Cat-huil. Mr Laing, in this, as well as in many other articles of Gaelic erudition, has been misled. He must suffer himself to be informed, that Cathula is pronounced, in the Gaelic, Ca-huil, and signifies, "the Eye "of Battle." An objection, of seemingly greater consequence, is drawn from Ossian's assigning a name of Celtic etymology (Carrick-thura) to the palace of the king of the Orkneys, "where, at this day," he adds, "all the names of places are Norwegian or "Gothic." But, it may be asked, whether the inhabitants of these isles were Goths, and their language the Gothic, in the second and third centuries? or, if they were, is it not most probable, that the names, by which places and persons, in the Orkneys, were designated by the Caledonians, were of Celtic origin; and imposed, by the Caledonians, according to the distinctive characters of the places or persons, in the usual

manner of early nations, and of early times? In the writings of the ancients of Greece and Rome, we know, that nothing was more common than to denominate places and persons, not by the names given them in their own country or language, but by names constructed according to the genius of the language into which they were transferred. Thus, Ctesias, a Greek, in his Assyrian history,-borrowed from records, which he found in the court of Persia,uniformly gives to the kings, not their Assyrian names, which he found in the record, but names of Greek etymology, which he considered as of similar import. Diodorus Siculus, in his account of Egypt, gives to the heroes of that country, not their Egyptian names, but Greek names, which he considered as bearing the same signification. This practice, so common amongst ancient writers, seems to arise naturally

from that state of society, in which denominations are given to individuals, which are designed to be descriptive of their peculiar qualities.

SECTION II.

Of the State of Society in the Ages in which Fingal and Ossian are supposed to have flourished.-Estimate of the Character and Manners of the Caledonians, by Dion Cassius, Herodian, Tacitus, Elian, &c.-Druidical Institutions.-Silence concerning Religion.-Domestic circumstances.

THE Greeks and Romans, in the pride of superior civilization, bestowed the epithet of barbarous on all other nations. It is no wonder, then, that the Caledonians, a people still in the first stages of society, were subjected to that appellation. Yet, before we proceed, let us endeavour to form a fair estimate of what is reported of their character and manners, by the most respectable authors of Greece and Rome.

Of all the ancients, who have given us an account of the manners of our Caledonian ancestors, Dion Cassius and Herodian have drawn the most unfavourable pictures. Yet what is the amount of all that Dion advan

ces? He tells us, "that the country is rug"ged and bleak; that the inhabitants sub"sist chiefly by hunting, and pasturage, and

on fruits; that they are addicted to plun

"der; that they fight from cars; that their

infantry is firm in action, and rapid, either "in pursuit or flight; that their arms are a "shield, a dart, and a dagger, with a ball of "metal at the point to astonish the enemy "with the sound, when it is brandished.”* Dion farther bears witness to their hardiness in enduring hunger, and fatigue, and cold.

* Tacitus, a far more respectable authority, in point of acuteness, as well as opportunity of information, tells us, that they wore very large swords, (ingentes gladii.)--Agric. c, 36.

B