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Caledonia, Cambria and Hibemia 4 page


Questions and suggestions 41


 


QUESTIONS

1 Bearing in mind its climate and general charac­ter, which part of Britain would you choose to live in? Why? Is this the same part that you would like to visit for a holiday? Why (not)?

2 How is the pattern of human settlement in your country different from that in Britain?

3 Does the capital city of your country stand in the

same relation to the rest of the country as I

London does to Britain?

4 The two big television news organizations in Britain, the BBC and ITN, both have 'North of England' correspondents. But neither has a 'South of England' correspondent. Why do you i think this is? What is it an example of?


 

5 In the short 'tour' of the regions of Britain in this chapter, some sections are longer than others. This is partly because some regions have 'higher profiles' than others - that is, more is known or imagined about them than others. Which are the regions in Britain that seem to have the higher profiles? What do their reputa­tions consist of?


 


SUGGESTIONS

Spotlight on Britain by Sheerin, Seath and White (Oxford University Press) is a book written for the non-native student of Britain using a geographical approach.

If you enjoy travel writing, there are several books which offer accounts of journeys through or around Britain. The Kingdom by the Sea 'by the respected novelist Paul Theroux (Penguin) is an example. There are many nineteenth-century English novels which invoke a sense of place. The action in Thomas Hardy's novels, such as Return of the Native and Tess of the D'Urbervilles, usually takes place in the south west of England (mainly the county of Dorset), in an area which Hardy called Wessex. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte has the York­shire moors as its setting. More recently, Graham Swift's novel Waterland (Picador), as its title suggests, takes account of the effect of the landscape of the fens in East Anglia on the actions of the people who live there.


Identity


How do British people identify themselves? Who do they feel they are? Everybody has an image of themselves, but the things that make up this image can vary. For example, in some parts of the world, it is very important that you are a member of a particular family; in other parts of the world, it might be more important that you come from a particular place; in others, that you belong to a certain social class. This chapter explores the loyalties and senses of identity most typic­ally felt by British people.

Ethnic identity: the native British

National ('ethnic') loyalties can be strong among the people in Britain whose ancestors were not English (see chapter i). For some people living in England who call themselves Scottish, Welsh or Irish, this loyalty is little more than a matter of emotional attachment. But for others, it goes a bit further and they may even join one of the sporting and social clubs for 'exiles' from these nations. These clubs promote national folk music, organize parties on special national days and foster a consciousness of doing things differently from the English. For people living in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the way that ethnic identity commonly expresses itself varies. People in Scot­land have constant reminders of their distinctiveness. First, several important aspects of public life are organized separately, and differ­ently, from the rest of Britain - notably, education, law and religion. Second, the Scottish way of speaking English is very distinctive. A modern form of the dialect known as Scots (see chapter 2) is spoken in everyday life by most of the working classes in the lowlands. It has many features which are different from other forms of English and cannot usually be understood by people who are not Scottish. Third, there are many symbols of Scottishness which are well-known throughout Britain (see chapter i).

However, the feeling of being Scottish is not that simple (> What does it mean to be Scottish?). This is partly because of the historical cultural split between highland and lowland Scotland (see chapter 2). A genu­inely Scottish Gaelic sense of cultural identity is, in modern times, felt only by a few tens of thousands of people in some of the western isles of Scotland and the adjoining mainland. These people speak Scottish Gaelic (which they call 'Gallic') as a first language.


The native British 43


What does it mean to be Scottish? On 25 January every year, many Scottish people attend 'Burns' suppers'. At these parties they read from the work of the eighteenth century poet Robert Burns (regarded as Scotland's national poet), wear kilts, sing traditional songs, dance traditional dances (called 'reels') and eat haggis (made from sheep's heart, lungs and liver). Here are two opposing views of this way of celebrating Scottishness.

Fhe ceremonial cutting of the haggis at a Bums' supper


The sentimental nationalist

That national pride that ties knots in your stomach when you see your coun-

1 try's flag somewhere unexpected is par­ticularly strong among the Scots. On Burns' Night, people all over the world fight their way through haggis and Tarn o'Shanter1, not really liking either. They do it because they feel allegiance to a small, wet, under-populated, bullied country stuck on the edge of Europe.

Many Scottish Scots hate theroman­tic, sentimental view of their country;

the kilts, the pipes, the haggis, Bonnie Prince Charlie. The sight of a man in a

skirt, or a Dundee cake2, makes them furious. To them, this is a tourist view of Scotland invented by the English. But I adore the fierce romantic, tartan, sen­timental Scotland. The dour McStalin-

ists are missing the point - and the fun.

