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OFFICE, 22, TOOK'S COURT, CHANCERY LANE, E.C.

BY JOHN C. FRANCIS.

78

127975

LONDON, SATURDAY, JULY 3, 1886,

CONTENT S.-N° 27.
NOTES:-The Belgae, 1-John Bunyan a Gipsy-Byronic
Literature, 3-'Rule Britannia '-Editions of Vicar of
Wakefield, 4-St. Moritz-Wasted Ingenuity, 5-Revival of
Sedan Chairs-Hair turned White-Trades and Streets, 6.

QUERIES:-Antiquity of a Boat and Road-Extra Verses in
St. Matthew-Brereton-Faber Fortune,' 7-Prayers for
Royal Family-Oliver Moon-Matthew Buckinger-Dedi-
Fry-Wordsworth's Bible-Corinth's Pedagogue-Forbes of
Culloden-Pseudonyms, 8-Egmont-Blade-Auction Mart
-Defender of the Faith-"Deaf as the adder "-Bellman-
O'Keefe-Authors Wanted, 9.

cations-"Standard" Tavern-Revels-Blanketeer-Sir R.

REPLIES:-Britannia, 10— Suzerain — Ham, 11-Parish

Places' I have shown the Celtic character of local names in Galatia, and will only add that there seems to be no reason to question the identification of the Tectosages of Ancyra and the Tectosages of Gaul. Unless, therefore, we reject the evidence of such a skilled philologist as Jerome, we must admit that the Treviri, the leading Belgic tribe, spoke a Celtic speech. Moreover, the very name of these Treviri is from the Cymric trêv, which enters so largely into the local names of Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany.

The Aedui, Mela tells us, were the typical Celtic race of Gaul. Now the Aeduan and Belgic names curiously agree. Divitiacus, the Aeduan, hore the same name as Divitiacus, King of the Suessiones, the Belgic tribe who under him obtained supremacy over a large part of Southern Britain. Venta Belgarum, now Winchester, the chief city of the Belgae of Britain, admittedly derives its name from the Cymric word gwent, a

Registers-Slare, 12-Grace after Meat-Joshua Barnes, 13 -Transmission of Folk-Tales-St. Helen, 14-" Farmer's Creed"-Game of Thirty-Scotch Peers-Rob Roy in Newgate, 15-British Institution-Quotation Wanted-Chapel, Somerset House-" Square meal"-Book-plates-"Tipped the wink"-Stevens-History of Electric Lighting-Birth of King of Spain-Last Earl of Anglesea, 16-Horace SmithFylfot-Russian Field-Marshal-Bradford Family-Southey's Battle of Blenheim - "Montjoye St. Denys" "-Easter Bibliography-'Faithful Register of the late Rebellion' - Veritable - Noble Masters and their Servants-"Old term descriptive of the open downs of Hampshire, Style," 17-Costanus- Shakspeare's Doctor-Latin Line The capital of the Suessiones of Gaul was NovioWanted-Glyn-Children's Crusade, 18-Blue Roses-dunum, a Celtic name meaning the "new fort,"

Authors Wanted, 19.

NOTES ON BOOKS:-Firth's Newcastle's 'Life of Cavendish'
-Lee's 'King Edward the Sixth'-Smith's Ethics of
Aristotle'-Fishwick's Calendar of Lancashire and Che-
shire Depositions'—' Annual Register.'
Notices to Correspondents, &c.

66

Notes.

WHO WERE THE BELGÆ?
(See 7th S. i. 441, 461.)

BROTHER FABIAN'S contention that the Belgae of Gaul and Britain were not Celts, but Dutchmen or Danes, must not be allowed to pass without protest. When Prof. Rhys states that there is not any reason to suppose that the Belgae were Teutonic" (Celtic Britain,' p. 276), he is in accord with all those who are entitled to speak with authority on the matter. It may, therefore, be well to enumerate a few of the arguments by which scholars have been led to this opinionarguments which BROTHER FABIAN will have to meet if his thesis is to be established.

