Introduction
The Battle of Waterloo in 1815 created a tourist attraction for patriotic Englishmen hoping to connect with the Duke of Wellington’s legendary victory. Some tour guides, Charles Dickens cautioned, were inclined to fantasise, but happily an authentic voice was on hand.
THE Belgian guides are great dealers in manufactured relics, and one man professes to have been the guide of Lord Byron — at which time the said precocious guide must have been just three years old!*
If you visit the field, Serjeant Munday is your man. He is about sixty; hale, fresh, frank; upwards of six feet in height, and a gentleman in manners. He has none of the showman about him. You go over the ground feeling as if you had fallen in with a well-informed yeoman of the neighbourhood, who is delighted to conduct you over that most impressive scene, and tell you all that he knows of it.
While he is zealous to state the real facts of the real history, no man will ever hear him utter a word injurious to the honour of the French; on the contrary, he is the first to bear cordial testimony to their bravery and spirit.
Dickens’s article appeared in 1851. George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron of Rochdale (1788-1824) died in Greece in 1824, nine years after the Battle of Waterloo, supporting the revolution against the Ottoman Empire: see Byron and Hercules. On the battle itself, see The Battle of Waterloo.
Précis
Charles Dickens wrote that the guides to the battlefield at Waterloo were not all to be trusted, but one in particular could be relied on for sound historical accuracy: Serjeant Munday. He described him as a man in his sixties, of gentlemanly demeanour, who had nothing but respect for the enemy on that day in 1815. (56 / 60 words)
Charles Dickens wrote that the guides to the battlefield at Waterloo were not all to be trusted, but one in particular could be relied on for sound historical accuracy: Serjeant Munday. He described him as a man in his sixties, of gentlemanly demeanour, who had nothing but respect for the enemy on that day in 1815.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: besides, if, must, otherwise, ought, since, unless, whether.
Archive
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Ever. Feeling. Manner.
2 Over. Profess. State.
3 Frank. Neighborhood. Testimony.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
Your Words ()
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