A Trip Through the British Isles
I—NEW YORK TO LONDON
1. Leaving New York—The docks, the harbor, description of the steamer; life on the ocean.
2. The Landing: Liverpool—The new docks; the art gallery.
3. On the Way to London—The Northwestern Railway; English railway-cars; English traveling companions; the countryside.
4. The First Stop: Rugby—English Inns; Thomas Arnold and Rugby School. Brief reading from Tom Brown's School Days.
5. Arriving in London—The London cab; the motor-bus; the London lodging-house; English and American comfort.
Books to Consult—John C. Van Dyke: The Opal Sea. Hare: Walks in London. E. V. Lucas: The Friendly Town. Hawthorne: English Note-Books. William Winter: Grey Days and Gold.
By stopping in Liverpool a few days, there are several delightful side-trips possible: one to Chester, to see the cathedral, the Roman ruins, the famous walls, and the Rows; another to Hawarden, the home of Gladstone, and a third to Eaton Hall, the seat of the Duke of Westminster.
By going to London by the Midland, one passes through the Peak country; look up beautiful Haddon Hall and Chatsworth; read the Story of Dorothy Vernon and Scott's Peveril of the Peak. Going by the Great Northern, one can see the famous Five Dukeries, and pass through Sherwood Forest; read of the latter from Ivanhoe.
II—LONDON
1. The Largest City in the World—Study of its map. Statistics. Modern improvements. Charities. Government (the county council; the Lord Mayor and aldermen).
2. The History of London—The ancient Britons and their pile dwellings. Coming of the Romans. The days of Alfred. Norman London. Under the Tudors. The Great Fire and the changes it made.
3. Survivals of Old London—Fragments of the Roman wall. The Hall of William Rufus. The Tower and its church. The Abbey. Readings from The Spectator and Washington Irving's Sketch-Book, describing the Abbey. Coronations, including a brief description of that of George V.
4. Modern London—Buckingham Palace and its history. The Houses of Parliament and their decoration. Art galleries and museums and their most remarkable contents. St. Paul's. Westminster Cathedral. The homes of the nobility.
5. Literary Landmarks of London—Grub Street. The Cheshire Cheese and the Kit-Kat Club. Dickens's London. Residences of literary people.
Books to Consult—Hare: Walks in London. Besant: London (also his books about the several sections). Hutton: Literary Landmarks of London. Singleton: London as Seen and Described by Famous Writers. E. V. Lucas: The Friendly Town.
An attractive discussion may follow these topics on such themes as the modern housing problems of London, and the transportation of the city (trams, tubes, motor-buses). Compare the hotels and restaurants with those of New York. Shopping. Social settlements, especially Toynbee Hall. The fashionable residence district. London Bridge by day and by night. The London pageant of 1911.
III—THE GREAT CATHEDRALS
1. Canterbury—Description of the town. St. Martin's, the Mother Church of England. Monastery of St. Augustine. Architecture of the cathedral, and periods represented. Great events connected with its history. Story of Thomas à Becket.
2. Winchester, Salisbury, and Wells—The ancient town of Winchester and its place in English history. Caskets of the Danish kings. The glass. Graves of Jane Austen and Izaak Walton. Salisbury: the most symmetrical of the cathedrals. The cloister. Wells: the moated palace of the bishops; the vicar's close; the chapter-house staircase.
3. Ely and Peterborough—Ely: the fens. Story of King Canute. The military architecture. Peterborough: the screen of the west front; the painted wood ceiling; the grave of Queen Catharine of Aragon, and the former grave of Mary Queen of Scots.
4. Lincoln and Lichfield—Lincoln: the bishop's eye, and the dean's eye; site of the shrine of Little Hugh of Lincoln; old houses around the close. Lichfield: symmetry; monuments of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Samuel Johnson, and Garrick. Johnson's connection with Lichfield. The Grammar-School.
5. York and Durham—York: the old city and its walls; the Five Sisters window; the military monuments; the famous chapter-house; the crypt; the horn of Ulphus. Durham: story of the monks of Lindisfarne and St. Cuthbert; the dun cow; the prince bishops; the Norman pillars; the Galilee, and the grave of The Venerable Bede; the knocker.
