The north-west

The Ice Age formed many deep valleys in the counties of Cumbria and North Yorkshire, made rivers into waterfalls and left behind hills and mountains. Beneath the earth is coal — the foundation of the region’s industry. Cumbria with its mountains and lakes is one of the most dramatic counties in England.

The North-West has a small industrial district on the west coast — the Cumberland Coalfield.

The first British atomic power station — Calder Hall — was built in the North-West. The unpopulated parts of the area are occupied by military bases and missile sites.

Agriculture in the North-West is strictly affected by enviromental factors, i.e. the relief and climate.

The north-east

The industrial North-East is more dependent than other parts of England on traditional heavy industries — coal-mining, iron and steel manufacture, shipbuilding, ship-repairing and chemicals.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne was the first town to export coal. Today it is the centre of the heavy engineering industry, particularly shipbuilding. Sunderland is another important shipbuilding centre.

Newcastle (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) has the population over 200,000. It is the principle centre of the North-East. Newcastle is known for its coal deposits, and «to carry coals to Newcastle» is justly considered «to be doing unnecessary things». Together with Middlesbrough, which manufactures steel, Newcastle forms the backbone of the area’s basic industries.

Middlesbrough (149,000), the chief town of the Cleveland area, was merely a small village at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Iron works, later steel works, were established at Middles­brough. Shipbuilding also developed.

Northwest on the river Severn, is Shropshire, the birthplace of the industrial revolution. Ironbridge, where iron was first made, is a living museum. However, there is also a lot of farming country, for example in the counties of Shropshire, Worcester­shire and Leicestershire. The moorland and hills of Stafforshire and Derbyshire are part of the Peak District. This region has some beautiful countryside in the Peak District National Park, the Cotswold Hills and the Malvern Hills.

Text 21 THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CORNER OF ENGLAND

On the north-west side of the Pennine system, marked off from it by the upper valleys of the rivers Eden and Lune lies the Lake District, containing the beautiful lakes which give it its name. It is variously termed the Lake Country, Lakeland and The Lakes.

Much of the land is high and thinly peopled. These high parts are used as rough pastures for sheep. Most of the farmland is on the low ground and as conditions are too wet for cropping it is chiefly under grass. There are few mineral resources and ores proved too poor or too limited to be worth mining.

The lakes which occupy many of its ice-deepened valleys show a wonderful variety of character. The largest lakes are Windermere, Coniston water, Derwent water and Ullswater. There are numerous swift and clear streams and small water-falls and though the altitude is not great (Scafell Pike which is the highest peak is only 3,210 ft), the individual masses tower over the sur­rounding areas. The whole region is well known for its great na­tural beauty.

Since the Lake District is a National Park, there is special control over building, to make sure that the beauty of the country­side is not spoiled. Nearly one quarter of the Lake District National Park is owned by the National Trust.

The National Trust is a charity, which means it is financed by ordinary people who pay to become members. It is not financed or run by the government.

The Trust was set up in 1895 by three people who thought that industrialization could spoil the countryside and ancient buil­dings of England and Wales.

Today the Trust is the third largest landowner in the country. It owns about 586,000 acres (almost 2,400 sq. Km) of land. Its pro­perties include famous gardens, whole villages, farms, wind- and water-mills, lakes and hills, abbeys, prehistoric and Roman anti­quities, important bird sanctuaries, such as Lindisfarne Island in Northumberland, and examples of industrial archaeology. The aim of the Trust is to conserve all the things for our enjoyment.

Pennine system — гряда Пеннинских гор (на севере Англии)

marked off from it — отделенная от нее

term — называть

thinly peopled — мало населена

rough pasture — пастбище на не­ровной местности

crop — выращивать, собирать уро­жай

ores proved too poor or too limited to be worth mining — доказано, что ко­личество руд очень ограничено и они настолько бедны, что их добы­ча не имеет смысла.

Swift — быстрый

altitude — высота над уровнем моря

the individual masses tower over the surrounding areas — отдельные го­ры возвышаются над окружающей территорией в виде башен

bird sanctuary — птичий заповед­ник

PART IV SCOTLAND AND THE SCOTTISH

Text 22 SCOTLAND

At the beginning of the 6th century, Scotland was ruled by Scottish kings and queens, but was divided between different groups of people: the Picts and Celts, who were the oldest inhabi­tants, the Scots, who came from Northern Ireland, the Britons, who were driven north by the Anglo-Saxon invaders of England, and the Angels, who originally came from what is now Germany. The Romans had left two centuries earlier.

England and Scotland were finally united when, in 1603, the son of Mary Queen of Scots became James I of England. This was because Mary’s cousin Elizabeth I of England had left no heir when she died.

Today Scotland is part of the United Kingdom and is governed from London. There is a special minister in the Government, the Secretary of State for Scotland, who is responsible for education, local government and other important matters in Scotland. Although the legal education and banking systems are slightly different from those in England, life is very similar to the rest of the United Kingdom.

Comprising an area of some 30,000 square miles (about 79,000 sq. km.) Scotland has a population of just over five million people of whom about one third live in the cities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee.

All the inhabitants speak English although about 100,000 still speak Scottish Gaelic. Many of the Scottish accents of English are very strong, and visitors from abroad (or even England) sometimes have difficulty in understanding them.

In terms of physical geography Scotland can be divided into the Southern Uplands, which never rise to much more than about two thousand five hundred feet, the Central Lowlands, which include the valleys of the rivers Tay, Clyde and Forth, and the northern Highlands which are themselves divided by the Great Glen which runs from Fort William to Inverness. In this area are the tallest peaks, the highest of which is Ben Nevis (4,406 ft high — about 1,342 m) in the Grampian Mountains. The Northern Highlands are sparsely populated but contain much of the most beautiful and impressive loch, moorland, mountain and coastal scenery in the country.