In the eighteenth century, the English practically destroyed Highland Scot­land. The normalizing of relations between the two countries was accomplished by a novelist. Sir Walter Scott, whose stories and legends intrigued and excited the English.

Under his direction, the whole country

"reinvented itself. Everyone who could get hold of a bit of tartan wore a kilt, ancient ceremonies were invented. In a few months, a wasteland of dangerous

beggerly savages became a nation of noble, brave, exotic warriors. Scott did the best public relations job in history.


 

The realpolitik3 Scot doesn't see it like that. He only relates to heavy indus­try, 1966 trade unionism and a sup­posed class system that puts Englishmen at the top of the heap and Scottish workers at the bottom. His heart is in the Gorbals, not the High­lands. But I feel moved by the pipes, the old songs, the poems, the romantic stories, and the tearful, sentimental nationalism of it all.

A A Gill, The Sunday Times, 23 January 1994 (adapted)

the title of a poem by Burns, and also the name for the traditional cap of highland dress

a rich fruit cake, supposedly origin­ating from the town of Dundee an approach to politics based on real­ities and material needs

The realist

When I assure English acquaintances that I would rather sing a chorus of Land of Hope and Glory' than attend a Bums' supper, their eyebrows rise. Who could possibly object to such a fun night out?

In fact, only a few Scots are prepared to suffer the boredom of these occa­sions. The people who are really keen on them aren't Scottish at all. They think they are, especially on 2 5 January or Saint Andrew's Day or at international


 

matches at Murrayfield2, when they all make a great business of wearing kilts, dancing reels, reciting their Tarn o'Shanters and trying to say 'loch'3 properly without coughing up phlegm. But these pseudo-Scots have English accents because they went to posh public schools. They are Scottish only in the sense that their families have, for generations, owned large parts of Scotland - while living in London.

This use of Scottish symbols by pseudo-Scots makes it very awkward for the rest of us Scots. It means that we can't be sure which bits of our heritage are pure. Tartan? Dunno4. Gay Gordons?5 Don't care. Whisky? No way, that's ours. Kilts worn with frilly shirts? Pseudo-Scottish. Lions rampant? Ours, as any Hampden6 crowd will prove. And Burns' suppers? The Far-quhar-Seaton-Bethune-Buccleuchs7 can keep them. And I hope they all choke on their haggis.

Harry Ritchie, The Sunday Times, 23 January 1994 (adapted)

' a patriotic British song which refers to the 'rebellious Scots'

2 the Scottish national rugby stadium

3 'loch'is Gaelic for'lake'

4 i.e.'I don't know'

5 the name of a particular reel

6 the Scottish national football stadium

7 >What's in a name?


44 4 Identity



A sign in Welsh and English

The people of Wales do not have as many reminders of their Welshness in everyday life. The organization of public life is similar to that in England. Nor are there as many well-known symbols of Welshness. In addition, a large minority of the people in Wales probably do not consider themselves to be especially Welsh at all. In the nineteenth century large numbers of Scottish, Irish and English people went to find work there, and today many English people still , make their homes in Wales or have holiday houses there. As a result, a feeling of loyalty to Wales is often similar in nature to the fairly weak loyalties to particular geographical areas found throughout England (see below) - it is regional rather than nationalistic.

However, there is one single highly-important symbol of Welsh identity — the Welsh language. Everybody in Wales can speak English, but it is not everybody's first language. For about 20% of the popula­tion (that's more than half a million people), the mother-tongue is Welsh. For these people Welsh identity obviously means more than just living in the region known as Wales. Moreover, in comparison to the other small minority languages of Europe, Welsh shows signs of continued vitality. Thanks to successive campaigns, the language receives a lot of public support. All children in Wales learn it at school, there are many local newspapers in Welsh, there is a Welsh television channel and nearly all public notices and signs are written in both Welsh and English.


> Meibion Glyndwr Most of the Welsh-speaking Welsh feel a certain hostility to the English cultural invasion of their country. Usually, this feeling is not personal. But sometimes it can be, and there are extremist groups who use violence to achieve their aims. This newspaper article describes the actions of one such group.

