And the English thought they were English

[yael]

Did You Know?
Two-thousand years of invasion, immigration and the infusion of foreign ideas and you thought you were English? These quirky facts are enough to pull the rug from under any Englishman:

· More than 95% of the people who call themselves English are, in fact, descended from foreign immigrants.

· In 1750, when the slave trade was at its height, one in 20 Londoners was black. Due to the number of multiracial marriages and children in the 18th century, it is probable that many of us have a black ancestor in our genealogy.

· When we refer to someone as being an ‘English rose’, we could easily substitute the word ‘English’ with ‘German’, as we are referring to the genetic characteristics of the invading Saxons.

· Genetic research shows that the Y-chromosomes of the majority of British males are as ethnically Germanic as you can get.

· Our patron saint – Saint George – is now believed to be a Turkish knight. In other words, he’s as English as a kebab!

· Our monarchy is German. From the coronation oath based on Anglo-Saxon traditions via the Hanoverians to the Saxe-Coburgh-Gothas (alias the Windsors) currently ruling over us, our monarchy is about as English as the Munich beer festival!

· The Bank of England is anything but English in origin. It was set up in 1694 on the model of the Bank of Holland, and its first governor was Sir John Houblon, a Dutch Walloon.

· The English Sunday roast is in fact a Roman invention. If the Romans hadn’t invaded England, we could still be eating a lumpy soup-like slop cooked in one pot!
· You may think that a Savile Row suit is a quintessentially English luxury. However, fine tailoring was initiated in England in the 16th century by the Dutch Walloons and refined by the French Huguenots.

· The Irish virtually built Britain. When you travel on the London Underground, it’s worth remembering that every yard of tunnel is most probably the work of Irish navvies.

· From ‘royal’ to ‘roast beef’, many of the words most associated with English traditions come from the French language.

· What could be more British than the ultimate symbols of the monarchy, the Crown Jewels? Too many things to name actually, as almost all the gems in the royal collection were plundered from far-flung corners of Asia and Africa...

[NanaRenan]

Very interesting. Not surprising, per se, just very interesting.

[W. J. Maria]

Very interesting indeed! The English are genetically Anglo-Saxon and both the Angles and the Saxons came from Northern Germany. What is indeed surprising is that there are so few genes from the Celts, the earlier inhabitants of Great Britain, or from the pre-Celtic inhabitants of Great Britain (i.e. the prehistoric people who built Stonehenge). My guess is that Angles and Saxons were already genetically mixed with Celtic and pre-Celtic populations before they ever invaded England, and that is why you get those results... These "pure" Germanic genes are far from pure, but they look markedly different from the Celtic genes of the Welsh and the Irish (even though certainly the Irish have a lot of Scandinavian (also Germanic) blood in them.) Remember, genetic mixing had been going on in Europe since prehistory. Just my guess, I am not a biologist...

One comment on the Dutch Walloons. What is meant by this is that there were French-speaking Belgians (i.e. Walloons) who converted to Protestantism. Since what is now Belgium was then part of Catholic Spain, and the Spaniards were very efficient at rooting out Protestantism on their territories, those Walloons fled to Protestant Holland. So these Dutch Wallons lived in Holland, but they were French-speaking Belgians! As a Belgian, I thought I'd clarify this!!!

[Bartholomew]

One comment on the Dutch Walloons. What is meant by this is that there were French-speaking Belgians (i.e. Walloons) who converted to Protestantism. Since what is now Belgium was then part of Catholic Spain, and the Spaniards were very efficient at rooting out Protestantism on their territories, those Walloons fled to Protestant Holland. So these Dutch Wallons lived in Holland, but they were French-speaking Belgians! As a Belgian, I thought I'd clarify this!!!

Maria are you belgian? Where were you born?

[John Atkinson]

Very interesting indeed! The English are genetically Anglo-Saxon and both the Angles and the Saxons came from Northern Germany. What is indeed surprising is that there are so few genes from the Celts, the earlier inhabitants of Great Britain, or from the pre-Celtic inhabitants of Great Britain (i.e. the prehistoric people who built Stonehenge). My guess is that Angles and Saxons were already genetically mixed with Celtic and pre-Celtic populations before they ever invaded England, and that is why you get those results... These "pure" Germanic genes are far from pure, but they look markedly different from the Celtic genes of the Welsh and the Irish (even though certainly the Irish have a lot of Scandinavian (also Germanic) blood in them.) Remember, genetic mixing had been going on in Europe since prehistory. Just my guess, I am not a biologist...

One comment on the Dutch Walloons. What is meant by this is that there were French-speaking Belgians (i.e. Walloons) who converted to Protestantism. Since what is now Belgium was then part of Catholic Spain, and the Spaniards were very efficient at rooting out Protestantism on their territories, those Walloons fled to Protestant Holland. So these Dutch Wallons lived in Holland, but they were French-speaking Belgians! As a Belgian, I thought I'd clarify this!!!
The Celts were mostly wiped out by the Romans, the remaining Romano-Celts were done in by the Angles, Jutes and Frisians, it is also notable that the word "Saxon" was a generic term for all the invading germanic tribes.