Scotland is a very mountainous country; three-fourth of the area of Scotland is occupied by mountains with a great amount of moorland, in which few people live.

Scotland is famous for its beautiful large lakes with moun­tains round them. They are not like the English ones; there are not so many trees and flowers, and green hills around them as in England. There are many rivers in Scotland, but they are not long. The longest and the most important Scottish river is the Clyde.

Scottish steel has long been used chiefly by the heavy indust­ries of the Glasgow area, where shipbuilding has been paramount. For a time Clydeside was the most famous shipbuilding district in the world. Shipyards extended along both banks of the Clyde estuary for about 30 km.

Clydeside also benefited by having pioneered the building of ships. Foreign competition, which drove Britain from first to fourth place among shipbuilding nations, seriously affected Clydeside. In the 1970s, further beset by the economic crisis, Clydeside lost its place as the leading shipbuilding area in Britain.

Glasgow (715,600) is Scotland’s most populous city and third largest in the British Isles. It stands at the lowest bridging point on the river Clyde and has thus become the outstanding market centre for western Scotland, and commercially and industrially dominates Clydeside.

The industrial picture in Glasgow has rather changed. Engi­neering has not shrunk to the same extent as coal mining and shipbuilding. But nowadays practically as many workers are in the service industries as in manufacturing. Of the latter, textile and clothing production has long been important, and carpets are among woollen goods. Food products, furniture and office equip­ment are also manufactured. An activity which is extremely impor­tant in Scotland’s export trade is the blending of Scotch whisky produced in Highland distilleries.

Glasgow is also the home of two well-known football clubs, Glasgow Rangers and Celtic.

In New Towns which emerged in the 1960s to the east of Glasgow new engineering industries developed, especially electronics.

Edinburgh (438,700) has long been recognized as the capital of Scotland, in spite of being second in size to Glasgow. The latter began to overtake Edinburgh in population with the Industrial Revolution. While Glasgow led the development of heavy industry, Edinburgh remained the country’s political and cultural centre. It is also the centre of government and commercial life.

Several factors have made Edinburgh the outstanding centre of tourism in Scotland. Its picturesque surface features led to its being called «The Athens of the North». On the cultural side, a great number of visitors is attracted to the city by the annual Edinburgh International Festival in the late summer. Edinburgh has a castle on a high rock, Holyrood Palace, the ancient residence of the Scottish Kings, the University and many famous schools. The capital of Scotland is famous for rubber manufacturing and engineering and also for her biscuit industry.

Every citizen in Edinburgh checks his watch by the One O’clock Gun which is fired every day in Edinburgh Castle.

Scotland’s third city is Aberdeen (200,000), the centre of Scotland’s fishing industry. When North Sea oil was exploited from the late 1960s, Aberdeen became a centre of the new industry and also the administration and supply base for the offshore oilfields. Aberdeen is built of granite which is found locally and the quarrying of it is one of the main industries.

Dundee (177,000), situated on the wide mouth of the most famous salmon river, the Tay, is the fourth city in Scotland. It is a port important for shipbuilding. It is also the centre of jute manufacture in Britain. Dundee cakes and marmalade are exported all over the world.

Summing up economic activity in Scotland one should bear in mind that the region is beset by the decline of the traditional industries which has led to high unemployment. Despite attempts to attract new industries into the region, their development hasn’t been extensive enough to compensate the decline of coal mining, steel production and shipbuilding. This explains the slow growth of the population and as emigration has remained unchecked, there is an actual decline of the overall population of Scotland as com­pared with the 1960s.

heir [еэ] — наследник

sparsely — редко, разбросанно

loch [l k] — шотл. озеро

paramount — первостепенный

estuary — эстуарий, устье реки, дельта

benefit (by) — извлекать пользу (из чего-л.)

beset (beset) — зд. отягощаться

shrink (shrank, shrunk) — сокра­щаться

blend — смешиваться, изготов­лять смесь

distillery — винокуренный завод, перегонный завод

quarry — добывать (камень из карьера)

decline—падение, упадок, спад

Text 23 THE BEAUTIES OF SCOTLAND

Scotland is a country of hills and lakes. Hills dominate in the northern part of Scotland, traditionally called the Highlands. The Scottish coastline is very irregular. The estuaries of Scottish rivers, called firths, are long narrowing arms of the sea going deep inland. Scottish lakes, called lochs, are also long and narrow. In the past all those lochs joined the sea and some of them still do so. The largest and the most beautiful of all the lochs in Scotland is Loch Lomond, which is 23 miles in length and 5 miles at its widest point. Loch Lomond has more than 30 beautiful islands. It lies within easy reach of Glasgow.

The most famous of the Scottish lochs, however, is Loch Ness, because of the mystery of the Loch Ness monster. It is difficult to say exactly when and how the story arose. According to a chronicler of the 6^th century, reported appearances of the crea­ture date from the time of St. Columba who saw it about to attack a man in the water. The lake became popular in the early thirties when a new road was opened around Loch Ness. According to a report in a London newspaper, a tourist driving his car along the banks of Loch Ness in April 1933 noticed a very strange creature in the water. It was about 30 yards long with two humps in its back, the head of a snake and two very short front legs. Since that time there have been many similar reports, particularly in the holiday season if there is a shortage of other exciting news.

According to one theory some prehistoric creatures swam into Loch Ness when it was still joined to the sea and were later trap­ped there — and present-day monsters are their descendants. According to another view, the strange creatures which suppo­sedly live in the waters of Loch Ness are simply seals or otters. There are people, however, who treat the whole problem very seriously indeed. From time to time investigations are conducted with the use of all kinds of modern equipment, photographs are taken and films are made. Unfortunately the photographs are not very clear. The strange dark shapes which appear in them can easily be plants or branches of sunken trees.