IrroubleatLllangybi Every morning, Ray and Jan Sutton Last year, Ray Sutton refused to "check their mail and car for bombs, put up a poster in Welsh. The shop's Targeted last week by arsonists, the policy for the past twenty-six years defiant English couple are deaf to the had been to accept only bilingual abuse hurled from passing vehicles posters, he said. The warning letter at their village shop. he received read 'You are an English The Suttons are holding out colonist, you are racist and anti- against an ultimatum to leave Wales Welsh. You are on Meibion by St David's day next year or be Glyndwr s blacklist. You must leave burnt out of the village store they Wales by the first of March 1993.' have run for seven years at Lllangybi. Julian Cayo-Evans, a local busi- They are on a hit list issued by the nessman and former 'supreme mysterious group Meibion commandant' of the Free Wales Glyndwr, or Sons ofGlendower1. Army, denied having links with the Over the past thirteen years the Sons terrorist group but said, 'They have ofGlendower have left a fiery trail of a point. Young Welsh people are destruction across north and west forced to emigrate whereas these Wales, claiming responsibility for crooks from Birmingham buy attacks on English holiday homes, second homes and live in them for estate agents, boatyards and shops, three weeks of the year.'   Stuart Wavell, The Sunday Times, i s November 1992 ' Owen Glendower fought against the English in medieval times.

 


The non-native British 45

The question of identity in Northern Ireland is a much more complex issue and is dealt with at the end of this chapter.

As for English identity, most people "who describe themselves as English usually make no distinction in their minds between 'English' and 'British'. There is plenty of evidence of this. For example, at international football or rugby matches, when the players stand to attention to hear their national anthems, the Scottish, Irish and Welsh have their own songs, while the English one is just 'God Save the Queen' - the same as the British national anthem.

Ethnic identity: the non-native British

The long centuries of contact between the peoples of the four nations of the British Isles means that there is a limit to their significant differences. With minor variations, they look the same, speak the same language, eat the same food, have the same religious heritage (Christianity) and have the same attitudes to the roles of men and women.

The situation for the several million people in Britain whose family roots lie in the Caribbean or in south Asia or elsewhere in the world is different. For them, ethnic identity is more than a question of deciding which sports team to support. Non-whites (about 6% of the total British population) cannot, as white non-English groups can, choose when to advertise their ethnic identity and when not to.

Most non-whites, although themselves born in Britain, have parents who were born outside it. The great wave of immigration from the Caribbean and south Asia took place between 1950 and 1960. These immigrants, especially those from south Asia, brought with them different languages, different religions (Hindu and Muslim) and everyday habits and attitudes that were sometimes radically different from traditional British ones. As they usually married among themselves, these habits and customs have, to some extent, been preserved. For some young people brought up in Britain, this mixed cultural background can create problems. For example, many young Asians resent the fact that their parents expect to have more control over them than most black or white parents expect to have over their children. Nevertheless, they cannot avoid these experiences, which therefore make up part of their identity.

As well as this 'given' identity, non-white people in Britain often take pride in their cultural roots. This pride seems to be increasing as their cultural practices, their everyday habits and attitudes, gradually become less distinctive. Most of the country's non-whites are British citizens. Partly because of this, they are on the way to developing the same kind of division of loyalties and identity that exists for many Irish, Scottish and Welsh people. Pride can increase as a defensive reaction to racial discrimination. There is quite a lot of this in Britain. There are tens of thousands of racially motivated attacks on people every year, including one or two murders. All in all, however, overt racism is not as common as it is in many other parts of Europe.


46 4 Identity



The family

In comparison with most other places in the world, family identity is rather weak in Britain, especially in England. Of course, the family unit is still the basic living arrangement for most people. But in Britain this definitely means the nuclear family. There is little sense of extended family identity, except among some racial minorities. This is reflected in the size and composition of households. It is unusual for adults of different generations within the family to live together. * The average number of people living in each household in Britain is lower than in most other European countries. The proportion of elderly people living alone is similarly high (> Family size).

Significant family events such as weddings, births and funerals are not automatically accompanied by large gatherings of people. It is still common to appoint people to certain roles on such occasions, such as 'best man' at a wedding, or godmother and godfather when a child is born. But for most people these appointments are of senti­mental significance only. They do not imply lifelong responsibility. In fact, family gatherings of any kind beyond the household unit are rare. For most people, they are confined to the Christmas period.

