Concise historical proofs respecting the Gael of Alban; or, Highlanders of Scotland, as descended of the Caledonian Picts, with the origin of the Irish Scots ... With explanatory notes, map, illustrations, and descriptions of the Country of the Gael

Front matter

■ Coiutee Historical .proofe RESPECTING THE GAEL OF ALBAN. Ike PASS oi KILL I C HANKIE md lie 1m BENiGLOE'S CONCISE HISTORICAL PROOFS RESPECTING ill §| snel sf klJb an ; OR, HIGHLANDERS OF SCOTLAND, AS DESCENDED OF THE CALEDONIAN PICTS, WITH THE ORIGIN OF THE IRISH SCOTS, OR DALRIADS, IN NORTH BRITAIN AND THEIR SUPPOSED CONQUEST OVER THE CALEDONIAN PICTS, EXAMINED AND REFUTED. ALSO the 3£angtiacje as % iatedonian pets, SHORT NOTICES REGARDING THE HIGHLAND CLANS WITH EXPLANA TOR Y NOTES, MAP, ILL USTRA TIONS, AND DESCRIPTIONS, OF THE COUNTRY OF THE GAEL. BY JAMES A. ROBERTSON, F.S.A, Scot. EDINBURGH: WILLIAM P. NIMMO, ST JAMES'S SQUARE. SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, & CO., LONDON. MDCCCLXV. Crazvford <£? McCabe, Printers, 7 George Street, Edinburgh. ca jirifæa. $£|||)HE Highlanders of Scotland are unques ?3Mt§k tionably a most interesting race of people, the true descendants of the ancient Cale donians; and though their early history has been greatly obscured by some pretended historians, and continues to be so even to this day, where by readers are misled, yet the true narration of ancient facts respecting them, is independent of all the vain prejudice of those who would represent them, and their language, to be merely derived from the insignificant colony of Irish Scots which came into Argyleshire in the sixth century, where still remain their descendants, properly the only Scots in Scotland.

With this in view, the writer submits the present small work, which is not dictated with a desire merely to §wfari[. VI contradict others, but to point out and estab lish the truth, without any intention to depre ciate previous writers. This he has endeavoured to do in a charitable spirit, when obliged to notice manifest errors (and for this the writer has always given the proofs and reasons), or when forced, in maintaining the liberty of opinion, to express decided opposite views to some who have not founded their assertions on proper evidence. The necessary researches on the ancient historical points herein treated of were commenced four years ago, and have been continued ever since, and originally were intended as a continuation of a small work the author wrote on the ancient Earldom of Atholl, which embraces the whole North Highlands of Perthshire.

The investigations have led to the present volume, which has no pretensions to anything but a desire to place the true earlv history of the origin, etc, etc., of his country men, the Highlanders of Scotland, on an un deniable trustworthy foundation, supported by proofs and authorities, and to refute the un founded claims of some grasping Irish writers, as also the false assertions of some Scottish ones. preface. VII Much pains has been taken to make the proofs concise upon the subjects brought for ward, at the same time, to be sufficiently com prehensive. A careful perusal will best enable the reader to judge on this point ; and the ex planatory notes being read along with the text is essential to the full understanding of what is wished to be known. There has been no attempt made otherwise than to convey to the reader as much strictly accurate, historical, and antiquarian information as possible, and there by lead to the true understanding of the early history of the descendants of the noble race of the Caledonian Gael.

Chapter II

Roman Invasion of Caledonia began in a.d. 78 — Campaigns of Agricola tp a.d. 85 — Roman walls built — War carried on by the Romans under the Emperors Commodus and Severus — The Caledonian Gael nobly resist, and Severus retires and builds his Wall — a.d. 296, name of Picts given by Roman writers to the Caledonians — Picts and Caledonians proved to be identical — Events to a.d. 360 dlontents. XII PACE 19 32

Chapter III

a.d. 360, the Scots first named, and appeared in North Britain, proved to be natives of Ireland — Proof that the Scots returned to their own country, Ireland — Roman war continued south of the Forth from a.d. 360 to a.d. 380 — Proofs that the Scots belonged to Ireland alone, and that it was called Scotia from many ancient writers — a.d. 409, Roman Emperor Constantine slain — Departure of the Romans — Arrival of the Saxons .

Chapter IV

True period of the first arrival of the Irish Scots Colony in Argyleshire proved to have been in a.d. 506 — Proofs and Authorities given — Events up to a.d. 560 . ....

