English History
1. Caractacus was one of the early British chiefs who held out against the Romans for a long time. After he had been fighting many times he was defeated and taken prisoner by the Romans and was then brought before the R. Governor, where he was tried. The Roman Governor wished to put him to death, but he said “You can put me to death but you will more honour if you spare my life.” So after a time he was let go, and the Governor said for his brave words he was to be well treated.
2. Chester or Castra in Latin meant camp, so therefore in the word Manchester it is shown that the Romans had a camp there and that tells us it is a old town.
2. (b) When we use the word Thursday, we are bringing the old Saxon God Thor into our mind, as it was on this day that the Saxons worshipped this God.[53]
(c) When we say the word Saturday, we are again recalling the old Saxon God, whose name was Saturn, the planet which we now have, and it was on this day that the Saxons worshipped their old God.[53a]
3. The Northmen were a wild race who came from Germany and Denmark, and they were always coming and invading England as the Saxons had done before them. Canute was their greatest king and he had many flatterers at his court, and they said that everything would obey him, the water, the sun and the moon, etc. So one day he ordered his chair to be carried to the water’s edge and then he said to the sea “Come no further on my land,” but of course the sea still came on, and his courtiers had to rush and save him from getting very wet. The Northmen plundered the land and burnt it, so that the Saxons all wanted to get rid of them, and some of the Bishops prayed “From the fury of the Northmen, good Lord deliver us.”[53a]
Natural History
1. Earth pillars are pillars of earth generally with a stone on the top. Where they are now was once all level ground, but the rain came and washed away the softest clay, then the sun came, and hardened the other into cracks. Then more rain came and washed that away, but occasionally there was a large stone which prevented the water washing the clay away and there it remained beneath, thus forming an earth pillar with a stone on the top. When the stone comes off, the pillar is almost sure to fall down for then it is no longer protected from the rain.
[Diagram of four earth pillars]
1. (b) A landslip is a large piece of land which has fallen away from the top of a cliff, or the side of a hill. It is caused by the rain sinking down through some soil until it comes to a hard rock, and then more and more rain coming, it makes a regular little pond or pool. This makes the foundation of the hill or cliff very unsafe. Then it begins to fall away, and thus gradually the whole part goes down, and that is how the landslip is caused.[54]