BombTaxi
Tech Sergeant
Further to Terry's post, I think folks from over the pond sometimes fail to appreciate just how long the inhabitants of the rocks known as the UK have spent fighting each other over who gets to live where, and how this has shaped national identity. The Scots and the various occupants of modern-day England have fought each other since pre-Roman times, and this only ended in 1746, 40 years after England and Scotland were legally bound together and 143 years after a Scottish king first assumed the English throne (although by 1746 the Royals were the Hanoverian ancestors of the German mob we currently have on the throne!) Scotland still remains part of the UK, although in recent years, calls for Scottish independence have, IMHO, become louder and more frequent.
Wales was officially incorporated into England between 1535 and 1542, although there had been fighting and castle-building in the area for around 5 centuries beforehand. Wales eventually emerged from English domination between 1881 and 1999, at which time it gained a semi-devolved parliament of it's own.
Northern Ireland (and Ireland as a whole) has had a violent and well-documented past with England since at least the 15th century, with serious efforts at colonisation made in the 16th, which can be seen as the earliest origins of the violence which has ended in the past decade.
All three of these major constituents of the UK have active nationalist political parties, and movements which promote the use of the distinctive languages of the regions. They also, at some point, have also given rise to groups which have engaged in terrorist activity against the English government and it's representatives. Cornwall also has similar movements, which have been know to resort to terrorist activity, the last being just a few years ago.
So, you can see how folks who aren't 'English' in the strict sense take offense at being called English. And conversely, there is a strong popular streak of English nationalism which tends to the opinion that England should separate itself from it's island neighbours and rule only itself. So we're quite an argumentative lot on these islands when it comes to our nationality...
Wales was officially incorporated into England between 1535 and 1542, although there had been fighting and castle-building in the area for around 5 centuries beforehand. Wales eventually emerged from English domination between 1881 and 1999, at which time it gained a semi-devolved parliament of it's own.
Northern Ireland (and Ireland as a whole) has had a violent and well-documented past with England since at least the 15th century, with serious efforts at colonisation made in the 16th, which can be seen as the earliest origins of the violence which has ended in the past decade.
All three of these major constituents of the UK have active nationalist political parties, and movements which promote the use of the distinctive languages of the regions. They also, at some point, have also given rise to groups which have engaged in terrorist activity against the English government and it's representatives. Cornwall also has similar movements, which have been know to resort to terrorist activity, the last being just a few years ago.
So, you can see how folks who aren't 'English' in the strict sense take offense at being called English. And conversely, there is a strong popular streak of English nationalism which tends to the opinion that England should separate itself from it's island neighbours and rule only itself. So we're quite an argumentative lot on these islands when it comes to our nationality...
many thanks
