whole matter is that ‘the Scandinavians are our true progenitors,’” which, he points out, is “the same blunder that M. du Chaillu has been dashing his head against.” All wise beyond conception! By a figure of speech a writer might be said to dash his head against a rock, but hardly I should think, against a _blunder_! It is rather odd that this captious censor should be ignorant of the fact that the quotation which he cites from my preface contains the _ipsissima verba_ of the writer of an article that appeared in _Good Words_ nearly forty years ago, by whom M. du Chaillu was anticipated, and that the same views and opinions were advocated by myself nineteen years since in the pages of _Notes and Queries._ The languages or dialects to be dealt with as regards the British islands, are few in number, and we can judge of them in an outside fashion, without the aid of Bopp, or Grimm, or Zeuss, or Steinthal. These are the Welsh of the Principality, which, roughly speaking, includes the extinct dialect of Cornwall. The Erse or Gaelic of Scotland, Ireland, and the Isle of Man. The Teutonic of the Belgae, which Prichard calls Celtic, but which we gather from Cæsar was German. At least it is a fair inference from his statement, _Belgas esse ortos a Germanis_, that they spoke some dialect of Teutonic speech.[6] The language of the Picts or Caledonians, which Skene affirms is neither Welsh nor Gaelic, but a Gaelic dialect partaking largely of Welsh forms. This, however, on the faith of Tacitus, I believe to have been Scandinavian, _rutilæ Caledoniam habitantium comæ magni artus Germanicam asseverant_. The Saxon, or earlier Scandinavian of South Britain, and the confessedly Scandinavian dialects of Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Northumberland and North Britain. In point of fact only two languages, the Gothic or Teutonic, and the Celtic, or whatever else may be the structure, foundation or admixture of the dialects so named. I have elsewhere stated that “The several dialects of what has been called Celtic might be compared to so many dust heaps to which has been swept the refuse of all other languages from time immemorial,” and I see no reason to change my opinion. It will thus be seen that there is not much room to jumble either races or language. The jumble, if such there be, arises out of the confusion and obscurity of the critic’s own mind. He ridicules the idea of identifying the “Gothic _Magus_” with what he calls the “Celtic _Mac_ or _Maqui_.” I deny that _Mac_ is Celtic, and I identify it with the _Maqui_ of the Ogham inscriptions, because I think there are good grounds for believing that Oghams and runes were equally the work of the Northmen, although Lord Southesk, who has made these remains a special study, differs from me in opinion. There is certainly an uncommon outside resemblance between the two words. It is however, satisfactory to know that his Lordship is in substantial agreement