Madam How and Lady Why; Or, First Lessons in Earth Lore for ChildrenKingsley, Charles
History
Madam How and Lady Why; Or, First Lessons in Earth Lore for Children
Kingsley, Charles
Geology -- Juvenile literature; Natural history -- Juvenile literature
Sometimes, again, especially in Denmark, these savages have left behind
upon the shore mounds of dirt, which are called there
"kjokken-moddings"--"kitchen-middens" as they would say in Scotland,
"kitchen-dirtheaps" as we should say here down South--and a very good
name for them that is; for they are made up of the shells of oysters,
cockles, mussels, and periwinkles, and other shore-shells besides, on
which those poor creatures fed; and mingled with them are broken bones of
beasts, and fishes, and birds, and flint knives, and axes, and sling
stones; and here and there hearths, on which they have cooked their meals
in some rough way. And that is nearly all we know about them; but this
we know from the size of certain of the shells, and from other reasons
which you would not understand, that these mounds were made an enormous
time ago, when the water of the Baltic Sea was far more salt than it is
now.
But what has all this to do with my fairy tale? This:--
Suppose that these people, after all, had been fairies?
I am in earnest. Of course, I do not mean that these folk could make
themselves invisible, or that they had any supernatural powers--any more,
at least, than you and I have--or that they were anything but savages;
but this I do think, that out of old stories of these savages grew up the
stories of fairies, elves, and trolls, and scratlings, and cluricaunes,
and ogres, of which you have read so many.
When stronger and bolder people, like the Irish, and the Highlanders of
Scotland, and the Gauls of France, came northward with their bronze and
iron weapons; and still more, when our own forefathers, the Germans and
the Norsemen, came, these poor little savages with their flint arrows and
axes, were no match for them, and had to run away northward, or to be all
killed out; for people were fierce and cruel in those old times, and
looked on every one of a different race from themselves as a natural
enemy. They had not learnt--alas! too many have not learned it yet--that
all men are brothers for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. So these
poor savages were driven out, till none were left, save the little Lapps
up in the north of Norway, where they live to this day.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account