CELTIC HISTORY
The name 'Celt' has been messed about with over the years to the point that the true meaning has all but disappeared.
In the first instance the Greeks and the Romans knew of a tribe called Keltoi. From that point, all the people that looked or behaved the same were called 'Keltoi', regardless of the true name of the individual tribal group.
Over the centuries the name changed with the languages until it was shortened to Kelt ( with a hard 'K'). This name persisted into the 20th century with books in the 1920's-30's calling the people Kelts and the word celt (pronounced selt) being the name for axe-heads of various kinds. With the upsurge in interest of our origins the words merged and now we call the people Celts (pronuonced Kelt).
The true origins of the Celts lie deep in the mists of prehistory. Some Say that The Celtic peoples of Europe are descended from an Indo-European group who spread their culture across central Asia, the whole of Europe, and as far north as Scandinavia. They were a lively extrovert people who loved decoration and bright colours and had been influenced by the Asian cultures of India. By the time they had reached Britain, the Celtic tribes had developed a distinctive style of their own. Others say that They were a loosely-knit group of tribes, with connective elements of a common culture and a common language. Traces of these date back to the final stages of the Hallstatt culture (c. 700-500 BC), The Celts were a group of people who came together around the mid-eight century BC with the discovery and use of iron. Called Keltoi or Celtae by the Greeks and Galli or Galatae by the Romans, they originated in the Central European regions of Bavaria and Bohemia.
Archaeological evidence shows the region of the Upper Danube to have been where the Celtic people originated. They were a farming people of brave nomadic warriors. Population expansion and the need for more farmland encouraged their spread into France, Spain, Ireland, Britain, Italy, Greece and Turkey. The regional name of Cetice survived in southern Spain well into Roman times and is the only known geographic reference to the Celts.
The Celts were at the height of power between 450 BC - 250 BC. In 387 BC they sacked Rome. Around 100 years later they sacked Delphi. As a result of pressures from the Romans and from Germanic tribes, the Celts were driven back from their territory.
By the time of Julius Caesar, the Celtic civilization was already in decline. Eventually they were reduced to the few surviving remnants left in Britain and Ireland.
The ancient Celts once flourished in most of Europe but it is in Ireland that their traditions have been most preserved. The early Irish chronicles conjure up a society dominated by an aristocratic warrior caste in an age before Christianity. The heroes of these epic tales prize nothing higher than fame and courage, as they battle the magical forces pitted against them. Their deeds are as noble and as mysterious as the hill-forts and standing stones that are scattered around the Irish landscape, while their boasts and love of exaggeration can compete with the most extravagant modern-day blarney.
Some say that The Celts were a warlike people, rich in the arts of civilized life, who subdued and dominated. They had a high degree of political unity and a single king. Evidence from 900 BC shows them to have been miners and agriculturists, and blessed with the use of iron instruments. They invaded Italy twice, in 7 BC and 4 BC, and stormed Rome in 300 BC. A great Celtic wave, moved west over the Rhine, and penetrated into England, Scotland, and Ireland. The end of the continental power of the Celts began when the oppressed Germans rose up against them in 3 BC. A fugitive colony of Celts settled in Asia Minor, in a territory they named Galatia (Gaels). In 4 BC, a Roman writer called Ireland, "Insula Sacra", indicating that the early pagans esteemed Ireland as a holy isle. Caesar refered to Ireland as Hibernia. In Caesar's day, the Celts (Gauls) dominated France and used Greek writing in almost all their business.
The head of the tribal unit or clan was picked, usually by the Druid spiritualists, could be a King, Queen, Chieftain, or Chieftainess, and was seen by the group as a representative of the tribal Goddess or God. The right to inherit was both matrilinear and patrilinear, so male or female could inherit through the line.
Women and men were considered completely equal, with that equality, and the right of free will forming the basis of the Keltoi society.
The clan names, Gods and Goddesses, animal and herbal totems were all held in great reverence in society, and were seen as unifying forces. Celtic spirituality included love and reverence for the land, for the changing cycles of the earth, shamanism, and a connection to solar and lunar influences. They were respected and feared as fierce fighters, superbly talented horsemen, exemplary artisans and craftspersons, and were tireless in the pursuit of any activity for the land and peoples of the clans.
