h flattered the pride, and amused the credulity, of our
rude ancestors, have insensibly vanished in the light of science and
philosophy. The present age is satisfied with the simple and rational
opinion, that the islands of Great Britain and Ireland were gradually
peopled from the adjacent continent of Gaul. From the coast of Kent, to
the extremity of Caithness and Ulster, the memory of a Celtic origin
was distinctly preserved, in the perpetual resemblance of language, of
religion, and of manners; and the peculiar characters of the British
tribes might be naturally ascribed to the influence of accidental and
local circumstances. The Roman Province was reduced to the state of
civilized and peaceful servitude; the rights of savage freedom were
contracted to the narrow limits of Caledonia. The inhabitants of that
northern region were divided, as early as the reign of Constantine,
between the two great tribes of the Scots and of the Picts, who have
since experienced a very different fortune. The power, and almost the
memory, of the Picts have been extinguished by their successful rivals;
and the Scots, after maintaining for ages the dignity of an independent
kingdom, have multiplied, by an equal and voluntary union, the honors of
the English name. The hand of nature had contributed to mark the ancient
distinctions of the Scots and Picts. The former were the men of the
hills, and the latter those of the plain. The eastern coast of Caledonia
may be considered as a level and fertile country, which, even in a rude
state of tillage, was capable of producing a considerable quantity
of corn; and the epithet of cruitnich, or wheat-eaters, expressed the
contempt or envy of the carnivorous highlander. The cultivation of the
earth might introduce a more accurate separation of property, and the
habits of a sedentary life; but the love of arms and rapine was still
the ruling passion of the Picts; and their warriors, who stripped
themselves for a day of battle, were distinguished, in the eyes of the
Romans, by the strange fashion of painting their naked bodies with gaudy
colors and fantastic figures. The western part of Caledonia irregularly
rises into wild and barren hills, which scarcely repay the toil of the
husbandman, and are most profitably used for the pasture of cattle. The
highlanders were condemned to the occupations of shepherds and hunters;
and, as they seldom were fixed to any permanent habitation, they
acquired the expressive