An Introduction to England

Hello there! How do you do?

In this blog, I will be bringing you into the world of England and everything English. Some topics discussed includes the indigeneous groups, cultures, traditions, languages and more! I hope you will enjoy reading and will learn more about England after your journey here.

Note: References are right at the end.

To begin with, here is an overview of the background and some facts about England.



Map of England and other countries in Great Britain




Country Name: England

The name "England" is derived from the Old English name ‘Engla land’, which means "land of the Angles". The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages.



Flag of England





Country Flag:



Union Flag



Two common flags used are the Flag of England and the Union Flag (Flag of Great Britain).



The Union Flag was created with the Flag of England overlying the Flag of Scotland.









 

Location: Englad is located on the right side of Europe in the World Map. It is part of Great Britain and United Kingdom (UK). As it is an island, surrounding it are waters of the Irish Sea, North Sea and Atlantic Ocean.

Climate: As it is located in the proximity of the Atlantic Ocean, England has a temperate maritime climate. Temperatures are not much lower than 0 °C in winter and not much higher than 32 °C in summer. The weather is usually damp.

Coldest months are January and February, the latter particularly on the English coast, while July is normally the warmest month. Months with mild to warm weather with least rainfall are May, June, September and October.

Capital: London (the European Union's largest city with a population of 7 million).

Population: 51,446,000 (estimated in 2010) A majority of the English people are British citizens.

Ethnic Groups: Based on data in 2007, there are Whites (88.2%), Asian/Asian British (5.7%), Black/Black British (2.8%), Mixed (1.7%), Chinese including British Chinese (0.8%), Others (0.7%).

Indigenous Tribes: There were many native tribes in England in the past. However, few remain today. Some tribes include the earlier Britons (or Brythons), the Germanic tribes that settled in England such as Angles, Saxons and Jutes (who founded what was to become England from the Old English Englaland), Vikings and Normans.

The Votadini were a large tribe that spread from Scotland to England.

The Deceangli, the Ordovices and the Silures were the three main tribe groups who lived in the mountains of what is today called Wales.

Other Information:
The word ‘England’ is often confused with the words ‘Great Britain’ and ‘United Kingdom’.
Correctly speaking, Great Britain consists of England, Wales, Scotland and all offshore islands (e.g. Isle of Wight, the Isles of Scilly, the Hebrides, Orkney and Shetlands). United Kingdom consists of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

England’s healthcare system has been commended and studied by many countries, for example Singapore.

The London Heathrow Airport (LHR) has more international passenger traffic than any other airports in the world.

The indigenous group

Brief history of England

England was first inhabited by the Celtic people.

In 43 CE (Christian Era) after Julias Caesar, England was taken over by Roman rule over an evolving Romano-Celtic society.

By the the 5^th century, the Roman Empire started to decline. German tribes such as the Jutes, the Angles and the Saxons started invading and the indigenous Celtic people were at their mercy. England became a predominantly Anglo-Saxon society with the indigenous tribe threatened and pushed to the extremities in Cornwall, Wales and Scotland.

However, the 8^th century was when the Viking pirates from Scandinavia started appearing in England.

Finally in 1066, the last successful invasion of Britain took place by William, Duke of Normandy who defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings on the south coast of England. He became known as King William I.

England's indigenous group

The Celtic people were the first recorded indigenous group in England. Their original homeland was the east of Rhine. In about 300 BC during the Iron Age, they crossed the English Channel to England. As a result, the Iron Age was known as the Age of Celt in Britain. This was also because they were the people who brought iron working to the British Isles.

The Celts were a group of people loosely tied by the Celtic language, similar religion, and cultural expression. Records tell of how they were a tribe of great story-tellers, great drinkers and great fighters. They were not centrally governed, and liked to fight each other in combats. They were warriors, living for the glories of battle and plunder.



Indigeneous Celtic people in their chariots, holding spears



The Celtic people lived in huts of arched timber with walls of wicker and roofs of thatch. The huts were generally gathered in loose hamlets.  When they were not fighting, they were farmers. Other important interests they had were art in the form of tales and poems, and jewelry.