The Keltoi were a tall strong race, fair haired, although this doesn't seem to have been a natural fairness, but rather, was bleached with lime, which left the hair to stand often in hard curls.
Wealthy or noble Celtic Chieftains wore long thick mustaches, although some, usually those of lesser means were clean shaven.
They favored brightly colored clothing, and ornate gemstones and torques, a golden collar of sorts that was worn by the Chief or Chieftainess.
The typical Celt appears to have loved to display his or her wealth for the world to see, and those who could afford to, did so, importing for their use, gemstones, wines, silk thread and spices for cookery, as well as gold and silver for use in chalices and utensils. Celtic artists and craftsman produced some of the finest and most intricate jewelery, ornaments, and intricate adornments found in all early civilizations, as well as making supremely functional buckets, cauldrons, chariots and helmets and battlewear.
Clothing was embroidered, highly so, with silk or cotton threads. Trousers or skirts were worn usually with a cloak, that was fastened with ornate brooches or cloak clasps at the shoulder.
The tartan plaids, or designs worn were to designate from which clan or group they belonged, and has endured to this day, with particular clan tartans or colors still used in Ireland and Scotland.
According to legend, the first people to come to Ireland were a tribe from Macedonia led by a chief called Parthalon. After three centuries, the whole nation was wiped out by a plague.
The next inhabitants were from Greece and descended from Nemedius, eleventh in descent from Noah. The quarelsome and disunited Nemedians were reduced to the level of serfs by the piratical Fomorians. The Nemedians returned to Greece, where they were again enslaved and made to carry soil in leather bags to mountain slopes to create farms. They became known as Fir Bholg, men of the "leather bags". After 200 years of Greek slavery, they escaped in the captured ships of their masters, reconquered Ireland and lived there in peace for a generation or two before the Tuatha De Danann arrived and forced the Firbolgs into partial serfdom. When the De Danann first arrived in Ireland (after living for a time in Scandinavia), Lug went to Eochaid, the Firbolg king at Tara, and sought an office. After much negociation, the king made him chief professor of the
arts and sciences. In a famous battle at Southern Moytura (on the Mayo-Galway border), the Tuatha De Danann defeated the Firbolgs. The Firbolg king was killed and the hand of the De Danann king, Nuada, was severed. Nuada's silversmith made him a silver hand (Nuada of the Silver Hand) and a settlement was reached giving Connacht to the Fir Bolg. The settlement didn't last and the Fir Bolg were again defeated and retreated to the western mountains and the isles of Aran.
Unlike the uncultured Firbolgs, the Tuatha De Danann were highly civilized and skilled in the crafts. They brought with them to Ireland a heavy block of stone that had been the coronation seat of the kings of Scythia, the country of their origin. The Liath Fail (Stone of Destiny) served in Ireland for many centuries as the coronation seat. Then it was carried to Scotland, where at Scone it continued as the coronation seat of Scottish kings. In 1269 the stone was captured by the English and taken to London. It exists today in Westminster Abbey, set in the coronation chair on which the kings and queens of England have ever since been crowned.
The Firbolg and the Tuatha De Danann, who occupied the land before the Milesians invaded, were not exterminated, but dominated by the less numerous but more powerful Milesian aristocracy and soldiers with superior weapons of iron. The Milesians brought the Gaelic language. All three of these races were different tribes of the great Celtic family, who long ago had separated and over the centuries blended again into one tribe of Gaels.
Subsequently, the Gaedhal (Gaels) came from Scythia (vast undefined area of Southwest Europe and parts of Asia) to Ireland through Egypt, Crete, and Spain. They were called Gaedhal because their ancestor was Gaodhal Glas; the child that Moses cured of a serpent bite and promised that no serpent would infest the happy western island that his descendants would one day inhabit. Niul, a grandson of Gaodhal, was invited to Egypt as an instructor by one of the Pharaohs. He married Pharaoh's daughter, Scota. Niul and his people grew rich and powerful. They resented the injustice of a later Pharaoh, and were driven from the land. They travelled to Spain where they heard of Ireland, perhaps from Phoenician traders. They believed it was the Isle of Destiny fortold by Moses. Their leader was Mile, whose wife also was a Pharaoh's daughter named Scota. The Irish race is popularly known as the Milesian race, descended from Mile of Spain. Kings of Ireland in 1000 BC were descended from King Mile who turned his attention to Ireland to fulfill an ancient Druidic prophecy.
