The Picts are the last Iberians of Britain. Secrets of old Scotland - Picts and Scots Picts appearance

Picts A large cultural group of peoples living in Scotland since prehistoric times were the Picts. They inhabited the territory of the Central and Northern Highlands of Scotland, which was not affected by Romanization. About the prehistoric Picts, or protopicts, almost

Chapter V. ROMANS AND PARTHIANS37. The campaign of the governor of Syria Crassus against the Parthians can be considered a continuation of the war with Mithridates and Tigranes. The Parthians are a people related to the Persians, and their way of fighting is completely similar to that of the Persians. Their army consisted of cavalry and

For quite a long time, the Pictish people were forgotten. Only occasionally did the Picts appear on the pages of fiction, for example in Stevenson (Bather Honey) or Kipling (Puck of the Hills). Official information about the Picts is based on evidence given by the Romans. And they had a very low opinion of the Picts - the Picts were wild barbarians. But the Romans saw the Pictish warriors; the life and customs of the people were unknown to them. Therefore, the world knew about the Picts until recently only that they went into battle naked, painted in bright colors. It’s not a fact that they were completely naked, but apparently there was no armor.

Various theories have been put forward about the origin of the Picts. So they remain theories. It is very likely that the Picts are not Celts, and perhaps not even Indo-Europeans. And if they are Celts, then they are terribly distant relatives of their neighbors, the Britons and Scots. The history of the origin of the Picts is surrounded by many myths, legends and outright fiction.

Personally, I immediately associate it with the word picture. Did this word in English come from the name of the people? Hardly. The Picts were probably not called that before. They had a different name.

What is clear for sure is that the Picts are the ancestors of modern Scots

These Scots are obstinate people, as we are told. Why not the Picts! The earliest traces of human habitation in Scotland date back to approximately 8500 BC. Several thousand years before the advent of the new era, Neolithic people from Spain and France were already crossing into Scotland and raising livestock there. Some archaeologists suggest that these people also built the huge stone burial grounds (cairns) that are scattered throughout Scotland. It is also believed that their descendants later mixed with the “Beaker people” who apparently came from Northern Europe, and this ethnic union gave rise to the pre-Celtic race of Northern Britain.

The clothing of the Picts was not very diverse. As it was written, they didn’t wear much clothing during battle, and they even applied a lot of drawings and even tattoos to their bodies. The rest of the time, clothing consisted of a knee-length shirt. The material used was wool, flax or tow. Over the shirt, the Picts usually wore a cape or cloak that covered the upper body.

The Picts usually walked barefoot, for which they received the slightly offensive nickname “red-footed” from their enemies. However, after many years of searching, archaeologists managed to find several leather shoes, albeit very crudely made. However, the shoes found make it possible to assert that the Picts were not barbarians at all, as is commonly believed in modern culture.

Pictish society was divided into three groups: druids, horsemen and people. The Druids were a priestly class who acted as intermediaries between the people and the gods. In addition, they were endowed with broad political rights and were involved in educating children.

The intermediate class of Pictish society were the horsemen: warriors and representatives of the royal family. In case of danger of an external threat, a military council was urgently assembled, in which all armed men took part. The convening of this council was considered the beginning of the war; By rattling weapons and shouting, the assembled people expressed their agreement with the decisions of the council. The Picts were widely known for their bravery and courage, with women fighting as bravely as men.

The daily life of a Pictish warrior was one of relative luxury and pleasure. The main population was engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding; surplus labor went to support the military aristocracy.

Historically attested (though quite late, on the eve of the end of its existence), the kingdom of the Picts occupied a fairly limited territory in the segment between the Moray Firth in the north and the Firth of Forth in the south - approximately its north-eastern two-thirds.

• to the west it bordered the Gaelic kingdom Dal Riada,
• in the southwest - with the British kingdom Strathclyde,
• in the south - with the possessions of the Angles in Northumbria.

At first, the Picts were simply a union of tribes, and only by the 6th century several state entities were formed from them, which later became the kingdoms of the Picts. It is assumed that at an early stage of their existence there were several independent Pictish kingdoms - from two to six. However, it is only confidently called by name Fortriu. But by the middle of the 6th century, a single kingdom of the Picts was established with the first more or less historical king - Bride I, the son of Maelkon. However, this is where geography ends and history begins.

The main difference between the Picts and the surrounding Celtic tribes was the transfer of the throne exclusively through the female line. Thanks to this feature, at different periods of time the Picts were led by representatives of a variety of royal dynasties. The royal throne was occupied by the Gaelic Dal Riads, the British Strathclydes, the English Northumbrians, and the descendants of the Pictish princesses.