Chapter V

The introduction of Christianity into North Britain, and its proper date — The error of a pretended mission of Palladius to Scots in North Britain a.d. 431 pointed out — Unsupported assertions as to the period of Christianity being in present Scotland shown — Arrival of Columba — His mission and success — Martyrdom in Kintyre, thc country of the Irish Scots, of a Christian mission- (Contents. XIII PAGE ary named Constantine, in or about a.d. 590 — Proof thereby of the majority of the inhabitants being heathen, ...... 46

Chapter VI

Situation and extent of country of the various races in North Britain in the seventh century — Events to the end of that century— Early in the eighth century (a.d. 733) the Irish Scots Colony in Argyleshire attacked, defeated, and placed under subjection, by Angus M'Fergus, king of the Pictish Gael — King Angus placed a prince of his own family to rule the Dalriad country a.d. 749 — Death of this great king of the Picts a.d. 701 — Events to a.d. 794 when the Danes first appear — Events from a.d. 802 to 842, 59

Chapter VII

The pretended conquest of the Caledonian Picts (the real ancestors of the Highlanders) in a.d. 843 by the Colony of Irish Scots of Argyleshire — Examined and Refuted by most numerous authorities both modern and ancient — Historical events from that period and other proofs to 1158 given, ....... (Contents. XIV PAGE 118 138

Chapter VIII

The Language of the Picts — Proved to be the same as the present Highlanders of Scotland — Numerous proofs from names of places in the Lothians or south of Scotland, whence the Picts had been wholly dispossessed by a.d. 547 — Yet their language remains in these names they left behind them — Which also correspond with others in the Highlands — And also are identical with the language of the Highlanders of this day,

Chapter IX

The language of the Picts continued — Conclusive proofs against a new language or Gaelic brought in at the time of the fabulous conquest of Kenneth MacAlpin in a.d. 843 — There being British names of places in Scotland, no proof they were given by the Picts — No British or Welsh names north of the Moray Firth or in the Islands of Skye, Lewis, Harris, etc., etc., yet all this territory was originally and for centuries Pictish — Proof also of the Picts' language being the same as the present Highlanders from Ossian's Poems — Numerous proofs of names of places given prior to Christianity — All in the Gaelic of the present day, ...... (Contents. XV PAGE 197 353

Chapter X

The Poetry of the Gael of Alban, with examples from Ossian and others — the National Dress of the Highlanders — Proved to be so from the most remote times, as also theh Arms — and by a connected series of proofs brought down to the suppression of the Dress last century — The original Pipe Music of the Highlanders — With proofs, .

Chapter XI

Short notices of the Highland Clans — Old Act of Parliament as to them, explanatory notes thereon — Information of the force and strength of the clans and their chiefs — The badges of the clans — War cries, etc., etc. — The historical origin of the chieftains of each clan, .... 258

Chapter XII

Historical and antiquarian descriptions of the various illustrations given in the Work — Explanatory remarks on the Map, ..... 328 CONCLUSION. Showing the points which have been proved, (Contents. XVI PAGE 357

Appendix

. List of the Sovereigns over the land of Alban from a.d. 554 to the present day — Ancient Gaelic poem composed in 1057, called the Alban Duan — Ancient documents illustrating the population of the Highlands — The power of the chiefs to raise men — A very ancient charter by a Bishop of Dunkeld, ...... ERRATA. Page 89, marginal date, /or '489,' read '849.' ,, 174, for ' Laitlifail,' read ' Liatlifail.' ,, 225, after tlie word ' bird's,' insert 'nest.' ,, 289, for ' Fitheah,' read ' Fitheach.' ,. 290, for ' Creag Allbh,' read ' Creig dubh.' CONCISE HISTORICAL PROOFS RESPECTING THE HIGHLANDERS OF SCOTLAND

Chapter I

subjects to be treated of and proved. ' Caledonia invicta.' IH^T-T has always been held and said by the ! J, Gael of Alban, or Scotch Highlanders, that they are the representatives and descendants of the Caledonians ; that noble race of men, who, with success, defended their country and maintained their freedom against all the attacks made on them by large Roman armie-, under the command of celebrated generals and emperors, and which resulted in the defeat and withdrawing of the invaders. To this claim the Highlanders of Scotland can have no right whatever unless they are the descendants of the Picts, who were "the Cale donians under a new name, equally as at a subsequent period, the Caledonian Picts came to be called Scots. The identity of the Picts and Caledonians will be shown. With regard to the people called ' Scots,' it ought to be remembered that they were the inhabitants of Hibernia, or Ireland — the name first appears towards the end of the fourth century, at and after which period, some strag ling bands of Irish Scots, came over and fought along with the Caledonian Picts against the Romans, yet we have as clear evidence that they returned to their own country,1 Ireland, as of their being in Caledonia. 'The first permanent settlement of any Scots in present Scotland, cannot be authenticated till the beginning ofthe sixth century, or nearly if not quite, a hundred years after the Romans had left the country of the Caledonian Picts.