When the Constantine III stripped the legions from Brittania in 407, that left a vacuum that the Saxon tribes would fill and rule for the next 600 years, part of that filling including killing most everyone who lived there. Hence the lack of very much Celt, or roman dna in the gene pool. The Saxons drained the pool, and were then overcome by the Normans in 1066(who weren't French BTW, just Norsemen (Scandinavians better and inaccurately known as Vikings) who settled Normandy. The Norman conquest basically just replaced the ruling class. So, you still have all the saxon peasants to make up the the German in the gene pool.

My family originated in Northumbria, Atkinson, or son of Atkin, is definately Saxon.

It is really interesting when you start studying the bloodlines of European nobility and royalty. These guys were so interelated no wonder they looked at US entrance into WWI to be us intruding on a family matter.

[W. J. Maria]

Maria are you belgian? Where were you born?

Oh, I thought everyone knew! Leuven, or Louvain in French. Are you Belgian too?

[W. J. Maria]

The Celts were mostly wiped out by the Romans, the remaining Romano-Celts were done in by the Angles, Jutes and Frisians, it is also notable that the word "Saxon" was a generic term for all the invading germanic tribes.

When the Constantine III stripped the legions from Brittania in 407, that left a vacuum that the Saxon tribes would fill and rule for the next 600 years, part of that filling including killing most everyone who lived there. Hence the lack of very much Celt, or roman dna in the gene pool. The Saxons drained the pool, and were then overcome by the Normans in 1066(who weren't French BTW, just Norsemen (Scandinavians better and inaccurately known as Vikings) who settled Normandy. The Norman conquest basically just replaced the ruling class. So, you still have all the saxon peasants to make up the the German in the gene pool.

(..).

Hail to you, son of Atkin! I agree with the above, except it is unlikely that the Saxons killed all the Roman-Celts. There must have been some pretty girls that they "married", rather than killed.

[John Atkinson]

Hail to you, son of Atkin! I agree with the above, except it is unlikely that the Saxons killed all the Roman-Celts. There must have been some pretty girls that they "married", rather than killed.
LOL, those "marriages" early on generally only had one willing participant....:spin:

[Kuppa Kippah]

do you mean English? or do you mean British? they aren't the same.

[BrotherEastman]

Did You Know?
Two-thousand years of invasion, immigration and the infusion of foreign ideas and you thought you were English? These quirky facts are enough to pull the rug from under any Englishman:

· More than 95% of the people who call themselves English are, in fact, descended from foreign immigrants.

· In 1750, when the slave trade was at its height, one in 20 Londoners was black. Due to the number of multiracial marriages and children in the 18th century, it is probable that many of us have a black ancestor in our genealogy.

· When we refer to someone as being an ‘English rose’, we could easily substitute the word ‘English’ with ‘German’, as we are referring to the genetic characteristics of the invading Saxons.

· Genetic research shows that the Y-chromosomes of the majority of British males are as ethnically Germanic as you can get.

· Our patron saint – Saint George – is now believed to be a Turkish knight. In other words, he’s as English as a kebab!

· Our monarchy is German. From the coronation oath based on Anglo-Saxon traditions via the Hanoverians to the Saxe-Coburgh-Gothas (alias the Windsors) currently ruling over us, our monarchy is about as English as the Munich beer festival!

· The Bank of England is anything but English in origin. It was set up in 1694 on the model of the Bank of Holland, and its first governor was Sir John Houblon, a Dutch Walloon.

· The English Sunday roast is in fact a Roman invention. If the Romans hadn’t invaded England, we could still be eating a lumpy soup-like slop cooked in one pot!
· You may think that a Savile Row suit is a quintessentially English luxury. However, fine tailoring was initiated in England in the 16th century by the Dutch Walloons and refined by the French Huguenots.

· The Irish virtually built Britain. When you travel on the London Underground, it’s worth remembering that every yard of tunnel is most probably the work of Irish navvies.

· From ‘royal’ to ‘roast beef’, many of the words most associated with English traditions come from the French language.

· What could be more British than the ultimate symbols of the monarchy, the Crown Jewels? Too many things to name actually, as almost all the gems in the royal collection were plundered from far-flung corners of Asia and Africa...
Thanks Yeal for deflating my heritage. LOL! It's okay, I'm an American mutt anyway.

[g_moses]

do you mean English? or do you mean British? they aren't the same.


Funny thing though. People always ask, "what are you?" In the way as to what a person's heritage comes from.

You know, I've never heard one person say "Brittish" or "English". It's always Scottish, French, German, etc etc. Nobody claims the Brits, though. Which is odd because they're the one's who started this whole thing in the first place.

[tufluv]

· In 1750, when the slave trade was at its height, one in 20 Londoners was black. Due to the number of multiracial marriages and children in the 18th century, it is probable that many of us have a black ancestor in our genealogy.

