 section 1 of England this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Sonya the world story a history of the world in story song and art volume 9 England edited by Eva March Tappen section 1 Chaucer at the court of Edward III by Fort Maddox Brown English painter 1821 to 1893 painting frontispiece the following is the painter's description of the scene Chaucer is supposed to be reading these pathetic lines from the legend of Custance here a little chilled lay whipping in her arm and kneeling piteously to him she said peace little sonner I will to Dean no harm with that here a cool chief of here ahead she bright and over his little iron she laid and in here a armor she loaded it full fast and into the heaven here iron up she cast Edward the third is now old Philip are being dead the black prince is supposed to be in his last illness John of Gaunt who was Chaucer's patron is represented in full armor to indicate that active measures now devolve upon him page is holding his shield etc wait for him his horse likewise in the yard beneath Edward the black prince now in his 40th year emaciated by sickness leans on the lap of his wife Joanna sir named the fair maid of Kent there had been much opposition to their union but the prince ultimately had his way to the right of the old King is Alice Paris a cause of scandal to the court such as repeating itself at intervals in history with remarkable similarity from David downwards seems to argue that the untimely death of a hero may not be altogether so deplorable in event seated beneath our various personages suited to the time and place a troubadour from the south of France half jealous half in heartstruck admiration a cardinal priest on good terms with the ladies a gesture for getting his part in rough detention of the poet this character I regret to say is less medieval than Shakespearean two dilettante courtiers are learnedly criticizing the one in the hood is meant for Gower lastly a youthful squire of the kind described by Chaucer as never sleeping at night more than doth the nightingale so much is he always in love sitting on the ground being common in these days rush is used to be strong to prevent the gentleman from spoiling the fine clothes and the section one this recording is in the public domain section two of England read for LibriVox dot org by Sonya England part one stories of the ancient Britain's historical note in prehistoric days people lived in Britain who used weapons of stone and occasionally drew figures of animals upon bone or ivory from the east there came upon these primitive folk Celtic tribes the first of these invaders are known as goydals or gals they were the tribe that peopled Ireland and the highlands of Scotland the later commas are distinguished as Britain's from their name Britain is derived their descendants are the Welsh there are somewhat vague stories of voyages to Britain by Phoenicians Cartaginians and Greeks but our first definite knowledge of the country comes from the account which Julius Caesar wrote of his landing on the British shores in 55 BC the actual conquest of the land by the Romans was begun in 43 AD and by the year 84 they held all the territory south of the Firth of forth in AD 122 the emperor Hadrian visited Britain and ordered the construction of a great wall 70 miles long from the time to the Solway to ward off the attacks of the pigs or painted folk as the Romans called them a primitive Celtic people inhabiting Scotland as the Roman Empire slowly grew weaker legion after legion of the soldiers was recalled from Britain in the year 409 the last of the Roman troops withdrew from the island leaving the prosperous and peace-loving natives an easy prey to the wild Celtic tribes of Scotland Ireland and Wales and the section 2 this recording is in the public domain section 3 of England this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Avae in December 2019 the world's story volume 9 England edited by Eva March Tappan section 3 the building of Stonehenge by G.F. Scott Elliott unsalysbury plane in southern England stands one of the most impressive of all existing monuments of ancient man Stonehenge as it is called was probably constructed during the Bronze Age in connection with the worship of the sun it originally consisted of two concentric circles of immense stones the outer 100 feet in diameter within which are two smaller rows in the form of a horseshoe these enclose a block of blue marble 15 feet long known as the altar stone the inner circle opens to the northeast and from the arrangement of certain stones it is supposed that one use of the temple was to determine the time of the summer solstice no one knows just how or why this gigantic Cromlech or stone circle was built but the story from which the following selection is taken tells how it might have been built the editor next morning the whole village was collected Burmax informed them of the privilege which the great king had conferred upon them that of volunteering to help in building Stonehenge and of offering sacrifices towards the great work the wretched people looking even more glum and shallow than usual broke out into enthusiastic thanksgiving the king then indicated who would be allowed to volunteer seeing that everyone was anxious to go Danohawks was one of them he also selected from the flocks and herds of the villagers not from his own animals such offerings as he thought might satisfy the great king the unfortunate villagers expressed their sincere thanks for the privilege and withdrew the future looked very black so far as Danohawks was concerned the work at Stonehenge had been going on for years neither slave nor volunteer sent to labor on that great national memorial ever returned to his native village when he arrived with king Burmax's presence of slaves animals and provisions his interview with the great king was short i like to see a strong young man like yourself coming of his own free will to serve his country's religion but i am sure you wish to begin work at once take him to help with the great leaning stone now the friars heal this huge unworked boulder 29 feet long had been brought to the edge of the pit intended to receive it this pit had one side sloped or inclined whilst the others were vertical the end of the great stone was being carefully brought square to the edge of the pit the levers were huge tree trunks with many ropes attached each pulled by one man cables of twisted hide strips had been tied round the boulder which was lying on large rounded tree trunks the rollers on which it had been brought high ropes held by parties of ten men each under an overseer were attached to the great cables at various points and by pulling on these and by levers it was being brought square and level with the edge of the pit at one of the ropes a slave had fallen exhausted and half dead the overseer stopped flogging him and he was dragged aside and dunahawks put in his place then came the exciting moment the great boulder was dragged forward over the pit the end began to sway downwards and then toppled forward it slid down the inclined plane or a sloping side amidst intense excitement the whips of the overseers descended freely but at last it stopped it had taken the position embedded in stones and gently leaning towards the temple in which it had remained ever since that is for some four thousand or at any rate 3588 years dunahawks had no hope now for no distinction was made between the so called free man and the slave he had no rest from sunrise to sunset except for the scanty meals of millet and barley bread in which they were systematically spindled by their brutal overseers he next had to help in placing one of the great table stones in position on the top of its two upright pillars a sloping embankment of earth and stones had been built leading up to the top of these two upright boulders up this the table stone was dragged and pushed on carefully smooth rollers 200 men attached to the ropes made this quite an easy matter when it had reached its destined place where the guides on the top of the uprights projected through the surface of the embankment it was hauled into position and then the earth was carefully picked away until it settled down like the lintel of a giant store on its two stone posts then he was sent to the quarry at frone where the great altar stone was approaching completion it was a busy scene at the edge of the quarry men were cutting out with flint adzes small wedge shaped openings on the sandstone these openings were arranged in lines following the outline of the block which it was intended to break out of the cliff then dry wood and wedges were hammered into the openings when these were all in place water was poured on the wedges which of course soaked it up and the wood began to swell and expand the result was to split the stone along the line of the wedges and if the operation was successful a block of the required size was broken out it was by this method that Cleopatra's needle and other egyptian obelisks were waged out of the hard cyanide at aswan where one used to be able to see the holes cut by egyptian masons thousands of years ago and often a broken block lying beside them over the great altar stone three tree trunks had been placed forming a tripod a heavy quartzite hammer 70 pounds in weight was hauled by ropes to the top of the tripod and then let fall it was guided by wooden handles and struck the sides of the altar stone at the exact point required skilled masons with polished stone hammers were trimming the sides of the block more exactly as time went on stonehenge was nearing completion the strings of women and children laden with baskets of earth and stones had made a smooth road all the way from from to stonehenge then the altar stone cased in timber and rolling on giant rollers started on its journey 40 teams of 50 men each tugging at the boulder made it travel as easily as a wheelbarrow the great king himself with his priests and musicians as well as the animals for sacrifice adorned with garlands and flowers paced slowly along at the head of the solemn procession days of feverish toil followed for all embankments and all refuse had to be cleared away the great avenue with its stitches and embankments had to be prepared and the temple roofed in before the summer solstice there was the great circular rampart and its ditch to be finished off as well as the work necessary in clearing up one the outer stone circle to the inner ring of diabetes pillars three the horseshoe of great tables or dolmens four another ellipse of diabetes pillars as well as the great altar stone itself at last all was ready the central part of stonehenge was entirely roofed over except for the narrow opening towards the east all night long prayers and invocations were being chanted in the interior only lit by the sacred fire kept forever burning the longest day of the year was about to begin the king was seated on his throne and looking east whilst his most trusted nobles crouched on the ground and all waited anxiously for the sunrise the ancient priest in his rich linen robes whose skill in astronomy and architecture was responsible for the design and calculations had perhaps more reason for fear than anyone