c_&_c_v_ii_p

COUNTRIES and CULTURES of the WORLD, THEN and NOW, VOL. II

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Population 58.5 million (0.3 % per year natural increase), area (94,000 sq. mi.) on two main islands and many smaller islands; GDP $1.05 trillion; average income $17,980; literacy rate 100%. It includes:

ENGLAND area 133,000 sq. km. (51,000 sq. mi.), population 48.8 million, and the principality of WALES, area 19,400 sq. km. (7500 sq. mi.), population 2.9 million, operated as a unit since 1301,

SCOTLAND area 77,400 sq. km. (29,800 sq. mi.), population 5.2 million, added in 1707, and NORTHERN IRELAND (ULSTER), area 13,500 sq. km. (5200 sq. mi.), population 1.6 million

History. England was connected by land to France at the end of the last Ice Age. Little is known about the peoples who built the first part of Stonehenge before 2500 B.C. Celts lived in England since as early as 1,500 B.C. The Celts had spread over much of Europe, probably earlier than in England. Druids were Celts with culture and learning. Celts were cattle growers and they made slaves of captured people. They believed the soul lived in a person’s head, and often carved three faces of a god on stones. Men and women fought battles for Celts, naked above the waist. The Belgic people arrived in England around 150 B.C. The Angles (for whom "England" was named), a Germanic tribe, arrived in the 5th Century A.D. They merged with two other Germanic tribes who arrived about the same time, the Saxons and the Jutes, to form the Anglo-Saxons. The tribe that lived in Scotland even prior to the 2nd Century A.D. were the Picts. They spoke a Celtic language. The Scots arrived in Scotland from Ireland in the 5th Century A.D. My guide for a history walking tour in London said that when troops of Julius Caeser arrived in 55 B.C. they had battles with the local tribe. The men wore no clothes, only grease and a necklace. Romans could not easily catch a greased man. After the local people had been "subdued" they suddenly revolted, killing several thousand Romans, according to my guide. Romans left, returning in 43 A.D. with four legions. After conquering much of England, three legions remained to protect Britons in the lowlands from tribes in the hills of Wales. Emperor Hadrian in 122 A.D. built a great wall across northern England to keep out warlike Picts from Scotland and to divide Britain into two parts, to "divide and rule."

The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were busy, fighting among themselves. When Vikings from Denmark landed at Cornwall in 838 they were welcomed, to help the local people fight Wessex, in south-central England, then the most- developed area. In 886 a treaty recognized that Vikings controlled most of England's north and midlands, but that Wessex was independent. In 911 a wise French king, Charles III, tired of fighting Vikings (also called Normans or Danes), invited them to settle down in Normandy. Many other Vikings arrived in England. In 1016 a treaty was agreed upon, with Denmark controlling most of England. In 1042 Edward, a returning native of England, became king. In 1066 his son Harold II was king, but in September Norwegian Vikings won part of northern England. William, the Duke of Normandy, arrived a few days later. Harold was advised to surround and starve the Normans in a swampy area, but he fought them at Hastings. Some people say Harold was wounded by a Norman arrow in his eye. Others say the Norman cavalry overran and killed Harold and his bodyguards.

Land was taken away from the Anglo-Saxon nobles and was given to Normans. England adopted many French words. For example, the word for a raw product, such as cow or sheep, is Anglo-Saxon. But that product, ready for the elite to eat, is beef or mutton, Norman words. Feudal rules, and general laws, were brought from Normandy. After 21 years of suppressing rebellions William died, but not until he began the Domesday ("Day of Judgment") Book. The entire country was divided into units and a census was taken and written for everything: castles, estates, land held by each, the amount of land by its type or use, and the peasants. A few places, including London, were not included. William's son Rufus became a warrior king, he was killed in 1100. Henry, the youngest son, became king while his brother Robert was fighting in the Crusades. He curbed the power of the barons. When Henry I died, there was civil war in England and Normandy.

In 1154 Henry II became king of England, his family was called the House of Plantagenet for the sprig of a plant they wore. He increased the king's power, sent judges traveling throughout England to hear criminal and other cases, and had criminals caught. He developed the use of the jury and had records kept, creating the common law. Henry appointed Thomas Beckett as archbishop of Canterbury. When Becket objected to the trial of clergy in the king's courts, Becket was exiled. After he again quarreled with Henry, four of Henry's knights killed Becket in 1170. The pope chastised Henry, who apologized. When Henry died, his son Richard "the Lion Hearted" became king, in 1189. Richard fought in the Crusades, he was captured by Emperor Henry VI, and England had to pay a big ransom to get its king back.

