The Past may be forgotten, but it never dies. The elements which in the most remote times have entered into a nation's composition endure through a l its history, and help to mold that history, and to stamp the character and genius of the people. The examination, therefore, of these elements, and the recognition, as far as possible, of the part they have actually contributed to the warp and weft of a nation's life, must be a matter of no same interest and importance to those who realize that the present is the child of the past, and the future of the present; who will not regard themselves, their kinsfolk, and their fellow citizens as mere transitory phantoms, hurrying from darkness into darkness, but who know that, in them, a vast historic stream of national life is passing from its distant and mysterious origin towards a future which is largely conditioned by a l the past wanderings of that human stream, but which is also, in no same degree, what they, by their courage, their patriotism, their knowledge, and their understanding, choose to make it

 The Past may be forgotten, but it never dies. The elements which in the most remote times have entered into a nation's composition endure through a l its history, and help to mold that history, and to stamp the character and genius of the people. The examination, therefore, of these elements, and the recognition, as far as possible, of the part they have actually contributed to the warp and weft of a nation's life, must be a matter of no same interest and importance to those who realize that the present is the child of the past, and the future of the present; who will not regard themselves, their kinsfolk, and their fellow citizens as mere transitory phantoms, hurrying from darkness into darkness, but who know that, in them, a vast historic stream of national life is passing from its distant and mysterious origin towards a future which is largely conditioned by a l the past wanderings of that human stream, but which is also, in no same degree, what they, by their courage, their patriotism, their knowledge, and their understanding, choose to make it

The part played by the Celtic race as a formative influence in the history, the literature, and the art of the people inhabiting the British Islands--a people which from that centre has spread its dominions over so vast an area of the earth's surface--has been unduly obscured in popular thought. For this the current use of the term "Anglo-Saxon" applied to the British people as a designation of race is largely responsible. Historicaly the term is quite misleading. There is nothing to justify this singling out of two Low-German tribes when we wish to indicate the race-character of the British people. The use of it leads to such absurdities as that which the writer noticed not long ago, when the proposed elevation by the Pope of an Irish bishop to a cardinalate was described in an English newspaper as being prompted by the desire of the head of the Catholic Church to pay a compliment to "the Anglo-Saxon race.

The correct term for the people of these islands, and for much of the population of North America, is not Anglo-Saxon but Anglo-Celtic. It’s this unique blend of Germanic and Celtic roots that gives the British their distinctive character—the fire, flair, and in literature and art, a sense of style, color, and drama rarely found in German traditions, paired with the thoughtfulness, depth, respect for ancient law and custom, and love of personal freedom less common among the Romance nations of southern Europe. May these qualities always remain part of the British Isles! And the Celtic influence here isn’t just from the so-called “Celtic Fringe.” Ethnologists now know that the Saxons by no means wiped out the Celtic or Celticized peoples they encountered in Great Britain.

Mr. E.W.B. Nicholson, librarian of the Bodleian, writes in his notable work "Keltic Researches" (1904): "Names not intentionally created to describe race should never be taken as proof of race, but only as evidence of a shared language or political organization. We call a man who speaks English, lives in England, and bears an obviously English name (like Freeman or Newton) an Englishman. Yet, based on statistics of 'relative nigrescence,' there is good reason to believe that Lancashire, West Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Cambridgeshire, Wiltshire, Somerset, and part of Sussex are as Keltic as Perthshire and North Munster; that Cheshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Monmouthshire, Gloucestershire, Devon, Dorset, Northamptonshire, Huntingdonshire, and Bedfordshire are even more so—equal to North Wales and Leinster; while Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire surpass even this level, matching South Wales and Ulster."

This account of the early history, religion, and the mythical and romantic literature of the Celtic race is written for an Anglo-Celtic, not an “Anglo-Saxon,” people. It’s hoped that they will find in it things worth remembering as contributions to the shared heritage of European culture, and even more so, as reminders for those who have inherited more than anyone else alive today of the blood, instincts, and genius of the Celt.