Yesterday was Saint George’s Day.
I didn’t actually realise it was Saint George’s Day until the afternoon, as it tends not to be celebrated with any form of street carnival or fireworks. Which is a shame for Saint George. If indeed that is his real name.
You see, Saint George was from what is now called Turkey. I have been to Turkey. Twice. And I never met anyone over there called George. This is why I believe that some tinkering with the history books has occurred.
“Thank you for saving us from that terrible dragon! What is your name oh dark stranger with a funny accent?”
“I am Ibrahim of Anatolia, slayer of of the quite-big-for-round-here lizard!”
“Thank you, George.”
“No, you must have misheard me, it is Ibrahim of Anatolia.”
“Yes, but George is such a nice….English name.”
“But…it’s not my name.”
“I know that, it’s just we’re going to have such trouble getting people to celebrate this day in the future as it is. If people thought your real name was Ibrahim, and that you were from Turkey of all places, then even the skinheads would start ignoring your day.”
“Right. In that case, I am George! Slayer of the giant lizard!”
“And can we call it a dragon? It scans much better.”
“Sure. Whatever.”
I am livid – Giving you the stuff they don’t put in our history books.
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
St Patrick was English though.
Perhaps George slayed the dragon whilst he was on holiday in Turkey. You didn’t think of that, did you?
Could have been a package holiday. Instead of white water rafting, or whatever other rubbish they get you doing on those holidays, perhaps he opted for the giant lizard slaying. That’s what I’d do. If I went on a package holiday to Turkey.
So that’s what the flag was for yesterday !! When I went out to get myself a butty yesterday lunch time one of the local shops had a big England flag draped in the window
I saw and thought funny I didn’t realise that there was an England match on.
We didn’t get a day off perhaps if we had a day off we might notice it more.
The fact that today is Teacher’s Mardy-Ass Strike Day has had more impact on me than St George’s Day owing to the fact that I was able to sit at the kitchen table and eat my cornflakes in peace and quiet this morning.
If the Govt wants us to observe St George’s Day they need to give us it as a day off.
Damn, and my disguise was working so well…
It looks like the George bit maybe because Cappadocia (from whence he came) is not that far from Georgia which is to the north east of Turkey and presumably was once a part of it. Other than England, St George is the patron saint of the Netherlands, Catalonia, Lebanon, Canada, Germany, Greece, Sicily, Portugal, Slovenia, Lithuania, Russia, equestrians, farmers, sheep and in the tradition of saving the best for last – leprosy, herpes and syphilis.
Another self-reference, but I took the time a couple of years ago to accumulate a bumper posting of St George facts:
http://jamesspratt.org/blog/2006/04/23/get-your-stgeorge-facts-here/
Apparently it’s on the cards that we should be getting another bank holiday out of this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6573011.stm
Come on England.
Ay Γιώργο, τι κάνεις;
If I remember a year bumming around the Greek Islands correctly
The only way I ever know it’s saint georges day is a slight increase in red and white clad skinhead men emerging from the pub at closing time. Fact.
Seems to be a lot of pigeon holing of skinheads here. I am a skin head and do probably fit into the pigeon hole, however there are plenty of skinheads who do not fit the steroetype, i.e. balding men who have opted out of the ‘comb’ over, chemo patients, dads whos kids have bought nits home… they shouldn’t be tared with the same brush.
Of course it wasn’t celebrated, we’re not allowed to.
The notion of being a maverick Turksih vigilante and slaying reptiles to extinction is not a role model that the Government will tolerate.
St George’s Day is banned, please remove this post from your site.
The Scots are more concerned with Burns Night than St Andrews Day. And that’s just because there’s booze involved and it’s a piss-up in January, when SAD is at its worst. They’re not really that big on poetry in the Gorbals. So stop feeling all defensive and inadequate, England. Scots wear skirts invented by the Moors. Killing bigass lizards is much more blokey.
My parents and I played a charity concert at an old folk’s home last night to celebrate St. George’s Day for them.
Ironic that we’re all Welsh, really.
Im sure Patron Saints are all about making up for a countries collective lack in the trouser dept – so you need some sword swinging Stavros (the equivalent of a Humvee). Whilst we scots do our skirt wearing thing, or if we are feally particularly manly, a ballgown ( Id say thats driving a sinclair C5).
But come to think of it – doesnt your national dress involve skipping around dressed in white with bells on whilst waving a handkerchief? It would appear all national costumes are designed by closet trannies.
As a welsh person, I hadn’t even noticed until I went to the pub to watch the United game last night.
There were some funny looks, as I was wearing my free Guinness Paddy’s Day t-shirt they had kindly doled out last month.
Look, enough pissing about, just give us the fucking day off.
You could have celebrated on your own – get totally pissed, find some hapless reptile somewhere and do it in (cooking and eating it totally optional) then quietly let it be known down the pub that you’re a modern day George you are. Sure to bring the women flocking. We love that sort of stuff.
Agreed, we need to stop stereotyping skinheads as shaven headed, boot wearing, St.George cross waving men immediately. I don’t even own a St. George cross, what kind of skinhead does that make me? A cunt, that’s what.
Gnarlyswine, it’s a popular misconception north o’ the Tweed that Morris dancing is any kind of national thing rather than the localised pasttime of some Middle England antiquity geeks, in much the same way not every Socttish chippie sells deep-fried Mars bars.
However, for a country with a dance called the Gay Gordon’s, I hardly think it behoves you to be pointing a finger of fanciful effemicacy.
Gnarlyswine
If the annual horror called Miss World is anything to go by then the national costume of most South American countries are outfits that I would normally associate only with Las Vegas showgirls
Day off? Did someone mention a day off?
“in much the same way not every Socttish chippie sells deep-fried Mars bars.”
thats true – in some you can choose to have the following deep fried in batter:
Snickers
Bounty
Ice cream
Slice of Pizza
Mince Pie (not the christmas kind)
Can of Irn Bru
20 Lambert and Butler
note – only two of the above are not true, any wonder we all die of heart attacks before we get out of primary school?
and oddly enough i think American tourists are pretty much the only people who wear kilts on any regular basis – visiting their cultural home – the golden arches od the clan Mcdonalds.
As for the Gay Gordons – Scottish Country dancing and all of the balls at the highland games all began after the occupation by the southern neighbours, to steer us away from practicing less warlike forms of competition and diminsh abilities should any future uprising occur. Obviously you all must have been intimidated by us tossing our giant cabers in your direction, and throwing our massive stones over our heads, while the morrises twirl their mini battons and play with there tiny bells.
or was that Morrisies?