III. Are the statements true or false? Correct the false statements.

1. At first the Anglo-Saxons came as mercenaries who were hired by the Romans.

2. Of the three Germanic tribes the first to come to Britain were the Saxons.

3. The German invaders occupied all of the British Isles.

4. The Scottish kingdom was formed in the 9th century as a result of the unification of the Scots and the Anglo-Saxons.

5. The Poem of Beowulf is the greatest literary monument of the Celts which describes their life and customs.

6. Christianity was adopted in England in 664 and is connected with the name of St. Augustine who started his missionary work in the country in 597.

7. Though a part of Britain was conquered by the Danes, Danish influence is not felt in the country.

8. The Duke of Normandy defeated the English in 1282 at Caernarfon.

9. The final unification of England and Scotland took place in 1603 under James I of England.

10. To this very day Scotland continues to keep its own system of law, education and have an independent church.

IV. Answer the questions.

1. Where did the Anglo-Saxons and Jutes come from?

2. Who were the first of the Germanic tribes to come to Britain and when did they enter the country?

3. Where did the three Germanic tribes settle?

4. Are Anglo-Saxon pagan customs reflected in the English language?

5. Did the kingdom of Essex play an important role in English history?

6. When did England become a Christian country?

7. What was king Alfred's role in the struggle against the Danes?

8. When did the last invasion of England take place?

9. How did the Norman conquest affect the life of the country?

10. Why did the English build so many castles in Wales?

Points for discussion

1. The invasion of England by the Germanic tribes.

2. The legends of Glastonbury.

3. The ceremony at Caernarfon Castle.

4. The story of Robert Bruce and the spider.

Who Are the British? (Ill) The Irish

The province of Northern Ireland (sometimes called "Ulster") consists of six counties and is part of the United Kingdom. It is surrounded by sea to the north and east, and it borders on the Irish Republic (Eire) in the west and south. The capital of the province is Belfast.

Ireland was England's first colony, and this must never be forgotten when speaking of Anglo-Irish relations. Ever since the first English appeared on Irish land eight centuries ago, there has been much unhappiness and blood.

The problem of Northern Ireland is closely connected with religion, because the Irish people can be divided into two religious groups: Catholics and Protestants. At the same time it is quite clear that the fighting between these two groups is connected with the co­lonial past.

In 1169 Henry II of England started an invasion of Ireland. Although a large part of Ireland came under the control of the invaders, there was not much direct control from England during the Middle Ages. However, in the 16th century Henry VIII of England quarrelled with Rome and declared himself head of the Anglican Church, which was a Protestant Church. Ireland remained Catholic, and did not accept the change. So Henry VIII tried to force Irish Catholics to be­come Anglican. He also punished them by taking a lot of their land. This policy was continued by his daughter Elizabeth I. The northern province of Ulster became the cen­tre of resistance, which was crushed by the English in 1607. After these events Ulster became an area of settlement by Protestant immigrants from Scotland and England. The "Plantation of Ulster" began. "Planta­tion" meant that 23 new towns were built in Ulster to protect the Protestant settlers known as "planters". The Irish Catholics were driven from their lands. As a result of these actions the population in Ulster be­came Protestant in majority. But the Irish Catholics never gave up their struggle for independence and their rights. At the end of the 18th century there was a mass rising against the English colonizers which was crushed by the English army, and in 1801 a forced union was established with Britain.

All through the 19th century the "Irish question" remained in the centre of British politics. One of the greatest tragedies of the 19th century was the Great Hunger of 1845-49 when because of the bad potato harvest one million people died and more than one million emigrated to the United States of America. The Irish people have never forgotten that the British government had not done enough to help the poor people during the hunger.

After a long and bitter struggle the southern part of Ireland finally became a Free State in 1921. Ulster where the Protestants were in majority remained part of the United Kingdom. The Irish Free State declared itself a republic in 1949, and is now known as the Irish Republic or Eire (an old Irish word for Ireland). It is completely independent, and its capital is the city of Dublin. Northern Ireland had its own Parliament at Stormont in Belfast and government which was responsible for its province's life. But from the beginning the Parliament was in the hands of Protestants, while the Catholics did not have equal rights with the Protestants. In 1969 conflict started between these groups, and so the British government closed the local parliament a nd sent in the British army to keep the peace. But there was no peace, and there have been many deaths since 1969. On the Catholic side is the IRA (Irish Republican Army) which wants to achieve a united Ireland by terrorism and bombings. On the Protestant side there are also secret terrorist organizations.

