Civilisation of the British Isles

Leading Questions

• Who are the British?
  • Who are the English, the Scots, the Welsh?
• What is Britain?
• What are the national symbols / songs / icons?

Geography and Politics: Britain

• Geographical term: The 'British Isles' consist of two major islands:
  • Great Britain
  • Ireland
• Political term: 2 nation states on the 'British Isles':
  • The Republic of Ireland, Eire (informally: Ireland, the Republic; poetic: Erin, female personification)
  • The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (also: Great Britain, the United Kingdom; poetic: Albion)
    • Britain as political term: since the early 17th century, usage propagated after the Union of the Crowns (1603), political reality since 1707

Geography - Insularity

• Geographical Factors
  • Surrounded by Atlantic Ocean, North Sea, and Irish Sea
  • No place in the Isles is further than 75 miles (ca. 120 km) from the sea
• Psychological Factors
  • Insularity and British identity
  • Insularity and British history
• Shakespeare, Richard II, II.1:
  > This royal throne of kings, this scepter’d isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, This other Eden, demi-paradise, This fortress built by Nature for herself. Against infection and the hand of war, This happy breed of men, this little world, This precious stone set in the silver sea, Which serves it in the office of a wall, Or as a moat defensive to a house, Against the envy of less happier lands, This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.

Geography – Britain and Her Neighbours

• Britain and the Continent
  • Distance Dover – Calais: 22 miles (ca. 35 km) across the English Channel / the Strait of Dover
  • Successive invasions from Europe
  • Norman kings have interests on the continent, too
  • ‘Splendid Isolation’ (late 19th century), ‘Balance of Power’ (16th century onwards)
  • Britain and the EU
• Britain and the US
  • The ‘special relationship’
• Britain and Ireland
  • Attempts at conquering and ruling Ireland
  • Ireland as first colony and colonial training ground
  • Fear of invasion starting from Ireland
  • A divided island (since Irish independence)

Geography – The Political Divisions

• The United Kingdom: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland
• Special status of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands (self-governing Crown Dependencies, own legislature, tax and legal system, not part of the UK)
• Overseas territories: e.g., St Helena, Falklands, Gibraltar (not part of UK, mostly own internal government, but not independent)

Political Bodies

• The Commonwealth of Nations
  • Organisation mostly of former colonies, now independent states
  • United by shared history, language, and culture
  • Accept Charles III as Head of Commonwealth (in several states, he is also Head of State)
  • 56 member states

Trends within the Commonwealth

• Question of succession discussed; an elected head of the Commonwealth?
• Barbados: became a republic in 2022
• Charles III no longer on Australian bank notes
• Brexit and “Empire 2.0”

Geography – Regional Divisions

• The South East (‘commuter land’, most densely populated area in UK, little heavy industry, dominance of trade)
• South West / West country (image of rural beauty, popular holiday area, ‛English Riviera’, famous dairy products)
• East Anglia (rural, flat, much arable farming, Fens: claimed from sea)
• The Midlands (heavily industrialised area, large towns, e.g. Birmingham, heavy industries and potteries) ‛The Black Country’ (area in the Midlands)
• Northern England
  • deposits of coal → Industrial Revolution
  • large towns, e.g. Manchester (formerly famous for cotton goods), Liverpool (formerly large seaport, big in slave trade), Sheffield (steel), Newcastle (shipping industry)
  • heavy decline in second half 20th c.
  • away from industrial areas: sparsely populated, e.g. Lake District

The North-South Divide

• Stereotypes and prejudices
  • South as place of rural beauty vs. industrialised North
  • Southerners as ‛posh’, Northerners as honest, hard-working people
• Reality of the North-South Divide

Geography – Further Divisions

• The counties, e.g.
  • Kent
  • Cornwall
  • Yorkshire
  • Wiltshire
  • Devon
• Historical origin, some go back to Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, later: administrative function

Impressions of…

• Kent (‛the garden of England’)
  • Canterbury Cathedral (seat of the most senior Archbishop)
  • White Cliffs of Dover
• Cornwall
  • Land’s End
  • St Michael’s Mount
  • Rosamunde Pilcher Country
  • formerly: popular with smugglers
  • tin mining
  • dairy products
• Yorkshire
  • York Minster
  • Setting of Wuthering Heights
  • Wild moors and countryside
• Wiltshire
  • Stonehenge
  • Salisbury Cathedral by John Constable (English Romantic painter 1776-1837)
• Norfolk in East Anglia
  • Norwich
  • The Broads (flooded peat workings)

