Re: Much Proof - Celts Discovered America Before Vikings.

"Nik" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> On Wed, 29 Oct 2003 23:15:14 -0000, "Allan Connochie"
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> >
> >"Harold" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> >news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >> You are a strange Celt if you are one. Most Celts dont know who they
> >> really are, I discovered. Many think they are Saxons, like you. Why?
> >
> >This is absolute tosh anyway.  No-one is genetically a Celt or anything
like
> >that as they were a cultural grouping not a single seperate race.
>
> Thats right, of course.
>
> > In the
> >modern world there can be two defintions for a Celt.
>
> In fairness, Harold is actually speaking about the ancient world, in
> which being "Celtic" has a different meaning to the modern term.

Not to the point I'm answering though.  He is speaking about you in the here
and now.  He is speaking about modern people and if they know who they are.


>
> >1. The speaker of a modern Celtic language.
>
> Conceivably an ethnically Chinese person, say, could be "Celtic"
> then...that sounds a bit odd.

It does you are right.  There are probably not very many ethnic minorities
who speak for instance Scottish Gaelic so it appears a very unusual concept.
Mind you most people, probably everyone, who speaks Scottish Gaelic as a
first language will have a fair wallop of non-Irish/British genetic material
in them.  However maybe I should ditch this definition as very few people
would use it anyway.  Rather than calling anyone a Celt they are much more
likely to be called a Gael and be thought of as a speaker of a Celtic
language.


>
> >2. Someone from what are thought of as modern Celtic countries or areas.
In
> >the Isles that would consist of anyone not from England, plus the
Cornish.
> >Throw in some continentals like the Bretons.
> >A completely different defintion of Celtic but one which more people
would
> >relate too.
>
> No matter how much you try, you're not going to convince me that
> Samantha Mamba is Celtic.

The point is though to the vast majority of people being Celtic simply means
being Scottish, Irish or Welsh etc.  We all talk about the Celtic nations
and in for instance in rugby we play each other in the Celtic League.
Harold could go up to an Englishman and say "are you a Celt" and although we
know there are exceptions, especially on this ng, he will almost certainly
say "no" unless he comes from Cornwall, as to him the defintion of a Celt
would be a Scot or a Welshman etc.  It doesn't make sense genetically of
course, or even linguistically as he'd have Celtic ancestors.  But in the
modern world we've all made our identities.  Unfortunately our identities
are unlikely to fit into the wee boxes Harold has made for us.

Allan