The Highlanders of present Scotland have ever called their native land Alban, and them selves the Gael Albanach, and do so to this hour ; a concise historical narrative will be given of their ancestors the Caledonians and 1 Ample proof will be given tbat Ireland was the country if the Scots — and also called ' Scotia.' A.D. 506. Picts, from the first century — as mentioned in the pages of Tacitus' Life of Agricola, and sub sequent Roman writers ; to the beginning of the fifth century — to these follow Gildas1 the most ancient British writer, — Adomnan's2 life of Columba, Bede's3 history, and Nennius4 — after this we have those valuable historical authorities 'The Irish Annals' for the succeeding events — as without these annalists, we should know nothing whatever of our early history. The object, therefore, of this small work is by a short but comprehensive, historical sketch. to show that the Gael of Alban, — or High landers of present Scotland, are descended from the Picts, who were identical with the Cale donians — and the only exception to this is, those who derive from the Irish Scots, or Dalriads, who. as already mentioned, first settled in Argyle shire in the sixth century — but even among this branch of the Highland clans, th? original native Caledonian Gael of Argyle, must have somewhat mingled with them, from the very small numbers5 ofthe first settlers from Ireland. 1 Written in about a.d. 550. 2 Written in about a.d. 695. '■'■ Written in about a.d. 73 1. 4 Written in about a.d. 858. 5 Only fifty men to each of the three leadens who came from Ireland, as will be shown hereafter. ■i Subjcrte to be treated of and proved. and who themselves, it is possible, were also at some very remote period, descended of the same ancestors as the valiant Caledonians.

A most undue antiquity has long been attempted to be given to the settlement of the Scots in present Scotland — it is only to some writers of Irish history, and a few Scotchmen, that we owe the removal of the fables pro pounded by Fordun, Boece, and Buchanan, who appropriated to Scotland what belonged only to Ireland — for, as waconcisely and well stated bv the learned Pinkerton,1 there is no authority for the name of present Scotland till the eleventh century. To those three Scotch authors above men tioned, the obscurity of our national history is due — the first named (Fordun) had finished his Chronicle by the year 1400. and Buchanan his History by 1582 — through them the sup posed conquest of the Gael of Alban by the insignificant colony of Irish Scots in Argyleshire, has been related and believed ; an examination of it will be submitted, as likewise a full and satisfactory refutation, drawn from authentic proofs, and fair deductions therefrom.

In support of the view here expressed of those fabulous writers, the following is from 1 Pinkerton's Enquiry, Preface. Vol i., page L (50); and Vol. ii., page 158. one of our best modern historical Scotch authors1 : — ' The true history of the last half of the eighth, and first half of the ninth century, has disappeared from our annals. Upon this basis the fabulous historians reared the superstructure of their historv, and through one channel or another it can be traced to St Andrews. Its germs are found in the end of the thirteenth and beginning of the fourteenth centuries. It received its first artistic development from John of Fordun, and the crowning capital was placed upon it bv Hector Boece.' The important event of the introduction of Christianity among the Caledonian Gael, and the true period to be assigned to it, will be plainly stated.

With regard to the point who were the first natives of present Scotland, the opinions of two of our historical writers (Innes2 and Pinkerton) appear correct — namely, that the Cimbri, or Britons. were earliest — though of course very weak in numbers, and scattered along the coasts ; whereby they became easily driven out, or absorbed, on the arrival of the far more 1 See the Proceedings, Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, Vol. iv., Part l.page 321, written by W.F. Skene, Esq ,in 1863 2 See T. Innes's Critical Essay, Vol. i., pages 29 and 41, where he says — ' The first place in order of time is due to the Batons;' and also of the Caledonian Picts, tbat they were ' tlie second inhabitants of North Britain in order of time ' numerous Alban Gael — and they (the Britons) disappear altogether from every section of present Scotland, at and after the Roman period, except the south-western parts.

