A Humorous History of England

England's kings, customs and familiar historical episodes become material for Charles Harrison's rhyming jokes. Starting with prehistoric people and the Druids, the verse moves through Roman Britain and Saxon rulers to medieval struggles over land, law and authority. Alfred's cakes appear beside feudal duties and disputes between church and crown. Changes in linen and window glass give everyday life a place among the royal names and battles.

Later passages turn to Drake and the Armada, Shakespeare's plays and Elizabeth's suitors. James I's reign supplies jokes about royal appetites and the sale of titles, while Harvey and Bacon bring scientific ideas into the rhyme. The Gunpowder Plot leads into fireworks familiar to the poet's readers. Even the advertisements become part of the humour: Iron Jelloids appears in the front matter and returns in a joke about Elizabeth. Readers can explore how comic verse and caricature reshape the material of schoolbook history.