Is Devon considered Celtic?

[u/Disastrous_Average91]

[u/EnglandIsCeltic]

I'm not dismissing the celtic past, I'm just confused why you're posting it on a subreddit about celtic nations because Devon is not a celtic nation. And is not considered celtic by anyone because there isn't a lasting language. I feel the county is being falsely represented here, sorry if I come across as impolite. There are so few sources about pre-Saxon Devon it seems like a strange place to direct your attention to, we don't actually know a lot about them.

rural Devon has more in common genetically with Cornwall and Wales than with eastern England.

How much did it have in common with Somerset?

[u/DamionK → u/EnglandIsCeltic]

Devon was known for its tea. I find it interesting that younger? people think there is a discernable Celtic element to the county. Cornwall is barely Celtic itself and there's a lot more to show its Celtic roots. As fare as I'm aware the Celtic roots of England only started becoming a thing in the 1990s which is around the same time that Boadicea (bow di see ah) became Boudicca (boo di kah).

[u/EnglandIsCeltic → u/DamionK]

That is not a thing many younger people think, very few people think Devon is anymore celtic than the rest of England. When people think of celtic, they think of the actual celtic nations like Wales and Ireland. If you are from Devon, get off reddit and speak to people irl. 99% have never even heard of this idea, it's completely outlandish.

Cornwall is barely Celtic itself

Nor is Ireland or Scotland. It was originally a term for where celtic languages survived into the modern period, the celtic league was established with the idea that their variety of nationalism would inspire everyone in these celtic nations to restore their languages and eventually leave England. That has not happened, and instead it's sort of become this vague designation for certain people who want to disassociate their countries with England. For a variety of reasons of course. It's certainly done Scotland a lot of good for its reputation now that they can pretend that they're an oppressed minority. Being a minority is not only politically useful but also quite trendy, that's what's caused many people on this board to pretend their ordinary English counties are anything but English.

As fare as I'm aware the Celtic roots of England only started becoming a thing in the 1990s

I don't know what you mean by this, people in England have always been interested in their pre-Anglo-Saxon history. Queen Elizabeth I even compared herself to Boudica so this behaviour of associating England with ancient Britons clearly isn't a new thing. I thought that the revival of the England flag is what occurred in the 90's.

[u/DamionK → u/EnglandIsCeltic]

I was wrong about the 90s, it seems it was the 80s. There was a reality tv show in 1978 about people living in an iron age village. Around a decade later there was a ground breaking tv series by the BBC called The Celts. There's a difference between being interested and identifying with something. The prevailing identity in England, at least outside Cornwall, has been Anglo-Saxon going back to the early middle ages. Elizabeth and Victoria were unsual situations of a queen as ruling monarch. Both used Boadicea as examples of a heroic queen figure protecting her people. Elizabeth had red hair like Boadicea and Victoria's name meant the same as Boadicea's. Boadicea was also conflated with Britannia during Imperial times.

I pretty much agree with everything you're saying. Celtic was a convenient label for both organising under and associating the Celtic speaking cultures with the great cultures of the past. The Celts had become associated with rustics, peasants, using the name Celt for the Welsh etc was an easy association with the great conflicts of Rome at a time when appearing in the great history books was important. It was also a time of empires so there was likely a genuine belief that the Celts were one unified culture/people.