British Isles

“ Coming now to Continental Islands we consider first those of most recent origin and offering the simplest phenomena; and begin with the British Isles as affording the best example of very recent and well known Continental Islands. Reviewing the interesting past history of Britain, we show why it is comparatively poor in species and why this poverty is still greater in Ireland. By a careful examination of its fauna and flora it is then shown that the British Isles are not so completely identical, biologically, with the continent as has been supposed. ”

“ It is inferred from anthropology that the population of the British Isles is a mixture of all the races of western Europe, in which the Teutonic and Mediterranean elements—"the aborigines of Europe"—predominate, while "the intrusive Celtic race from Asia," still represented by the Bretons, passed into the British Isles in comparatively small numbers. ”

“ This little speck the British Isles? ”

“ Now that the British Isles have a respite from intense aerial warfare, no doubt the friends, especially in London and other cities, find themselves more refreshed and consequently better able to carry on the work of the Cause. ”

“ In place of the former parental-filial attitude between the British Isles and the five younger nations there is growing up a sympathetic and sentimental friendship. The younger nations as yet have no representatives chosen by their voters to sit in a common legislature with Britishers, but claim, nevertheless, to act with the British Isles as equal partners in the Britannic world. This claim is acknowledged by the British Isles government. ”

“ To the British Isles, South Africa, Newfoundland, Canada, and the United States, non-British peoples have come. Even New Zealand and Australia, almost purely British as they are, have their French and German settlements respectively. In the British Isles the reception and absorption of foreign stocks has been unspectacular. Individuals, or from time to time groups, seeking the larger tolerance of England, have taken up an abode there. One has but to observe and listen in the streets to be convinced that foreign invaders, though with no hostile intent, still land on British soil. ”

“ So far as concerns {106}the British Isles it seems to be almost exclusively an inhabitant of the salterns, or sea marshes of Essex.
Abroad, the species occurs inland, and is not confined to the coast; its range extends eastwards to Siberia and Amurland. ”

“ The unitary method of government has never proved itself able successfully to integrate areas divided from each other by distance or interests. It failed to hold together the first Britannic growth; it has been unable to bring into unity the second Britannic growth; it is acknowledged to be inadequate for such a task. Its weaknesses are evident in the British Isles. The British Isles, although no larger than many states and provinces, is composed of several sections divided by history, prejudice, and interest. ”

“ There is another fact that should be noticed. The languages of Great Britain are reducible to two divisions, both of which agree in many essential points with certain languages or dialects of Continental Europe. The British was closely, the Gaelic more distantly, allied to the ancient tongue of the Gauls. From this affinity we get an argument against any extreme antiquity of the Britons of the British Isles. The date of their separation from the tribes of the Continent was not so remote as to obliterate and annihilate all traces of the original mother-tongue. ”

“ THE ethnic history of the British Isles turns upon two significant geographical facts, which have rendered their populations decidedly unique among the other states of western Europe. [1] The first of these is their insular position, midway off the coast between the north and south of the continent. That narrow silver streak between Calais and Dover which has insured the political security and material prosperity of England in later times, has always profoundly affected her racial history. ”

“ The British Isles furnish as good an instance as could be chosen, for they together comprise over 1000 islands of various sizes, which are nowhere separated from one another by deep seas, and in the opinion of geologists were all continuous with the European continent since the glacial period. ”

“ Geographical Features.—The British Isles belong distinctly to the mainland of Europe. If we imagine the sea level between England and Holland to fall sixty feet—the height of an ordinary house—the broad Dogger Bank, midway between England and Denmark, would begin to show its sands, and if a fall of two hundred feet took place one might walk dry shod across to the continent, to Belgium, Holland, or Denmark. From its shallows and banks, its stormy cross seas and frequent fogs, the navigation of the North Sea is dangerous ”

“ Of no less importance is the responsibility to reinforce the structure of the Administrative Order throughout the British Isles, and particularly in the newly opened territories of Scotland, Wales, Eire and Northern Ireland, through a rapid and unprecedented increase in the number of the avowed supporters of the Faith, and a multiplication of isolated centres, groups and assemblies that constitute the warp and woof of the fabric of its evolving Order. ”

“ Most of the great industries are controlled by Germanic and Latin peoples, and among these Great Britain and Germany stand first.
Great Britain and Ireland.—The United Kingdom, or Great Britain and Ireland, are commonly known as the British Isles. The British Empire consists of the United Kingdom and its colonial possessions; it includes also a large number of islands occupied as coaling stations and for strategic purposes. All told, the empire embraces about one-seventh of the land area of the world and about one-fourth its population. ”

“ His home!—the Western giant smiles,
And twirls the spotty globe to find it;—
This little speck the British Isles? ”

“ The Guardian is delighted over the progress being made in Northern Ireland. He greatly admires the tenacity and spirit of dedication of the believers living in the British Isles, and is confident the friends in your region will unitedly bend all their energies toward the fulfilment of the goals they have set their hearts on attaining by next Ridván. ”

“ The process of incorporation must likewise be strenuously stimulated for the purpose of strengthening legally, and enhancing the prestige of, these rising institutions. The newly opened territories forming part of the British Isles, situated in the Mediterranean, in the Atlantic Ocean, along the western and eastern coasts of Africa, and in its very heart, must be continually reinforced, and the prizes won in those distant fields safeguarded, however great the sacrifice involved. ”