else the great mass of people were lying prostrate in the outer ring with their faces on the earth but it was in the darkness and awful silence of the inner temple that the most horrible fear and dread filled every soul as hour after hour passed away and the sunrise approached then the small eastern doorway was outlined by a faint gray fairy-like light priests who were standing there raised a curtain immediately the sacred fire was extinguished and again a dread mysterious darkness more intense than before descended on the people but suddenly the curtain dropped the sun had arisen a clear and brilliant ray of sunlight struck across through the darkness from the eastern door and shone full upon the forehead of the great king seated in his magnificent linen robes with his most ancient and venerable priests on either side of him the calculations were correct chants invocations sacrifices and a general feast followed which lasted for days together all discipline was relaxed the precious results of the vineyards sedulously cultivated but never very successful in england were recklessly used up and presents of wine were liberally bestowed on all the officials concerned so overseers and headmen courtiers and guards were for the most part drunk though this was a difficult achievement seeing that it was british wine preserved with turpentine but at any rate they had overeaten themselves and all were asleep but donahawks had fled end of section three section four of england this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Sonya the world's story volume nine england edited by Eva Marchtappen section four king Lear and his daughters a tradition of early britain by John Milton Lear who next reigned had only three daughters and no male issue governed lordly and willed Kellier now lester on the bank of Sora but at last failing through age he determines to bestow his daughters and so among them to divide his kingdom he had first to try which of them loved him best a trial that might have made him had he known as wisely how to try as he seemed to know how much the trying behooved him he resolves a simple resolution to ask them solemnly in order and which of them should profess largest her to believe gonoril the eldest a prehending to well her father's weakness makes answer invoking heaven that she loved him above her soul therefore close the old man overjoyed since thou so onerous my declining age to thee and the husband whom thou shall choose i give the third part of my realm so fair is speeding for a few words soon uttered was to Reagan the second ample instruction what to say she on the same demand spares no protesting and the gods must witness that otherwise to express her thoughts she knew not but that she loved him above all creatures and so receives an equal interest with her sister but Cordelia the youngest though hitherto best beloved and now before her eyes the rich and present hire of a little easy soothing the danger also and the loss likely to be tied plain dealing yet moves not from the solid purpose of a sincere and virtuous answer father says she my love towards you is as my duty bids what should a father seek what can a child promise more they who pretend beyond this flatter when the old man sorry to hear this and wishing her to recall those words persisted asking with a loyal sadness that her father's infirmity but something on the sudden harsh and glancing rather at her sister's then speaking her own mind two ways only says she i have to answer what you require me the format your comment is i should recant except then this other which is left me look how much you have so much is your value and so much i love you then here dal was lear now all in passion what thy ingratitude hath gained thee because thou has not reverence thy aged father equal to their sisters part in my kingdom or what else is mine reckoned to have none and without delay he gives in marriage his other daughters goneril to maglona's Duke of Albania Regan to Henniness Duke of Cornwall with them in present have his kingdom the rest to follow at his death in the meanwhile fame was not sparing to divulge the wisdom and other graces of Cordelia in so much that Aghanipus a great king in Gaul however he came by his Greek name not found in any register of French kings seeks her to wife and nothing altered at the loss of her dowry receives her gladly in such a manner as she was sent him after this King Lear more and more drooping with years became an easy prey to his daughters and their husbands who now by daily encroachment had seized the whole kingdom into their hands and the old king is put to sojourn with his eldest daughter attended only by three score knights but they in a short while grudge that as too numerous and disorderly for continual guests are reduced to thirty not brooking that affront the old king betakes him to his second daughter but they are also this court sooner rising between the servants of different masters in one family five only are suffered to attend him then back again he returns to the other hoping that she his eldest could not but have pity on his gray hairs but she now refuses to admit him unless he be content with only one of his followers at last the remembrance of his youngest Cordelia comes to his thoughts and now acknowledging how true her words had been though with little hope from whom he had so injured be it but to pay her the last recompense she can have from him his confession of her wise forewarning that so perhaps his misery the proof and experiment of her wisdom might something soften her he takes his journey into friends now might be seen a difference between the silent or downright spoken affection of some children to their parents and the talkative obsequiousness of others while the hope of inheritance over acts them and on the tongue's end and largest at duty Cordelia out of mere love without the suspicion of expected reward at the message only of her father in distress pours forth true filial tears and not enduring either that her own or any other I should see him in such forlorn condition as his messenger declared discreetly points one of her trusty servants first to convey him privately towards some good seetown there to array him bathe him cherish him furnish him with such attendance and state as besiemed his dignity that when as from his first landing he might send word of his arrival to her husband aga nipis which done with all mature and requisite contrivance Cordelia with the king her husband and all the barony of his realm who then first had news of his passing the sea go out to meet him and after all honorable and joyful entertainment aga nipis as to his wife's father and his royal guest surrenders him during his vote there the power and disposal of his whole dominion permitting his wife Cordelia to go with an army and set her father upon his throne wherein her piety so prospered as that she vanquished her empire's sisters with those dukes and there again assessed the story three years obtained the crown to whom dying Cordelia with all regal solemnities gave burial in the town of Leicester and then as right air succeeding and her husband dead ruled the land five years in peace until Marganus and Cunadagius her two sister sons not bearing that the kingdom should be governed by a woman in the unseasonableness time to raise that quarrel against the woman so worthy make war against her depose her and imprison her of which impatient and now long unexercised to suffer she there as this related killed herself end of section four this recording is in the public domain section five of england this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by april 6 0 9 0 california united states of america the world's story volume nine england edited by Eva March Tappan section five the city in the lake by gf scott elliott the night was dark and stormy and the wild southwesternly wind seemed to be increasing in violence with almost every hour that passed the branches were wildly lashing to and fro and the moaning and whistling of the wind as it raged through the dark and somber forest with every now and then the sharp crack and thud of a branch torn off and whizzing to the ground seemed to create new terrors and a spirit of an utterable despair amongst the wretched fugitives crouching over a feeble and faint-hearted fire in one of the wild recesses of the pulled-in hill forest the very cattle seemed to be uneasy and billowed piteously they were restless and and perpetually joshling one another in the rude zeriba of branches hastily thrown up by very wearied hands the chieftain looked gloomily at the small remnant of his people were these all that remained to him of the numerous serfs and freemen who had made the great villains on the downs such a busy and cheerful home it had been totally impossible to make any defense whatever those gigantic yellow-haired people pritons as they called themselves had stormed the place with a fury and a vigor that carried all before them if it had not been that they were now occupied engorging themselves on his special acorn fattened pork and drinking themselves into stupidity on his own particular mead and beer he groaned to think of it not one of his party could have escaped alas never would he see the splendid rolling grass covered by his flocks and herds nor watch them plotting on their leisurely way homewards along those deeply worn cattle tracks which had been formed thousands of years before his time never could he see the dew pond so cunningly constructed of chaff and clay that never failed to keep full of water even during the greatest drought but what was he to do where was he to go they could not live in the forest and if they settled themselves anywhere in the open country their cattle would assuredly be stolen by more brithonic or Celtic robbers the chief was a tall well-built man with the brown hair gray eyes round head and broad features of what we call a typically Irish face he sighed gloomily as he realized to the very full as only Irish people can do the extremity of their distress he looked on the remnant of his people they were pure picks for the most part short dark graceful and refined looking men and women cunning with their fingers really clever as carpenters miners and potters and very biddable and patient but in the war they had neither weapons nor the strength or even courage to use them against such enemies as those great fair-haired roaring brithonic or as they called themselves pirateonic strangers what on earth was he to do where was he to go as the wind faded away for a little an awful downpour of heavy rain swept down on the defenseless fugitives what was that he heard distinctly through the storm a howl of a wolf the great dogs heard it too and a furious barking arose he at once called loudly to the wet be numbed and shivering women to help the fire and seizing his spear called loudly to the men to follow him taking firebrands and spears they ran to the Zareba where the wolves were already snarling and whirring at the thorny branches those cowardly brutes were very soon driven off but the chief and his trustiest men were awake all night and the persistent wolves were driven off not once but over and over again but what was he to do