In Braveheart the film, were William Wallace and his men as rest of Scotland the Celts or Celtic people?

Question

In Braveheart the film, were William Wallace and his men as rest of Scotland the Celts or Celtic people?
I mean since they marked themselves with Blue paints or whatver they were does that mean they were the native Scottish Celts, or were they more of Germanis as English people were, i assumed they were Celts considering the Passion they the Scottish had and how much they were against the English being in their land, i dont belive they were the same people as English, what ya all think

Answer 1

The Scottish, at that point in history, were a combination of 4 major groups: Indigenous tribes (often called Picts), the Irish Celts of Dal Riada, Germanic raiders/settlers (ie, "vikings"), and some Norman (French).

As language and culture define a Celt, yes, Wallace and his men were Scottish Celts. In fact, one of the primary themes of the stories told about him (true or not) was that he felt many of the Scottish nobles were acting too much like the English (who had become more Germanic than Celtic by that time - in part due to the influence from the old Roman invasion that downplayed some of the Celtic elements in English culture).

The body paint is "commonly known" to be called woad - but there's actually a reasonable amount of study that shows that woad, quite simply, wouldn't be able to make the correct color as recorded in the Roman chronicles. There's a possibility that it was copper, but that's still speculation.

Answer 2

Actually, many of the "indigenous" Scots could trace their heritage to an ancient people labeled as the Picts - a point not lost on Wallace when recruiting his fighting force in the 13th century. These ancient tribal cultures were historically recorded as far back by the Greeks as the fierce people indigenous to Scotland that ran into battle with little more than blue paint (wode) to adorn their bodies.

The Celts however migrated to the English Isles most probably from the Indo-European Steppes beginning in the Iron Age. The La Tene tribes of Switzerland are some of the most well recorded core groups of the Celtic migration that continues well into the Bronze age.

Celts were thoroughly integrated into Pictish culture of Scotland by the 10th century C.E. which saw the rise of the political struggles that led to the Scotch/English wars of Wallace's time. There is a great deal of confusion because the loose use of the term "Celt," popularized in the 18th century as a "catch-all" name for the people of the British Isles. In truth, the Celts were most likely one of the primary founding "races" of the Irish, Welsh, Anglo, Saxon, Basque, Gallic and Jute cultures.

Answer 3

William Wallace Film

Answer 4

Being Scottish myself I can honestly say we were Celts; just like the Irish and the Welsh. Historically though we are a mix of Picts, Vikings and Saxons.

Answer 5

i think that both wallace and the "original" braveheart -robert the bruce- were both actually descended from french invaders but the men they led were staunch catholic christians who fell to their knees and preyed for gods mercy even though they had a celtic set of customs-.I have never heard of anyone but ancient britons painting themselves with wode- that was something that was probably too cold to do in scotland!The language of the scots and customs which wallace and the other invading noblemen adopted including the clan system can be traced back to pre-christian scotland and were significantly different from the imported saxon customs of england.
In fact all the gaelic languages, scots and irish gaelic, welsh, pictish manx and cornish all have the term saxon "sassenach" as a term of abuse

Answer 6

they were scottsmen that by that time were mostly christian. but
steeped in the culture of their past.

the blue paint (Woad) was traditionaly worn by celtic warriors and was a known painkiller and aphrodisiac. the tradition survived the christianisation of scotland.

but no william wallace was not a Celt in that he was not of the religion assiciated with the druids. he was a Christian man and
patriotic scottsman who wanted his country back from the english (especially after they murdered his wife.)

Answer 7

Yes they were Celts for the most part.

Answer 8

Celtics, although the nobility of Scotland and England probably intermarried acourding to my understanding.

God Bless

Answer 9

Yes I believe they were indeed Celts.

Answer 10

Same as the Irish Celtic.
Tammi Dee