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The first argument is one that by itself was regarded as decisive by so great a scholar as Dr. Guest. From Pomponius Mela we learn, " Celtarum clarissimi sunt Aedui; Belgarum, Treviri." The people about Treves were, therefore, the leading and typical Belgic tribe. Now Jerome, who had resided at Treves and who must often have passed through Galatia, tells us in his celebrated preface to the Epistle to the Galatians, that the people of Treves spoke the same language as the Galatians of Ancyra. We know that the Galatians were the descendants of the Gauls under Brennus, who, after pillaging Rome and Delphi, finally settled in Asia Minor. In 'Words and

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and Noviodunum was also the name of a city of the Aedui, who are undoubtedly Celtic.

From the Bibroci, or "beavers," we obtain the name of Bibracte, the Aeduan capital, which compares with Bibrax, a city of the Remi, a Belgic tribe. The name of Nemetocenna, now Arras, the chief town of the Atrebates, a Belgic people, is derived from nemet, a 66 sacred grove," " and cenn,

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caput." The Atrebates, some of whom passed over into Britain with the Belgic invaders and settled in the upper valley of the Thames, bear a Celtic name, meaning, as Glück has shown, the farmers," the "land-owners," from the Cymric word athref, "mansio, possessio."

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Calleva Atrebatum, now Silchester, the capital of the British Atrebates, is "the town in the wood," the sil of Silchester being probably a remnant of the Latin silva, used to translate the Belgic name. From Cymric sources Zeuss and Glück have successfully explained many other Belgic names. The Suessiones of Gaul and Britain are the "bene locati" or "bene statuti"; and the name of their king, Galba, the great" or the "fat," is found also among the Cisalpine Gauls. The Aduatici are "the bold" or the " courageous." The Remi are "the foremost" or "the leaders." The name of the Caletes is from the Cymric calet, durus, firmus," and it may be noted that if this name had been Teutonic the initial c would have become h, since the Celtic calet corresponds to the German hart.

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Since the Celtic cath, "battle," answers to the German hadu, the same remark applies to the name of Catuvolcus (a prince of the Belgic Eburones), which signifies "alacer ad pugnandum." In like manner the Celtic Caturix answers to the German Hadurich, while the two elements of the

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Belgic name Catuyolcus appear in two Celtic tribenames, the Caturiges, or battle kings," and the Volcæ. The name of Ambiorix, another prince of the Eburones, means rex opulentus," and the first part of this word appears also in the name of the Ambiani, a Belgic tribe who have left a memorial of themselves in the name of Amiens. The Belgic Mediolanum may be compared with the Mediolanum (Milan) of the Cisalpine Gauls; and the Belgic tribe-name Eburones with the admittedly Celtic names Eburovices, Eburodunum, Eburomagus, and Eburobriga. The name of the Belgic Lugdunum (Leyden) is identical with that of the Celtic Lugdunum (Lyons), while the Belgic tribe of the Morini are the "maritimi," the name being derived from the same Celtic word mor, "sea," which with the preposition ar, "ad," gives us the name of the Celtic Armorica, "terra ad mare sita."

It would be easy to go through the other Belgic names that have come down to us, and show that, while they can be readily explained from Cymric sources, they are inexplicable if regarded as of Teutonic origin. In the face of all this body of evidence BROTHER FABIAN maintains that the Belgae were Danes or Dutchmen! His sole argument seems to be that Cæsar tells us that the Galli and the Belgae differed in language, institutes, and laws. The same may be said of the Irish and the Welsh, and yet we do not doubt that the Welsh as well as the Irish are Celts. I agree with Prof. Rolliston as to the early date of the Germanization of Eastern Britain, but I look for these early Teutonic settlers on the eastern coasts of our island, and not in the Belgic region between Winchester and Bath.

ISAAC TAYLOR.