In 843, King Kenneth I of Dal Riada became king of the Picts. During his reign, a radical revolution was made in the life of the Picts. Kenneth I united the states of the Picts and Scots into a new Kingdom, which was called Scotland. Gradually, the Gaelic language was able to displace the Pictish dialect. A little later, as a result of assimilation, the Picts completely ceased to exist as a separate people.

Caledonia among the Romans

It is generally accepted that the Picts first appear in Ptolemy’s famous “Geography” and on his map of the entire world known to the ancient Greeks. But its name is not mentioned at all. And they appear in his territory, where the Picts were later recorded (we will conventionally assume that this is Scotland) Caledonia, who gave the country its name, and three more tribes about which nothing more is known.

But Tacitus’s information can be dated quite accurately: it goes back to the three British campaigns of his father-in-law Julius Agricola, which took place in the 70s and 80s. Tacitus names the population of the future Scotland in general terms - Caledonians, without division into tribes.

Cornelius Tacitus, son-in-law of the commander Agricola, the first Roman to invade the lands of the Picts, calls them Caledonians. But he himself notes that this is only one of the tribes, part of the coalition that opposed the Romans - Caledonia, Meatae and others.

The name “Caledonia” also seems to be Latin, but it is still unlikely that Tacitus invented it out of nowhere. Most likely, this is a distorted (Latinized) self-name. But, again, not all the Picts en masse, but one of the tribes.

One of the main evidence of the non-Celtic origin of the Picts is their custom of inheritance through the female line, which is rare among Western societies, as already mentioned in this article. None of the Celtic tribes had such a custom. Apparently, the royal crown was inherited by members of the seven royal houses within which marriages took place. However, it was this rare form of inheritance that brought the crown of Pictia to the Scot by blood, Kenneth Mac Alpin, in 843, who destroyed the remaining members of the seven ruling houses. After this there was an extraordinary disappearance from history of both the Pictish people and their culture. In fact, after only three generations of kings of the Mac Alpin dynasty, their name became legendary.

Almost the entire known history of the Picts is a struggle with Rome

The Romans came to Scotland and even defeated the Picts in battle, but were never able to conquer them and the lands belonging to them. In the 3rd century, the Roman commander Agricola destroyed the Pictish army led by Calgacus (according to Roman sources, 10,000 Picts and 340 Romans were killed). Agricola's legions stopped near Abergardy in Perthshire, where they built a fortification. To keep Agricola's conquest under control, seven fortresses were built from Callander (near Stirling) to Perth.

For 30 years the Picts burned and destroyed Roman fortifications, and according to Victorian legend, the famous IX Legion was sent north from Inkhtutil, probably to contain their pressure. Legend says that the legion was completely destroyed and disappeared forever in an unknown battle with the painted people of the north. However, history shows us that the IX Legion later appears in Judea.

Emperor Hadrian decided that Scotland was not worth sending more legions there, and pushed the empire's borders back to the Tyne and Solway. Here he built the famous wall, 70 miles long from sea to sea, which bears his name.

In 208, the ruler of Britain was forced to turn to the emperor for help against the barbarians, and Septimius Severus decided to go to Britain with his sons. The old soldier led the Roman fleet with 40,000 legionnaires to the Firth of Forth and landed the army on shore. Although he defeated all the Pictish armies he encountered and beheaded all the Pictish leaders he captured, he was unable to conquer the country he called Caledonia and died soon after. However, the cruel lesson taught by the Romans and the executions led to the fact that peace was maintained here for almost a century. The Romans fortified themselves on Hadrian's Wall, and the northern tribes, stopped by their cruelty, inhabited the hills to the north of it.

At the end of 367, the Picts, Scots, Attacottas and Saxons invaded Roman Britain in large forces and reached almost to Londinium. At the same time, the Franks and also the Saxons invaded Roman Gaul. For almost a year they all wandered around the Roman provinces, but did not particularly try to gain a foothold. There is no doubt that the simultaneous attack was prepared in advance and carefully coordinated. It is likely that Roman legionaries also took part in the conspiracy - the uprising broke out in the garrisons of Hadrian's Wall at a suspicious time. This incident is called, depending on the point of view, the “Barbarian Conspiracy” or the “Great Conspiracy.”

By studying the Roman accounts of the Pictish wars, as well as later sources, it becomes clear that the Pictish lands were mainly located north of the Forth-Clyde line, i.e. north of the Antonine Wall. Roman pacification, as well as Celtic and Saxon migrations from the south, eliminated any possible Pictish claims to lands south of the wall.

In the west, the Pictish presence in Argyll was to quickly disappear with the arrival of the Scots of Dalriada around 500, but a megalith at the entrance to Inveraray Castle in Campbell country suggests that they were there at one time.

