2. That the Belgæ were Germanic.
Again—
1. That the natives of the Orkneys were Picts.
2. That they were also Scandinavian.
So that the Picts were Scandinavian Goths.
From whence it follows that—assuming what is true concerning the Orkneys is true concerning the Lowland Scotch—the Lowland Scotch was Pict, Scandinavian, Gothic, and (as such) more or less Belgic.
For the non-Gothic character of the Picts see the researches of Mr. Garnett, as given in [§ 139], as well as a paper—believed to be from the same author—in the Quarterly Review for 1834.
For the position of the Belgæ, see Chapter IV.
[§ 188]. That what is true concerning the Orkneys (viz. that they were Scandinavian) is not true for the south and eastern parts of Scotland, is to be collected from the peculiar distribution of the Scottish Gaelic; which indicates a distinction between the Scandinavian of the north of Scotland and the Scandinavian of the east of England. The Lowland Scotch recedes as we go northward. Notwithstanding this, it is not the extreme north that is most Gaelic. In Caithness the geographical names are Norse. Sutherland, the most northern county of Scotland, takes its name from being south; that is, of Norway. The Orkneys and Shetland are in name, manners, and language, Norse or Scandinavian. The Hebrides are Gaelic mixed with Scandinavian. The Isle of Man is the same. The word Sodor (in Sodor and Man) is Norse, with the same meaning as it has in Sutherland. All this indicates a more preponderating, and an earlier infusion of Norse along the coast of Scotland, than that which took place under the Danes upon the coasts of England, in the days of Alfred and under the reign of Canute. The first may, moreover, have this additional peculiarity, viz. of being Norwegian rather than Danish. Hence I infer that the Scandinavians settled in the northern parts of Scotland at an early period, but that it was a late period when they ravaged the southern ones; so that, though the language of Orkney may be Norse, that of the Lothians may be Saxon.