Englishness Where does it come from? - Initial Thoughts

We are looking at the concept of Englishness. It is fair to say that England is a unique nation with something of a national identity crisis. Many English people, when asked, are unsure whether to describe themselves as ‘British’ or English’. It seems as though the English are teetering on the brink of having no national identity.

The country of England co-exists with Wales and Scotland on the island of Britain, with England being the largest country of the three. Together with the people of Northern Ireland, Wales, England and Scotland form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, i.e. the UK. The homeland of the British people is Britain. However, not all of the citizens of Britain live in mainland Britain. Northern Ireland is a territory of the UK and its people are British. Geographically the country occupies a small part of Ireland. Physically speaking the majority of Ireland is the territory of the Irish Republic, i.e. Eire. Thus England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland together form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, more commonly known as the UK. Note that technically speaking Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom but not part of Great Britain..

Historically the English are an ethnic group who are native to the land of England, who speak the English language. It was during the early medieval period that the specific identity of the English as a people is thought to have arisen. The genetic roots of the English are believed to be a mix of various settlers and invaders came in waves who over a period of a thousand years. These visitors include Romans, tribes from Northern Europe and Scandinavia such as the Angles (from where we derive the word English), Saxons, Jutes, Vikings, and the Normans. Many of these people settled alongside the people of the land, i.e. the Britons. Flowing into this genetic pool were migrants from Wales, Scotland and Ireland. In later centuries peoples came from the African and Indian nations of the Commonwealth and other European nations. These peoples and these events created what was to become known as England and all ultimately contribute to that mix of values known as Englishness. However it is not just our mixed roots that give this identity crisis however but that is the subject of another article.