Friday 23 April 2010

Happy St George's Day

Posted by Tania Kindersley.

I'm never quite sure what nationality means. From my voice, you would conclude I was as English as crumpets and Morris Dancing. By blood, I am English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, French, and, if the dottier of my two grandmothers is to be believed, American and Danish too. I grew up in the Lambourn valley, in a landscape of downland, chalk horses carved into the hills, and ancient barrows. I was briefly at school in France, and languished away long weeks of my twenties in Dublin and Connemara. Now I live high up in the north-east of Scotland.

But what's not to love about a gentleman riding about on a horse, slaying dragons? So let us tip our hats to St George.

Today also marks the birth of William Shakespeare. Here is a little burst of the St Crispian's Day speech, which never fails to bring a tear to my eye:

    Oh, do not wish one more!
    Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
    That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
    Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
    And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
    We would not die in that man's company
    That fears his fellowship to die with us.
    This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.
    He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
    Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
    And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
    He that shall live this day, and see old age,
    Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
    And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.'
    Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
    And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.'
    Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
    But he'll remember, with advantages,
    What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
    Familiar in his mouth as household words-
    Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
    Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
    Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
    This story shall the good man teach his son;
    And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
    From this day to the ending of the world,
    But we in it shall be remembered-
    We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
    For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
    Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
    This day shall gentle his condition;
    And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
    Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
    And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
    That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

It is also my lovely sister's birthday. I gave her white roses and those crazy green chrysanthemums that look like they are made-up flowers, and some nice scented things for her bath. Tomorrow, we shall have a little celebratory dinner.

In the meantime, I leave you with some pretty pictures for your Friday evening pleasure:

Flowers by ethanollie

(Lovely picture of flowers by ethanollie.)

Road uncredited from Pixdaus

(A road that looks almost like a metaphor; uncredited, from Pixdaus.)

Volcano image by AP

(Could not resist another volcano picture; by the AP.)

Holland Park by Little London Observationist

Tulips in Holland Park taken by Little London Observationist

(Two marvellous views of tulips in Holland Park from Little London Observationist.)

Wall decal by Shanna Murray

(I love this. It's a wall decal by Shanna Murray. Via A Cup of Jo.)

Fete from Basically Anything that is awesome

(If we did not live in murky Scotland, we would have a glorious outside dinner like this for my sister. From Basically Anything That Is Awesome.)

Radishes by creature comforts

(Who knew that radishes came in so many colours? From Creature Comforts.)

And I can't let you go without a gratuitously delightful animal picture:

Polar Bear by Hall Brindley wildlife photographer

(Astonishing picture by the wildlife photographer, Hal Brindley.)

There we are, my darlings. Happy HAPPY birthday to my lovely sister, and a lovely happy weekend to all of you.

6 comments:

  1. Dear Tania, the nationality thing is an interesting one. I saw a documentary about it and they tested peoples blood, all of them truly believing they were 100% British. I remember Carol Thatcher was one and there was a very racist man who went on and on about how he was English and no nationality should ever be allowed here. He turned out to have absolutely no English blood whatsoever which he was most put out about. I think one English person had a small amount of Anglo Saxon blood the rest were from far flung places all over the world. My blood group is B+ which apparently is Chinese! Most odd as I thought I was Irish/Scottish/English. You've lived in some beautiful places, you don't mention London though? Have a wonderful weekend in the sun xx

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  2. PS. Can I just add to my rather long comment... In the documentary they tested their blood and their DNA. Sorry! it didn't make sense without that bit. Carol Thatcher came out mostly Iranian if I remember rightly xx

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  3. Tania,

    These pictures are great. It is funny because my husband is sitting here with me (on his computer of course), and he caught a glimpse of the outdoor table setting. That one is both of our favorites.

    Have a lovely weekend,
    Marcie

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  4. Thought you might like to see this little article today which I just had to blog about:

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1268323/A-breed-apart-Our-legged-friends-getting-Army-battalion--dogs-doing-duty-battlefield-centuries.html

    Sorry it's The Daily Mail but it's the content that counts!

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  5. Maybe the world would be a happier place if we ALL got our blood tested ;-)

    When I look at the road forking, am I the only person who sees a swishy sleeveless dress?!

    Ali x

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  6. amusingly someone was playing the last night of the proms pomp and circumstance type medly at full volcume across soho on Friday evening- it wasn't jingo-istic actually it was quite funny and sweet because of course everyone was looking fanitly embarassed and ignoring it- it was the most glorious sunny day though and I did think I wonder why we are a bit embarassed to celebrate ourselves, via remembering a probably Turkish knight (or in my case a bit of myself as I am a celtic/ saxon mix too- but that's the beauty of these islands, we are mostly cross breeds!)

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