why is scotland,wales and ireland all classed as celtic countries?

Question

and england is not, but yet all four countries make up great brittain

Answer 1

Hi,

Do you want to tackle this genetically or culturally?

Genetically, there has been a project in oxford looking at this sort of thing for many years now and their opinion is that the english are more celtic than the celts!

So, culture, language etc seems to be the sticking point. Some time after the romans left, the angles, jutes and saxons from mainland europe moved into what was then a celtic land. the language (s?) spoken would have been near to welsh, apparently.

Did these cultures invade or was it a more progressive take-over of what is today, england? dunno, it seems there is no evidence of an early invasion or battles. but there is plenty of evidence of conflict between what became known as the anglo saxons and the celtic tribes/nations - hence offa's dyke etc.

during this period, celtic cultures were pushed to the outer limits of the british isles - scotland, ireland, isle of man, cornwall. (brittany, france, is also a celtic nation, which confuses things further, does it not?).

when the normans invaded they were happy to be kings of england for while and then turned their attention to the celtic fringe. it was during this period that notions of welshness, scottishness etc probably became entrenched and the assertion of differences with the more numerous english have continued ever since.

so, you have the british isles, of which most people count themselves as english and don't appreciate their cultural mix of norman, french, saxon and scandinavian influences. whilst the rest of us try very hard not to be english and assert our unique cultural identities, which whilst also being a mish-mash, are that little bit more ancient.

hope this helps!

Answer 2

GLYN H has put it simply and correctly. The original inhabitants of these island were forced into the faraway parts to escape the invading Romans and Saxons from Europe and then the Scandinavians.
The red/ginger haired ones are true Celts.

Answer 3

It's right what the other guys say, the English were historically a mixed bag to say but the least. This carries on today in all the holiday resorts around the world. I once heard a Spanish barman say "English? they'd s**g a tall dog if they could it's legs still".

Answer 4

The English are mixed race. The English are indeed Celts, from their ancestors the Britons. But they are mixed with Romans, Angles, Saxons, etc.

Answer 5

First of all Ireland and Northern Ireland are not classed as part of Great Britain. Northern Ireland is part of the UK. Secondly, the Scots, Irish and Welsh are "true" Britains wheras the English are a mishmash of French, German and Scandanavian peoples, most of whom were illegal immigrants.

Answer 6

"The English are mixed race. The English are indeed Celts, from their ancestors the Britons. But they are mixed with Romans, Angles, Saxons, etc. "
is there are way of finding out if your ancestors were Britons?

Answer 7

BECAUSE WHEN ANCIENT BRITON WAS INVADED FROM ACROSS THE SEA, ITS NATURAL INHABITANTS, THE CELTS WERE PUSHED INTO THE FAR REACHES OF THE LAND AND INTO THE HILLS TO SURVIVE! GOD DON'T YOU NO NUFFIN!!

Answer 8

Because if you want to buy a tick, then those three countries are where you should go, because that's where they sell them. : )