“ Walls keep folks in as well as shut other folks out. The British Isles, rock-faced and sea-girted, shut out the enemies of England without shutting the English in. A country surrounded by the sea produces sailors, and England's position bred a type of man that made her mistress of the seas. ”

“ The navy has another incomparable adaptation to the especial circumstances of England. Her empire is colonial: the extent of Great Britain itself scarcely equals one of those provinces beyond the ocean which Providence has given into her hands. Their defence, their maintenance, and their existence, must depend on the superiority of our fleet: if it were once extinguished, the British empire must be again contracted within the British Isles. ”

“ Compared with our butterflies, the number of moths found in the British Isles is very large. Like the butterflies, moths too are dependent upon plant life, and almost every kind of herb, bush, or tree, will be found to nourish the caterpillars of one or more species of moth. ”

“ In the British Isles we have a richer collection probably than can be found in any other portion of the globe, for in the habitable districts hardly a square mile exists without some indication of disturbance of the soil due in the majority of cases to some work of a defensive character. ”

“ It is yet too early to assess the potentialities of this present Plan and those destined to follow it, or estimate their future benefits. The blessings they will confer, as the forces latent within them are progressively revealed, on the people dwelling within those Islands, and subsequently, as their sphere is enlarged and their implications are fully disclosed, on the diversified peoples and races inhabiting the widely scattered dependencies of a far-flung empire, in both the East and the West, are unimaginably glorious. ”

“ It indicates a Danish as opposed to a German occupancy. Again—the Anglo-Saxon forms are Church and Ship, as in Dun-church and Ship-ton; whereas the Danish are Kirk and Skip, as in Orms-kirk and Skip-ton. The distribution of these forms over the British Isles closely coincides with that of the compounds in -by.
With these preliminaries we will follow the lines which are marked out by the occurrence of the places in -by; beginning at a point on the coast of Lincolnshire, about half-way between the entrance to the Wash and the mouth of the Humber; the direction being south and south-west. ”

“ Orkney and Shetland were once as thoroughly Norse as the Faroe Isles or Iceland.
The third variety of the present British population is in the Isle of Man, where a language sufficiently like the Gaelic of Ireland and Scotland to be placed in the same division, is still spoken. Yet the blood is mixed. The Norsemen preponderated in Man; and the constitution of the island is in many parts Scandinavian, though the language be Keltic. ”

“ Its present and pressing needs in the virgin territories of Eire, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland must be met with concentrated attention, continuous, systematic effort and the utmost self-sacrifice. The goals to be achieved in the capitals and chief cities of these newly opened territories must be relentlessly pursued, no matter how hard and stony the path that must be trodden. ”

“ It shows that a spiritual receptivity, a purity of heart and uprightness of character exists potentially amongst many of the peoples of the Pacific Isles to an extent equal to that of the tribesmen of Africa. ”

“ Old Castle Head, Manorbier, in Pembrokeshire, may be cited as a good example of a cliff castle, and
Dinas, four miles from Fishguard, affords another, where a natural crevasse has been carefully scarped in order to separate a headland from the mainland. The examples given have been taken from South Wales and the Cornish peninsula, where for obvious reasons less probability of disturbance during later periods has occurred. Ideal spots like Portland are to be found in the British Isles, but the operations of man in quarrying, building, etc. ”

“ The caterpillar (Plate 92, Fig. 3) is brownish, inclining to reddish, dotted with white; a series of dirty green marks along the back, and a pale yellow wavy line low down along the sides. It feeds on the leaves of sallow, hawthorn, bramble, bilberry, ragwort, golden-rod and various other plants. There are at least two broods in the year, one in June and July, and the other in the autumn. The moth flies in May and June, and again in August, and is often common, almost everywhere, over the greater part of the British Isles.
The range abroad extends to Eastern Siberia and Amurland. ”

“ This people—stirring, aggressive, fearless—made a new destiny for Great Britain. Their island shores were too narrow to hold them, and they set out on bold ventures in all seas. Their situation was a happy one for a nation of daring navigators and aggressive warriors. Europe lay to the east, the world to the west. As a result the British islands have played a leading part alike in the affairs of Europe and of the world. ”

“ After him also the scene of his death received the name of the ‘Somers Islands,’ as they are often called. The colonists reported so favorably, that settlements were commenced in 1612; and the islands have been under the British Government since that time.”
The professor finished his remarks, and the students hastened on shore for the first time.
[363] CHAPTER XXVI.
YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. “THE professor did not say this used to be called ‘The Isle of Devils,’” said Dr. Winstock, when he seated himself in the stern-sheets of the captain’s gig, with Sheridan and Murray. ”

“ Thus Great Britain had attained the position and dimensions of a world-empire. Her colonies lay in all continents and spread through all seas, and they were to grow during the century until they enormously excelled the home country in dimensions, population, and natural wealth. The British Islands were merely the heart, the vital centre of the great system, while the body and limbs lay afar, in Canada, India, South Africa, Australia and elsewhere. ”

“ The British islands, which in ancient times had been the extreme border-land, or even beyond the extreme border-land of civilisation, had now become one of its most important centres, and, owing to the union just effected, had taken a grand position among the powers of the world. ”

“ According to my belief, the British Islands were intended, by Him who formed them, to be one united nation, great and powerful in our little world; able to make itself respected, and to insist on peace to the farthest parts of the earth ”