When Richard died from a battle wound his brother John became king. John lost most of the lands in what is now France. Barons forced John in 1215 to sign the Magna Carta or "Great Charter." It gave barons their old feudal rights, and gave to freemen the right to trial. Within a few months John repudiated the Charter and Pope Innocent III upheld his repudiation. Both John and the pope soon died. The Charter was shortened, and "great councils" ruled under it. The great councils had become Parliament by 1235. Henry III became bankrupt with wars, and he had to get help from the barons. The barons loaned Henry money after he agreed to a "constitution" at Oxford. While the next king, Edward I, was fighting wars, Parliament was organized and many statues were passed in 1275 and 1285. Edward conquered Wales and created the title Prince of Wales, which continues now for the heir apparent to England's throne. He temporarily controlled Scotland. Robert the Bruce, an Anglo/Norman nobleman, led Scots to defeat the English in several battles. To pay for wars, Edward got money from all of "his" lands, including Ireland, and he expelled the Jews, to get their money. Edward's son, Edward II, continued to quarrel with the barons. He was assassinated in 1327. His son, Edward III, was a warrior king during the Hundred Years War with France. (See France.) He founded the Order of the Garter, the most noble of the orders of chivalry. When the king danced with Joan, "the fair maid of Kent," she lost her garter. The king slowly put the garter back under her dress to hold up her stocking. When he saw envious looks, the king said, in substance, "shame to anyone who thinks evil of it." That became the motto of the chivalrous order of knights. The son of Edward III, the "Black Prince," was a great warrior, he even captured the French king, John. France formed an alliance with Scotland. Geoffrey Chaucer wrote the first poetry, Canterbury Tales, which included an interesting group of pilgrims. The Lady of Bath had quite an appetite for men.

The Black Death or Plague of 1348 did not hurt England as much as it did part of the Continent. Wages gradually rose as barons and merchants became aware that there was a labor shortage. England began to prosper, selling and trading wool. When Edward III died the Black Prince's son, Richard II, became the "boy king." He prevented the archbishop of Canterbury from burning at the stake as heretics the Lollards, who wanted to return religion to the text of the Bible. The Latin Vulgate Bible was translated into English--the "Wycliffe Bible." Richard may have become insane in 1399. An important assembly deposed him in 1399, he was imprisoned in the tower, and his 13 year old bride returned home to France. Richard was killed in 1400. That ended the House of York at the time.

The assembly declared Henry IV of Lancaster to be the king. Henry was always in debt, he had to beg Parliament to pass laws raising taxes. Thomas Arundel, the archbishop of Canterbury, finally got a law he wanted, to burn heretics at the stake. During the reign of Henry V the archbishop burned all of the Lollards the clergy could find, ending their rebellion. Henry's successor in 1422, Henry VI, as an infant, was king of both England and France for a short time. He was not respected, he became insane, at least temporarily. After a few battles (the War of Roses) and much conniving, Edward IV of the House of York, was declared king in 1461. Nine years later armies of Warwick, an earldom, forced Edward to flee and reinstalled Henry VI as king. In the last battle of the War of Roses, Edward was killed and Henry VI was murdered. There were none left of the House of Lancaster to claim the throne. Edward IV of the House of York was restored as king. When he died his brother Richard seized the two young sons of Edward IV (one was Edward V for a few months), they soon died, apparently murdered, in 1483. Richard was soon killed in a battle at Bosworth and Henry VII of the House of Tudor became king in 1485.

Henry VII controlled his enemies in York by killing them in battle, executing them, or marrying them. Henry VII tried to restore respect for the monarchy, a tough job. In 1494 an English army under Poyning defeated much of Ireland, making the Irish parliament subordinate to England’s king. The son of Henry VII, Henry VIII, and his advisor, archbishop Thomas Wolsey of York, made enemies everywhere. When Henry wanted a divorce in 1527 from Catherine, Wolsey and the pope did not agree. Henry ousted Wolsey, and persuaded Parliament to become more anti-Church. Henry's new advisor, Thomas Cromwell, advised Henry to break with the Catholic Church. Henry did so, seized the Church property, sold many monasteries to nobles and the wealthy, and made the Church responsible to the king. Thomas Cranmer, the new head of the Church of England, dissolved Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon, and declared Henry's marriage to Anne Boleyn to be invalid when Henry wanted to get rid of her. Cranmer married Henry to Jane Seymour, she died in childbirth. When Henry wanted to get rid of his next wife, Anne of Cleves, Cranmer granted the divorce. Cranmer married Henry to Catherine Howard, and approved of her later execution. Cranmer married Henry to Catherine Parr, who actually lived longer than Henry. London's Wax Museum has an excellent portrayal of fat, middle-aged Henry and his six wives. All were pretty, but I believe Catherine Howard was the prettiest.

During the short reign of young Edward VI, 1547-1553, son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Cranmer and the Earl of Warwick (John Dudley) encouraged the religious Reformation and the spread of the Protestant Church (of England). Mass was abolished, thus making many enemies in Roman Catholic Ireland. When Edward died, Mary Tudor, the daughter of Henry and Catherine of Aragon, was entitled to become queen. But she was a strong Catholic. She became Queen Mary I in 1553, as the 2nd wife of Phillip II of Spain, son of Emperor Charles V. They reconciled the church with the pope, abolishing control by the monarchy. She wanted to burn all heretics at the stake. She was called "Bloody Mary," for the death of about 300 Protestants. She was very unpopular. When she lost her pregnancy Phillip left her. In 1558 she died, age 42. Under her reign England lost Calais, its last possession in modern France.

Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, became "the Virgin Queen" in 1558 when she was 25. Mary I had imprisoned Elizabeth for many years in the tower of London. With the help of her chief minister, William Cecil, Elizabeth returned England to Protestantism but tried, at least at first, to be fair to Catholics. However, her Church of England fined Roman Catholics, Quakers, Methodists, and anyone who failed to attend the Church of England. Many emigrated to the colonies in America. The Church of England adopted 39 articles and a Book of Common Prayer. Mass was abolished. She drove the Puritans out of England. Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1558 married the man who became King of France, Francis II. Mary was Queen of France. He died two years after the marriage. Mary returned to Scotland, where she became Queen. She married Lord Darnley, they had a son who became James VI of Scotland and James I of England. Mary was a strong Catholic, but most of the Scotch had become Protestant. When Darnley was killed Mary married Bothwell, the man who allegedly had killed Darnley. Mary was put into prison but in 1568 she escaped, fleeing to England. Elizabeth imprisoned her in the tower. Some years later, when it was shown that Mary plotted to have France and/or Spain attack England, Mary was tried, found guilty, and beheaded in 1587. England fought Spain, almost destroying Spain's Great Armada in 1588, with the help of storms. However, war between Spain and England continued for many years. Some 30 ships of the armada were wrecked off the Irish coast. Local Catholic leaders helped rescue some of the captains and crew. If the saviors were caught, the English hanged them. Elizabeth tried to impose her rule over Ireland, establishing the (Protestant) Church of Ireland. Many Irish resisted, the English soldiers usually won the many battles. Elizabeth helped England to become a sea power and she encouraged arts and literature. Shakespeare wrote plays that were popular at the time.

James VI of Scotland also became king of England, James I, when Elizabeth died in 1603. He founded the House of Stuart. England had long fought with Scotland, the border area was known as the "Debatable Land" or "Impossible Land." People who lived there, like some of my ancestors, the Wilsons, were reivers. They wore steel bonnets and stole cattle, sheep, and horses from each other. Now England and Scotland were united. James was a Protestant, a Calvinist. The popular King James Bible was first printed in 1611. On November 5, 1605 Guy Fawkes, a Catholic rebel, was arrested while he tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament. He was hanged. The day of his arrest, November 5, is still celebrated as Guy Fawkes Day, with fireworks. England established plantations in Ireland, especially the north. Each plantation had several villages, farms, and craftsmen. Protestant families from England and Scotland were sent over, forcing out native Irish where necessary.

When James I died in 1625 his son became Charles I, but he supported another kind of Protestantism, Dutch Arminianism. James and Charles used the Star Chamber to have a quick trial and execute their enemies. Some Scots rebelled, and Charles raised taxes to pay for his army to fight Scots. The Scots defeated Charles' army in the Bishops Wars, 1639-1641. English taxpayers called the Long Parliament in 1640, which passed laws limiting the king's right to raise taxes. Civil War began in 1642 between the king's army and Parliament's army. Charles was captured, he escaped, was caught again, tried, and executed as a traitor in 1649. A new constitution was drafted, abolishing the monarchy. A Puritan, Oliver Cromwell, called a Roundhead because his hair was cut very short, was Lord Protector. Cromwell refused to be called king but he wore royal purple robes. Cromwell greatly increased taxes, fought a cruel war in Ireland, killing nearly everyone in the towns of Drogheda and Wexford. He also punished people who were not moral like Puritans, and made many enemies. When Cromwell died in 1658 Parliament asked Charles II to become king.

Charles was pro-Catholic. He developed the conservative Tory Party. Opponents, including Scottish Protestants, were Whigs. The Plague killed 75,000 people in London in 1664. Two years later the Great Fire destroyed most of London, including 13,200 houses. London was rebuilt of brick, stone, and concrete. Charles spent much of his time with two of his mistresses, Nell Gwynne, a pretty seller of oranges, and Louise de Keroualle, of Portsmouth. Charles' son, James II, was more pro-Catholic. He planned to have an Irish army invade England and restore Catholicism. He quarreled with Dutch Protestants. Some English invited William and Mary of Orange (Netherlands) to liberate them. Mary was the daughter of the man who later became James II. William's army invaded, won, and he and Mary became King and Queen in 1689. William fought in Ireland, defeating Charles’ army in a big battle near the Boyne River, north of Dublin, in 1690. William’s officers finally defeated a Jacobite (Catholic) army in Limerick. He negotiated a treaty giving Ireland much local control, and a treaty stone was erected in Limerick in 1691. However, Parliament refused to approve the treaty. The Bank of England was founded in 1694, it helped to promote England's trade and industry. Queen Anne, daughter of James II, ruled 1702-1714. England and Sotland were united. The Elector of Hannover (Germany), great-grandson of James I, became George I, in 1714. He was rude to everyone and had few friends.

