History of London — 26 - Author's Notes on Lessons 1 - 20

1. THE FOUNDATION OF LONDON.

PART I.

~AEneas~: a Trojan prince who escaped from Troy when it was destroyed by the Greeks.

~Venus~, the Roman Goddess of Love and Beauty, was the mother of AEneas.

~Troy~: a famous city in the north-west corner of Asia Minor.

It was destroyed by Greek invaders about 1,000 years before Christ, and the stories connected with it form one of the chief subjects of Greek and Latin poets.

~Troynovant~ means New Troy.

~Constantine the Great~ was Emperor of Rome, that is, of all the then known world from 305 to 337 A. D.

He was the first Roman Emperor to adopt and favour Christianity.

Constantinople is named after him, and was made by him the capital of the Empire.

~Geoffrey of Monmouth~ was a British historian of the twelfth century.

He was made Bishop of St. Asaph in 1152. His 'histories' are largely made up of stories, such as that about Brutus, which nobody believes now.

~historical document~: a piece of writing that can be used to prove some event in the history of past times.

~architecture~: the art of building; the style in which houses are built.

~Cornhill~: a street in the City of London running west to east from the Royal Exchange into Leadenhall Street.

It was probably named after a family of that name, and not from any corn market on the site.

~bastion~: a strong turret or tower at the corner of a fortified building.

~Walbrook~: a small stream that crossed the City from north to south.

It flowed near where the Mansion House now stands (Walbrook is a street at the side of the Mansion House), and fell into the Thames at Dowgate, near where Cannon Street Railway Station now stands.

~Fleet River~: a small stream which fell into the Thames near where Blackfriars Railway Station now stands.

~Moorfields~ was a piece of moor land lying to the north of the City, outside the walls.

The City gate which led to this district was the Moorgate, a name which still survives in Moorgate Street.

~Ken Wood~, in Hampstead, ~Hainault Forest~, a small piece of wood in Essex, about eight miles north-east of London, and ~Epping Forest~, a larger portion, also in Essex, to the west of Hainault Forest, are all remaining portions of a great forest that once stretched away from London far into the country.

~Chelsea, Bermondsey~: in all such words _ea_ or _ey_ is an old word for island.

In this way are formed Winchelsea, Battersea, &c. ; ~Thorney~ (where Westminster is now) is the Island of Thorns; and ~Jersey~, Caesar's Island.

~Southwark~: a district of London opposite the City, on the south side of the Thames.

It was the South work, or fort, and is spoken of as a village as late as 1327, the accession of Edward III.

2. THE FOUNDATION OF LONDON.

PART II.

~Malarious~: causing the air to be bad, and so giving rise to fevers;

unhealthy.

(Latin _malus_, bad; _aer_, air.

) ~Weybridge~, in Surrey, near where the river Wey, after flowing past Godalming and Guildford, falls into the Thames.

~entrenching~: making a trench or ditch.

The earth dug out was formed into a mound.

The mound and ditch, together with the stockade, protected the place.

~stockade~: a barrier made of _stakes_ stuck in the ground.

~Gaul~: the old name for the country now called France--the land of the Galli, or Celts.

_Gaelic_ is the language still spoken by the Celts in Scotland.

~Thanet~: a district in the north-east of Kent, containing Ramsgate, Margate, and Broadstairs.

The river Stour parts it from the rest of Kent, so that it is still an 'island,' though the channel was formerly much wider and deeper.

~Captain Cook~: a famous sailor born 1728, murdered in the Sandwich Islands 1779. He was among the first to visit Australia and New Zealand, and made many discoveries in the Pacific.

~Polynesians~: the natives of Polynesia, or the smaller islands in the South Pacific.

They are brown-skinned, and akin in race to the Maories of New Zealand and the Malays.

~Brythonic~: that portion of the Celts whose descendants are now the Welsh, Bretons: (in Bretagne, on the west coast of France), and Cornishmen.

~Basques~: the natives of a part of northern Spain, near the Pyrenees.

Their language is unconnected with any other, except perhaps that of the Finns.

The Province and Bay of Biscay is named after them.

~Finns~: the natives of Finland in Russia.

Like the Basques, they are the remains of a nation which once spread over all Europe, and has now nearly disappeared.

~barrow~: a mound raised over a grave.

~Verulam~: an old British, and then a Roman town, on the site of which is now St. Albans, in Hertfordshire.

3. ROMAN LONDON.

PART I.

~Stationary camp~: a fixed or permanent camp; a fort.

A Roman army on the march constructed a camp if it only spent one night in a place.

