Today it seems that everybody is blogging about St George and the lack of celebration amongst the English. Calls have gone out from the great and the good to have the 23rd April declared a public holiday – well I’m all for holidays. I would like it to be a holiday for the Government too – it would be one less day for them to foul things up!
Of course the problem with St. George is that we have to share him with a number of countries around the world all of whom seem to celebrate much better than we. I remember joining in the celebrations in Catalonia a few years back. There was lots of singing, dancing and present giving; somehow I can’t see the English doing that. So how about someone more in keeping with the English temperament?
Why not bring back Edmund? Unlike many medieval saints, St Edmund was a real person but not too much is known factually about him. What we do know is that he was a king who ruled the Anglo Saxon realm of East Anglia between 855AD and 869 AD. He was then captured and tied to an oak tree. Captured by the Danes, legend tells us that on refusing to renounce his faith he was put to death by a volley of arrows His head was then cut off and thrown into the woods. It was then allegedly whisked away by a wolf. Later as his followers were searching for his remains they heard a cry of “here, here, here” and traced the voice to the wolf who was protecting the severed head. On reuniting the head with its body the two are said to have miraculously joined together leaving only a faint red mark…the sign of a true saint. Edmund remained Patron Saint of England well into the Norman Conquest until he was replace by the upstart George.
St Geroge Flag at Ipswich Town FC
Two good thing could come out of the change: Bury St Edmunds Tourist Board could introduce the St. Edmund Tour which would do wonders for the County of Suffolk and ailing flag makers would be given a new lease of life as millions of new flags would have to be produced.
Oh, and the BNP would have somebody to look up to that is actually English – but shush – don’t tell them George may well have been an Arab; I would hate to disappoint them.
But I suppose there are some negatives introduced by the change. Hundreds of Mummers would be out of work and there would be the real danger of a population explosion in dragons.
Tags: humour