Pinkerton,1 speaking of them, says that they ' held Scotland till the Pihs came and expelled them.' It is also, in a similar way, spoken of by an old Scotch writer, called John Mair or Major, who wrote a history of both the English and Scotch people in the year 1512. He rejected some of the fables of Fordun, and in his work (De gestibus Scotorum, lib. ii. cap. 2) says, that ' The Picts frequently pos sessed Lothian, and those parts beyond the Scottish Sea (that is the Firth of Forth), and the better and more fertile portion of what was north of it ; both because they occupied the island before the Scots, and because, by their number and strength, they were superior to the Scots, which is shown by this, that they (the Picts) occupied territory obtained from the Britons.' With regard to the period at which the Caledonian Picts first entered present Scotland, and then spread over the whole country, and lastly the islands, the opinion of Pinkerton may be justly considered as by no means too re- 1 Pir.kerton's Enquiry Book 1, page 10. mote, if indeed it is sufficiently so.

He says, from the direct authority of Nennius — 'The settlement of the Piks in the Hebud Isles' (that is, the Western Islands of Scotland) ' may bo dated, with as great certainty as any event in the earliest Greek or Roman history, at •300 years before Christ.'1 Therefore, when it is considered that, in the year a.d. 78, the whole of Caledonia was found fullv peopled, and their armies number ing many thousands of men, the inference seems clear, that the earliest settlers of the Alban Gael must have arrived in the country at least. 500 years before the Christian era. The language of the Caledonian Picts is a highly interesting point. Proofs, and reasons respecting it, will be fully adduced and sub mitted, showing, that as there was no conquest of the Picts by the Irish Scots, the former people remained, and of course their language with them ; and that it must have been the same as that of the present Highlanders, or Gael of Alban, who are the descendants of the Caledonian Picts.

A short notice of the subjection of the Irish Scots, or Dalriads, by Angus M'Fergus, the King of the Picts, will be given. Also a short 1 Piukt rton's Enquiry. Vol. i , page 207. sketch of the early origin of the Clans ; to those desirous of fuller detail, it will be found in Skene's Highlanders, and Gregory's Western Islands. There will also be given very ancient proofs that everything accounted as national and peculiar to the Gael, or Highlanders of Scot land, was in no way whatever derived by them from the Irish Scots ; but that their national dress, language, poetry, arms, and pipe music, etc. etc., were received from their ancestors, the Caledonian Gael. Some illustrations and descriptions of their country will be given, which, with a fair con sideration of the whole now submitted, it is hoped may interest some. DUNKE1.D A.D. 78-80. A.D. 80.

Chapter II

if rom thc lloman Invasion in %.§. 78 to i.f. 360. ' Tbe waies through which my weary steps I guide, lu this researche of old antiquitie Are so exceeding riche, and long, and wyde And sprinkled with such sweet varietie Of all that pleasant is, to eare and eye, That 1, nigh ravisht with rare thoughts delight, My tedious travel quite forgot thereby And when I 'gin to feel decay of might It strength to me supplies and cheers my dulled spright.' Spenser. t|iVJS already mentioned, the earliest authentic y$% information regarding present Scotland is given us by Tacitus, who recorded the cam paigns of his father-in-law, Agricola; these began in the year a.d. 78 in the South of Scotland, and he took two campaigns to sub due what lies south of the Firths of Forth and Clvde. We are next told by Tacitus (chapter jjfrom the iloman Invasion 10 that Agricola, in the third vear of his cam- O ti paigns, went farther north into the Caledonian territory, and laid waste the whole country to the river Tav.

He erected also no less than three large camps, all in Perthshire (and for which see the Map), namelv, one at Ardoch, called Lindum by the Romans ; one also at Strageth, which they called Ierna, being on the river Earn ; and another at Dalginross, near to Comrie, which they named Victoria.1 These three spacious camps were all situated within the vallev called Strathearn, in Perth shire. The fourth summer was employed by Agricola in settling those parts he had overrun. A.D. 81. Was the fifth year, and the Roman Gene ral appears to have been in Galloway and Ayrshire, as Tacitus says it was that part of Britain which looked on Hibernia, that is, Ireland. A.D. 82. The sixth year, he again went north of the Forth, and began to move his army from his three stationary camps already named, where by they were in three columns or divisions ; and whicii movement, when the Caledonians discovered it, they by night attacked the ninth A.D. 83 1 Tacitus.

