Ch 1 - The Ground Gives Way

* too near edge of chalk pit => ground would give way (sister, Lou &
Grandma warned)
* bottom of chalk pit = dump (chalk pit was from men digging away all
chalk & leaving a massive hole in the ground now)
* set in Autumn
* sides of pit were white chalk w/ lines of flints poking out like bones;
crumbly brown earth at top & tree roots on edge; some tree hung over
edge; strings of ivy & the creeper called Old Man’s Beard hung over edge
* there were bits of wreckage at bottom of chalk pit including a bicycle
* ground giving way = when at edge of pit, earth beneath Barney fell & his
head going down & his feet going up
* after Barney fell in, his thoughts were all mixed up ; he wasn’t hurt
* dump was like a dark cave dug into the chalk, partly a shelter built out
over the mouth of the cave; there was cool, damp smell
* at first Barney thought his legs were broken or his legs were tied up
because he couldn’t move them; then he realised they were tangled up with
creepers from the face of the cliff
* Barney saw someone/something with a lot of shaggy black hair & two
bright black eyes staring at him => dressed with rabbit skins round the
middle, no socks or shoes
* Barney had pocket knife found from his grandfather’s workshop
* end up Stig used knife to chip off bits off the flint to sharpen the flint to cut
the creepers
* Stig kept Barney’s knife
* Stig had collection of stuff: stones & bones; fossils & bottles; skins & tins;
stacks of sticks; hanks of string; motorcar tyres; hats from scarecrows; nuts
& bolts; bobbles from brass bedsteads; coal scuttle full of electric light
bulbs; basin full of rusty screws & nails; pile of bracken & newspapers (for
bed)
* plumbing in den => water ran through crack in roof & Stig had wedged
bike mud-guard & water ran through that and a vacuum cleaner tube into a
can (weed killer can) => water tasted of rubber and rust (served water in
half cut plastic football)
* old teapot filled with some oil & bootlace as a wick, was used for lamp
* Stig didn’t look much bigger than Barney, but looked strong & had clever
hands
* sister & Gran thought Stig was Barney’s imaginary friend & didn’t believe
his story of events

bric-a-brac – collection of small objects that are used for decoration and
are not usually valuable
brock -
bracken – a large kind of fern
scuttle – metal pail usually to carry coal
Ch 2 – Digging with Stig
* as Barney headed out to find Stig again the next day, the sun was
shining, yellow leaves fluttering from elm tree, a robin on a rose tree
squeaked at him … everything was so picturesque … Barney suddenly
questioned whether he did meet Stig at all & thought maybe because he
bumped his head, his thoughts were all mixed up
* he checked the bump at the back of his head & also had the flint which
Stig gave him; he was assured Stig was real
* as he walked towards chalk pit, Barney was hesitant & starting & stopping
… questioning whether the flint was from books/museums because he
recalled that they were made by people thousands of years ago.
* as he walked a rabbit had bounced out near him
* when he got to the pit, he could see the raw earth & the chalk where the
ground had given way under him; when he looked down, he could not see
any sign of a hole in the roof of the den he had made; no hole, no roof, no
Stig; just a pile of branches & rubbish at the foot of the cliff
* Barney then believed that there was no hole in the roof because Stig had
mended it
* to get to pit: across the garden => over the fence => across the paddock
=> over into the copse => into the brambles & dead leaves to the edge of
the pit
* Barney went back to get gifts for Stig: apples, carrots, ball of garden
string
* Barney sat on curve of trunk of tree that curved over the pit like a camel’s
neck, so he could look right down to the bottom of the den
* “new” piece of linoleum – new in that it wasn’t covered in moss like things
* Barney dangled some carrots down to “knock on” Stig’s front door
* at first when Stig looked up at him, he had a ferocious scowl on his face;
when Stig realised it was Barney, he smiled (showed his white teeth),
waved both arms & jumped with joy
* Barney could see more clearly the things in the den; tail of aeroplane
part of a farm machine; ship’s helm broken cartwheel; bicycle rusty
frame w/ bits of brake hanging on to it
* Barney had to go the long way down to the dump, going down the shallow
end
* Stig seemed not to be bothered by the stings from the nettles
* digging tools: bedstead leg, broken cast iron shoe-scraper, iron bar (like
car-jack)
* Stig showed Barney to dig out a hollow at the bottom of the chalk wall,
then knock down large chunks which came down easily because it wasn’t
held up at the bottom
* they piled the chalk into the bath & took it out but placed it further away
from the den so it won’t look suspicious that someone was living in the den
* Barney guessed there was a “clothes brush” for the chalk on his clothes,
because Stig had the vacuum cleaner tube for his plumbing so there must
be the brush from the vacuum cleaner somewhere
* Barney thought that Stig’s house needed windows & a chimney
* Gran had jam jars & tins w/ lids that she didn’t want; carried in the cart
* Flash was the pony; thought to use pony to pull cart
* at first, Barney lowered the jars in a box with string; then Stig came up
with lady’s straw hat as a “cargo sling” to carry remaining tins & jars down
to the den
* Barney felt “hot & cold all over” because the cart he had tried to lower
down with string had lurched over the edge of the cliff, but luckily a tangle
in the string made it stop with a jerk => then string broke & truck landed on
branches of elderly tree
* Stig was fascinated with Barney’s tin opener
* Barney was annoyed with Stig because he had taken off all the bottoms of
the tins; Stig then tried to fit the tins into one another by pinching the end of
the tins together => actually Stig put tins together to make a stove pipe
* mantelpiece & chimney = they fitted the stove pipe into the tin bath tub,
turned upside down, sat it on top of fireplace of chalk blocks & flints, with
the flue; Barney was proud of invention & Stig was fascinated by chimney
* Barney tried to make windows from the wooden boxes by knocking out
the bottoms so there was a wooden frame => problem with that was there a
draught that could come through due to gaps between the glass jars.
* they went to get red clay, from where recently there was a landslide at
bottom of cliff & used clay to fill in the gaps
* Barney & Stig admired the new windows
* used the round plates of tin that were cut out to cover the glass jars for
when they didn’t want people to look in or to shut the dark out
* Stig gave a little chipped flint, shaped like a flat Christmas tree, but very
sharp, to Barney for going away present (Barney was not staying at
Grandma’s until Christmas & would be going home to his own family)

