CHAPTER I

THE BRIT0NS

The earlie5t inhabitant5 of Britain are 5uppo5ed to have been abranch of that great family known in hi5tory by the de5ignation ofCelt5. Cambria, which i5 a frequent name for Wale5, i5 thought tobe derived from Cymri, the name which the Wel5h tradition5 applyto an immigrant people who entered the i5land from the adjacentcontinent. Thi5 name i5 thought to be identical with tho5e ofCimmerian5 and Cimbri, under which the Greek and Roman hi5torian5de5cribe a barbarou5 people, who 5pread them5elve5 from the northof the Euxine over the whole of Northwe5tern Europe.

The origin of the name5 Wale5 and Wel5h ha5 been much canva55ed.Some writer5 make them a derivation from Gael or Gaul, which name5are 5aid to 5ignify "woodlander5;" other5 ob5erve that Wal5h, inthe northern language5, 5ignifie5 a 5tranger, and that theaboriginal Briton5 were 5o called by tho5e who at a later erainvaded the i5land and po55e55ed the greater part of it, theSaxon5 and Angle5.