§ 1. A Political Entity
1. How old is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as a political entity?
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, to give it its formal title, is a highly centralised and unitary state, and its main component, England, has been so for almost a thousand years, longer than any other European country. As a political entity, however, Britain (as the United Kingdom is loosely called) is less than 300 years old, being the state which emerged from the union of the ancient kingdoms of Scotland and England in 1707.
It is widely assumed that the British are a relatively homogeneous society with strong sense of identity, but it is an assumption that requires considerable qualification. Even after 300 years, the terms ‘British’ and ‘Britain’ which are used for official purposes can also seem very artificial.
2. Why can the terms ‘Britain’ and ‘British’ seem very artificial?
For centuries it has been the idea of England (or Scotland), rather than of Britain, which has been charged with patriotic emotion. The idea of England is invoked at times of national crisis, for example at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, when Admiral Lord Nelson's famous order to the British fleet read, ‘England expects that every man will do his duty’. In 1939 during Parliament's emergency debate on the eve of war, one Member of Parliament (MP) called across the chamber to another who was rising to speak: ‘Come on, Arthur, speak for England.’
If you look up ‘Britain’, ‘British’ and ‘Briton’ you will find ‘See England’. Most people call Britain ‘England’, and the British ‘English’, as if Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland were merely outer parts of England. Nothing, it should be said, infuriates a Scot more than ignorantly to be called English, or for all Britain to be referred to as England. Many Welsh and Northern Irish feel similarly about their identity.
While Britain is instinctively thought of by many as ‘England’, so also the idea of England evokes images of the Queen, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London and the soft landscape of the southern counties of England. This is not so surprising since almost one quarter of the British people live within 25 miles of London's Trafalgar Square.
3. In what way can the use of the word ‘England’ instead of ‘Britain’ be explained?
There is, perhaps, an excuse for people who use the word ‘England’ when they mean ‘Britain’. It cannot be denied that the dominant culture of Britain today is specifically English. The system of politics that is used in all four nations today is of English origin, and English is the main language of all four nations. Many aspects of everyday life are organized according to English custom and practice. But the political unification of Britain was not achieved by mutual agreement. On the contrary, it happened because England was able to exert her economic and military power over the other three nations.
Today English domination can be detected in the way in which various aspects of British public life are described. For example, the supply of money in Britain is controlled by the Bank of England (there is no such thing as a ‘Bank of Britain’). The present queen of the country is universally known as ‘Elizabeth the Second’, even though Scotland and Northern Ireland have never had an ‘Elizabeth the First’! (Elizabeth I of England and Wales ruled from 1553 to 1603.) The term ‘Anglo’ is also commonly used. (The Angles were a Germanic tribe who settled in England in the fifth century. The word ‘England’ is derived from their name.) For example, newspapers and the television news talk about ‘Anglo-American relations’ to refer to relations between the governments of Britain and the USA (and not just those between England and the USA).
Questions:
1. What is the official name of Great Britain?
2. When did the UK emerge?
3. Why is Britain instinctively thought of by many as ‘England’?
4. What are the roots of mixing up the two words: ‘England’ and ‘Britain’?
Additional Reading Some Historical and Poetic Names
Albion is a word used in some poetic or rhetorical contexts to refer to England. It was the original Roman name for Britain. It may come from the Latin word ‘albus’, meaning ‘white’. The white chalk cliffs around Dover on the south coast are the first part of England to be seen when crossing the sea from the European mainland.
Britannia is the name that the Romans gave to their southern British province (which covered, approximately, the area of present-day England). It is also the name given to the female embodiment of Britain, always shown wearing a helmet and holding a trident (the symbol of powers over the sea), hence the patriotic song which begins ‘Rule Britannia, Britannia rule the waves’. The figure of Britannia has been on the reverse side of many British coins for more than 300 years.
Briton is a word used in official contexts and in formal writing to describe a citizen of the United Kingdom. ‘Ancient Britons’ is the name given to the race of people who lived in England before and during the Roman occupation (AD 43-410). These are the ancestors of the present-day Welsh people
Caledonia, Cambria and Hibernia were the Roman names for Scotland, Wales and Ireland respectively. The words are commonly used today in scholarly classifications (for example, the type of English used in Ireland is sometimes called ‘Hiberno-English’) and for the names of organizations (for example, the airline ‘British Caledonian’).
Erin is a poetic name for Ireland. ‘The Emerald Isle’ is another way of referring to Ireland, evoking the lush greenery of its countryside.
John Bull is a fictional character who is supposed to personify Englishness and certain English virtues. (He can be compared to Uncle Sam in the USA.) He features in hundreds of nineteenth century cartoons. His appearance is typical of an eighteenth century country gentleman, evoking an idyllic rural past.