The Listening Grove · Fifty Famous Stories Retold
Chapter 15: Sir Humphrey Gilbert
A Charlotte Mason read-aloud lesson. Press play, with the lesson.
What is Fifty Famous Stories Retold Chapter 15, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, about?Parent review
Fifty Famous Stories Retold Chapter 15, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, is a story of courage in the face of the sea. Sir Humphrey Gilbert was one of the first Englishmen who dreamed of planting settlements across the ocean in America. Twice he set sail, and twice his hopes came to nothing. Returning home in a tiny ship called the Squirrel, he met with bitter cold, drifting ice, and at last a fierce storm. Sitting calmly on deck with a book in his hand, he called out to the other ship that they were as near to heaven at sea as on land. That night the little Squirrel went down, and Gilbert was lost with all aboard.
Say what you remember!
Tell what you remember from the last chapter.
What happened in Fifty Famous Stories Retold Chapter 14, The Ungrateful Soldier?Have a look
In the last chapter, The Ungrateful Soldier, a war was being fought between the Swedes and the Danes. After the battle, a Danish soldier heard a wounded enemy crying for water and knelt to offer him his flask. The ungrateful man lifted a pistol and fired, wounding the very soldier who had tried to help. Instead of taking revenge, the Dane drank half the water and gave the rest away. When the king heard of such mercy, he made the kind soldier a knight.
Read the previous lesson: The Ungrateful Soldier →Show what you know!
Use your printable Lesson Guide. Fill in the vocabulary you know, then click to check your work and learn some new words today.
What are the difficult or advanced vocabulary words in Fifty Famous Stories Retold Chapter 15, Sir Humphrey Gilbert?settlement, iceberg, vessel, driftingHave a look
- settlement: a place where people newly settle to live
- iceberg: a huge mass of floating ice
- vessel: a ship or large boat
- drifting: floating along, carried by wind or water
Locate it on the map!
Use your printable Lesson Guide. Use an atlas and fill in the blank map if you can find the geographic location, then click to check your work.
What important geographic location connects with Fifty Famous Stories Retold Chapter 15, Sir Humphrey Gilbert?
- Find Newfoundland (Canada).
See it on the mapHave a look
This matches the map in your Lesson Guide.
The Books come Alive!
Read or listen to Chapter 15 of Fifty Famous Stories Retold, the Kindred Thicket Enhanced Edition, read by Laura Caldwell.
Read by Laura Caldwell for LibriVox (public domain), professionally adjusted and trimmed by Kindred Thicket.
What do the Teacher’s Notes tell us about Chapter 15 of Fifty Famous Stories Retold?Parent review
This is a Kindred Thicket Enhanced Edition. Baldwin’s 1896 words are read exactly as he wrote them, and we add Teacher’s Notes with historical and literary context.
- About the whole bookFifty Famous Stories Retold gathers real history together with well-loved legends and traditions. These notes tell you, story by story, which is which.
- This chapterIn the story Sir Humphrey Gilbert is lost among drifting icebergs. In truth his little ship went down in a fierce storm in the mid-Atlantic near the Azores; the real ice lay far to the north, seen weeks before.
- This chapterThis chapter reaches lands that were already home to Native nations, and it uses older, dated language for them. You may wish to remind children these were real peoples with their own communities and cultures.
Memory becomes Action!
Use the Response Resource* to remember and spell tricky names. Choose one way to narrate.
*Materials in the Lesson Guide.
What is the list of names, people, characters, and places that are important in Chapter 15 of Fifty Famous Stories Retold?Sir Humphrey Gilbert, The Squirrel, The Golden Hind, America, EnglandHave a look
- Sir Humphrey Gilbert: A real English explorer (about 1537-1583), one of the first to seek an English colony in America.
- The Squirrel: Gilbert’s small ship, lost in the storm.
- The Golden Hind: The companion ship that survived the voyage.
- America: The new land Gilbert hoped to settle.
- England: Gilbert’s homeland.
Chapter 15 Q & A
This is a Kindred Thicket Enhanced Edition. Baldwin’s stories mingle real history with beloved legend, and here is what to know about this one.
Is the story of Sir Humphrey Gilbert true?
Sir Humphrey Gilbert was a real English explorer who truly reached Newfoundland in 1583 and was lost on the voyage home. The story pictures him sinking among drifting icebergs, but in truth his little ship went down in a fierce storm in the mid-Atlantic near the Azores, with the real ice lying far to the north. His calm courage as the ship was lost is the heart of the tale.
Why did Gilbert say they were as near to heaven at sea as on land?
Gilbert said this to comfort and steady his men as their tiny ship met the storm. He wanted them to face danger without fear, trusting that they were in God’s care wherever they were. It was a moment of quiet bravery in the face of the sea.
Does this story use dated language about Native peoples?
Yes, this chapter reaches lands that were already home to Native nations, and it uses older, dated language for them. You may wish to remind children that these were real peoples with their own communities and cultures, long before any ship arrived from England. A gentle word helps set the story in its truer light.
What is the lesson of Sir Humphrey Gilbert?
The lesson of Sir Humphrey Gilbert is courage and calm faith in the face of danger. Though his dreams had failed and his ship was small against the storm, Gilbert kept his book open and his spirit steady to the very end. The story invites children to admire quiet bravery when all seems lost.