life in the forest was quite impossible for this night showed the dangers from wild beasts and there was neither pasture nor cornland but the gaelic kelt is often at his best when everything seems black and gloomy and he suddenly called where is morgesias a tall youth of his own race sprang up lightly with a grin and came to him what was that wild tale of yours about a village in the water it is true it is what i said it was 600 paces long and 50 paces broad all the houses are on long poles worked deep into the bed of the lake and it is so far out in the water that no one can get there unless he swims or paddles in a canoe could we make one in the lake at glostenberry the boy morgesias sat down awestruck and hopeless by the chief's side and then the sanguine audacity of the kelt awoke within him why not of course we can we shall be safe and secure for no brythan ever swims and they have no canoes all that night the chief questioned morgesias but with very indifferent success he could not say how long it would take to build the building of his swiss village had been centuries in progress he knew nothing of the dry details of carpentry and design so that in the end the chief was guided mainly by his own common sense next morning he threw himself into the congenial task of making an eloquent speech he succeeded as only an irish kelt could have done in inspiring the people with a fine fervent glow of enthusiasm and all about nothing for all that he had to offer was a suggestion to build houses in a lake but they went on with renewed spirits through long myry paths right over the hills and down to the great lake near glostenberry everyone was soon hard at work some were cutting down trees with polished stone axes cumbersly mounted on wooden handles by means of a deer horned socket with bronze swords and even precious iron daggers others were tearing up ferns and bracken or gathering brushwood a small fishing canoe was hidden in the reeds by the lake and the chief glee's by name and morgesias pushed off in this to search for a good position they discovered a fine shallow place about a mile from the present town of glostenberry and a few hundred yards from the forest gleeus was working very much in the dark for on any practical point morgesias was hopeless but it would never have done to show any doubt as to what had to be done the great point was to keep the people's enthusiasm at concert pitch so a huge raft of big branches and tree trunks was prepared some of the logs were fixed together by oak and pins driven in the holes were bored by a revolving bone point and the oak pin placed in them then heavy stone clubs or malls were used to drive the two beams together so that the oak pin was firmly fixed underneath the raft was a huge mass of fern and brushwood morgesias and others pulled this great arrangement to the chosen shallows where a few upright sharpened poles were driven vertically downwards through it into the bed of the lake the shape of this raft was approximately circular or round and it was about 60 yards in diameter the next undertaking was to make a causeway from the shore this was a very rude sort of affair consisting of only a line of stakes most of them below the water with broad branches fixed to them it was not straight but curved irregularly and the footpath that is the horizontal branches was below water so that an enemy would find it very difficult to traverse then more branches and logs were towed by the canoe to the village and arranged in a layer crossing the first set of timbers along the causeway women and children were always bringing baskets of stones and of clay which were heaped upon the surface of the raft so for several days from the first light of morning until it was too dark to see they continued adding layers of tree trunks and of stones and clay until the great raft was firmly embedded in the mud of the lake and eventually the surface rose above the water then a good platform of stones was placed over it and a bed of clay above that and they were ready to build their houses before doing this however glius insisted on having a palisade round the whole artificial island this was a long and weary task for a great number of poles from three to nine inches in diameter and 11 feet long had to be stuck in the lake all around the island hurdles were arranged between these poles and so of course the people were fairly safe from the javelins and arrows of any enemy their food was very scanty during this period of incessant labor but beech nuts, hazelnuts, crab apples, raspberries and brambles were busily collected and one or two of the men who had to watch the forest paths did their best to bring in sometimes a roebuck and on one occasion a fine fat red deer one small boy who was very clever with the sling brought in occasional birds such as a hare and or a seagull and sometimes a duck or teal he used small clay bullets baked in the fire they also had a certain amount of milk butter and cheese most of them were however able to sleep in safety on their island though a few of the best hunters and the dogs had to remain on shore to guard the cattle and other animals they built on shore and within sight of the settlement cattle pounds and watch houses for the sentinels and their dogs these were chiefly intended to keep off wolves bears and foxes and consisted of a deep ditch a high mound and a close palisade of thorny branches and poles along the top of it then they thought about making themselves comfortable during all these weeks scarcely one of them had known what it was like to have dry clothes they had no shelter from rain and of course were always falling into the water the great house was built first which was a big undertaking a long stout pole was driven through the island to form the central roof pole then in a circle around it at intervals of about a foot other shorter poles were driven in long branches were placed from the high central one to those outer supports extending a foot or two beyond them and were carefully tied on with creepers and lime tree bark a thatched roof was very soon placed on the long branches the people spent the whole of one rainy day under it for sheer delight in being out of the wet the side walls were very soon put in for they consisted only of rude wicker work of interlaced branches dobbled with clay this house was 35 feet in diameter then a big flat stone was brought to act as a heartstone the chimney was an opening in the roof and other stones for an outside fire were put before each door the doors were made of rough planks and were only three feet high some of the men had brought rude saws gouges chisels and other tools for the most part of iron a good deal of excitement was caused at this stage of the work by a small child tumbling into the water but the chief made a law that every infant was to be tied to its mother by a string attached to its toe he also covered in by a platform the space between the palisade and the island and had a trap door made in this platform with a ladder seven feet long so as to admit of easy entrance to the island there were other smaller houses to build but they were only some 15 feet across it was also necessary to make a slanting arrangement of beams and stones round the island to prevent the waves on a stormy day from interfering with the foundations then they set to work on their ordinary daily life and began to heap up riches for it was really worthwhile now seeing that there was a distinct chance for them to escape being murdered and plundered on account of them patches of forest were cut and burnt and sewed with wheat apples were collected and split and dried for winter use some specialized on fishing and manufactured nets with floats and sinkers lines and fish hooks some of which scarcely differ in design from those we use today piking carp were common in the lake and salmon swarmed in the neighboring streams fish became therefore a very important article of diet they even try to feed their horses on fish in the winter but the stupid animals would not eat them they made traps for beaver and for otters those for the last were like a shallow wooden trough with a square hole in the middle a stout springy sapling was fixed and kept bent like a bow by a short piece of wood its end passed under the two holes at each end when the otter put its head through the hole to seize the bait the stout sapling was set free and caught it under the neck so that it was very soon drowned by this time they had fixed polishing or grinding stones before each hut as well as a proper corn for grinding corn so they were once more able to make bread the forest yielded an abundance of acorns for their pigs as well as honey and beeswax they became much more expert in catching wild fowl and wild geese wild swans and other birds were often taken the small boy who had taken to bird hunting found a frog in a heron's crop and in a rash spirit of adventure cooked and ate the frog he was injudicious enough to boast about his discovery for so many others overcame a natural prejudice and ate both frogs and toads that there was a serious scarcity in the supply of these animals near Glastonbury the women also set up a rough loom and made clay weights spindles and other necessary apparatus for it so that linen and woolen clothes were soon being actively prepared very pretty long handled combs of bone were soon the fashion indeed the delicious feeling of security of having an hour or two of leisure every day was so new and strange to these picks and galls that they were at first utterly happy and contented Gleas had even begun to make experiments in glass making for his people were expert miners and blacksmiths and in the old days lead mining had been one of his most profitable undertakings but a strange and unexpected interruption occurred he was sitting one evening beside the outside fire ruminating over the problem of producing a scarlet bead of vitreous paste when the alarm signal sounded from the land followed by the yodel which meant peaceful strangers he at once seized his spear and sword and just as he was jumped into the small canoe and paddled ashore he had nothing on but a tunic, breeches, and an old bearskin very much the worst for wear he had only a small gold bracelet the first that he heard was morgisius talking hard in any very bold offhand and conceded fashion that youth was inclined to swagger too much but then the last twist of the meery forest path was turned and a strange party came into view first was morgisius swaggering then a most beautiful girl divinely tall and most divinely fair with deep mysterious blue eyes and a great mass of yellow hair loose and disordered on her shoulders he scarcely noticed the rest of the party which consisted of an old brython king weeping bitterly and several serfs mostly wounded and two or three miserable handmaidens it was the brython princess who occupied him altogether she was proud hotty and contemptuous even though weary and scarce able to walk and most sorely traveled stained her curdle was meery with the black mud of the forest her dainty feet were bleeding from many thorn scratches which her absurdly frivolous sandals were unable to keep off morgisius boastfully explained how he had found them