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John Taverner

John Taverner

:John Taverner should not be confused with the 20th-21st century British composer John Tavener. John Taverner (around 1490 - October 18, 1545) is regarded as the most important English composer of his day. He was also an organist. Taverner was born in south Lincolnshire. He was employed in a church in Tattershall in the early 1520s, and in 1526 became the first choirmaster at Cardinal's College, Oxford (now Christ Church, Oxford) in 1526. He left there in 1530 having been briefly imprisoned for heresy in 1528 after becoming involved in a Lutheran scandal. He was subsequently a lay clerk at the parish church of St. Botolph in Boston. It is often said that Taverner later abandoned music and worked as an agent of Thomas Cromwell assisting in the Dissolution of the Monasteries, although the veracity of this is now thought to be highly questionable. Most of Taverner's music is vocal, and includes masses, Magnificats and motets. The bulk of his output is thought to date from the 1520s. His best known mass is based on a popular song, " The Western Wynde" (John Sheppard and Christopher Tye later also wrote masses based on this same song). A part of the Benedictus of his mass Gloria tibi Trinitas was used as the prototype for instrumental works by many other composers with the name In nomine. The life of Taverner was the subject of Taverner, an opera by Peter Maxwell Davies. Taverner, John Taverner, John Taverner, John Taverner, John ja:ジョン・タヴァーナー

John Tavener

John Tavener should not be confused with the sixteenth-century composer John Taverner. Sir John Tavener (born 28 January 1944) is an English composer. He was born in London, attended Highgate School and later studied at the Royal Academy of Music, where his tutors included Sir Lennox Berkeley. He first came to prominence in 1968 with his dramatic cantata The Whale, based on the Old Testament story of Jonah. It was premièred at the London Sinfonietta's début concert and later recorded by Apple Records. Other works released by Apple included his Celtic Requiem. In 1977 Tavener joined the Russian Orthodox Church, which became a major influence on his work. He is particularly drawn to its mysticism, studying and setting to music the writings of mystics such as St John Chrysostom. Later prominent works include The Akathist of Thanksgiving (1988, written in celebration of the millennium of the Russian Orthodox Church); The Protecting Veil (first performed by cellist Steven Isserlis and the London Symphony Orchestra at the 1989 Proms); and Song For Athene (subsequently sung at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997). Following Diana, Princess of Wales' death he also composed and dedicated to her memory the piece Eternity's Sunrise, based on poetry by William Blake. In 2003 Tavener composed the monumental work The Veil of the Temple, based on texts from a number of different religious traditions including Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. It is set for four choirs, several orchestras and soloists and lasts at least seven hours. While Tavener's early music was influenced by Stravinsky, often invoking the sound world of the Requiem Canticles and A Sermon, a Narrative and a Prayer, his recent music is more sparse, uses wide registral space and is usually diatonically tonal. Some commentators see a similarity to the works of Arvo Pärt, from their common religious tradition to the technical details of phrase lengths, diatonicism and coloristic percussion effects. Messiaen was also arguably a strong influence on his earlier work. In 2000 John Tavener was knighted for his services to music.

External links


- [http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/acc/tavener.html Classical Net profile]
- [http://www.imageandmusic.co.uk/news.htm Michael J Stewart's interview with Sir John Tavener] Tavener, John Tavener, John Tavener, John Tavener, John Tavener, John Tavener, John Tavener, John ja:ジョン・タヴナー

October 18

October 18 is the 291st day of the year (292nd in Leap years). There are 74 days remaining.

