From the book "The Painted
Savages of England"
by
Pastor Alban Heath
FOREWORD
The substance of the following pages was given as a lecture at
The College, Harrow Weald Park. In issuing the lecture in printed
form as a Handbook I have thought it advisable to give in full
the speeches of Caradoc, Boadicea and Galgacus. This was not
possible in a single lecture; but it is only by reading these
noble utterances in full that we can visualize the circumstances
and appreciate the lofty sentiments expressed therein. Further,
as some readers may not have at hand the works of Tacitus (the
Roman historian of the first century A.D. - Keith Hunt) from
which the extracts are taken, it seemed best to give what I have
given here.
While this little book does nothing more than bring together in
compact form information with which most students of History are
familiar, it may be that to some the information will come as new
and useful.
If this book should prove to be of service to those who are
seeking to spread the truth, it will serve the purpose intended.
It is only as our message is based upon established facts that we
can hope to succeed in enlightening those "who sit in darkness."
I have not thought it necessary to labour the distinction between
British and English. It enough to show that this land was blessed
with culture long before the coming of the English and with
Christianity long before the arrival of Augustine.
ALBAN HEATH
THE "PAINTED SAVAGES" OF ENGLAND
PAGE 1
WHEN toward the end of August 55 B.C.(1) Caesar and his legions
landed on the shores of Kent, "they saw the beach crowded with
horses and chariots, and skin-clad, blue-dyed infantry armed with
pointless swords, and uttering shouts of defiance," says
Sanderson.(2) Thus does the painted savage theory perpetuate
itself.
It is based on the description of Julius Caesar.
Caesar was in Gaul(France). Finding a little time hanging on his
hands, Caesar resolved to visit England, "Having spent
altogether eighteen days beyond the Rhine, and thinking he had
advanced far enough to serve both honour and interest, (Caesar)
returned into Gaul, and cut down the bridge." (3) "During the
short part of summer which remained Caesar . . . resolved to
proceed to Britain."(4) He came with about eighty ships and two
legions, but more ships and soldiers were in the offing. It was
intended as a flying visit only for they came without baggage.(5)
As the autumn equinox drew near, i.e. about september 23rd,
1. The date war probably several years earlier, but this is the
date given by Sanderson.
2. History of England and the British Empire, p.5.
3. The Gallic War, iv, 19.
4 Ibid, 20.
5. Ibid, 30.
PAGE 2
Caesar was anxious to get away again and returned to France under
cover of night.(1)
It was too brief a visit to learn much, and his critics of a
generation or so later seem to have made merry over his
adventure. They said the visit "tended to the advantage neither
of the general nor of Rome, beyond the mere extension of the
empire."(2) It was said he came to find pearls; instead of
pearls he found painted savages.
This was a short visit, and there was not time to learn much. But
Caesar learned one or two things that apparently affected his
plans for a second visit.
The following year Caesar came again. This time he brought with
him five legions, i.e. 30,000 soldiers (or if we accept Gibbon's
findings on the strength of the legion, 63,000 men (3) "a number
of horse equal in number to that which he had left on the
continent," namely 2,000, and 800 ships.(4)
Things did not go well after landing. A fierce storm played havoc
with his fleet. About 40 ships were lost, and most of the others
were damaged.(5) Under these circumstances, Caesar suspended
military operations, set his soldiers to mend the boats, while he
himself beguiled the weary hours of waiting by writing a
description of the country he had not seen and in delineating the
character of the men he had come to conquer. He came, he saw, he
described. He wrote:
1. The Gallic War, 36.
2. Ibid., 2 1, footnote.
3. Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol.1, p.20.
Bohn's Libraries.
4. Caesar, Gallic War, v.8.
5. Ibid., v.11
PAGE 3
"Most of the inland inhabitants do not sow corn, but live on milk
and flesh and are clad with skins. All the Britains, indeed, dye
themselves with wood,(1) which occasions a bluish colour, and
have a more terrible appearance in fight."(2)
Of course, we are greatly indebted to Caesar for placing on
record much that he wrote, but in utter disregard of an abundance
of evidence to the contrary writers of History have perpetuated
the painted savage fallacy on such slender evidence as the above,
the evidence of one who had advanced no further than Kent, and
had such little knowledge of the people whom he describes.
"A kind of conquest Caesar made here; but made not here his brag
of came and saw and overcame."(3)
It is my purpose to lay before you some of the evidence which
shows that the painted savage idea is not only a fallacy; it is a
libel on a people boasting a high state of civilisation and a
proud degree of culture. Designedly, I give extracts from the
works of others so that my theme may not rest on personal
conjecture. I begin with one of England's great law-givers,
MOLMUTIUS, of the fifth century B.C. I shall quote from
PREHISTORIC LONDON by E.O.Gordon, and I shall give the page
references as I proceed.
