General Chat

Quote: Radstock ( a grotty former mining town nr Bath )

I happen to like Radstock and do not consider it 'grotty'.

At a rough head count our sovereign's German connections easily outnumber her Scottish antecedents (who include Macbeth). When William becomes William V (assuming he stays with William) then he will be the first English king of England since Richard III on account of his mother's line.

Without the House of Hanover the war of 1775 would probably never have happened. Importing foreign rulers has never served England well.

Dermot :-D :-D Nothing wrong with St George or Jerusalem. But they will never agree anything and carry on with their dirge and the British = English flag.

Rollo. Hasn't David Cameron and the Queen got considerable Scottish connections. Nearly as many Scottish connections as Nigel Farage has German connections.

So do the "English" know from which direction the knavish tricks are emanating these days (verse 2 of God Save the Queen). At least it was a lot simpler when Cameron and Tony Blair's ancestors were marching southwards in a kilt and sporran. :-) ;-)

An old proverb - 'A country without it’s own language is a country without a soul'.

I'm not aware of a similar one for a country without it's own flag or National Anthem.

The Scots will reject Salmond's knavish tricks - he failed arithmetic he is a knave.

Those GRU members upset about rising membership fees will no doubt be delighted to know that GRU's parent company is an important contributor to SNP fund raising.

Rollo :-D :-D Did you slip in Bullingdon ;-)

At least the Welsh and Irish anthems show how much the English are loved :-) :-)


O Lord our God arise,
Scatter her enemies,
And make them fall:
Confound their politics,
Frustrate their knavish tricks,
On Thee our hopes we fix:
God save us all.

This will be very applicable to Scottish enemies of England in 2014. ;-)

well here is an English version of the French incitement to violence. It is probably closer to most people's hearts than GSTQ. OTOH France is in the vice like grip of a new aristocracy ( the enarques ) and is sliding into chaos.
At least half of the French rugby team seem unable to get past line 1 which may as Mr Cocoa says account for a dismal 6 Nations this year.

At a rough guess singing this ensemble in Trafalgar Square would result in a quick trip to Belmarsh or even rendition to Luxembourg.

Arise children of the motherland
The day of glory has arrived
Against us tyranny's
Bloody standard is raised
Listen to the sound in the fields
The howling of these fearsome soldiers
They are coming into our midst
To cut the throats of your sons and consorts

To arms citizens Form your battalions
March, march
Let the blood of the ruling classes
Water our furrows

What do they want this horde of slaves
Of traitors and conspiratorial kings?
For whom these vile chains
These long-prepared irons?
Englishmen, for us, ah! What outrage
What methods must be taken?
It is us they dare plan
To return to the old slavery!

What! These foreign cohorts!
They would make laws in our courts!
What! These mercenary phalanxes
Would cut down our warrior sons
Good Lord! By chained hands
Our brow would yield under the yoke
The vile despots would have themselves be
The masters of destiny

Tremble, tyrants and traitors
The shame of all good men
Tremble! Your parricidal schemes
Will receive their just reward
Against you we are all soldiers
If they fall, our young heros
England will bear new ones
Ready to join the fight against you

Englishmen, as magnanimous warriors
Bear or hold back your blows
Spare these sad victims
That they regret taking up arms against us
But not these bloody despots
These accomplices of Bullingdon
All these tigers who pitilessly
Ripped out their mothers' wombs

We too shall enlist
When our elders' time has come
To add to the list of deeds
Inscribed upon their tombs
We are much less jealous of surviving them
Than of sharing their coffins
We shall have the sublime pride
Of avenging or joining them

Drive on sacred patriotism
Support our avenging arms
Liberty, cherished liberty
Join the struggle with your defenders
Under our flags, let victory
Hurry to your manly tone
So that in death your enemies
See your triumph and our glory!

;-)

The most popular national anthem for England would be "Jerusalem" followed by "Land of Hope and Glory".

52% in a recent poll voted for Jerusalem, if "God Save the Queen" was discontinued. Whatever is decided, I hope sports stars ( eg Wayne Rooney, Sam Warburton) bother to learn the words of their National Anthems - currently God Save the Queen and Hen Wlad fy Nhadau (Land of my Fathers).

