Theory that \'Celts\' are a myth

[Ghostmojo]

That is an incredibly simplistic view of the issue. It is also in my view quite misplaced.

Well, it's not just my view, but also that of some of the top Celticists working today. It is a fact that the loudest whinging about the Celts these days comes from English - and mainly English archaeologists (and don't accuse me for prejudice, as I am part English).

Hang on a sec cagwinn - lets' ease off the English a little shall we? Whilst we have our share of revisionists, bigots, xenophobes and every other type of less desirable social component; by and large the English are a pretty tolerant bunch - even upon provacation. Out of the nationalities that make up the UK I would go further (as a generalisation) in suggesting they are perhaps the most accommodating. I know of plenty of Welsh, Scots and Irish people who have made their homes in various parts of England and been welcomed. No problem - no issue. I also know of other examples of English people finding a less than welcome response in the reverse situation. The English are less nationalistic. Having said that of course, new expressions of nationalism (which I don't particularly favour) north and sometimes west of the border have of course made the English start to reassess their own identity. But it is precisely here that we become unstuck - for all of the nationalities - because none of them is pure or so very different. It is a form of backward looking tribalism that draws heavily on myth and aspiration and lightly upon truth and history.

So I don't believe the English are whinging about this at all. I think there is a genuine reassessment going on regarding a subject that has been neglected for a very long time. Nature abhorring a vacuum as it does, allowed all sorts of misconceptions and half-baked truths to flood into academic research from the 1700s onwards. That was at the dawn of the British imperial age. Now in the post-empire period we can start to look into all of this once again, with better tools and more open minds - and with a lot less agendas and political points to score. I'm completely open to discovering a more realistic truth (if that is possible) but I believe many who are attracted to celticism are not. For a very long time there has been the growth of this pseudo-mythical celtic past which is very attractive with its swirly, knotted artistic patterns, folk music and legends of the bards etc. It has got to the point now where almost all folk music heard in the UK is immediately dubbed 'celtic' - when much of it is not. The word Celtic has become a catch-all term. What does it really mean? I am definitely open to other's contributions here and also happy to learn and be corrected but can I ask some questions?

When was the term Celtic first used in connection to any people/s within the British Isles?

When do we first have any reference to any 'native' (and I use that word carefully) people considering themselves to be - or calling themselves Celtic?

... to Herodotus, both the Pyrenees and the source of the Danube are in the land of the Celts ...

Which is a point I mentioned a while back - he appears to have confused the two. He does not so much think both places are within their lands, as he mixes up the Danube source as actually being in the Pyrenees which is is clearly not.