In the north, Pictish influence extended as far as the northernmost islands, and their megaliths have been found on almost every one of them. This country continued to defend itself for a long time after the departure of the Roman legions. The Picts fought the Scots in the west, the Britons and Angles in the south, and the Vikings in the north.

Sometimes they lost great battles and lost vast territories, only to gain them back in the terrible wars of the Dark Age. In the 7th century, the Scots pushed their borders far to the north, and a victorious Celtic army marched half a day to the Pictish capital of Inverness in the north, destroying it. In the south, the Angles led their Germanic armies north and captured Pictish lands and held them for 30 years before being defeated and routed south by a united Pictish army.

Christianity

Initially the Picts probably practiced Druidic paganism. We know their beliefs thanks to the stories of Irish monks. The Picts had their own pantheon of gods, the underworld. They lived in a world where all rivers and trees were sacred, the islands were stones scattered by giants, and springs flowed exclusively from those places where the elder struck with his staff.

Clashes between the Druids and Christians were sharp, but on the whole the Picts accepted Christianity quite peacefully.

The only surviving connection with Pictish beliefs is the work of the "horse gossips" who were famous among the rural population. Muttering in an incomprehensible language into a horse's ear was used along with incantations, potions and aromatherapy. Sacrifice was widely developed. Moreover, along with animal sacrifice (for example, bulls), human sacrifice was also widespread. The church fought against this, but the executions of the Picts were purely ritual in nature.

Pictish folklore has not reached us, but scholars suggest that some episodes in Scottish and Irish tales contain Pictish beliefs.

Saint Ninian (360-432) also quite successfully preached Christianity among the Picts. There were converts, otherwise who would build churches? And churches were built.

For about two hundred years, freedom of religion existed among the Picts; if you want, be a Christian, or if you want, worship the ancient Pictish gods.

Sometime between 570 and 580, Saint Columba persuaded Breede, the most powerful and probably supreme king of the northern Picts, to make Christianity the state religion. From this time on, the Picts were already quite real Christians.

While Rome and Constantinople were developing principles and creeds, preachers preached. They preached without yet knowing which theories would be recognized as orthodox and which would be declared heresy. So it turned out that the Celtic, and after it the Pictish churches, were strikingly different from the orthodox Catholic one.

The Picts capture public attention like other ancient cultures. Exotic and mysterious, their name conjures up images of sun-worshipping, naked warriors whose bodies are covered in tattoos. These warriors are pushing back the Roman legions from the snowy north, forcing them to take cover behind Hadrian's Wall. They emerged from a shadowy past to dominate northern Britain for five centuries before disappearing just as mysteriously, leaving behind only legends and obscure artifacts that historians continue to debate to this day.

There is some truth in this picture. The Picts do occupy an important place in British history, but for a more prosaic reason. The Picts are a fragment of the Celtic civilization, which retained its independence and therefore continued its development. The Picts were the first barbarians to form a nation.

It cannot be denied that the mysterious aura surrounding the Picts was well deserved by them. The Picts are first mentioned by name in 297 AD, although the context suggests that by then the Picts had already become a familiar problem for the Romans in Britain. But how long had the Picts been known by that time? Why weren't they mentioned before? Were the Picts natives or Celtic settlers? Is the word “Pict” itself of Latin origin or is it the self-name of the tribe? Did they speak a Celtic dialect? If so, which one: Brittonic or Gaelic?

Did they really trace their ancestry through the female line? Did they paint their bodies? What did their symbols mean? Were they pagans or Christians? And finally, why did the Picts disappear?

As they say, the word "pict" comes from the Latin word pictus, i.e. "painted". This name arose from the Pictish tradition of covering their bodies with tattoos. Although we have no reason to doubt that the Picts were indeed fond of tattooing, the etymology of their name seems unconvincing. There was no reason for the Romans to invent a new name for a tribe of tattoo lovers. The Romans saw even more exotic tribes, but they never gave anyone a new name, but tried to use the original names.

There are several alternative explanations for the word "Pict". Vegetius, who lived in the 4th century, reports that the British word pictas means a camouflaged reconnaissance boat, painted in a ball color - pictae. In Welsh, a boat is peithas, a sailor is peithi, and the Welsh call the Picts peithwyr. In medieval Irish chronicles, boats were called picard, while the words Picti or Pictones were used to designate the Picts, sometimes confusing this name with the word piccardach or picars (i.e. “pirates”).
Robert Havell's reconstruction of the appearance of the Picts, 1815.
In Old Norse the word "Pict" sounds like Pettr, in Old English - Poechta, in Old Scots - Pecht. Thus, we get that in all languages ​​the Picts were called exactly that. Therefore, it is more logical to assume that “Picts” is the self-name of the tribe, and “painted” or “pirates” are just an example of “folk etymology.”