George II ruled 1727-1760. The Jacobites supported the former Catholic kings, causing uprisings, especially in Scotland, for the next 100 years. In 1745 "Bonny Prince Charlie," grandson of James II, raised a Jacobite army in Scotland, the "Forty-five," invaded England, but was defeated at Culloden in 1746. He escaped and lived another 42 years wandering and drinking on the Continent. There was much corruption of morals among the common people and politicians, following the example of Robert Walpole, who became prime minister in 1721. The Tory Party stopped supporting the Catholic Church. The Party catered to the landowners and other wealthy. In Quebec, Canada the British General Wolfe finally defeated the French General Montcalm, but both soon died.

George III, "Farmer George," became king in 1760, he encouraged the Industrial Revolution. The new factory workers lived in quickly-built slums. The king in 1770 appointed Lord George German to administer the American Colonies, although he had shown several times that he was completely incompetent. In 1776 the American Colonies declared their independence, they wanted "no taxation without representation." That had long been a goal of the Whig Party in England. George III had a medical problem that resulted in his temporary insanity and he became almost blind. German troops from the Hannover area were used in America, the British troops were needed at home to protect against Catholics and Jacobites. With the help of the French, the American Colonies were granted independence in the Treaty of Paris, 1783. William Pitt became prime minister that year, at age 24.

Pitt persuaded Parliament to make several reforms, including permitting Catholics to serve in the army or to practice law. Pitt's economies, the prosperous industry, and building up of the British fleet, permitted Britain to avoid serious attacks at home by French, 1793-1814, during the French Revolution and Napoleon's campaigns. Britain prospered, selling wool, buying cotton for its textile mills, leading the Industrial Revolution, and as the greatest sea power. In the 19th Century Britain's population increased fast, especially in cities. With social unrest, police forces were formed to control crime. Trade and manufacturing grew fast but conservative landowners still supported high agricultural tariffs. Anglican (Church of England) clergy often owned a lot of land, were also a justice of the peace, and had a monopoly on education. Irish were given some rights of home rule, including their own parliament, by Pitt. However, Pitt resigned early in 1801 in disputes over how to deal with Napoleon. The Act of Union was passed in 1801, taking away Ireland’s Parliament and home rule, forcing Ireland to join Britain, and discriminating against Catholics. Daniel O’Connor, an Irishman, was elected to the British Parliament in 1828 but he refused to take an oath contrary to his Catholic religion. He had many supporters in Ireland. In 1829 the Catholic emancipation bill was passed and he entered Parliament, as “the Great Liberator.”

A potato blight in Ireland, beginning in 1845, caused the starvation of around a million people and the migration, to the U.S.A., or to London, Liverpool, or Glasgow of a million. The British Parliament repealed the Corn Laws (“corn” is almost any grain), or high tariffs on food, so it would be cheaper. Other democratic changes reduced the impact in Britain of Europe's Revolution of 1848. In 1854 Britain helped Turkey to fight Russia in the Crimea to maintain the balance of power there. Florence Nightingale introduced professional nurses, rather than camp followers, to save lives of soldiers. Britain aggressively sought to extend its colonial empire, in India, Burma, Africa, Cyprus, the West Indies, and elsewhere. Britain prospered under Queen Victoria's rule, 1837-1901. She was helped by prime ministers Benjamin Disraeli (Tory, 1874-1880) and William Gladstone (Liberal, serving several terms between 1868-1892). Gladstone helped to begin a national primary education program, to reform the civil service, the army, and the Catholic Church in Ireland.

In Ireland the Fenians tried to overthrow British rule there by violence. Gladstone supported Charles Parnell's land act for Ireland in 1881, it guaranteed fair rents, fixity of tenure, and the free sale of land. After a thorough analysis of the issues, Gladstone in 1885 tried to grant Ireland home rule but was unable to get a majority vote. In World War I, 1914-1918, the British Empire suffered a million dead. In Ireland many of the poor, fearing conscription into the British army, rebelled, capturing military posts. Britain executed 15 of the Sinn Finn leaders. Lloyd George, Prime Minister of Britain, scheduled a conference in Dublin in 1917 to decide the Irish question. The Sinn Finn refused to participate. In 1918 the Irish Republican Army (IRA), military arm of Sinn Finn, began guerrilla warfare. After months of negotiations, the Irish Free State, with 26 counties, was approved in 1921. Six northern counties decided to remain in Britain.

George V founded the House of Windsor, he ruled 1910-1936. To reduce discontent, Britain in 1917 granted universal voting for men and limited voting rights for women. After World War I Britain acquired more territory in the Middle East, once held by Turkey. Lloyd George, Prime Minister, supported at the Peace Conference the "Fourteen Points" of U.S.A. President Wilson. France wanted more reparations from Germany. The Great Depression of the early 1930s caused much unemployment, as it did in much of Europe and the Americas. Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister, met with Germany's Adolph Hitler in Munich in September, 1938. Chamberlain thought that Hitler could be appeased and dissuaded from starting war. He was wrong. When Nazis invaded Britain's ally Poland, Britain declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939. France also declared war. In the "Battle of Britain," 1940, Nazi warplanes for months bombed London and other British cities. Some 330 fighter pilots, with the help of the new radar to find the Germans, shot down so many of the Nazi bombers that Hitler changed his plan to invade Britain.

