Strangely English miscellany

"Cé hé sin" (michael-m-mouse) 12/24/2015 at 16:10 • Filed to: England

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Having explored Sweden and France, let’s turn our attention to England, noting on our way that England, Britain and the UK are not synonymous and that unless you genuinely think that the accents of Glasgow, of Cardiff and of London are indistinguishable, there’s no such thing as a British accent.

Many strange things are associated with England. Some are unique, some deservedly so and some should remain there.

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Or if you prefer the yeoman warders of the Tower of London. Originally guards, they’re now essentially tour guides. The origins of the name are obscure.

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Made until 2001, the Robin was originally popular because people who could only afford a motorcycle and a matching licence could drive a three wheeler. Very economical, a tad keen to fall over. Bonus points for recognising where the headlights and indicators come from.

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The English love their place names, especially those with two words. North Boarhunt, World’s End, Piddlehinton, White Lackington, Greater Snoring, Drayton Beauchamp and so on. I’ve only made up one of these.

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It’s a small town. Not a lot happens, except that they hold a hillclimb. The car company formed by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford decided to incorporate the name in that of the cars they sold. They shortly after went broke, a fate shared by many of the subsequent owners of the company.

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They’re not all men but regardless they’re almost beyond parody.

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Made by Reliant and preceded the Robin. Same general idea though.

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Born Georgious Panayiotou, became famous in the 1980s with Wham!. Became further famous in a “public restroom”, or what the rest of us still call a public toilet, in California where he was entrapped by an undercover cop and charged with what is wonderfully described as “engaging in a lewd act”. He pleaded guilty and was fined.

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Steak, diced kidneys, fried onion and gravy.

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No, it’s a pudding with suet and dried fruit.

Svend > Cé hé sin 12/24/2015 at 16:36

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Classy. A lot of training goes into doing what they do and only few people are allowed to do it.

Svend > Cé hé sin 12/24/2015 at 16:42

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Cumming Street, Wetwang, Twatt, Sandy Balls, Beggars Bush, Beaver Close, Boggy Bottom, etc...

Svend > Cé hé sin 12/24/2015 at 16:56

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Cumberland Sausage.

Yorkshire Pudding.

Full English Breakfast

Fish, chips and mushy peas

Cé hé sin > Svend 12/24/2015 at 17:07

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Never ask what goes into a Cumberland sausage. Or a black pudding.

Speaking of which, there should be some in the breakfast.

Svend > Cé hé sin 12/24/2015 at 17:14

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Cumberland Sausage is just pork meat and spices.

But ye’, a full English breakfast should have black pudding (not keen on fruit pudding though, yuk).

davedave1111 > Cé hé sin 12/24/2015 at 17:15

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Morris dancing is always odd, but not always as tragic as the example in your picture.

Oh, you can add to your list of strangely English things the occasional tradition of painting faces black for some reason that long pre-dates blackface.

Cé hé sin > davedave1111 12/24/2015 at 17:16

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And green men. And hobby horses.

I have the suspicion that there’s some hideous ancient ritual behind these dances, probably involving the sacrifice of the local virgin by the light of the full moon.

Cé hé sin > Svend 12/24/2015 at 17:17

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Don’t believe what they tell you about those sausages.

davedave1111 > Cé hé sin 12/24/2015 at 17:21

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There’s the whole of Norfolk. That’s strange and English.

(I was a bit late to the party the other day when the QOTD was ‘what’s the strangest thing you’ve seen in the middle of nowhere?’, but I reckon Norwich qualifies on both counts.)

Svend > Cé hé sin 12/24/2015 at 17:25

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Just had to pop downstairs to the fridge.

As a Cummerlan, I’m proud of my sausage.

:)

Cé hé sin > Svend 12/24/2015 at 18:57

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For the benefit of the disbelieving, these are all real places!