Events


- 1009 - The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Christian church in Jerusalem, is completely destroyed by the "mad" Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who hacks the Church's foundations down to bedrock.
- 1016 - The Danes defeat the Saxons in the Battle of Ashingdon.
- 1210 - Pope Innocent III excommunicates German leader Otto IV
- 1561 - Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima -- Takeda Shingen defeats Uesugi Kenshin in the climax of their ongoing conflicts
- 1685 - Louis XIV of France revokes the Edict of Nantes, which has protected French Protestants
- 1748 - Signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ends the War of the Austrian Succession.
- 1767 - Mason-Dixon line, survey separating Maryland from Pennsylvania is completed
- 1851 - Herman Melville's Moby-Dick is first published as The Whale by Richard Bentley of London.
- 1860 - The Second Opium War finally ends at the Convention of Peking with the ratification of the Treaty of Tientsin, an unequal treaty.
- 1867 - United States takes possession of Alaska, from Russia, celebrated annually in the state as Alaska Day ($7.2 million paid).
- 1898 - United States takes possession of Puerto Rico.
- 1908 - Belgium annexes the Congo Free State.
- 1912 - The First Balkan War begins.
- 1922 - The British Broadcasting Company (later Corporation) is founded by a consortium, to establish a nationwide network of radio transmitters to provide a national broadcasting service.
- 1925 - The Grand Ole Opry opens.
- 1944 - Adolf Hitler orders the establishment of a German national militia.
- 1944 - Soviet Union invades Czechoslovakia
- 1945 - The USSR's nuclear program receives plans for the USA's plutonium bomb from Klaus Fuchs at the Los Alamos National Laboratory
- 1945 - A group of the Venezuelan Armed Forces, led by Mario Vargas, Marcos Pérez Jiménez and Carlos Delgado Chalbaud, staged a coup d'etát against then president Isaías Medina Angarita, who was definitely overthrown by the end of the day.
- 1954 - Texas Instruments announces the first Transistor radio
- 1964 - The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair closes for its first season after a six-month run.
- 1968 - A police raid on John Lennon and Yoko Ono's flat finds 168 grains of marijuana. They later plead guilty and are fined £150.
- 1968 - The U.S. Olympic Committee suspends two black athletes for giving a "black power" salute during a victory ceremony at the Mexico City games.
- 1968 - Bob Beamon sets a world record of 8.90m in the long jump at the Mexico City games. This becomes the longest unbroken track and field record in history, standing for 23 years, and is later named by Sports Illustrated magazine as one of the five greatest sporting moments of the 20th century.
- 1969 - Jefferson Airplane member Paul Kantner is charged with possession of marijuana on Hawaii.
- 1974 - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre opens in theaters.
- 1977 - German Autumn: a set of events revolving around the kidnapping of Hanns-Martin Schleyer and the hijacking of a Lufthansa flight by the Red Army Faction (RAF) comes to an end when Schleyer is executed and various RAF members allegedly commit suicide. The (West) German government states that it would never again negotiate with terrorists.
- 1977 - Reggie Jackson hits three consecutive home runs.
- 1985 - Nintendo releases the Nintendo Entertainment System in the United States.
- 1988 - Green Day plays their first ever concert.
- 1989 - East German leader Erich Honecker resigns.
- 1993 - Andreas Papandreou begins his second term as Prime Minister of Greece.
- 2003 - Bolivian Gas War: President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, is forced to resign and leave Bolivia.
- 2005 - The Nameless Novel aka Book The Twelfth of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events is released to the public.