Books to Consult—Van Rensselaer: English Cathedrals. Pratt: Cathedral Churches of England. Singleton: Famous Cathedrals as Seen and Described by Great Writers.
If time permits, this program should occupy two meetings at least. To the great cathedrals given may be added the smaller ones, Chichester, Gloucester, Worcester, Chester, Exeter, Ripon and Carlisle. To the excursion to Wells add a side-trip to Glastonbury, the home of the Arthurian legends. At Winchester visit the Hospital of St. Cross and the famous school. At Canterbury read from David Copperfield.
IV—OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE
1. Oxford: the City—The Cherwell and the Isis. The castle. Carfax. The martyrs and their monument. The cathedral. Trips to Iffley, Blenheim, Woodstock, and Gaunt House.
2. Oxford: the Colleges—Origin and constitution of university. New College: William of Wykeham's Tower and Sir Joshua Reynolds's window; Christ Church: Cardinal Wolsey, the great bell, the hall and staircase; Magdalen College: the Founder's Tower, the deer park, Addison's Walk, the outdoor pulpit; Balliol College: John Balliol, King of Scotland, Wiclif, Jowett.
3. Oxford: in English History and Literature—The monks; the Empress Matilda; Charles I.; the Oxford Movement. Famous authors educated at Oxford: Ben Jonson, Sidney, Locke, Jeremy Taylor, Ruskin, Matthew Arnold, Swinburne, Pater. Books describing life in college at Oxford: Verdant Green, Hard Cash, Tom Brown at Oxford. Readings about Oxford from Matthew Arnold, Andrew Lang, and Bagehot.
4. Cambridge: the City and the Colleges—The round Norman church; the Cam and the Backs. Pembroke College: Edmund Spenser's mulberry-tree; Queen's: the bridge; King's: Henry Seventh's chapel; Trinity: Wren's library, Milton manuscript; St. John's: the garden; Magdalen: the Pepys library; Emmanuel: the Puritans' college, John Harvard.
5. Cambridge and the Intellectual Life of England—Government and Science: Bacon, Newton, Harvey, Darwin, Thurlow, Palmerston. Letters: Ascham, Marlowe, Crashaw, Dryden, Gray, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Byron, Thackeray, Tennyson.
Books to Consult—Andrew Lang: Oxford. Edwards: Oxford Painted by John Fulleylove. Atkinson: Cambridge Described and Illustrated. Stubbs: The History of Cambridge.
Read especially the famous passage from the preface to Matthew Arnold's Essays in Criticism, concerning Oxford. Show a photograph of the beautiful memorial of Shelley and one of Holman Hunt's picture called, "The Light of the World." Tell of the Bodleian Library and the Sheldonian Theater. Read O. W. Holmes's account of the granting of degrees. Under Cambridge, notice King's College chapel and compare the ceiling with that of Henry Seventh's chapel in Westminster Abbey, built at the same time. Give a brief paper on Girton and Newnham Colleges for women.
V—THE LAKE COUNTRY
1. Introductory Paper—General description of Westmoreland and Cumberland Counties. The sixteen lakes, including Windermere, Ullswater, Coniston, and Derwentwater. History of the region.
2. Windermere and Its Neighborhood—Bowness and its church. The steamer trip. Elleray and Christopher North. Hawkshead and the Wordsworth Grammar-School. Coniston. Brantwood and Ruskin. The Duddon Valley.
3. Ambleside, Grasmere, and Keswick—Coaching. Dove's Nest. Fox How, the home of Thomas Arnold. Rydal Mount. Nab Cottage and Hartley Coleridge. Grasmere Church and Wordsworth grave and monument. Keswick and the home of Southey, Greta Hall. Crosthwaite Church and Southey's tomb. Derwentwater and the Friar's Crag. The Falls of Lodore.
4. The Lake School of Poets—Wordsworth, Southey, and Coleridge. Readings from Wordsworth's Excursion and his sonnets. Reading from Southey's Lodore.
Books to Consult—Eric Robertson: Wordsworthshire. Rawnsley: Life and Nature at the English Lakes (also several other books by the same author). Knight: The English Lake District as Interpreted in the Poems of Wordsworth. A. G. Bradley (and Pennell): Highways and Byways in the Lake District. Palmer: The English Lakes.
