Caledonians

“ It appears to us that all the conclusions which it is safe to draw from the few facts stated by the contemporary Roman historians are, that at the commencement of the Christian era Caledonia proper, or the Highlands, was inhabited by a people or peoples apparently considerable in number, and who in all probability had been settled there for a considerable time, part of whom at least were known to the Romans by the name of Caledonians. ”

“ Yet even in Ptolemy we have an indication either of the importance of the Caledonians among their neighbours or of the occasional use of the word as a general name for all the northern tribes. Twice he gives the Deucaledonian Ocean as bounding Britain on the north, that is, after the necessary correction for his mistake in making the whole of the northern part of the island trend to the east instead of to the north, as washing the shores of modern Scotland on the west. ”

“ The New Caledonians are nearly black in color, and in general form and appearance bear some resemblance to the aborigines of Tasmania. They are, however, better looking, and wear altogether a less savage aspect, probably on account of the comparatively regular supplies of food which they can obtain. They are of ordinary stature, but one man was seen who measured rather more than six feet in height. ”

“ For our knowledge of the customs and religion of the New Caledonians we depend chiefly on the evidence of a Catholic missionary, Father Lambert, who has worked among them since 1856 and has published a valuable book on the subject.519 To be exact, his information applies not to the natives of New Caledonia itself, but to the inhabitants of a group of small islands, which lie immediately off the northern extremity of the island and are known as the Belep group. Father Lambert began to labour among the Belep at a time when no white man had as yet resided among them. ”

“ The Caledonians were the inhabitants of the Highlands, the termination dun expressing the Celtic for a hill, fort, stronghold; the Scots were the invaders from Scotia, who appropriated the Hebrides and the Western Islands; whereas the Lowlanders were the Picts, so called from their description by the Romans, picti, painted men. These Picts were eventually subdued by the Caledonians and Britons from their respective sides. The Gaelic designation of what is now Ireland was Ierne, indicative of the “western isle.” Ireland is [39] commonly styled The Emerald Isle owing to its fresh verdure. ”

“ From the state of their industries, in some respects the rudest, in others amongst the most advanced in Melanesia, it may be inferred that after their arrival the New Caledonians, like the Tasmanians, the Andamanese, and some other insular groups, remained for long ages almost completely secluded from the rest of the world. Owing to the poverty of the soil the struggle for food must always have been severe. ”

“ Although by nature the men possess thick and stiff beards, these hirsute ornaments are generally removed, the hair being pulled up by the roots by means of a pair of shells used in lieu of tweezers.
Architecture among the New Caledonians is infinitely superior to that of Australia, and in some respects almost equals that of New Zealand. The houses are conical in shape, and often reach from ten to eleven feet in height in the middle. ”

“ The New Caledonians also make a drought by means of a disc-shaped stone with a hole in it. At the moment when the sun rises, the wizard holds the stone in his hand and passes a burning brand repeatedly into the hole, while he says: “I kindle the sun, in order that he may eat up the clouds and dry up our land, so that it may produce nothing.”​ [1100] When the sun rises behind clouds—a rare event in the bright sky of southern Africa—the Sun clan of the Bechuanas say that he is grieving their heart. All work stands still, and all the food of the previous day is given to matrons or old women. ”

“ Ptolemy gives a list of tribe and place-names. But hardly one can be identified with any approach to certainty, except in the extreme south. Nor has any certainty been reached about the ethnological problems of the population, the Aryan or non-Aryan character of the Picts and the like. That the Caledonians, like the later Scots, sometimes sought their fortunes in the south, is proved by a curious tablet of about A.D. 220, found at Colchester, dedicated to an unknown equivalent of Mars, Medocius, by one “Lossio Veda, nepos [ = kin of] Vepogeni, Caledo.” ”

“ The Roman conquests in this island reached no farther Northward than to that part of Scotland where Stirling and Glasgow are seated. The region beyond was held not worth the conquering: it was inhabited by a barbarous people, called Caledonians and Picts; who, being a rough fierce nation, daily infested the British borders. ”

