Journal of Geomancy vol. 3 no. 3, April 1979

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AN APPRECIATION OF GRAHAM DONALD’S (Domhnull Gruamach) “FOUNDATIONS OF ISLAY”

by Ross MacGilchrist.

The Gaelic language is generally regarded as only belonging to Ireland and the Western Isles, however, the work of yet another unknown archaeologist has uncovered and proved, at least to his own satisfaction, that the Gaelic culture and tongue is not only the source of the classical languages Latin and Greek, but of the even more ancient Egyptian and Etruscan.  The conclusion of Donald’s work is that a Celtic Confederalism once covered half the world before decadence and decay in the form of centralised imperialism (“civilisation”) set in and destroyed this delicately balanced Gaelic Utopia. 

The proof of the pudding is in the eating.  Too many people interested in archaeology’s “lunatic fringe” are infused in a woolly-minded romanticism of the metaphysical ‘searching for the Holy Grail’ variety.  It is refreshing therefore to find an author who is prepared to treat his subject in a serious manner which the reader can also take seriously, and who recognises the relationship between facts and proof.  The following is an account of an experiment made in 1964 by Donald, when the “official” view of the ancient Etruscans was that they were in essence a People of Mystery – racial origin unknown though believed to be “Eastern”, language a mystery, gods a mystery, and whose carved inscriptions have baffled generations of learned scholars and academics – who have all lacked one quality which Donald possessed, that of fluent Gaelic!  For the purposes of the book, one Etruscan inscription out of the many available was chosen at random by a complete stranger.  It had come from the Tomba degli Scudi in Etruscan Italy.  At this point it should be noted that Donald hoped only to find one or two words of recognisable Gaelic in any chosen inscription, and that this would lend some support to his thesis.  What happened was beyond the researcher’s wildest dreams – so far beyond that he at first suspected a hoax had been played on him by some Cambridge cynic!  The original coded inscription reads as follows:-

Which translated properly reads:

Shed rain of tender tears in plenty O God Bel.  Pity O Bel the sorrow of the noble Kindred {81} of the Sabine Tribe (and) whom Northern Warriors slaughtered. 

This inscription also gives us the key to the Etruscans’ religion – they worshipped the Sun God, BEL, which is in turn a further indication that they were a truly Celtic people. 

At that time, a small notice of the Etruscan translation made the “Times” newspaper, but so hostile and violent were the adverse criticisms of the scientific orthodoxy to the pioneering work of this “amateur”, that all of Donald’s work was successfully suppressed by the academic hierarchy.  To these sceptics who believed a Gaelic speaking Celt might have an “axe to grind”, I can assure them such is not the way of the dour Scots!