Picts were not Gaels

The Picts were definitely not Gaels, they spoke a different language and had different customs. Their origins are unknown, although there are many theories, and the Picts themselves had their myths and traditions which compounded their mystery. One theory is that they were an earlier form of Celt, others contend they were a hybridization of the beaker people and the earlier aboriginal peoples. Still others feel they came from Norway, which would account for their pale skin. Another theory is that they were the early "Chaldees" or Galat" of Eastern Asia Minor. Their western elements seem to have retained their title of "Khaltis " or "Galati" or "Gal," when in the Old Stone Age, they penetrated westward into Gaul on the Atlantic and formed there the Kelts or Celtæ of Gaul, and the Gauls and Gaul are actually called "Galatæ" and "Galat" by Strabo. History records; At a later period, the Sarmatians invaded Gaul from the Rhine and Switzerland and drove out the Picts. The name "Celt" does not appear in the fragmentary surviving history of ancient Britain under that exact spelling, it, nevertheless, is represented in its dialectic variant of "Caled" and "Culdees," coincidently the title of the Pictish mission of Columba. Recent dna tests have proven the Picts were closely related to the Basques of northern Spain. If it is determined some day where the Basques came from, then we will know where the Picts came from also. This relationship had been suspected for some time as it was known that the two groups were uniquely non Indo-European. What is in a name? The north of Briton (today's Scotland) was called Caledonia by the Romans. This name was derived from the Celtic "Caoillaoin", signifying "the men of the forest", a name which was given to the northern inhabitants by their more southerly neighbours, on account of the forest nature of the north. Later, Scotland was referred to as "Albann." In Celtic, Al or Alba means high, whereas "Inn" means large island. The Pictish and later Scottish kings referred to themselves as "Kings of Alba" up until the Norman usurpation of the Scottish throne after MacBeth. As for the inhabitants, the Romans first called them "Caledonians," then "Picti." Pict referred to the habit of the Picts to paint themselves in times of battle to present a more fearsome image to their enemies. When the Romans first ventured to Briton, this painting habit was also widespread amongst the more southern Celts but as they became domiciled into the Roman culture, this cultural activity was extinguished. It remained prevalent in the north. The term no doubt means "painted people" in Latin. Romans reported the Picts called themselves "Kaltis". When the Picts became Christians, they adopted the Roman term "Pict." The Scots, on the other hand, were a branch of the Irish Celts or Gaels. Ireland was divided between the earlier Cruithne (Picts, who migrated from Scotland around 200AD) and later arriving Goidels (Gaels), who were constantly at each others' throats. As Ireland never experienced a Roman invasion, it was a safe haven for raiders who plundered Roman provinces in England and Wales. All Celts in western continental Europe were subdued by the Romans. However, the Irish branch maintained their cultural development free of the Roman yoke. After the Romans left Britain in about AD453, the Romanized (subdued) Gaels of England became easy targets for the fierce Scotic sea raiders. Scotic is related to the term Scythic and was pronounced the same in some areas of Britain. It is an interesting observation that the German word for both Scottish and Scythian is "Scutten", as the 6th century Saxon invaders of Alba spoke a form of lower German. Recent dna tests have proven the Scots are closely related to the Berbers of North Africa, whose own ancestry is still also unknown. It is theorized that the heartland of the Celts was transalpine area in what is now Austria in the forth and fifth centuries B.C., when they achieved their greatest prosperity and expansion across Europe. They subjugated all those before them from Spain to the eastern Steppes, and certainly enjoyed the more temperate climate of western Europe, compared to the more severe climate of their Asiatic fatherland. They pillaged Rome, invaded Persia and Macedonia, and developed contacts with Greeks, and have been: officially recorded by many distinguished historians as having originated from westward flowing Scythians, either through merchants or entire clans fleeing the marauding Sarmatians, themselves an eastern fringe element of the Scythian culture. ~Stephen Haughie