Such camps were not stationary.

~Porchester~: a small town on the north side of Portsmouth Harbour.

Chester is the Latin _castra_, a camp, and occurs in Leicester, Colchester, Chester, Silchester, &c. ~rubble~: small rough stones often used inside piles of masonry.

~Silchester~: a place near Reading at which remains of old Roman buildings have been dug out.

~Mincing Lane~: a narrow street in the east part of the City.

~tribunal~: the place where judges sit to administer justice.

~Exchange~: the place where merchants meet and carry on their business.

~stevedores~: those engaged in the work of loading and unloading ships.

4. ROMAN LONDON.

PART II.

~Tesselated~: formed of small pieces of stone or tile of various colours arranged to form a pattern, like mosaic work.

~Diana~: the Roman Goddess of Hunting; also of the Moon.

~Apollo~: the Roman God of Poetry, Music, and Prophecy.

~Guildhall~: the hall of the Guild or Corporation of the City of London, near Cheapside.

~usurper~: one who by force seizes and holds a position which does not belong to him.

~Picts~: wild savages from the country which we call Scotland; ~Scots~, also savage men, who, though they afterwards gave their name to Scotland, at that time came from Ireland.

~Hong Kong~: an island off the coast of China; ~Singapore~, a large British seaport on an island of the same name off the south end of the Malay Peninsula; ~West Indies~, a number of islands to the east of Central America in the Atlantic: of those belonging to Great Britain Jamaica is the largest.

5. AFTER THE ROMANS.

PART I.

~East Saxons~ were those who dwelt in Essex, the county named after them.

~Crayford~: on the river Cray in north Kent.

Here the Saxons under Hengist totally defeated the Britons under Vortimer in 457 A. D.

~Canterbury~ is the burgh, borough, or fortified place of the men of Kent.

~Pulborough~, in Sussex, gives us another form of the suffix.

~chronicler~: a historian, particularly one living in early times.

~Saxons~: German tribes from the district by the mouth of the Elbe;

~Jutes~, from a part of Denmark which still preserves their name, Jutland; ~Angles~, from what is now Schleswig and Holstein.

~Count of the Saxon Shore~: the Roman admiral set to defend the southern parts of the English coast, which were called 'Saxon Shore,' because most liable to attack from the Saxons.

~mercenaries~: soldiers who do not fight for the safety and glory of their own country, but for hire.

6. AFTER THE ROMANS.

PART II.

~Blackfriars~, at the eastern end of the Thames Embankment, derives its name from a monastery or house of Black Friars which stood there.

~Watling Street~, ~Ermyn Street~, ~Vicinal Way~: made by the Romans, who were famous makers of high roads, many of which are still in use.

(See map on p. 15. ) ~Newgate~ was a gate on the west of the walls which enclosed the City;

~Bishopsgate~, on the north-east.

~victualling~: providing food for.

~emergencies~: times of difficulty and danger.

~Isle of Thanet~: it must be remembered that the Stour, at the back of Thanet, was once much wider and deeper than it is now.

In fact, it was the general route for vessels coming up the Thames.

~appointments~: furniture, fittings.

~mimics~: actors who played in farces, like our panto_mimes_.

~scribes~: among the Romans, clerks in public offices.

7. AFTER THE ROMANS.

PART III.

~Alaric~, king of a German tribe called the Visigoths (West Goths) invaded Greece and Italy, and after several defeats finally took and sacked Rome in 410 A. D.

It was this state of thing which compelled the Romans to withdraw their troops from Britain.

~The West where the Britons still held their own~: Wales and Cornwall were never occupied by the invading Saxons: Welsh and Cornishmen are Celts, with a language of their own in Wales, while the Cornish language has only disappeared during the last hundred years.

~Wessex~: the land of the West Saxons corresponds roughly to England south of the Thames.

~oblivion~: being forgotten.

~The river Lea~ rises in Bedfordshire, near Luton, passes Hertford and Ware, forms the boundary between Middlesex and Essex, and falls into the Thames at Blackwall, after a course of forty miles.

~quagmires~: marshy, boggy ground that _quakes_ under the feet (quake, mire).

8. THE FIRST SAXON SETTLEMENT.

~Ecclesiastic~: connected with the Church.

For many centuries Rome was the centre of Christian influence, and is so still to all Roman Catholics.

~ritual~: the customs and ceremonies employed in performing service in a church.

~Gregory I. ~ or ~the Great~ was Pope from 590-604 A. D.

He it was who sent Augustine to attempt the conversion of the English in the year 597. ~kinglet~: a petty king.

