Lastly, we find that the Celtic tongues, as spoken to-day, contain elements of grammar and syntax, and not a few words too, which divide them off sharply from those groups of languages to which they are in other respects akin. Also it is believed by some that non-Celtic languages, such as Pictish, survived in this region until relatively late times, while it is well-known that a primitive non-Celtic tongue, the Basque, is still spoken in the fastnesses of the Pyrenees. It is important, therefore, if we are to have before us all the factors which enter into the problem, that we should inquire what people were here before the first Celts arrived, and that we should make ourselves to some extent familiar with all the different races and cultures which preceded the Celtic invaders. If we pass across England and Wales from east to west, and the same is almost as true if we cross Scotland, we find, first of all that the population is mainly tall and fair, while as we proceed we come across elements which are darker and shorter, until in Wales and the West Highlands we find the majority of the people are small brunettes of slender build. This dark type is also to be met with in Ireland, especially in the west, the part of that island in which the Erse language has best survived. It is because the Celtic tongues, whether _qu_ or _p_, are spoken chiefly by people of this small brunette type, that it is frequently called the Celtic race, and yet all the evidence of ancient authorities goes to show that 2,000 or 2,500 years ago the Celts were looked upon as a tall, fair people.[1] Here is another difficulty which must be taken into consideration as we make our inquiries, for no solution can be considered sound which cannot, without straining the evidence, answer all these questions.