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Tribes Past and Present By Sarah Rooke, Archdruidess, Berengaria Order.
A survey some years ago called 'Genetic and Population Studies in Wales', (University of Cardiff, 1986), yielded some important data with regards to our ancestors and genetics in relation to blood groups. There were three main findings: Firstly the B gene which being the eldest, is found on the moors and in area of some megalithic significance and is rare. The gene is different compared with the same blood group of the Far East, and would therefore be part of the Welsh indigenous people. Secondly, the O gene which is more commonly occurring in central and northern Wales and is like that of the Goidelic Celts, who were dark-haired. Similar genetic frequencies can be found amongst the peoples of the Caucasus, the Mediterranean and North Africa, like the Berbers and Basques. And thirdly, the A gene which is found in southern Wales and interestingly, also Cornwall and Brittany. However, those subject to Flemish settlers in these regions in the Middle Ages (not Viking as was thought), but is also of a higher occurrence than the B gene, thereby relating to the Brythonic Celts, who were fair haired. This would then give evidence of the immigrations of the O and A genes into Wales at the time of the diffusions of the early Celts.
Globally, the distribution of the O gene tends to be peripheral and is the most common at 46%. It is found mainly in the north-east Europe (England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Iceland) and also south-west Africa, Australia, North , South and Central America. The B gene is mainly found in eastern Europe, India and Asia, among the Mongols and Oriental races, but is rare at 9%. And the A gene is mainly in Scandinavia, central Europe, Australia and North America at 42%. But the rarest blood group is AB at 3%. however, blood tests on Inca and Egyptian royal mummies in the British Museum both showed traces of the A gene, which was totally unusual to where they should show the presence of the O gene compared to the rest of their relative populations. Coincidence, or is it all an 'X-Fire'? What is going on here?
Murry Hope, in 'Atlantis: Myth or Reality?' puts forward the hypothesis that Atlantis is the answer to these genetic polymorphism's. The Frisian 'Oera linda Book' makes mention of the three founders or mothers of the Human race being black, yellow and white. Lyda's people were predominantly O, Finda's people were B and Frya's people were A respectively. The Frisians called their homeland 'Atland'. This is also comparable to the Mayan 'Aztlan', as recorded in the Popul Yu.
What conclusions can we draw from this? There is a theory that the A rhesus-negative factor is somehow connected to the royalty and the priesthood of Atlantis. Currently, 85% of the planet is rhesus positive and 15% rhesus negative. The Basques, Berbers and Mayans all carry the rhesus-negative factor, that is also seen to be linked to Cro-Magnon man. There are other schools of thought on this, but for clarity and brevity we shall keep to the basic facts. The Atlanteans would surely have been multi-racial if they lived on such a large continent, if we are to believe Plato and what other writers have written on the subject. Murry Hope sees the ruling classes as being fair, freckled and blue-eyed, which would accord with the descriptions ot the colourings for the Egyptian Isis and her family. The other main race was auburn, olive-skinned and green-eyed slightly Mu-an type, whom must have settled there after the inundation of Mu and prior to the sinking of Atlantis. In later times, there was also an influx of people from the black and yellow races to their shores. Interestingly, Murry remembers the Atlanteans as being slightly Mongolian in appearance, with high cheekbones and slanted eyes for both the red and fair haireds, (though the Mu-ans had slightly straighter eyes and backward sloping foreheads). They were very tall, thin people, some seven feet high. During the Leonine Age, when Atlantis opened up its doors to world trade, the O group peoples like the Basques and Berbers intermarried with the native Atlanteans, thus planting the A gene into their own gene-pool. Therefore, anyone with the A and O gene could claim Atlantean or Cro-Magnon ancestry, for did not the Atlanteans colonise other parts of the globe after the Flood and when their continent finally sank? It bears something to think about! Perhaps the proposed Cenome Project may shed further light on our genetic origins if it is allowed to go ahead.
Leaving our Atlantean heritage aside, it is also interesting to correlate the information regarding the distribution of the Celtic tribes. The most data we have of this was recorded when the Romans invaded Britain, mapped the country and renamed it 'Britannia'. The main tribes in Scotland were the Picti mainly in the Highlands and the Caledonian Confederacy mainly in the Grampians. Also, the Damnonii and Novantae are mainly in the Boarders and Lothian. These are then separated from the rest of the Roman Empire by Hadrian's Wall.
