And now, a word from our sponsor:
"I am informed on fairly good authority that the day upon which I write these words is St. George's Day. It is very characteristic of our country that we make far more fuss about St. Patrick's Day than we do about St. George's. It is a part of that curious elephantine modesty of the English in some matters: a modesty so heavy and helpless that foreigners mistake it for pride.....I do not know why it is, but the English really have got a certain kind of embarrassment and dislike of show....."
GK Chesterton, from "St. George For England", 1906.
Published in "The Glass Walking-Stick And Other Essays." ( Good title for a blog... )
there were blokes in the pub I was in who started singing Jerusalem, and then FORGOT THE WORDS half-way through. there's St. George's Day for you.
ReplyDeleteEe, that were a hangin' offence in my day. Sod God Save the bloody Queen, Jerusalem should be our national anthem. And St. George's Day should be a Bank Holiday. ( I don't want much, do I? )
ReplyDeleteHow wonderfully English.
ReplyDeleteImagine the depicted knight in full amour upon his steed killing the dragon and thus sparing the fate of the poor damsel in distress.
Interestingly then that St George is also the patron saint of Aragon, Catalonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal, Russia as well as England.
How so you may wonder?
Because he was a Roman priest-soldier who was executed for not renouncing his Christian faith a mere 20 years before Rome adopted Christianity as the official religion.
He was a Christian martyr elevated into such a position.
Ahh the stuff of legends.
I don't car where he comes from. he's our patron saint, and St George's Day is supposed to be the day when we celebrate England and the English. but we don't. and THAT's what I care about.
ReplyDeleteand, yeah, I want a Bank Holiday, too.