THE RACES OF THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS. (To THE EDITOR OF
THE " SPECTATOR.") SIR,—As Colonel Melville truly observes, there are two dis- tinct types of mankind still inhabiting the northern parts of Scotland. The. smaller type, there can be no doubt, is descended from the pre-Celtic inhabitants, who were at one time spread over the whole of the British Isles. They are na.v probably most numerous in the north of Scotland, which, as Professor Rhys points out, has never been fully dominated by the Celtic races. They were a small, dark race with a dolieo- cephalic index. The Celtic races, on the other band, were fair and tall. In their anatomical characteristics they bore a great resemblance to the Scandinavian races, and in both the index was brachycephalic. This resemblance has led to a great deal of misunderstanding. The north of Scotland was continually being invaded by the Scandinavian races, and this accounts for the large proportion of this typo in the Highlands. On the other hand, the Orkney and Shetland Islands were never penetrated by the Celtic races at all. Celtic relics there are very rare. The Scandinavian races came in direct succession to the pre-Celtic race (commonly called the Iberian), and they never spoke a Celtic language as they did, and still do, in the mainland of Scotland, viz., the Gaelic. Till about 150 years ago the inhabitants of these islands were still speaking a Scan- dinavian language, and the physical features of the Orkney Islanders are quite strikingly Scandinavian in character.—I am, Sir, &c., J. FOSTER PALMER.
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