Even the stereotyped nuclear family of father, mother and children is becoming less common. Britain has a higher rate of divorce than anywhere else in Europe except Denmark and the proportion of chil­dren born outside marriage has risen dramatically and is also one of the highest (about a third of all births) (> Children born outside marriage in Britain). However, these trends do not necessarily mean that the nuclear family is disappearing. Divorces have increased, but the majority of marriages in Britain (about 55%) do not break down. In addition, it is notable that about three-quarters of all births outside marriage are officially registered by both parents and more than half of the children concerned are born to parents who are living together at the time.




 


Geographical identity 47


Geographical identity A sense of identity based on place of birth is, like family identity, not very common or strong in most parts of Britain — and perhaps for the same reason. People are just too mobile and very few live in the same place all their lives. There is quite a lot of local pride, and people find many opportunities to express it. This pride, however, arises because people are happy to live in what they consider to be a nice place and often when they are fighting to preserve it. It does not usually mean that the people of a locality feel strongly that they belong to that place. A sense of identity with a larger geographical area is a bit stronger. Nearly everybody has a spoken accent that identifies them as coming from a particular large city or region. In some cases there is quite a strong sense of identification. Liverpudlians (from Liverpool), Man­cunians (from Manchester), Geordies (from the Newcastle area) and Cockneys (from London) are often proud to be known by these names (l> What is a Cockney?). In other cases, identity is associated with a county. These are the most ancient divisions of England. Although their boundaries and names do not always conform to the modern arrangement of local government (see chapter 6), they still claim the allegiance of some people. Yorkshire, in the north of England, is a notable example. Another is Cornwall, in the south-west corner of England. Even today, some Cornish people still talk about 'going to England' when they cross the county border - a testament to its ethnic Celtic history. Many English people see themselves as either 'northerners' or 'southerners'. The fact that the south is on the whole richer than the north, and the domination of the media by the affairs of London and the south-east, leads to resentment in the north. This reinforces the pride in their northern roots felt by many northerners, who, stereotypically, see themselves as tougher, more honest and warmer-hearted than the soft, hypocritical and unfriendly southerners. To people in the south, the stereotypical northerner (who is usually male) is rather ignorant and uncultured and interested only in sport and beer-drinking.

> What is a Cockney? Traditionally, a true Cockney is anybody born within the sound of Bow bells (the bells of the church of St Mary-le-Bow in the East End of London). In fact, the term is com­monly used to denote people who come from a wider area of the inner­most eastern suburbs of London and also an adjoining area south of the Thames. 'Cockney' is also used to describe a strong London accent and, like any such local accent, is associated with working-class origins. A feature of Cockney speech is rhyming slang, in which, for example, 'wife' is referred to as 'trouble and strife', and 'stairs'as 'apples and pears' (usually shortened to 'apples'). Some rhyming slang has passed into general informal British usage; some examples are 'use your loaf, which means 'think' (from 'loaf of bread' = 'head') and "have a butcher's', which means 'have a look' (from ' butcher s hook' = 'look').

 


Regional identity is often felt strongly at sporting events such as football matches


48 4 Identity


> What's in a name? In England, the notion of the honour of the family name is almost non­existent (though it exists to some degree in the upper classes, in the other three British nations and among ethnic minorities). In fact, it is very easy to change your family name - and you can choose any name you like. In the 198os one person changed his surname to Oddsocks McWeirdo El Tutti Frutti Hello Hippopotamus Bum. There are no laws in Britain about what surname a wife or child must have. Because of this freedom, names can be useful pointers to social trends. The case of double-barrelled names is an example. These are surnames with two parts separated by a hyphen; for example, Barclay-Finch. For centuries they have been a symbol of upper-class status (originating in the desire to preserve an aristocratic name when there was no male heir). Until recently, most people in Britain have avoided giving themselves double-barrelled names - they would have been laughed at for their preten­sions. In 1962, only one in every 300 surnames was double-barrelled. By 1992, however, one person in fifty had such a name. Why the change? One reason is feminism. Although an increasing number of women now keep their maiden name when they marry, it is still normal to take the husband's name. Independent-minded women are now finding a compromise by doing both at the same time - and then passing this new double-barrelled name onto their children. Another motive is the desire of parents from different cultural and racial back­grounds for their children to have a sense of both of their heritages. The same lack of rigid tradition applies with regard to the first names that can be given to children. This is usually simply a matter of taste. Moreover, the concept of celebrating name-days is virtually unknown.