Chapters 22 to 25. in 3.1X 78 to 2.8. 360. 11 A.D. 84 legion, which was at Victoria, that is Dalgin ross,1 and severely assaulted them ; and after that fight we hear no more of the exploits of the ninth legion. The natives of Caledonia, we are told, then sent their wives and children into safe places, and armed every one thev could, in defence of their liberty and country ; and at this period Tacitus states, in his 27th chapter, that the people sanctioned their engagements with sa crifices. This year the Roman fleet was sent north to plunder the country, and the army also pro ceeded there. The whole Caledonian forces then united under their king, called Galdi or Galgacus. Their arms2 are described by Tacitus as huge swords and short targets. There were auxiliary Britons with Agricola's army at this time, and they amounted to no 1 Almost directly opposite to where this attack took place. there is at the head of Glenturret, in Strathearn, the hill called in Euglish Benahony, but properly iu Gaelic ' Beinn-na.

Coineadh' — ' the mountain of weeping.' The Caledouian Gael likely had retired there after the battle, and the remembrance of those whom they had lost caused the name. Tlie English pronunciation is very near the Gaelic, though the spelling looks so different; iu English it is sometimes written Beu honzie — the Gaelic is Beinn'acoincadh. 2 The very same continued to be the arms of their descendants, the Highlanders of Scotland, up to tbe middle ofthe last century. Jfrom the Ionian Invasion 12 less than 8000 men. The army of both sides, being assembled1 opposite each other, prepared for the fight. A very eloquent speech is given by Tacitus, as that of Galcacus to the Cale donians ; and if it is only the spirit of what he said, that people were well worthy of obtaining the liberty and independence of their country, for which they were fighting.

This battle, called that of 'Mons Grampius,' is with good reason considered to have taken place near Stonehaven (see the Map) : but with palpable exaggeration, Tacitus makes the loss of the Caledonians (or Britons as he calls them) to have been 10,000, and of the Romans only 340 men. This victory, however, gave no fruits to Rome, as Agricola, we are told, retired ' by a slow march ' into winter quarters, no doubt to his permanent camps in Strathearn, Perthshire. This year the Emperor Domitian recalled Agricola. His successor was Trebellius, under whom the Romans lost all they had acquired in Caledonia. A.D, 85 The Emperor Hadrian next came into Britain ; but instead of being able to regain the former Roman territory within Caledonia, he built an extensive turf wall, from the Solway A.D. 120. 1 Tacitus.

Chapter 28. in &.i. 78 to %.§. 360. 13 Firth to the river Tvne, eighty miles in length, and which then became the Caledonian boundary, and known as Hadrian's Wall; and it is marked in the Map. Lollius Urbicus was the General of a succeeding- Roman Emperor named Antonine, who, having gained some advantages about this time, built a wall1 where Agricola had previously placed some forts. This wall was called the Wall of Antonine ; it extended from the Firth of Forth to the Clyde, and it is shown on the Map. A. D. 140 From another writer2 we are told, that of all the wars carried on at this period by the Emperor Commodus, the war in Britain (that is, with the Caledonians) was the greatest; and that, therefore, he sent his general, Ulpius Marcellus, against them, who inflicted heavy losses on them.

A.D. 182. The same author (Dio) says,3 that the Caledonians at this time did not keep their promises, but prepared to defend their fellow countrymen near the north and south of the Forth, called by the Roman writers the A.D. 197. 1 This wall must undoubtedly have gone through the country of the southern Caledonian Gael, after this known as Meatæ, and who partly lay in the Lothians, etc. etc. 2 Dio. Book 72, chapter 8. 3 Book 73, chapter 5. jfrom the loman Invasion 14 Meatæ1; and the Roman General had to ob tain peace by a large sum of money. The Emperor Severus entered Caledonia this year, says Dio, to reduce and conquer it ; but had much more to do than he expected — from the forests, marshes, and rivers — the native Caledonians also continually harassing the Roman soldiers, who fell into ambushes and snares, and thev also suffered from the 7 A want of water.

The losses of the Romans are put down by this writer at 50,000 : and after having reached no further than the Moray Firth, the Emperor retired, having previously entered into a treaty with the Caledonians, by which they agreed to yield a part of their country — probably what lay south of the Forth — and this likely was done to get rid of the Romans. A.D. 207. A.D, 208, This year the Emperor Severus seems to have retired altogether from the hopeless effort to conquer the Caledonians, as he now built his immense wall, close to Hadrian's, going from 1 This word is considered to be similar to tbe May in Invermay and Innermeath, Perthshire, and Meath in Ireland, being only tbe Latinised form of it. There is also the Gaelic word 'maith' tor 'good,' which might have been applied to tlie Lothians, a part of the country of tbis portion of tlie Caledonian people.

