British culture
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Geography
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Names
The British Isles
The United Kingdom (U.K.)
Great Britain
England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland
The British Isles (geographical term)
Group of islands:
o Great Britain: main island (England + Wales)
o Ireland: Republic + Northern Ireland (part of UK)
o Smaller islands:
Shetland islands
Orkneys
Hebrides
Isle of Man
Channel islands
Isle of Wight
Anglesey
Scilly islands
…
,The United Kingdom (political name)
Official name: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
4 nations (England, Scotland, Wales, N.I.) + several smaller islands
o Not all islands! E.g. Isle of Man =/= UK
o many banks in Man (no tax laws)
14 overseas territories and 3 crown dependencies (e.g. Isle of Man)
Great Britain / Britain (geographical name used to refer to entire country (=UK)
Main island of the British Isles
England + Scotland + Wales
The people
The British; Britons; Brits (informal)
The English; Englishmen/Englishwomen
The Scots; the Scottish; Scotsmen/Scotswomen
o =/= Scotch!! (whisky)
The Welsh; Welshmen/Welshwomen
The Irish; Irishmen/Irishwomen
Adjectives
British: +- the UK or (Great) Britain
English: only +- England
Scottish: +- people and things in Scotland
Scots: +- people, law and language of Scotland
(Northern) Irish
Welsh
England
Only PART of the island
London = capital of England and Britain
Nature: varied, hilly, mountains, green
Scotland
Islands included!
Capital: Edinburgh (‘Edinbruh’)
Near border with England: Hadrian’s Wall (built by Romans)
Ben Nevis mountain, highest in Britain (4406ft 1342m)m)
Glen Coh
Lochs, castles, fog
Wales
Western part of mainland Britain
1/3 size of Belgium
Celtic roots
, Capital: Cardiff
Mount Snowden: 1000m
Sheep
Northern Ireland
Capital: Belfast
Also known as Ulster do not use Ulster in N.I. (only used by unionists/protestants)
Part of the UK
Giant’s Causeway
Sheep
Lough Neagh
Irish Gaelic
Biggest freshwater lake in UK
Geographical position
0° longitude (chosen) Greenwich (‘Grenitch’) meridian
Between 50°N and 60°N latitude (decided by equator)
Latitude: Scotland ~ Norway same darkness during winter
How big?
Figures powerpoint
John O’ Groats – Land’s End (length island): culturally important, eg charities walk, cycle,..
, History of the British Isles
Selective (!) overview, not much detail
Only history linked with present
Prehistory and the Celts
10y ago we thought 2m)50,000 BC y/a, now 800,000 BC
BC BCE before common era (not used often)
BC and AD: before Christ and anno domini
End of ice age island
o Island mentality, origin of Brexit
3,000 BC: Neolithic people
o Barrows: artificial hills graves
o Henges: circle of stone/wooden objects
o Stone Henge was NOT built by druids bc they came long after Stone Henge
Made out of blue stone from Wales (1000km away) before invention of the
wheel difficult!
2m),400 BC: Beaker people found lots of beakers
700 BC: arrival of the Celts still play important role (language, …)
o Celts came from Europe, (physically) different from English tribes
o Brought agriculture, more advanced, dominated island
o Named Britain ‘Albion’
o Own culture with druids (priest + soothsayer) and bards (artists)
o Art (until today) eg Celtic cross
The Romans
Caesar 55BC: first general to come to Britain chased away
Came back up to Thames did not stay, but made deals with tribes allies sent
hostages back with him to EU hostages got Roman education + culture spread
knowledge
Claudius invades Britain resistance: Boadicea (queen), symbol, won battles, underdog
Romans never conquered Scotland (Caledonia) Picts (people)
o Hadrian’s Wall (70 miles long) built by Romans on border with Scotland
Rome brought:
o System of governing (modern government)
o Written language
o Calendar
o Infrastructure: 10,000 miles of roads
o Rapid change
o Names in -chester/-cester/-caster referring to Roman encampments (‘castrum’)
Romans stayed for 100+ years mixed with native Celts
Scottish Celts could feel Roman Might going down Celts feel confident again attacks
collapse of Roman Empire big piece of land open for new people (409 AD)
The Anglo-Saxons (450-1066)