Welcome home soldier ... let us all feed off Tesco's titty ... We shall all eat roast hog and drink mead in Middle Earth. Maybe we should eat Turkey after all that is where it looks like he was from well ... Cappedocia which used to be what we know today as Iraq Good old George and the fools who worship such a farce in a manner that suggest we should kept England ... English .. every time i see those little flags on the Vauxhalls ... I have to chuckle
Shakespeare I think was born and died too on this day, but not in the same year, a great great Englishman
Or tax dodging plagiarist, depends on your take on history. Forget explosive Taarabt threads I've just ignited the 'did Shakespeare actually write his own stuff' debate... On Not606!!!! Watch this one burn, Brix - keep an eye on this one it could easily get out of hand - sorry.
Its funny that it takes an Irish man to remind us when it is yet all of us know when St Patricks day is, pretty ironic.
Cheers Oddball. I don't know mate. On the one hand I can see your point RE people overdoing their patriotism and coming across a tad ridiculous looking. Certain sections of the community in Northern Ireland are adept at this (Fleg syndrome) and the Americans do it too. But are you saying that St George's day has been in some way hijacked by racists and BNP/EDL heads? If it has then that's a great pity because having one day in the whole year to celebrate the great history and culture of England and Englishness is surely a good thing?
Spent many summers as a child / young adult in my mum's country, Switzerland. There, despite their diversity, they all have a wail of a time on what they call National Day (1st Aug). All flags, candles, dressing up, boozing, communal lakeside fireworks etc. etc.. From what I understand, most other countries have equivalent days one way or another. It is different for our England though. Too much demographic change over centuries caused first by other's 'invasions' and later by our's elsewhere. This, notwithstanding all the power fluctuations between the Christian churches. All makes for levels of national diversity which makes the 3.1 corners of Switzerland homogeneous by comparison. Hopefully, our National Day (as opposed to Saints Day) will turn up when the dust finally settles, and like Paddy's Day everyone can join in to celebrate a famous culture. Chinese New Year, the Nottinghill Carnival, Paddy's Day and similar joy days all have a part to play in evolving an eventual truly national day for the modern English - and hopefully one that celebrates the more positive legacies of our sea-going imperial past - as opposed to the inevitable negatives we're still doing penance for.
The loony left have made it that anyone celebrating being English is a racist. Thats why we have to celebrate other days.
I am with you on that ... Us English have lied a lot to the people .. Shakespeare was a right old cnut IMO
Grain of truth in that Flyer. Certainly goes some way to explaining the past 30 years or so. Doesn't explain why St Georges Day was always a total non-event in most places in the decades and centuries before that though.
Hope it doesn't Cannock. As for Shakespeare vs. Marlowe et al. That would make a well interesting OT discussion thread this summer imho. (As an aperitif, I'm still a Shakespeare supporter on balance though recognise the valuable contributions of other authors... Swords, start genning yourself up!)
Not really, give me a reason why the English cannot celebrate being English yet celebrate an Irish day . Go up to ten people and ask them when the two days are. Virtually all of them will know St paddies day yet I dount even one will know St Georges day.
I was told at school that the English don't celebrate Saint's dates because of the Reformation (or was it due to the Puritan reforms of that Republican Regicide and all-round killjoy Cromwell - cant recall which). It would be nice if all English towns had a fiesta day like they do in Spain - although it would probably degenerate into a good old drunken brawl.