Births


- 1127 - Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan (d. 1192)
- 1405 - Pope Pius II (d. 1464)
- 1517 - Manoel da Nóbrega, Portuguese Jesuit in Brazil (d. 1570)
- 1547 - Justus Lipsius, Flemish humanist (d. 1606)
- 1569 - Giambattista Marini, Italian poet (d. 1625)
- 1595 - Edward Winslow, Plymouth Colony founder (d. 1655)
- 1634 - Luca Giordano, Italian artist (d. 1705)
- 1653 - Abraham van Riebeeck, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1713)
- 1662 - Matthew Henry, English non-conformist minister (d. 1714)
- 1668 - John George IV, Elector of Saxony (d. 1694)
- 1679 - Ann Putnam, Jr., American accuser in the Salem Witch Trials (d. 1716)
- 1701 - Charles le Beau, French historian (d. 1778)
- 1706 - Baldassare Galuppi, Italian composer (d. 1785)
- 1741 - Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, French general and author (d. 1803)
- 1777 - Heinrich von Kleist, German writer (d. 1811)
- 1785 - Thomas Love Peacock, English satirist (d. 1866)
- 1854 - Billy Murdoch, Australian Cricketer (d. 1911)
- 1859 - Henri Bergson, French philosopher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (d. 1941)
- 1873 - Ivanoe Bonomi, Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1951)
- 1893 - Georges Ohsawa, Japanese founder of Macrobiotics (d. 1966)
- 1898 - Lotte Lenya, Austrian singer and actress (d. 1981)
- 1898 - Shin'ichi Suzuki, Japanese violinist (d. 1998)
- 1902 - Miriam Hopkins, American actress (d. 1972)
- 1903 - Lina Radke, German athlete (d. 1983)
- 1906 - James Brooks, American painter (d. 1992)
- 1909 - Norberto Bobbio, Italian philosopher and legal theorist (d. 2004)
- 1911 - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Indian guru
- 1913 - Robert Gilruth, American aviation and space pioneer (d. 2000)
- 1918 - Bobby Troup, American musician (d. 1999)
- 1919 - Anita O'Day, American singer
- 1919 - Pierre Elliott Trudeau, fifteenth Prime Minister of Canada (d. 2000)
- 1920 - Melina Mercouri, Greek actress and political activist (d. 1994)
- 1921 - Jesse Helms, U.S. Senator from North Carolina
- 1926 - Chuck Berry, American musician
- 1926 - Klaus Kinski, German actor (d. 1991)
- 1927 - George C. Scott, American actor (d. 1999)
- 1928 - Keith Jackson, American football commentator
- 1928 - Hugh Allan "Buddy" MacMaster, Canadian musician
- 1929 - Violeta Chamorro, President of Nicaragua
- 1931 - Chris Albertson, American jazz historian
- 1934 - Inger Stevens, Swedish actress (d. 1970)
- 1934 - Chuck Swindoll, American evangelist
- 1935 - Peter Boyle, American actor
- 1939 - Mike Ditka, American football player, coach, and commentator
- 1939 - Lee Harvey Oswald, American assassin of John F. Kennedy (d. 1963)
- 1946 - Howard Shore, Canadian film composer
- 1947 - Joe Morton, American actor
- 1947 - Laura Nyro, American singer and songwriter (d. 1997)
- 1948 - Ntozake Shange, American author
- 1949 - George Hendrick, baseball player
- 1950 - Om Puri, Indian actor
- 1950 - Wendy Wasserstein, American playwright
- 1951 - Terry McMillan, American author
- 1956 - Martina Navratilova, Czech-born tennis player
- 1960 - Jean-Claude Van Damme, Belgian actor
- 1961 - Wynton Marsalis, American musician
- 1970 - Jose Padilla, American gang member and suspected terrorist
- 1974 - Robbie Savage, Welsh footballer
- 1976 - Azlea Antistia, American actress
- 1976 - David Wong, pianist
- 1977 - Ryan Nelsen, New Zealander footballer

Deaths


- 707 - Pope John VII
- 1035 - Sancho III of Navarre
- 1101 - Hugh of Vermandois, son of Henry I of France (b. 1053)
- 1141 - Margrave Leopold IV of Austria
- 1417 - Pope Gregory XII
- 1503 - Pope Pius III (b. 1439)
- 1545 - John Taverner, English composer
- 1558 - Maria of Austria, queen of Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia (b. 1505)
- 1564 - Johannes Acronius Frisius, German physician and mathematician (b. 1520)
- 1570 - Manoel da Nóbrega, Portuguese Jesuit in Brazil (b. 1517)
- 1604 - Igram van Achelen, Dutch statesman (b. 1528)
- 1646 - Isaac Jogues, French Jesuit missionary (b. 1607)
- 1667 - Fasilidos, Emperor of Ethiopia
- 1678 - Jacob Jordaens, Flemish painter (b. 1593)
- 1739 - Antônio José da Silva, Brazilian-born dramatist (b. 1705)
- 1744 - Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, English friend of Anne of England (b. 1660)
- 1770 - John Manners, Marquess of Granby, British soldier (b. 1721)
- 1775 - Christian August Crusius, German philosopher and theologian (b. 1715)
- 1817 - Etienne-Nicolas Méhul, French composer (b. 1763)
- 1886 - Philipp Franz von Siebold, German physician (b. 1796)
- 1871 - Charles Babbage, English mathematician and inventor (b. 1791)
- 1893 - Charles Gounod, French composer (b. 1818)
- 1911 - Alfred Binet, French psychologist (b. 1857)
- 1921 - King Ludwig III of Bavaria (b. 1845)
- 1931 - Thomas Edison, American inventor (b. 1847)
- 1959 - Boughera El Ouafi, Algerian athlete
- 1975 - Al Lettieri, American actor (b. 1928)
- 1982 - Bess Truman, First Lady of the United States (b. 1885)
- 1983 - Willie Jones, baseball player (b. 1925)
- 2000 - Julie London, American singer and actress (b. 1926)
- 2000 - Gwen Verdon, American dancer and actress (b. 1925)
- 2001 - Micheline Ostermeyer, French athlete and musician (b. 1922)
- 2002 - Nikolai Rukavishnikov, cosmonaut (b. 1932)
- 2002 - Roman Tam, Hong Kong singer (b. 1950)
- 2003 - Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, Spanish writer (b. 1939)
- 2003 - Preston Smith, Governor of Texas (b. 1912)
- 2004 - Veerappan, Indian bandit and smuggler (b. 1945)
- 2005 - John Hollis, British actor (b. 1931)