lost and wandering in the forest and induced them to come to glee his court but the latter cut him short and curtly ordered him to fetch the big canoe the old chief king uther could do nothing but weep and knelt before him taking his knee and asking for protection greatly to the disgust of his daughter he was idiotic from grief and not very intelligent at any time the daughter explained that their neighbor king had suddenly stormed their fort and utterly beaten their retainers then gleeus with his best air in any very courtly style begged to offer them shelter and food until they could make their plans but in the midst of a very eloquent speech he perceived the lady's cold blue eyes fixed intently on his ragged bare skin and suddenly grew confused and faltered the lady thanked him hotly and coldly but when the canoe came he saw that she had never been in a dugout before this was a specially good one twenty two feet long and two feet ten inches broad with a square stern closed by a board but even good ones like this require care so he got into the water and told her to put her hand on his shoulder and get in very carefully she tried to spring in without doing so and the canoe rocked fearfully then she lost presence of mind and clutched at him but the canoe upset and she fell full length into the water in a moment he had righted the canoe and placed her carefully in it then the old king entered and he paddled them skillfully off to the settlement his paddle was about three feet long in five inches broad but she was very angry and hated him worse than ever for she could not but be aware that she had made a fool of herself when they arrived there was great excitement but he handed her over to his mother and went off to prepare for dinner his mother came to tell him that she was absolutely worn out and would not be able to see him that night from the old king's conversation he gathered that they were absolutely destitute his palace had been raided his cattle taken and unless he could find a place for his serfs they would be forced to put themselves under his enemy who it seems had been offended by the not too courteously expressed refusal of his daughter to marry him this was good news to Glius for if the Brythens were quarreling among themselves they might perhaps leave him alone next morning Glius's boy had a hard time of it his master was shaved with a bronze razor his hair and mustache were carefully combed and trimmed he put on a splendid linen cloak fastened it on the right shoulder with a coral studded brooch he had his best swore it on with its splendid leather scabbard adorned with gold and also his best armlets bracelets and finger rings at the last moment he tastefully decorated his cheeks with a chased design in red ochre and charcoal mixed with grease the boy stared at him for this was a new development in Glius but she was anything but courteous would scarcely speak to him and complained of the dampness of the hut he tried in vain to explain that that was very easily remedied his people would lay down a new hearthstone and a fresh layer of clay in a day or two then she said she could not think of putting him to so much trouble would it not be best for him to give her up to king maglacone who is at least wealthy and a warrior so their conversation during the next day or two was not specially agreeable to Glius whose thoughts were very much taken up with that very maglacone and his probable doings on this emergency nor was he at all deceived there was cause for grave anxiety and he had already given orders to hide cattle sheep and horses and destroy all paths every person who could be spared was kept on the settlement and all canoes save one were kept in the palisades it was well that he had done so for a wild note of alarm sounded two days afterwards and morgicius and the scouts came running in to report a strong set of brightens advancing to the attack his mother and the older men begged him to give up the girl who was a useless burden to them but he would not listen to them he was already busy superintending the execution of his long planned schemes for defense for he could not hope to be always left alone he and morgicius were already dismantling the causeway beams and carefully planting stakes where the water was deep and the bed very muddy and where the causeway did not go so when the fierce yellow-haired brightens came and raged at him he simply let them rave as long as they liked they fired arrows and javelins but the range was very long and there was nothing but a palisade to fire at they then tried to the causeway but fell into deep water and mud and had much trouble in rescuing one another after this there was a long consultation and they began cutting down trees and hauling them to the water side a rough raft was made of this and very slowly this crank craft began to make an erratic and devious course towards the settlement as soon as it had started glius was surprised by his mother that girl has lifted the trapdoor and is going to give herself up glius hurried to the place and saw her struggling in the water he promptly hauled her up the ladder and told her sternly to listen to what maglacone was saying the chieftain was explaining forcibly what he would do to the girl who had refused him and his ideas of torture were ingenious and too horrible to quote so glius tied her arms and carried her to the hut before hastening back to the palisade it is not very easy to steer a very self-willed and cranky raft and at the same time hold a shield over you as maglacone and his people discovered one man was dead already and several were wounded with arrows but still they were approaching far too close so glius suddenly attacked he mortgis yes and three of his stalwarts sallied out in their best canoe when only 10 yards off all discharged their arrows and threw spears the men on the left were discomfited with the sudden attack and the storm of arrows and the raft rocked wildly and upset maglacone and some of his warriors swam towards the canoe but glius had his wits about him by his orders maglacone was left alone those men who swam ashore were allowed to go but two or three who clung to the raft and those who followed the chief to attack the canoe were soon disposed of then glius gave his orders his men even the bold mortgisis remonstrated but he knew what he was about glius had the canoe brought behind maglacone then he suddenly rose upright and neatly jumped into the water a very difficult feet without upsetting the craft a few strong strokes brought him onto the back of maglacone whom he proceeded to half-drown in a cool and scientific manner when the poor wretch was almost dead he made him swear by the god of thunder and a fire that he would never attack the settlement and would leave the girl alone then he took him to the remains of his raft and towed it near the shore other well-armed canoes sallied out and they kept arrow on string until the half-drowned brython chief had been carried off by his men into the forest then they had a happy time in searching for the slain brythons their heads were cut off and stuck on poles outside the palisade as trophies of war only one of their boys had been killed and he was buried in the village tomb this was a vault about six feet long and five feet deep lined with huge stone slabs on the shore and about a mile away this victory enormously encouraged and heartened the settlement to have got the better of maglacone the famous warrior was in itself a great glory but to have spared his life and sent him back like a drowned rat was the sort of story that appealed to the Celtic imagination whether gaelic or brython the person who enjoyed at least was Glius himself he could not understand why the girl had wanted to throw herself into the water and to be taken to maglacone so a day or two afterwards he had his chariot fervished up it was a rough one of two wheels twelve spokes and drawn by two sturdy ponies with the few other men on ponies he drove off to visit a respectable brython chief with whom he had established correct if not cordial relations and who is beginning to understand that Glius's people with their skill in pottery and other useful arts were really valuable as neighbors he took up a present of some glass beads yellow green and blue with zigzag patterns in wavy white lines he was well received for the king hated maglacone and wanted to hear the tale this king had no objections to the great waste forestland bordering the lake on the north being settled by old king uther serfs they did a little trade also in pottery wood and bowls and otterskins he laughed heartily when he heard what was the present that Glius wished thumped him jovially on the back and told him if the girl did not want him after that she had better be drowned in the lake Glius much encouraged returned to the settlement and immediately sent for his mother she grinned horribly when she saw the presence but brought Glius to the girl who was looking very much ashamed of herself but as soon as she saw what Glius is offered namely a bronze mirror a small lump of rouge another of antimony and an exquisite pair of bronze tweezers she laughed heartily and Glius had no further trouble in wooing her here however we must take leave of him only remarking that their settlement flourished that there were 60 or 70 huts and that some of the wooden bowls and pottery designed by his people are amongst the most valued treasures of the British Museum end of section five this recording is in the public domain section six of england read for LibriVox.org by Thomas Peter the Sacred Grove by Arnold Boecklen swiss painter 1827 to 1901 painting page 28 the druids were a remarkable brotherhood of priests teachers and judges who ruled over the ancient Celts of Gaul and Britain the power was such that the chiefs bent humbly before them and yielded to their decisions not only in matters of religion but in all sorts of disagreements even in cases of crime they were the judges and from their decision there was no appeal whoever refused to obey them was shut out from the benefits of the sacrifices until they came to terms of humility and obedience they themselves did not go to war but their influence was so great and arousing the people to warfare that enemies hated them even more bitterly than they did those who met them in battle even the romans dreaded them and after the roman rule was established in britain every possible vestige of druid sway was destroyed it is possible though by no means certain that stonehenge and other similar ruins are the remains of ancient druidical temples the druids taught the immortality of the soul but in the form of transmigration they had a great reverence for the oak tree and even more for the mistletoe growing upon it it is said that when such a mistletoe had been discovered one priest stood on a white cloth under the tree to receive the plant while a second cut it with a golden knife both must wear spotless robes of white from a temple concealed by the dark grove of trees in the background of this picture white robe priests advanced with slow and stately steps in front a sacrificial fire burns upon an altar before which two worshipers prostrate themselves in prayer end of section