Personally, I would much prefer England to keep "God Save the Queen". The sad and uninspired faces of their players as they line up to face Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France and Italy in the "Six Nations" is in stark contrast to the emotion of all the other anthems. :-D :-D

Not bothered about flying English flag, although I like to see the union flag on special occasions.

St George isn't even a "proper" saint like the other patron saints. I don't believe in dragons.

I agree with Rollo, I'd like a new anthem. The current one is a bit of s dirge and "I vow etc" even more so - plus it's too long.

I'd like a shorter one with no mention of religion or god, something all citizens could relate to. And a decent rousing tune like the French one.

The current anthem has the unbeatable advantage of being short.
It is also accurate. Queen Elizabeth II is Queen of England.

Another advantage is that the singer does not have to swallow down a lot of tosh he/she may well not believe in or at least not very much.

If England must have its own anthem ( why ? ) then "London Calling" from the Clash would be a but nearer to reality than mawkish anthems beloved in Grantham and Kensington.

Roy. You suggestions of an English national anthem seem very good. "I vow to thee" was a favourite of Maggie and I think would cause a few damp tears at a rugby match. Currently, the English team are on a loser before they even start playing.

Thanks for the info Rollo. I wondered what became of her, last time I crossed swords with her was in Derby.

She doesn't appear to live by her own beliefs!!
First sentance from Rollo's link:

"You don't lay your history aside because it is what shaped you," this week's myPod guest reveals, "but you find out the truths which transcend them."

yes

http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/music-Councillor-Eleanor-Jackson/story-15658203-detail/story.html

Porkie Pie - is the Councillor Eleanor Jackson you mention, the same one who was a lecturer in Religious Studies at Derby University about 10 years ago?

The flying of flags from buildings and houses in England has never been much practiced and there is little regulation. Radstock ( a grotty former mining town nr Bath ) can choose what it wants to fly on council buildings, other people can fly what they want whether the council likes it or not.

The local vicar can fly St George's flag on 23 April and any other day if he so wishes regardless of buffoons on the local council. Again the decisions about flying flags from schools are made by the head teacher and the governors, not the local district or county or parish council.

The only flags which may not be flown from civilian buildings are military ensigns and flags royal e.g. the Queen's Standard.

The phrase p-g in the wind comes to mind.

Seen nr Radstock
https://sites.google.com/site/chewvalleycountryfarm/gallery

The EU does demand that all public buildings in the UK for councils which receive EU funding ( including UK money sent to Brusseks and then sent back again less expenses ) should display the EU flag. This regulation is widely ignored for reasons of Elf n Safety and as a result the UK pays an annual fine.

It is illegal to have any flag on your car number plate other than the EU flag. No flag at all is ok. If you are traveling abroad and do not have the EU flag on the number plate then a black n white "GB" sticker must be displayed. It is far from unknown for the French police to stop vehicles and levy on the spot fines for any pretext. St George flags on number plates is one of them. Only £ 50 ho hum.

The notion of national flags is not really a part of Islamic culture where most people see themselves as Islamic first and Iraqi, Algerian etc a poor second so I doubt if most muslims care a flying duck what flag is flown on a building excepting blue 6 point stars. Insofar as they are aware of a western occupation the British and French occupations 1917-1948 are rather better remembered than the crusades.

John, its only a minority of English "hypocrites" loony lefties who are not proud of our country or our national flag the vast majority are very proud, Ask any Englishman or woman who have served this country what they think,

For me the English national anthem should be, I vow to thee my country or Land of Hope and Glory

Roy

I think it is about time the English has a national flag that they are proud of. When they play rugby and football now, they seem to arrive with a mixture of unionist flags (which are often also the flags of their opponents if they are playing Scotland or Wales) and St George flags. And they seem to have difficulty deciding on an English national anthem also.

Why let BNP monopolise the St George flag? Wasn't St George an early immigrant to England anyway :-S

Councillor Eleanor Jackson has a Surgery Coffee morning at Radstock Methodist Church Hall every Saturday 11.00-11.30

That will be interesting :-D If she turns up

Roy

The flag of St George will not be flying over Radstock any time soon after town councillors decided it was inappropriate.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/348493/british-town-radstock-elects-not-fly-st-georges-flag-because-its-offensive-some

Is this not playing into the hands of UKIP? I read on FB that the locals where planning a protest against this move by the local labour council today

Roy