Most people say that the Celts - the ancestors of the Welsh and Scots - were the first occupants of this island. Then, several Germanic peoples from modern day Germany and Denmark came over and drove all the Celts to the northern and western extremes of the island - they later became Scotland and Wales, and the rest of the island that was occupied by the Germanic people became England.
But, in fact, it was the Germanic people that arrived here BEFORE the Celtic people and the Celtic people who are the "occupiers." Here's a letter sent in to today's Daily Mail. This letter was in reply to a Welshman who wrote in saying that the English are not the natives of the island -
"It's wrong to assert that the Welsh are the "true Britons." They weren't the first occupants of the island we now call Britain. A group of Germanic tribesmen known as the "Beaker People" were living here 2000 years before the first Celts or "Britons" arrived.
The Beaker People were followed by other Germanic tribesmen, also from the Rhine Valley, whom we call the "Battle-Axe People" because of their distinctive weapons. It was one of these two groups who built Stonehenge, which was completed a good 1000 years before the first Celts arrived.
The Celts seem to have come in two waves, one in about 1000 BC and the second in about 850BC.
After killing the Germanic tribes, they took control of everything south of the Clyde and the Firth of Forth. The Picts and the Scots later occupied the territory north of these waterways, before the Picts settled in the Cheviot Hills.
Later came the Romans, who ruled everywhere south of Hadrian's Wall. Early in the 5th Century AD, the Romans left, leaving the Britons to be attacked by Picts and Scots, and prompting the British King Vortigern to pay Saxons from the Continent to defend his land. After the Celts failed to pay them, the Saxons began making terms with the Picts and Scots.
More Germanic tribes from the Continent arrived, until the Britons left for North-West France or were pushed into Cornwall or Wales. The Vikings came later, before their cousins the Normans invaded in 1066."
W.D. Slater, Sheffield.
So the Germanic people, ancestors of the English, pushed the Celts into what is now Wales and Scotland AFTER the Celts invaded this Germanic land and killed everyone in sight. So the English are the natives to the island whereas the Celts are the invaders - but the Celts (the Scots and Welsh) like to think otherwise.
But, in fact, it was the Germanic people that arrived here BEFORE the Celtic people and the Celtic people who are the "occupiers." Here's a letter sent in to today's Daily Mail. This letter was in reply to a Welshman who wrote in saying that the English are not the natives of the island -
"It's wrong to assert that the Welsh are the "true Britons." They weren't the first occupants of the island we now call Britain. A group of Germanic tribesmen known as the "Beaker People" were living here 2000 years before the first Celts or "Britons" arrived.
The Beaker People were followed by other Germanic tribesmen, also from the Rhine Valley, whom we call the "Battle-Axe People" because of their distinctive weapons. It was one of these two groups who built Stonehenge, which was completed a good 1000 years before the first Celts arrived.
The Celts seem to have come in two waves, one in about 1000 BC and the second in about 850BC.
After killing the Germanic tribes, they took control of everything south of the Clyde and the Firth of Forth. The Picts and the Scots later occupied the territory north of these waterways, before the Picts settled in the Cheviot Hills.
Later came the Romans, who ruled everywhere south of Hadrian's Wall. Early in the 5th Century AD, the Romans left, leaving the Britons to be attacked by Picts and Scots, and prompting the British King Vortigern to pay Saxons from the Continent to defend his land. After the Celts failed to pay them, the Saxons began making terms with the Picts and Scots.
More Germanic tribes from the Continent arrived, until the Britons left for North-West France or were pushed into Cornwall or Wales. The Vikings came later, before their cousins the Normans invaded in 1066."
W.D. Slater, Sheffield.
So the Germanic people, ancestors of the English, pushed the Celts into what is now Wales and Scotland AFTER the Celts invaded this Germanic land and killed everyone in sight. So the English are the natives to the island whereas the Celts are the invaders - but the Celts (the Scots and Welsh) like to think otherwise.