Holidays and observances


- R.C. Church, Anglican communion, et alii - Feast of Saint Luke the Evangelist
- Also see October 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- USA : Alaska: Alaska Day

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/18 BBC: On This Day] ---- October 17 - October 19 - September 18 - November 18 - more historical anniversaries ko:10월 18일 ms:18 Oktober ja:10月18日 simple:October 18 th:18 ตุลาคม

England

:For an explanation of often-confusing terms like England, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology). England is a nation and the largest and most populous constituent country of the United Kingdom accounting for more than 83% of the total UK population. It occupies most of the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and shares land borders with fellow home nations Scotland, to the north, and Wales, to the west. Elsewhere, it is bordered by the sea. England is named after the Angles, one of a number of Germanic tribes believed to have originated in Angeln in Northern Germany, who settled in England in the 5th and 6th centuries. It has not had a distinct political identity since 1707, when Great Britain was established as a unified political entity; however, it has a legal identity separate from those of Scotland and Northern Ireland, as part of the entity "England and Wales;". England's largest city, London, is also the capital of the United Kingdom.

History

Main article: History of England England has been inhabited for at least 500,000 years, although the repeated Ice Ages made much of Britain uninhabitable for extended periods until as recently as 20,000 years ago. Stone Age hunter-gatherers eventually gave way to farmers and permanent settlements, with a spectacular and sophisticated megalithic civilisation arising in western England some 4,000 years ago. It was replaced around 1,500 years later by Celtic tribes migrating from Western and continental Europe, mainly from France. These tribes were known collectively as "Britons", a name bestowed by Phoenician traders — an indication of how, even at this early date, the island was part of a Europe-wide trading network. The Britons were significant players in continental politics and supported their allies in Gaul militarily during the Gallic Wars with the Roman Republic. This prompted the Romans to invade and subdue the island, first with Julius Caesar's raid in 55 BC, and then the Emperor Claudius' conquest in the following century. The whole southern part of the island — roughly corresponding to modern day England and Wales — became a prosperous part of the Roman Empire. It was finally abandoned early in the 5th century when a weakening Empire pulled back its legions to defend borders on the Continent. Unaided by the Roman army, Roman Britannia could not long resist the Germanic tribes who arrived in the 5th and 6th centuries, enveloping the majority of modern day England in a new culture and language and pushing Romano-British rule back into modern-day Wales and western extremities of England, notably Cornwall and Cumbria. Others emigrated across the channel to modern-day Brittany, thus giving it its name and language (Breton). But many of the Romano-British remained in and were assimilated into the newly "English" areas. The invaders fell into three main groups: the Jutes, the Saxons, and the Angles. As they became more civilised, recognisable states formed and began to merge with one another. (The most well-known state of affairs being the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy.) From time to time throughout this period, one Anglo-Saxon king, recognised as the "Bretwalda" by other rulers, had effective control of all or most of the English; so it is impossible to identify the precise moment when the Kingdom of England was unified. In some sense, real unity came as a response to the Danish Viking incursions which occupied the eastern half of "England" in the 8th century. Egbert, King of Wessex (d. 839) is often regarded as the first king of all the English, although the title "King of England" was first adopted, two generations later, by Alfred the Great (ruled 871–899). The principal legacy left behind in those territories from which the language of the Britons were displaced is that of toponyms. Many of the place-names in England and to a lesser extent Scotland are derived from celtic British names, including London, Dumbarton, York, Dorchester, Dover and Colchester. Several place-name elements are thought to be wholly or partly Brythonic in origin, particularly bre-, bal-, and -dun for hills, carr for a high rocky place, coomb for a small deep valley. Until recently it has been believed that those areas settled by the Anglo-Saxons were uninhabited at the time or the Britons had fled before them. However, genetic studies show that the British were not pushed out to the Celtic fringes – many tribes remained in what was to become England (see C. Capelli et al. A Y chromosome census of the British Isles. Current Biology 13, 979–984, (2003)). Capelli's findings strengthen the research of Steven Bassett of the University of Birmingham; his work during the 1990s suggests that much of the West Midlands was only very lightly colonised with Anglian and Saxon settlements.
This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,—
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.
The English are great lovers of themselves, and of everything belonging to them; they think that there are no other men than themselves, and no other world but England; and whenever they see a handsome foreigner, they say that 'he looks like an Englishman', and that 'it is a great pity that he should not be an Englishmen'.
Venetian ambassador to England
Early 16th century
Charlotte Augusta Sneyd
Italian Relations of England (p. 20)
Richard II] Richard II] In 1066, William the Conqueror and the Normans conquered the existing Kingdom of England and instituted an Anglo-Norman administration and nobility who, retaining proto-French as their language for the next three hundred years, ruled as custodians over English commoners. Although the language and racial distinctions faded rapidly during the middle ages, the class system born in the Norman/Saxon divide persisted longer — arguably with traces lasting to the modern day. While Old English continued to be spoken by common folk, Norman feudal lords significantly influenced the language with French words and customs being adopted over the succeeding centuries evolving to a Romance-Germanic hybrid of Middle English widely spoken in Chaucer's time. England came repeatedly into conflict with Wales and Scotland, at the time an independent principality and an independent kingdom respectively, as its rulers sought to expand Norman power across the entire island of Britain. The conquest of Wales was achieved in the 13th century, when it was annexed to England and gradually came to be a part of that kingdom for most legal purposes, although in the modern era it is more usually thought of as a separate nation (fielding, for example, its own athletic teams). Norman power in Scotland waxed and waned over the years, with the Scots managing to maintain a varying degree of independence despite repeated wars with the English. Although it was on the whole only a moderately successful power in military terms, England became one of the wealthiest states in medieval Europe, due chiefly to its dominance in the lucrative wool market. The failure of English territorial ambitions in continental Europe prompted the kingdom's rulers to look further afield, creating the foundations of the mercantile and colonial network that was to become the British Empire. The turmoil of the Reformation embroiled England in religious wars with Europe's Catholic powers, notably Spain, but the kingdom preserved its independence as much through luck as through the skill of charismatic rulers such as Elizabeth I. Elizabeth's successor, James I was already king of Scotland (as James VI); and this personal union of the two crowns into the crown of Great Brittaine was followed a century later by the Act of Union 1707, which formally unified England, Scotland and Wales into the Kingdom of Great Britain. This later became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801 to 1927) and then the modern state of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1927 to present) For post-unification history, see history of the United Kingdom.

