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A new edition of Toland's History of the druids: - Free History Ebooks

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NOTES. 337feigned people, people <strong>of</strong> fiction, %70iild have been matter <strong>of</strong>laughter. From Scandinavian pronunciation, tlic* name wasVui^ towns, or Victi, conquered, or I'ecii, carried, so that <strong>the</strong>confusion was endless. Ficli. coming first to iiand, took th»place <strong>of</strong> all." Vol. 1. page 368 and 369.From thisvisionary dream, unsupported by <strong>the</strong> least shadove<strong>of</strong> authority, we are told that <strong>the</strong> Romans were puzzled to finda name for <strong>the</strong> Victs.That <strong>the</strong>y deliberated about calling <strong>the</strong>mViki, but this was rejected, because it signified icoodpeckers.They<strong>the</strong>n thought oiFicti, but this was also rejected, because it signifiedfeigned people.They next deliberated on Vici^ towns, Victi, conquered,and Vecti, carried, but all <strong>the</strong>se shared <strong>the</strong> same fate.last <strong>the</strong>y hit on Pzc/i, which <strong>the</strong>y preferred to all <strong>the</strong> rest; yet Mr.Pinkarton tells us, that Victi, which he himself places thosixth in order, came first to hand. But it is well known <strong>the</strong> Ro»mans were by no means over-delicate respecting even <strong>the</strong>ir ownnames, and must have been less so respecting those <strong>of</strong> barbariansand enemies. Two <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> most celebrated Romans were sirnamedBestia, and Brutus, i. e. beast, and brute, Ond, a poet<strong>of</strong> no mean celebrity, was sirnamed Naso, i. e. Nosf/y a nameeven in our own days given to such as have enormous, or Ovidiannoses. No man in his senses will imagine <strong>the</strong> Piomans gave<strong>the</strong>mselves <strong>the</strong> least trouble about <strong>the</strong> name <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Picts, far<strong>the</strong>ythan Latinizing it in <strong>the</strong> same manner as <strong>the</strong>y did Galliy ScotfyBritanni, Caledonii, &c.Had Mr. Pinkarton searched for <strong>the</strong> word Vict in <strong>the</strong> aboriginallanguage <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Picts <strong>the</strong>mselves, he could not have failedto discover it. The Picts in <strong>the</strong> Gaelic have two names, viz,Crnmiih, Cruincucht, or Cruitne, (for it is differently written).Fortunately Mr. Innes, (see his Critical Essay) has renderedthis name painted, in which I perfectly agree with him, andshall only add that <strong>the</strong> Gaelic verb Cruinicam, whence <strong>the</strong> nameis derived, signifies to paint. The o<strong>the</strong>r name Vict, by <strong>the</strong> Romansrendered Victi, and by our historians Victi, Vichti, andViachti, is merely <strong>the</strong> Gaelic Vichatach, Latinicaliy terminated,Vkkaty in <strong>the</strong> Gaelic signifies a magpiey and its regular adjec-At

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