Who are the Picts? The simplest answer to this question is the inhabitants of northern Britain in 297-858. This answer is correct, but does not convey anything fundamental. At the very least, it would be interesting to know why their name does not appear in the Roman chronicles during the first centuries of the Roman presence in Britain.

In the first century AD. the lands north of the Fort were inhabited by representatives of two cultural groups. The central regions of the Scottish Highlands were home to a confederation of Britons, among whom the most prominent were the Caledonians, whose history dates back to the 8th century. BC. This tribe left behind wooden hill fortifications, metal objects and other traces of Celtic culture. In Orkney, Shetland and the Hebrides, as well as on the north-western edge of Scotland, buildings of a completely different type are found - round stone towers, the so-called “brochs”. Just from the 1st century. BC. and until the 2nd century. AD more than 500 similar towers were erected in this area. Although fortified settlements had a longer history, brochs were built alongside them at the same time. That is, a clear cultural boundary was maintained between the two groups of peoples inhabiting the north of Britain.

Roman relations with Orkney are described by Pliny the Elder and Tacitus. Both authors report that the local Brochi inhabitants proposed an alliance with Rome. Orkney formally joined the Empire in 43 AD. and later sent emissaries asking for help. Agricola took advantage of this and invaded Scotland. During the struggle at Graup in 84, the Scots were defeated. Agricola's fleet sailed around Britain from the north, simultaneously taking the oath of allegiance from the inhabitants of the Orkney Islands. Many Roman objects appeared in the brochs, as well as local copies of Roman designs, indicating significant Roman influence.

Agricola soon switched to defensive tactics as the Caledonians launched a guerrilla war. To protect against invasions from the north, the Romans built Hadrian's Wall and then the Antonine Wall. The Caledonians continued to cause trouble for the Romans until Emperor Septimius Severus himself arrived in Britain in 208. The North did not set out to conquer the Caledonians; its goal was to completely destroy the rebellious tribe. He began the systematic destruction of the Caledonian habitat: he burned crops, slaughtered livestock, hanged leaders, and destroyed buildings. The North's policies quickly bore fruit. For almost a century the Caledons were unable to carry out active operations, and soon the Picts appeared on the scene.
Brochs were round buildings with a stone wall laid without mortar. The diameter of the courtyard is about 10 m. There is a well in the center of the courtyard. The thickness of the walls is 3.6 meters; inside the walls there are closets and stairs. The walls are slightly heaped inwards; on the upper tier there could be a balcony running along the wall.

But, of course, such a disproportion deprived him of the right to be called handsome, which otherwise he undoubtedly could have laid claim to - it imparted something wild, irregular, inhuman to his appearance; Looking at him, I involuntarily recalled Mabel’s stories about the ancient Picts, who in the old days ravaged Northumberland with their raids and were, according to her assurances, half-humans, half-demons; like this man, they were distinguished by courage, cunning, ferocity, long arms and broad shoulders.”

This is an excerpt from Walter Scott's novel Rob Roy. This is how the main character describes the young man, an Englishman, of the Scottish leader, Rob Roy, with whom fate brought him together.

Pictii - this is what the Romans called the inhabitants living in the far north of Britain. One version is that this name comes from a Roman word meaning “painted”. At the time the Romans encountered these people (or tribes of different origins), the custom of painting their bodies in Britain had already disappeared and remained only among the northern tribes. The Irish called these tribes the Cruithni. According to a 1st century AD map by Ptolemy, the area that was later known as Pictish territory was inhabited by the Caledonian, Wacomagian, Thedzalian and Veniconian tribes. In the 3rd century AD. Roman historians already report two tribes - the Caledonians and the Meatae.

Most scientists consider the Picts to be a people who emerged as a result of the mixing of the Celts who came to the north and the local aboriginal population. The Celts came to this area (north of the Forth - Clyde line) around 100 AD. This happened, apparently, as a result of the salvation of the Celtic tribes from Roman rule.

Before this period, the archeology of Scotland is famous in the Neolithic for its megalithic tombs, which stretched like a belt across the Mediterranean and reached Britain. In Northern Ireland and South-West Scotland there are tombs that in archeology are called “segmented boxes”. This is the name of the tombs, covered on top with an earthen mound, built as if from a series of boxes, the walls of which are made of stone slabs. Narrow passages are made between these “boxes”. At the end of the tomb there is an extension in the form of a chamber. Above the chamber was a long pyramid with a semicircular front courtyard where the exit from the chamber was located. This type of tomb is characteristic of the Pyrenees and the islands of Sardinia and Corsica, where they were called “tombs of giants.”

