Celt Question

[James]

Sorry, I was not trying to offer an exhaustive list: rather an idea.

It is all quite fascinating, for pundits are still arguing which tribes were Teutonic and which Celtic.

Too there is only one clan which claims a Celtic name-though many localities in it's ancestral lands boast of Norse/Teutonic names.

However there is something else happening at the present time-and that is the search for an identity: thus people who regardless of their actual racial stock, are in fact claiming this or that identity. Possibly this is a result of globalisation and people finding it hard to identify with major say national groupings-are looking for something smaller with which they can claim an identity. Self actualisation at work.

Thus I know here in the UK families who fifty years ago would have said they were British-are now looking to say Cornwall or Wales.

Now to get lynched, at a guess I'd say that many familes who in America as say first and second generation Americans would have cleaved strongly to their new identity, are now looking to link it with some sort of Scots-Irish or whatever roots.

The great joke being that as global groupings get larger-communications improve-and in Europe anyway it can be hard to tell at a glance which country one is in: main shopping centres being full of international names, and people dressing alike. The other side of the coin is this search for an identity that is not lost in the mass.

James

[highlander_Daz]

Here celtic is a generic term for the inhabitants of Scotland, ireland, wales and of course the Isle of man. However its more likely to be used here to describe someones apperance "celtic looking" red hair (or strawberry blonde as some ladies prefer) pale skin and lots of freckles ie Alex mcLeish, Gordon Strachan.

Its also the name of the worlds greatest football team.

[Archangel]

Its also the name of the worlds greatest football team.

your foopball is North America's soccer. North American football is a game where the oval "ball" is carried, rarely kicked, and play consist of players lining up facing each other, running into the opponent, falling down and starting over again in 10 - 15 second spurts. Gains of yards are celebrated, touchdown is not touched down but carried over and sealed with a kick through the extended goal posts. It's very much a trench warfare sport of which I'm obviously not a fan.

[Archangel]

I've had the same question here at a Ren Faire. I had to explain that the celts weren't a particular ethnicity but rather a collection of peoples who shared related languages.

That just made me think of a conversation I had w/ a lady while working in Australia a few years back. (She had married a man from Belfast who was working for an American company, so they had spent a fare bit of time in both the Isles and the States.) She commented that the difference between Australia and NewZealand was that Aussies were "south-seas celts" whereas Kiwis were "south-sea pommies". LOL I don't know how much stock to put in that, but it did make me wonder if a good bit of American character development was interplay between celtic and English influences rather than a dominance of one over the other. Probably something someone could trace using a study of dialect. Be interesting to read if someone has ever done it.

It's been done: Albion's Seed by Fischer. It's a large university level text, fairly fascinating read. It's become a classic and there are a few academic challenges to it.

[Rob]

However its more likely to be used here to describe someones apperance "celtic looking" red hair (or strawberry blonde as some ladies prefer) pale skin and lots of freckles ie Alex mcLeish, Gordon Strachan.

highlander_Daz,

That is not so much a description of the 'Celts' as a description of a typical Scot. For instance, the Welsh are much more likely to be dark haired and of swarthy appearance. But even in Scotland there are wide variations, and the red hair and freckles may be due to (non-Celtic) Viking genetic influence.

Rob

[dano9672]

highlander_Daz,

That is not so much a description of the 'Celts' as a description of a typical Scot. For instance, the Welsh are much more likely to be dark haired and of swarthy appearance. But even in Scotland there are wide variations, and the red hair and freckles may be due to (non-Celtic) Viking genetic influence.

Rob

This was my general thought. Being "Heinz 57" (i.e. a mongrel with many different origins) I've noticed that my Scottish relatives, the Forsyth, are dark haired and hollow eyed folk as was my grandfather who was Welsh. My reddish hair and fair complection were inherited from my German ancestors.

[Richland]

Great stuff in this thread.
What is the universal pronounciation of the word: Celt, Celtic, etc
is it "Celtic" with a K sound or Celtic with an S Sound?
We have the basketball team in Boston, who are the S sound pronounciation.
But i hear more and more the K sound in use. is there a diference, or should we all be using the K sound as proper English.
Thanks, Richland
No question is stupid right?

[Iolaus]

The team is pronounced with an "S" sound; as far as I know, all other usages of the word are pronounced with a "K" sound.

[highlander_Daz]

Rob said

"That is not so much a description of the 'Celts' as a description of a typical Scot. For instance, the Welsh are much more likely to be dark haired and of swarthy appearance. But even in Scotland there are wide variations, and the red hair and freckles may be due to (non-Celtic) Viking genetic influence."

I am fully aware of that Rob I was simply stating the fact that the stereotypical "celt" has red hair and freckles, Scotland isnt inhabited by red haired "clones", however it does have the higest proportion of red haired people I thing 13% of the population has red hair, I have brown/black hair, but if I grow a beard it if flecked with red. As a frequent visitor to Wales I can confirm that not everyone has red hair, in fact red hair is rarely seen.


Archangel said

"your football is North America's soccer. North American football is a game where the oval "ball" is carried, rarely kicked, and play consist of players lining up facing each other, running into the opponent, falling down and starting over again in 10 - 15 second spurts."

I must confess to being baffled by the Rules of US football, however "Football" here is rarely called "Soccer" a word derived from the phrase "association football".

when describing a race or person the c is hard like Keltic and the FOOTBALL team is soft sound Seltic. However this may not be correct

http://www.medievalscotland.org/post...icseltic.shtml

[Manu]

Rob is right. The Celts were more dark haired and dyed their hair with natural juices. In my opinion, being Celtic is more a matter of culture and not a race for the Celts occupied most of Western Europe and the Brittish Isles. So all in all, most Europeans have the same background up until the fourth fifth century when the Vikings and other germanic tribes invaded Rome and other parts of Europe. So in my opinion, anybody can be celtic for it is a culture, although it would kind of hard to live your life like a true Celt now days.