6. OUR COUNTIES.

1. About one thousand years ago England was ruled over by Alfred the Great. That every part might be well cared for, he divided the country into shires. The word " shire" means a division; it comes from an Old English word which means to cut or divide with shears.

2. But there can be little doubt that long before Alfred's time there were divisions of the country which grew into King Alfred's shires. The origin of these divisions was tribal; that is, a tribe, or part of a tribe, claimed so much of the land as its own. Exact boundaries may not have existed, just as we see at this day in the Highlands of Scotland.

3. There, certain clans or families of the same name-like the Campbells, the Macgregors, the Macdonalds-live in certain districts, and the districts are known, though the boundaries in all cases are not exactly marked out.

4. Such undoubtedly was the origin of many of the divisions of England, now called counties or shires. The division was larger or smaller according to the number of families it contained.

5. Each county was divided into hundreds, and each hundred was divided into tithings. It is thought that a "hundred" was a district that contained one hundred families, and a "tithing district that contained ten families.

a

6. After the time of Alfred, when the Normans had conquered England, about eight hundred years ago, the shires were ruled over by Counts, and

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so these divisions were called counties as well as shires. Some of the counties were never called shires, because in early times they were small kingdoms, and had rulers of their own. These are Norfolk and Suffolk, Essex, Middlesex, Kent, Sussex, and Cornwall.

7. There are forty counties in England, and twelve in Wales. Yorkshire is the largest and Rutland is the smallest county in England. Some of the counties are separated from one another by hills, and some by rivers; but others have no plainly marked boundaries.

8. The whole country is now also divided into parishes. A "parish" at one time was a district in which there was at least one church. In many parishes there are now several churches, but the oldest of them is still called the parish church.

ac-cord-ing Corn-wall ex-act-ly bound-a-ries districts fam-i-lies

Middle-sex Suffolk

Nor-folk Sus-sex

Camp-bells di-vis-ions Mac-don-alds Rutland un-doubt-ed-ly con-quered Es-sex Mac-greg-ors sep-a-rat-ed York-shire

Ex-ist-ed, been.

High-lands, northern Scotland.
Hun-dred, land of a hundred families.
Nor-mans, people from Normandy.
Or-i-gin, first cause.

Par-ish, district of a church.
Shires, divisions of England.
Tith-ings, the land of ten families.
Tribe, people of one family or race.
Trib-al, belonging to a tribe.

SUMMARY.-Alfred the Great divided England into shires. Some of the divisions had been the homes of certain tribes long before Alfred reigned. Each shire or county was divided into hundreds, and each hundred into tithings. The Normans called the shires counties, because they were ruled over by counts. There are forty counties in England, and twelve in Wales. Some of the counties have no clearly marked boundaries. The whole country is also divided into parishes.

EXERCISES.-Draw the Map on page 16. Make a list of the Counties that are not called Shires.

7. AN INCURSION OF THE DANES.

1. The children come in with a breeze and a rush,
Leaving the windows and doors ajar;

They scatter their treasures as trees in a gust
Strow leaves on the winds afar.

2." We're a barbarian host !-we've come

Down from the tops of the mountains steep;
We are the Vandal, the Goth, and the Hun,
Out of the Norse forests deep!"

3. Mamma looked up from her burning cake,
And instantly saw through the children's fun ;
"Don't come too near me, for pity's sake—

My lard is burning, you terrible Hun!"

4." We are the chiefs of the Danish hordes!" Cried the golden-haired Vandal gruff and bold; "Is this the best that your hovel affordsA fried cake, burnt and cold?"

5." He burned it-yon Sleepy-head, idling there!" She laughed (for the fun was too good to lose), With a comical shrug at the corner where

Poor papa sat reading the news.

6." Ho! ho!" out-thundered the Danish chief; "He shall have other business than frying cakes; We've a steed in the street-he shall find to his grief He is not at your hearth when he awakes!"

7. Papa laughed "Ha! ha!" as he sprang to his feet; They were cunningly caught for their painsFor up his own stairway, instead of the street, King Alfred ran off with his Danes.