Britain: The Nation

Lying off the north-west coast of Europe, there are two large islands and several much smaller ones. Collectively, they are known as The British Isles. The largest island is called Great Britain. The other large one is called Ireland. In the British Isles there are two states. One of these governs most of the island of Ireland. This state is usually called The Republic of Ireland. It is also called 'Eire' (its Irish language name). Informally it is referred to as just ' Ireland or 'the Republic. The other state has authority over the rest of the British Isles (the whole of Great Britain, the northeastern area of Ireland and most of the smaller islands). Its official name is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

There are two small parts of the British Isles which have special political arrangements. These 'Crown dependencies' are the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Each has complete internal self government, including its own Parliament and its own tax system. Both are 'ruled' by a Lieutenant Governor appointed by the British government.

Albion is a word used in some poetic or rhetorical contexts to refer to England . It was the original Roman name for Britain. It may come from the Latin word albus, meaning 'white'. The white chalk cliffs around Dover on the south coast are the first pan of England to be seen when crossing the sea from the European mainland.

Britannia is the name that the Romans gave to their southern British province (which covered, approximately, the area of present-day England ). It is also the name given to the female embodiment of Britain, always shoe....n wearing a helmet and holding a trident (the symbol of power over the sea), hence the patriotic song which beg ins 'Rule Britannia, Britannia rule the waves'. The figure of Britannia has been on the reverse side of many British coins for more than 300 years.

People often refer to Britain by another name. They call it 'England'. But this is not strictly correct, and it can make some people angry. England is only one of the four nations of the British Isles (England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland). Their political unification was a gradual process that took several hundred years (see chapter 2). It was completed in 1800 when the Irish Parliament was joined with the Parliament for England, Scotland and Wales in Westminster, so that the whole of the British Isles became a single state - the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. However, in 1922, most of Ireland became a separate state.

  

The people in Ireland, Wales and highland Scotland belonged to the Celtic race; those in England and lowland Scotland were mainly of Germanic origin. This difference was reflected in the languages they spoke. People in the Celtic areas spoke Celtic languages: Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic and Welsh. People in the Germanic areas spoke Germanic dialects (including the one which has developed in to modern English). The nations also tended to have different economic, social and legal systems. Today these differences have become blurred. But they have not completely disappeared. Although there is only one government for the whole of Britain, and people have the same passport regardless of where in Britain they live, some aspects of government are organized separately (and sometimes differently) in the four parts of the United Kingdom. Moreover, Welsh, Scottish and Irish people feel their identity very strongly.

  

The prefix 'Mac' or 'Me' in surnames (such as McCall, MacCarthy, MacDonald) is always either Scottish or Irish. The prefix'0' (as in O'Brien, O'Hara) is distinctly Irish. Avery large number of surnames (for example, Davis, Evans, Jones, Lloyd, Morgan, Price, Rees. Williams) suggest Welsh origin (although many of these are found throughout England). The most common surname in both England and Scotland is actually 'Smith'. First names can also be indicative. The Scottish form of 'John' is ' Ian' and its Irish form is 'Sean' (although all three names are common throughout Britain). There are also nicknames for Scottish, Irish and Welsh men. For example, an English, Welsh or Irish person might refer to and address a Scottish friend as 'Jock', whatever his first name is. Irishmen are called 'Paddy ' or 'Mick' and Welshmen are known as 'Dai' or 'Taffy'. If the person is not a friend the nickname can sound  rather insulting.

  

Briton is a word used in official contexts and in formal writing to describe a citizen of the United Kingdom. 'Ancient Britons' is the name given to the race of people who lived in England before and during (he Roman occupation (AD 43-410) . These are the ancestors of the present-day Welsh people. Caledonia, Cambria and Hibernia were the Roman names for Scotland, Wales and, Ireland respectively. The words are commonly used today in scholarly classifications (for example, the type of English used in Ireland is sometimes called ' Hibcrno-English ') and for the names of organizations (for example, the airline 'British Caledonian '). Erin is a poetic name for Ireland. 'The Emerald Isle' is another way of referring to Ireland, evoking the lush greenery of its countryside.

There is, perhaps, an excuse for people who use the word 'England' when they mean 'Britain', It cannot be denied that the dominant culture of Britain today is specifically English. The system of politics that is used in all four nations today is of English origin, and English is the main language of all four nations. Many aspects of everyday life are organized according to English custom and practice. But the political unification of Britain was not achieved by mutual agreement.

The Union Jack is the national flag of the UK. It is a combination of the cross of St George, the cross of St.Andrew and the cross of St.Patrick

There has been a long history of migration from Scotland, Wales and Ireland to England. As a result there are millions of people who live in England but who would never describe themselves as English. They may have lived in England all their lives, but as far as they are concerned they are Scottish or Welsh or Irish - even if, in the last case, they are citizens of Britain and not of Eire.

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