The mystery of the Loch Ness monster has not been solved so far. But «Nessie», whatever it is, has certainly done some good. It has become a great tourist attraction, bringing a lot of money to the region.

Alan Ross, a London artist, has made a sculpture, «Nessie» reproducing the Loch Ness monster. It was towed through London on its way to the Scottish lake. The cement-and-steel monster is about 50 feet long, 13 feet high and 14 feet tall.

Firth — устье реки (в Шотландии)

hump — горб, бугор

creature — живое существо

trap — ловить в ловушки, капканы

seal — тюлень

otter — выдра

sunken — затонувший

Text 24 EDINBURGH

Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, full of historical monuments of great interest. The dominating feature of the city is the Castle, standing high on a steep rock. It is in the royal apartments of the Castle that the son of Mary Queen of Scots, the future King James I, was born.

The Royal Palace of Hollyrood House, which is the official residence of the present queen of England, Elizabeth II, when she comes on a visit to Scotland, is also associated with the memory of Mary Stuart. The murder of David Rizzio, Mary’s Italian musi­cian and secretary, took place within its walls.

The finest street in Edinburgh and the main shopping area is Prince’s Street. In the gardens on its south side stands the monu­ment of Walter Scott, the famous writer of historical novels. Beyond the Scott monument, at the foot of the Castle, is the Na­tional Gallery of Scotland.

To the north of Edinburgh is the Firth of Forth. The Forth Bridge, which goes across it, is one of the great engineering achievements of the world.

Edinburgh University, which was founded in 1582, is famous for its medical faculty.

Edinburgh is also an important centre of cultural life, and each year, in late August and early September, it produces a fes­tival of music and drama which is famous all over the world.

Text 25 A TRAGIC QUEEN

Prince’s Street is Edinburgh’s shopping centre and it runs parallel with the Royal Mile which goes from the Castle to Holyrood House. This is the residence of the Queen when she is in Edinburgh and it was also the scene of one of the most famous murders in Scottish history.

Mary Queen of Scots had been brought up in France, and returned to Scotland in 1651. She was a Catholic in a country that was becoming more and more Protestant. This meant that all her life she was involved in religious and political struggles.

Mary made many mistakes in her life. The first real one was her marriage to Henry Lord Darnley in 1565. He was handsome and ambitious but at the same time vain, self-indulgent and weak. Their love did not last. Darnley became suspicious of Mary’s Italian secretary, David Rizzio. On 9th March 1566, while Mary and her friends were having supper at Holyrood House, Darnley and his friends broke into the dining-room, dragged Rizzio outside and stabbed him to death. The spot where this took place can still be seen today.

Mary continued to live an unhappy life and was exiled for many years in England. Her cousin Elizabeth I of Eng­land had always been suspi­cious of her and decided that her worries would stop only when Mary was dead. There­fore, in 1587, she finally orde­red that Mary should be exe­cuted.

vain — пустой, тщеславный

self-indulgent — потворствующий своим желаниям

suspicious — подозрительный

stab — закалывать, наносить удар кинжалом

worry — мучение, тревога

execute — казнить

Text 26 PRINCE CHARLES EDWARD STEWART

In 1707 a special treaty united the governments of Scotland and England. The Protestant Church replaced the Catholic Church as the ruling church in Scotland.

However, many people who lived in the Highlands and Wes­tern Isles did not welcome this change. They still supported the grandson of the Catholic Ja­mes II, who had been exiled in 1688. His name was Prince Charles Edward Stewart and he was known as Bonnie Prince Charlie because he was young and handsome («bonnie» means «good-looking»).

Charlie spent twenty years in Rome preparing to win back the Crown of Great Britain for his father and himself, and then returned to Scotland. The Highlanders were very proud that he still spoke Gaelic, and wore the traditional tartan kilt. In 1745, he landed in the Western Isles, then with 2,500 men, he marched south to Perth, Stirling and Edinburgh. There, on 17th September, his father was pro­claimed King of Scotland and England. Four days later the Jacobites defeated the English army at Prestonpans.

On 1st November Charlie led his men as far south as Derby in England. However not as many Jacobite supporters joined them in England as they had hoped, and Charlie decided to ret­reat. The Jacobites returned to Scotland and defeated yet ano­ther English army at Falkirk on 17th January, 1746. By April of that year, however, the Duke of Cumberland had built up a huge army of 9,000 Protestant soldiers from England and Euro­pe. On 16th April they met Charlie’s army of 5,000 tired and hungry men in the wind and the rain at Culloden. There was a terrible and bloody battle and Jacobites were defeated.

Charlie wandered in exile in the Scottish Highlands and in Europe. There was a reward of $30,000 for his capture but the Highlanders, though poor, never betrayed the man they loved so much.

After the rebellion of 1745, the Highlanders were forbidden to carry weapons, to speak their own language, Gaelic, or wear their own dress. Much of their land was sold by the British go­vernment.

(From Active English)

tartan — клетчатая шерстяная ма­терия, шотландка

kilt — юбка шотландского горца или солдата шотландского полка

Jacobite [‘d k bait] — якобит (сторонник короля Якова II — правил с 1685 по 1688)

wander — скитаться

reward — вознаграждение

betray — предавать, выдавать

forbid — запрещать, не позволять

Text 27 FAMOUS MEN OF LITERATURE AND SCIENCE

Scotland is the birthplace of many famous men of literature and science.

