Friday, April 25, 2008

Only England Knows

I'm a day late in flagging mentioning Highlander's canny The Late St. George's Day post but that's OK as he posted his personal response to St George's Day a date late himself.

And of course, my reason for plugging it on the blog is because, in many ways, H's experiences mirrored my own.

He was born in England but educated in Scotland, whereas I was born in Scotland but was educated in England. Both of us romanticising the country of our births when growing up and both of us falling victim to 'ninety minute nationalism' (I'm still weak in that regard), but both finally reaching the same conclusion of being ". . . of a class and that class is not an 'English' class, a 'British' class or even a European one - it is global, its aims are global and my feeling for it is global."

Elegantly put by H himself and, yep, you've got me bangs to rights on it being far more dreamy, romantic and ultimately hopeless than any flag of St Andrew or St George that has been made in China.

Flag day is on May 1st, companeros.

2 comments:

Kevin Williamson said...

There's a Scottish saltire hangs proudly in my home, Darren, as does a red flag and a portrait of John McLean. Proud to be Scottish and proud to be working class. The two go together like fish and chips, or Cagney and Lacey.

Imposs1904 said...

Kev,

I promise that if and when Scotland win the World Cup, I'll happily have a wallbanger of James McFadden up on my living room wall alongside my current one of Julius Martov.

It's not the saltire and the red flag, but it's the best I can do in the circumstances.