'For the air is most temperate and wholesome, situated in the midst of the temperate zone. For water, it is walled and guarded with the Ocean, most commodious for traffic to all parts of the world. The earth fertile with all kinds of grain, manured with good husbandry, rich in mineral of coals, tin, lead, copper, not without gold and silver, abundant with pasture, replenished with cattle both tame and wild, plentifully wooded, beautified with many populous cities, fair boroughs, good towns, and well-built villages.'
Jennings's film opens with pages from the 1607 edition of William Camden's Britannia. The accompanying spoken text is adapted from the 1610 English translation of Camden's original Latin: 'For the air is most temperate and wholesome, situated in the midst of the temperate zone. For water, it is walled and guarded with the Ocean, most commodious for traffic to all parts of the world. The earth fertile with all kinds of grain, manured with good husbandry, rich in mineral of coals, tin, lead, copper, not without gold and silver, abundant with pasture, replenished with cattle both tame and wild, plentifully wooded, beautified with many populous cities, fair boroughs, good towns, and well-built villages.' It is striking that, in a film that foregrounds Britain's resistance to German bombing, the phrase 'provided with all complete provisions of war' was omitted by Jennings from Camden's text. Curious also is the choice of a map on which the North Sea is identified by its Latin name, 'Oceanus Germanicus', suggesting how close the enemy is, and how great the danger.
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