Another type of Neolithic tomb in Scotland and Ireland is called "corridor tombs." This is the name of the tomb, the entrance to which is a long corridor of stone slabs. The chamber itself is an extension made of stone blocks. On the sides of the chamber there are smaller chambers that form, as it were, sections. The top of the chamber is covered with a stone pyramid. There are other tombs with slightly different architecture. As for which people built these megalithic structures, it is unclear. Late variants of Windmillhill pottery, characteristic of southern Britain, and leaf-shaped arrowheads were found in tombs of all types. Bell-shaped Beaker culture objects were also found in all the tombs. However, archaeologists believe that these objects are the result of secondary burial. Judging by the large number of bones of domestic and wild animals (cows, sheep, and horses), the builders of the megaliths led a pastoral lifestyle. But these tribes were also known for the production of metal tools from copper and bronze.

In Scotland, according to Gordon Childe, the production of metal tools came along with the masters of the bell culture, since before the period of the appearance of the Beaker tribes, the distribution of these tools was episodic. The Bell Beaker tribes made significant contributions to the culture of Britain. So says Gordon Childe: “Throughout Great Britain the Bell Beaker people became the chief element of a very native population. He even became one of the groups enjoying the privilege of burial in megalithic tombs; however, in Britain these people eventually abandoned the practice of collective burial; In Ireland, the custom of collective burials was preserved, as significant groups of representatives of the Bell Beaker culture, who came here from Britain, merged with the local population. The newcomers grew grains and ate them in greater quantities than the builders of the megaliths; however, they were still pastoralists and may have introduced more extensive sheep farming. They bought bronze weapons and flint from the mines, as well as jewelry made from gold, amber and jet, thereby promoting trade, but there is no evidence that they took part in the extraction of these materials. Very few bell-shaped beakers have been found in Cornwall and Ireland, and metalworkers do not appear to have been among the groups enjoying the right of burial under the mound or in the round tomb. The aristocracy of the Bell Beaker people in Britain used the excess of their wealth and energy to build funerary and religious monuments.”

In the 5th century BC. The Celts begin to populate Britain. It is unknown whether this settlement was accompanied by the extermination of the local population, but no traces of large-scale battles were found. True, at this time fortifications appeared on the hills, built from a wooden palisade. It is unclear for what purpose these fortresses were built.

The further history of Britain is connected with the Roman conquest. The first trip to the island was made in 55 BC. Julius Caesar. The purpose of this campaign was to punish the local Celtic tribes for helping the Celts living on the mainland - the Gauls. But the Romans were not ready to land on the island. The following year, 55, Caesar sailed to the shores of Britain with more powerful forces. The British leader Cassevelaun, who tried to resist, was defeated and captured. But Caesar did not seize further British territory. He concluded a treaty with Cassevelaunus on the condition that the Britons would pay a tax and sailed back to the mainland.

Gradually, by the beginning of our era, the Romans conquered all of Britain, with the exception of the north. The father-in-law of the famous historian Tacitus, Julius Agricola continued the conquest of Britain. In 78, Emperor Vespasian appointed Agricola proconsul of Britain. In 80, Agricola led a campaign against the northern Caledonian tribes. He drew the borders of the empire to the Forth - Clyde line, where Antony's Wall was subsequently built. But then Agricola moved north of this line. In 84, the Romans defeated the Caledonians at the Battle of Mount Graupius. Virtually all of Britain was conquered. But the stubborn resistance of the Caledonians disrupted the Roman plans to seize the northern territories. In addition, Agricola was recalled from Britain.

The Caledonian tribes and other unknown peoples of the north of Britain then become known as the Picts. The origin of this people remains a mystery. Many scientists agree on one thing: the Picts are the result of a mixture of alien Celts and local non-Indo-European substrate. In turn, this local element was not ethnically united. One of its components was most likely Iberian.

The most ancient period of Pictish history immediately before the appearance of the Celts in archeology is conventionally called the “broch” period. This is the name of the towers, which often reach a height of 18 meters and have a diameter of about 9 meters. The walls of these towers are made of double stone walls, between which there is an empty gap in which there are galleries for the passage of the defenders to the loopholes.
Another type of structure in Pictish Scotland was the so-called “glazed fort.” This structure had an oblong shape and was made of dry stone interspersed with logs. A similar type of structure was described by Julius Caesar in Gaul, calling it the “Gallic wall.” But some scientists believe that these structures were characteristic of the population of Europe even before the Gauls.