six this recording is in the public domain section seven of england this is a libravox recording all libravox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libravox.org according by jane pennett the world's story volume nine england edited by eve march tappan section seven julius seizes two visits to britain 55 and 54 bc by anthony trollop there were left of the fighting season after season it came back across the right in just a few weeks and what could he do better with them than go over and conquer britannia this first record of an invasion upon us comes in at the fag end of a chapter and the invasion was made simply to fill up the summer nobody sees it tells us seem to know anything about the island and yet it was the fact that in all his wars with the ghouls the ghouls were helped by men out of britain before he will face the danger with his army he sends over a trusty messenger to look about and find out something as to coasts and harbours the trusty messenger does not dare to disembark but comes back and tells caesar what he has seen from the ship caesar in the meantime has got together a great fleet somewhere in the bologna and calais country and so he says messengers have come to him from britain with a rumors of his purpose have already flown saying that they will submit themselves to the roman republic we may believe just as much of that as we please but he clearly thinks less of the bologna and calais people than he does even of the britains which is a comfort to us when these people then called marini came to him asking pardon for having dared to oppose him once before and offering any number of hostages and saying that they had been led on by bad advice caesar admitted them into some degree of grace not wishing as he tells us to be kept out of britain by the consideration of such very small affairs nick has tantularum riram occupatione sebi britain asi antiponendus judicaba we hope that the bologna and calais people understand and appreciate the phrase having taken plenty of hostages he determines to trust the bologna and calais people and prepares his ships for passing the channel he starts nearly at the third watch about midnight we may presume a portion of its army the cavalry encounters some little delay such as has often occurred on the same spot since even to travelers without horses he himself got over to the british coast at about the fourth hour this at midsummer would have been about a quarter past eight as it was now late in the summer it may have been nine o'clock in the morning when caesar found himself under the cliffs of kent and saw our armed ancestors standing along all the hills ready to meet him he stayed at anchor waiting for his ships till about two p.m. his cavalry did not get across till four days afterwards having given his orders and found a fitting moment and a fitting spot Caesar runs his ships up upon the beach Caesar confesses to a good deal of difficulty in getting ashore when we know how very hard it is to accomplish the same feat on the same coast in these days with all the appliances of modern science to aid us and as we must presume with no real intention on the part of the canty eye or men of kent to oppose our landing we can quite sympathize with Caesar the ships were so big that they could not be brought into very shallow water the roman soldiers were compelled to jump into the sea heavily armed and there to fight with the waves and with the enemy but the britains having the use of all their limbs knowing the ground standing either on the shore or just running into the shallows made the landing uneasy enough nostri our men says Caesar with all these things against them were not all of them so alert at fighting as was usual with them on dry ground at which no one can be surprised Caesar had two kinds of ships Neve it's long long ships for carrying soldiers and Neve's honorarius ships for carrying burdens the long ships do not seem to have been such ships of war as the romans generally used in their sea fights but were handier and more easily worked than the transports these he laid broadside to the shore and harassed the poor natives with stones and arrows then the eagle bearer of the tenth legion jumped into the sea proclaiming that he at any rate would do his duty unless they wish to see their eagle fall into the hands of the enemy they must follow him jumped down he said my fellow soldiers unless you wish to betray your eagle to the enemy I at least will do my duty to the republic and to our general when he had said this with a loud voice he threw himself out of the ship and advanced the eagle against the enemy seeing and hearing this the men leapt forth freely from that ship and from others as usual there was some sharp fighting pugnatum est utrische acrite it is nearly always the same thing Caesar throws away none of his glory by underrating his enemy but at length the britains fly this thing only was wanting to Caesar's good fortune that he was deficient in cavalry were with to ride on in pursuit and take the island considering how very shorter time he remains in the island we feel that his complaint against fortune is hardly well founded but there is a general surrender and a claiming of hostages and after a few days a sparkle of new hope in the breasts of the britains a storm arises and Caesar's ships are so knocked about that he does not know how he will get back to Gaul he is troubled by a very high tide not understanding the nature of these tides as he had only intended this for a little tentative trip a mere taste of a future war with britain he had brought no large supply of corn with him he must get back by hook or by crook the britains seeing how it is with him think that they can destroy him and make an attempt to do so the seventh legion is in great peril having been sent out to find corn but is rescued certain of his ships those which had been most grievously handled by the storm he breaks up in order that he may mend the others with their materials when we think how long it takes us to mend ships having dockyards and patent slips and all things ready this is most marvellous to us but he does mend his ships and while doing so he has a second fight with the britains and again repulses them there is a burning and destroying of everything far and wide a gathering of ambassadors to Caesar asking for terms a demand for hostages a double number of hostages now whom Caesar desired to have sent over to him to Gaul because at this time of the year he did not choose to trust them to ships that were unsea worthy and he himself with all his army gets back into the Bologna and Calais country two transports only are missing which are carried somewhat lower down the coast there are but 300 men in these transports and these the marini of those parts threatened kill unless they will give up their arms but Caesar sends help and even these 300 are saved from disgrace there is of course more burning of houses and laying waste of fields because of this little attempt and then Caesar puts his army into winter quarters what would have been the difference to the world if the britains as they surely might have done had destroyed Caesar and every Roman and not left even a ship to get back to Gaul in a new of this Caesar could send news to Rome of these various victories and have a public thanksgiving decreed on this occasion for 20 days on his return out of Britain Caesar as usual went over the Alps to look after his other provinces and to attend to his business in Italy but he was determined to make another raid upon the island he could not yet assume that he had taken it and therefore he left minute instructions with his generals as to the building of more ships and the repair of those which had been so nearly destroyed he sends to Spain he tells us for the things necessary to equip his ships we never hear of any difficulty about money we know that he did obtain large grants from Rome for the support of his legions but no scruple was made in making war maintain war as far as such maintenance could be obtained Caesar personally was in an extremity of debt when he commenced his campaigns he had borrowed an enormous sum 830 talents or something over 200,000 pounds from Crassus who was the specially rich Roman of those days before he could take charge of his Spanish province when his wars were over he returned to Rome with the great treasure and indeed during these wars in Gaul he expended large sums in bribing Romans we may suppose that he found hordes among the barbarians as Lord Clive did in the East Indies Clive contented himself with taking some Caesar probably took all having given the order about his ships he settled a little matter in Illyricum taking care to raise some tribute there also he allows but a dozen lines for recording this winter work and then tells us that he hurried back to his army and his ships his command had been so well obeyed in regard to vessels that he finds ready of that special sort which he had ordered with one bank of oars only on each side as many as 600 and also 28 of the larger sword he gives his soldiers very great credit for their exertions and sends his fleet to the port of Cetius the exact spot which Caesar called by this name the geographers have not identified but it is supposed to be between Bologna and Calais it may probably have been at Wissom having seen that things were thus ready for a second trip into Britain he turns round and hurries off with four legions and 800 cavalry an army of 25 000 men into the Treve country there is a quarrel going on there between two chieftains which it is well that he should settle somewhat as the monkey settled the contest about the oyster this however is a mere nothing of an affair and he is back again among his ships at the port of Cetius in a page and a half he resolves upon taking five legions of his own soldiers into Britain and 2 000 mounted Gauls he had brought together 4 000 of these horsemen collected from all Gaul their chiefs and nobles not only as fighting allies but as hostages that the tribe should not rise in rebellion while his back was turned these he divides taking half with him and leaving half with three legions of his own men under Labienus in the Bologna country as a base to his army to look after the provisions and to see that he be not harassed on his return there is a little affair however with one of the Gaulish chieftains Domnorex the Eduan who ought to have been his fastest friend Domnorex runs away with all the Eduan horsemen Caesar however sends after him and has him killed and then all things are ready he starts with all together more than 800 ships at sunset and comes over with a gentle southwest wind he arrives off the coast of Britain at about noon but can see none of the inhabitants on the cliff he imagines that they have all fled frightened by the number of his ships Caesar establishes his camp and proceeds that same night about 12 miles into the country 11 miles we may say as our mile is longer than the Roman and there he finds the Britons there is some fighting after which Caesar returns and fortifies his camp then there comes a storm and knocks his ships about terribly although he had found as he thought a nice soft place for them but the