"The earliest historical record of Winton (Winchester) as a
'Gorsedd,' i.e., a great seat of a monarch and a seat of
government, is In 500 B.C.,
1. This is evidently a typographical error for "woad"
2. Caesar, Gallic War, v.14
3. Cymbeline, iii, 1
PAGE 4
when, according to local tradition, Dunwal Molmutius made Winton
his capital." (p.83) "Molmutius' name and fame is more especially
associated with the traditions of Winton (Winchester), the
southern capital where his merits have been publicly recognised.
As a roadmaker we have his work in the seven converging roads
like the spokes of a wheel in the old White City; three of these
roads centred in London. For that Londinium was only second in
importance is exemplified by Winton and London being the only
places shown on an Anglo-Saxon map of the world preserved among
the muniments of Hereford Cathedral."(p.142)
The following selection from the Triads of Molmutius will give
some idea of his laws:
"There are three tests of Civil Liberty: equality of rights -
equality of taxation - freedom to come and go."
"There are three civil birthrights of every Briton: the right to
go wherever he pleases - the right, wherever he is, to protection
from his land and sovereign - the right of equal privileges and
equal restrictions."
"There are three sacred things by which the conscience binds
itself to truth: the name of God - the rod of him who offers up
prayers to God - the joined right hand."
"There are three persons who have a right to public maintenance:
the old - the babe - the foreigner who cannot speak the British
tongue."(P.144)
"The Bryn Gwyn (i.e., White Hill or Mound,
PAGE 5
where the Tower of London now stands) in Caesar's time, we should
remember, was still in its original condition, simply a green
conical mound, with no building whatever upon it, consecrated to
the service of the Most High, and venerated as the burial place
of two of the most illustrious of our pre-historic British kings,
Brutus, the reputed founder of London, and Molmutius, the 'Solon'
of Britain." (p.154)
"From Barddas ,being a collection of original documents
illustrative of the Theology, Wisdom and Usages of the
Bardo-Druidic system published by the Welsh MSS. Society in 1852)
we now learn that the Druidic Gorsedd Laws were incorporated by
the British King Dunwal Molmutius, who lived in the fifth century
B.C., in his famous code." (p.165)
After research in the British Museum, Mr. Harrison Hill writes:
"The Laws of Dunvallo Molmutius, sixteenth king of the Britons,
who reigned above 400 years before the birth of Christ. These
were the first published laws in Britain, and together with those
of Queen Mercia, were translated by Gildas into Latin (Usher's
'Primord.' 126, quoted in Wharton's 'Law Lexicon,' xiiith Edition
(1925), p.569). The same information plus an important statement
appears in 'The Law Dictionary': 'These laws were famous in this
land till the time of William the Conqueror. They were translated
out of the British into the Latin tongue'!"(1)
1 Appendix 'H', in The Post-Captivity Names of Israel, Dr. Goard,
p. 119.
PAGE 6
Spencer sang the praises of Molmutius, and SHAKESPEARE puts into
the mouth of Cymbeline these words:
"Say, then, to Caesar,
Our ancestor was that Mulmutius which
Ordained our laws, whose use the sword of Caesar
Hath too much mangled; whose repair and
franchise
Shall, by the power we hold, be our good deed,
Though Rome be therefore angry: Mulmutius made our laws,
Who was the first of Britain which did put His brows within a
golden crown and call'd Himself a king."
Cymbeline,Act iii, scene i
A system of jurisprudence implies a standard of education. Before
a man can originate, or codify, a set of laws he requires a
degree of culture commensurate with the task he undertakes.
Further, a degree of culture is implied among the governed. One
of the problems which confronts us in the government of untutored
Natives is their lack of knowledge of the meaning of the law
which is designed for their good. Since Molmutius promulgated
laws which survived for at least fifteen hundred years we are
bound to infer a state of education far removed from the level of
painted savages.
Have we any evidence of such education? We
PAGE 7
certainly have. For untold and unknown centuries the Druids had
operated in this land. and our INCREASING KNOWLEDGE of them bears
witness to their culture.