However, although it is believed that broch builders and glazed fort builders appeared in the north of Britain almost simultaneously. The area where the brochs are located is located in the far north and northeast of Scotland, and the area of ​​forts is further south. Thus, it can be assumed that the population who built the brochs and the tribes of the "glazed" forts had different ethnic backgrounds. However, it is believed that brochs and forts were not the permanent homes of the Picts, but were intended only for defense during military conflicts. The Picts usually lived in huts made of stone and intertwined rods, perhaps coated with clay. Another type of building is called "dungeons". This is an underground structure in the form of an underground tunnel more than 24 meters long and about 1.8 meters high. At the end of this tunnel a circular expansion is formed. The purpose of these structures is not completely clear. The most suitable version is that these were winter shelters for livestock. Some confirmation of this may be a quote from Richard Blackmore’s novel “Lorna Doone”: “In our area, all stables, pigsties and sheepfolds are built just below ground level. We believe that this way the cattle will be warmer in winter and cooler in summer. I will not refute this, although I have my own opinion. But it seems to me that it’s time to put an end to this ancient custom, which, apparently, dates back to the times when people themselves lived in caves and covered the entrances with calf skins.” The main character of this novel, like other farmers, lived in the Exmoor valley of the Cornish peninsula. But these farmers were not the original inhabitants of these places, but migrants from somewhere in the north, apparently from Scotland.

The language of the Picts poses a mystery. Written evidence of this language comes from surviving inscriptions on monuments, place names and the names of Pictish kings in medieval chronicles. Most of these inscriptions belong to the so-called P - Celtic languages. Among the modern Celtic languages, Welsh and Breton (the language of the inhabitants of the Brittany peninsula in France) have these properties. In contrast, in Celtic C languages, similar words begin with the letter C. That is, the word for “head”, for example, in Irish and modern Scottish Gaelic sounds like cenn. P - languages ​​were the Celtic languages ​​of Gaul. By the way, the insular Celtic languages ​​themselves carry, according to many scientists, a strong influence of non-Indo-European dialects. It is, for example, the word order in a verb-subject - direct object sentence that distinguishes these languages ​​from Indo-European languages. But in Afroasiatic languages ​​this order is common. The British scientist John Morris Jones substantiated his hypothesis by the influence of the ancient substratum of the population of Britain on the local Celtic languages:

“The New Celtic languages, although they have an Aryan (Indo-European - author’s note) vocabulary, have a predominantly non-Aryan grammar; Apparently, Aryan speech was adopted by a population that originally spoke a non-Aryan language. This view does not necessarily assume that the ancestors of the Welsh and Irish belonged exclusively to a conquered pre-Celtic race: we may suppose that the invading Celtic forces destroyed a large autochthonous male population and captured their wives, producing a mixed race which acquired their language from non-Celtic mothers." (Morris Jones, 1903)

As linguistic arguments, M. Jones cited the features of word order in sentences and phrases of the insular Celtic languages, primarily the initial position of the verb and the sequence determined - defining, which finds correspondence in a number of Semitic-Hamitic languages ​​(Egyptian, Berber, possibly Iberian - author's note) ). This point of view was supported by European scientists E. Levy, Y. Pokorny and G. Wagner. But a number of other scientists (O. Bergin, Watkins, V. Maid) explained the features of the Celtic languages ​​in the Indo-European family as archaisms left over from the ancestral language. And here is what the Soviet (Russian) philologist V.P. wrote about this. Kalygin:

“With regard to the pre-Celtic substrate, it is difficult to get rid of duality: on the one hand, one cannot completely exclude the possibility of preserving some features or individual phenomena that penetrated into the Celtic languages ​​from the language (languages?) of the previous population that existed in some areas even in the Middle Ages, but, on the other hand, we cannot collect even a small body of facts that with a sufficient degree of plausibility could be classified as substratal. The pre-Celtic substrate remains to this day an elusive substance that no one has seen, but at the same time few would dispute its existence.”

Most Pictish inscriptions are not translatable, and some scholars (K. Jackson) believe that they were written in a non-Indo-European language of the local population. Here, for example, is one of these inscriptions:

"ETTOCUHETTS AHEHHTTANNN HCCVVEVV NEHHTONS." From this inscription NEHHTONS most likely means the name of the buried person - Nekhton. Other Pictish names are also not peculiar to the Celtic language - Brude, Fib, Fidach, etc. In the Irish epic “The Tale of Cuchulainn” the main character goes to Alba - as the Irish - Scots called Scotland. There, the main character enters into a duel with a local ruler named Aife, who, according to some researchers, is a representative of the Picts.

