Celtic Mythology and Religion

40 CELTIC MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION.
of contemporary actions and the relations of the
Celts to the favoured races of Rome and Greece.
Next to these come the monuments and inscriptions
of ancient Gaul and Britain.
These comprise mostly
the votive inscriptions to the deities, the statues,
and the coinage of the period. The names of places,
especially of rivers,
migrations, and religious beliefs ;
have indicated Celtic localities,
for how numerous
are, for instance, the rivers with the name Dee
(goddess) , showing the wide-spread worship of water
and rivers among the Celts ? Examination also of
the rude stone monuments and the barrows of prehistoric
times has elucidated much that is dark
in Celtic History, while the examination of physical
characteristics in the race has helped even more to
clear up difficulties of ethnology. A judicious use
of the oldest heroic and folk tales must divulge
some secrets in regard to Mythology, if not to history
while modern folk-tales and customs lend special
aid in reflecting light on the past. An intelligent
scrutiny of the Roman calendar of saints will disclose
a few more Celtic divinities in the realms of saintdom
; for where the Church did not make demons
or heroes of the ancient gods, it did the next best
thing—it made saints of them. In the same way we
can recognise Pagan festivals and customs in a
Christian guise ; the Church festivals are nearly
all the result of assimilating the existing religious
customs. And, lastly, to steady our whole results,
we have to remember that the Celts are an Aryan