Mile's uncle, Ith, was sent to Ireland to investigate. The Tuatha De Danann, suspecting the purpose of his mission, killed Ith. Mile gathered another army to take revenge, but he died in Spain. His eight sons and wife, Scota, set out on a voyage to the Isle of Destiny with family and followers. When they attempted to land in Ireland, five of the sons and many followers were lost in a great storm, raised up against them by the wizard De Danann. Eventually they landed. The three grandsons of Lug were reigning when the Milesians came (The De Danann hero, Lug, was the son of Manannan mac Lir, the sea-god and fabled king of the Isle of Man). Three De Danaan queens: Banbha, Folda and Erie ruled in rotation. Erie was on the throne when the Milesians arrived. Heber (and his followers) landed at Inver Sceni (in Bantry Bay) and defeated a De Danann army under Queen Erie, but lost his mother (Queen Scota) in the battle. Heremon (and his followers) landed at Inver Culpa (mouth of the Boyne). Heber and Heremon joined forces in Meath and went against the De Danann in general battle at Taillte. The three kings & queens of the De Danann were slain (Eothor & Banbha, Teathoir & Folda, Cathoir & Erie). The De Danann survivors fled to caves in the remote hills. Glimpses of these fugitive hill-dwellers by descendants of Mile, coupled with the magical skill of the De Danann, gave foundation for future stories of enchanted folk, fairies, living under the Irish hills.
Heremon (Mile's eldest son) reigned for 14 years along with his brothers: Heber, and Ir. Heremon got the Northern half of the isle, Heber got the southern half and Ir got the northeastern corner. They named the land Scota after their mother. Scota was one of the earliest names of Ireland and the people were commonly called Scotti or Scots. It was taken by the Irish King Colla in 357 AD, when he was exiled to the Scottish western isles, leaving Ir-land (land of Ir) to the youngest son of Mile.
The Milesians divided Ireland into 5 provinces and set a subject king over each province. A Connacht prince called Tuathal founded the supremacy of Connacht among the provinces of Ireland. From him, Conn Cead Cathach (Conn of the Hundred Battles) whose name is perpetuated in the name Connacht. Conn made himself High King of Ireland and extended his personal kingdom of Connacht until it reached from the western sea to the eastern. Among his descendants were Finn Mac Coul and Neill of the Nine Hostages. Neill was progenitor of a long line of Connacht kings who were also High Kings of Ireland, a line known as the Ui Neill or O'Neills.
Among Conn's descendants were:
Fionn Mac Cumail (Finn Mac Cool) son of Cumal and leader of the Fian (Fenians) Legends of Finn More Finn Legends
Neill of the Nine Hostages Connacht kings (High Kings of Ireland) descended from Ui Neill (O'Neill).
Columcille (St. Columba, O'Neill descendant) left Ireland for Scotland and founded Iona abbey.
Their influence is evident even today in many of our traditions. Some examples of traditions that still remain are:
Christmas: It was customary for the boys of the village, the Gillean Nollaig, Christmas lads, to perform the ceremonies attendant on the chants. On Christmas Eve, chanting the old songs, these boys would go from house to house and from village to village, dressed in long, white shirts and wearing tall white hats. They would enter a house and lift up any child found there. If no child was present, an imitation child, Cristean, the little Christ took its place. The child was placed on specially consecrated male lambskin and then carried round the fire in the "sunwise" direction, the boys keeping up their rhythmic chant. Afterwards, offerings were made to the baby and the lads were given food and drink prior to the start of a feast in which all participated.
Hogmanay, New Year's Eve; Houses decorated with a profusion of holly, Much of the goings-on involve fires and light; processions include a Fire procession, a torch light parade and a Fire Festival. Many of the ceremonies involve hints of the old pre-Christian rituals and sacrifices, often hard to spot amidst all the ceremony and gaiety, but present nonetheless.
