I want to write about the idea of Englishness. In many ways England is a unique country. However is it fair to say that the country, or rather the people in the country, suffer from a malady resembling a crisis of identity. The English are often puzzled when asked if to choose between describing themselves as ‘English’ or ‘British’. It seems as though the English have no national identity.
England is the largest country in Britain: Britain being the island which also includes Wales and Scotland.
Ethnically speaking Britain is the land of the British people. However, not all of the citizens of Britain live in mainland Britain, for example the British people of Northern Ireland live on the island of Ireland, of which is the majority territorially is made up of the Republic of Eire. Northern Ireland is not legally part of Great Britain but is part of the United Kingdom. The four countries of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in total constitute the UK, or to give it it’s full title – the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Ethnically the English can be said to be native to the land of England speaking the English language. This identity of an ‘English’ people, the roots of is likely to have arose in the early medieval period. Genetically speaking the English are a mix of Northern European invaders and settlers including the Angles, the Saxons the Jutes and the Vikings, who co-existed with the indigenous Britons. Southern Europeans came with the Romans and the Norman invasion of 1066 has left a French legacy. Migrants from Wales, Scotland and Ireland also came to England. In later centuries there were influxes from many other countries, particularly from the Commonwealth and other European nations. From this mixed genetic pool come the people known as the England, the people with the identity crisis and the paradox of Englishness. The symptoms of which will be described in another article.