England was then divided among many kings, so that the realm of each was necessarily very small.

~crucifix~: a figure of Christ fixed to the cross.

~Bede~: a monk and Church historian who lived and died at Jarrow in county Durham in 735 A. D.

~Lindesfarne~, or Holy Island, off the coast of Northumberland.

~Northumbrians~: the men of Northumbria--that is, Yorkshire, Durham, and Northumberland.

~Mercians~: the men of Mercia, or land of the Middle English.

~supremacy~: Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex, were separate kingdoms which were successively, in the order in which they are given, strong enough to overawe or exercise supremacy over the others.

The king of Wessex eventually became king of England.

~Witan~, or in its fuller form ~wit-an-a-ge-mote~, the 'meeting of wise men,' was the national council which afterwards grew up into our modern parliament.

9. THE SECOND SAXON SETTLEMENT.

~Pagan~: heathen, not yet converted to Christianity.

~King Alfred~, called the Great, was king of England from 871-901 A. D.

~Alderman~ in early England meant the ruler of a large district, such as a shire or kingdom.

When Mercia became subject to Wessex it was ruled by an alderman.

~Benfleet~: a place in Essex, on the north bank of the Thames, not far from Southend.

~Brunanburgh~ was the scene of a defeat of the Danes by Athelstan in 937 A.

D.

; the place cannot now be identified.

~Sweyn~, King of Denmark, invaded England with his son Canute in 1013 A.

D.

~Redriff~ is now called Rotherhithe, south of the Thames.

~King Ethelred II.

~, called the Unredig, or lacking in counsel, reigned 979-1013 A.

D.

~Olave~ or ~Olaf~ and ~Magnus~ are Scandinavian names: there were early kings of Norway so called.

~The Portreeve~: the reeve or governor of London was a chief magistrate or mayor of the City.

~The 'Staller'~ or ~Marshal~ led the men of London to battle.

~The Knighten Guild~ was the ruling council of London: they were not chosen by election, but were the chief owners of property, and, like their land, the office was handed down from father to son.

~mote~: meeting.

~hustings~: a general meeting of the citizens held every week; later on the word came to mean the platform whence candidates for parliament addressed their constituents.

10. THE ANGLO-SAXON CITIZEN.

~Athelstan~ (925-940), the grandson of Alfred the Great, and ~Etheldred II.

~ (979-1013) were kings of England.

~earl~ or ~eorl~ was what we should now call a gentleman of good family;

~thanes~: nobles who for the most part acquired their titles from the king as rewards for services.

~municipal~: having to do with the municipality or city.

~French~: Norman-French was the language spoken by the Normans.

~the meat and fish were salted~: in the absence of root-crops it was found difficult to keep animals through the winter.

Hence much salt meat and fish were stored up.

~embroidery~: the art of working designs on cloth in needlework.

~spinster~: an unmarried woman; so called because unmarried daughters worked at spinning and weaving for the household, making 'homespun' cloth for them.

~marauding~: roving about for plunder.

~solar~: in early houses the chamber over the hall, used as the bedroom for the master and mistress of the house.

(See picture on p. 73. ) ~tapestry~: thick hangings or curtains with figures worked on them.

~mead~: a fermented drink made of honey: metheglin is another form of the word.

~wattle~: flexible twigs, withies, or osier rods: ~daub~, mud.

~turbulent~: disorderly, riotous.

~Thames Street~: a very narrow street running along the bank of the Thames between Blackfriars and the Tower.

~ward~: a division of the City.

The ~ward mote~ or ward meeting still exists, and elects the alderman or representative of the ward on the City Council.

11. THE WALL OF LONDON.

The ~White Tower~ is the 'keep' or central part of the Tower of London, begun by William the Conqueror and finished by the Red King.

It is 92 feet high and the walls are 17 feet thick.

~Dowgate~: the site of one of the gates of Old London Wall is near where Cannon Street Railway Station now stands: here the Walbrook fell into the Thames.

~Queen Hithe~: 'The Queen's Landing Place.'

Merchants were compelled to land their goods here so that the dues paid should go to the Queen.

~confluence~: a flowing together, the place where two rivers meet.

The Fleet fell into the Thames at Blackfriars.

(Latin _cum_, with, together;

_fluo_, to flow.

Compare, _fluid_, _fluent_.

) ~Montfichet's Tower~ was near Baynard's Castle, at the south-west corner of the old walls in Blackfriars.

Both were named after the Norman tenants who occupied them.

~Houndsditch~ is now a cross street joining Bishopgate Street and Aldgate, with a Church of St. Botolph at each end of it.