Soon after World War II ended in 1945 Britain reluctantly began to grant independence to its colonies in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. In 1969 fights (the "Troubles") between Protestants and Catholics began in Northern Ireland (Ulster). British troops were brought in to control IRA "terrorists." Civil war resulted. Serious negotiations between the British government and the Sinn Finn to end violence and have peace began in 1995.

Great Britain has retained close ties with most of its colonies in the Commonwealth of Nations. Together, they form about one-fifth of the world's land area and 1.4 billion people, or one-fifth of the world's people. It is a federation of 51 independent nations, plus various colonies and protectorates. It is headed by the British queen or king. Members of the federation meet to coordinate economic, scientific, educational, financial, legal, and military matters, and other policies.

[Excerpt, England, p. 368-374]

England's Lake District

click for larger picture

[Excerpt, Countries and Cultures, Vol. II, P. 377-383, Travel]

LONDON includes the City of London, plus Inner London--a ring of 12 or so boroughs, and an outer ring of 20 or so boroughs, Outer London. Together, Greater London has about 10 million people in 1,580 square kilometers. Charing Cross is the center of London. The Mall goes southwest from it to Buckingham Palace. The Thames River is a few blocks southeast. Picadilly Street goes west, connecting with Kensington Road, just south of Hyde park and Kensington Gardens, then the name changes to Hammersmith Road. Another main west-to-east avenue, north of the two parks, is Holland Park, which becomes Bayswater Road, then Oxford Street, Holborn, and finally Newgate Street in the east. The University of London is on Tottenham Court Road, beyond the British Museum. Regent's Park is a kilometer or so northwest of the University. The West End has some fashionable neighborhoods. Heathrow Airport is far west, but easy to get to on the Tube. The East End is poorer, with many immigrants from Asia, Africa, and elsewhere. South of the Thames is also a poorer area, but it has theaters, museums, and the Waterloo Railway Station, with trains going to ferries or the Chunnel to the continent.

I traveled on a bus tour in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland in September, 1982. We landed at Heathrow Airport. Our bus took us to London and our hotel in Kensington. The London telephone directory had four volumes of white pages, in alphabetical order, plus a volume of yellow pages. Some of our London hotel rooms also had a Common Market (European Union) phone directory. Several of us looked at the paintings for sale by artists on a nice Sunday in Hyde Park. We walked through Kensington Gardens, then the adjoining Hyde Park. Several orators, each standing on a plastic milk carton (no longer a "soap box"), attracted crowds. They spoke on politics, economics, or religion. They have an almost-complete right of free speech, but cannot "blaspheme the queen." Bobbies (police) wearing tall hats and carrying a club but no firearm, listened a short while, then wandered on.

We went on a city tour. On the shore of the Thames River we saw the House of Parliament, the central lobby connects the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The Victoria Tower, on the southwest corner, 100 m. (328 ft.) tall, has records of Parliament. Nearby is the Clock Tower, 97 m. tall, with Big Ben. No. 10 Downing Street is the home of the prime minister. Buckingham Palace has been the home of kings and queens since 1837. The flag wasn't flying, so Queen Elizabeth II wasn't home. The Horse Guards are part of the queen's guards. We passed the shopping area with big department stores, arriving at Westminster Abbey. The gothic building with flying buttresses to help support the roof is the 2nd-largest church in the world. Only Rome's St. Peter is larger. It is a minster because it once had a monastery. The ceiling is 31 m. (102 ft.) high. All kings and queens have been coronated there since Norman times. The tombs of most of the kings and queens of England and Great Britain since it was built in the 13th century, until 1760, are in Westminster. Later kings and queens are buried in Windsor. Many other famous British people are buried in Westminster--it has a "poet's corner" (Geoffrey Chaucer's tomb was the first), a "statesman's corner," a "scientists corner," and other areas where the great are buried.

I went on another London city tour in 1983. Queen Victoria had the Albert Memorial erected in honor of her husband, after his death. Embassy Row is near Grosvenors Square. The Belgravia district, with many conservative "gentlemen's clubs" is a short distance south. The statue of St. Eros is near the Piccadilly Station. Soho was once the red light district.

London attracts young people who look and act like hippies. Some "punk rock" girls have orange hair sticking out in all directions, as if they had been badly frightened and never returned to normal. In offices and discotheques the ordinary girls wear anything from miniskirts or black leotards, to long dresses.