copse – a small group of trees

brambles – rough prickly shrubs or vines
linoleum – a type of material that is produced in thin sheets, has a shiny
surface, and is used to cover floors and counters
cobble – to make (something) by putting together different parts in a quick
way
tousled – to make (someone's hair) untidy
nettles – tall plant that has leaves with hairs that sting you if you touch
them
flue – a channel or pipe in a chimney for carrying flame and smoke to the
outer air
Ch 3 – It Warms You Twice
* Barney had hidden the flint that Stig gave him in one of the holes in the
thick black beam in the wall that grew out of the floor to the celling (beam
had been part of a ship before)
* Barney wondered if Stig was like dormouse, sleeping all winter; also
wondered if Stig was cross at him
* at back of cave, there was a kind of nest made out of bracken, dead grass
& newspaper; heard breathing sounds come out of it
* when Barney met Stig again, Stig had a cold
* Stig’s place needed wood to burn a fire to keep warm; they chose the thin
thorn tree to cut first
* “wood warms you twice” => once when you cut it & once when you burn it
* the flint was not cutting the wood so Barney went back home to get his
Grandfather’s big steel axe, long sharp cross-cut saw, coil of rope
* Stig was energized by the big steel axe & swung it like a golfer testing a
new club
* Stig next cut the tall ash tree; he cut half way through & rested
* Barney wanted to tie a rope to it so it wouldn’t fall & smash the fence
* Barney climbed higher on the tree & could feel something different about
the swaying of this tree => it didn’t have the springy exciting sway of sound
tree
* white flakes coming off was sawdust
* they started cutting from other uncut side of trunk
* as they cut deeper, the saw became “sticky” meaning that the saw
became more stuck into the wood & could not move to & fro so easily
* weight of branches on one side was making the trunk lean that way &
closing up the crack the saw had made
* they pulled the tree with the string => 3 pulls & there was cracking sound
from the trunk; on the 5 th pull, splitting, rending, screeching sound from the
trunk & the tree fell down
* later in afternoon, Barney brought hatchet, iron wedges, big sledge
hammer
* they cut the trunk of the tree into three
* to split the trunk up, they started a split with the axe, put in the wedge,
drove it in with the hammer to make the split grow, then drove in other
wedges, until fibers of timber parted from end to end
* Stig used gear lever of a motor car to poke at the ashes
* Stig tried to light a flame by:
~ using leg of a hardwood chair, sharpened to a point at one end
~ fitted the point into a hole in a block of wood which he held with his toes
~ passed the bowstring (of his steel bow), round the leg of the chair
~ held the top of the chair leg with a cracked eggcup
~ drew the bow backwards & forwards so the string made the chair leg
twirl, causing friction against the block of wood
~ when it started to smoke, Stig fed handful of grass & started blowing on it
* everything was damp so the fire died out with a wisp of smoke
* in the end they used box of matches to light fire; it took 3 matches
* Stig held out his hand asking to be given the box of matches; he didn’t
waste any on trying it out; he stored hiding it in his bed
* Stig took out some chestnuts & threw them in the fire until they popped
* Stig drew on cave wall about a hunting scene where deer were being
hunted with bow & arrows & spears
* Stig’s drawings: realistic, detailed, lively
* Barney lost track of time but it was all dark; on way back there was
something in his path ….. it was only a can of paint; then a white thing
swept towards him in the air … he jabbed at it with the spear … it was an
owl
* Barney felt happier about helping Stig with his firewood than all the
presents he got for Christmas

saplings – a young tree

rending – tearing something into pieces with force/violence
hatchet – a small axe with short handle
bough – main branch of a tree
kindling - dry twigs, pieces of paper, etc., that burn easily and are used to
start a fire

Barney – lonely; thinks a lot; practical; kind; smart; a good friend; imaginative;
honest; adventurous; generous

Stig – lonely; ingenious; loner; practical, unwitting; shy; easy-going; kind-hearted

PHRASAL VERBS
verb + preposition : mixed up; lying on; step in; dish up; knock on; count
on; look after; think about; complain about; ask for; belong to

verb + adverb : get away; burst out; give away; cut down; throw away;

verb + adverb + preposition : run out of; put up with; get on with

PREPOSITIONS OF PLACE
on in at for inside under over behind next to
between

ADVERBS OF MANNER – describes verbs & how someone does something

Usually add –ly to adjective (some drop “y” & add “-ily”)
Irregular
Adj Adverb
good well
fast fast
hard hard
early early
late late
straight straight
wrong wrong
daily daily

COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVES – used to compare people, things, etc.

Usually add –er or –ier then + than (when adjective has 1 or 2 syllables)
If more than 2 syllables: more + adj + than