Robert Burns (1759-1796), a famous Scottish national poet, was born in Alloway, in a simple clay cottage built by his father with his own hands, on the 25th of January 1759. Burns’s night, the date of the poet’s birth, is celebrated all over the world by Scotsmen. Burns has left behind him a rich heritage of folk-songs and poetry.

Walter Scott (1771-1832), known as a great master of the historical novel, was born in Edinburgh. As a schoolboy he knew by heart the works by Shakespeare and Homer. Scott’s famous works Rob Roy, Ivanhoe, Old Mortality, Border Minstrelsy and many others are widely read in our days.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), known for his stories and books of adventure. He was born in Edinburgh on November 13, 1850 and died at Samoa on December 3, 1894. R. L. Stevenson’s first book Kidnapped was published in 1866, when he was on­ly 16. R. L. Stevenson is especially known for his famous book Treasure Island (1883). His books The Black Arrow, Catriona, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and others are also well-known all over the world.

Archibald Cronin (1896-1981), a well-known British novelist, was born in Scotland. He received his education at Glasgow University and became a doctor but later he devoted himself to writing. His novels The Stars Look Down, The Citadel, The Keys of the Kingdom, Green Years are very popular with rea­ders the world over.

Scotland is also the birthplace of two famous men of science — James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879), a great mathematician and physicist, and Alexander Fleming (1881-1955), the discoverer of penicillin. Both were educated at the University of Edinburgh.

PART V WALES AND THE WELSH

Text 28 WALES

Wales is a small country, bounded on the north and west by the Irish Sea, and on the south by the Bristol Channel. Its total area is 8,006 square miles and its total population is 2.8 million people.

The ancient capital of Wales is Caernarvon, where the British monarch’s eldest son is traditionally crowned Prince of Wales.

Wales is divided into thirteen counties, but 70 per cent of the population resides in the three industrial counties of the South — Glamorgan, Monmouth and Carmarthen. Agriculture is the main occupation in the remaining ten counties in Mid-Wales and North-Wales.

Of the three industrial counties in the south, Glamorgan is the biggest, with nearly one-half of the total population of Wa­les. Its main industries are coal-mining, iron and steel, and engineering. About two-thirds of the population live in the South Wales coastal area, where the three biggest towns are located: Swansea, Cardiff and Newport.

Cardiff (280,000), the modern national capital of Wales, is the largest city in industrial South Wales. It rose to importance with the coal mining and iron industries. Today the cargoes it handles, are mainly imports, to be distributed throughout South Wales. On imported grain flour milling developed as well as other food processing. Cardiff has a modern shopping centre. North of Cardiff lie the valleys. These are the heart of the Welsh coal and steel industries.

The main port of Wales today is Milford Hayen (situated in the very south-west) because of its oil tanker traffic. It is one of the leading oil terminals of Britain. Refineries grew up on oppo­site shores and Milford Hayen became an important refining centre. A pipeline takes petroleum to a refinery near Swansea.

Swansea is an important container port. Caerphilly has one of the biggest castles in Europe, including a famous leaning to­wer. It was built by the Normans to defend themselves against the Welsh. Swansea and Newport shared coal exports too. Howe­ver, later they suffered the same decline like Cardiff.

South Wales is a region of contrasts. The industrial cities of Swansea, Cardiff and Newport are only a short journey away from sandy beaches and busy holiday resorts.

Mid Wales is rather sparsely populated. Along the coast there are many fishing ports. North Wales has several impressive castles built by English kings. Anglesey is flat, but the rest of the region is very mountainous. Recently two nuclear power stations were built: one in North Wales, the other in Anglesey.

Tourism is mainly concentrated in the northern coastal strip. Surrounded on three sides by an attractive coastline, Wales has become a popular holiday resort. It is also well known for its hills and dales, and in these places a great number of people derive their livelihood from tourists and holiday-makers.

There are several more lakes and artificial reservoirs, some of them providing the water supply for the cities of Birmingham and Liverpool in England as well as one or two power dams pro­viding electricity.

There is no other part of the British Isles where national spi­rit is stronger, national pride more intense or national traditions more cherished than in Wales. The Welsh still proudly wear their national dress on festive occasions; the Welsh language is still very much a living force and is taught side by side with English in schools; and Welshmen, who have a highly developed artistic sense, have a distinguished record in the realm of poetry, song and drama. Aberystwyth is the centre of Welsh education and learning.

The Welsh call their country «Cymru», and themselves they call «Cymru», a word which has the same root as «camrador» (friend or comrade).

reside — проживать, жить, находиться

handle — перебирать, перекладывать

terminal — конечная станция, конечный пункт

refinery — очистительный завод

dale — долина

derive — извлекать

artificial — искусственный

dam — дамба, плотина

realm [relm] — область, сфера

Text 29 THE WELSH PEOPLE AS THEY ARE

The land of my Fathers so dear to my soul,

The land which the poet and minstrel extol.

Her valiant defenders, her patriots so brave,

For freedom their life-blood they gave.

Stand of Poets and Singers

by James E. Thomas

It is indeed rare in this modern world to find a national an­them, that stressed so much the artistic aspect of the country. But it is necessary to understand fully this attitude before one can appreciate the subtle change that takes place as we pass the borderline between England and Wales. For no one can cross this frontier into the first little village without realizing that one is no longer in England. This is due not solely to the question of the language, although Welsh is indeed a sufficient obstacle to most of us who desire to penetrate more deeply into the myste­ries of the Welsh character, but rather a profound difference in the way of living, in the attitude towards life of this small, tenacious people.

For the people of Wales represent the remnants of those pugnacious Celtic people who were subjected to centuries of Roman rule, underwent the invasions of the Saxons who drove them to their mountain fastnesses, and endured the phenomenal organizing efficiency of the Norman conquerors without ce­ding one iota of their cultural independence.

