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The English Riveria, Clotted Cream by the Sea, A Place No English Man has gone before, |
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There was a time when the English knew how to pass their days without disturbing other's ways. Nevermind the fact that the proprietors of Stonehenge were Germanic, these fellows lived on English soil in the lush (then) forests of Wiltshire. Generally a peaceful people, they donated many generations of labour towards the construction of a celestial centerpiece--a sort of mapping of planetary and astrial coordinates and movements. This tribe of Britons was very self-sufficient and innovative in their agricultural vocations and rock moving avocations. Many years later, the Normans, Saxons, Picts, Celts, Vikings, and the Romans would pour into the British Isles. Roman rule set an example for the distant ancestry that would become imperialists hundreds of years later. By force, the Romans attempted to establish a secure government for the British Isles, but tribal invasion and pesky Picts and Celts led to the evacuation of Roman officials. And from there, the various tribes blended together and the English were born.
Beginning in the 11th Century, England saw its first monarch and the long distinguishing royal lineage of abdictions, beheadings, controversial family matters, and even death by a pazzaratzi began. Under the royal family, the Engilsh crafted an identity of a proud, defensive, internalising people who stress appearances and pick at structure and order. Despite the vulnerability of the British Isles, the English managed to develop their culture without much outside influence. The evidence is in the England of the 18th Century to today. Apart from rivalry between French and English royality, the two countries are closest in proximity yet furthest from each other in respect to social attitudes and cultural identity. It might not be absurd to contend that, in the way of social attitudes, India is a closer mindmate to Britain than France. |
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Where the English once stuck their conquests to the far reaches of the universe, and mapped them in the form of Stonehenge, their stakes took them time and time again to neighbours on the Island. The proud English forced their culture on unsuspecting people all over the globe for centuries. Now they're selling their social trademarks on tourist shoppe shelves..
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England internalised its ways until, by the 16th Century, it had developed a governmental system like no other in the world for its time. The Bill of Rights, presented to William and Mary, established a constitutional monarchy, or a parliament elected by the people (however controlled by a small noble minority). The English stewed on their own until they had developed their own religion, the Anglican church, their own form of leisurely entertainment, rounders, and their own empire, beginning with America. |
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Anyone for a game of Rounders? |
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With their national identity mature, a reasonably healthy government, and a formidable naval force, the English were ready to let down their defenses enough to go out and kick some "savage" ass. Litle beknowest to the Jacks, and other European nations on previous expeditions, these 'savages' were ordinary people with the same hold on a cultural identity and way of life that any European could endear. Sadly, progress in the 18th and 19th Centuries wasn't the erection of a shopping mall, as charters and warships invaded natives' lands to conquer and import both English attitudes and a new way of life. We must remember that Ireland, Scotland, and Wales were uncomfortably united with London in the Georgian and Victorian eras concerned. English attrition in these adjoining nations obligated its people to serve in the conquests of foreign lands. |
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The English are to blame and in a significant way they're not. English imperialism into new worlds came about through economic ventures. The East India Company was purely a matter of financial exploitation. All peoples and nations have fought for economic gain in some degree. England can't be singled out for their share of trouble. Although untrue, it would make the concept of English imperialism more interesting to suggest that the conquests were an attempt to avenge medieval heartache caused by repeated invasion and failed attempts such as the Spanish Armada.
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In its expansive doings, one way in which England exported its cultural identity was in the form of its appreciation for simple, harmless pleasures. I'm afraid that, in essence, the best example afforded can only be clotted cream. An Englishman will tell you that the "loveliest" of this product is its own industry in Devonshire. I went there, and not for its clotted cream mind you, but, to take part in a working holiday on truely beautiful beaches. Afforded as the "English Riveria," again, another attempt at French rivalry, one might lose touch with their location in geographical respects. Could this be the Mediterranean? Greece? Knowing that my week of warm sun and blue sky is even a rare occurrence on this Riveria, I took full advantage of the splendid weather while I passed the days with a group tallying and disposing of rubbish washed ashore. |
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Paradise in England? |
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During our tea breaks where....tea was served, we might wander around in search of a quiet nook in the jagged rocks along the shore for sunbathing or stumble upon rather inhospitable cows. These specimens growled at us when we threatened to invade their privacy....they must be English!
Perhaps I have put the English in a bad light; I don't mean to do so unfairly. England is a wondeful country, populated by sincere, gentle folk, and, yet, it is difficult to imagine a people gentle in light of the turmoil that they have created within their monarchy and across borders and societies the world over. It is a common misconception that English men are soft and its society overly posh and uptight. The fact is that, on a whole, the English working class maybe one of the hardest working forces in the Industrialised Western world. |
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And when the hard working careerspeople have had enough of pay labour, they may choose to take holiday in a dorky, if not chilly, beachside "resort" town, or they might decide to work on their holiday in a volunteering scheme. I am most familiar with those for which I have been a part of. One who goes on a BTCV (British Trust for Conservation Volunteers) working holiday will know that its not all work and no play. Leisure during the holiday might involve a fine evening drinking at the pub, followed by a flour fight, and "strip spoons." The English youth have a preverse way of developing rather risque table games for which early evenings at the "local" might enhance. And despite opinions that English forms of leisure and recreation are either boring or down right "horrid (I've heard the same opinion of the food from foreigners)," it can be safely stated that people with those opinions are altogether more stubborn and tighter than the English to see the humour and enjoyment in life's simple pleasures. The English have imagination, and the unique ability to occupy themselves productively in some of the most trying situations.
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By far, reading and walking characterise both the rural and urban choice of English activity. In all of their conquests around the world, the English have chartered their own footpaths and slate sidewalks on a much grander scale than any expedition to the Far East. Following a vigorous four mile hike past the crematorium, or along a nationally registered footpath, a proper English chap might settle down to a good cup of tea. This Eastern import truly is a national staple, and not an overblown stereotype. However, a staple is a standard, and black tea, as opposed to Orange Pekoe or Green Leaf or Rasberry Lemon Twist, is the only choice of the genuine working class. In Devonshire, clotted cream on scones, or a comparable biscuit, makes for a soothing compliment to tea and (more) cream. As I sat eating this treat with my working holiday colleagues in the courtyard of a seaside 'resort' hotel, overlooking the pristine blue waters of the 'English Riveria,' I thought back to something one of my English colleagues told me earlier in the working week. |
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Passing time: Throwing stones at stones |
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He said, in an accent particular to Birmingham, "you're lucky to have seen this part of our country." "I'm 62 years old and I've never been here before." It is beautiful, South Devon. It's a region vitually untouched by the outside world. Only in one instance did I see evidence that loud foreigners had been through the place when a restaurant warned patrons that "(they) were out of nachos."
Devon...., England, they fit into a neat little puzzle that completes a quagmire of a picture. ....a land with so much history brought about by its own people, an island surrounded by former political enemies and thriving economic foes. |
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England is a wonderful, peculiar place. A land of mysticism and two hour specials on sedimentary sealife, a people as friendly and mindful as can be, and still unnerved and selfish enough to forego the niceties and strip peoples of their own identities and pride.
English pride--it lives on. Visit a pub and talk to the locals over a football match......you'll feel it. |
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Cathedral at Salisbury |
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Return Home |
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| Pink background: In memory of the War of the Roses |
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