By Tim Lambert The ancestors of the Vikings traded with the Romans. They exported furs, skins, walrus ivory, and amber. After the fall of Rome, the Scandinavian peoples slowly grew more united. The first towns were formed. Meanwhile, they started using sails. Before the mid-7th century, Scandinavian ships were rowed but once they began using… Continue reading A History of the Vikings
Category: Articles
A Short History of Scotland
By Tim Lambert Ancient Scotland During the ice age, Scotland was uninhabited. However, when the ice melted forests spread across Scotland, and stone-age hunters moved there. By 6,000 BC small groups of people lived in Scotland by hunting animals like red deer and seals and by gathering plants for food. Then about 4,500 BC farming… Continue reading A Short History of Scotland
A Brief Biography of Adam Smith
By Tim Lambert His Early Life Adam Smith was a great philosopher and economist of the 18th century. He was one of the leading figures of the Scottish Enlightenment. Adam Smith is sometimes called the father of economics. Adam Smith was born in 1723 at Kirkcaldy in Scotland. (His exact date of birth is not… Continue reading A Brief Biography of Adam Smith
A Short History of Wales
By Tim Lambert Dedicated to Sophie Goode Ancient Wales During the last Ice Age, people hunted reindeer and mammoths in what is now Wales. When the ice age ended around 10,000 BC new animals appeared in Wales, such as red deer and wild boar. Stone Age hunters hunted them both. They also gathered plants for… Continue reading A Short History of Wales
The Mary Rose
By Tim Lambert The Mary Rose was a great Tudor warship. However, it is a myth that the Mary Rose sank on its maiden voyage! It was launched in 1511 and it did not sink until 1545! The Mary Rose was a new kind of warship. In the Middle Ages, battles at sea were like… Continue reading The Mary Rose
A History of Milton, Portsmouth
By Tim Lambert Early Milton The Saxons landed founded small villages on Portsea Island. One of them was middle tun. The word tun meant farm or small village. This one was in the middle between Froddington (Fratton) and the sea. Eastney was eastern eg (the Saxon word eg meant island). In the Middle Ages Milton… Continue reading A History of Milton, Portsmouth
A History of Fratton, Portsmouth
By Tim Lambert Early Fratton In the 6th century, the Saxons landed on Portsea Island. At that time most of it was marshy but the Saxons built a settlement in the middle of the island. It was called Frodda ing tun, which means the tun (farm or village) belonging to Frodda. In time the name… Continue reading A History of Fratton, Portsmouth
A History of Copnor
By Tim Lambert Early Copnor The Saxons settled on Portsea Island in the 6th century. One of them was called Coppa. He owned a stretch of shoreline, in the Saxon language an ora. Today we put an apostrophe ‘s’ at the end of a person’s name but the Saxons put the letter n so it… Continue reading A History of Copnor
A History of Stamshaw, Portsmouth
By Tim Lambert Early Stamshaw In the 6th century, the Saxons landed on Portsea Island and they gave names to the areas of Portsmouth. The name Stamshaw was originally made up of two words, stam meaning post and shaw, which was an old way of spelling shore. Nobody knows why there was a post by… Continue reading A History of Stamshaw, Portsmouth
A History of Southsea
By Tim Lambert Early Southsea Henry VIII built a castle, east of the town of Portsmouth, overlooking the sea. Southsea Castle, as it is called, was ready in 1544. However, during the Civil War in 1642, the military governor of Portsmouth declared for the king. Parliament sent men to besiege Portsmouth and Southsea Castle was… Continue reading A History of Southsea