Unusual women of the past

You may think that no women went to sea or joined the army until the twentieth century, but this is not true. Although they usually had to pretend to be men, there are a few true stories of women who fought for both good reasons and bad ones.

One English woman soldier in the seventeenth century was Christian Walsh, the wife of a man who was made to join the army, although he did not want to be a soldier. Christian refused to accept the situation, unlike most women in those days. She cut off her hair, dressed as a man and joined the army, calling herself Kit Cavanagh, in order to look for her husband. It was thirteen years before she found him and during that time she fought in several different countries. She was only discovered to be a woman when doctors were operating on her for an injury she had received while fighting.

A rather different example, from around the same time, is Anne Bonney. It is not certain why she left Ireland, where she was born, and went to the islands which are now called the Bahamas. However, we know that when she got there, she fell in love with a sailor called John Rackham. She worked with John to steal a ship from the local port. They obviously chose the ship carefully, because it was the fastest one in the port at the time. For the next ten years they sailed round the Caribbean, attacking other ships and stealing everything valuable from them, as well as taking sailors to help on their own ship.

One day, Anne was surprised to discover that a boy they had taken off another ship in this way was really a young woman. She told Anne her name was Mary Read. She said she had dressed like a man to increase her opportunities, because in those days of course most women were expected to stay at home. Earlier, Mary had fought in the army, but had stopped pretending to be a man for a short time when she married a soldier who had realized that she was a woman. Unfortunately her husband died, and so Mary started to dress as a man once again and became a sailor.

Anne and Mary continued their criminal career with John Rackham, but in the end their ship was caught by the navy. The two women went on fighting even after all the men were taken prisoner, but they avoided punishment and disappeared. Nobody knows what happened to them after that. Perhaps they pretended to be men and joined another ship, or maybe they got married.

Mark the statements true (T) or false (F)

1. The writer says many women joined armies before the twentieth century.

2. Christian Walsh wanted to marry a soldier.

3. Kit Cavanagh spent thirteen years in the army.

4. Kit fought the doctors when they tried to operate.

5. Anne Bonney went to the Bahamas to find John Rackham.

6. Anne helped John to get a fast ship.

7. Mary was already working on a ship before she met Anne.

8. Mary joined the army in order to be with her husband.

9. Anne and Mary went to prison after john Rackham.

10. It is uncertain what happened to Anne and Mary in the end.

Circle the correct item

1. One English woman soldier in the seventeenth century was Christian Walsh…

a) the mother of a sailor

b) the wife of a man who was made to join the army

c) a local housewife who didn’t want to marry

d) a widow

2. She cut off her hair, dressed as a man and joined the army…

a) to protect her husband from the army

b) in order to look for her husband

c) in order to cook her husband tasty dinners

d) unlike most women in those days

3. Anna Bonney left Ireland …

a) because she wanted to earn a lot of money

b) for an injury she had received

c) for an earthquake

d) it is not certain why she left

4. For the next ten years they sailed round the Caribbean…

A) attacking other ships and stealing everything valuable from them

b) searching gold and money

c) discovering new lands

d) stealing ships from the local ports

5. Mary had fought in the army, but had stopped pretending to be a man for a short time …

a) to bear a child for her man

b) when she married a soldier

c) when she had decided to become a nun

d) because in those days most woman were expected to stay at home

6. Anne and Mary continued their criminal career with John Rackman…

a) because they could not live without sailing

b) in order to increase their opportunities

c) but in the end their ship was caught by pirates

d) but in the end their ship was caught by the navy

Text № 26

Beginning about the year 100 and reaching its flower in medieval times, alchemy was an art based partly upon experimentation and partly upon magic. Early investigators of natural processes centred their search on a mythical substance they knew as the philosopher’s stone (the expression ‘stone’ refers to any general mineral substance) which was supposed to possess many valuable attributes such as the power to heal, to prolong life and to change base metals into precious metal – such as gold. This substance was eagerly – understandably – sought after, and the rich folks of the day sponsored alchemists who promised them the stone in the same way that today’s wealthy will court and support inventors of perpetual motion machines and those who claim mystic powers. Expectations of success were then, and are now, equally and perpetually futile.

The three general aims of the alchemists – transmuting base metals into gold, prolonging life indefinitely, and manufacturing artificial life – failed to be met. Very few alchemists obtained any success, but Friar Nicolas Flamel of Paris, who claimed to have found the secret of transmutation, is said to have died very rich. In the year 1400, the cautious Henry IV of England passed a law against ‘the art of multiplication’, which meant creating gold or silver by alchemy. A subsequent Henry, the sixth, took a different tack in 1455 when he granted four commissions to scoundrels who assured him they could produce all sorts of gold.

But along the way, alchemists made many genuinely valuable contributions to knowledge, though such fundamental discoveries as the chemical elements and the manner in which they form compound substances, escaped them. Their basic ‘elements’ were fire, air, earth and water, and they believed that all substances were combinations of sulphur, mercury and common salt, which they said were themselves composed of the four elements.

In modern times, there was a great excitement among those who still clung to belief in alchemy when it was determined that all real elements are composed of the same particles (electrons, protons, neutrons) in different ratios; the immediate assumption was that the long-sought process of transmutation was at last possible. True, elements are now transmuted; an atom at a time, by high-energy bombardment with subatomic particles, but this is as similar to the notions of the alchemists as the space flight by rocket is to attaining earth-orbit on a pogo stick.

Eventually, when the nonsense and misinformation were boiled out of alchemy, it became chemistry.

Mark the statements true (T) or false (F)

1. Alchemy was an art based on partly upon experimentation and partly upon magic.

2. Early investigators of natural processes centered their search on a mythical thing they knew as the philosopher's stone.

3. The philosopher's stone was supposed to possess many valuable attributes.

4. The rich folks of the day sponsored scientists who promised them the stone.

5. The two general aims of the alchemists were: transmuting base metals into gold and manufacturing artificial life.

6. Alchemists made many genuinely valuable contributions to knowledge.

7. The basic elements were fire, air, earth.

8. The long-sought process of transmutation was at last possible.

9. Elements are now transmuted an atom at a time, by high – energy bombardment with subatomic particles.

10. When the nonsense and misinformation were boiled out of alchemy, it became physics.

Circle the correct item

1. Alchemy was an art based partly upon experimentation and partly upon …

1. power

2. magic

3. ability

2. Early investigators of natural processes centered their search on a mythical … they knew as the philosopher's stone.

1. material

2. liquid

3. substance

3. The rich folks of the day sponsored …

1. alchemists

2. scientists

3. magicians

4. … of success were then and are now, equally and perpetually fertile.

1. Hopes

2. Beliefs

3. Expectations

5. The three general aims of the alchemists failed …

1. to be met

2. to be seen

3. to be solved

6. Friar Nicolas Flamel of Paris …

1. died very poor

2. became famous

3. died very rich

7. A subsequent Henry granted four commissions to scoundrels who assured him they could produce …

1. all sorts of gold

2. all sorts of silver

3. all sorts of diamonds

8. Alchemists made many valuable contributions …

1. skills

2. understanding

3. to knowledge

9. Their basic … were fire, air, earth and water.

1. elements

2. parts

3. features

10. When the nonsense and misinformation were boiled out of alchemy …

1. it became biology

2. it became chemistry

3. it became physics

Text № 27