Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

of treaties are given under "Treaties" in the Analytic Summary; and in the copious analysis of Parliamentary history will be found all the events relating to the development of the Constitution and the substance of all noteworthy enactments, with since the Restoration-the successive Administrations (in Italics). Clarendon type has been used for the chief events; and quotations appear in Brevier type.

The work has been specially designed for those preparing for Examinations; but it will be found equally serviceable for the Upper Forms of schools. As at most examinations a portion only of history is taken up by candidates, the synopsis of each reign has been made complete in itself.

H. R. CLINTON,

BLACKHEATH,
Sept. 1873.

A

COMPENDIUM OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

CELTIC PERIOD,

BEFORE 55 B.C.

NAME Britain derived from :

(1.) The Celtic Brit ("painted "), the inhabitants having their bodies stained with woad ;

(2.) The Celtic Bruit ("tin"), Tan ("country"), corresponding to the Greek and Phenician name for the country, Cassiterides (or "Tin-islands ");

(3.) Prydain, the first conqueror and chieftain; or,

(4.) Brutus, the grandson of Æneas, and leader of a mythical Trojan colony.

Name Albion derived from :—

(1.) Albion (the mythical giant, son of Neptune), who first took possession of the island; or,

(2.) The Celtic Albyn, from its chalky white cliffs.

B. C.

to

1000 The Phenicians (coasting along the Mediterranean) begin to visit the country-Cassiterides (or "Tin-islands,” probably Scilly Isles and part of Cornwall)—for tin, as early as 1000 B.C.

55.

"Its inhabitants were at the time of the arrival of the Phenician ships a comparatively savage race, to whom the Phenicians taught the art of working in metals, and, probably, other means and appliances of civilised life" (Creasy). The inhabitants then were Celts, apparently both of the Gaelic branch (now in the Scottish Islands, Ireland, and the Isle of Man) and the Kymric branch (now in Wales), divided into numerous tribes, each under a kinglet or prince. Tribes on the coast kept up a trade

B

B.C.

in skins, &c., with the inhabitants of Gaul (afterwards France), most articles being sent overland to Marseilles and Narbonne : pastoral tribes farther inland; and, in the central districts and the north, tribes leading quite life.

a savage

"The inhabitants of the interior appear to have been more rude and more fierce [than on the coast]. The greater part of them raised no corn, subsisting on milk and flesh; and were clothed in the skins of the beasts which they had destroyed for food. They painted and punctured their bodies, that their aspect might be more horrible in war. The use of carriages in warfare is a singular instance of labour and skill among such people. Their domestic life was little above promiscuous intercourse" (Mackintosh).

Their religion was Druidism-a belief in the transmigration of souls (metempsychosis), Polytheism, and human sacrifices, with especial veneration for the oak, mistletoe, and wren: the Druids and Druidesses (priests and priestesses) occupied a high social position, had the charge of education, and had great influence in most temporal affairs.

Chief tribes at the beginning of the Historical Period (55 B.C.) :—the Cantii (in Kent), Trinobantes (in Middlesex and Essex), Iceni or Cenimagni (in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridge), Segontiaci (in Herts and part of Berks), Ancalites and Bibroci (in part of Berks and in Wilts), Brigantes (in Yorkshire and Durham), Ordovices (in North Wales), and Silures (in South Wales).

ROMAN PERIOD,

55 B.C.-A.D. 428.

55. First Invasion, for reconnoitring, by the Romans under the pro-consul Caius Julius Cæsar, who had completed the Roman conquest of Gaul: Cæsar sails from Wissant, and lands at Deal, 26 Aug.: Roman fleet injured by storm: after a victory over the Celts, Cæsar leaves before the winter.

54. Second Invasion by C. J. Cæsar, with 30,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry: the confederate Celts under

« AnteriorContinuar »