Happy St George’s Day! St George he was for England and before he killed the dragon, he drank a pint of English ale out of an English flagon. Cheers. Let me know if you hear anyone celebrate – or even mention – England’s saint’s day on television. I won’t hold my breath.
Ye who suffer woes untold, Or to feel, or to behold Your lost country bought and sold With a price of blood and gold. Let a vast assembly be, And with great solemnity Declare with measured words that ye Are, as God has made ye, free. Let the charged artillery drive Till the dead air seems alive With the clash of clanging wheels, And the tramp of horses' heels. Stand ye calm and resolute, Like a forest close and mute, With folded arms and looks which are Weapons of unvanquished war, And that slaughter to the Nation Shall steam up like inspiration, Eloquent, oracular; A volcano heard afar. Rise like Lions after slumber In unvanquishable number, Shake your chains to earth like dew Which in sleep had fallen on you- Ye are many - they are few."
.... whilst Scotland, Wales, Ireland, US, .... pretty much any other country celebrate their 'day' loud and proud, and we even join in with them in some cases! Bizarre.
In an ideal world we'd celebrate the glories of England on the 20th of November, the feast day of our traditional patron St Edmund the Martyr That being said, today will do! ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND ENGLAND
I just played that loud and proud, Chazz. If anyone doesn't like it, they can go ahead and suck my plums
Two serious questions: 1. As far as I know, St. George was Turkish, not English. (But Andrew was not Scottish and Patrick was not Irish. I believe David was Welsh.) I doubt that George ever killed a dragon. Otherwise, there is much to celebrate in the story. If, in these secular times, we are to have a national saint, is not Alban a better candidate (the first English Christian martyr, from whom the city of St. Alban's takes its name)? 2. With its mention of 'dark satanic mills', Blake's poem 'And did those feet', usually sung to the tune Jerusalem, is hardly a celebration of Englishness. Rather, it is a condemnation of the ecological and social damage which the industrial revolution had caused and a measure of how far England falls short of some imagined perfect 'Jerusalem'. So, a cause for reflection, not celebration. And, unless my geography has failed me, I think that the city of Jerusalem is as English as St. George. Is it not a strange choice for a national song? April 23rd 1564 is normally regarded as the birthday of William Shakespeare. (His birthday is not recorded but his baptism is recorded two days later and babies were normally christened two days after birth.) He died in 1616 - on April 23rd. So this evening I shall raise a glass to the bard.
I carry a small crumpled copy of the words(cut out from a newspaper many years ago) in my wallet...Beautiful choice for your Father Chazz.
Misunderstandings of the poem have been rife: “dark Satanic mills” is most commonly interpreted as a reference to the industrial revolution but is actually part of Blake's personal mythology in which Satan is described as a miller who grinds down human souls. Remember, the early bard catches the worm.
"Caw", said the crow. "Balls" said the Milligan. Puckoon, '63. "Today I saw a little worm Wriggling on his belly Perhaps he'd like to come inside And see what's on the telly."