“ Brittany; the Breton language; from Britain above. Britons poured into France in the fifth and sixth centuries.
Caledonia, northern Scotland (Tacitus) , Gr. Καληδóνιοι (Ptol., etc.) , Lat. Calēdonii (Lucan, Martial, etc.) , O. G. Dun-Callden, Duni-Callen, Dun-Keld, fort of the Caledonians, G. Dùn-Chaillinn; explained by Windisch as from *cald, the root of G. coille, the force being "wood-landers." ”

“ But if we do not find in Derbal the halls of the Celtic and Gothic nations, in which the shell of joy circulated, or the high mounted car in which they rushed to battle, in other respects they greatly resemble those nations, particularly the ancient Caledonians. Like them, they are formed into distinct tribes who have their particular districts and whose chiefs have but a limited authority, excepting in war or affairs of immemorial usage. Like them, they fight with the spear, are often found in the chase, and are fond of music and poetry. ”

“ There's motintain, hill, and dale, in Caledonia,
There's mountain, hill, and dale, in Caledonia,
⁠There's mountain, hill, and dale,
⁠Where lovers tell their tale,
By the bonnie siller streams o' Caledonia.
The twilight hour is sweet in Caledonia,
The twilight hour is sweet in Caledonia,
⁠The twilight hour is sweet,
⁠When fa's the dewy weet,
On the bonnie banks and braes o' Caledonia.
The glens are wild and steep in Caledonia,
The glens are wild and steep in Caledonia,
⁠The glens are wild and steep,
⁠And the ocean's wide and deep,
That encircles thee, my native Caledonia. ”

“ The bick'rin' burns that rowe within
⁠The glens of Caledonia.
The lochs sae peaceful, lone, profound,
The misty mountains tow'ring round,
Whose echoing rocks at eve resound
⁠The songs of Caledonia. ”

“ O'er countries and kingdoms their fury prevail'd,
No arts could appease them, no arms could repel;
But brave Caledonia in vain they assail'd,
As Largs well can witness, and Loncartie tell.
Thus bold, independent, unconquer'd, and free,
Her bright course of glory for ever shall run:
For brave Caledonia immortal must be;
I'll prove it from Euclid as clear as the sun:
Rectangle-triangle, the figure we'll chuse:
The upright is Chance, and old Time is the base ”

“ But for weeks after that strange adventure, they spent a really good time in Scotland, and drew in the dollars too, for above all countries in the world, perhaps, Caledonia is the land of song and poetry. The love of{106} beauty lies deep down at the bottom of each far-northern heart, side by side with sentiment and true patriotism, a flower that can only bloom in a mountain land. ”

“ The natives of New Caledonia are in general of the middle size, we however, saw one who was more than six feet in height, but very ill built. Their hair is woolly; their custom of pulling it up by the roots is very general; but we saw some of them who let their beards grow. The colour of their skin is as dark as that of the inhabitants of Diemen's land. ”

“ My poor brothers in old Caledonia, all who are needy must have a refuge provided for them in another land against their misery, and my dear country must have a colony of her own, for herself alone, somewhere in these seas, where she may find that independence and comfort she so lacks in Europe. ”

“ My native Caledonia!
Though cauld 's the sun that shed's his rays
O'er Scotland's bonnie woods and braes,
Oh, let me spend my latest days
In ancient Caledonia!
My native land! my native land!
Where liberty shall firmly stand,
Where men are brave in heart and hand—
True sons of Caledonia!
[Pg 207] THE EMIGRANT'S FAREWELL.
Land of my fathers, I leave thee in sadness—
Far from my dear native country I roam ”

“ The natives of New Caledonia are said to believe that all evils are caused by a powerful and malignant spirit; hence in order to rid themselves of him they will from time to time dig a great pit, round which the whole tribe gathers. ”

“ Callandar.Here we saw for the first time the really wild and mountainous scenes of Scotland and perceived how very "stern and wild" Caledonia is. Standing on an eminence you see around yon nothing but high hills, craggy precipices and long chains of lofty mountains. Here and there perhaps you see some small village in a valley or some acres of green pasture fields, but beyond them again, eternal mountains and ridges raise their lofty heads to the skies. Meet indeed is this country to nurse a poetic child. ”

