Celtic Past Should be Learned from, Lest We Repeat

Without a doubt, there is a strong Celtic heritage in the South. At the time of the War for Southern Independence, three quarters of the white population was of Celtic descent. Today, a majority of sir names across the South can be found in the remaining strongholds of Celtic heritage in the British Isles. Obviously the Celts are not the only people to influence the culture of the South, but they remain the dominant one.

Being a typical Southerner, I am proud of my heritage and fascinated by researching and learning about my family history. Celtic people are known for their passion for genealogy, especially the Irish and the Scots. In my study of not just my family’s history, but the history of the Celts I saw a certain theme played out again and again. The Celts have always tended to be great warriors, but have lacked the ability to achieve a lasting victory due to conflict among themselves.

Celts throughout history have shown great courage and fighting prowess. The ancient Celts that invaded Italy used a war cry that froze the Roman soldiers in their tracks with fear. The highland Scots had a war cry that worked the same magic on the English, and the Rebel Yell did just as much to Union forces. However, courage and a fiery fighting spirit alone will not win a war. The Romans learned to hold their ground, as did the English and the Yankees. But the fight today will not be fought on the field of battle, but in the hearts and minds of the people.

This battle, the battle for the hearts and minds of our people, is where the Romans, English and Yankees really won. Caesar, when invading Gaul did not take on all the Gauls (Celts), but allied with one tribe against another, slowly defeating them one tribe at a time, later to turn on his once allied tribes. Eventually Caesar conquered all of Gaul, absorbing or driving out the Celts. The English did much the same thing in Scotland, pitting one clan against another with promises of land, money and preferential treatment, playing on old feuds between the clans.

When I look at the War for Southern Independence, I see similar types of things happening. However, it wasn’t so much the Yankees doing the dividing as it was competition between our leaders themselves. Time and again I have read where there was jealously or envy between some of the Confederate leaders which lead to decisions that hurt our cause. The South fought bravely, honorably and if you look at numbers, we performed much better on the battle field with fewer resources than our opponents did. Yet, the petty divisions between leaders hampered the achievement of independence.

The argument could be made this holds true even into the 20th century. Look at some of our leaders from WWII. MacArthur and Montgomery, both names of Scottish descent. Both men were great leaders for their countries (USA and Great Britain, respectively), but they let their ambition and personal views hamper their ability to work with others toward a common cause. This is not to take away from their greatness, just to make a point: Celtic people seem to self destruct.

We have a number of leaders coming to the forefront in the current movement for Southern independence that are very capable of helping the South regain its freedom. My concern is, will these leaders, who head up different organizations, work together, putting aside egos and personal ambition, to achieve the common cause of Southern independence. This is not to say there is bickering going on right now, I have not witnessed this myself. I voice this concern based on the history of our common past in hopes of appealing to their visions of our future.

I make the following statement in hopes of setting an example that others may follow: "I pledge my all, humbly as a follower of Christ, that even though I hope to have a great impact on the Southern cause, I will put aside my ego and own personal desires in hope that I can be of service to Dixie, as Dixie and God see fit. I offer up my services to The Cause as they may best be used to achieve the end goal. May the greater good of our regained independence be served before any personal desire for praise and adulation for my efforts. I pledge to work as part of the team of patriots who wish to see the dream of our founding fathers restored."
 

Jeff Adams
February 3, 1999