A Child's History of England by Charles Dickens
Scanned and Proofed by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk

A Child's History of England

CHAPTER I - ANCIENT ENGLAND AND THE ROMANS

IF you look at a Map of the World, you will see, in the left-hand 
upper corner of the Eastern Hemisphere, two Islands lying in the 
sea.  They are England and Scotland, and Ireland.  England and 
Scotland form the greater part of these Islands.  Ireland is the 
next in size.  The little neighbouring islands, which are so small 
upon the Map as to be mere dots, are chiefly little bits of 
Scotland, - broken off, I dare say, in the course of a great length 
of time, by the power of the restless water.

In the old days, a long, long while ago, before Our Saviour was 
born on earth and lay asleep in a manger, these Islands were in the 
same place, and the stormy sea roared round them, just as it roars 
now.  But the sea was not alive, then, with great ships and brave 
sailors, sailing to and from all parts of the world.  It was very 
lonely.  The Islands lay solitary, in the great expanse of water.  
The foaming waves dashed against their cliffs, and the bleak winds 
blew over their forests; but the winds and waves brought no 
adventurers to land upon the Islands, and the savage Islanders knew 
nothing of the rest of the world, and the rest of the world knew 
nothing of them.

It is supposed that the Phoenicians, who were an ancient people, 
famous for carrying on trade, came in ships to these Islands, and 
found that they produced tin and lead; both very useful things, as 
you know, and both produced to this very hour upon the sea-coast. 
The most celebrated tin mines in Cornwall are, still, close to the 
sea.  One of them, which I have seen, is so close to it that it is 
hollowed out underneath the ocean; and the miners say, that in 
stormy weather, when they are at work down in that deep place, they 
can hear the noise of the waves thundering above their heads.  So, 
the Phoenicians, coasting about the Islands, would come, without 
much difficulty, to where the tin and lead were.

The Phoenicians traded with the Islanders for these metals, and 
gave the Islanders some other useful things in exchange.  The 
Islanders were, at first, poor savages, going almost naked, or only 
dressed in the rough skins of beasts, and staining their bodies, as 
other savages do, with coloured earths and the juices of plants.  
But the Phoenicians, sailing over to the opposite coasts of France 
and Belgium, and saying to the people there, 'We have been to those 
white cliffs across the water, which you can see in fine weather, 
and from that country, which is called BRITAIN, we bring this tin 
and lead,' tempted some of the French and Belgians to come over 
also.  These people settled themselves on the south coast of 
England, which is now called Kent; and, although they were a rough 
people too, they taught the savage Britons some useful arts, and 
improved that part of the Islands.  It is probable that other 
people came over from Spain to Ireland, and settled there.

Thus, by little and little, strangers became mixed with the 
Islanders, and the savage Britons grew into a wild, bold people; 
almost savage, still, especially in the interior of the country 
away from the sea where the foreign settlers seldom went; but 
hardy, brave, and strong.

The whole country was covered with forests, and swamps.  The 
greater part of it was very misty and cold.  There were no roads, 
no bridges, no streets, no houses that you would think deserving of 
the name.  A town was nothing but a collection of straw-covered 
huts, hidden in a thick wood, with a ditch all round, and a low 
wall, made of mud, or the trunks of trees placed one upon another.  
The people planted little or no corn, but lived upon the flesh of 
their flocks and cattle.  They made no coins, but used metal rings 
for money.  They were clever in basket-work, as savage people often 
are; and they could make a coarse kind of cloth, and some very bad 
earthenware.  But in building fortresses they were much more 
clever.

They made boats of basket-work, covered with the skins of animals, 
but seldom, if ever, ventured far from the shore.  They made 
swords, of copper mixed with tin; but, these swords were of an 
awkward shape, and so soft that a heavy blow would bend one.  They 
made light shields, short pointed daggers, and spears - which they 
jerked back after they had thrown them at an enemy, by a long strip 
of leather fastened to the stem.  The butt-end was a rattle, to 
frighten an enemy's horse.  The ancient Britons, being divided into 
as many as thirty or forty tribes, each commanded by its own little 
king, were constantly fighting with one another, as savage people 
usually do; and they always fought with these weapons.

They were very fond of horses.  The standard of Kent was the 
picture of a white horse.  They could break them in and manage them 
wonderfully well.  Indeed, the horses (of which they had an 
abundance, though they were rather small) were so well taught in 
those days, that they can scarcely be said to have improved since; 
though the men are so much wiser.  They understood, and obeyed, 
every word of command; and would stand still by themselves, in all 
the din and noise of battle, while their masters went to fight on 
foot.  The Britons could not have succeeded in their most 
remarkable art, without the aid of these sensible and trusty 
animals.  The art I mean, is the construction and management of 
war-chariots or cars, for which they have ever been celebrated in