" Scotland," wrote Mr. G. M. Thomson, " is a
victory for Celtic civilization," and that is very much the opinion of Mr. Donald A. Mackenzie, whose Scotland : The Ancient Kingdom (Blackie, 155.) brings the history of that curious racial blend of peoples down to the year 1295. How curiously blended is evidenced by the typical Scots name of MacAulay, which is really Norse in origin and means the son of Olaf. No serious student of history or archaeology will deny the strong impress on Scotland of Celtic cultural influence, but is it the predominant impress ? Mr. Mackenzie goes so far as to say that even Scotland's Sabbatarianism is Celtic in origin. This note can but raise the question. For a fuller discussion of it the reader is referred to Mr. Mackenzie's book, which gives a good popular account of the building-up of a more or less unified kingdom, culminating in Scotland's so-called Golden Age, which came to an end shortly before Mr. Mackenzie's date-limit, and has not yet returned.
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