Celts descend from Spanish

[Watermusic]

"....and was said to be brought to England from Spain by John of Gaunt (1340-1389)...."
Except John of Gaunt must have brought it back from Portugal - he was fighting against the Castilians, in an attempt to secure the Castilian throne for himself, as his second marriage was to a Castilian princess, who he considered the heiress.
The Portuguese were fighting the Castilians to secure their border.
Later his daughter Phillipa married King John I of Portugal.

[Gadget]

Well, here's a new one that I've just heard from my neice!

We both have a rare blood 'condition' - Factor V Leiden, a clotting factor which is of little consequnce except in pregnancy or long haul flights. It's pretty rare in this country but apparently there is a very high incidence amongst the Basque population 

Gadget

[Hackstaple]

It is untrue that Welsh has any similarity to Basque - the languages could hardly be more different.
One theory of the Basques is that they were Etrurian fugitives from Roman oppression. That may just be a theory of conveneince since no writings in Etrurian have ever been found Rome vigorously suppressed Etrurian culture. Later Spain became mostly a Roman Province and the Basques may have fled again to the North of the country and spread into present-day France.
there are a great many similarities between Breton and Welsh including folk music and folklore.
Language gave quite a lot of words to French - such as buerre - Welsh barra - butter; ecole - Welsh ysgol - school; eglise - Welsh eglwys - church but many, many more. No even close similarity to these words exists in Basque as I understand it. Mind you I am not a Basque linguist.
Professors have some obligation to produce new work and bring funds into their universities. For a sufficient sum a Professor can be found to say that coffee is bad for with lots of proof, and another to say it is proven to be very good for you.
DNA theories are the latest science fiction - believe little about racial origins that you hear - they are mostly based on poor statistical method and fuelled by public willingness to be gulled. Only a couple of years ago they "proved" that everyone is descended from an "Eve" who lived in Tanganyika many years ago. Then that most of us descend from the Tartars, now from Iberian Celts, Basques etc etc. 

[Mobo]

 

Until the 1700's, hardly anyone in Britain or Ireland thought of themselves, or their ancestors, as 'Celtic'. Ever since the period of the Roman Empire, 'Celtic' had referred only to the Ancient Gauls of France and related Continental peoples.

The concept that the Scots, Welsh, Irish and some other groups in the British Isles may be called 'Celtic' only evolved during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. So just how far this is a rediscovery of a forgotten past, or simply a modern invention, we will never really know. 

 

[Arranroots]

Lots of truth in what Hackstaple says, but the Welsh for butter is "menyn" as far as I know?

I am speculating but isn't "barra brith" speckled bread"?

Edit: bara=bread

 

[Hackstaple]

My slip is showing - I was thinking in 3 languages and thought of barra menyn. I believe the latest spelling is bara.

[Hackstaple]

This is an interesting little article from the Web:

"But analysis of the language has revealed some certainties.  Do not be confused by the loan words from neighboring languages because Euskara is nothing like Spanish or French because it remains the only non-Indo-European language in western Europe.  It precedes these latter-day derivatives of Latin, the language of the Romans, by--at least--3,000 years.  A form of Euskara or Basque, therefore, has been in western Europe longer than any other current language.  That much is certain, but the question remains as to where it came from."

[If Only]

Hi all,

I have read all the posts on this subject and can't understand why so many are surprised....when I was a boy my teacher told us that the Celts had come from Southern Spain.

By the way nobody has commented on the fact that Professor Sykes gave the name Oisin to one of the groups!

Oisín was the son of the hero Fionn Mac Cumhaill in Irish mythology......coincidence?

If Only

[Mowsehowse]

Further to the Morris dancing angle....
As a member of a Border Morris side, I know there are several different "genres" of Morris dancing.  e.g. clog dancing is radically different from the Border style using sticks.

Can anyone supply references to the source of evidence "proving" that Morris dancing is a form of dancing by historic Moorish peoples please?