Innes calls the Meatæ, Britons ; but this they could not be, as the Caledonians were ever their enemies. in gtj. 7S to &J. 36°- 15 A.D, 296-309, the Solway to the Tyne. This was the greatest of all the walls of the Romans, and became known as the Wall of Severus ; and again it formed the Caledonian southern boundary, and will be found laid down in the Map. It is most highly honourable to the Caledonian Gael the noble resistance they made to retain the liberty of their country; and the building of these walls was the greatest proof the Romans could give, that to conquer Caledonia was a hopeless task. The next thing to be recorded, is the first intimation we have of the name of the 'Picti' or 'Picts' — -this is by the orator Eumenius in the year a.d. 296 ; wdiich was the date of his first oration, and delivered in the presence of the 'Roman Emperor Constantius, and he therein speaks of 'the Picts' and Irish as the only enemies the Britons had known prior to the Romans.

It is very material to be understood, that the Picts were identical, and in every way the same people as the Caledonians, only under a new name ; precisely as, before said, at a still later period they came to be called Scots ; — and this fact is proved by the same author (Eumenius) when he delivered a second oration — in 309 — before the Emperor Constantine, son ofthe above Constantius, wherein he speaks /rom the lloman Jnvasion i of ' Caledonii et alii Picti,' that is, ' the Cale donians and other Picts.' Thus the same author who first speaks of them proves their identity. The name undoubtedly came from the practice of self-painting — and which, Cæsar1 says, was universal with the Britons — the writer Herodian also states2 that in the time of the Emperor Servius, when he made his invasion to the north in a.d. 207, the Caledonians were all painted ; also the Roman poet Claudian says, as if to justify the new name ' 1-Jec salso nomine Pictos' ' Not wrongly named Picts (or painted).' This same author is quoted by Robertson in his work on the early kings of Scotland3 (vol. ii.. page 225, in a note), and also by Hitson in his Annals of Caledonians, vol. i., pages 18, 19, showing the manner in which it was done, namely punctured or traced with iron, probablv needles : ' ferroque notatas Perlegit exangues Picto moriente figuras.' 4 1 Cæsar, lib. 5, cap. 14. 2 Herodian, lib. 3. 3 This book is the most authentic and valuable history ever written on ancient Scotland. 4 Claudian de Bel.

Get. 416. in gus. 78 to %.§. 360. 17 ' He discovers bloodless figures with iron marked Upon the dying Pict.' l The earliest Scotch writer on the identity of the Picts, and Caledonians, is T. Innes, — he most clearly proves the impossibility of the Picts being a new people who had come into the Caledonian territory in the third century — (see his work, vol. 1., page 451). He is commonly called father Innes, from being a Roman Catholic Priest. His work is in two volumes, and called a ' Critical Kssay,' etc. — many of the foregoing authorities have been derived from it — in his second volume some valuable documents were given for the first time to the public — the date of his work is 1729. In the end of last century (1790) the learned antiquarian writer, Pinkerton, also de clares that the Caledonians and Picts were un questionably the same people, he says, ' it is unnecessary to dwell longer on a subject so universally known and allowed, as the identity of the Caledonians and Piks, and which, indeed, no one can deny, who does not prefer his own dreams to ancient authorities of the best note.'2 1 The writer of the book called ' the Scottish Nation,' in defiance of authorities says, ' the word Pict does not mean painted;' this conjecture, he appears to have adopted from tbe one made by Chalmers without authority. — See Scot.

Nation. p. 208, word ' Fife.' 2 Pinkerton's Enquiry Book, i., page 120. Jlhc iloman Invasion. 18 a.d. Skene says, 'We may, therefore, hold it established as an incontrovertible fact, that the Picts and Caledonians were the same people, appearing at different times under different appellations.' J Chalmers, the historian, also testifies to the Picts and Caledonians being the same, he says,2 ' the Picts were the old Cale donians under a new name.' Up to this period we have never heard of the people called the Scots. The Caledonian Picts alone are mentioned in history, the manner in which this new people from Ireland first appear in .North Britain, and afterwards came to form a settlement in Argyleshire, will be fully treated of in the next chapter. 360. 1 See Skene's Highlanders, vol. i., page 14. Edition 1H37 2 Chalmers Caledonia, vol. i., page 225.