Easter Sunday: Easter Sunday, was a very special day, for this day all the food so carefully saved for so long, the eggs, milk, meal or flour was made into pancakes a food that could be totally consumed without waste. Eggs were also dyed and rolled before being eaten.
Samhain, The Feast of all Hallows eve: It was originally a pastoral festival observed mainly to assist the powers of growth and fertility, but also to placate the dead, to protect against the forces of evil, and to please the gods by various kinds of sacrifice. Samhain was the end of summer; the herds were brought back from their highland pastures. It also clearly marked the time of the year when the division was most clearly marked between the celebration of the harvest and the dreaded coming of winter.
This was also the time of the year in which the souls of the dead came to revisit their former homes. Thus, it was the day to placate the supernatural powers that controlled the forces of nature. In the Highlands, bonfires were built on the many Bronze Age tumuli known as "Mounds of the Dead" in which local tradition has buried victims of a terrible plague, taken there in a cart pulled by a white horse led by an old hag.
Apple bobbing or to practice the rites of divination from the reading of tea leaves or the finding of unburnt stones in the dead fires. This was also the time to look for omens concerning marriage, luck, health or death. It was also the one day in the year when the help of the Devil could be invoked for such purposes.
All-Hallow's Evening is certainly one of the most eagerly awaited, and dreaded festivals of the year -- and that is just as it should be, for the ancient Celtic celebration of Samhain mixed both joyful excitement and fearful dread. the most pagan and colorful of the year's festivals with its eerie Jack o Lanterns (carved from turnips in Scotland, pumpkins in North America). Long celebrated on the night of 1 November and on the following day, Samhain was the time that the gods and spirits of the Celtic Underworld made their presence known to mortals with whom they could mix freely for this short time only.
So much has been lost of Samhain in the mindless pursuits of today's alienated youth, with their insatiable thirst for free goodies, and their equally disorganized parents, ever anxious to vicariously share childhood thrills with their obnoxious offspring, that it is difficult to separate the ancient, meaningful rituals with what goes on today in a wild orgy of Hallmark-inspired ritual and damaging pranks. Yet even today, in the midst of our huge modern cities, and in suburbs in the shadow of our massive shopping malls, rituals are carried out which are the direct descendants of one of the most ancient and revered Celtic festivals.
Clothing of the Celts.
The first cloth that was produced in pre-history was made of vegetable fibres. The earliest 'cloth' was woven grass or bark strips. This was followed by linen, which is the fibre from the stalk of flax. The earliest linen found, so far, is dated to 5,000 BC. Nettles also produce a fibre very similar to linen. Once animals were domesticated, the hair and wool became accessible and the prime fibre became sheep's wool. The early sheep were coloured brown and grey, but as the sheep were bred and tamed, white wool was produced in large quantity. Most of the Celtic clothing was made of wool, and it was such good quality that it was exported to the Roman empire long before the Romans arrived in Britain! The only other material that was added to the list was the occasional imported piece of silk. The Romans comment on Celtic clothing was that it was bright and garish, with coloured checks and stripes, and after the pale colours in the heat of the Mediterranean, the sight of the Celts must have come as a bit of a shock!
Patterns
By late Iron Age most clothing was made of wool. The cloth was woven using looms, and was decorated by weaving checks and stripes into the material. The checks were bold but not constructed like a modern 'tartan'. There were also various ways of weaving other than the standard 'tabby' (over-under-over-under). Some of the looms were advanced enough to produce dogs-tooth check, and herring-bone weave.
Construction
Most clothing was sewn together using a needle, and wool or linen thread. Needles were made of bone, bronze, and iron. The seam, on all pieces found so far, is on the inside. The only exception is in the use of leather or skins, where the seam is on the outside, to maintain water-proofing. The only items which were not sewn were summer cloaks (just a piece of cloth draped on), and the peplum, which was woven as a tube. The Evidence for underwear is non existent at the present time - but that does not mean it was not worn! Loin cloths are permissible (in use by the Romans). Socks had not been invented, Shoes were lined with grass, using dry grass.
Celtic Man. 
Celtic Woman.
Celtic Dress Drawing
Caledonia
There seems to be a contradiction between Ptolemy and Tacitus concerning the Caledonians.