B ut after all these years of confrontation the people of Northern Ireland understand that only through peace talks and respect for the rights of all the people ( both Catholics and Protestants) can peace be achieved in the province. Recent events show that after the talks be­tween London and Dublin, and the end of terrorist activities between the two communities there is much hope that the age-old conflict will be solved, and that peace and progress will be established in Northern Ireland to the benefit of its population.

Many years ago all Irish people spoke Gaelic (a Celtic language) and today this language is still spoken in some parts of Ireland, especially in the west, although English is spoken by all Irish people with an accent and dialect quite different from the English in Britain. Gaelic place-names have also survived, for example "lough" — lake, "inis" — island, "drum" — the top of mountain, "glen" — valley, "bally"— town. The names of people are also Gaelic. For example: Liam, the same as the English William, Sean, same as John, Brid, same as Bridget.

An Irishman is quite often called Paddy (short for Patrick). Patrick is so often used, because St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, but it is not a Gaelic name. The same may be said of another widely used name Micky (short for Michael). Irish culture has had a great influence on the development of British culture. Many famous Irishmen contributed to the development of British culture, for example, Jonathan Swift, Bernard Shaw, James Joyce and many others.

Recently, there have been many waves of immigration into Britain and movement within the U.K. For example, many people from Wales, Scotland and Ireland have settled in England.

Foreigners have been settling in Britain since the beginning of the century. Commonwealth citizens could enter Britain quite freely until 1962, while people from other countries had to receive special permits. Before the Second World War most of the immigrants came from the old dominions: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa. In the late 1930s many Jews came from Germany because of fascist persecution, as well as Poles and people of other nationalities from Eastern Europe. After 1952 many immigrants came to Britain from the West Indies, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, from some countries of Africa. At this time the British economy was developing rapidly and it needed cheap labour. The immigrants were poor and out of work and had been told there were jobs for them in Britain.

Black and Asian people can be seen in every city of Britain, but there is a greater concentration of them in larger cities, where it is easier to find work, such as London, Birmingham, Bradford, Coventry, Manchester and others. Today, more than 2 million people of non-white origin live in Britain and over 50 per cent of them were born in Britain, thus they are British, but with a different colour of their skin. Nearly half the doctors and many of the nurses are black, or of Indian origin, as are large numbers of bus drivers and conductors. Many work in the service industry, or own little shops, restaurants, cafes. The immigrants usually take the lowest paid jobs, and when there is unemployment they are the first to lose work. In spite of the laws to protect them, there is still discrimination against the non-whites. This led to serious disturbances in many cities of Britain in the early 1980s.

The main languages of the Asian immigrants are Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati, and Cantonese (Chinese). The authorities support the non-white communities to continue speaking their own languages as well as English. These communities have their special newspapers, magazines, radio and television programmes.

With the movement of people among the countries of the European Union of which Britain is a member, more and more people enter Britain from continental Europe. Today there are many Italians, Greeks, Spaniards, Portuguese living in Britain.

The arrival of many foreigners has changed life in present-day Britain. British culture has been enriched through its contact with other cultures. For example, the eating and cooking habits of the British have changed. There are lots of Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Pakistani, Greek and Italian restaurants and cafes all over the country. Traditionally Asian foods have been very popular with the British. But nowadays the British have also developed a great taste for Italian pizzas. Greek foods which are served at Greek restaurants attract many people not only because the foods are very specific and tasty, but also due to the opportunity to enjoy Greek folk songs and dances.

The service sector has also improved considerably due to the arrival of immigrants. There are many shops run by South Koreans and Vietnamese which are open 24 hours, and any customer can drop in any time to buy things which he needs.

There are also many "take-away shops", that is shops where you can take food home which has been prepared for you. Another important thing is that the food is tasty end cheap, and you save much time which you can use for other purposes. Cultural life has also become interesting due to its diversity. You can visit different exhibitions, enjoy new theatrical performances, music. For example, the Bonie M pop group which started in the West Indies became very popular not only in Britain, but far beyond the British Isles. Today Britain is a multiracial society which benefits from the influences of different peoples and cultures.

Comprehension Check