Happy St Georges Day
England
The earliest documented mention of St George in England comes from the venerable
Bede (
c. 673–735).
[7] He is also mentioned in ninth-century liturgy used at
Durham Cathedral[8] The will of
Alfred the Great is said to refer to the saint, in a reference to the church of
Fordington, Dorset.
[8] At Fordington a stone over the south door records the miraculous appearance of St George to lead crusaders into battle.
[7]
Early (c 10th century) dedications of churches to St George are noted
in England, for example at Fordingham, Dorset, at Thetford, Southwark
and Doncaster.
[8] In 1222 The Synod of Oxford declared St. George's Day a feast day in the kingdom of England.
[8] Edward III (1327–1377) put his
Order of the Garter (founded c. 1348) under the banner of St. George.
[7] This order is still the foremost order of knighthood in England and
St George's Chapel at
Windsor Castle was built by Edward IV and Henry VII in honour of the order.
[7] The badge of the Order shows Saint George on horseback slaying the dragon.
[7] Froissart observed the English invoking St. George as a battle cry on several occasions during the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453).
[8] Certain English soldiers also displayed the
pennon of St George.
[9] In his play
Henry V,
William Shakespeare famously invokes the Saint at
Harfleur prior to the battle of
Agincourt
(1415): "Follow your spirit, and upon this charge Cry 'God for Harry,
England, and Saint George!'" At Agincourt many believed they saw him
fighting on the English side.
[7]
[1552] wher as it hathe bene of ane olde costome that sent Gorge
shulde be kepte holy day thorrow alle Englond, the byshoppe of London
commandyd that it shulde not be kepte, and no more it was not.
St George's Day was a major feast and national holiday in England on a par with Christmas from the early 15th century.
[10] The Cross of St George was flown in 1497 by
John Cabot on his voyage to discover
Newfoundland and later by Sir
Francis Drake and Sir
Walter Raleigh.
[11] In 1620 it was the flag that was flown by the
Mayflower when the Pilgrim Fathers arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
[11]
The tradition of celebration St George's day had waned by the end of the 18th century after the union of England and
Scotland.
[12] Nevertheless the link with St George continues today, for example
Salisbury holds an annual St George’s Day pageant, the origins of which are believed to go back to the 13th century.
[8] In recent years the popularity of St George's Day appears to be increasing gradually.
BBC Radio 3 had a full programme of St George's Day events in 2006, and
Andrew Rosindell,
Conservative MP for
Romford, has been putting the argument forward in the
House of Commons to make St George's Day a public holiday. In early 2009, Mayor of London
Boris Johnson
spearheaded a campaign to encourage the celebration of St George's Day.
Today, St George's day may be celebrated with anything English from
morris dancing to a
Punch and Judy show.
[13] Additional celebrations may involve the commemoration of the 23 April as
Shakespeare's birthday/death.
A traditional
custom on St George's day is to wear a red
rose in one's
lapel, though this is no longer widely practised. Another custom is to fly or adorn the
St George's Cross flag in some way:
pubs in particular can be seen on 23 April festooned with garlands of St George's crosses. It is customary for the hymn "
Jerusalem" to be sung in cathedrals, churches and chapels on St George's Day, or on the Sunday closest to it.
Traditional English foods and drink (e.g. afternoon tea) may be consumed.
There is a growing reaction to the recent indifference to St George's Day. Organizations such as
English Heritage, and the
Royal Society of Saint George
(a non-political English national society founded in 1894) have been
encouraging celebrations. There have also been calls to replace St
George as patron saint of England, on the grounds that he was an obscure
figure who had no direct connection with the country.
[14] However there is no obvious consensus as to whom to replace him with, though names suggested include
Edmund the Martyr,
[15] Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, or
Saint Alban, with the last having topped a
BBC Radio 4 poll on the subject.
[16]
Religious observance of St George's day changes when it is too close
to Easter. According to the Church of England's calendar, when St
George's Day falls between Palm Sunday and the Second Sunday of Easter
inclusive, it is moved to the Monday after the Second Sunday of Easter.
[1][2]
In 2011, for example, 23 April was Holy Saturday so St George's Day was
moved to Monday 2 May. The Catholic Church in England and Wales has a
similar practice.
[3]
