How British Is Britain?

[Guest Guest66881]

eh?......with regards to your first post....all is pretty good.....from what I see anyway and certainly much better than anywhere else I have lived.

 

when else would you suggest the "country" gets together?.....most other countries do not have royality so do not get the chance to celebrate these state events.....most other countries do not qualify for the world cups so what other events/celebrations are us brits missing out on?

 

Both of those pictures are representative of the UK....we have many many villages and farming communities still flourishing today.....I can get in my car and drive 10 minutes and see both of those pictures in all their glory......the urban landscape accounts for 10% of the UK.....woodland covers 13%.....the rest is non urban.....look at the link http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18623096

 

My final point relates to the euro zone migrants.....they come to this country to work.....most of the work is in towns and cities and most inner city and town accomodation looks similar to your bottom picture.....both of these are the norm and both of these have existed in similar quantaties since the industrial revolution.

 

 

I know i lived there too mate.:wink:

[bunbury61]

Considering the number of Euopeans who have invaded Britain in the last 2500 years, it is really a hotch-potch of nationalities, so I suppose British would be fair.

 

Cheers, Bobj.

 

What about if your "Englishness" can be traced back to the 11th century ....sort of makes me English :wink:.....

[Penelope Pitstop]

Britannia was the name given to the island by the Romans. They called the other island (now Ireland) Hibernia. The native inhabitants of Britannia were celtic tribes when the Romans turned up. The Picts and the Scots were 2 tribes in the north of Britannia, the rest was inhabited by the Belgae, Cantii, Iceni, Trinovantes tribes etc. The notion of England only arose with the coming of the Anglo-Saxons (the Angles gave the name to England - Angle-land). Many of the existing celtic tribes fled to the west to evade the invaders from the east. The Saxons called them foreigners - the Saxon name for foreigner was 'welsh'. Many of the native Britons also fled to the north of France (Brittany) to get away from the anglo-saxon invaders. Hence the Bretons of Brittany. Who knows where we all come from. The English are a mongrel race. It is interesting that migrants from overseas condsider themselves British, whereas most British see themselves as English, Scottish or Welsh.

[gee13]

Dont forget the Vikings, Jutes, Fresians, Normans... I find it ironic of those that talk about being Anglo Saxon as being more Briitish...are blind to the real truth .. its not much different to claiming if you are Anglo Saxon Australian .. you are more Australian than others ..

[Bobj]

What about if your "Englishness" can be traced back to the 11th century ....sort of makes me English :wink:.....

 

As I wrote earlier, "invaded in the last 2500 years..." Angles, Saxons and Jutes originally came from Germanic tribes, common or garden Romans from Italy and more southern countries, notably Spain (Roman army). 1066 'and all that' brought big mobs of French...

 

All very interesting history, as shown by P Pitstop...:yes:

 

Cheers, Bobj.

[ABL275]

Considering the number of Euopeans who have invaded Britain in the last 2500 years, it is really a hotch-potch of nationalities, so I suppose British would be fair.

 

Cheers, Bobj.

 

Too true, according to academics (Frank Stenton's 1948 History of the Anglo-Saxons if anyone's interested in a really boring read), the last Britons or original inhabitants of the 'British Mainland' were wiped out in the mid-8th century (by genocidal Irish raiders) so since then we've all been immigrants.

[Nikey]

Slightly offtrack but...Something interesting that I found out in my studies was that Brittany, a province in France was settled by Bretons...who were originally tribes from south 'Briton' at the time who migrated to escape the invader Saxons, Angles and Vikings. They live a quiet life to today and speak the original gaulish tongue.

Yes my understanding is that the people from Cornwall are the same as the people from Brittany and they as a group of people were separate from the english and the french

[Slean Wolfhead]

The English are a mongrel race. It is interesting that migrants from overseas condsider themselves British, whereas most British see themselves as English, Scottish or Welsh.

 

It annoys me when Americans talk about a "British" accent, as if it's something that actually exists.

It is strange though, that with our internal propensity to identify ourselves as distinct people within something larger, we consistently buggered up large parts of the globe by creating, changing, joining and and shaping other countries without understanding them at all.

[Paul1Perth]

It annoys me when Americans talk about a "British" accent, as if it's something that actually exists.

It is strange though, that with our internal propensity to identify ourselves as distinct people within something larger, we consistently buggered up large parts of the globe by creating, changing, joining and and shaping other countries without understanding them at all.

 

I don't mind it that the Aussies just know I'm English and don't try and put the "working class" after it, like I felt a few times when I worked in the UK. Here I'm just English and people take the piss out of the accent whether you speak with a plum in your mouth or not.:cool:

[Guest Guest66881]

Living here i get the 'oh your english geordie maybe mate' all the time:eek:, in england i got 'yome from the black countray ay ya':laugh:

 

Britain is very british

[starlight7]

I am an ex-Londoner, now an Aussie. If people ask ( not many do because my accent is Australian) I always say I was a Londoner, not British or even English. On forms I write that I was born in England, by hand if there is no option. Suppose I could write 'other' though.

[fish.01]

I remember a documentary where they explained that quite a few non anglo-celtic immigrants to England don't believe they are accepted as and/or feel English but that British is a lot more acceptable.

[vickyplum]

me too. but if I moved to Wales or Scotland, I would have to "become" English. But I intend to stay as British for now!

 

I consider myself to be british!