A Dream of England

— the Work in Progress monthly serial:
Introduction and Double Edition

INTRODUCTION TO A DREAM OF ENGLAND
by Stephen Rayton

A Dream of England (or The Chronicles of Britannia) was originally conceived back in 2009 when Gale gave us the writing assignment to ‘write something about England’.

History was a subject I always found rather boring at school (my apologies to any history teachers who may be reading this — it was a long time ago and, no doubt, it is very different today) but I was fascinated by the great Norse Sagas and Scandinavian heroic tales of old and wondered why their history was so much more interesting than ours (?!).

Gale had been teaching us about different poetic forms and, around the time that this particular assignment was set, I had just discovered ‘Heroic Verse’ form (a variant of which was used in the Sagas). Never being one to do things by half measures I came up with the idea of re-telling the history of England in heroic verse form. I soon realized that I had (metaphorically) shot myself in the foot, as one cannot re-tell thousands of years of history in a simple one stanza poem. So I decided to add another element I recalled from my childhood – the early morning cinema club serial adventure, a kind of ‘Flash Gordon meets The Völsunga’ – and A Dream of England was born.

The first episodes were presented at Cryptwriters meetings and went down well. However, when I was just around half way through, my computer was attacked by a virus and all the files were lost. I thought that was the end of that.

Recently I was clearing out our loft in preparation for having the whole flat insulated before winter comes on when I found, in a tatty old carrier bag with some scraps of old music compositions, the original Cryptwriters file - and this file still contained the print copies of Dream of England which I had been taking to the meetings back in 2009/10.

I mentioned this to David and we agreed that it might be a good idea (especially in this patriotic Golden Jubilee/Olympics 2012 year) to upload these – a revised and updated version with other information I have found out in the interim period added – onto Work in Progress as our regular monthly ‘Blog Serial’.

As to the piece itself: the Prologue is, of course, complete folklore and written to create the 'dream’ aspect of the piece; however, although artistic license has been taken with regard to conversations had, accounts of battles, etc (I know I’m getting on a bit but I wasn’t actually there), the rest of it, as regards character, events, etc is entirely historically accurate.

Let me just clarify this: it is not intended as an academic paper on British history, it is a work of art and intended as such. It is a re-telling of history done intentionally in an entertaining way with a view of adding some fun into the subject. Should teachers wish to use it as a companion to their regular history curriculum they are free to do so, or if you want to chant it in pubs/market places (as the Scandinavians did), or set it to rhythm and chant it you are free to do that also. Most of all I hope you enjoy it and that you keep coming back for more.

This particular ‘saga’ begins (proper) with the first Roman invasion and ends with the reign of Queen Victoria. A new episode will be uploaded at the beginning of each month, starting today with a special ‘Serial Première Double Edition’, including both the Prologue and the whole of Part One.

Be sure to come back next month for Part Two and each month from there on (you may have to scroll down as there will be other postings).

Enjoy

Stephen Rayton 6 September 2012

And now here is your 'double-edition' of A Dream of England:

Prologue: I Dreamed a Dream of England

One dark and stormy night when I

Upon my bed my head did lie,

As out went the last light of day

Images in my head began to play:

A dream of England, beauteous fair,

Of all those who lived and died there.

At first I saw a mighty sea

Where a small boy played gleefully,

Then, was a giant where the boy had been:

King Neptune and Amphitrite, his queen.

Neptune and Amphritrite had many sons

But Albion, his fourth, was his favorite one.

His sons he made rulers of the lands around

But for Albion, one good enough was not found;

Until a young mermaid came up to the king,

More beautiful than any with glowing skin;

Gold in her hair, her cheeks shined rosily

And her eyes were as honest and blue as the sea.

“O father Neptune”, she said to this man,

“Let Albion come to my beauteous land,

It lies like a gem in a sea of clear blue,

Grass of green, cliffs of white, golden sands too”.

Behind Neptune all the sea folk as one swam

To catch a glimpse of these white cliffs and gold sand.

When it came in sight Neptune rose from the sea,

“This isle of my love, Albion’s it shall be:

Albion shall rule and Albion it’s called.”

Albion the new king, ruled over it all,

For all of seven years he reigned there as lord

Until he was killed by brave Hercules’ sword.

For many years after was no ruler there

But eyes from afar spied this isle beauteous fair:

From the city of Troy prince Brutus sailed to shore

With his fleet of many ships and his men of war.

There were giants in those days, he conquered each one,

For to Albion’s land a new ruler had come.

But “Albion” it would no longer remain

For after himself Brutus called it “Britain”.

For a while Neptune still would watch over this shore

Until he grew too old to rule anymore

But just before he died his scepter he gave

Saying, “From now Britannia rules the waves”.

A Dream of England

(or The Chronicles of Britannia)

A dream of England, beauteous fair, of all those who lived and died there

Part the First:

From the coming of the Romans to the rise of Vortigern

The white cliffs and gold sands Albion once ruled

In the land named by Brutus, when giants he slew,

Stood as Britons fell before Rome’s warlike test;

Though Cassivellaunus caused Caesar distress.

Caractacus cried, “We will never be slaves”,

Yet was carried to Rome in Claudius’ chains,

But his courage won him the whole heart of Rome;

He was given his liberty but did he get home?

Julius Agricola built schools, halls and courts.

Hadrian, when he ruled, built only a wall.

In AD410 the Romans went home

And left the new Britons to rule on their own,

I say “new” because Britons, once ignorant and wild,

Now with new learning their time they beguiled;

For Britons learned more than to kill and to fight,

They learned how to build roads, to read and to write

But much more than this, as word spread through the land

Of God’s gift of salvation through one called, “Son of man”:

Amphibalus, a priest on the run from Rome,

Found himself safety in young Alban’s home;

They would talk everyday and Alban found more

Truth in this man’s words than in all Druid lore,

So, when Roman soldiers came calling one night,

The two men switched cloaks and Amphibalus took flight,

So the soldiers took Alban, who refused to deny

His newfound faith in Christ, and was sentenced to die;

Thus in Verulamium, now re-named, we find

The first Christian martyr in England who died.

From the north, the Picts and the Scots now attacked.

King Constantine’s death was a major setback

And with no king to lead them the Britons were lost,

Yet a new force would save them but not without cost;

For a man named Vortigern had a sinister plan

To get one of the dead king’s three sons in his hand:

Thus he could rule with no risk to himself.

Ambrosius and Pendragon were too young to help

So the monk known as Constans was to be his man.

Immediately Vortigern set on his plan,

From the monastery to London the two men sped,

Vortigern put the crown on the former monk’s head.

The people weren’t pleased but they feared this sly man

Who was now the most powerful prince in the land.

He hired Pict soldiers saying, “It’s the best thing”,

But he secretly tricked them into killing the king.

Now Vortigern ruled he cut off the Picts’ heads

Lest they should tell anyone his deeds of dark dread.

When the two younger brothers heard of this news

They both fled the country, lest their lives they lose,

To Brittany, France, they both ran away

To remain there in safety till a better day.

TO BE CONTINUED…

NEXT ON A DREAM OF ENGLAND:

The coming of Hengist and Horsa

Picture: St. Alban, the first Christian martyr in England.
NOTES:
From Brutus, a prince of Troy, comes the name “Britain”.
King Constantine, a wise king, was killed by a Pict soldier.
The two younger brothers of King Constan were called Aurelius Ambrosius and Uther Pendragon, the latter of which would go on to become the father of King Arthur.