General Chat

Above words from the BLACK new Archbishop of York. Says that English are embarassed to do that. He said we should celebrate St Georges day to rediscover our true national identity. Isn,t it marvellous that no english politician feels able to stand up and say what 90% of us feel. Takes a churchman to do it. Suppose they are all frightened to be accused of being national front sympathisers. All rather sad in my opinion., as is the nearly ban on flying St Geos flag Happy days

i think st georges day should be celebrated, and im welsh, i dont even know why people on tv will wear shamrocks and daffodils but dont wear a rose

I proudly fly my English flag on appropriate occasions, but I must confess that I do not remember when St George's Day is. I have to be reminded about birthdays too, so it's not a lack of pariotism.

Hi Gandpa, St Georges day is the same day as Shakespears birthday, my wedding anniversary & my grandsons birthday ----------------------------- April 23rd------------------------

I think it's all a load of hooey. We've never celebrated St George's Day have we? Why start just cos we feel we're missing out? Linen Lady - sorry to be pedantic but no-one knows when Shakespeare's birthday was - it's just a guess based on his baptism date:)

OK David, if you want to be pedantic, there is a certain birthday coming up pretty soon that is probably way off the mark but it doesn't stop millions of people celebrating it every year. Vivienne

lol Vivienne - point taken:))

Vivienne, Its my daughter's birthday too, my friend a big fan of Shakespeare, was so excited that Gaynor was born on his birthday. So we always toast Gaynor, William Shakespeare and St Georges Day. June xx

June I was thrilled when Charlie was born on the anniversary of the happiest day of my life. I think of him as an anniversary present from my husband who died five years earlier. Vivienne

The English should celebrate StGeorges day, of course we should, give me one good reason why we shouldnt, we have as much right to celerbrate and be patriotic as any other country in the UK . Fly your flag for England and be proud.

we dont want to upset all the foreign nationals living here now do we

There'll always be an England.............. :-)

Let's try to keep 23rd April threads at the front, if at all possible ? For England, St George, for William Shakespeare :-)

Fred, the bnp use the union flag not the st. georges flag, they use the union flag because they represent the british isles, as opposed to just england.

I'm proud to be English and feel annoyed that our flag is so often said to be a racist symbol. I'll be flying my flag tomorrow and wearing my St George badge. Here's to St George and England!

My husband and his friends celebrate every year- this weekend they have gone off to Yorkshire. they always visit a brewery and celebrate fine English ales too..............maybe st georges day is just their excuse............ *goes away to ponder

I seem to recall reading somewhere that st. george is turkish, could someone elaborate on this please.

from http://www.salisbury.gov.uk/leisure/arts-and-entertainment/st-george.htm ''From medieval times to the present day, Salisbury has a proud history of celebrating St George's Day in style. To celebrate St George's Day is to celebrate our Englishness: the history, culture and heritage that has created our nation. And where better to celebrate this on April 23rd than in one of England's most historic cities. So who was St George? The life of England's patron saint is shrouded in legend – so much so that fact has merged with fiction. But St George was initially promoted to patron saint in 1061, when a church in Doncaster was dedicated to him. Our first literary reference to him in history comes from the Anglo-Saxon prose writer, Aelfric, who reveres him in his Lives of the Saints (c.1000). George also appears in the Golden Legends, an English translation of Jacobus de Voragine's Saint's Lives published by Caxton in 1483. Enter the dragon 1 The story we know today of Saint George and the Dragon dates from the troubadours of the 14th century. In the story, a dragon is terrorising the villages near Silena, in Libya. Lots are drawn in local villages, and maidens fed to the dragon to keep the peace. Saint George kills the dragon with a single blow from his lance, and then converted the locals to Christianity. As well as being patron saint of England, St George was also adopted as the Saint of Battles. This was partly because he was a soldier, but also because he is said to have appeared to the Christian army before the Battle of Antioch. He is also said to have appeared to King Richard I (the Lionheart) during his Crusade against the Saracens. Harry, England and St George In 1222 the Council of Oxford appointed April 23rd as St. George's feast day. Then later, Edward III formed the Order of the Garter in St. George's name in 1350. The cult of the saint was further advanced by Shakespeare in Henry V. Shakespeare gives Henry an unforgettable speech before he leads his troops into battle at Agincourt. 'Cry God for Harry, England and St George!' And in that year, St George was named England's patron saint. Of course, St George is also a popular figure outside England. In fact he is the patron saint of Portugal, Catalonia, Venice and Genoa.''

Tommy No-one knows for sure where he came from but he was believed to have been martyred in the Palestine. He certainly had nothing to do with England:)

Wouldn,t like to be seen as a radical (I have two nationalistic threads going). This one was posted in November and has been resurrected - not that I mind. Happy days