The History of London Part 18

~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 G.o.ddess of Hunting; also of the Moon.

~Apollo~: the Roman G.o.d 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 Ess.e.x, 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 Suss.e.x, 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 Sh.o.r.e~: the Roman admiral set to defend the southern parts of the English coast, which were called 'Saxon Sh.o.r.e,' 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.

~Wess.e.x~: 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, pa.s.ses Hertford and Ware, forms the boundary between Middles.e.x and Ess.e.x, 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.