Celtic people during the time of Julius Caesar

 

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In today’s modern times, some of the Celts are now the Welsh people. The indigenous Celts have preserved their native language and culture for far longer in Cornwall that to this day, the Welsh of Wales still assert a distinct linguistic and cultural identity from the English Celtic people.

Most Celtic people today wear the Celtic symbols as a proud remembrance of their Celtic descent. These symbols have been passed down through the years and generation though tattooing.

More popular Celtic tattoo designs are the cross, tree, knots and animals.

The knot design features loops with no end. It symbolizes the never ending cycle of dying and rebirth which is in accordance to the Celtic traditions.




Celtic knot tattoo

 


Another Celtic knot tattoo



The animal designs are similar to the knot tattoos, although the cords in the design normally terminate in heads, tails, and feet.



Celtic animal tattoo



Elements of Celtic music, dance, and folklore can be found within England today(e.g. Yan Tan Tethera, Well dressing, Halloween).

An interesting point to know is that the Celtic culture is so strong and influential that some singers have sung songs about it. One example is The Celts, by Enya.

The Cultures in England

Culture is a multi-dimensional term that includes the tangibles and intangibles. In England’s culture, it is mainly their values and attitudes, art, cuisine, folklore, and music.

Values and Attitudes

Prominently, the English tend to view themselves as ‘superior’, exclusive and reserved. As they used to enjoy a rich history of royalty, the English people today still view themselves as rich and indulge in arts. Many would think of their poorer qualities such as being stubborn (‘bloody-minded’), impolite with each other and always seem to be grumbling about something. However, this is the way they live and interact. For example, no one will get offended when being treated impolitely.

In a way, the English tend to engage in self-deprecation, where they will criticize and laugh at oneself and one’s situation.  There is also a sense of irony in English culture, where the people often say what they do not mean. On top of that, there is a ‘pub-culture’ where the people are too fond of alcohol and spend much time in pubs. With the rising trend of materialism and selfishness in the English people, foreigners may think the English are not a very nice group of people.

However, bad points aside, the English actually love nature, creativity, harmony, language and wit. They are often very articulate and love literature. They are naturally curious, tolerant, fair, practical and self-sufficient. One thing for sure, there is a sense of trust and fair play among their community.



Art

Art has contributed largely to England’s culture. This is in the form of paintings, literature and theatre. Particularly famous would be William Shakespeare.



Landscape painting by artist John Constable

Cuisine

Since the early modern era, the food of England has historically been characterised by its simplicity of approach, honesty of flavour, and a reliance on the high quality of natural produce. England is also known for cheese, since it produced hundreds of regional cheese, including familiar names like cheddar cheese, cheshire cheese and blue cheese.

Tea and beer are typical and rather iconic drinks in England, particularly tea. For example, English tea is rather synonymous with England. In this video, it shows how people tend to commodify tea into being English.

Folklore

English folklore is the folk tradition that has evolved in England over the centuries. England abounds with folklore, in all forms. One good example are the Robin Hood tales.

Music

With such a rich history, England’s music culture goes a long way back to medieval times. England has definitely reached its peaks in terms of music in the past decades. Some particular ones to note are the Anglican Choral tradition and English folktunes.

However in today’s modern society, music still plays a part in English culture. Some famous musicians include The Beatles, the composing duo of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Queen and Pink Floyd. Leading contemporary artists include Elton John, The Spice Girls, Arctic Monkeys, Robbie Williams, Oasis, Radiohead, David Bowie, Coldplay and Muse.

Mode of Education and Language

Education
Education is an important part of English life. There are hundreds of schools, colleges and universities, including some of the most famous in the world.

Similar to the Ministry of Education in Singapore, England has the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to oversee England’s education.

Full-time education is free and compulsory for all children between the ages of 5 to 16. Some children are educated at home rather than in school. There are many different types of schools in England, for example preparatory school (commonly known as Prep School), secondary independent school (public school), boarding school (a school where most pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students), and etc.

Children's education in England is normally divided into 2 separate stages. They begin with primary education from 5 to 11 years old. Then they move to secondary school, where they stay until they reach 16, 17 or 18 years of age.

Core subjects include English, Mathematics and Science. Other subjects available are Art & Design, Citizenship, Design & Technology, Geography, History, Information & Communication Technology, Modern Foreign Languages, Music and Physical Education.