Politics

Main article: Politics of the United Kingdom, Government of England Since the promulgation of the 1284 Statute of Rhuddlan and the Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542, Wales has shared a legal identity with England as the joint entity of England and Wales. The Act of Union with the Kingdom of Scotland in 1707 created the Kingdom of Great Britain, subsuming England, Wales and Scotland into a single political entity. Scotland, along with Northern Ireland, retain separate legal systems. The duchy of Cornwall also retains some unique rights. All of Great Britain has been ruled by the government of the United Kingdom since that date, although in 1999 the first elections to the newly created Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales left England as the only part of the Union with no devolved assembly or parliament. As all legislation for England is passed by Parliament at Westminster there are some complaints about the ability of non-English Members of Parliament to influence purely English affairs. This apparent anomaly has been highlighted by both English and non-English politicians, often those opposed to devolution, and has become popularly known as the West Lothian question. Administratively, England is something of an anomaly within the UK. Unlike the other three nations, it has no local parliament or government and its administrative affairs are dealt with by a combination of the UK government, the UK parliament and a number of England-specific quangos, such as English Heritage. There are calls from some for a devolved English Parliament and from others for the dissolution of the UK and an independent England. The current Labour government favoured the establishment of regional administration, claiming that England was too large to be governed as a sub-state entity. A referendum on this issue in North East England on 4 November 2004 decisively rejected the proposal. Some criticised the English regional proposals for not decentralising enough, saying that they amounted not to devolution, but to little more than local government reorganisation, with no real power being removed from central government. The English regions would not even have had the limited powers of the Welsh Assembly, much less the tax-varying and legislative powers of the Scottish Parliament. Rather, power was simply re-allocated within the region, with little new resource allocation and no real prospects of Assemblies being able to change the pattern of regional aid. Responsibility for regional transport was added to the proposals late in the process. This was perhaps crucial in the North East, where resentment at the Barnett Formula, which delivers greater regional aid to adjacent Scotland, was a significant impetus for the North East devolution campaign. There has also been a campaign for a Cornish assembly along Welsh lines by groups such as Mebyon Kernow, which recently collected 50,000 signatures in support. Some eurosceptics believe that the establishment of English regions as administrative entities is designed to undermine the concept of English nationhood and more easily fit England into a European federal model. Conventionally the national capital of England is London, although technically it would be more exact to call London the capital of "England and Wales" given England's lack of a distinctive political identity separate from the Principality. Winchester served as the country's first national capital until some time in the late 11th century after the Norman Conquest. The City of London became England's commercial capital, while the City of Westminster (where the Royal court was located) became the political capital. These roles have, broadly speaking, been maintained to the present day.