The British Museum has much loot obtained from Egypt and the Middle East, including the black Rosetta Stone, with the same text written in Greek, the demotic script of spoken Egyptian, and the the priests' hieroglyphic script. It was used to transcribe many ancient texts. I have returned to the museum two times, always seeing something that I had missed. There is a large collection of sarcophogi, statues, and mummies, of people and animals, from Egypt. Since Islamic fundamentalists have objected to the display of mummies in Egypt, it is important that mummies in other countries be made available to teach the world more about that great ancient civilization. The museum has a dessicated (dried in the hot sand) well-preserved body of a man, "Ginger," (the color of his hair), from before 3,100 B.C. His body is curled on the left side, and he has food, drink, and a flint knife to sustain his spirit during the long journey to heaven. Daily life in ancient Egypt is shown, with door locks and keys, bow drills, saws, axes, and adzes made of bronze, plus baskets, ropes, pottery, clothes, and 10 or 12 kinds of seeds, well-preserved for more than 4,000 years. Ancient Egyptians had comfortable chairs with high backs, not used in Europe until the last 300 years or so. Several rooms show artifacts of Britain or the Continent of 1,400 B.C. or thereabouts, including brooches--like big safety pins. First Century A.D. window panes (not common for 1,400 more years), flasks and bowls, bone combs and needles, a bronze water pump, muffin pans, lantern, oil lamps, and food strainers are shown. A 4th Century A.D. Roman dog's collar still has its name. An exhibit shows the development of the alphabet. The large library has a copy of the Gutenberg Bible, the first book printed in Europe, in 1455. Originals of manuscripts include the Magna Carta, and signatures of most British authors, from Shakespeare to date. An exhibit on Halley's Comet has reports of it by Chinese since 240 B.C., by Babylon since 164 B.C., and by Europeans (Florence) since 1454 A.D. Earlier European accounts were mired in superstition.

The Museum of Mankind is the Ethnology part of the British Museum. It had an exhibit showing Mexico's offerings to the deceased on the Day of the Dead, November 1 and 2. Each family sets up a table in the house decorated with flowers and delicious food, to attract the souls of little children and other relatives who have died. Church bells are rung to attract the souls. A day or two later the family eats any food that the souls (or the flies) did not eat. It is called All Saints Day in Roman Catholic parts of Europe. The Tree of Life shows a skull carved from transparent rock crystal. An exhibit shows clothes and other textiles of Old Palestine, now occupied by Israel. Another exhibit shows wood, stone, and ivory carvings of Africa. Other exhibits are from India and South America.

The Geological Museum has an exhibit on earthquakes that includes feeling an earthquake. Visitors enter a sort of cage that then shakes like a real quake. It has movies made during Alaska's big earthquake in 1964. Insects, arthropods, and other little creatures have many hands-on manipulative exhibits. A volcano exhibit with lava looks realistic.

The Science Museum has five floors of good exhibits, on cars, trains, agriculture, electricity, photography, and much more. I returned to see it on another visit. A plow was pushed by a strong man too poor to have an animal to pull it. [When I was a boy we pushed a garden cultivator to kill weeds, but not to prepare land for planting.] The museum has many old airplanes, some are pre-World War I. The Gossamer Albatross, first man-powered plane to cross the English Channel, in 1981, has a big wingspan and a huge wooden propeller. It is gossamer--lightweight, like a cobweb. The two-engine Vickers "Vimy" was the first plane to fly the Atlantic nonstop, in 1919. A kitchen of the Victorian Age shows many hand-operated appliances and grinders. The children's gallery has hands-on things, the periscope is always popular. Old steam locomotives include the little "Rocket" of 1829 and "Puffer Belly" of the 1830s. The 1905 Rolls Royce and Rover "safety" bicycle of 1885 were pioneers. A British World War II Spitfire, a Hurricane, and a German ME163 jet plane are shown--the German planes had swastikas, unlike those in Germany's Deutsch Museum. A World War II German V2 rocket, and space capsules (the Apollo 10 command module), are displayed. The Foucalt Pendulum demonstrates how the Earth rotates. Britain's earliest spring-driven pendulum clock was made in 1658. A hologram shows a lifelike Dennis Gabor, British inventor of the hologram, in 1947. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1971. The medical exhibits include Joseph Lister's ward in Glasgow, where antiseptic techniques were first used, in 1868. The 4th floor has some 50 rooms set up like an 18th Century ship, an early dentist's office, a pharmacy, and others. A Japanese robot exhibit was popular, especially a walking model with four legs.

The Victoria and Albert Museum has a huge collection of loot acquired worldwide by the British, mostly in the 16th to 20th centuries. It has Chinese, Indian, Islamic, and Egyptian pottery and other artifacts, much furniture from palaces, pretty blue and white Wedgwood pottery, cameos, and tiny portraits. There are many tapestries and sculptures.

The Imperial War Museum has tanks of World Wars I and II. One German Tiger tank in 1944, with an 88 mm. cannon is said to have destroyed more than 100 tanks of the U.S.A. and Britain in one battle. A submarine and a World War I Tiger Moth are shown. World War II planes include a Spitfire, an American P51, a German FW 190, most of a Japanese Zero, and British Lancaster and Hadley bombers. An exhibition shows London's Blitz (bombing during World War II), putting out fires, and bomb shelters. There are many paintings of the war. The Transatlantic Telephone Room connected Winston Churchill with President Roosevelt. Churchill had more than 100 meetings during the war in the Cabinet Room. The nearby Map Room had up-to-date information on battle fronts.

Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum has lifelike models of popular movie and rock stars, including the Beatles. Madame Du Barry, one of the mistresses of France's Louis XV, seems to breathe as her chest moves up and down. The Grand Hall has political figures, old and new. Henry VIII is shown with his six wives. The "Chamber of Horrors" shows famous murderers, including Jack the Ripper, with natural settings on dark cobblestone streets, screams, and a newsboy hawking papers telling of the murders. Other exhibits show a guillotine and victim, electric chair, hanging, and a firing squad in action. Lord Nelson's 1805 victory over the French and Spanish fleets at Trafalgar shows the orlop (lowest) deck where he was brought after a French sharpshooter shot him. He soon died. Since the fleet would not return to England for some weeks, his body was put into a barrel filled with alcohol to preserve it. The officers had to sacrifice some of their daily ration of grog. What happened to the grog after the body was removed? Rumors are that it wasn't wasted. The French and Spanish lost 23 ships, 4,400 dead and 2,545 wounded, the British lost no ships and had 449 killed and 1,214 wounded.

Plays in London have long been cheaper than in New York, although the difference is less now. My wife and I go to several plays during most of our visits to London. Theaters are in the Piccadilly and Covent Garden districts. Some are in the National Theater, near the south bank of the Thames, a big new complex of theaters, plus the opera and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

I have returned to London several times. It is easy to get around on the "tube." In November, 1991 I rode the tube many times. A train skipped one station because a suspicious "bomb," perhaps of the IRA, had been reported. In a time of heavy rains the conductor announced before arriving at another station that we should take a particular exit. He said if we took the other exit "you're going-to-get-your-tootsies-wet!" Double-decker buses have had the no-smoking section below and the smoking section above.

I took the Tube to the Tower of London. It was begun by William the Conqueror soon after 1066. The White Tower is the oldest part, it has a banquet hall and the Chapel of St. John. There are 13 outer towers and 6 inner towers, with slits to shoot arrows or crossbows, and places for cannon. The large moat trapped sewerage for five centuries until it was finally filled in. For nearly seven centuries anyone wanting to enter the gate had to give the password, changed daily. It is guarded by strutting men. Guides wear "Beefeater" red and black uniforms. Political prisoners or royalty not in power were sometimes beheaded with a broad axe. Their heads were displayed on the nearby London Bridge. Prisoners were later brought in by boat on the Thames, then through "Traitor's Gate." It is arched with a low ceiling, 18 m. (59 ft.) wide, unsupported by pillars, and without a keystone. It fell two times and looks as if it may fall again any minute. In the Bloody Tower the two young princes, ages 13 and 10, were murdered by their uncle Richard in 1483. Kings and queens lived in the tower for 500 years. The jewel room has crowns, clothes, swords, maces, wine goblets, and other artifacts used by kings and queens. I would hate to wear any of the heavy crowns, they would give me a headache. Antics of some of their royalty have recently given many British a headache. London Bridge is nearby. Contrary to the children's poem, it has not fallen down. It was the only bridge across the Thames until 1729. The Tower Bridge was built 1886-1894.

The nearby Katherine Dock has historic ships. It has several small sailing ships and steamships from about 80 to 110 years old. Visitors can board the vessels. They include a lightship, a steam tug, and the Cambria, a sailing barge used to haul refuse downstream to dump into the sea. A working schooner, the Kathleen and May, carried cargoes to and from Britain's many islands.

The tourist office has arranged several "Walking Tours," in London, with a knowledgeable guide. The "London Story" walk shows part of the old Roman city wall, and where the gallows was set up to hang the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1381 for instituting a poll tax. Our guide said there was considerable sentiment for again setting up the gallows, because politicians had recently re-instituted the poll tax. On December 29, 1940 German planes made a big bombing raid on London at a time when there was little water in the Thames for putting out fires. The tide was low and fresh water was low. We looked at the St. Olave Church and the 11th Century St. Dunstan Church. Pudding Lane has a monument to the London fire of 1664. "London" in cockney means "deformed egg." A tall modern building houses the Lloyd's Insurance Companies. Elevators, heating, and other utility pipes are on the outside. It has many small groups of wealthy individuals who loan money for risks. Recent catastrophes with big losses have caused many to try to withdraw from the plan. London's first coffee house was built in 1652. Customers were often ship captains, who met local businessmen, the founders of Lloyds, who loaned them money to buy a cargo and hire a crew. We stopped for drinks in the "George and Vulture" pub, popular with Charles Dickens and Mr. Pickwick. The Bank of England is on Threadneedle Street. On a narrow winding street we saw the home of London's "Lord Mayor," and his private "Stephan Waldbrook" church, designed by Christopher Wren. The exterior is plain but the interior is beautiful, with a high dome in white and black and a center white stone altar.

