The Britons were the people who lived in most of Britain before, during and after the Romans ruled it. They were a type of Celtic people. They were named after their country and spoke a language called 'Brythonic'. When the Romans ruled Britain, the Britons intermarried with many different types of people from all over the Roman Empire. So they are often called Romano-Britons or the Romano-British. The Welsh, the Cornish, the Cumbrians and the Bretons of today are their descendants. Only the Welsh and the Bretons still speak a language similar to Brythonic. The Cornish and the Cumbrians now speak English. The Cornish language has not been forgotten though and some people still learn it today. The English and Southern Scots also partly descend from the Britons; but the English are descended from the Saxons too and the Southern Scots from the Scots.