St George!

[caddyman]

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O'erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean.
Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,
Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit
To his full height. On, on, you noblest English.
Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof!
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,
Have in these parts from morn till even fought
And sheathed their swords for lack of argument:
Dishonour not your mothers; now attest
That those whom you call'd fathers did beget you.
Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
And teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman,
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here
The mettle of your pasture; let us swear
That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;
For there is none of you so mean and base,
That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'

Exeunt. Alarum, and chambers go off



Probably politically incorrect in this day and age, but frankly I don’t give a wet slap.

Today is St George’s Day and also the birth and death date of Bill the Bard. Every year I intend to get a red rose to wear in my lapel. Every year I forget.

Very little is made of St George’s Day, unlike St Patrick’s Day (world wide), or St David’s and St Andrew’s Days in Wales and Scotland respectively. Maybe the English need their symbols less, or maybe the English have forgotten their symbols. I am too tired to start or get involved in anything like a coherent debate on national identity. I just think that it would be nice to have a National Holiday on St George’s Day like many other nations have on their patron saint’s day.

Comments

[jfs.livejournal.com]

Though the massive upsurge in the celebration of St. Patricks over the last 20 years is much more to do with United Distillers and Guinness than it is anything else.

[bluesman.livejournal.com]

Really? I never see much about it in the media here, but there are usually St Patrick's Day promo displays for snacks and soda in the shops, and work colleagues put up cardboard leprechaun wotsits about the office and bring in potluck items, and wear green blouses, shirts, etc. I never saw anything like it for St George's Day before I emigrated, so maybe it's all-but meaningless to the English. I would have known nothing about it today if Bry hadn't posted this.

[jfs.livejournal.com]

I think 5 years ago, St. George's Day was all but meaningless to the majority of English people - certainly the flag was seen as tainted by the BNP and other right wing nationalists. That's changing, though - official buildings are flying St. George's Cross today, and there are several companies running advertising campaigns based around celebrating today.

[bluesman.livejournal.com]

Interesting. What a shame that a gaggle of fascists make ones national pride appear a bit mad.

[agentinfinity.livejournal.com]

I have gathered from Americans of my aquaintance that descending from Irish stock is a source of pride, but descending from English stock is a source of shame. Perhaps that's part of it.

Post-colonial self-loathing for the win.

Happy St. George's Day.

[bluesman.livejournal.com]

Blimey! I've never heard that (maybe they are being polite). I still often hear "I like your accent," in friendly tones, and sometimes am told stuff like "My grandparents/parents were from England," or "I was born in (enter English town of your choice)," but never shamefacedly.

[mollpeartree.livejournal.com]

I've never felt any shame about it or sensed it in others, but it is a bit boring. It's just more interesting to have ancestors from countries that at least have a different language than English, and some kind of distinct culture that isn't already pretty much embedded in American culture. (My own ancestors are a snoozefest, mostly English and Irish.)

It so happens that the first ancestor of my father's side of the family in the U.S. was a red coat who came over here to fight the colonists in the Revolutionary War! I should be very ashamed of that, I guess, but really I'm kind of tempted to start a "Daughters of the Hated British" organization, inspired by the real Daughters of the American Revolution group (for descendants of the patriots). Though since the thought only crosses my mind for about a minute and a half every 4th of July, I'm guessing it will never happen.

[theo]

An American friend declined an invitation to join DAR on the grounds that she was more proud of the part of her line that descended from a British infantryman who returned to the US after being demobbed in the late 18th century.