Subdivisions

Main article: Subdivisions of England Historically, the highest level of local government in England was the county. These divisions had emerged from a range of units of old, pre-unification England, whether they were Kingdoms, such as Essex and Sussex; Duchies, such as Yorkshire, Cornwall and Lancashire or simply tracts of land given to some noble, as is the case with Berkshire. Until 1867, they were subdivided into smaller divisions called hundreds. These counties all still exist in, or near to, their original form as the traditional counties. In many places, however, they have been heavily modified or abolished outright as administrative counties. This came about due to a number of factors. The fact that the counties were so small meant, and still means, that there was no regional government able to coordinate an overarching plan for the area. This was especially true in the metropolitan areas surrounding the cities, as the county lines were usually drawn up before the industrial revolution and the mass urbanisation of England. The solution was the creation of large metropolitan counties centred on cities. These were later broken up, with several other counties, into unitary authorities, unifying the county and district/borough levels of government. London is a special case, and is the one region which currently has a representative authority as well as a directly elected mayor. The 32 London boroughs and the Corporation of London remain the local form of government in the city. Other than Greater London, the official regions are:
- North East England
- North West England
- Yorkshire and the Humber
- West Midlands
- East Midlands
- East of England
- South West England
- South East England Outside London the regions have very little power and are not accountable to elected representatives; regional authority is placed in the hands of unelected assemblies. If, as now seems unlikely, regions opt to replace these bodies with elected assemblies, local government in England will remain as variable and, some might say, as confusing as ever

Geography

Main articles: Geography of the United Kingdom, Geography of England Geography of England England comprises the central and southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain, plus offshore islands of which the largest is the Isle of Wight. It is bordered to the north by Scotland and to the west by Wales. It is closer to continental Europe than any other part of Britain, divided from France only by a 38 km (24 statute mile or 21 nautical mile) sea gap. Most of England consists of rolling hills, but it is more mountainous in the north with a chain of low mountains, the Pennines, dividing east and west. The dividing line between terrain types is usually indicated by the Tees-Exe line. There is also an area of flat, low-lying marshland in the east, much of which has been drained for agricultural use. The list of England's largest cities is much debated because in British English the normal meaning of city is "a continuously built-up urban area"; these are hard to define and various other definitions are preferred by some people to boost the ranking of their own city. London is by far the largest English city. Manchester and Birmingham vie for second place. A number of other cities, mainly in the north of England, are of substantial size and influence. These include: Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle, Nottingham, Bristol and Sheffield Using the standard U.S. city limits definition of a city the top six are: Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, Liverpool and Manchester. Note that London is not on this list (Greater London is a region and the City of London is tiny), and that one of the two candidates for the status of England's "second city", Manchester, is down in sixth. In the UK, this method of ranking cities is generally used only by people whose own city is promoted by it. The Channel Tunnel, near Folkestone, links England to the European mainland. The English/French border is halfway along the tunnel. The largest harbour in England is at Poole, on the south-central coast. Internationally, it is the second largest harbour in the world, although this fact is disputed (See harbors for a list of other potential second largest harbours) The highest temperature ever recorded in England is 38.5 °C (101.3 °F) on August 10, 2003 in Kent. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/3153532.stm]. The lowest temperature ever recorded in England is -26.1 °C (-15.0 °F) on January 10, 1982 at Newport in Shropshire. [http://www.metoffice.com/climate/uk/location/england/#temperature]

Major rivers

Shropshire.]]
- Thames
- Severn
- Trent
- Humber
- Yorkshire Ouse
- Tyne
- Mersey
- Dee
- Avon Main article: Waterways in the United Kingdom

Major Conurbations

:See main article: List of towns in England The largest cities in England are much debated but according to the urban area populations (continuous built up areas) these would be the 15 largest conurbations. (Population figures taken from 2001 census) #Greater London (8,278,251) #West Midlands (2,284,093) #Greater Manchester (2,244,931) #Leeds/Bradford (1,499,465) #Tyneside (879,996) #Liverpool (816,216) #Nottingham (666,358) #Sheffield (640,720) #Bristol (551,066) #Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton (461,181) #Portsmouth (442,252) #Leicester (441,213) #Bournemouth/Poole (383,713) #Reading (369,804) #Teesside (365,323)

