Church Eretide of the English Folk/One

An Anglish overbringing of Bede's ''Church Eretide of the English Folk.

=Book One=

Of the standing of Britain and Ireland, and their olden dwellers
Britain, an island in the sea, formerly called Albion, sits between the north and west, gainstanding, though at some length, the shores of Germany, France and Spain, which make up the greatest share of Europe. It is eight hundred miles long towards the north, and two hundred miles broad, but for where some headlands thrust out further, thereby making its girth some 3675 miles. To the south, as you go along the nearest shore of the Belgic Gaul, the first town in Britain which opens to the eye is Rutubi Portus, now misshapen by the English to Reptacestir. The length from here over the sea to Gessoriacum, the nearest shore of the Morini, is fifty miles, or as some writers say, 450 furlongs. On the back of the island, where it opens up to the endless sea, are the islands called the Orcades.