Chapter 2 of Wings Over England is here in full — 425 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Wings Over England is here in full — 425 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm. He carried an antique fowling-piece. “So you got one of ’em? That’s grand, me boys!” he approved. “Where now would you say the others be?”
Chapter 2 of Wings Over England is here in full — 425 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/85 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
made in or typical of earlier times and valued for its age
From this reading “He carried an antique fowling-piece.”
established by authority; given authoritative approval
From this reading “That’s grand, me boys!” he approved.”
a smith who forges and shapes iron with a hammer and anvil
From this reading “All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm.”
plural of “branch” — a division of some larger or more complex organization
From this reading “All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm.”
(of a person) possessing physical strength and weight; rugged and powerful
From this reading “All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm.”
be a farmer; work as a farmer
From this reading “All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm.”
the hard durable wood of any oak; used especially for furniture and flooring
From this reading “All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm.”
having a margin incised almost to the base so as to create distinct divisions or lobes
From this reading “All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading He carried an antique fowling-piece.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm.
made in or typical of earlier times and valued for its age
From this reading He carried an antique fowling-piece.
established by authority; given authoritative approval
From this reading That’s grand, me boys!” he approved.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading “Where now would you say the others be?”
at or to a lower level than something
From this reading All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm.
a smith who forges and shapes iron with a hammer and anvil
From this reading All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm.
plural of “boy” — a youthful male person
From this reading That’s grand, me boys!” he approved.
plural of “branch” — a division of some larger or more complex organization
From this reading All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm.
(of a person) possessing physical strength and weight; rugged and powerful
From this reading All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm.
inflected form of “carry” — move while supporting, either in a vehicle or in one's hands or on one's body
From this reading He carried an antique fowling-piece.
a quad with a square body
From this reading “So you got one of ’em?
be a farmer; work as a farmer
From this reading All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He carried an antique fowling-piece.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading “So you got one of ’em?
of behavior that is impressive and ambitious in scale or scope
From this reading That’s grand, me boys!” he approved.
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He carried an antique fowling-piece.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading That’s grand, me boys!” he approved.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading “Where now would you say the others be?”
the hard durable wood of any oak; used especially for furniture and flooring
From this reading All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading “So you got one of ’em?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Where now would you say the others be?”
having a margin incised almost to the base so as to create distinct divisions or lobes
From this reading All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm.
express in words
From this reading “Where now would you say the others be?”
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading “So you got one of ’em?
Maintained an upright posture.
From this reading All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm.
happening without warning or in a short space of time
From this reading All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading That’s grand, me boys!” he approved.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm.
in or at that place or location
From this reading All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm.
a community of people smaller than a town
From this reading All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading All of a sudden hands parted the branches of a small oak and there stood the brawny blacksmith from Warmington, the village below Ramsey Farm.
in or at the place that
From this reading “Where now would you say the others be?”
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading “Where now would you say the others be?”
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “So you got one of ’em?
Chapter 2 of Wings Over England by Roy J. (Roy Judson) Snell holds 425 sentences, grouped into 85 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 2 holds 425 sentences of Wings Over England, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Wings Over England by Roy J. (Roy Judson) Snell exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 425 sentences, grouped into 85 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 85 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 85 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 2 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading Wings Over England by Roy J. (Roy Judson) Snell on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3452 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #49131 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #49131, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 287 minutes of reading across 691 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Wings Over England section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 8 chapters of Wings Over England to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Wings Over England, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