Economy

Main article: Economy of England

Demographics

Main articles: Demographics of England, Population of England England is both the most populous and the most ethnically diverse nation in the United Kingdom with around 49 million inhabitants, of which roughly a tenth are from non-White ethnic groups. It is one of the most densely populated countries in Europe, second only to the Netherlands. This population is made up of, and descended from, immigrants who have arrived over millennia. The principal waves of migration have been in c. 600 BC (Celts), the Roman period (garrison soldiers from throughout the Empire), 350–550 (Angles, Saxons, Jutes), 800–900 (Vikings, Danes), 1066 (Normans), 1650–1750 (European refugees and Huguenots), 1840–1850 (Irish), 1880–1940 (Irish, Jews), 1950— (Irish, Caribbeans, Africans, South Asians), 1985— (citizens of European Community member states especially Ireland, East Europeans, Iranians, Kurds, refugees). The general prosperity of England as the largest partner of the UK, has also made it a destination for economic migrants particularly from Ireland and Scotland. This segment of English homogeneous society continues to create a diverse and dynamic language that is widely used internationally. The other image of foreign ethnic components in England is still mostly seen as a legacy of the British Empire; especially the Commonwealth of Nations.

English identity

The simplest view is that an English person is someone who is from England and holds British nationality, regardless of his or her racial origin. However, inhabitants of England quite commonly refer to themselves as "British" rather than "English"; centuries of English dominance within the United Kingdom has created a situation where to be English is, as a linguist would put it, an "unmarked" state (i.e. a British person, institution, custom, city, etc. is assumed English unless specified otherwise). The English frequently include their neighbours in the general term "British" while the Scots and Welsh, proud of their separate identities, tend to be more forward about referring to themselves by one of those more specific terms. Although currently a part of England, a notable percentage of those living in Cornwall feel similarly, considering themselves Cornish first. One significant exception is in Northern Ireland, where the Unionist community tend to identify very strongly as "British" (Republicans living in the province are more likely to consider themselves "Irish"), and there is not a "Northern Ireland" or "Northern Irish" identity to the same extent as there is (e.g.) a Scottish one. A person, therefore, using the term "English" to describe him or herself (regardless of personal history) may be going out of his or her way to do so; hence he or she may also be seen (rightly or wrongly, and not necessarily pejoratively) as nationalistic. While Scottish, Welsh, Irish and Cornish patriotism are widely exhibited, specifically English patriotism has often been viewed with suspicion, and most English people feel more comfortable identifying themselves with Britain as a whole. However, this may be to avoid being seen as bullies by their neighbours. The extent to which specifically English patriotism is linked to a right-wing xenophobic agenda has also generated discomfort. The appropriation of English symbols by racist far-right organisations such as the National Front made many people uncomfortable with expressions of Englishness. In recent years, English identity has recently been a topic of debate in the national press, with many English people trying to "reclaim" the term and the flag from the far-right. See English nationalism. One notable exception to the above is in relation to sports, in particular Association football, Rugby football and to a lesser extent Cricket. Transient successes are often accompanied by a revival of the use of the "St George's Cross". While it has not yet replaced the "Union Flag" its use is on the increase. Many English people who have spent a lot of time overseas fall into the habit of referring to themselves as "English". It is the most recognisable designation by speakers of many languages, especially where their own language uses a similar word. Even in other English-speaking countries, people are often perplexed by concepts of "British" or the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". All these distinctions are only possible because there is no "English citizenship" or legal definition of Englishness. Moreover, the hazy understanding many people have of the distinction between "England" and "Britain" compounds the confusion. If in doubt, refer to an "English" person as "British": this will always be correct. It may not be as precise as "English", but it will avoid offence in the event the person is actually from a different part of Britain.

Culture

Union Flag Main article: Culture of England
- English literature
  - Sir Thomas Browne
  - Geoffrey Chaucer
  - John Milton
  - William Shakespeare
  - Jane Austen
  - Mary Shelley
  - Charles Dickens
  - Thomas Hardy
  - George Orwell
  - J. R. R. Tolkien
  - C. S. Lewis
  - Douglas Adams
- List of national parks of England and Wales
- Food and Drink
- English folklore
- English art
  - English school of painting
- Music of England

