Page:Horse shoes and horse shoeing.djvu/146

 expressions employed by the Greeks and Romans, were Celtic.

All the Gaulish medals bear the figure of a horse, often accompanied by that of a boar. The sacrifice of a white horse was the greatest oblation that could be offered to the gods of these people; and the many statuettes of horses found in various places would tend to prove that a mysterious importance was attached to this noble creature. The Gauls, as before noticed, buried their chiefs and warriors with their weapons, their dogs, and their warhorses, for on their steeds they were to ride when they entered the abode of everlasting felicity.

The numerous cairns, or Celtic tombs, which abound in Brittany and Franche-Comte, show that this custom widely prevailed. 'The Gauls,' Cæsar writes, 'were so fond of their horses, and valued them so highly, that the German allies could not procure them for their service.'