It adjoined the moat or ditch round the City wall.

~Allhallows~: the same as All Saints--all the saints to whom churches were often dedicated, and whose memory is celebrated on November 1, which is All Saints' Day.

~St. Giles, Cripplegate~, contains in its churchyard part of London Wall.

Milton was buried here in 1674. 12. NORMAN LONDON.

~Bishop and Portreeve~: the two chief officers of the City, one ruling for the Church, the other a civil ruler.

~charter~: a writing confirming or granting privileges.

~burghers~ or burgesses: citizens of a borough.

~Guildhall~ contains the necessary offices and accommodation for the guild or corporation, town clerk, &c. , the City library, museum and law courts, and a great hall that will hold 7,000 persons.

~feudal claims~: demands made on their tenants by owners under the feudal system.

Such demands were usually for military service or something equivalent.

~Matilda~, daughter of Henry I. , and mother of Henry II.

, and widow of the Emperor Henry V. of Germany, was the opponent of Stephen (1100-1135) in the civil war of his reign.

She gave London as 'a demesne' to the Earl of Essex, with the Tower as his castle.

~Danegeld~, or Dane money: a tax raised to buy off the Danes.

~Sheriff~, or shire-reeve, governor of a shire, was the king's representative in each shire: he collected the revenue, called out and led the soldiers, and administered justice.

~Justiciar~: judge.

It was one of the privileges of the City to have a judge of its own to try cases within its own limits.

~stipulated~: bargained for.

~constitution~: form of government.

~priory~: a house for monks or nuns under the rule of a prior or prioress.

~St. Katherine Cree~: this church is in Leadenhall Street, near Aldgate.

Cree in this name is for Christ.

~Portsoken~ is one of the City wards near Aldgate and the Minories.

13. FITZSTEPHEN'S ACCOUNT OF THE CITY.

PART I.

~St. Bartholomew the Great~ in Smithfield is part of St. Bartholomew's Hospital.

~St. Ethelburga~ is in Bishopsgate Street, not far from Liverpool Street Railway Station.

~crypt~ is a chapel or vault underground.

~St. Swithin's Church~ is near Cannon Street Railway Station.

'London Stone,' supposed to be a Roman milestone, is let into the wall of this church.

St. Swithin, to whom the church is dedicated, was a Saxon Bishop of Winchester, under whose care the youth of Alfred was spent at Winchester.

~Thomas Becket~, Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered in his own cathedral by four knights, who thought they were executing the wishes of Henry II.

(1170 A.

D.

).

~conventual~: attached to convents.

~Palatine~ usually means 'held by a nobleman who has had royal powers given him.'

~Westminster~ is named after a minster first erected there of wood about 604 A.

D.

: it was thus distinguished from St. Paul's, which was the 'East Minster.'

The site was a marshy spot, then called Thorney, or Thorn Island.

~Charing Cross~ is named from the memorial cross built there by Edward I.

in 1294 in honour of his queen, Eleanor, who was brought for burial from Lincoln to Westminster, and each place (nine) where her body rested was marked by a similar cross.

('Charing' is a corruption of the French _chere reine_, dear queen.

) ~Cheapside~: the important street running between St. Paul's and the Mansion House is so called because its site was the side--the south side--of the Chepe, or old London market.

~East Chepe~, or the East Market, has given its name to Eastcheap, a street running from the City towards the Tower.

~mercer~: a merchant selling woollens and silks.

~folkmotes~: the meetings of the folk or tribe: they met in arms in the Saxon times, and were presided over by the alderman.

14. FITZSTEPHEN'S ACCOUNT OF THE CITY.

PART II.

~Tyburn~: a brook which gave its name to the place Tyburn, where the Marble Arch now stands.

~Westbourne~: this brook has given its name to Westbourne Park, in Paddington.

~Holywell~ may be remembered by Holywell Street, in the Strand.

~Clerkenwell~ is named after the Parish Clerks' Well, round which they used to perform their 'mysteries.'

~quarterstaff~: a long staff used as a weapon of defence, and held in the middle and also one quarter way from the end.

~tabor~: a kind of small drum beaten with one drumstick.

~consuls~: the chief magistrates of Rome: two of them with equal power came into office every year.

~senatorial~: appointed and controlled by the senate or governing council of Rome.

~venison~ (pronounced _ven'-zon_): the flesh of deer.

~cleric~: a clergyman.

~abbot~: the head of an abbey or monastery.

~magnate~: a great man, a man of great wealth and rank.