IS BROTHER FABIAN justified in assuming that the Belgæ of Cæsar were of German origin? I would respectfully submit that historians are not agreed upon this question. Cæsar, indeed, asserts that they came from the country then inhabited by the Germani, but this does not sufficiently prove that all the tribes comprehended under the general name of the Belge were of Teutonic origin. On the contrary, Cæsar ranks them with the Gauls, and evidently regards them as allied in speech, in manners and customs, to the Gallic race. He implies (B. G.,' i. 1) that there were differences of language, laws, and customs between the three leading nations in Gaul; but if we compare his account with that of Strabo (iv. 176) the differences were not considerable, being chiefly modifications of dialect. It may be admitted that the Menapii, the Treviri, and those specially described as calling themselves "Germans" in Cæsar ('B. G.,' ii. 4) were Teutonic; but I believe that most French and Belgian historians contend that the prevailing element in the

Belgic division of Gaul was Celtic. The term Belge is clearly not the name of a race, but of a warlike confederation of certain tribes in Gaul for mutual resistance to German invasion. Of the tribes forming this Belgic confederation the most prominent were Celtic; they had Gallic manners, habits, and a common religion. They spoke the Gallic language (B. G.,' i. 47). Moreau (‘La France,' p. 156) concludes that these were Celtic tribes who were the last to come across the Rhine, either driven by the Germans or in search of a milder climate and more fertile soil.

There is evidence of a people of German race inhabiting the valley of the Lys, who united with the Menapii and subsequent Saxon invaders to be ancestors of the more modern Flemings, overwhelming by their numbers the Morinian or Celtic element; but it would seem that the Belgians of France proper were chiefly Celtic in origin.

But I freely admit the entire question is diffi cult. The following are the principal writers who have debated the subject with more or less of learning and good temper :-Schayes, 'Les Pays-Bas avant et pendant la Domination des Romains,' 8vo., 1877; Wastelain, 'Description de la Gaule Belgique selon les Trois Ages de l'Histoire,' 8vo., 1788; Thierry, 'Histoire Gauloise,' 12mo., 1858; Moke, 'La Belgique Ancienne,' 8vo., 1855; Vanderkindere, 'Recherches sur l'Ethnologie des Belges,' 8vo., 1872; Roget de Belloguet, Ethnogénie Gauloise,' 8vo., 1872; and Poullet, 'Histoire Politique Interne de la Belgique,' 8vo., 1879.

The conclusion of the last-mentioned writer is :

"Quant à la masse de la population, fixée dans la Belgique à l'époque de la conquête romaine, on débat encore, avec arguments sérieux de part et d'autre, la question de savoir si elle était ou germaine, ou celtique, ou formée d'un mélange de Celtes et de Germains......Si les populations du premier siècle avant notre ère étaient celtiques, en tout ou en partie, elles n'ont guère laissé d'autres traces durables dans l'état social des âges futurs que cersidérable de noms de lieux. Si ces populations étaient taines superstitions populaires et un nombre assez congermaniques, ce n'est cependant pas elles qui ont maintenu dans le pays cet élément germain dont l'influence permanente eut une action si décisive sur le développement des institutions belgiques."-P. 8. The conclusion of Moke ('Belgique Ancienne,' p. 107) is different :

"La Belgique ancienne offrait avant l'arrivée des Romains trois groupes de population différents; des Belges de race gallique, établis à l'ouest de la Meuse et de l'Escaut; des Belges de race germanique qui avaient possession des pays situés à l'est de ces deux fleuves; des Germains pas encore regardés comme Belges et qui occupaient les cantons les plus sauvages et les plus arides.”

I have omitted to indicate another authority, Moreau de Jonnes, 'La France avant ses Premiers Habitants,' 12mo., Paris, 1856.

May I add that the name Belgae is considered by Zeuss ('Gram. Celtica,' p. 140) to be Celtic,

and that its meaning is "warriors"? Another reason for regarding them as a Celtic people is the terminations of their local names. Zeuss considers them Celts, and that, even if they claimed kinship with the Germani, it was from the desire to be separately regarded from the beaten and subdued Gauls. For a like reason Tacitus (Germania,' 28) thinks the Treviri and Nervii called themselves Germani. Rhys (Celtic Britain,' p. 276) asserts that there is "no reason to suppose that the Belgæ were Teutons." After reading Guest ("Origines Celtica') and Beale Poste (Belge of Britain, Journal Archeolog. Assoc., xi. 205) I feel satisfied that the Belge were of the same race as the Galli, but that there were German fugitives amongst them, and that some few of the tribes comprehended within the fifteen or sixteen nations of the Belgic confederation may have been Germanic originally. But in spite of this, before the arrival of Cæsar, the Celtic element preponderated and they had practically become one people, Celtic in sentiment, manners, and speech. J. MASKELL.