Another walking tour was to the Law Courts. A barrister must be a member of one of the four "Inns of Court" and must eat at least 12 meals yearly there. One of the Inns is in the former building of the Knights Templar monks; they were rich, active in the First Crusade, but the king disbanded them in 1324. Barristers don't study law in a university, they usually have a liberal arts degree from Oxford or Cambridge and have a friend or relative who is a barrister. Solicitors have a law degree and take a bar exam of the Law Society, many do not pass the exam. Only barristers can appear in court or appeal a case. They cannot advertise. The clerk assigns a solicitor and the solicitor's client to a barrister. Barristers in court must wear a tie, wig, and robe. We walked through the courtyard of one of the Inns. Several buildings list names of barristers who office inside, in order of their seniority. One is John Mortimer, author of the popular TV series "Rumpole of the Old Bailey." We visited the Royal Court of Justice, built like a cathedral nearly 150 years ago. It has the Crown Courts--Criminal High Court, Civil Court, and High Court. The Lincoln Inn of Court is not far away. The Staple Inn is one of the four Inns of Chancery. Old Bailey is the criminal court of London's Lord Mayor, not of the Crown.

Another day I visited St. Paul's Cathedral, the 17th Century masterpiece with a huge dome, designed by Christopher Wren. It is 175 m. long and 110 m. (574 and 361 ft.) high from the ground to the top of the cross on the dome. Inside, the wood panels and carving are beautiful. The funerals of Lord Nelson and Winston Churchill were held in it. Prince Charles and Diana were married there. Old Bailey has London's criminal courts. The Newgate Prison was once nearby but it was torn down long ago. I tried cases as an attorney in the U.S.A. for many years, and I like to compare judicial systems. The judge, barristers, and prosecutor each wore a gray wig and a black robe. I listened to closing arguments in one case, tried before a judge without a jury. I heard part of the testimony in another case--a murder case, with a 12 person jury. The requirement of a necktie and robe helps to get respect for the court.

The Museum of London shows tribesmen on the Thames River in 5,000 B.C., and the later Romans. Part of the Roman city wall is in the museum's courtyard. In 1373 A.D. tailors and skinners of animal carcasses were arrested for carrying daggers during a soccer game. Cock fighting and religious plays were popular in the 16th Century. London had a construction boom. Before the fire of 1664 London Bridge had many six-story houses of timbered frame and stucco. The fire destroyed nearly all of them. The museum has many room interiors and exhibits showing how people lived in London, and the 1940s Blitz (bombing), bomb shelters, and rationing. Germans who were in Britain at the start of World War II were interned, as were Japanese-Americans in the U.S.A. The red and gold horse-drawn coach of the lord mayor is shown.

The National Gallery is near the high monument at Trafalgar Square honoring Lord Nelson, the admiral. On the museum's main floor there is a good collection of paintings from the 13th Century to date. It includes masterpieces by Italians, Holbein (The Ambassadors), Titian (Bacchus and Ariadne), Reubens (The Straw Hat), van Dyck (Portrait of Charles I), Velaquez (The Toilet of Venus, a nude), Rembrandt (Self Portrait aged 63), Constable (The Hay Wain), Monet (Bathers at La Greunouillère), Seraut (Bathers at Asinères), and others. The nearby Charing Cross area has many used bookstores. I couldn't resist buying a few, then my suitcase was really heavy.

The Tate Gallery has paintings from the 16th Century to date. They include some by Hogarth, Gainsborough, Degas, Renoir, Bonnard, Whistler, F. Walker, Matisse, Dada (surrealism), Mondrian, Anthony Caro, Gerhard Richter, and landscapes by William Blake and Constable.

I have changed planes many times at London's Heathrow Airport, the busiest in Europe. Several of my flights left from Gatwick Airport. A comfortable bus connects the two. Grafitti in a Heathrow men's room in 1989 read: "Kabul is Russia's Vietnam." Someone else added "But they left with dignity." A third person wrote "Like George left the colonies...."

TABLE OF CONTENTS, COUNTRIES AND CULTURES, VOL. II

Page

List of Photographs in Volume II

1 The PACIFIC, NEW ZEALAND, and AUSTRALIA

1 Philippines

6 Fiji

13 Tonga

19 Western Samoa

30 Hawaii

33 Tahiti, Moorea

36 Galapagos Islands

42 New Zealand

53 Australia

70 Papua New Guinea

Photographs

76 FORMER SOVIET UNION

79 The Former Soviet System

80 Russian Federation

93 Ukraine

96 Georgia

98 Armenia

100 Uzbekistan

104 The Baltics

105 Estonia

109 Latvia

113 Lithuania

120 Outlook for the Former Soviet Union

Photographs

123 EUROPE (Except former Soviet Union)

126 Greece

132 Turkey

141 Romania

148 Bulgaria

157 Albania

165 Yugoslavia

172 Slovenia

173 Croatia

174 Hungary

180 Slovakia

183 Czech Republic

186 Poland

194 Finland

197 Sweden

200 Norway

209 Denmark

215 Former East Germany

224 Germany

250 Austria

260 Liechtenstein

260 Switzerland

266 Italy

295 Vatican City

301 San Marino

302 Malta

305 Monaco

306 France

350 Andorra

352 Spain

373 Portugal

380 Azores

383 Belgium

386 Luxembourg

388 Netherlands

394 United Kingdom

405 England

422 Scotland

430 Wales

431 Northern Ireland

434 Ireland

443 Iceland

Photographs

This is www.acurioustravlerstales.com/v.II_Page18.htm

index.html

Vol. III P. 19