tempest is very violent and they are torn away from their anchors and thrust upon the shore and dashed against each other till there is infinite trouble he is obliged to send over to Labienus telling him to build more ships and those which are left he drags up over the shore to his camp in spite of the enormous labor required in doing it he is 10 days at this work night and day and we may imagine that his soldiers had not had an easy time of it when this has been done he advances again into the country after the enemy and finds that Cassive Alornus is in command of the united forces of the different tribes Cassive Alornus comes from the other side of the Thames over in Middlesex or Hartfordshire the Britons had not hitherto lived very peaceably together but now they agree that against the Romans they will act in union under Cassive Alornus Caesar's description of the island is very interesting the interior is inhabited by natives or rather by Aborigines Caesar states this at least as the tradition of the country but the maritime parts are held by Belgian immigrants who for the most part have brought with them from the continent the names of their tribes the population is great and the houses built very like the houses in Gaul are numerous and very thick together the Britons have a great deal of cattle they use money having either copper coin or iron rings of a great weight tin is found in the middle of the island and about the coast iron but the quantity of iron found is small brass they import they have the same timber as in Gaul only they have neither beach nor fur hairs and chickens and geese they think it wrong to eat but they keep these animals as pets the climate on the whole is milder than in Gaul the island is triangular one corner that of Kent has an eastern and a southern aspect this southern side of the island he makes 500 miles exceeding the truth by about 150 miles then Caesar becomes a little hazy in his geography telling us that the other side meaning the western line of the triangle where Ireland lies verges towards Spain Ireland he says is half the size of Britain and about the same distance from it that Britain is from Gaul in the middle of the channel dividing Ireland from Britain there is an island called Mona the Isle of Man there are also some other islands which at midwinter have 30 continuous days of night here Caesar becomes not only hazy but mythic but he explains that he has seen nothing of this himself although he has ascertained by scientific measurement that the nights in Britain are shorter than on the continent of course the nights are shorter with us in summer than they are in Italy and longer in winter the western coast he makes out to be 700 miles long in same which he is nearly 100 miles over the mark the third side he describes as looking towards the north he means the eastern coast this he calls 800 miles long and exaggerates our territories by more than 200 miles the marvel however is that he should be so near the truth the men of Kent are the most civilized indeed they are almost as good as Gauls in this respect what changes does not time make in the comparative merits of countries the men in the interior live on flesh and milk and do not care for corn they wear skin clothing they make themselves horrible with woad and go about with very long hair they shave close except the head and upper lip then comes the worst habit of all ten or a dozen men have their wives in common among them we have a very vivid and by no means unflattering account of the singular agility of our ancestors in their mode of fighting from their chariots this says Caesar is the nature of their chariot fighting they first drive rapidly about the battlefield per omnes parties and throw their darts and frequently disorder the ranks by the very terror occasioned by the horses and by the noise of the wheels and when they have made their way through the bodies of the cavalry they jump down and fight on foot then the charioteers go a little out of the battle and so place their chariot that they may have a ready mode of returning should their friends be pressed by the number of their enemies thus they unite the rapidity of cavalry and the stability of infantry and so effective do they become by daily use and practice that they are accustomed to keep their horses excited as they are on their legs on steep and precipitous ground and to manage and turn them very quickly and to run along the pole and stand upon the yoke by which the horses were held together at the collars and again with the greatest rapidity to return to the chariot all which is very wonderful of course there is a great deal of fighting and the Britons soon learn by experience to avoid general engagements and maintain guerrilla actions Caesar by degrees makes his way to the Thames and with great difficulty gets his army over it he can do this at only one place and that badly the sight of this forward he does not describe to us it is supposed to have been near the place which we now know as Sunbury he does tell us that his men were so deep in the water that their heads only were above the stream but even thoughts they were so impetuous in their onslaught that the Britons would not wait for them on the opposite bank but ran away soon there comes unconditional surrender and hostages and promises of tribute Cassie Valornas who is himself but a usurper and therefore has many enemies at home endeavors to make himself secure in a strong place or town which is supposed to have been on or near the site of Arsene Albans Caesar however explains that the poor Britons give the name of a town Opidum to a spot in which they have nearly surrounded some thick woods with a ditch and rampart Caesar of course drives them out of their woodland fortress and then there quickly follows another surrender more hostages and the demand for tribute Caesar leaves his orders behind him as though to speak were to be obeyed one man Dubratius and not Cassie Valornas is to be the future king in middle sex and Hartfordshire that he is over the Triner Banties who live there he fixes the amount of tribute to be sent annually by the Britons to Rome and he especially leaves orders that Cassie Valornas shall do no mischief to the young man Dubratius then he crosses back into Gaul at two trips his ships taking half the army first and coming back for the other half and he piously observes that though he had lost many ships when they were comparatively empty hardly one had been destroyed while his soldiers were in them so were ended Caesar's second and last invasion of Britain that he had reduced Britain as he had reduced Gaul he certainly could not boast the Quintus Curtius had written to his brother to say that Britannia was confector finished though he had twice landed his army under the white cliffs and twice taken it away with comparative security he had on both occasions been made to feel how terribly strong an ally to the Britons was that channel which divided them from the continent the reader is made to feel that on both occasions the existence of his army and of himself is in the greatest peril Caesar's idea in attacking Britain was probably that of making the Gauls believe that his power could reach even beyond them could extend itself all around them even into distant islands then of absolutely establishing the Roman dominion beyond that distant sea the Britons had helped the Gauls in their wars with him and it was necessary that he should punish any who presumed to give such help whether the orders which he left behind him were obeyed we do not know but we may imagine that the tribute exacted was not sent to Rome with great punctuality in fact Caesar invaded the island twice but did not reduce it end of section 7 section 8 of England this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Sonia as the narrator Alan Mapstone as Cymbeline Jim Locke as Lucius Devorah Allen as Queen and Thomas Peter as Clarton the world's story volume 9 England edited by Eva March-Tepin section 8 a messenger from Rome 43 A.D. by William Shakespeare Cymbeline or Cunabalinus was a grandson of Cassiva Launus so much of a foundation has Shakespeare for his Cymbeline the rest of the play is purely imaginative whenever Caesar overcame the tribe it was his custom to demand that tribute be paid to him in the following scene Caus Lucius a messenger from the Roman emperor has come to the court of Cymbeline in 43 A.D. to demand that the tribute which the king had of late left untended shall be paid the editor scene 1 Britain a room of state in Cymbeline's palace enter at one side Cymbeline Queen Clotun and Lords at the other Caus Lucius and the tendons now say what would Augustus Caesar with us when Julius Caesar whose remembrance yet lives in men's eyes and will to ears and tongues be theme and hearing ever was in this Britain and conquered it Casablan thine uncle famous in Caesar's praises know with less than in his feats deserving it for him and his succession granted Rome a tribute yearly three thousand pounds which by the lately is left untendered and to kill the marvel shall be so ever there be many Caesar's ear such another Julius Britain is a world by itself and we will nothing pay for wearing our own noses that opportunity which then they had to take from us to resume we have again remember Sir my liege the kings your ancestors together with the natural bravery of your aisle which stands as Neptune's park ribbit and pale it in with rocks unscalable and roaring waters with sands that will not bear your enemies boats but suck them up to the top mast a kind of conquest Caesar made here but made not hear his brag of came and saw and overcame with shame the first that ever touched him he was carried from off our coast twice beaten and his shipping poor ignorant baubles on our terrible seas like eggshells moved upon their surges cracked as easily against our rocks for joy whereof the famed Casablan who was once at point oh giglet fortune to master Caesar's sword made luds town with rejoicing fires bright and Britain strut with courage come there's no more tribute to be paid our kingdom is stronger than it was at that time and as i said there is no more such Caesar other of them may have crooked noses but to owe such straight arms none son let your mother end we have yet among us can gripe as hard as Casablan i do not say i am one but i have a hand why tribute why should we pay tribute if Caesar can hide the sun from us with a blanket or put the moon in his pocket we will pay him tribute for light else sir no more tribute pray you now you must know till the injurious romans did extort this tribute from us we were free Caesar's ambition which swelled so much that it did almost stretch the sides of the world against all color here did put the oak upon us which to shake off becomes a warlike people whom we reckon ourselves to be we do say then to Caesar our ancestor was that mummousius which ordained our laws whose use the sword of Caesar have too much mangled whose repair and franchise shall by the power we hold be our good deed though Rome be therefore angry mummousius made our laws who was the first of Britain which did put his brows within a golden crown and called himself a king i am sorry sibling that