(Latin _magnus_, great.

) ~metropolitan~: the bishop of a metropolis or chief cathedral city, as Canterbury is the metropolis of England in this sense.

~ordinances~: laws, commands.

15. LONDON BRIDGE.

PART I.

~Architect~: one who designs buildings and superintends the building of them.

~Jewry~: the district in a town inhabited by the Jews; for in early times the Jews were not allowed to live where they liked, but only in quarters assigned to them.

The street now called Old Jewry turns out of the Poultry, on the north side.

~essential~: something very important and that cannot be done without.

~intercommunication~: intercourse; dealings between people which are made much easier by having good roads and bridges to travel on.

~La Rochelle~: a seaport in France on the Atlantic, some distance north of Bordeaux.

~Saintes~: a French town about thirty-eight miles from La Rochelle.

~St. Thomas Becket~, the murdered Archbishop of Canterbury, who was canonised, that is, named a saint after his death.

~titular~: giving his name to the bridge.

~crypt~: an underground or lower room used as a chapel or burying-place.

16. LONDON BRIDGE.

PART II.

~King Edward I~: 1272-1307 A. D.

~haberdashers~: dealers in 'small wares' such as cotton, tape, needles, and pins.

~Hans Holbein~: a celebrated German painter who came to live in England and was introduced to Henry VIII.

~marine painters~: artists who excel in painting boats, ships, and sea scenes.

(Latin _mare_, the sea.

) ~'shooting' the bridge~: passing through the arches in a boat.

~Queen Henrietta~ was the queen of Charles I. of England.

After the Civil War she withdrew to France, where she died in 1669. ~Rubens~: a very celebrated Flemish painter, born in 1577, died at Antwerp in 1640. ~Sir Thomas Wyatt~ headed a rebellion in Kent, which was provoked by Mary's marriage with Philip of Spain and the restoration of Roman Catholicism.

He was about to cross London Bridge, but finding this impossible crossed the Thames at Kingston.

The rising was a failure, and Wyatt was executed, 1554. ~Sir William Wallace~: a brave Scotch gentleman who led the Scotch against Edward I. , who was trying to deprive Scotland of its independence.

Wallace was finally taken and executed as a traitor at Tyburn, 1305. ~Jack Cade~ headed a rebellion in Kent in 1450 through dissatisfaction with the government of Henry VI.

: 30,000 rebels gathered on Blackheath, but the movement ended in failure and Cade was slain.

~Sir Thomas More~: the good and learned chancellor of Henry VIII.

, and author of a famous book called 'Utopia.'

He was executed as a traitor in 1535. ~St. Thomas-on-the-Bridge~: that is, Thomas Becket, to whom the bridge was dedicated.

~pageant~: a splendid show or procession.

~ex-apprentice~: one who has been once an apprentice.

17. THE TOWER OF LONDON.

PART I.

~Dominate~: to lord over, to overawe, to be master of.

(Latin _dominus_, a master, lord.

) ~Crusade~: an expedition under the banner of the _Cross_ to recover the Holy Land from the Turks.

Richard I. went on the third Crusade in 1191. ~antiquaries~: people who study ancient things.

~mediaeval~: made during the middle ages; the period, roughly speaking, between the time of the Romans and the reign of Henry VII.

(400-1485).

~lieutenant~: an officer in command of the Tower.

~keep~: the strongest part of a fortress or castle.

~insignia~: the badges of any office.

~menagerie~: a collection of wild animals.

~Queen Anne Boleyn~, to marry whom, Henry VIII.

divorced Catherine of Aragon.

She was the mother of Queen Elizabeth.

~Lady Jane Grey~ was proclaimed Queen by the Duke of Northumberland on the death of Edward VI.

, but the attempt to prevent Mary's accession was a failure, and Lady Jane Grey was executed in 1554. ~Guy Fawkes~: a conspirator who tried to blow up the King and Parliament in 1605. ~The unfortunate princes~ were Edward V. , son of Edward IV.

, and the rightful king, and Richard Duke of York, his younger brother, murdered in the Tower by the usurper Richard III.

, 1483. 18. THE TOWER OF LONDON.

PART II.

~Allegiance~: the duty due from a subject to his liege the sovereign.

~Lord Hastings~ was executed by order of the Duke of Gloucester, afterwards Richard III.

, in 1483 for supporting the side of Edward V. and his relations.

~ordnance~: artillery, cannon, big guns.

~antipast~: aftertaste.

~clerk~: a clergyman, a scholar, because in early times all learning was confined to the clergy.

19. THE PILGRIMS.