Students are required to wear a uniform to school in England. Most uniforms look similar, apart from different school logo and sometimes, colour. Some examples are shown below.

 

After 16, students may then continue their secondary studies for a further two years into the sixth form, leading most typically to an A level qualification. Further education includes going into the University and taking up the Bachelor’s Degree, Master’s Degree, Doctor of Philosophy and etc.

Language

Main languages spoken in England are British English, Welsh and French. It is important to note that British English is different from Australian English and American English, in terms to certain spelling, pronunciation, accent and slang.

Other languages include those of the immigrants of England, for example Italian (population of 200,000 people), Eastern Panjabi (471,000 people), Tagalog (74,000 people), Vietnamese (22,000 people), Japanese (12,000 people), and Chinese (300,000 people). For the full listing, you may visit this site: http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=gb.

England also has the British Sign Language that is widely used, and various dialects.



What is England known for?

England is known for many things! Think about it now... What do you immediately think of when people say 'England'?

Would it be...

Did you think of the above? If you did, that is because those are what England is known for!

Well, here is a small list on what England means to many people.

1. English accent - This can only be found by people in Great Britain, particularly England. Many identify the accent with the country as it is a very distinguished difference between England and the rest of the English-speaking nations. It is so popular that many people are trying to learn it for various purposes. In fact, there are many people on YouTube putting up videos of themselves teaching the accent.

2. London - England is particularly known for its capital. This is because London has been used in positioning in tourism advertisements to market England. London has always been thought of as a busy metrapolis, where business, cuisine, fashion and modernisation all come together. Particularly, most people would think of the London Bridge. One reason could be that it was made famous through the nursery rhyme 'London Bridge is falling down'.

3. Harry Potter & J.K. Rowling - England is known for producing the movie saga Harry Potter and the author of the book series, J. K. Rowling.  Being a huge success, Harry Potter was able to expose England's culture, accent and education to a worldwide audience.

4. Manchester United - Football has been described as the 'new religion' because of Manchester United which involves its players earning big money in this multimillion-pound clubs of the Premier Division. For many, when they think of the English Premier Leauge and England football, they think of Manchester United. Many call it the 'theatre of dreams' as it is basically everyone's dream to be able to play with the team and earn big money.


5. Fashion & Shopping - England is known for fashion and shopping, mainly because of London. The capital is actively involved in fashion, for example the annually anticipated London Fashion Week. In addition, major magazines such as Vogue UK makes London one of the fashion capitals in the world. Also, Britain's high-street brand TopShop has made England a shopping destination

6. William Shakespeare - When people think of England, they think of literature and theatre because of William Shakespeare. His works are so well-known and encouraged in schools across the globe that he has almost become a household name. Examples of famous works are Romeo & Juliet, MacBeth and Merchant of Venice.

Tourism and its effects on England

Disneyization

Disneyization is a globalisation force. It consists of four dimensions, namely theming, merchandising, performative labour and hybrid consumption.

In England, the main 'Disney' is the arts industry. This is because the arts industry is world-class and highly developed. To cater to the increased tourism demand and marketing of this aspect for England, it has to be Disneyized. For example, the Opera Theatres have themes added to them, although the themes do not really have anything to do with the performing arts.

Another example is people tend to buy artworks that have been mass-made for tourist buying purposes as souvenirs. As such, this is a form of merchandising England and commodifying its culture.

In England, tourism is not a culprit in commodifying cultures, to a certain extent. This is because england still remains rooted to its cultures and traditions. However, tourism still has some effects on England's culture. Such as, the changes in the music. It used to be English folklore tunes and contemporary music. However the past few decades have seen an emergence of rock music, of which has been influenced by American culture.

References

Books

A quick guide to customs & etiquette Britain, by Paul Norbury

1000 things to do in London, by TimeOut.com

Insight Guides by Andrew Eames

Online websites

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/british_prehistory/iron_01.shtml

http://www.2020site.org/fun-facts/Fun-Facts-About-England.html

http://www.britainexpress.com/History/Celtic_Britain.htm

http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=aa84

http://ezinearticles.com/?History-and-Meaning-of-Celtic-Tattoos&id=4735200

http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=gb

http://www.essentially-england.com/languages-spoken-in-england.html

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/language.html