The name Alba, according to some scholars, comes from the Celtic alb - white. But the presence of this toponym in the names of some places not only in Europe, but also in the Caucasus, casts doubt on this hypothesis. Soviet scientist Yu.D. Desheriev also did not ignore this issue: “There are different points of view on the issue of the origin of the name “Albania” (in the transmission of Greek and Latin authors) and “Alvank” (in the Armenian transmission) which still remains unclear. This question is complicated, it would seem, by the fact that the country in the Balkans bears the same name, and that this term is found in the toponymy of Italy and Scotland. The explanation of the origin of this term from the Latin albus - “white” and the attribution of the creation of this name to the Romans is not justified.” (K.V. Trever. Op. cit. p. 4). N.Ya. Marr assumed that the word "Albania" meant "country of mountains." In support of this assumption, they point out that the ancient Celtic name for Scotland was “Albania”. In addition, they refer to the fact that the word “Alps” comes from the Celtic alp, alb - “mountain”, “high”. According to Ammianus Myrcellinus, the Albanians "got their name from the mountains." In our opinion, it is unlikely that the word "Albania" means "country of mountains." Essentially all the “countries” of the Caucasus are mountainous countries. However, they are not called "mountain countries". However, it is unclear in what language the word means “country of mountains.”

Canadian researcher Farley Mowat, in his book, which in the Russian edition is called “From Aryans to Vikings,” puts forward the version that the word “alb” has ancient, non-Indo-European roots. He associates it with such geographical names as the Alps, Alpes Pinnae in the Apennines, Elbrus and ancient Albania in the Caucasus, and many similar names in the Iberian Peninsula, in the Carpathians, in the mountains of Wales and Scotland, Iran, and France. All these names are connected by the fact that they are names of mountainous areas.

Russian linguist A.A. Korolev expresses his point of view on the problem of the Pictish language:

“In any case, the available material on non-Indo-European Pictish does not give any reason to genetically link it with Basque, Finno-Ugric or any other non-Indo-European languages ​​of Eurasia.

As far as can be judged from the available data, the Pictish language (or both “Pictish” languages) was supplanted during the 9th - 10th centuries. on the mainland (perhaps a mistake, because Britain is an island - author's note) in Scots, and on the islands in Scandinavian dialects. It is possible that in modern Scottish dialects many words that have no correspondence in Irish are substratum Pictish, and those that have reliable parallels in Brythonic languages ​​are borrowings not from the Brythonic language of southern Scotland, but from the Celtic language of the east of the country.

The author, having examined the dictionary of the Scottish Gaelic language, found in it several words that have no analogues in the Goidelic (Irish Celtic) languages, nor in Welsh (British), but coincide in phonetics and meaning with Weinakh (Ingush and Chechen):

Cian - distant, in Veinakh gyan - distant; doirt - pour, pour, water, in Veinakh dot - pour; leag - throw off, drop, in Veinakh lay down - throw off, drop; mall - slow, clumsy, in Veinakh mell - melancholic, slow; miste - worst, in Veinakh miste - sour, bitter.

If you refer to the words of A.A. Korolev, then this is the vocabulary left over from the Pictish language. After all, the researcher of Celtic languages ​​A.A. Korolev was not familiar with the Caucasian languages, otherwise he probably would have paid attention to this coincidence..

An interesting fact is that the succession to the royal throne among the Picts occurred through the female line. Women were not the rulers of the throne, but supreme power passed not from father to son, but, for example, from brother to brother, or sister's son. Nowhere among the Indo-European peoples, including the Celts, was such an order of inheritance known; therefore, this custom was inherited from the local population. The Picts apparently practiced some kind of polygamy, which led the Romans to accuse them of promiscuity. They were also shocked by the appearance of the Pictish warriors, who went into battle almost completely naked and painted with tattoos. The tattoos had a religious meaning and were most likely intended to attract divine powers to protect the warrior in battle. Therefore the body had to be naked. There is no evidence anywhere of the pagan beliefs of the Picts. According to indirect evidence, it can be assumed that the Picts made sacrifices in the form of animals, for example, a bull.

The Picts endlessly harassed the lands south of Antony's wall with raids. In 208, the Roman Emperor Severus, at the request of the ruler of Britain, arrived on the island with a large detachment of legionnaires. Advancing north, the Romans destroyed Pictish villages and killed local residents, leaving no one alive. But they were unable to completely destroy all the Picts. The Romans had to pass through dense forests and mountainous areas, where they were often ambushed. The legions withdrew further south to Hadrian's Wall, which was then repaired and fortified. But the Picts suffered significant damage and peace came for about half a century.

By the end of the 3rd century AD. Detachments of the Irish - Scots - begin to penetrate into northern Scotland. This word in Irish means a warrior who went on a campaign to plunder and conquer new lands. The Picts and Scots make predatory expeditions south into Britain.

