Celtic Mythology and Religion

50 CELTIC MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION. ,
conquered Nothern Italy, a hundred years later they
conquered the Mediterranean coast of France, and
seventy years afterwards Caesar conquered the whole
of France and completely crushed* the Gallic power.
That is briefly the political side of their history.
But there are two points to notice in their internal
history of special importance in the present inquiry.
The Celts, in entering Europe, found the country
inhabited, and this previous population, a non-
Aryan one of course, they either exterminated or
absorbed. It is, therefore, of vital importance
to know as much as possible about this previous
population, for, naturally, its customs, beliefs, and,
in a much less degree, its language, were absorbed
by the conquering Celt. From the evidence of
language and customs alone, Professor Rhys has,
in his work on " Celtic Britain," been able to prove
the existence of a previous non-Celtic and non-
Aryan population in Britain. The Pictish custom
of succession already mentioned, and the continual
reference in classical writers to some British nations
who had community of wives—Csesar erroneously
attributes this to all Britain alike, Celt and non-Celt
—point to a low idea of matrimony that must have
belonged to the previous population. Again, in
the list
of Kings given for the Picts, the names are
not of an Aryan or Celtic type ; Aryan names were
always compounds, however much denuded by time,
but these Pictish names are monosyllabic and unmeaning.
The frequency of animal names in Pictish