Ptolemy (flourished AD127-148), in his 'Geography', suggests that the Caledonians (Caledonii) are one of several tribes living beyond the Forth-Clyde line. From his description, it is possible to, very approximately, map their territories.
On the other hand, Tacitus (writing c.AD98) regards all the country north of the Forth-Clyde line as Caledonia, and, because of the narrowness of the isthmus which separates the Forth from the Clyde (and because, at the time he was writing about, it marked the boundary between Roman occupied and unoccupied Britain), he says it "might be called another island." He records the name of just one Caledonian tribe, the Boresti, and was of the opinion that: "The red hair and large limbs of the inhabitants of Caledonia point clearly to a German origin".
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Two thousand years ago, the Roman Empire conquered most of Europe by slaughtering and enslaving millions of ancient Celts. In 55BC, Julius Caesar invaded Britain for its wealth in copper and tin.
The Britons, or ancient Celts, were made up of many tribes ruled by kings and queens.
The Romans created client kingdoms and took half of every tribes wealth and production. When Queen Boudica, of the Iceni tribe, stood up to the Roman oppression, She was flogged and her two young daughters were raped.
In 61 AD, Boudica led a revolt through, Camulodunum, Verulamium and what is now London, killing 70 thousand Romans. To avoid capture, she and her two teenage daughters took their lives on the final battlefield.
Boudicas revolt soon led to the building of Hadrians Wall through the middle of Britain. This, for the first time, ended the expansion of the Roman Empire. Ireland, Scotland and Wales never surrendered to Roman rule. The independent nature of the ancient Celts thrives in these countries even today.
"...a terrible disaster occurred in Britain. Two cities were sacked,
eighty thousand of the Romans and of their allies perished, and the island was lost to Rome.
Moreover, all this ruin was brought upon the Romans by a woman, a fact which in itself caused them the greatest shame....
But the person who was chiefly instrumental in rousing the natives and persuading them to fight the Romans,
the person who was thought worthy to be their leader and who directed the conduct of the entire war, was Buduica,
a Briton woman of the royal family and possessed of greater intelligence than often belongs to women....
In stature she was very tall, in appearance most terrifying, in the glance of her eye most fierce, and her voice was harsh;
a great mass of the tawniest hair fell to her hips; around her neck was a large golden necklace;
and she wore a tunic of divers colours over which a thick mantle was fastened with a brooch.
This was her invariable attire."
~Cassius Dio
Boudicca’s speech before the final battle with Suetonius Paulinus:
[Boudicca addresses her army.]
Boudicca, in a [chariot], with her two daughters before her, drove through the ranks.
She harangued the different nations in their turn: "This," she said, "is not the first time that the Britons have
been led to battle by a woman. But now she did not come to boast the pride of a long line of ancestry, nor
even to recover her kingdom and the plundered wealth of her family.
She took the field, like the meanest among them, to assert the cause of public liberty, and to seek revenge for her body seamed with ignominious stripes, and her two daughters infamously ravished.
From the pride and arrogance of the Romans nothing is sacred; all are subject to violation; the old endure the scourge, and the virgins are deflowered. But the vindictive gods are now at hand.
A Roman legion dared to face the warlike Britons: with their lives they paid for their rashness; those who survived the carnage of that day, lie poorly hid behind their entrenchments, meditating nothing but how to save themselves by an ignominious flight. From the din of preparation, and the shouts of the British army, the Romans, even now, shrink back with terror.
What will be their case when the assault begins? Look round, and view your numbers.
Behold the proud display of warlike spirits, and consider the motives for which we draw the avenging sword.
On this spot we must either conquer, or die with glory. There is no alternative.
Though a woman, my resolution is fixed: the men, if they please, may survive with infamy, and live in bondage."
~from The Annals by Tacitus (AD 110-120), Book XIV, Chapter 35
I am also interested in everything that could be said "nordic", or "northern cultures" of the ancient world, Celtic/Gaelic, Scottish, French Bretagne, Normandie and Ardennes (I am French, Scottish and Norse myself), Vikings, etc. basically all Medieval histories of Europe. I am simplifying, really. I am fond of any type of incarnation of History, Mythology, Rituals, Archeology, Anthropology, and Philosophy. I am also in love with fantasy, romance, Ancient Legends and swords.
