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CELTIC PEOPLES, 407 CEMENT. CELTIC PEOPLES. A general designation applii'il til an I'li-ciiilile of ethnic {.'roups (jonsti- tuting the predominant element in central and western Europe before the rise of tlie Konian power and the inltux of the German tribes, and speaking a language known to us as Celtic. See Celtic L.xngvages. By various early vn-iters the users of Celtic dialects or languages were treated as a distinct ethnic stock or race, known as tlie Celts or Kelts : but this view is now generally abandoned. Thus. Keane (1S99) observes that the languages are spoken by peonies of so many types that the word Celt "lias long ceased to have any ethnical significance:" Ripley (1809) says of the term that "a very grave objection to its use pertains:" and DenikeV (1900) declares "there is no 'Celtic' type or race." Tile Celtic-speaking peoples occupied in an- tiquity a very wide territory. Radiating from central Europe, which is their earliest ascertain- able seat, they spread far into the west, the south, and even the southeast. The date of their settlement in Gaul is doubtful, being variously estimated from B.C. 1200 to 700. They invaded Italy in the Fourth Century B.C., and in the Third Century made their way into Greece and as far as Asia ilinor. It is inferred from a statement of Saint Jerome that a Celtic lan- guage continued to be spoken in Galatia imtil the Fourth Century of our era. The height of the power of the Celtic peoples was probably about B.C. 400. Before that time they had begun to fee! the pressure of the Germanic tribes to the north and east of them, and in the cen- turies that followed the Roman Empire succeed- ed in subjugating a large part of the Celtic ter- ritory. In the British Isles they continued for centuries to maintain their independence. Beyond these few general facts, our knowledge of the history of the Celtic-speaking peoples is obscvire, as is indicated by the diverse views con- cerning their relations to other Eurasian groups. Their mythology embraced earth gods and vari- ous sylvan genii, together with sun or fire deities, and was peculiarly rich in elfin demons and tutelaries. which still pervade the lore of peo- ples of Celtic ancestry. There were traces also of zoic tutelaries, or beast gods, though this phase of mythologic development appears to have been practically past liefore the records began ; and. as among other branches of the Aryan stock. tradition ran back into the haze of half-deified culture heroes. The social mechanism was dom- inated by fiducial or ecclesiastical factors, as illustrated by the hierarchic power of the Druids (q.v. ), an order of priests or .shamans who per- formed sylvan rites and practiced magical cere- monies surviving long in the form of ordeal and augury, exorcism and obsession ; and the clan system was so deep-rooted as still to survive with vestiges of maternal organization clearly traceable, not only in the avuncular descent of authority in the Highland clans, but in the witch- craft so vividly depicted by Shakespeare. The germ of literature appeared in the Oghams and Oghamic inscriptions of Ireland — i.e. in semi- arbitrarj" characters incised in stone or wood or used in other ways in simple records of men and events. According to T.ogan (The ficottish Gael, 18.5.5) and others, there was a definite Gaelic alphabet of eighteen letters, each sym- bolizing a tree or shrub, and in still earlier times there was a widespread symbolic system embracing the cross, the fylfot or swastika, the trefoil or trivet, and other figures; while in some degree the symbolism ran into colors and weaves, as illustrated by the Highland tartans. In most of the Celtic groujis the musical and poetic elements essential to literary and dra- matic development were fostered by classes of jiopular entertainers — bards, pi|)ers, minstrels — who chanted tribal traditions or played and sang patriotic airs, and at a later period sang folk- ballads or recited folk-tales, and thus prepared the way for that dramatic and oratorical talent for which the Celtic peoples and their descend- ants are still distinguished. .s summarized by Brinton, "The Irish ])ossessed a sparse litera-' ture. going back to the Eighth Century, and the Welsh to the Twelfth, while the oldest Scotch or Breton songs date at the farthest from the Fourteenth Century" {Races and Peoples, 1S90, page 155) . Brielly. then, the Celtic tongues flourished be- fore the begiiming of written history, and con- tributed in important measure to the character and vigor of the Aryan tongues, as the vernacular of several of the most distinctive and diverse of the vigorous peoples of central and tNestem Eu- rope, up to a time well within the historical period. They give a stamp to earl}' and even mod- ern literature written in the English. Some of them survive as oral rather than literary lan- guages, but all of them are gradually disappear- ing. Of the voluminous literature relating to the Celtic-speaking people.?, the following may be noted as representative and useful: Brinton, Races and Peoples ( Xew York, 1890) : Rhvs and Jones, The Welsh People (London, 1900 1 ": The- baud. The Irish Rnee (Philadelphia, 1873) : Bed- doe, The Races of liritain (Loudon, 1885) : Logan, The flcoftish (lael (London, 1855) ; Prichard, The Eastern Origin of the Celtic Nations, edited by Latham (London, 1857) : Roemer, Origins of the English People (Xew York. 1887) ; Keane, Man, Past and Present (Cambridge, Eng., 1899) ; Rip- ley. Races of Europe (Xew York. 1899) ; Deniker, The Races of Man (London. 1900). CELTIC VERSION. See Bible. CEL'TIS. See H.ckberky. CEMBAL D' AMOUR, siix'biil' d:'moor' ( Fr., claviduird of lnvei. .V musical instrument Ije- longing to the clavichord family, invented by Gottfried Silbermann early in the Eighteenth Century. Its form was that of an English spinet. The strings were twice as long as those of the ordinary clavichord : and when touched, the keys struck the central node of the string, both halves of which vibrated simultaneously, thus producing a double volume of sound. There were two bridges instead of one, as in the clavichord, and two soundboards, of unequal forms and dimen- sions. The cemhal d'amour stands between the clavichord and (lie pianoforte. CEM'BRA NUT. See Pine. CEMENT (OF. cement, ciment, Sp., Portug., It. einirnto, from Lat. cCEinentum, rubble, from cwdere. to cut). .-Vny composition which at one temperature or degree of moisture is plastic and at another temperature and degree of moisture is tenacious, and which, because of these quali-