i am to pronounce Augustus Caesar Caesar that hath more kings his servants than thyself domestic officers thine enemy receive it from me then war and confusion in Caesar's name pronounce i against the look for fury not to be resisted end of section eight this recording is in the public domain section nine of England read for the library box dot org by Sandra Schmidt bodicea 62 ad by William Cooper bodicea was the wife of the chief of one of the tribes of early Britain in the hope of saving his family from trouble this chief willed his wealth to his daughters and to the roman emperor the officials ceased the wealth flogged bodicea and enslaved others of the family she led the revolt against the roman power in 62 ad but was overcome the editor when the british warrior queen bleeding from the roman rods sought with an indignant mean council of her country scots sage beneath a spreading oak set the druid horray chief every burning word he spoke full of rage and full of grief princess if our aged eyes weep upon thy matchless wrongs just because resentment ties all the terrors of our tongues Rome shall perish write that word in the blood that she has spilt perish hopeless and aboard deep in ruin as in guilt Rome for empire far renowned tramples on a thousand states sooner pride shall kiss the ground hark the gall is at her gates other romans shall arise heedless of a soldier's name sounds not arms shall win the prize harmony the path to fame then the progeny that springs from the forest of our land armed with thunder clad with wings shall a wider world command regent Caesar never knew thy posterity shall sway where his eagles never flew none invincible as they such debauched prophetic words pregnant with celestial fire bending as he swept the cords of his sweet but awful liar she with all a monarch's pride felt him in her bosom glow rushed to battle fought and died dying hurled them at the foe ruffians pitiless as proud heaven awards the vengeance due empire is on us bestowed shame and ruin wait for you end of section nine this recording is in the public domain section 10 of england this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org the world's story volume nine england edited by Eva March Tappan section 10 how the romans lived in britain about the third century ad by gf scott elliott the veller of quintus natalius a romanized britain whose father had amassed great wealth by means of his iron mines was very prettily situated it stood on a small terrace halfway up the low hill which rising behind the buildings perfectly sheltered it from the driving westerly gales before it lay a long winding and lovely valley with remains of wild forest still clinging to the more precipitous slopes the river was clear and transparent and the hills beyond shut off the cold easterly and northerly gales but all this peaceful beauty made no impression on the wretched marvia as she followed the slave merchant into the great courtyard there wondering she looked about her on one side were the buildings in which corn apples wood wine oil and the like were stored on the other was a long line of rooms inhabited by servants and slaves the great court out itself was nearly 60 feet long and almost as broad it had two paths running across it at right angles a few fruit trees were arranged symmetrically along them in the midst was a shallow concrete pond full of living fish awaiting a passage to the kitchen but the skillful architect had arranged all the lines so that the eye necessarily tended towards the master's own house which closed the courtyard at the upper or northern side the bright sunlight was reflected by myriads of tiny points of light all over the roof for this was made of thin pieces arranged diagonally of a sandstone full of glittering mica the roof was carried forward so as to form a lovely veranda supported by elegantly carved slender columns and full of vases statues of diana and malega and other ornaments a very fat man with sword and spear and a british slave had been seated on the veranda steps while the latter was sent to inform the owner that one atticus decided to speak with him balbas the soldier shattered with the slave merchant the latter was going to Rome and said he liked not the news either from the north or from wales balbas laughed heartily why man he said there has been talk of a caledonian invasion ever since i can remember has thou not seen the great wall that crosses from luke valleyum to the tine it is 15 feet high nine feet thick and in front there is a ditch 34 feet wide and 15 feet deep that goeth right across the whole island there are 12 400 men upon it and sentry stands and a castle at every mile where is a gate i know it well for i balbas carried stone to build it on two sticks held over my shoulder where there is still a scar what caledonians could storm that the slave merchant shook his head and hinted that the only legion had been sent to york and that with so many stout soldiers sent to the rime and to rome either the welsh or the caledonians might invade britain i heard that the welsh were gathering in the mountains and that many had fled to uroconium for safety at this point a woman came out to call in atticus she jeered at the roar barbarian and shivered at the cold air outside but a keen wisened up jewish-looking steward thrust her aside make way julia he said thou mayest go to the spinning room now for here is a prettier than thou with a nose not red nor always moist with water then in an undertone to atticus how much wilt thou give me five percent oh no i want fifteen percent said the steward ten then growled the slave merchant during this moment conversation they had stepped up upon the veranda marvia started and stared at the floor for it was like a vivid and brilliantly coloured painting she had never seen roman mosaic before and wondered at the pictures backus on his tiger and action pursued by his hounds with the corners filled in by graceful scrolls garlands and flowers the colours were many and vividly contrasted for there were pieces of ruby two shades of red black slate colour chocolate yellow gray cream colour and pure white even more sumptuous and luxurious was the room into which she entered a great apartment it was of which the whole floor was occupied by an elaborate mosaic representing orpheus playing on his loot and surrounded by many and diverse sorts of animals along the foot of the wall was a molding or skirting of red cement the rest of the wall was prettily painted or rather distempered in many lovely colours with subjects such as boys carrying flowers garlands of flowers and strange birds an arched recess held the family altar where an exquisitely worked bronze lamp was burning the room was pleasantly warm though the day was cold a stout young man peevish and flushed in the face was lolling on a couch covered with soft cushions though it was near midday he was examining a little bronze statuette of which there were many in the room as well as beautiful bowls of samian wear richly ornamented beautiful coloured and iridescent glass vessels full of fruit and flowers to us the apartment might seem perhaps bare cold and clean but there was no question as to the luxury and artistic taste of the owner marvia stared about her while they bargained for her a high price was asked and quintess refused to give it he had more slaves than he wanted but after the steward had left the room a stately roman woman swept into it she wanted a yellow-haired slave to carry her messages every woman in Rome had one and quintess must buy this one a lively wrangle ensued and the lady wet and stormed until at last quintess sulkily called the steward and opened a huge brass bound chest with a great iron key marvia was bought and sent to wait on Faustina wife of quintess who amused herself for a time by trimming her hair and dressing her like a roman handmaiden then Faustina called for her litter and born by four sturdy british slaves and attended only by marvia started for a country promenade they soon reached the straight roman road marked by milestones which led across the hills and passed a village of dirty miserable hovels where wretched serfs working in quintess's iron mines crouched before their master's wife but turned off along a small footpath that led down to the riverside the whole way Faustina reviled and stormed at the slaves but at last she stopped the litter and grumbling at the exertion and the cold tottered leaning on marvia along the footpath a small ragged boy who was herding goats called out a loud and musical cry and ran uphill the path was beside the steep banks or almost little cliffs 30 feet high which had been at one time cut out by the river turning one of these projecting cliffs they found a deep cave hollowed out of the side of the cliff at which marvia stared in awe a tall man in a black cloak marked with strange symbols the swastika or filthot and with curious eastern silver and gold ornaments was holding forth his hands and uttering a long musical hymn of weird greek and arabian invocations before him was a long stretch of the river lying south by west and at this hour blazing like molten gold with the sunlight which fell full on his dark egyptian features and also shone brightly on the face of a statue the god mithras which was placed in a recess in the back of the cave two smaller statues the god's assessors were on either side of him the priest took no notice of them and marvia wondered at the cave it was cut 20 feet deep into the cliff and about 40 feet across and the keystone of the semicircular arched roof was at least 15 feet above the ground all of it was neatly built of chalk blocks carefully fitted together fastina and marvia waited full of superstitious fear till the resounding greek phrases ceased then the priest motioned to them will mithras favor my voyage o arsesis yes verily lady if thou dost place a suitable offering on his altar fastina produced a rich string of amber beads nay lady gold like the sunlight that is the offering fit for mithras fastina unhooked a rich gold bracelet from her arm and would have removed the amber beads but the priest majestically and very gravely waved her off and took them himself has thou the rare drug thou promised me yes lady here is the rich wolf spain of whose power thou art not ignorant to marvia's horror the priest gave her a route of the accursed aconite of whose deadly powers all britains were well aware fastina snatched at it and they returned to the litter and passed back to the villa during this time quintus had been occupied in the main business of his life he had gone to take a bath leaving his steward to haggle with the serfs who brought the iron for which they were paid but they had to give a fee to the steward others brought in corn and apples and always after openly leaving them in the granary passed round to the steward's office where they bought some of it for themselves and this money did not appear in his accounts quintus however had now reached the series of rooms and begun his bath these rooms were all carefully heated by a simple and yet efficient system which must be described the floors of all rooms used in winter were raised about two to four feet above the ground on a quantity of