If possible, have a talk on Dorothy Wordsworth and the home life of brother and sister. Mention some of their visitors, among them Charles Lamb, the friend of the three Lake Poets. Read Wordsworth's poem about his wife: "She was a Phantom of Delight." The connection of the Arnolds, Thomas and Matthew, with the lake country is full of interest, as well as that of Harriet Martineau. Refer also to Arthur Hugh Clough, who lived here for a time. The schools founded by Ruskin are worth study, where the plowboys learned to make beautiful pottery, and the farmers' daughters, embroidery.
VI—THE SHAKESPEARE COUNTRY
1. Stratford on Avon—Shakespeare's birthplace; the signatures of famous people on the walls; the museum, the garden. The Grammar-School. New Place and the Mulberry-Tree. The church and the tomb of Shakespeare, with its inscription. The river Avon.
2. Around Stratford—Shottery and the home of Ann Hathaway. Charlcote and the deer-park. The Elizabethan mansion and the church of Hampton Lucy.
3. Kenilworth—The famous revels prepared for Queen Elizabeth by the Earl of Leicester in 1574. Shakespeare's relation to the Queen and the court. Were any plays written at her suggestion? The present ruins of Kenilworth and Amy Robsart's tower.
4. Warwick—The castle and its treasures and history. Leycester Hospital. The Church of Saint Mary with the tomb of the great Earl of Leicester. Guy's Cliff.
Books to Consult—William Winter: Shakespeare's England. Goadby: The England of Shakespeare. Leyland: The Shakespeare Country Illustrated. Turner: Shakespeare's Land.
The country about Stratford is constantly referred to in the plays of Shakespeare. In Henry IV., The Taming of the Shrew, and The Merry Wives of Windsor there are numerous passages which touch it. The Forest of Arden is deserving of a side-trip, and on the way travelers watch for the wild thyme, the primroses, the violets, and other flowers mentioned by Shakespeare. There may be a little tour to Coventry, the quaint old town associated with the story of Lady Godiva. Photographs for illustrating the Shakespeare country are abundant and beautiful, and are easily obtained.
VII—SCOTLAND (PART I)
1. Edinburgh—General appearance of the city. The old town and the new. The castle. Saint Giles's. The Knox house. Holyrood. The Tolbooth. The wynds. The Canongate. Grey Friars. The Scott monument. The university.
2. Through the Lakes and the Trossachs to Glasgow—Railway, steamer, and coach. Stirling: the castle, field of Bannockburn, the Wallace monument. The Trossachs. Loch Katrine and Ellen's Isle (see The Lady of the Lake). Loch Lomond and Ben Lomond. Glasgow: the cathedral, the university. The Clyde. Reading from The Lady of the Lake.
3. The Land of Burns—Ayr: the Auld Brig and the New Brig, Burns's cottage, the Brig o' Doon, Auld Alloway Kirk. The Burns monument. Dumfries: Burns's house (where he died), his grave and monument. Reading of Tam o' Shanter.
4. Scott's Country—Abbotsford. Melrose. Dryburgh. Reading from Washington Irving's account of his visit to Abbotsford, and the account of Scott's funeral in Lockhart's Life of Scott.
Books to Consult—William Winter: Over the Border. Hunnewell: Lands of Scott. Crockett: In the Border Country. Crockett: The Scott Country. Sir H. E. Maxwell: The Story of the Tweed.
A day's coaching-trip from Edinburgh takes one to the beautiful little chapel of Roslin with its "'Prentice Pillar," and to Hawthornden, the glen where Drummond, the Elizabethan poet, lived. A second excursion may be made to the old university town of Saint Andrews, with its castle (a ruin) and the bottle dungeon, and also the famous golf-links. A trip may be taken to the seaside town of Newhaven, to see the fish-wives in their quaint costumes.
VIII—SCOTLAND (PART II)
1. Perth and Aberdeen—Perth: St. John's Church. Site of the convent and the story of The King's Tragedy (see Rossetti). Reading from Scott's Fair Maid of Perth. Balmoral: Reading from Queen Victoria's Journal in the Highlands. Aberdeen: History. The granite works. The Cathedral of St. Machar. The university (King's College). Bridge of Don (1320).
