Counties of England

Avon Berdfordshire Berkshire Buckinghamshire

Cambridgeshire Chershire Cleveland Cornwall

Cumbria Derbyshire Devon Dorset

Durham East Sussex Essex Gloucestershire

Greater London Greater Manchester Hampshire Hereford & Worcester

Hertfordshire Humbershire Isle of Weight Kent

Lancashire Leicestershire Lincolnshire Merseyside

Norfolk Northamtonshire Northumberland North Yorkshire

Nottinghamshire Oxfordshire Shropshire Somerset

South Yorkshire Staffordshire Suffolk Surrey

Tyne and Wear Warwickshire West Midlands West Sussex

West Yorkshire Wiltshire

The English People as They Are

“If you want to form a correct opinion of the English character, you must not confine your observations to the metropolis. You must go forth into the country, you must sojourn in villages and hamlets; you must visit castles, farm-houses, cottages; you must wander through parks and gardens, along hedges and green lanes and see the people in all their conditions and all their habits and humours” (Washington Irving)

The national character of the English has been differently described, but most commentators agree over one quality, which they describe as fatuous self-satisfaction, serene sense of superiority, or insular pride. English patriotism is based on a deep sense of security. Englishman as individuals may have been insecure, threatened with the loss of a job, unsure in themselves, or unhappy in many ways; but as a nation they have been for centuries secure, serene in their national successes.

The best known quality of the English is reserve. A reserved person is one who does not talk very much to strangers, does not show much emotion. He never tells you anything about himself. If English people are making a journey by train, they will try to find an empty compartment. If they have to share the compartment with a stranger, they may travel many miles without starting a conversation. If the conversation does start, personal questions like “How old are you?” or even “What is your name?” are not easily asked. Questions like “Where did you buy your watch?” or “What is your salary?” are impossible.

But the people of the North and West of Britain, especially the Welsh, are much less reserved than those of the South and East.

Closely related to English reserve is English modesty. If a person is, let us say, very good in golf, and someone asks him if he is a good player, he will probably give an answer like “I’m not bad”, or “I think I’m quite good”, or “Well, I’m very keen on golf”.

The famous English sense of humour is similar. Its ideal is the ability to laugh at oneself - at one’s own faults. “He is a man of humour” or “He has no sense of humour” is often heard in Britain, where humour is so highly prized.

SCOTLAND

Scotland had been an independent state and was joined into the UK in 1707, after a long struggle for its independence.

Although Scotland takes up one third of the territory of the British Isles, its population is not very big. It is the most northern part of the island of Great Britain and is not far away from the Arctic Circle. That’s why it’s not densely populated: its population is a little over 5 million people. The Cheviot Hills mark the boundary between England and Scotland. Apart from this land link with England, Scotland is surrounded by the sea.

Scotland is divided into three regions: the Highlands, which is the most northern and the most underpopulated area with a harsh island, the Lowlands, which is the industrial region, with about three quarters of population, and the Southern Uplands, with hills, which border on England.

Most of the population is concentrating in the Lowlands. Here, on the Clyde, is Glasgow, Scotland’s biggest city. Edinburgh has been the capital since the 15^th century, when its fortified castle was the centre of Scotland’s resistance to its enemies. Edinburgh is the cultural centre of Scotland. It is associated with the names of George Gordon Byron and Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Burns and Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes. It is also associated with the world-famous Edinburgh Festival of Music and Drama. This festival was first held in 1947 and has been held annually ever since. Its emblem is the thistle.

Scotland is a very mountainous country; three-fourth of the area of Scotland is occupied by mountains with a great amount of moorland, in which few people live. The Highlands of Scotland are among the oldest mountains in the world. They reach their highest point in Ben Nevis (1343 m). Many valleys between the hills are filled with lakes, called lochs. The best-known is Loch Ness where some people think a large monster lives. The most important city here is Aberdeen, which is the oil centre of Scotland.

Scotland has its own national drink, a fact so widely known and appreciated that one need simply ask for “”Scotch”. It also has a distinctive national dress, the kilt, which is worn only by men. Scotland has its own musical instruments (the pipes, sometimes called the bagpipes), its own national forms of dancing (Highland dancing and Scottish country dancing), its own songs, poetry, language, traditions and education. To put the whole thing in a nutshell, Scotland is not England.

Date: 2015-01-29; view: 1050