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Happy St Georges Day everyone

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awemawson:
Today, 23rd April is St Georges day. St George is the patron saint of England, but he wasn't English - he was born in Cappodocia in Turkey of Greek ancestry and probably was an officer in the Roman Praetorian Guard. He died (by decapitation) in Lyyda in Palestine this day in AD303 for refusing to recant his Christian faith.

But then, St Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland wasn't Scottish - again of Greek origin he died by crucifixion (but bound by ropes not nailed so that was OK !) He is also the patron saint of The Ukraine, Roumania and Russia !

So what about St Patrick patron saint of Ireland? Well he was Romano-English being born in Glannoventa in Cumbria, and only went to Ireland initially as he was shang-hied by pirates and sold as a slave in Dublin. When he escaped he returned to try and convert them!

The last kingdom of the UK is Wales of course, with St David as Patron Saint. Now he actually WAS welsh and seems to have been an all round 'good chap' being the Bishop of Mynyw (how DO you pronounce THAT?) during the 6th Century.

Despite all that, St George IS our patron Saint and we are holding a dinner party this evening to celebrate with friends as symbolically he represents England as opposed to the UK

Put out a flag - we have   :clap:

Pete W.:
Hi there, Andrew,

A happy St. George's Day to you and yours.  Thank you for the historical commentary.

I fear that our tenancy agreement forbids our putting out any flags or political display.  Nevertheless, I regard myself as English so I do celebrate St.George's Day and feel justified in doing so because I respect the fair patriotic feelings of the (in alphabetical order) Irish, both North and South, the Scots and the Welsh.

Having written all that, I have so far held off from succumbing to the DNA test offers from Ancestry.com - you never know!!   :zap:   :zap:   :zap: 

awemawson:
It is also the anniversary of Shakespeare's death, and quite probably also his birth - he was baptised on 26th April but there is no birth record, but it is generally accepted as today (23rd April).

I suppose in times of high infant mortality the baptism was very soon after birth 'just in case'  :scratch:

Pete.:
Same here from me!

We had a St George's day parade in sunny Gravesend (though I was at work so I missed it) and our local shopping centre is called the St George centre.

NormanV:
Bit late to the party but here goes, as Englishmen we are supposed to be embarrassed by shows of patriotism because the flag of St George has been poached by racists. St George's day is my granddaughter's birthday.

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