And here is the secret of the essential difference of the Welsh. An old Welsh proverb says, «The Celt always fights and always loses.» Militarily and politically this has been true of the Welsh, but during those centuries of ceaseless strife the Welshman came to realize that there was something he had always been unconsciously struggling to preserve, an indefinable passion for the music and poetry born of his lonely vigils’ in mountain and valley when he held solitary converse with the infinite, and, in this last and greatest battle, the Welshman has belied the proverb and emerged victorious.

Thus, very briefly we have an explanation of the extraordi­nary tenacity with which this people has clung to its traditions, its customs, its language, and its own way of life.

(From Britain and Ireland)

poet and minstrel extol — поэт и певец прославляют (превозносят)

valiant — храбрый, доблестный

anthem — гимн

subtle [‘s tl] — неуловимый, едва различимый

tenacious — цепкий, упорный

remnant — остаток, пережиток

pugnacious — драчливый

fastness — крепость, твердыня, ци­тадель

endure — вынести, выдержать

efficiency — эффективность, уме­ние, дееспособность

cede — сдавать (территорию), усту­пать

strife — спор, борьба, раздор

vigil — бодрствование, дежурство

solitary converse—уединенный раз­говор

infinite — бесконечность

belie — опровергать

emerge — выходить

tenacity — упорство, стойкость, твердость

cling (clung, clung) — оставаться верным

Text 30 THE WELSH NATIONAL PRIDE

The Welsh are very proud of their language and culture. People in Wales speak English but at the same time they have their own language — Welsh. Some Welsh people learn Welsh before they learn English — and some of these people never learn much English. Some Welsh families speak Welsh to each other at home, but they read English newspapers and English books.

The Welsh Language Act of 1967 said that all official docu­ments should be in both languages, and most road signs are printed in English and Welsh.

Since the 1960s there has been increased interest in Welsh. At secondary schools almost 50 per cent of all pupils learn Welsh as a first or second language. Since 1982 there has also been an independent fourth TV channel broadcasting mainly in Welsh.

Although not many Welsh words are well-known in England, the word «eisteddfod» is understood by almost everybody. This is the Welsh name for an annual competition where people meet to dance, sing and read poems. Usually, only Welsh is spoken and in recent years they have attracted people who wish to protest against the influence of English on the Welsh language and culture.

Welsh family names are very often Jones, Williams, Morgan, Evans, and Owen. That is why Welsh people in villages often call people by their jobs together with their family names. Then everybody knows which Jones or which Williams they are speaking about. You can understand what Jones the Meat, Williams the Bread and Morgan the Fish do. Many other names come from the tradition of calling «son of» his father using the Welsh word «ap» (or «ab»). This «p» can be found at the beginning of many common Welsh names. For example, Gary Pritchard, which is the same as the English Richardson.

Welsh living in England are often called by the nickname «Taffy». This may come from the River Taff, which runs through the capital Cardiff or it may come from «Daffydd», the Welsh form of «David».

The Welsh wear the same clothes as the English. But on holidays a Welsh woman wears a red cloak, a long black skirt, an apron and a high black hat on her head. The men do not have a national costume. They smile, «We have no money after we have bought clothes for our wives!»

The Welsh are known in Great Britain for their singing. Welsh people like singing together. Every village has more than one choir. They sing in competitions, on holidays and every time they want to sing. Welshmen sing louder than anybody. They sing very loudly when they are going to a football match in a bus, and they sing in the stadium, of course.

Welsh people are very proud of their national language and culture. They are very proud of Wales, too.

eisteddfod [ais’te v d] — ежегод­ный фестиваль бардов (в Уэльсе)

nickname — прозвище, уменьшительное имя

cloak — плащ

apron — фартук

Text 31 ST. DAVID’S DAY. 1^st MARCH

Dewi («David» in English), was the son of a Welsh chieftain. He was brought up as a Christian and went abroad to learn more about the life of a monk. Then he returned to Wales and founded many monasteries which became centres of religion and learning in the Welsh countryside. The monks lived a simple life of prayer, growing their own herbs and vegetables and offering generous hospitality to anyone in need. Because of David’s holiness and his inspiring teaching, he was made a bishop. The centre of his bishopric was in the settlement we now know as St. David’s on the Western tip of the county of Dyfed.

David is thought to have died on 1st March, AD 589, and his shrine at St. David’s was a place of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages. Later, when people of North and South Wales became one nation, he was chosen as the patron saint of Wales.

A legend tells how David suggested that his people should wear a leek in their bonnets during battles so that they could be easily recognized; Welsh Guards are still distinguished by a green and white plume in their black bearskins. At Windsor, on the Sunday nearest St. David’s Day, it is now a tradition that every member of the Brigade of Welsh Guards is given a leek by a mem­ber of the Royal Family. However, as St. David’s Day is celebrated at the beginning of Spring when daffodils (Lent lilies), are blooming, this flower has become a second, more graceful emblem of Wales. David’s own emblem is a dove.

It is said that David had a sweet singing voice. He encouraged his monks to sing as well as possible for the glory of God, and perhaps this was the beginning of the Welsh tradition of fine made-voice choirs.

Many churches are dedicated to David in south-west Wales, and if you are travelling there, you might visit the cathedral at St. David’s. Other places too are called after the saint, and you may visit Llandewi or Capel Dewi or Ffynor Dewi («Llan» is the Welsh word for «church», «capel» is a «chapel», «ffynor» is a «well» or «spring».)

