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Scholars say that the Celts are a tall race, warlike and masterful. They describe the Celts in almost exactly the same terms as those which are applied to the Germanic races and their opinion is that the real physical difference lays in the fact that the fairness of the Germans was blond, and that of Celts red. Other scholars say that the Celts are tall
athletic fair men, evidently belonging to the Scandinavian type, which is common in the
extreme North of Scotland, but both in colouring and in general aspect they are very
different from the tall and fair Highlanders. There is not a trace of red in Celtic hair
and their hair can be yellow, while the prevalence of red among the Celtic-speaking people
today is a most striking characteristic. People called Celts in present day, who carry
on the Celtic tradition and language, are in some respects very different from
the Celts of classical history. The true Celts are anyway certainly fair.
Even the Irish Celts of the twelfth century are described by all scholars as a fair race. Ancient writers say that the Celts had long
hair and beards and moustaches. Roman stone reliefs show Celts wearing tunics
or tabards made of animal skins. In war Celts used a double-headed, short
handled axe, the sword and the spear. They are known to have used a particular
style of war trumpet, an instrument which curved upwards from the mouthpiece and
terminated several feet above the users’ head. Little is known about the clothing of Celtic women since
they do not appear in Roman carvings which typically featured Celtic prisoners taken in
battle. (Carlo Calzolari 3^B int.) |
CELTICA had always been inhabited by a
single pure and homogeneous race: the Celts.