little brick or chalk pillars the floor itself consisted of thin tiles or flags laid on these pillars and covered by cement an opening in the outside wall of the house acted as the furnace here a fire of wood was kept up and the heat and smoke from it passed under the floor between these pillars and sometimes even up the wall through whole and earthenware flues a hot bath was often warmed by means of similar flues which were in connection with this system of hot airspaces quintus entered the first room which was gently or moderately heated and undressed then a whole number of slaves began to attend to him there was one who acted as a barber another with tweezers who pulled out any superfluous hairs others with toothpicks and ear instruments and each one of them was a master in his particular craft the second room was a hot vapor bath in which the object was to produce profuse perspiration in the third room he lay on a couch and especially strong and muscular slave scraped him all over with scrapers which were curious iron knives with the edge turned sideways next came the bath 30 feet long and with a long step or seat rounded at the edge and covered with plaster on which he could sit whilst another slave sponged him he might now enter another room where was the cold bath then towels warmed on the hot flues would be brought by other slaves and he would be carefully dried and perhaps played ball to warm himself still another room was devoted to the storage of oils unguents and cosmetics preserved in coloured glass bottles or sometimes in cakes stamped with the maker's name so quintus having been oiled and curled in this chamber now donned his toga and returned to the great hall where the clients and slaves were already gathered for dinner in another room Faustina was having her hair dressed she half reclined on a couch supported by cushions whilst a frightened slave held up a mirror before her she had already stenciled her eyebrows above and below and had adorned her haggard cheeks with plentiful cosmetics but it was the arrangement of her hair that caused all this trouble the wrinkled and ugly hag that acted as mistress of the slaves gave her opinion each slave girl had to say what she thought one anxious woman was endeavoring to get one particular curl to her mistress's satisfaction that is too high now it is too low be careful upon this Faustina seized a cow hide latch that lay beside her and cruelly whipped the wretched handmaid across her naked shoulders. Marvia frightened and disgusted at this scene of vanity and cruelty was engaged in extracting the aconite according to the shrill and pivich directions of her mistress the extract was placed in a prettily shaped vase of iridescent glass and locked up in a cupboard but Faustina's toilet seemed an endless task now hot water was loudly called for and hurriedly brought from a bronze tap modelled like a dog's head for there was a leaden pipe in the room from the hot baths then Faustina's little girl Julia a spoiled unhealthy little creature who was running about with a rag doll and a rattle made like a bronze pig came to see the pretty mother and was kissed and fondled until another lock of hair was disarranged when Julia was soundly smacked and Faustina raved and stormed and lashed her miserable handmaidens then at the door of the room a silky humble voice murmured gracious lady queen news of this rude barbarous island the dinner is awaiting thy presence fetch me the calendar cried Faustina so a calendar with the lucky hours for every day was produced and carefully studied by the superstitious roman matron fairest of priestesses Phoebus Apollo has long descended from the azure imperial the rays of the sun god are failing and rude Boreas begins to blow here marvia take in this missive so saying Faustina seized her writing tablets two pieces of thin wood folding like a book and covered inside with a thin layer of wax and wrote upon the wax with a fine pointed stylus then closing the leaf she tied it with string and handed it to marvia who followed by the greek slave who had spoken hurried to the dining room when quintess read the missive his face fell it is not propitious to dine for half an hour yet deep gloom descended on the feces of the clients shall we play at dice bring the knuckle bones a deeper depression fell on the company no shall we try those cocks of balbus fetch thy fighting birds everyone tried to look pleased but the fight was a failure for the birds had just been fed thou Aristides canst thou not amuse me the cunning greek began an eloquent harang comparing the neck of quintess to the brawny shoulders of Hercules holding Antias far from his mother earth etc but he was suddenly checked come hither Aristides i gave a high price for thee as a scholar and a poet but i hear strange talk from Faustina about Rome and thee see thou to it that thou goest not thither in the next party of slaves fetch her to dinner forthwith the greek grew pale and hurried off quintess went on when i married the penniless daughter of an official convicted of oppression i did not bargain for this i hear each day of an ancestor who died when fighting Hannibal she quotes verses i never knew and corrects my latin as old fattened and provincial and her tongue never stops but then a great tumult was heard the faces of the company brightened then the painted elderly dame swept into the room and they went into the dining room where soon the dinner was served marvia had never seen such gluttony before a great bore was brought in there were dishes of eggs and of hairs kept in a wand for the purpose salmon and other fish oysters from rich butter and a plate of snails carefully imported from France and kept as a great luxury there was fruit also not only apples from britain but figs mulberries and grapes imported from Gaul these were tastefully arranged in bowls of samion ware covered with beautiful designs in pottery manufactured at canterbury and beautiful glass vessels but a fat and perspiring slave handed to marvia a graceful glass vessel and she was soon busy pouring out wine but even this required a little experience she soon found that if anyone wanted his cup filled he held up his hand an elderly client with a thread be a toga did so and she poured out wine for him from her glass vessel everyone laughed at her and congratulated the client an old black slave poured british wine for the clients from a jar of rude yellowish earthenware with looped handles that dinner lasted for three hours and the time was chiefly occupied in listening to Faustina's comparison of Virgil and Homer with a chorus of applause and flattery thrown in by Aristides and the clients at last Quintus became foolish and muddled with wine and called to Faustina is there anything a woman does not understand ah she said that deserves a special draft of my cherished falurnian go thou and fetch it Aristides and bring also a meat vessel for holding it Aristides returned with an ancient jar carefully corked up and marvia's horror and disgust he brought also the identical iridescent glass in which lay the agonite Faustina with her glittering eyes uncorked the jar poured out the wine in her own cup drank it ostentatiously and then poured the rest of the jar into the poisoned glass decanter come here the marvia give it to thy master why look as thou so glum then the whole foul plot was clear to the wretched british girl she was to pour the poisoned draft into her master's cup she would be tortured to death probably wrapped in linen saturated with pitch and burnt to death then Faustina and Aristides would seize the dead man's riches and hasten to Rome who would believe her word so she took the glass vessel and turned to carry it but as she went she pretended to stumble and fell and dashed the jar to pieces on the mosaic Faustina was almost mad with fury and fright send for the torturer she cried scourge me this girl to death but torture her first a repulsive arabian came in carrying a small brazier and curious metal tools but while a wretched marvia bound and helpless awaited the heating of those instruments a strange and unexpected interruption took place what is that clamour cried Balbus and went to the court a panting british surf bleeding with wounds covered with dust and half dead with fright and fatigue stumbled into the hall and cried fly oh quintess the welt savages are after me they have burnt the villagers and slain thy people they are coming fast after me a few of the client's chiefly poor elderly men rallied round quintess with swords drawn Fat Balbus in vain endeavored to get into his chain armor which was far too tight for him some tried to plunder and ran off laden with booty the rest shrieked and ran to and fro helplessly ringing their hands the steward and Faustina disappeared but as quintess called loudly for his daughter Julia wild discordant gales and the Celtic trumpet sounded at the gate and a fierce horde of savages burst into the court marvia was recognised by the leader but those splendid luxurious apartments were soon streaming with blood that desolate crew of romans greeks and debased bitons were dead or flying panic stricken over the hills soon a great fire began to kindle on the beautiful villa and rapidly grew into a roaring conflagration the roof fell and then only a few blackened heaps of broken stone and pot shirts marked the site of quintess's splendid villa but even today underneath the shapeless grassy mounds which cover the broken tiles and ruined floors far inside the soot blackened hippocost there lie three skeletons the steward had crawled there carrying his ill-gotten money which now lies scattered amongst his bones Faustina and her daughter had also crept in there to escape all three were suffocated below the ruins of the burning villa end of section 10 section 11 of england read for LibriVox.org by Alan Mapstone the converted Britons by William Holman Hunt English painter 1827 to 1910 painting page 58 in the latter part of the second century Britain then a roman province was converted to christianity the new religion was not introduced however without a bitter struggle on the part of the druid priesthood an episode of this struggle is shown in the illustration a party of britons incited by the druid priests has attacked the christian missionaries one at least is already captured but another has escaped the protection of the frail huts of a family of christian natives he is exhausted by his flight and they are caring for him and trying to revive him two men are anxiously guarding the doorway and a young boy with his ears to the ground is listening to the sounds without one woman supports the fainting form of the missionary looking fearfully toward the door another is bathing his forehead a little boy at the left is holding a cup into which an older brother is squeezing the juice of a bunch of grapes from the vines overhead a girl is tenderly removing a briar from the victim's robe the father of the family is evidently a fisherman for a net hangs on the post at the right and the cabin stands beside a stream against the wall of the hut stands a druidic stone but upon it a cross is rudely drawn to indicate a change of faith end of section 11 this recording is in the public domain