Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 11, 1900.djvu/421

 Reviews. 401

The Picts of history most probably represent the aboriginal race ; were almost certainly non-Aryan, and lived in a quasi-matriarchal stage of society which reacted back upon the customs and legends of their Goidelic conquerors. The population of Wales is in the main, as is indeed that of the British Isles generally, and still more that of France, derived from the pre-Celtic stock.

The chronological postulates of this scheme seem to me extremely questionable, especially if an hypothesis, to which (p. 792) the author seems to give a half-hearted assent, be admitted : namely, that the word Pict, representing a Latin shot at the abori- ginal name, was mistakenly connected by the Romans with their own word //(r/z^i' = painted, and was translated back bytheGoidels as Criiithni, by the Brythons as Prydyti ; words derived from cmth and pryd respectively, signifying form or shape. I cannot but feel too, that overmuch is built upon the traces of matri- archalism among the Picts. And admitting, for argument's sake, the validity of all Principal Rhys' inferences, I cannot see that they afford such decisive evidence of the non-Aryan character of the Picts as he claims for them.

An appendix by Professor Morris Jones deals with alleged pre- Aryan influence on the syntax of Celtic speech. If his conclusions are sound, they are important. To a non-philologist like my- self they appear rash and unsound in the last degree. Principal Rhys is one of the few men living who are competent to express an opinion in this matter. I could have wished he had given us an expert lead.

Alfred Nutt.

P.S. — Since writing the above, I have received from Principal Rhys a copy of his Presidential Address to Section H at the Bradford meeting of the British Association. In this he com- mends Professor Jones' researches in warm terms. In other re- spects the Address follows the lines of the book. On re-reading the author's summary of his theory, my admiration of the ingenuity of his hypotheses is increased, as also my doubts of their validity.