Reading this and was reminded of a documentary made some years ago on the topic of Jewish humour. When asked about possible titles for the piece, Billy Crystal quipped, "Please God, choose someone else next time."
Thanks for the picture of HRH Elizabeth II. She looks like a right jolly old elf herself with that grin. Put a smile on my face for this holiday season.
As someone of British heritage, I always find it hilarious when some goofs talk about “Anglo-Saxon ethnic purity”. The Brits are probably the most “mongrel race” in Europe. Between the original Brittonic peoples, the Romans, the Germanic tribes, the “Viking” Danes, the Norse-French Normans and later waves of immigration, you’re going to be hard pressed to find a “pure” Brit. And as far as I’m concerned, THAT is what makes Britain great. 🇬🇧
In just about every case, someone who speaks of being "pure" anything -- aside from "human" -- is simply demonstrating the limits of their historical knowledge and perspective.
I'll put Canadians as the most mongrel of all. We are mongrels of mongrels, ;) As Dan mentioned food I recall a food review of the British Hotel in Aylmer, Quebec now Gatineau part of the National (federal ;) ) Capital Region. The reviewer described the food as "everything is cooked until it is brown" no mention was made of the cherished "bangers".
After a 3 day ride from Saskatoon, we arrived in Ottawa in the early 80s. The town (city ?) with an indigenous name sits right across from Hull on a big river. This ‘settlement’ has a fine British name. There live many residents who pretend to speak French.
While living for a few weeks in an older part of what I became to know as the Capital of Canada, I encountered the apparently modified versions of Fish and Chip stands. I recognized them as truncated to Chip stands since they removed the fish, which were perhaps too smelly after travel from the East Coast ? The Chips, I recognized them as pommes frites, were called French fries; perhaps an allusion to decadence. They were served in paper (no newspaper) cones and available with gravy and/ or cheese and other stuff (unrecognizable) on top.
Not much later, we moved into the country. The children, we felt, needed to learn more than how to play hockey and shoot ground hogs. Thus, I drove them to school in Ottawa. During our drives to the Lycée, we had a lot of conversations (in French). You cannot escape in the confinement of a small car. Thus, one day the question arose about the origin of the poutine, served at the chip stands.
So it goes: On our drive to school, I followed the Ottawa River along the beautiful Parkway. At one point, the head of a large bridge appeared. A lot of people who had left their home in Hull were crossing ‘le Pont de Portage’. They carried a (imaginary) thing on their backpack, an H, which they had removed from Hull. Why would we notice it ? If you asked them where they were coming from and where they were going to, they said they were from (H)ull and were coming to Ottawa. Going home, they would take the H back to Hull.
Later on the way back from school, we felt hungry and stopped at a chip stand. Lining up, we could listen to the various customer requests. The man in ahead of us, obviously from Hull and rather ‘affamé’, ordered French fries. “Doyou want gravy with that?” asked the chip man. “Yes ! Put it in! Put it in !” was the answer. “And cheese ?” was the question; “Yes ! Put it in !” was the answer. From now on, we knew what poutine was. The francophone had carefully added the oahead to not sound offensive (putain), and the feminine e to accommodate the gender of the snack. Poutine has since morphed into a culinary specialty even in NY.
Extremely interesting! Next you will tell me that Yorkshire Pudding was introduced by the Vikings. BTW, the earliest account of anti-Semitism probably comes from the Egyptian priest, Manetho (282-246 BCE) and arises out of conflicts between Jews, Greeks and Egyptians in pre-Roman times. See Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition Reprint Edition
Thanks Dan. I'm struggling to bite my lip when some xenophobic "Canadian" whose parents or grandparents immigrated from Europe or elsewhere complains about all these "uncanadian immigrants". I've tried explaining that everyone in Canada is a product of immigration tsome 20K years ago) most less than 125 year's ago, but the xenophobes either don't want to listen or have some alternative understanding of history that I'm sure didn't come from their grandparents.
Great post, Dan. Very relevant to Canada and our sad tendency to rate various groups as to their degree of "Canadianess" by how long they have been in the country. And an unhealthy preoccupation with "indigenous". My wife's ancestors arrived here in the early 1700s, long before, e.g. the Chippewas of the Thames, who moved here from the Ohio Valley around 1800. Does this make her "more" Canadian???
My favorite line from the blog is "the secret to becoming a fierce ethno-nationalist is amnesia." Excellent. Another memorable line, for a different reason and attributed to an anonymous British ethno-nationalist, is "A thousand years of ethnic stability now destroyed by immigration." One trembles to think where the English words in this sentence came from!
Reading this and was reminded of a documentary made some years ago on the topic of Jewish humour. When asked about possible titles for the piece, Billy Crystal quipped, "Please God, choose someone else next time."
Thanks for the picture of HRH Elizabeth II. She looks like a right jolly old elf herself with that grin. Put a smile on my face for this holiday season.
"More pictures of Her Majesty" is one of my New Year's resolutions.
As someone of British heritage, I always find it hilarious when some goofs talk about “Anglo-Saxon ethnic purity”. The Brits are probably the most “mongrel race” in Europe. Between the original Brittonic peoples, the Romans, the Germanic tribes, the “Viking” Danes, the Norse-French Normans and later waves of immigration, you’re going to be hard pressed to find a “pure” Brit. And as far as I’m concerned, THAT is what makes Britain great. 🇬🇧
In just about every case, someone who speaks of being "pure" anything -- aside from "human" -- is simply demonstrating the limits of their historical knowledge and perspective.