WAS JOHN BUNYAN OF GIPSY ORIGIN?

In his own account of himself and his family, John Bunyan speaks of his "father's house being of that rank that is meanest and most despised of all the families in the land." It has always been popularly understood that this admission, coupled with the fact of his employment at first being that of a tinker, pointed to gipsy birth and origin. In another notable passage of his autobiography, "the Bedfordshire tinker" tells us that at one time he wondered" whether his family were of the Israelites," another of "the meanest and most despised" races in England. This was when he was troubled about his soul's salvation, and he thought he could take some comfort if he were one of God's chosen people, though they were now downtrodden and in exile. "At last," he says, "I asked my father of it, who told me, 'No, we were not.'" This answer threw him back on the tinkers, as the mixed gipsy race were usually called.

This led Sir Walter Scott to say that "Bunyan was most probably a gipsy reclaimed "; and led Mr. Offor, a laborious editor of Bunyan's works, to say "His father must have been a gipsy." With still more elaborate statement and cogent argument, Mr. James Simpson, a Scotchman long resident in New York, author of a History of the Gipsies,' affirms that the Bunyan family were gipsies, who, on settling in Bedfordshire, took the name of the family on whose soil they chiefly lived, as had been the common usage since feudal times.

That this humble origin, so far from being a disgrace or discredit to the illustrious John Banyan, gives greater lustre to his genius and worth we have always been accustomed to think.

Yet, in spite of all this, the latest and best biographer of Bunyan, the Rev. John Brown, of Bedford, has the weakness to claim for him a remote connexion with a Norman family that came over with the Conqueror! Mr. Brown collects all the names of Bonyons and Bunians who figure in ancient archives to prove that "the Bunyan family flourished before gipsies were heard of in England." Mr. Simpson shrewdly remarks that we might as well affirm that a Lancashire or Cheshire gipsy, assuming and bearing the name of Stanley, must belong necessarily to the house of the Earls of Derby, because he is the head of the Stanleys.

Mr. Brown's book is so meritorious in the main, that this weak point, of ignoring the disputed question of Bunyan's gipsy origin, is the more to be regretted. Mr. Simpson, in a review of Mr. Brown's book, has noticed the omission; and among other interesting facts as to there being no discredit in gipsy blood, reminds us that Dr. Robert Gordon, formerly minster of the High Church of Edinburgh, a divine and preacher well known and much honoured, was of gipsy origin; and that Mrs. Thomas Carlyle had pride in telling that her grandmother was a Baillie, one of a gipsy tribe who had adopted the name of an ancient Scottish family. This explains her reference to Tennyson as "having something of the gipsy in his appearance, which to me is perfectly charming."

That the popular idea of Bunyan's origin prevailed throughout his own lifetime we know from the famous anecdote about Charles II. and Dr. Owen. The king asked the doctor "how a learned man, such as he was, could sit and hear an illiterate tinker prate." "May it please your Majesty," was Dr. Owen's reply, "could I possess the tinker's ability for preaching, I would gladly relinquish all my learning." I do not affirm the gipsy origin of "the immortal dreamer," but only say that the question has not been settled by showing that there were Bunyans in England ever since the Conquest; nor is it fair to ignore the discussion, in the face of Bunyan's own statements in his autobiography, as has been done not only by Mr. Brown, but also by Mr. Froude in his memoir.

JAMES MACAULay, M.D.

BYRONIC LITERATURE.
(Continued from p. 426.)

Class III.-Poetry relating to Byron.
Five fugitive pieces addressed to Lord Byron at

various intervals. Rev. F. Hodgson. Circa 1810. Cui Bono. From the Rejected Addresses.' Horace and Smith. Circa 1812.

Anti Byron a Satire. Circa 1814.

Julian and Maddalo. Percy B. Shelley. 1818. Childe Harold's Monitor. Rev. F. Hodgson. 1818. Lines written among the Euganean Hills. Percy B. Shelley. 1818.

Adonais. Stanza xxx. Percy B. Shelley. Pisa, 1821. Uriel Poetical Address to Lord Byron. 1822.

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