britain's GDP per capita in the 1990s for the first time in centuries, was given the moniker "Celtic tiger". Thanks in part to agitation on the part of Cornish regionalists, Cornwall was able to obtain Objective One funding from the European Union. Scotland and Wales obtained agencies like the Welsh Development Agency, and Scottish and Welsh Nationalists have recently supported the institution of the Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales. More broadly, a distinct identity in opposition to that of the metropolitan capitals has been forged and taken strong root.

These latter evolutions have proceeded hand in hand with the growth of a pan-Celtic or inter-Celtic dimension, seen in many organizations and festivals operating across various Celtic countries. Celtic studies departments at many universities in Europe and beyond, have studied the various ancient and modern Celtic languages and associated history and folklore under one roof.

The Celtic link is also claimed to come mainly from: 
* language 
* music 
* art 
* sport

The roots revival, applied to Celtic music, has brought much inter-Celtic cross-fertilization, as, for instance, Welsh musicians have revived the use of the mediaeval Welsh bagpipe under the influence of the Breton "binioù", Irish "uillean" pipes and famous Scottish pipes, or the Scots have revived the "bodhran" from Irish influence. Sports such as Hurling and Shinty are seen as being 'Celtic', whilst the Scottishmod and Irish fleadh are seen as an equivalent to the Breton fest noz.

The USA has also taken part in discussions of modern Celticity. For example, recently elected Virginia Senator James H. Webb, in his 2004 book "Born Fighting – How the Scots-Irish Shaped America", controversially asserts that the early "pioneering" immigrants toNorth America were of Scots-Irish origins. He goes on to argue that their distinct "Celtic traits" (loyalty to kin, mistrust of governmental authority, and military readiness), in contrast to the "Anglo-Saxon" settlers, helped construct the modern "American identity". Irish Americans also played an important role in the shaping of 19th-century Irish republicanism through the Fenian movement, the development of a discourse of the Great Hunger as a British atrocity, and so on.

The 'Six Nations' (Brittany, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall, The Isle of Man) that (alone) are considered Celtic by the Celtic League and the Celtic Congress amongst others. These organizations ascribe to a definition of Celticity based mainly upon language. In the aforementioned six regions, Celtic languages have survived and continue to be used to varying degrees in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Brittany. [12]

A number of activists on behalf of other regions/nations have also sought recognition as modern Celts, reflecting the wide diffusion of ancient Celts across Europe. Of these, the following regions are prominent.

In neither Galicia nor Asturias has a Celtic language survived, and as such both fall outside of the litmus test used by the Celtic League, and the Celtic Congress. Nevertheless, many organizations organized around Celticity consider that both Galicia and Asturias "can claim a Celtic cultural or historic heritage". [13]