Scoob: Yes, one can put it like that but there's just one thing about that last remark: actually they were right but for the wrong reasons
The thing is, (and i'm going into genetics to explain this) the British Isles were inhabited before the celts settled there.
After the Ice Age ended, the humans who had lived so far in the Iberian Peninsula (the group R1b) followed the migration of game to the north and some of them reached what is now the British Isles about 15,000 years ago which at this time was connected to mainland Europe. It is believed they changed from hunter-gatherers to farmers in southeastern Europe about 8,000 years ago and in Britain about 4,000 years ago. As hunter-gathers became farmer’s, permanent settlements ended this great migration period and over time R1b types settled predominately in what is known today as Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, Denmark, England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland
Around 600 B.C the celts from the continent started trading and even settling in the British Isles. The conventional historical view is that the celtic tribes invaded the British Isles in several waves, displacing the indigenous inhabitants and forcing them into secluded areas. Now, recent genetic studies and archeological findings point in a different perspective, that the local indigenous pre-indoeuropean people were not wiped out but rather mixed with the celtic "invaders". One common conclusion that many studies have achieved is that the Welsh and some Irish, who have the highest percentages of R1b, are the living examples of what the indigenous people might have looked (dark hair, olive to opaque white skin, lithe build, etc).
So, the conclusion is, the very depigmented, ash blonde, very tall englishman is probably descendant of a nordic settler, not a celtic or a indigenous type. As said before, the celts were an intermediate type, having a greater variety of looks, variation that was dependant of the area they lived in.
A final note on the Scottish and women (
):
1) Though scottish culture is predominantly "celtic", genetic studies point that, on average, they have more Scandinavian influence.
2) While comparing males from England, Scotland and Wales with males from Portugal, Spain and Basque Country, the similarities are enourmous (both on genetic makeup and on phenotype) but females are an exception. The genetic similarity is less marked in women in Britain, who have a genetic makeup closer to that of Northern Europe, possibly because women tended to move to their husbands' homes.
Or perhaps they had a thing for blondes...