CHAPTER I.
The First Inhabitants of Britain—The several Nations and Tribes who settled there—Variety of States—The Druids: their System—Social and Moral Condition of the Britons.
Separated from the continent of Europe by the sea, Britain seems to have been but imperfectly known to the historians of antiquity. Herodotus, who wrote 450 years before Christ, is supposed to have included it among the Cassiterides, a group of islands lying off the coast of Cornwall, better known as the Scilly Isles. Aristotle, a century later, speaks of Albion and Ierne. Strabo, the contemporary of Cæsar, informs us that the Phœnicians carried on a considerable commerce with the Cassitĕrides, where they obtained lead, tin, and skins; and that, so jealous were they lest any other nation should participate in the advantages of the trade, the captain of one of their ships, finding himself pursued by several Roman galleys sent to discover the island, purposely led them on a shoal of rocks, rather than betray the route, and suffered shipwreck with them. His countrymen compensated him for his loss.
Pliny has recorded the name of the navigator who first brought lead from the Cassiterides:—
"Plumbum ex Cassiteride insulâ primus apportavit Midacritus."
Hist. Nat.
Most writers have agreed that Britain was first peopled by the Gauls, or, more properly speaking, the Celtæ, who came over from the neighbouring continent; and adduce the identity of language, government, and religion of the two nations in support of their opinion. As population increased, the inhabitants of the island gradually became divided into a variety of tribes or states, each having a separate chief, who was far, however, from exercising a despotic power, unless in time of war; in peace, the supreme authority, as is frequently found among barbarian nations, was vested in their Druids or priests, who combined with the sacerdotal office those of legislator and judge.
The historians of antiquity commonly give the name of Celts to the greater part of the inhabitants of Central and Western Europe. Two distinct peoples have been confounded under it, both in Gaul and Britain—the race of Gael, and that of the Cimbri.
The irruption of the Scythians, which occurred seven centuries before the Christian era, dispersed the Cimbri. Vast hordes of the latter nation settled in the countries between the Lower Danube and the mouth of the Elbe, and, in course of time, invaded a great part of Gaul. According to tradition, the first of the race who settled in Britain was named Hu the Cadarn, or Hugh the Powerful. Another chief, named Prydain, son of Aed the Great, came over at a later period, and being a great legislator, as well as a warrior, gave his name to the entire island, since corrupted into Britain.
Whitaker, in his "History of Manchester," contends that the island derives its name from the Celtic root, Brit, which signifies broken or separated, in allusion to the large number of islands composing the group to which the name was originally applied. Many fierce contests, doubtless, ensued before the Cimbri succeeded in establishing their authority; but that they did succeed in doing so, there can be no reasonable doubt. The Gaels gradually submitted to their yoke, although they still continued to form the most important part of the population.
Many other bands of emigrants succeeded: amongst others, the Belgæ (a people of Gaul, but of German origin), who landed on the southern coast, and gradually extended themselves over the country comprised between the Thames, the Severn, and the sea.
Thus we see that the inhabitants of the island were composed of different tribes and nations. The most ancient at the time of Cæsar's expedition were—
The Silures, established on the borders of the Severn. They had extended their authority over the Ordovices and Dimetæ. The country inhabited by these three races comprises the Principality of Wales.
The western part of the island, as far south as the Bristol Channel, was inhabited by the Damnonii, a colony of whom afterwards settled in Gaul, and gave the name of the country they quitted to La Basse Bretagne. The western coast was occupied by the Belgæ.
On the left bank of the Thames were the Trinobantes, a comparatively weak race, but celebrated for having laid the foundation of London; which was so insignificant a place in the time of Cæsar, that he does not condescend to mention it in his "Commentaries."
Between the Trinobantes and the Silures were the Atrĕbātes, originally from Artois; the Dobuni; and the Catti, whose renowned chief, Cassibelan, was the leader of the confederated tribes and nations against Cæsar and his legions.
From the country of the Trinobantes to the Wash, the eastern coast was occupied by the Iceni; the Coritavi were settled between the Wash and the Humber.
The Cornavii inhabited the west; and from the Humber to the Tyne existed the Brigantes, the most powerful of the nations which inhabited Britain; they were divided into several confederate states, and renowned for their fierceness in war.
Between the Coritavi and the Brigantes were the Parīsii.
From the north of the Tyne to the plains which form the Lowlands of Scotland, were five nations known as the Maætæ. The fierce and savage tribes, inhabitants of the highlands, were comprised under the general name of Caledonians.
Such were the various people and tribes designated in the time of Cæsar as Britons; a motley population, preying on each other, savage as the wilds in which they dwelt; depending for existence on their flocks and herds, or the spoils of war and the chase. The country was little better than a wilderness, having neither roads nor canals, and so thickly covered with wood that but little space was left for cultivation.
The form of government in the island was as divided as the races which inhabited it. In the south the monarchical form generally prevailed; whilst the patriarchal system pre-dominated in the north amongst the Gaels, where the chief of each tribe, and the heads of families on their own domains, exercised sovereign authority, always subjected, however, to the influence of the Druids, who were regarded with the most profound veneration by all classes of the people.
The religion of the Druids was dark and mysterious as the gloomy forests in which it first drew birth, and in whose deepest recesses they celebrated their cruel rites. From time immemorial it had existed amongst the Gaels, who introduced it into Britain when they first settled in the island. Its ministers built no covered temples, deeming it an insult