Ha,
I'll put Canadians as the most mongrel of all. We are mongrels of mongrels, ;) As Dan mentioned food I recall a food review of the British Hotel in Aylmer, Quebec now Gatineau part of the National (federal ;) ) Capital Region. The reviewer described the food as "everything is cooked until it is brown" no mention was made of the cherished "bangers".
FISH and CHIPS in OTTAWA
and the RISE of POUTINE
After a 3 day ride from Saskatoon, we arrived in Ottawa in the early 80s. The town (city ?) with an indigenous name sits right across from Hull on a big river. This ‘settlement’ has a fine British name. There live many residents who pretend to speak French.
While living for a few weeks in an older part of what I became to know as the Capital of Canada, I encountered the apparently modified versions of Fish and Chip stands. I recognized them as truncated to Chip stands since they removed the fish, which were perhaps too smelly after travel from the East Coast ? The Chips, I recognized them as pommes frites, were called French fries; perhaps an allusion to decadence. They were served in paper (no newspaper) cones and available with gravy and/ or cheese and other stuff (unrecognizable) on top.
Not much later, we moved into the country. The children, we felt, needed to learn more than how to play hockey and shoot ground hogs. Thus, I drove them to school in Ottawa. During our drives to the Lycée, we had a lot of conversations (in French). You cannot escape in the confinement of a small car. Thus, one day the question arose about the origin of the poutine, served at the chip stands.
So it goes: On our drive to school, I followed the Ottawa River along the beautiful Parkway. At one point, the head of a large bridge appeared. A lot of people who had left their home in Hull were crossing ‘le Pont de Portage’. They carried a (imaginary) thing on their backpack, an H, which they had removed from Hull. Why would we notice it ? If you asked them where they were coming from and where they were going to, they said they were from (H)ull and were coming to Ottawa. Going home, they would take the H back to Hull.
Later on the way back from school, we felt hungry and stopped at a chip stand. Lining up, we could listen to the various customer requests. The man in ahead of us, obviously from Hull and rather ‘affamé’, ordered French fries. “Doyou want gravy with that?” asked the chip man. “Yes ! Put it in! Put it in !” was the answer. “And cheese ?” was the question; “Yes ! Put it in !” was the answer. From now on, we knew what poutine was. The francophone had carefully added the oahead to not sound offensive (putain), and the feminine e to accommodate the gender of the snack. Poutine has since morphed into a culinary specialty even in NY.
Hahaha this is great fun! Learned the multi-national origin of British Fish & Chips! Love it!
https://openlibrary.org/books/OL13846406M/Broadcast_over_Britain.#editions-list
Digital version?
Available to borrow.
“I say the secret to becoming a fierce ethno-nationalist is amnesia. “ Fabulous! Well said. Good luck on finding that book! Wish I had a copy👍🏻
Dammit man, I am so tired of you confusing these people with FACTS...
Dan. If u drop an email to lumberpro@gmail.com I can fix u up with that book.
Try finding somebody with access to the US Library of Congress.
Extremely interesting! Next you will tell me that Yorkshire Pudding was introduced by the Vikings. BTW, the earliest account of anti-Semitism probably comes from the Egyptian priest, Manetho (282-246 BCE) and arises out of conflicts between Jews, Greeks and Egyptians in pre-Roman times. See Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition Reprint Edition
by David Nirenberg https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393347915?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
Thanks Dan. I'm struggling to bite my lip when some xenophobic "Canadian" whose parents or grandparents immigrated from Europe or elsewhere complains about all these "uncanadian immigrants". I've tried explaining that everyone in Canada is a product of immigration tsome 20K years ago) most less than 125 year's ago, but the xenophobes either don't want to listen or have some alternative understanding of history that I'm sure didn't come from their grandparents.
Blanket amnesia in many ways would be a blessing.
Great post, Dan. Very relevant to Canada and our sad tendency to rate various groups as to their degree of "Canadianess" by how long they have been in the country. And an unhealthy preoccupation with "indigenous". My wife's ancestors arrived here in the early 1700s, long before, e.g. the Chippewas of the Thames, who moved here from the Ohio Valley around 1800. Does this make her "more" Canadian???
My favorite line from the blog is "the secret to becoming a fierce ethno-nationalist is amnesia." Excellent. Another memorable line, for a different reason and attributed to an anonymous British ethno-nationalist, is "A thousand years of ethnic stability now destroyed by immigration." One trembles to think where the English words in this sentence came from!
Another great piece, thanks. I'll put this in my ammunition folder for debates :)
According to the library catalog at University of Wisconsin- Madison, we have a physical copy of Broadcast Over Britain here.
Oh, wow! Do you happen to know if the library has a find-and-scan service? Or freelancers who do that?
Hi Dan, Credit to Kathryn Johnson above https://openlibrary.org/books/OL13846406M/Broadcast_over_Britain.#editions-list
I don't, and they're closed today. But I can check next week.
I emailed and immediately got a response from a lovely librarian (is there any other kind?) who offered to make a copy for me! Many, many thanks! Dan
Thanks but I don't want to trouble you. I've found some librarians listed on the website. I'll email one or a few of them. Thanks so much!