The Archbishops of Canterbury and York are seated just below Alexander King of Scotland, and Llewelyn Prince of Wales. The two behind are supposed to be the Pope's ambassadors. There are 19 mitred Abbots, 8 Bishops and 20 Peers present. The Chancellor and Judges are seated on the woolsacks. From Pinkerton, _Iconographia Scotica_. Probably drawn in the 16th century PREPARING THE FEAST 88 From the _Luttrell Psalter_ (14th century). In the British Museum THE FEAST 89 From the _Luttrell Psalter_ (14th century). In the British Museum A CHRISTIAN OF CONSTANTINOPLE BORROWING MONEY FROM A JEW AND PLEDGING HIS CRUCIFIX 96 From the _Miracles de Notre Dame_, collected by Jean Miélot, and finished on 10 April, 1456. In the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris By arrangement with MM. Catala Frères, Paris MIÉLOT IN HIS STUDY 97 From the _Miracles de Notre Dame_, collected by Jean Miélot, and finished on 10 April, 1456. In the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris By arrangement with MM. Catala Frères, Paris A PRINTING PRESS 97 A mark of Josse Badius Ascensius. From _De Sacramentis_ of Thomas Waldensis, 1521. In the University Library, Cambridge THE TWELVE MONTHS AT END From _Les très riches heures de Jean de France, Duc le Berry_, chiefly the work of Pol de Limbourg, painted between 1412 and 1416 and now in the Musée Condé, Chantilly By kind permission of MM. Plon-Nourrit et Cie, Paris CHAPTER I BEFORE THE COMING OF THE ROMANS The world is very old, and it has taken a long time to discover much of the ancient story of Britain. Scholars have found out many things because they are able now to read the signs on the rocks and under the soil. From the tools left behind, from the remains of dwellings and from treasures found in graves, we have learned about the ways of men in times before history was written down. Once, it seems, Britain was a hot land. Great forests grew up everywhere. Strange wild creatures roamed about, and there were monsters in the waters. Once, too, it was a very cold land, and the snow lay in the valleys and ice-glaciers came sliding down the mountains, making great river beds as they passed. As it grew warmer, the ice melted and disappeared. The ice fields left pools of water behind them, the lakes that you find in the country still. The rivers, too, brimming over, flowed swiftly to the sea. Mighty rivers they must have been, broader and deeper than they are now. When men came, they made their homes in the caves and in underground dwellings, and later they built mud huts. They hunted for their food, learned to weave clothes from the grasses, to make weapons from stone and to strike fire from the rocks. This is a very long story and we know little about it.