Personally, I thought the choosing of a Patron Saint, was more about the character of the person as a role model ...... i wont add further, but as a role model for anyone; killing the dragon, refusing to be swayed from his view, etc. Well, I can only say it's a good thing.
British or not.
Saint George's Weekend at the Vespa
- casper_uk
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"Sadly, friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate."
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- kinglear#1
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JM, you're not alone in questioning the validity of St. George as England's patron saint. There's a whole movement dedicated to replacing him with a more suitable martyr. I suppose by now, it's come to symbolise the 'stiff upper lip' (as others have pointed out), beautifully portrayed in this speech by Henry V before the battles of Harfleur & Agincourt:
SCENE I. France. Before Harfleur.
Alarum. Enter KING HENRY, EXETER, BEDFORD, GLOUCESTER, and Soldiers, with scaling-ladders
KING HENRY V
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O'erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean.
Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,
Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit
To his full height. On, on, you noblest English.
Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof!
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,
Have in these parts from morn till even fought
And sheathed their swords for lack of argument:
Dishonour not your mothers; now attest
That those whom you call'd fathers did beget you.
Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
And teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman,
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here
The mettle of your pasture; let us swear
That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;
For there is none of you so mean and base,
That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'
Rousing stuff, sure you'd agree!
SCENE I. France. Before Harfleur.
Alarum. Enter KING HENRY, EXETER, BEDFORD, GLOUCESTER, and Soldiers, with scaling-ladders
KING HENRY V
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O'erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean.
Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,
Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit
To his full height. On, on, you noblest English.
Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof!
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,
Have in these parts from morn till even fought
And sheathed their swords for lack of argument:
Dishonour not your mothers; now attest
That those whom you call'd fathers did beget you.
Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
And teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman,
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here
The mettle of your pasture; let us swear
That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;
For there is none of you so mean and base,
That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'
Rousing stuff, sure you'd agree!
O, let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven
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While living in the US, I would frequent a place called the 'Ye Olde King's Head Pub', now thats a name for a British joint..
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yup! they had everything down,.. the smell inside was just like an English pub, plenty of draughts available.. (except German of course) and a decent menu with all the usual British faire.. One of my partners in the business there was from Manchester, so we would go for lunch quite often.. ah the memories..
anyway.. gotta try the Fish and Chips at the Vespa and Cavern some time soon.. looking forward to that
anyway.. gotta try the Fish and Chips at the Vespa and Cavern some time soon.. looking forward to that
jm, is modestly not mentioning (possibly because it's a Vespa thread) that he does good fish and chips himself at Garage.franzjaeger wrote:anyway.. gotta try the Fish and Chips at the Vespa and Cavern some time soon.. looking forward to that
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Mmmmm....damn.... I was having a 24 hour hang over and stumbled over to Tbone (near my house) to have a $9 burger.. My only meal of the day
It's all about the funding.jm wrote:... I have to question why George didn't go dragon slaying up until it was the princess' turn to get fed to the beast. I also have some pretty basic issues with feeding kids to dragons in the first place, this town sounds pretty creepy, makes Wicker Man look pretty good.
Some kids had to suffer in order to attract the attention of foreign donors. In fact, some of the kids were staked out by George & his gang to attract the dragon in the first place. Some weren't even kids.
It was even suggested recently in the Cambodian Daily that there had never been any dragon in the first place, and that George had in part exaggerated and contrived the whole thing in order to claim the credit for defeating it.
It's all about the funding.
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Have you been reading George's hagiography, where it's reported that friends of the dragon kidnapped George's daughter?
I came, I argued, I'm out
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