“ All the natives of the South-Sea islands, excepting those only which Tasman found on Tonga-Tabboo and Annamocka, (and those perhaps had been informed of what had passed between Le Maire, and the natives of Horne, Cocos, and Traitor's island, some years before,) made some attempt to drive away the strangers who came to visit them. But the people of New Caledonia, at the first sight of us, received us as friends; they ventured to come on board our ship, without the least marks of fear or distrust, and suffered us to ramble freely throughout their country as far as we pleased. ”

“ Little proof, indeed, is required to establish this—if we set aside the opinion, assumed without any investigation of the evidence, that the natives of ancient Caledonia lagged far behind the other races of Northern Europe in the arts of civilisation—for their primitive arts precluded the construction of fleets fitted for the navigation of the intermediate seas, and shut them up to their own native ingenuity. ”

“ The population of Caledonia had already increased from twelve hundred to ten thousand. The riches of the country,—these are the words of a newspaper of that time,—were great beyond imagination. The mania in Scotland rose to the highest point. Munitions of war and implements of agriculture were provided in large quantities. Multitudes were impatient to emigrate to the land of promise.
In August 1699 four ships, with thirteen hundred men on board, were despatched by the Company to Caledonia. The spiritual care of these emigrants was entrusted to divines of the Church of Scotland. ”

“ He shows that, in the 60wedge-like shape attributed to Britain by previous writers, Caledonia was excluded as still unknown to them. In the language put by the historian into the mouth of the Caledonian leader Calgacus, he implies in the strongest manner that the tribes embraced in the designation he usually gives them of inhabitants of Caledonia, were the most northerly of the British nations; that no other people dwelt beyond them ”

“ How would Your Commerce all Your Sons restore,
And they'd seek Home that shun'd that Home before?
With Wealth and People, Happy, Rich and Free,
You'd first Improve the Land, and then the Sea;
Be Strong, be Great, be Rich, be Europe's Fear,
Their War, their Wealth, their Trade, their Honours share.
But let's Retreat, Who can the Scene survey,
And View this Wealth the Neighbour Nations Prey;
What Eye, that's Caledonia's Friend, can see
Her Sons on Shore, and Strangers spread the Sea?
Who can, with Patience, View her People Poor,
And Mines of Wealth snatch'd up at ev'ry Door? ”

“ While these enjoy the Tempests, those the Gold.
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Hail Blest Conjunction, Brittain's last best Hour,
Shall Caledonia to her self restore;
Assert her long neglected Property,
Her Blessing, her Inheritance, the Sea.
In hopes of this, let's land and range the Shore,
And view the Nation that the World calls Poor.
Plenty's a doubtful Word mistook by most,
A modern Term for Luxury and Waste. ”

“ Here, both in the brief geographical description of Britain, chaps. x. and xi., and in the account of Agricola's campaigns, chaps. xxv.–xxxviii., Caledonia is unquestionably Britain north of the Firth of Forth. On turning to the geographer Ptolemy (circa 120 A.D.) , we fail to meet with the term except as the name of one of the many tribes among which he has parcelled out the “Bretannic Island, Albion.” To explain this it is not necessary to assume that Ptolemy was ignorant of the wider acceptation in which Caledonia had recently come to be employed among the Romans. ”

“ At the two extremities of New Caledonia, parallel longitudinal ranges of mountains enclose valleys; for the rest the island consists essentially of confused masses and ranges of mountains, rising to an extreme elevation of 5387 ft., the plains being chiefly the deltas of rivers. The landscape is rich and beautiful, varied with grand rock scenery, the coast-line being broken by numerous small bays, into which flow streams rarely navigable even for short distances, but often skilfully utilized by the natives for irrigation ”

“ New Caledonia, while not without its natural advantages, such as a nearly perfect climate, freedom from reptiles and animal life inimical to man, is not very richly endowed except in unprospected and undeveloped mineral wealth. The island consists of a rugged backbone of mountains clothed with dense forests and grooved with rushing torrents, along whose banks lie the only cultivable ground. ”