. Criticisms Berthoff, Rowland; "Celtic Mist over the South." Journal of Southern History 1986 52(4): 523-546. with commentary by Forrest McDonald, and Grady McWhiney, pp. 547–548; Fulltext: in Jstor. Berthoff rejects the Celtic Thesis because it exaggerates the numbers and roles of Celtic folk in the South, fails to define "Celtic," and misunderstands animal husbandry traditions in the British Isles. reply by Berthoff, pp. 548–550. Walley, Cherilyn A. "Grady McWhiney's 'Antebellum Piney Woods Culture': the Non-Celtic Origins of Greene County, Mississippi." Journal of Mississippi History 1998 60(3): 223-239. Argues that census data from Greene County refutes McWhiney's claim that Mississippi's Piney Woods region was predominantly Celtic during the antebellum decades. Surname analysis indicates that most settlers were English, and all settlers were at least one generation removed from their home country. There were no significant differences between the English and Celtic farmers in terms of cattle raising or family size. Also, contrary to McWhiney's arguments, Celtic children attended school at a higher rate than did English children. McWhiney used questionable sources and took evidence out of context to support his claims External links McWhiney Foundation Biography 1928 births 2006 deaths Writers from Shreveport, Louisiana United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II Troy University (New York) faculty Centenary College of Louisiana alumni Louisiana State University alumni Columbia University alumni Historians of the Southern United States Historians of the American Civil War 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers Southern United States independence activists Historians from Louisiana 20th-century American male writers University of California, Berkeley faculty League of the South