The map shows you that the British ports are in pairs,—in the south, London and Cardiff ; in the center, Liverpool and Hull; in the north, Glasgow and Edin burgh. The fast vessels that go up the English Channel to France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany stop at Southamp ton in passing.
313. Minerals.—Best of all, Great Brit ain has many good coal fields, and near them are many iron mines. The presence of coal and iron together gave England the best machines and the best cloth in the world. Great Britain was the first country to have factories where steam engines drove weaving and spinning and other machines made of iron and steel and wood. She also was the first country to make iron ships to carry her things to be sold in other countries. Thus England became a great trading country. As people who had factories made money, other factories were built, and of course, to make homes for the workers, cities grew up around the factories, until now about three-fourths of the people of England live in cities and towns.
314. Sports.—In the English factory towns Saturday is a half holiday and many football games are played. Sometimes as many as a hundred thousand people go on Saturday afternoon to watch the football game between the teams from rival towns, for the English are very fond of football, cricket, walking, and other outdoor pleas ures. The English weather is so much cooler in summer and warmer in winter than is the weather of New England and the North Central States, that the English people play football nearly all the year.
Instead of the baseball which we play so much in America, English school boys play cricket, a game somewhat like baseball.
315. Scotland and long time ago these countries were independent. Their language is still a little different from that of the English, but they all read English. The Welsh once took an English prince to be their king and thus joined England. The English asked the King of Scotland to become their king. He did this and united the two countries. We have already seen (Sec. 309) that both are hilly, damp countries. They both have a scanty population except in the lowlands where there is coal. The Scotch coal is near Glasgow, which is a great manufactur ing city. The Welsh coal mines are near Cardiff, a port that sends shiploads of coal to France, Italy, Brazil, Egypt, and many other countries. The Scotch have for centuries spun their clothes in plaids peculiar to their own country, and often use bright and beautiful colors. (Fig. 326.) The simpler plaids are used by the shep herds watching their flocks on the beautiful hills of Scotland, and the great old families have each their own separate plaids called after their names, but which have been used and enjoyed by other people around the world. Scotch people may now be found in almost every country in the world.
316. Ireland.—Ireland is swept by so many damp winds from the Atlantic, bringing clouds and showers, that it is one of the greenest islands in the world. For
this reason it is called the Emerald Isle. The climate is too damp for wheat to grow well; so most of the farmers grow oats and potatoes, and keep cows and pigs. They send eggs, butter, and meat to English factory towns. Irish bacon is thought to be so fine that some of it is even brought to the United States.
Ireland does not have coal, except as it comes in ships from England; so her fac tories have not grown like the factories of Scotland and England. Her chief cities are Dublin and Belfast, which you see are close to England. Some of the largest ships in the world have been built in Bel fast. The people of Ireland once raised flax, a plant about two feet high and having tough, strong fibers in the stalk. From these fibers people spin thread to make a fine, strong cloth called linen. For a long time, the Irish wove fine linen by hand, in their own homes. Now it is made in factories at Belfast, Dublin, and in other parts of Ireland. Before the World War most of the flax used for weaving came from Russia and Poland, near the Baltic Sea.
The Irish people have a very great sense of humor, and make many jokes. Many Irish people have come to America and taken an active part in our politics and gov ernment.
317. The British Em pire and its capital.—The British Empire includes other lands and islands beside those of the British Isles. These are called dominions and colonies and they are over eighty times as big as is the United Kingdom herself. In these lands are more than twice as many people as may be found in all of North South America together.
London is the capital of the United Kingdom and the British Empire as well. For a long time it was the largest city in the world. Now New York is larger. People from many lands go there to see its buildings and other interesting sights. Often in London one may see sunburned Englishmen who have come back from Canada, South Africa, Australia, or some other British possession to visit the mother country. Sometimes one sees tall, dark, handsome Hindus, with turbans and big beards and native costumes. They have come from India to see the King. Black men come from British colonies in Africa; brown men from British colonies in the East Indies; Chinamen from the British colony of Singapore. (Fig. 444.) Perhaps some of the visitors have business in Lon don, for here are the offices of hundreds of companies that own and manage planta tions, mines, railroads, and factories in many of the foreign countries, where British traders and travelers have set up business.
318. Government.—England has a king, but the laws of the Empire are made by a Parliament, a body similar to our Congress. By electing members of Parliament the people rule. The • king receives distin guished visitors from foreign countries, makes speeches, attends many meetings and receptions, lays the corner stones of new buildings, and has many other duties.