(From Highdays and Holidays)

chieftain — вождь (клана, племени)

AD anno Domini — лат. нашей эры

shrine — гробница, усыпальница, место поклонения, святыня

leek — лук-порей

plume — перо, плюмаж

daffodil — бледно-желтый нарцисс (является национальной эмблемой валлийцев)

Lent — церк. великий пост

Text 32 WHEN WE SAY “WALES”...

When we say «Wales», what should we call to mind? Its hills and mountains. The highest mountain in Wales is Snowdon (3,560 ft). It is not so high as Ben Nevis (4,406 ft) in Scotland but it is famous for the very difficult climbing that can be practised on its slopes. It was here that Sir Edmund Hillary and his team practised before their famous expedition to the top of Mount Everest in 1953. It is said that the legendary King Arthur and his knights lived in Snowdonia. Another mediaeval legend is connected with a village called Beddgelert at the foot of Snowdon, where Llewellyn the Great, a 13th century prince of North Wales, had his palace. He received from King John of England a magnificent hunting dog named Gellert. One day the prince went hunting without Gellert. When the dog ran to meet him on his return, Llewellyn saw that Gellert was splashed with blood. The prince, alarmed, ran to find his little son. He found the child’s bed empty and the floor covered with blood. Sure that Gellert had killed his son, Llewellyn ran his sword through the dog’s body. In the next minute he found the child unhurt and, nearby, the dead body of a powerful wolf. It was then clear to him that Gellert had saved the child’s life. Full of remorse, he buried Gellert and put a commemorating tablet on his grave.

When we say «Wales», we should know that all over Wales one will find wishing wells into which people still throw money. Some wishing wells are said to help love affairs, others can heal the sick, or so people say!

When we say «Wales», we should remember that a favourite souvenir for the tourists is a Welsh love spoon. These are made of wood and are carved very beautifully. Originally, they were made by young men as a love token for their sweethearts. There are many different designs demonstrating the skill and love of the hopeful suitor. If the girl kept this present, all was well, but if she sent it back, she did not want him.

When we say «Wales» we should call to mind that there are places in the County of Gwynedd connected with the well-known Welsh legends. Thus the town of Aberdovey is known for an old song with a plaintive melody «The Bells of Aberdovey»: a legend relates that centuries ago the sea burst the protecting wall and submerged a large part of the town including the church, and it is said that if you listen carefully, you will still hear the faint sound of the bells as they sway to and fro with the movement of the water.

When we say «Wales», we should remember the long-bow, the historical weapon of the Welsh. King Edward I, the one who conquered Wales in the 13th century and made his son, just born in Caernarvon Castle, the first Prince of Wales, borrowed from the Welsh the use of the long-bow and adopted it as the special weapon of his infantry. The long-bow was drawn and sent a long feathered arrow which could go right through a knight’s armour. Its range was about 250 yards.

When we say «Wales», we should call to mind the struggle of the Welsh to preserve their language. As we know, Welsh people are of Celtic origin and Welsh is a Celtic language. It belongs to a separate subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages and is as unlike English as English is unlike Italian or Ukrainian. In its present form it has a highly developed system of verb forms. Its nouns, however, have only one case. The sound system of the Welsh language also differs considerably from that of English. In pronouncing Welsh names Englishmen usually replace the Welsh vowels or consonants by similar English ones. The writing system is simpler than that of English because, with few exceptions, a letter or group of letters always corresponds to the same sound and a sound is always expressed by the same letter or group of letters.

Slope — наклон, склон, скат

remorse — угрызение совести, рас­каяние

tablet — дощечка (с надписью)

long-bow — большой лук, само­стрел

infantry — пехота

draw (drew,- drawn) — натягивать

knight’s armour — рыцарские до­спехи

Text 33 CELTIC LANGUAGES

We know very little about the Iberian language if anything at all.

The Celts, whose descendants now live in Cornwall, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, spoke Celtic which survives today in the form of Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic (Cornish language is extinct).

Less than a quarter of all Welsh people (600, 000 out of 2, 8000, 000) speak Welsh. Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic are still spoken, although they have suffered more than Welsh from the spread of English. However, all three languages are now officially encouraged and taught in schools.

English developed from Anglo-Saxon and is a Germanic language. However, all the invading peoples, particularly the Norman French, influenced the English language and you can find many words in English which are Celtic, Latin, German or French in origin. Nowadays all Welsh, Scottish and Irish people speak English (even if they speak their own language as well), but all the countries have their own special accents and dialects, and their people are easily recognizable as soon as they speak. Occasionaly people of the four countries in the UK, have difficulty in understanding one another because of these different accents. A southern English accent is generally accepted to be the most easily understood, and is the accent usually taught to foreigners.

“The English language”, observed Ralph Waldo Emerson, “is the sea which receives tributaries from every region under heaven.”

Latin words made part of a number of names of cities: “castra” – camp in Chester, Manchester; “portus” – port in Bridport, Portsmouth; “strata” – street in Stratford.

Many religious terms are of Latin origin; apostle, bishop, devil.

A lot of words from everyday life are of a Scandinavian origin: sky, skirt, leg, root, take, window.

Norman Conquest stimulated the inflow of a great number of French words; button, collar, diamond, appetite, biscuit, dinner, art, geometry, grammar, action, age, blue, chair.

Renaissance in Europe caused the penetration of Italian words into the English language: balcony, cupola, solo, soprano, cantata.

But having absorbed all these foreign words the English language had not ceased to be the English Language. It had emerged as a global phenomenon.

As we have mentioned above the following Celtic languages still exist: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh and Breton.

Scottish Gaelic is dying out. It is restricted to the Hebrides and to a narrow border in the north and west of Scotland. The number of speakers of Gaelic is now about 100,000 and they are speaking also English.