(One book I have in my library on the Druids is by Peter
Berresford Ellis - one of the greatest experts on the Druids
alive today. The amount of research he has done on the Druids
makes him one of the foremost experts on the subject. Yes, the
Druids did believe in the "immortal soul" idea, but what they
taught and believed, their standard of education etc. is FAR
removed from the little bit of "slanted" writing sometimes put
forth by the Worldwide Church of God writers of the past - Keith
Hunt)
In describing the Druids of Gaul, a description which applies
equally to the Druids in England, in England, Caesar says:
"The former (Druids) are engaged in things sacred, conduct the
public and private sacrifices, and interpret all matters of
religion. To these a large number of the young men resort for the
purpose of instruction, and they (the Druids) are in great honour
among them. For they determine respecting almost all
controversies, public and private; and if any crime has been
perpetrated, if murder has been committed, if there be any
dispute about an inheritance, if any about boundaries, these same
persons decide it. . . ." "The Druids do not go to war.... They
(scholars) are said there to learn by heart a great number of
verses; accordingly some remain in the course of training twenty
years. Nor do they regard it lawful to commit these to
writing.... "(1)
Turning from Caesar to a recent work on the subject we find
supporting evidence.(2) Mr. Dudley Wright has produced a large
and scholarly volume on Druidism from which I shall now quote,
giving the page references as I proceed:
"In Britain, the Druidical order is said to have numbered
thirty-one seats of education, each being a Cyfiath, or City,
the capital of a tribe." (p.5)
1. Gallic War, vi, 13,14.
2. Druidism, The Ancient Faith of Britain, Dudley Wright,1924.
PAGE 8
"Repentance and purification were regarded by the Druids as
necessary duties. They observed one day in seven as peculiarly
sanctified and made holy by the Great Creator, and they were wont
to dedicate one-tenth of all their substance to religious
purposes." (p.55)
"They were monogamists and of the highest morality." (p.56)
"The period of novitiate and the character of the training of an
aspirant to the Druidical priesthood ... lasted for twenty
years." (p.60)
"Four degrees were conferred during the long novitiate; the first
being given after three years study in the arts of poetry and
music, if the candidate, by his capacity and diligence, merited
the honour. The second was conferred after six years further
study, if merited; the third after a further nine years study;
and the final degree, equal to a doctorate, was bestowed two
years later on the completion of the twenty years course."
(p.66)
"Before an aspirant to the priesthood could attain to that
exalted rank, he had to pass through the two preliminary and
definite degrees of Bard and Vate, or Ovate." (p.75)
"The first requisite for admission as a disciple was
unimpeachable moral character, for it was indispensably necessary
that the candidate, above all things, should be above any
criticism as to character and conduct." (p.76)
"Afterwards their calling came to be held in such high esteem
that they were maintained at the expense of the state." (p.76)
PAGE 9
"Nine years was generally sufficient for graduation as a Bard,
but his education was not considered complete, for the purposes
of this graduation, until he had committed to memory 20,000
verses containing, in allegorical language, the tenets of the
Druidical faith." (p.79)
"From the Triads of Dynwal Moelmud, who is said to have written -
about four hundred years before the Christian era, we learn that:
'There are three distinguished characters of the art of Bardism.
First, the chief Bard or the free privileged Bard, who obtains
his dignity and privilege through discipline under a master duly
authorised, being a conventional bard. He must preserve every
record of the arts and sciences whilst he should continue in his
office of Bard regularly inducted in dignity and privilege. He
must also keep every record and memorial of the country and tribe
respecting marriage, pedigrees, arms, inheritances, and
privileges of the country and tribe of the Cambrians.' " (p.85)
Thus, that we have abundant evidence to show that a high state of
culture existed in this land centuries before Caesar dubbed the
people as painted savages. Unfortunately, the Druids did not
favour writing , and consequently their works have not come, down
to us.
(This is now dismissed as in-correct, for when Christianity
became the state religion of Britain in the 2nd century A.D. some
of Druid teachings and beliefs etc. were written down - Keith
Hunt). But we see in the amazing feats of memory a strong
argument in favour of the truth of those traditions which have
come down to us through the ages. As stated above Mr.Ellis is
today regarded as the foremost authority on the Druids and what
he has written about them would shock most people who have not
studied the subject of the Druids or have only read or heard
"slanted" and/or "twisted" ideas from ones who also have never
studied the subject in any depth - Keith Hunt)
If the Druids left no tomes of learning to show to posterity the
nature and extent of their learning, they left a noble race of
people whose courage in
PAGE 10
face of difficulty, whose conduct in the presence of the foe,
whose dignified bearing in the day of adversity is to their
eternal honour, and bears witness to the quality of that
instruction and training they had received at the hands of the
Druids.
Fortunately, most of the work of the Roman historian, TACITUS
has come down to us and bears witness to his own industry and to
the immortal fame of those noble Britons who withstood the
onslaughts of the Roman legions.
TACITUS flourished C.A.D. 55-120, so that he was not far removed
in time from the events he so GRAPHICALLY describes in his pages.
First, let us take his account of the epic struggle Caradoc, or
Caractacus to give him his Roman name, and the Roman legions
between A.D.49 and A.D.54.
...............
TO BE CONTINUED
The history writing of Tacitus we shall see next is most detailed
and graphic as the author mentioned above. His writings are still
I believe obtainable through your Public Library. I well remember
reading Tacitus many years ago, and it was most thrilling and
educational at the same time, to read about the Roman and British
wars that ensued in the first century of this Christian age
(Keith Hunt).
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