P. 12.—“Druid.” The origin of the word is obscure; the common derivation from the Greek word for oak, the best authorities consider fanciful, and give their preference to the derivation from the Celtic words for God and speaking. Many of their rites have been found to be similar to those of the Oriental religions, thus indicating that the religion was brought to Gaul at the time of an Asiatic invasion. Their centers in Gaul were along the Loire and in modern Brittany.
“Serpent’s egg.” The most remarkable of all the Druidical charms was the anguineum or snake’s egg. It was said to be produced from the saliva and frothy sweat of a number of serpents writhing in an entangled mass, and to be tossed up into the air as soon as it was formed. The fortunate Druid who managed as it fell to catch it in his sagum, or cloak, rode off at full speed on a horse that had been waiting for him, pursued by the serpents till they were stopped by the intervention of a running stream. Pliny declares that he had seen one. “It is,” he says, “about the size of a moderately large, round apple, and has a cartilaginous rind, studded with cavities like those on the arm of a polypus.”—Encyclopædia Britannica.
P. 13.—“Stonehenge,” stōnˈhĕnj. Hanging stones, the word means. About eight miles north of Salisbury (see map) there is a collection of about one hundred and forty large stones, ranging in weight from ten to seventy tons. Many of them are still in their original positions, showing that they were arranged in two ovals within two circles, and were surrounded by a bank of dirt fifteen feet high, and ten hundred and ten feet in circumference. Not all authorities agree that Stonehenge was a Druid temple, some asserting that it was an astronomical observatory, and others that it was a place for assemblies of the people.
“Kit’s Coty House.” A cromlech, as the primitive monuments of the Scandinavians and Celts were called. It is composed of three upright stones about eight feet square by two thick, which support an irregular stone roof eleven feet long by eight wide. The name is a contraction of Kitigern’s coty house; i. e., Kitigern’s house made from coits, the Celtic word for huge, flat stones. Kitigern was a leader of the Britains slain in a battle against Hengist and Horsa.
P. 14.—“Cassivellaunus,” casˈsi-ve-lauˌnus; “Chertsey,” chesˈse; “Hertfordshire,” harˈfurd-shire.
P. 15.—“Aulus Plautius,” auˈlus plauˈti-us. He was a Roman consul when, in A. D. 48, he was sent to Britain, where he remained four years.
“Ostorius Scapula,” os-toˈri-us scapˈula. He went to Britain about A. D. 50. Soon after sending Caractacus to Rome, Scapula died in the province.
“Caractacus,” ca-racˈta-cus.
P. 16.—“Suetonius,” swe-toˈni-us. It was during the reign of the Emperor Nero that Suetonius fought in Britain. Previous to this campaign he had carried war against the Moors. After returning from Britain he was made consul. “Boadicea,” bo-adˈi-ceˌa.
P. 17.—“Agricola” (37-93). Agricola had been trained in military service in Britain under Suetonius. Subsequently he had been governor of Aquitania, and consul at Rome. As governor of Britain he was very successful until the jealousy of the emperor, Domitian, caused his return. Tacitus, the historian, was his son-in-law, and wrote his life.