In Wales, there is the Din Lligwy clan mainly at Anglesey (Mona), the Deliangli mainly at Clywd and also the Ordivices mainly in Gwynedd. Also, the Demetae are found mainly in dyfed, and the Silures mainly in Glamorgan. In England, we have the Carvetii mainly in Cumbria, though the north is mainly dominated by the Brigantes, with the Setantii mainly by the Mersey. The Corieltauvi are the main East Midlands tribe from Trent to Nene. In Humberside, the Parisi are the main tribe. In Cheshire, the Cornovii are the main tribe. The Dobunni with their Uffington White Horse dominate the Cotswolds from Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. And in the areas surrounding Londinium (London) and above the Thames, the Catuvellauni are the main tribe. We also have the Iceni found mainly in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The Trinovantes with Camulodunum (Colchester) are mainly in Essex and Suffolk. The Cantii are mainly in Kent, and the Regni tribe with Butser are mainly in Hampshire and Sussex. The Atrebates can be found mainly below the Thames like in Berkshire; with the Belgae by the Mendips, from Avon and parts of Somerset and Maiden Castle. The Dumnonii are mainly in Devon and Cornwall with Tintagel. In Ireland there is the tribes of Ulster at Emain-Macha, Connaught at Crach, Meath at Kells and Tara, as well as Munster and Leinster. There is also the tribes of the Diriada and Dea-fiatach.
The early Celtic tribes were not a single race, but a collection of tribes or clans, that all displayed certain common characteristics. Each had a chieftain and their priesthood, the Druids, and their warriors that were spread throughout the Celtic world. The earliest reference to the Celts occurs in Greek literature from 500 BCE. By then, the Celts had migrated form their own native lands of Southern Germany and Bohemia (the Hallstatt Culture), and were already inhabiting a wide are in Europe, like Gaul in France, Iberia in Spain, Ireland and Britain. By the fourth century BCE, they had diffused into Italy, the Alps, Switzerland (the La Tene Culture) and across the Danube. By the third century BCE, they had expanded even far afield as Thrace and Galatia in Asia Minor.
Some of the Celtic tribes like the Regni readily took on the Roman way of life, as writer Guy de la Bedoyere has said, simply it offered them a far better one compared to how they had been living. Some did not, like the Iceni, and rebelled against their new masters. However, the Romans were tolerant of the native religions of places the conquered, and many Celtic deities became fused with some Roman ones, like Sulis-Minerva at Bath (Aquae Sulis).
The Romans offered the Britons luxurious villas with central heating, grand temples with their pillars, and hot relaxing baths, so that that it must have seemed like a gift from the Gods. As many Britons lived in round wattle and daub huts or simple stonework houses, who can blame them if the chance ws offered to swap it for something else? There is a danger here of imagining that the Celtic Britons were a primitive, backward race, who lived out an agricultural life on their lands. This is not the true picture. As much as though the Celts were close to nature and farming, they were also skilled artists and storytellers. The fine craftsmanship produced by the La Tene Culture rivals anything like what the Romans, Greeks or the Egyptians made. The Bardic tales that have come sown to us in 'The Mabinogion' constitutes a fine repertoire that features in the British mythology.
Though the Celtic race had spread far, it was unable to maintain its staying power in those places where they settled in an ever changing world. In time, the Celts diffused even more. In Britain many were pushed further back into Wales, Scotland and Cornwall to preserve their way of life under the Romans. The advent of Christianity meant that many old customs and traditions were being swept away or replaced by new ones, though they survived in Ireland well into the Middle Ages. The revival in Celtica has sparked off a new interest of forgotten ways and beliefs. Modern bards, like Enya and Clannad, and craftsman with their Celtic designs, are helping to renew this revival in these matters. This is true of the modern Druid movement, who seek to revive the old religion and its beliefs for todays world. What is present is now past, and what is past is sometimes the future. For we are the new Celtic tribes of tomorrow, with our roots going back to our ancestors. They live on in though our genes and in our memories of what was, is and shall be.
Some Suggestions for Further Reading:
Celtic Britain - John Rhys Sacred World of the Celts - Nigel Pennick The Celts: Artists and Storytellers Practical Atlantean Magic - Murry Hope Distribution of Human Blood Groups and other Polymorphisms - Oxford University
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