16, speaking of Britain, says, that "for thirty years past the Roman arms had not extended the
knowledge
of the island beyond the Caledonian forest.
Tacitus
15) speaks of another Thule, which must have been Norway, which many of the ancients thought to be an island.
Mr.
Pennant supposes that the Thule here meant was Foula, a very lofty isle, one of the most westerly of the Shetlands, which might easily be descried by the fleet.
]
42 (return)
[ As far as the meaning of this passage can be elucidated, it would appear as if the first circumnavigators of Britain, to enhance the idea of their dangers and hardships, had represented the Northern sea as in such a thickened half solid state, that the oars could scarcely be worked, or the water agitated by winds. Tacitus, however, rather chooses to explain its stagnant condition from the want of winds, and the difficulty of moving so great a body of waters. But the fact, taken either way, is erroneous; as this sea is never observed frozen, and is remarkably stormy and tempestuous. —Aiken. ]
43 (return)
[ The great number of firths and inlets of the sea, which almost cut through the northern parts of the island, as well as the height of the tides on the coast, render this observation peculiarly proper. ]
44 (return)
[ Caesar mentions that the interior inhabitants of Britain were supposed to have originated in the island itself. (Bell. Gall. v. 12. )]
45 (return)
[ Caledonia, now Scotland, was at that time overspread by vast forests. Thus Pliny, iv.
16, speaking of Britain, says, that "for thirty years past the Roman arms had not extended the knowledge of the island beyond the Caledonian forest. "]
46 (return)
[ Inhabitants of what are now the counties of Glamorgan, Monmouth, Brecknock, Hereford, and Radnor. ]
47 (return)
[ The Iberi were a people of Spain, so called from their neighborhood to the river Iberus, now Ebro. ]
48 (return)
[ Of these, the inhabitants of Kent are honorably mentioned by Caesar. "Of all these people, by far the most civilized are those inhabiting the maritime country of Cantium, who differ little in their manners from the Gauls. "—Bell. Gall. v. 14. ]
49 (return)
[ From the obliquity of the opposite coasts of England and France, some part of the former runs further south than the northern extremity of the latter. ]
50 (return)
[ Particularly the mysterious and bloody solemnities of the Druids. ]
51 (return)
[ The children were born and nursed in this ferocity. Thus Solinus, c. 22, speaking of the warlike nation of Britons, says, "When a woman is delivered of a male child, she lays its first food upon the husband's sword, and with the point gently puts it within the little one's mouth, praying to her country deities that his death may in like manner be in the midst of arms. "]
52 (return)
[ In the reign of Claudius. ]
53 (return)
[ The practice of the Greeks in the Homeric age was the reverse of this.
42 (return)
[ As far as the meaning of this passage can be elucidated, it would appear as if the first circumnavigators of Britain, to enhance the idea of their dangers and hardships, had represented the Northern sea as in such a thickened half solid state, that the oars could scarcely be worked, or the water agitated by winds. Tacitus, however, rather chooses to explain its stagnant condition from the want of winds, and the difficulty of moving so great a body of waters. But the fact, taken either way, is erroneous; as this sea is never observed frozen, and is remarkably stormy and tempestuous. —Aiken. ]
43 (return)
[ The great number of firths and inlets of the sea, which almost cut through the northern parts of the island, as well as the height of the tides on the coast, render this observation peculiarly proper. ]
44 (return)
[ Caesar mentions that the interior inhabitants of Britain were supposed to have originated in the island itself. (Bell. Gall. v. 12. )]
45 (return)
[ Caledonia, now Scotland, was at that time overspread by vast forests. Thus Pliny, iv.
16, speaking of Britain, says, that "for thirty years past the Roman arms had not extended the knowledge of the island beyond the Caledonian forest. "]
46 (return)
[ Inhabitants of what are now the counties of Glamorgan, Monmouth, Brecknock, Hereford, and Radnor. ]
47 (return)
[ The Iberi were a people of Spain, so called from their neighborhood to the river Iberus, now Ebro. ]
48 (return)
[ Of these, the inhabitants of Kent are honorably mentioned by Caesar. "Of all these people, by far the most civilized are those inhabiting the maritime country of Cantium, who differ little in their manners from the Gauls. "—Bell. Gall. v. 14. ]
49 (return)
[ From the obliquity of the opposite coasts of England and France, some part of the former runs further south than the northern extremity of the latter. ]
50 (return)
[ Particularly the mysterious and bloody solemnities of the Druids. ]
51 (return)
[ The children were born and nursed in this ferocity. Thus Solinus, c. 22, speaking of the warlike nation of Britons, says, "When a woman is delivered of a male child, she lays its first food upon the husband's sword, and with the point gently puts it within the little one's mouth, praying to her country deities that his death may in like manner be in the midst of arms. "]
52 (return)
[ In the reign of Claudius. ]
53 (return)
[ The practice of the Greeks in the Homeric age was the reverse of this.
