Dear reader, it will be no surprise that this writer is fascinated by language…
Indeed, how could it be otherwise?
For the week that’s in it, I have been thinking about one word in particular.
Indeed, it seems to encapsulate so much about the strangeness of the neighbours.
What a wonderful word is QUEUE.
It comprises a single necessary letter at the front with a bunch of silent ones doing feck all in a line behind it.
Perfection!
It is certainly a very useful word in Britain at the moment.
From this vantage point, this looks like a strange spectacle.
These scenes must be a chastening experience for any British person who yearns for an elected head of state.
Yet to me, it seems so natural, and the concept of royalty appears kind of creepy.
Uachtarán na hÉireann is in office because the people voted.
I was last in Michael D’s presence on a gorgeous day in May 2016 in my father’s town.
We were honouring the 31 men interned in Frongoch after the Rising.
One of my kin, Michael Derrig, was among those sent to Wales to the “university of revolution”.
Full details are on the front page of this site.
Our commemorations and rituals might seem equally strange to the Brits.
That seems to happen to both the colonised and the coloniser.
Like the road to Galway, I wouldn’t start from here.
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Britain operates under a Caste system where the individual at the top has no power or all the power depending on what is an appropriate response. They can be blamed for nothing as they are just a figurehead but can collect all the plaudits just for being there. Once the hoi polloi accept them then by default they also have to accept those at every level as they descend the pyramid . It becomes a mutual appreciation society that justifies the accumulation of mass wealth and unelected power. This week has been illuminating …….for want of a better word
I am not a big royalist, although I do like a bit of pomp and ceremony – I enjoy the spectacle of trooping the colour at Horse Guards, you would have no soul, not to.
Although the Queen’s death has not been a big thing for me personally, I think it has been sad to see some of the graceless remarks surrounding it.
Its also quite revealing as to how many peoples seem to define themselves mainly with reference to the British. I mean, is there no other content to their identity beyond decades out-of-date bitterness?
You do not hear we British bleating about those who once afflicted us – the Romans, Vikings or the Barbary pirates (the latter alone are thought to have enslaved about a million white europeans). Indeed that would seem quite pathetic, would it not?
It seems odd that the British are singled out for vitriol, whereas – for example – the Romans receive only glowing praise for the quality of their roads and hygiene practices. I suppose attracting flak and resentment is the downside of great success.
In the expansionist, Industrial-Imperial phase of human history, superior cultures trampled over less developed ones. A shame, but its the way of the world, darwinism I think they call it. The many tribes and native armies who fell foul of Red Coats has been doing the very same to one another, of course, prior to the arrival of the British.
While there is no doubt there Imperialism has an evil side, I think the British Empire was ultimately a force for good.
I mean, for example, would the aboriginals by now have created a society like modern Australia, had they been left unmolested by adventurous Europeans? Call me a cynic, but I do not think they would have.
Rather than the unkind remarks by American celebrities and, ahem, ‘academics’ looking to make a name for themselves – I prefer the reflections of people like Suella Braverman.
Despite being (i) female and (ii) brown – two aspects were are often told have a negative effect on one’s chances in life – Suella is the current British Home Secretary and former Attorney General of England & Wales.
That is the real results of the British Empire, in my view. I am very proud to see talented people like Suella as leaders in the modern UK.
Suella considers herself “a child of the British Empire” which she thinks was a force for good and says her parents came to the UK “with admiration and gratitude” for what British did for Mauritius, Kenya (the 2 places her parents are from) and also India.
I wonder if, had Suella been born in traditional Kenyan (or other) society which never knew the British, would she currently occupy such an important and prominent position in life? I think not.
“superior cultures trampled over less developed ones”
Oh, dear.
“Superior cultures”
Racist much.
Don’t bother commenting again.
It won’t get through.
The aboriginals may or may not have made Australia the modern country this eejit claims itis, but at least they would be the free people they were before cook arrived at botany Bay.
To equally vlaim that the previous attorney General was the best for the job because of where her parents came from, 2 places colonised by the great British invaders, there to pillage and steal that country’s wealth and couldn’t give a flying f**k about its inhabitants.
She is a severely deranged person who has it in for people out of work regardless of their personal circumstances, after all its her wealth that’s being taken from her to pay these scroungers, how dare they and for doing such a wretched thing they will be hit with the full force of her and her party’s might.
I hasten to think that the author (use that term as lightly as possible) of that God awful piece is not only a part time royalist but also a part time toryist, whatever he is he’s certainly an historically stupid one.
Have you been to or lived in Australia?
The indigenous population (aboriginal people) die on average 25 years earlier than the remainder of population. This is regarded as a scar on society by vast majority of Australians.
The rest of your comments are on a par with the arrogant and ignorant comments about the original Australians.
The complete LACK of historical knowledge in this post is beyond belief. The British butchered their way across the globe using gunboat diplomacy to destroy cultures that were already ancient when the British were still living in mud huts. I’m calling a halt right now to my comments because I can feel my blood pressure going through the roof just thinking about the total SHITE I’ve just read. If I continue Phil will probably ban me too!!
A demented beekeeper comes to a royal hive, to inform the dazed insects that HRH is dead. Grovelling and corrupt government officials sanctimoniously look on, and spew out more superlatives about an unelected head of state.. These people run a country. They are basically insane.
Google “Telling The Bees”, its actually a fairly ancient tradition in beekeeping that has nothing to do with the monarchy. I used to go out with an insanely posh girl who’s dad kept bees. They werent obscenely rich but certainly enough that they ticked all the usual boxes (classic cars, range rovers, shooting, jam making etc., home-made gin).
There’s loads of superstitions in beekeeping and one is that the person who generally looks after a particular colony is expected to keep them informed of any notable events that affect the household or its members. Births and marriages of course, but ESPECIALLY deaths. I was a pallbearer for two of her grandparents and the hives were covered in black cloths for the days of the funerals. Apparently if they aren’t allowed to properly mourn they could leave the hive or just die out altogether.
#LeaveTheHive