Greetings! It was funny how I ended up in that school. Easy to make a mistake when you have 2000 years to play with. I landed in 1862, when it was supposed to be 1962. Things were more relaxed.and the teaching slightly better. In 1862, the place was more like the Ancient Rome than any thing, and really quite savage. Ivy clung to the walls of the tall, dark, spiked buildings that looked so much like a prison.Let`s face it, it was a prison. The idea was that I would come out of it able to tell Diarmid`s story.
It was hard for me at first. All I had to go on were a few words and phrases. It`s a very odd language you know, made up of lots of other bits. Of course I had found out how the Romans used to go on, and had learned some Latin, so all the rough stuff at St Jude`s was not so terrible as it would seem to you now. They never roasted me over an open fire. At least, not very much. They didn`t even do that to gladiators. And I didn`t get flogged.
I had a few tricks to make me popular. The Druids had taught me how to to disappear you see. You`re not supposed to mess about with that side of magic. Being a mysteriousd helped to make me popular. Once, I disappeared in a Latin class, was writing on the board. When he turned round, I slapped him round the head with the board cloth, full of chalk. Great tall man he was, bald, and with a a great black gown and a stoop. He was always hitting us. The whole class was rolling about on the floor laughing as the cloth danced around his head, coering it in chalk-dust They had to stay in writing lines. As it was raining they didn`t mind. Iran off to hide in the stinking Bogs and pretend I`d fainted. When it came to games, I had a good eye, because I played shinty as a lad, so was good at cricket. I really miss cricket. I also learned boxing, which came in useful in Rome. We will come to that later.
All-in-all I was sad to leave the tall, gloomy, dark buildings of St Jude`s. Although I kept my distance, there were some pleasant characters there. I grew quite fond of them. I was surprised how much like my own people they were. They must have been descended from us, to be strong enough to survive. The food was revolting. One piece of fish I had would have frightened a gladiator. All I needed to know about English I learned in a single year, so I thought I was ready to tell Diarmid`s story. I had also picked upsome more Latin.
Soon I was to find out I had barely started. To explain how Julius Caesar was sent packing from these islands was more difficult that I thought. All thesame, it was time to go to Rome. What I remember most about St Jude`s was being cold, wet and hungry. At least there was no danger of fighting lions, being speared by a trident, or rolled down a hill in a barrel that had spikes on the inside. That`s what Iwas up against next. .
Eevn the Roman experience would not be enough. The Druids told me I would have to experience modern times, the frantic rush through the terrible noise and smell of modern machines. How do you put up with it? That`s not my idea of a good life, I can tell you. I thought it made Rome sound like a holiday. You get these silly ideas sometimes.
It was hard for me at first. All I had to go on were a few words and phrases. It`s a very odd language you know, made up of lots of other bits. Of course I had found out how the Romans used to go on, and had learned some Latin, so all the rough stuff at St Jude`s was not so terrible as it would seem to you now. They never roasted me over an open fire. At least, not very much. They didn`t even do that to gladiators. And I didn`t get flogged.
I had a few tricks to make me popular. The Druids had taught me how to to disappear you see. You`re not supposed to mess about with that side of magic. Being a mysteriousd helped to make me popular. Once, I disappeared in a Latin class, was writing on the board. When he turned round, I slapped him round the head with the board cloth, full of chalk. Great tall man he was, bald, and with a a great black gown and a stoop. He was always hitting us. The whole class was rolling about on the floor laughing as the cloth danced around his head, coering it in chalk-dust They had to stay in writing lines. As it was raining they didn`t mind. Iran off to hide in the stinking Bogs and pretend I`d fainted. When it came to games, I had a good eye, because I played shinty as a lad, so was good at cricket. I really miss cricket. I also learned boxing, which came in useful in Rome. We will come to that later.
All-in-all I was sad to leave the tall, gloomy, dark buildings of St Jude`s. Although I kept my distance, there were some pleasant characters there. I grew quite fond of them. I was surprised how much like my own people they were. They must have been descended from us, to be strong enough to survive. The food was revolting. One piece of fish I had would have frightened a gladiator. All I needed to know about English I learned in a single year, so I thought I was ready to tell Diarmid`s story. I had also picked upsome more Latin.
Soon I was to find out I had barely started. To explain how Julius Caesar was sent packing from these islands was more difficult that I thought. All thesame, it was time to go to Rome. What I remember most about St Jude`s was being cold, wet and hungry. At least there was no danger of fighting lions, being speared by a trident, or rolled down a hill in a barrel that had spikes on the inside. That`s what Iwas up against next. .
Eevn the Roman experience would not be enough. The Druids told me I would have to experience modern times, the frantic rush through the terrible noise and smell of modern machines. How do you put up with it? That`s not my idea of a good life, I can tell you. I thought it made Rome sound like a holiday. You get these silly ideas sometimes.
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