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"A nation is a group of people united by a common misunderstanding about their origins."
(Ernest Renan).
The current misunderstanding held by the English does not relate to Hengist and Horsa but to the mistaken idea that they were always an immigrant nation. In fact, there were few immigrants between 1100 and 1940. 50,000 Huguenots came and later about 50,000 Jews. The Irish among them my forebears, were moving from one part of the UK to another. A useful summary of the figures is here.
Is this the psychology of "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em? And "When Romans are in your country do as Romans do".
ReplyDeleteThe beginning of liberal refugee efforts came with the 'Poor Palatines' in the late 17th c., whose resettlement didn't work so well in England. Utterly failed in Ireland. So they sent them to the American colonies where they were assimilated finally (so that Staring became Starnes, and Bruckbauer became Bridgefarmer.) Before then I think the only major settlements were the importation of peoples with a specific set of skills, such as the Flemish both into Scotland and Wales with the goal of elevating the trade in woolens.
ReplyDeleteFor once I find myself in agreement - or almost in agreement. If we were to substitute the more accurate national term British for the regional term English then the movement of significant fellow-countrymen from Ireland onto the mainland simply doesn't matter (NB how the Left uses census statistics differentiating those who term themselves Irish, Scottish and Welsh - and English also - to "justify" their lunatic claim that London is no longer a majority British city!). The Huguenots and Flemish were ethnically little different to the British people themselves, and the Jewish people - God bless them - on the whole never attempted to assimilate into the host population, but retained their own culture and ethnic identity without any antagonism towards their British hosts. Largescale alien immigration into Britain therefore only started under the wretched Attlee Government - in other words less than a lifetime ago from many people still living. What was able to be done in such a short period of time can easily be undone.
ReplyDeleteJews assimilated extremely well indeed.
DeleteI am trying to train myself to use English when I mean British as people did until 40 years ago. I think this is important.
ReplyDelete