Class Historians say that the class system has survived in Britain because of its flexibility. It has always been possible to buy or marry or even work your way up, so that your children (and their children) belong to a higher social class than you do. As a result, the class system has never been swept away by a revolution and an awareness of class forms a major part of most people's sense of identity. People in modern Britain are very conscious of class differences. They regard it as difficult to become friends with somebody from a different class. This feeling has little to do with conscious loyalty, and nothing to do with a positive belief in the class system itself. Most people say they do not approve of class divisions. Nor does it have very much to do with political or religious affiliations. It results from the fact that the different classes have different sets of attitudes and daily habits. Typically, they tend to eat different food at different times of day (and call the meals by different names - see chapter 20), they like to talk about different topics using different styles and accents of English, they enjoy different pastimes and sports (see chapter 21), they have different values about what things in life are most important and different ideas about the correct way to behave. Stereotypically, they go to different kinds of school (see chapter 14). An interesting feature of the class structure in Britain is that it is not just, or even mainly, relative wealth or the appearance of it which determines someone's class. Of course, wealth is part of it - if you become wealthy, you can provide the conditions to enable your children to belong to a higher class than you do. But it is not always possible to guess reliably the class to which a person belongs by looking at his or her clothes, car or bank balance. The most obvious and immediate sign comes when a person opens his or her mouth, giving the listener clues to the speaker's attitudes and interests, both of which are indicative of class. But even more indicative than what the speaker says is the way that he or she says it. The English grammar and vocabulary which is used in public speaking, radio and television news broadcasts, books and newspapers (and also - unless the lessons are run by Americans - as a model for learners of English as a foreign language) is known as 'standard British English'. Most working-class people, however, use lots of words and grammatical forms in their everyday speech which are regarded as 'non-standard*. Nevertheless, nearly everybody in the country is capable of using standard English (or something very close to it) when they judge that the situation demands it. They are taught to do so at school. Therefore, the clearest indication of a person's class is often his or her accent. Most people cannot change this convincingly to suit the situation. The most prestigious accent in Britain is known as 'Received Pronunciation' (RP). It is the combination of standard English spoken with an RP accent that is usually meant when people

 


Scene: Night has Just fallen. The ex-queen and her husband arrive with a driver in a furniture van (with all their belongings in it), ready to move in to the house which they have been allotted. Their new neighbours, Tony and Beverly Threadgold, are standing at the front door of their house. The Threadgolds watched as a shadowy figure ordered a tall man out of the van. Was she a foreigner? It wasn't English she was talking was it? But as their ears became more accustomed they realized it was English, but posh English, reolly posh. 'Tone, why they moved a posho in Hell Close?' asked Beverly. 'Dunno,' replied Tony, peering into the gloom, 'Christ, just our bleedin'1 luck to have poshos nex' door.'2 A few minutes later, the Queen addressed them. 'Excuse me, but would you have an axe I could borrow?' 'An ix?' repeated Tony. 'Yes, an axe.' The Queencame to their front gate. 'An ix?' puzzled Beverly. 'Yes.' 'I dunno what an "ix" is,' Tony said. 'You don't know what an axe is?' 'No.' 'One uses it for chopping wood.' The Queen was growing impatient. She had made a simple request; her new neighbours were obviously morons. She was aware that educational standards had fallen, but not to know what an axe was ... It was a scandal. 'I need an implement of some kind to gain access to my house.' 'Arse?' 'House!' The driver volunteered his services as translator. His hours talking to the Queen on the motorway had given him confidence. 'This lady wants to know if you've got an axe.' Just then, the Queen came down the garden path towards the Threadgolds and the light from their hall illuminated her face. Beverly gasped. Tony clutched the front-door frame for support before saying, 'It's out the back, I'll geddit.' Left alone, Beverly burst into tears. 'I mean, who would believe it?' she said later, as she and Tony lay in bed unable to sleep. 'I still don't believe it, Tone.' "Nor do I, Bev. I mean, the Queen next door. We'll put in for a transfer, eh?'3 Slightly comforted, Beverly went to sleep. From The Queen and I by Sue Townsend 1 a fairly strong swear word 2 i.e. he is automatically unhappy about somebody from a different class moving in next door 3 i.e. they will ask the local council to move them to another house

> Poshos The extract on the left illustrates how people from different classes do not like to mix and how language is an important aspect of class. It is taken from a fantasy novel in which a republican government is elected in Britain and the royal family are sent to live on a working-class housing estate, in a road known to its inhabit­ants as 'Hell Close’.

 

Date: 2015-12-18; view: 1826

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