Oh I would ssssssssssssssooooooooooooooooooooooo love to let the KKK evildoers in on these little tidbits of info presented here., :laugh: Them and their 'pure white' race, HAH!
*just saw a docu on them recently* they are despicable. :mad:

[BrotherEastman]

Oh I would ssssssssssssssooooooooooooooooooooooo love to let the KKK evildoers in on these little tidbits of info presented here., :laugh: Them and their 'pure white' race, HAH!
*just saw a docu on them recently* they are despicable. :mad:
I hope none of em are English, LOL!

[tufluv]

Apparently no one IS English, that is, pure English, if there be such a thing..and no one is pure white either, although they may look like it, *they sunburn so easily, lol* could be KKK are more interested in appearing white., I doubt any of them do indepth geneological inquiries into each person before they are accepted as a member.
Maybe they do. :shrug:
What a sicko bunch.

[g_moses]

Apparently no one IS English, that is, pure English, if there be such a thing..and no one is pure white either, although they may look like it, *they sunburn so easily, lol* could be KKK are more interested in appearing white., I doubt any of them do indepth geneological inquiries into each person before they are accepted as a member.
Maybe they do. :shrug:
What a sicko bunch.


Not the KKK you got to worry about. It's the Aryans. The thing is that they do know they're not pure. It's part of the reason they hate themselves so much. Hating people who look and speak like me just makes it easier to channel the hate they have for themselves.

We all look for purity. Some seek religion. Others seek.....well, you know.

[Bartholomew]

Oh, I thought everyone knew! Leuven, or Louvain in French. Are you Belgian too?
Yes I am, wauw this is interesting. Where do you live now? how long did you live in Belgium? I am born near antwerpen. Spreek jij ook nederlands?

[W. J. Maria]

Yes I am, wauw this is interesting. Where do you live now? how long did you live in Belgium? I am born near antwerpen. Spreek jij ook nederlands?

Waw, een Apostolische Antwerpenaar! Ja, ik spreek ook Nederlands. [Moderators: That would be: Wow, an Apostolic Antwerpian! Yes, I also speak Dutch.] Well, sure exciting to meet a Dutch speaker here. When I have more time, I'll PM you.

[Kuppa Kippah]

g_moses. . .you don't live where I do. When St. George's flag flies, the Red Dragon awakens.

[John Atkinson]

g_moses. . .you don't live where I do. When St. George's flag flies, the Red Dragon awakens.
Yup. Manchester United is going to eat Fulham tonight. Rooney is BAAAACK!

[John Atkinson]

Half-Time MUTD=1 Fulham 0

Fergot about that little time difference

[John Atkinson]

Final MUTD=2, Fulham=0, Should have been 3-0, bad penalty call.

[John Atkinson]

Hail to you, son of Atkin! I agree with the above, except it is unlikely that the Saxons killed all the Roman-Celts. There must have been some pretty girls that they "married", rather than killed. met Prince Frederik of Denmark when he toured the Submarine base in Groton. He would have been about 16 then. He didn't look like Hamlet, but he looked so bored he might have been reading it....

[Bartholomew]

John you watch English premier league soccer? wauw I am impressed :clap:

[John Atkinson]

John you watch English premier league soccer? wauw I am impressed :clap:
watching it isn't a luxury I get, there is a live text feed though that I use to keep track of the matches I am interested in, which Man Utd is the only club I really follow.

Hey I grew up in Europe (Malta). Was educated in a brit school system up 10th grade, though thy call them "forms" and the numbers are different.

BTW, it isn't "soccer" it's football. This armoured rugby thing my countrymen are all on about....I haven't thought up a name for it yet, but it is not football.....:tup:

[Bartholomew]

watching it isn't a luxury I get, there is a live text feed though that I use to keep track of the matches I am interested in, which Man Utd is the only club I really follow.

Hey I grew up in Europe (Malta). Was educated in a brit school system up 10th grade, though thy call them "forms" and the numbers are different.

BTW, it isn't "soccer" it's football. This armoured rugby thing my countrymen are all on about....I haven't thought up a name for it yet, but it is not football.....:tup:

hehe, you can call it "armoured rugby"

[Kuppa Kippah]

Rugby? Well, I'm glad you brought that up. It's a much better topic than that sad "dive and whine" sport they call football. My stepkid's a Liverpool fan and I must admit I like Crouch but the sport itself isn't a joy to watch. It's not rugby and it's not ice hockey.

I'm very hopeful about the Ospreys chances, thank you very much.

oh and. . .Go Isles.

[John Atkinson]

Rugby? Well, I'm glad you brought that up. It's a much better topic than that sad "dive and whine" sport they call football. My stepkid's a Liverpool fan and I must admit I like Crouch but the sport itself isn't a joy to watch. It's not rugby and it's not ice hockey.

I'm very hopeful about the Ospreys chances, thank you very much.

oh and. . .Go Isles.
Yup, Islanders are AWESOME!