s. 186. A view, however, different from these, and one disconnecting the Lowland Scotch from the English and Anglo-Saxon equally, is what may be called the _Pict_ doctrine. Herein it is maintained that the Lowland _Scotch is derived from the Pict, and that the Picts were of Gothic_ origin. The reasoning upon these matters is to be found in the Dissertation upon the Origin of the Scottish Language prefixed to Jamieson's Etymological Dictionary: two extracts from which explain the view which the author undertakes to combat:-- _a._ "It is an opinion which, after many others, has been pretty generally received, and, perhaps, almost taken for granted, that the language spoken in the Lowlands of {126} Scotland is merely a corrupt dialect of the English, or at least of the Anglo-Saxon." _b._ "It has generally been supposed that the Saxon language was introduced into Scotland in the reign of Malcolm Canmore by his good queen and her retinue; or partly by means of the intercourse which prevailed between the inhabitants of Scotland and those of Cumberland, Northumberland, Westmoreland, and Durham, which were held by the Kings of Scotland as fiefs of the crown of England. An English writer, not less distinguished for his amiable disposition and candour than for the cultivation of his mind, has objected to this hypothesis with great force of argument." s. 187. Now, as against any such notion as that involved in the preceding extracts, the reasoning of the learned author of the Scottish Dictionary may, perhaps, be valid. No such view, however, is held, at the present moment, by any competent judge; and it is doubtful whether, in the extreme way in which it is put forward by the opponent of it, it was ever maintained at all. Be this, however, as it may, the theory which is opposed to it rests upon the following positions-- 1. That the Lowland Scotch were Picts. 2. That the Picts were Goths. In favour of this latter view the chief reasons are-- 1. That what the Belgae were the Picts were also. 2. That the Belgae were Germanic. Again-- 1. That the natives of the Orkneys were Picts. 2. That they were also Scandinavian. So that the Picts were Scandinavian Goths. From whence it follows that--assuming what is true concerning the Orkneys is true concerning the Lowland Scotch--the Lowland Scotch was Pict, Scandinavian, Gothic, and (as such) more or less Belgic. For the non-Gothic character of the Picts see the researches of Mr. Garnett, as given in s. 139, as well as a paper--believed to be from the same author--in the Quarterly Review for 1834. {127} For the position of the Belgae, see Chapter IV.