Many Scottish people still use some Scottish words when they speak English. “Wee”, meaning small, often heard in such expressions as “wee laddy” – small boy. “A bonnie lass” is a pretty girl and a “bairn” is a young child. If someone answers your questions with “aye” they are agreeing with you; “aye” means “yes”. Finally if you are offered a “wee dram” be careful: you’ll be given some whisky to drink and you will probably have to drink it in one go!

Irish is the official language of the Irish Republic (Eire) side by side with English. It is spoken by about million people.

Here is an old Scottish song, followed by a translation into “English English”

Us I was walking long alane

I heard twa corbies makking mane

That tane until the tither say,

“Where shall we gang and dine the day?”

“In ahent you old fail dyke

I wot there lies a new-slain knight.

Naebody kens that he lies there

But his hawk and hound and his lady fair.

His hound is tae the hunting gane

His hawk tae fetch the wildfowl name

Hiw lady’s taen anither mate

So we can hae oor dinner sweet?

There’s many an ane for him maks mane

But nane shall ken where he is gane.

O’re his white banes when they are bare

The wind shall blaw for evermair.

TWO CROWS

(Translation into modern standard English.)

As I was walking all alone,

I heard two crows complainig.

One said to the other

“Where shall we go and dine today?”

Behind that old turf wall

I know there lies a newly-killed knight.

Nobody knows that he lies there,

except his hawk, his hound, and his beautiful wife.

His hound has gone hunting, his hawk has gone to catch wild-fowl,

And his wife has taken another man,

so we can have our good dinner?

There are many people who mourn for him,

but nobody shall know

Where he has gone.

Over his white bones when they are bare,

The wind shall blow for ever.

The Irish, even when speaking English, might use the Gaelic word of “bally” for town, “lough” for lake, “inis” for island, “glen” for valley.

Welsh is spoken in Wales by about 1 million people. Most Welsh children speak it at home and learn it at school side by side with English. It is cultivated and protected by Welsh patriots.

The language of Wales – Cymraeg – is experiencing its revival. Since 1960s there has been increased interest in Welsh. Although not many Welsh words are well-known in England, the word “eisteddfod” is understood by almost everybody. This is the Welsh name for an annual competition where people meet to dance, sing and read poems. “Llan” is the Welsh word for an area where a church stands, and every Englishman will identify placenames like Llandeilo and Ilangubi as the Welsh ones.

Because many people in Wales speak English, the Welsh language has borrowed a lot of English words. Many Welsh-speakers going out to buy the most famous British meal would ask for “fish and chips i swepr” (for supper)

Part of the motor-car such as “clutch”, “brake” or “radiator” have come into Welsh almost unchanged. Many Welsh speakers use English words and add a Welsh ending, so we hear “switchio”, “climbio”, and “recommendio”. Some people think that this is lazy and that new words should be properly translated into Welsh before being use.

Breton is spoken by about 1 million country people in the French province of Brittany.

SECTION RECAP

1. Where is Wales situated?

2. What are the main industrial centres of Wales? What can you say about them?

3. What country in Wales is regarded as the most fascinating and important one in Great Britan?

4. What are the Welsh proud of?

5. What can you say about Welsh family names?

6. What do you think about a great love of music and poetry of the Welsh people?

7. What can you say about Eisteddfod?

8. What is it said about David? Why was he chosen as the patron saint of Wales?

9. What is another emblem of Wales?

10. What should we call to mind when we say «Wales»? Can you say it?

TALKING POINTS

• The Welsh were subjected to centuries of Roman rules but did not cede one iota of their cultural independence. How can you explain it?

• The Welsh are known in Britain for their singing. Does singing together help Welsh people to be friends with each other? Does it help them to be proud of their national language and culture? Do young people nowadays like to sing? What do you think about people who like singing together?

• People often speak of the «energy crisis» because the world may be running out of energy. What do you think are the best ways to solve energy crisis? Is it to use coal, gas, oil, electricity, solar power, wind and wave power or nuclear power?

PART VI NORTHERN IRELAND AND THE IRISH

Text 34 IRELAND: REFORMATION AND PLANTATION

Ireland is the second largest of the British Islands lying in the Atlantic off the west coast of Great Britain.

The island of Ireland is politically divided into two parts: Northern Ireland (Ulster), which forms part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, capital Belfast, and the Republic of Ireland — a separate state named Eire in Irish; its capital is Dublin.

Northern Ireland is a unique region within the United Kingdom, for in addition to economic problems similar to those seen in other national outlying regions, there are political divisions, which reflect the unsettled Irish issue. At present Northern Ireland in the political sense comprises six counties of Ulster, which was one of the four provinces of ancient Ireland. Three other provinces of Ulster form part of the Irish Republic.

The history of Anglo-Irish relations began with the coloniza­tion of Ireland by the Normans under Henry II of England in the 12th century. Over the next two centuries these Norman settlers became «more Irish than the Irish», and it is possible that Ireland might have ended up as a contented Anglo-Irish society under the British Crown. However, in the 16th century Henry VIII quarrelled with Rome and declared himself head of the Anglican Church. Resistance from Irish Catholics was strong, but was put down by Henry’s armies. And so by trying to force Irish Catholics to become Anglican and by taking a lot of their land, Henry began the two lasting problems of Anglo-Irish relations — religion and land.

What he started was continued by his daughter Elizabeth I. Ulster was a specially difficult area to bring under her rule. The soldiers of the province of Ulster successfully fought against Elizabeth’s armies until 1603, but were finally defeated. Then the «Plantation of Ulster» began. «Plantation» meant that twenty-three new towns were built in Ulster to protect the needs of 170,000 new Protestant settlers known as «planters», most of whom came from Scotland.

