A Time for St George

It was good to be present at some of celebrations for England’s patron Saint, St. George. The main events in Birmingham took place on Saturday the 25th of April. More information from the Birmingham St. George's Day Association website. Of course the actual Saint’s day was Thursday 23rd of April, which points up the fact that St. George’s day is not an official national holiday - as in my view it most certainly should be - in England.
The 23rd of April 2009 marks both the death of St George in 303 and the 445th birthday of Shakespeare. St. George’s day was first celebrated in England in 1222. After 787 years we should make a holiday out of this! England - and for that matter the other parts of the United Kingdom - are ill-provided with public holidays in comparison with other countries which have more days devoted to nationhood and events of historical significance.
England has been given little to celebrate for some time - and has been little encouraged so to do. We should be able to celebrate Englishness without qualification or having to pay homage to larger entities to which we are, willy-nilly, attached.
And we should reclaim the noble English flag, the Cross of St. George, from certain hooligan elements - sporting or political - who have tried to appropriate it for their own undesirable purposes. And, as per the preceding posting on this site, we should make the flags in our own country! England has given so much to the world. Let’s give a little more to ourselves.

Birmingham’s Poet Laureate, Hall Green’s Chris Morgan, recently wrote two compositions on the theme of Saint George including the following which urges Saint George to intervene in dragon-like threats of a modern ilk...


Oh, St George, where are you now?
Come and slay our threatening dragons:
the dragon of bankruptcy and unemployment, the dragon of falling currency values,
the dragon of depressed demand for goods,
the dragon of recession in the housing market, the dragon of more expensive imports, the dragon of extreme weather events,
the dragon of a spying, interfering nanny state, the dragon of an Olympics we can't afford,
the arts being robbed to supply its golden hoard.
Oh, St George, where are you now?
Come and slay our threatening dragons!

Chris's page on the Birmingham Library website is at:

Birmingham Poet Laureate

There is yet more dragon-related activity - of a rather different kind - at this year’s Middle-earth Weekend to be held at at Sarehole Mill recreation ground, Hall Green, Birmingham, England on the weekend of May the 16th and 17th. The latest details can be obtained from the Shire Productions website

We hope to see you there!