2. Oban—"The Charing Cross of the Highlands." The Island of Mull. Staffa ("Island of Pillars") and Fingal's Cave. Iona. St. Columba's church. Story of his life. Reading from Bede's Ecclesiastical History. The Celtic crosses.
3. The Caledonian Canal—Start from Oban. Glencoe and the story of its massacre. Ossian's cave. Ben Nevis (highest mountain in Great Britain). Invergarry Castle. Fall of Foyers.
4. Skye and the Islands—Reading from William Black's A Princess of Thule; also, from Scott's Pirate. The Orkney Islands. Sea fowl. Fisheries. The Shetland Islands. Story of Harold Haarfagr.
Books to Consult—James Boswell: Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides. R. B. Moncrieff: Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Archibald MacMillan: Iona. George Birkbeck Hill: Footsteps of Dr. Johnson.
Introduce in this program the ballads of the Scottish Highlands, either read or sung. The origin of the tartans used by the different clans is interesting, especially if illustrated with colored reproductions. The unique Highland costume for men may be described or represented. The bagpipes should be noticed; their peculiar music and their historic use.
IX—WALES
1. History—The Romans and their remains. Offa's Dyke. The Normans and their buildings. Griffith ap Rhyl. Llewlyn the Great. Owen Glendower's revolt. Origin of the Tudor kings in Wales. The story of the Princes of Wales.
2. The Country and the People—Wildness and grandeur. Llandudno, Llangollen, Bettws-y-Coed, Snowdon. Show photographs of the most famous places. The Celts and their languages. National customs of the Welsh: the eisteddfod.
3. Churches and Castles—Wrexham Church and the tomb of Elihu Yale. Valle Crucis Abbey. Truro. St. Asaph's Cathedral, the smallest in the kingdom, and the grave of Mrs. Hemans. Llandaff Cathedral. Cardiff Castle. Beaumaris. Hawarden Church, in the grounds of Gladstone's estate. Pembroke, the birthplace of Henry VII. Bangor. Denbigh. Conway. Carnarvon, the birthplace of the first Prince of Wales. Harlech. Powys.
4. Literature—Giraldus Cambrensis. The Arthurian Legends. The Mabinogion. Celtic Folk-lore.
Books to Consult—E. Thomas and R. Fowler: Beautiful Wales. A. G. Bradley: Highways and Byways in Wales. W. J. Griffith: Short Analysis of Welsh History (Temple Primers). George Borrow: Wild Wales. J. B. John: The Mabinogion.
Welsh music should have some place in the program. Great choruses of singers have traveled in America, and may have been heard by some of the club members. The best-known song is the stirring March of the Men of Harlech. An interesting paper may be prepared on the relation existing between Tennyson's Idyls of the King and the Welsh legends.
X—IRELAND
1. The History—The Celts: their characteristics, customs, and folk-lore. The Irish kings. St. Columba and St. Patrick. The conquest. The question of home rule.
2. Belfast, the City of the North—Differences between the people of the north and those of the south. Protestants and Catholics. Ship-building and the linen industry. Dimensions of some of the recently made ships. The Giant's Causeway.
3. Dublin—The government buildings. Phœnix Park and its history. The cathedral and Dean Swift. Excursions in the neighborhood.
4. Cork and the South—The city and its characteristics. The Gap of Dunloe. The Lakes of Killarney. Blarney Castle. Show photographs.
5. Irish Literature—Ancient. Readings from the publications of the Irish Text Society. Oratory. Sheridan, Burke, Grattan, O'Connell. Folk-tales and folk-songs. See volume x. of Morris's Irish Literature. Novels: Lover, Edgeworth, Lever, William Carleton. Readings. The New Irish Theater: Yeats, Synge, Lady Gregory.
Books to Consult—Mrs. Alice S. A. Green: Irish Nationality. J. P. Joyce: The Wonders of Ireland. W. C. O'Donnell: Around the Emerald Isles. F. Weitenkampf: The Irish Literary Revival.
To vary this program, illustrate with scenes from Sheridan's School for Scandal, and The Rivals, in costume. Have Moore's ballads sung: Oft in the Stilly Night, Those Evening Bells, The Last Rose of Summer, and The Harp that Once Through Tara's Halls. Read from Lever's Charles O'Malley and from Burke's speech on the impeachment of Warren Hastings. Clever Irish stories and famous bulls might be given to close the hour.