In the 4th century, the beginning of the collapse of the Roman Empire led to the fact that in 409 the last Roman garrison left Britain, and the Britons were forced to independently repel raids from the north. Meanwhile, detachments of Scots who migrated to South-West Scotland formed the kingdom of Dal Riada on these lands. Translated, it means “The Destiny of the Chariot Rulers.” This happened around the year 500. The Germanic tribes of the Angles and Saxons begin to penetrate from the south. In the 7th century, the Anglo-Saxon state of Northumbria appeared in the southeast of Scotland.
The pressure of the Scots on the Picts led to armed conflicts between them, as a result the Picts gained the upper hand. Dal Riada became a vassal possession of the Picts.

After the Picts adopted Christianity around the 6th century, they began to marry more often with Scots. In addition, the main preachers of Christianity among the Picts were Irish monks, which means that the Pictish kingdom was under strong influence of the Irish. This allowed the Irish to settle in northern Scotland almost without obstacles. And yet, the battles between the Scots and Picts continued. But here a new threat arises from the south - the growing ambitions of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria. Initially, battles took place between the Scots of Dal Riada and the Saxons. In 603, the Scots army was completely destroyed by the Saxons at the Battle of Degsastan. The Saxons have already begun to threaten the possessions of the Picts. This growing threat made the Picts forget about their enmity with the Scots. In addition, in 843, for some reason, the royal throne of the Picts remained unoccupied. A Scots ruler named Kenneth Mac Alpin, taking advantage of his maternal heirship to the Pictish royal house, took the Pictish throne. Mac Alpin destroyed the remaining Pictish claimants to the royal throne. Faced with the threat of destruction by the Saxons, the Picts and Scots were forced to forget about their feuds and unite to confront the new danger. Gradually the Scotts take a leading position. Mention of the Picts is found in medieval chronicles back in the 10th century, but in fact the Picts had already ceased to exist as an independent ethnic group by that time. A new people arose - the Scots. There is much about the culture and language of the Scots that links them to the Irish. And from the Picts the Scots had only legends and monuments scattered across the north of Scotland. These are stone steles and remains of brochs.

The Scottish poet Robert Burns, based on local legends, wrote the ballad “Heather Honey”, which was then translated by the Soviet poet Samuil Marshak. Here is how it says about the victory of the Scots (Scots) over the Picts:

"The king of Scotland has come,
Merciless towards enemies
He drove the poor Picts
To the rocky shores.

On a heather field
On the battlefield
Lying alive on the dead
And the dead - on the living."

But there is something in the customs of the Scots that reminds us of their Pictish past. This, for example, is a more equal position for women compared to the British. Women had equal rights of inheritance with men. Until the 19th century, a woman could not change her last name upon marriage. Until 1939, the Scots maintained a unique form of marriage. To do this, it was enough to announce the desire to get married, and after a handshake the marriage became valid.

The physical appearance of the Scots, who are mostly of the light Caucasian type, sometimes includes individuals with dark hair and dark skin, such as the British actor Sean Connory. These are probably the descendants of part of the Picts, whose ancestors were Iberians, or some aboriginal tribes.

Strabo, listing the Aquitanian tribes living between Garumna (Garonne) and Liter (Loire), writes that the Pictonians live along the Liger, near the ocean. Did these Pictons have anything to do with the Picts of Britain? The very name “Aquitanians” with its characteristic ending brings it closer to the names of the Iberian tribes of the Iberian Peninsula - Turdetani, Bastetani, etc.

In the Basque dictionary there is the word "hil", meaning "to kill". In English the word is "kill". The English version of this word has a broader meaning. In addition to simply “to kill,” it also means “to kill an animal in a hunt” and “butchering a carcass.” Another English word is "lorry", which means "lorry, cart, cart". A note in the Oxford Dictionary states that the original, that is, the origin, is unknown. In Basque, "lorra" means delivery, in the form of aid, livestock, fertilizer, firewood, etc. None of the dictionaries of Germanic, Romance, or Celtic languages ​​contains anything similar in this meaning of the word. Another Basque word is ekarri - to carry, similar to the English carrry - to carry. The origin of the English word is unclear; it has an analogue in Italian carico - “cargo”. Is this a coincidence, or evidence of some kind of relationship between the ancient population of Britain and the Basques? Or maybe this word remains from the long-vanished Cro-Magnons, whose descendants some scientists consider the Basques? In the book “Basques” by the Spanish researcher Julio Caro Baroch, there is a link where it is said that the 12th century French traveler Aymeric Pico cites the fact of a curious connection between Basque and Scottish men's clothing. But it is not specified specifically what details are being discussed. Whether these facts prove the kinship of the Basques and the ancient inhabitants of Britain can be proven by genetic research.

Article from the book "Iberian Atlantis - the cradle of European civilization", Uzhakhov Z.S.