Religion separated the planters and native Irishmen. The Scots planters were Presbyterians, a form of Protestantism, and they were deeply suspicious of Catholics and Catholicism. But they brought with them their own laws and customs relating to land, which encouraged greater social stability and economic growth. The Scots also placed great emphasis on education and hard work, and they were good at business. All this sowed the seeds of Ulster’s 19th century industrialization, which made it different from the rest of Ireland.

Nevertheless the Irish continued to fight for independence and in 1921 after a mass uprising Great Britain was forced to grant independence to the south. Ulster chose to remain part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Irish Free State declared itself a republic in 1949 and is now known as the Irish Republic, or Eire (an old Irish word for Ireland). It is completely separate and independent from Britain and Northern Ireland, and its government is in the capital city, Dublin.

content — удовлетворять

quarrel — ссориться

suspicious — подозрительный

resistance — сопротивление, противодействие

sow the seeds — сеять семена

grant — предоставить

put down — подавлять, заставить замолчать

Text 35 NORTHERN IRELAND

In 1949 the Irish Free State declared itself a republic and became known as the Irish Republic. Six counties of Ulster where the Protestants had a majority in the population remained under British rule with the name Northern Ireland. In 1949, Northern Ireland still had its own Prime Minister and its own Parliament at Stormont in Belfast which was responsible for the province’s internal (not foreign) affairs, but it was still part of the U. K.

From the beginning, the Stormont Parliament was dominated by Protestants. Northern Irish Catholics, who were now in a minority, found that they did not have equal opportunities with Protestants for housing and employment. A campaign of civil rights for Catholics was started but very little attention was paid to it by the ruling Protestants. In 1969 there was rioting in Northern Ireland between Catholics and Protestants. By 1972 the hostility between the two groups was so bad that Britain suspended the Northern Irish Parliament at Stormont and sent in the British army to keep the peace. The soldiers were welcomed at first by the Catholics as protectors from Protestant violence, but when the army began house-to-house searches of Catholic areas for men with guns, the welcome soon turned to bitterness.

There have been many deaths since 1969. In 1972, on what bесаmе known as «Bloody Sunday», British soldiers opened fire on Catholic demonstrators in Londonderry and thirteen people were killed. In addition, many British soldiers have been killed. Both the Protestant and the Catholic communities have illegal secret armies fighting a bloody war. On the Catholic side, are the IRA (Irish Republican Army) and INLA (Irish National Liberation Army). Both these organizations want to achieve a united Ireland by violent means, but they are condemned today by the government of the Irish Republic. On the Protestant side are the UDA (Ulster Defence Association) and the UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force).

dominate — доминировать, преобладать, иметь влияние

search — обыск

turn to — превратиться, окончиться (чем-л.)

riot — бунтовать; бесчинствовать, нарушать общественный порядок

bitterness — горечь, огорчение

hostility — враждебность

condemn — осуждать

violence — жестокость, насилие

Text 36 BELFAST — THE CAPITAL CITY

For many people coming to Ulster, Belfast is their port of entrance. Some of them will perhaps pass through it quickly, valuing it only as the gateway to one of the most beautiful areas of mountain, lake, seashore and open countryside in Europe; but for those with time and interest, it is worth exploring for its own sake. It also gives a key to a deeper understanding of the whole province. As the relative size of population shows, Belfast stands in the province of Ulster rather like a big house in a moderate-sized garden; and even if we prefer the garden to the house, it is well to become acquainted with the people who live in the house.

One of the first things that must strike the visitor to Belfast, if he comes here by sea up the landlocked waters of Belfast Lough or descends upon the city from the hills by the road that leads from Aldergrove Airport, is that Belfast is beautifully situated. Lying in a broad natural amphitheatre, gracefully surrounded by hills, and looking down a deep inlet of the sea, Belfast has rich variety and offers many pleasant surprises. The centre of the city is built like Amsterdam on piles driven into mud, a tight-packed area of industrial and commercial buildings, but as the broad roads that radiate from the centre bring us out to the suburban districts on the hillsides or by the sea or southwards along the valley of the River Lagan, we find the city ringed with open and attractive residential suburbs.

Belfast is a modern city, a city of the 19th century and of the industrial revolution. Its expansion was rather later than that of most other British industrial cities and it thus avoided some of their worst features. There are a few trim Georgian buildings and one or two houses dating from the 17th century, but the mass of the city’s buildings are late Victorian or belong to the present century. The City Hall in Donegall Square, with its lofty dome, is one of the chief landmarks. There are a number of public and ecclesiastical buildings worth seeing, including the huge Law Courts and the Protestant (Church of Ireland) Cathedral.

To the north and west lie the Belfast Hills. The most commanding viewpoint among these, though not the highest, is the Cave Hill (which can be ascended if one has an energetic disposition).

The usual approach is through one of the three public parks. These parks give access to fine scenery and cliff, and command excellent views across the sea, the city and the surrounding countryside.

Text 37 THE CLEANEST PLACE IN THE WORLD

There is an old Irish saying that Ireland must be the cleanest place in the world, because God washes it every day. Ireland is also called the Emerald Isle because of its beautiful green fields.

If you drew two parallel lines around the world, one touching the northern tip of Ireland and the other the southern tip, they would pass through or near such places as Moscow, Novosibirsk and part of Hudson Bay in Canada. However it is not very cold in Ireland because it is the first European country to meet the warm waters of the Gulf Stream.

An Irishman does not really expect it to rain every day, just every other day; two days out of three on the west coast. It rarely rains hard, but the water does not seem to keep dripping down most of the time. It is hard to grow crops or even to make hay, when the June sun can’t break through the clouds for more than six hours a day. But it is a fine climate for ducks, umbrella-makers, and the rich pastures whose emerald green has given the island its nickname.