Geography – Physical Features

• England (population ca. 50 mill, ca. 130,000 sq. km)
  • Mainly flat lowland countryside, dominated by enclosed meadows (esp. south and west) and fields (esp. east)
  • low hills: e.g. North Yorkshire Moors, Cotswolds
  • Highland zones:
    • Western Highlands (Dartmoor, Exmoor)
    • north-western mountain region: e.g. Northern Highlands (Lake District and Cumbrian Mountains), and Pennines
  • Concentration of population:
    • London (20% of UK population) and south-east,
    • West Midlands (Birmingham),
    • Yorkshire cities (Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield)
    • north-western industrial area (Liverpool and Manchester)
• Wales (population ca. 3 mill, ca. 20,000 sq. km)
  • Mainly highland country with moorland plateau, hills, and mountains with deep valleys
  • highest mountain: Snowdon (1,085 m)
  • Small lowland coastal belt and low river valleys in south Wales are also chief areas of settlement (Cardiff, Swansea, Newport).
  • Capital: Cardiff
• Scotland (ca. 77,000 sq. km, population ca. 5 mill)
  • Largely mountainous country (90%)
  • Southern Uplands, border country
  • Central Lowlands: the Midland Valley contains \frac{3}{4} of Scottish population, including Edinburgh (capital) and Glasgow
  • Northern Highlands, highest mountain: Ben Nevis (1343 m), famous lake: Loch Ness
  • Islands: Hebrides, Shetlands, and Orkneys
• Northern Ireland (population ca. 1.7 mill, ca. 13,500 sq. km)
  • Smallest distance to the Scottish coast: 21 km → migration
  • South: central fertile plain
  • Mountainous areas in west, north-east, south-east
  • Dominantly rural country; largest city and capital: Belfast

Britain – The Climate

• Mainly temperate climate (influence of Gulf stream) → influence on clothing and houses
• West: oceanic climate, North: cooler; East: drier
• little frost or snow
• Weather as a national institution: rain and the British weather

Britain – Farming and Forestry

• Only 10% of Britain is woodlands; the few extensive forest areas include the New Forest in Hampshire and Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire
• Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Northern and South-West England: dominance of dairy farming, beef cattle, and sheep herds
• Southern and Eastern England and Eastern Scotland: arable crops

British Rivers

• E.g.
  • Severn (220 miles = ~350 km)
  • Thames (215 miles = ~345 km)
  • Trent (185 miles = ~300 km)

Britain: The People

• ‘Englishness’ vs. ‘Britishness’ – terms and uses
• Historical dominance of ‘Englishness’
• Wales: conquest by England since 13th c.; 1284 Statue of Wales → under control of English monarchy
• Scotland: Union of the Crowns since 1603; 1707 Act of Union
• (Northern) Ireland: beginning of English dominance in 12th c.; Ulster Plantations start 1607; after prolonged struggle: independence of Irish Republic in 1922; Northern Ireland remained with the United Kingdom

Britain: The People

• Devolution: Parliament in Edinburgh (1998), Assemblies in Belfast (1998) and Cardiff (1998)
• 2020: The Welsh Assembly became the Welsh Parliament
• Scottish Referendum in 2014 (55.3 % against Scottish independence)

The English

• Flag: St George’s Cross
• National Plant: rose
• Emblem: lion
• Patron Saint: St George (23^{rd} April, Shakespeare’s birthday!)

The Welsh

• Languages spoken: English and Welsh (19%)
• Flag: Dragon of Cadwallader
• National Plant: leek / daffodil
• Emblem: dragon
• National Saint: St David (30 November)
• ‛Typical’ Welsh names: Lloyd, Jones

Wales – National Anthem

• Land of my Fathers

The Scottish

• Languages spoken: English, Scots (ca. 30%), Scottish Gaelic (1%)
• Flag: St Andrew’s Cross
• National Plant: thistle
• Emblem: unicorn
• National Saint: St Andrew
• ‛Typical’ names: ‛Mc-’, ‛Mac-’
• Church of Scotland

Scotland – The National Anthem

• Flower of Scotland

The Irish

• Languages Spoken: English, Irish Gaelic (ca 3% native speakers in Republic)
• Flag (formerly!): St Patrick’s Cross, today: tricolour
• National Plant: Shamrock
• National Saint: St Patrick (17^{th} March)
• ‛Typical’ names: ‛O’- ’

Great Britain – the Flag and the Royal Coat of Arms

Great Britain – National Anthem

• God save our gracious King!

What is the English National Anthem?

• Land of Hope and Glory
  *Jerusalem
  *Rule Britannia

Last Night of the Proms

• Last in a series of summer concerts
• Takes place at Royal Albert Hall
• Starts with popular classics followed by patriotic music

Holidays and Days of Celebration

• Christmas Day (Dec 25)
• Boxing Day (Dec 26)
• Easter, Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day)
• Bonfire Night (Nov 5)
• Remembrance Day (originally 11 November; now moved to Remembrance Sunday)
• Hogmanay (Scottish New Year)
• Diwali, Hanukkah

Famous Britons

• Winston Churchill (British Prime Minister during WWII)
• Elizabeth I (Tudor queen)
• Charles Darwin (Victorian naturalist, formulated evolutionary theory)
• James Watt (18th/19th century, inventor of steam engine)
• Alan Turing (20th-century mathematician, inventor of Turing engine)
• Isaac Newton (English mathematician and physicist)

Summary

• Geography and its influence
• Regional varieties and identities
• Symbols of different countries
• Problems of Englishness