Languages

Music of England.]] As its name suggests, the English language, today spoken by hundreds of millions of people around the world, originated as the language of England, where it remains the principal tongue today (although not officially designated as such). An Indo-European language in Anglo-Frisian branch of the Germanic family, it is closely related to Scots and Frisian. As the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms merged into England, "Old English" emerged; some of its literature and poetry has survived. Used by aristocracy and commoners alike before the Norman Conquest (1066), English was displaced in cultured contexts under the new regime by the Norman French language of the new Anglo-French aristocracy. Its use was confined primarily to the lower social classes while official business was conducted in a mixture of Latin and French. Over the following centuries, however, English gradually came back into fashion among all classes and for all official business except certain traditional ceremonies. (Some survive to this day.) But Middle English, as it had by now become, showed many signs of French influence, both in vocabulary and spelling. During the Renaissance, many words were coined from Latin and Greek origins; and more recent years, Modern English has extended this custom, being always remarkable for its far-flung willingness to incorporate foreign-influenced words. The law does not recognise any language as being official, but English is the only language used in England for general official business. The other national languages of the UK (Welsh, Irish Gaelic and Scottish Gaelic) are confined to their respective nations, and only Welsh is treated by law as an equal to English (and then only for organisations which do business in Wales). The only non-Anglic native spoken language in England is the Cornish language, a Celtic language spoken in Cornwall, which became extinct in the 19th century but has been revived and is spoken in various degrees of fluency by around 3,500 people. This has no official status (unlike Welsh) and is not required for official use, but is nonetheless supported by national and local government under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Cornwall County Council has produced [http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/cornish/strategy/english/engl01.htm a draft strategy] to develop these plans. There is, however, no programme as yet for public bodies to actively promote the language. Scots is spoken by some adjacent to the Anglo-Scottish Border. Most deaf people within England speak British sign language (BSL), a sign language native to Britain. The British Deaf Association estimates that 70,000 people throughout the UK speak BSL as their first or preferred language, but does not give statistics specific to England. Like Cornish, BSL has no official status, but has been granted a degree of recognition by the government. The BBC broadcasts several of its programmes with BSL interpreters. Different languages from around the world, especially from the former British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations, have been brought to England by immigrants. Many of these are widely spoken within ethnic minority communities, including Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati, Chinese and Vietnamese. These are often used by official bodies to communicate with the relevant sections of the community, particularly in big cities, but this occurs on an "as needed" basis rather than as the result of specific legislative ordinances. Other languages have also traditionally been spoken by minority populations in England, including Romany. Despite the relatively small size of the nation, there are a large number of distinct English regional accents. Those with particularly strong accents may not be easily understood elsewhere in the country.

Nomenclature

The country is named after the Angles, one of several Germanic tribes who settled the country in the 5th and 6th centuries. There are two distinct linguistic patterns for the name of the country. The majority of European languages use names akin to "England":
- "England" (Danish, German, Swedish, Norwegian)
- "Engeland" (Dutch)
- "Inglismaa" (Estonian)
- "Angleterre" (French)
- "Inghilterra" (Italian)
- "Inglaterra" (Spanish, Portuguese, Galician)
- "Anglia" (Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Albanian)
- "Anglija" (Russian, Slovene, Lithuanian, Ukrainian)
- "Engleska" (Croatian, Serbian)
- "Αγγλία" ("Anglía") (Greek)
- "Englanti" (Finnish) The Celtic names are quite different:
- "Bro-Saoz" (Breton)
- "Pow Sows" (Cornish)
- "Sasana" (Irish)
- "Sasainn" (Scottish Gaelic)
- "Lloegr" (Welsh) — but "Saeson" for the inhabitants.
- "Sostyn" (Manx Gaelic) Except for Lloegr, which is an ancient geographic term, these names are all derived from the Saxons, another family of Germanic tribes which arrived at about the same time as the Angles. See: Wiktionary:England for a further list of non-English names for England. "England" is sometimes mistakenly used to refer to the entire United Kingdom, the island of Great Britain, or the British Isles. This may offend people from other parts of the UK. Frequently the English use the less-specific "Britain" or "the UK", even when "England" is technically correct and commonly also use "England" when "Britain" would be correct. Alternative names include:
- the slang "Blighty", from the Hindustani "bila yati" meaning "foreign"
- "Albion", an ancient name popularised by Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy in the 1st century. Supposedly referring to the white (Latin alba) cliffs of Dover, this term has also been interpreted as a relative of Alba, today the Scots Gaelic name for Scotland. Whatever its origins, "Albion" originally referred to the whole island of Great Britain and is still sometimes seen that way today — but is more often used for England.
- More poetically, England has been called "this sceptred isle...this other Eden" and "this green and pleasant land", quotations respectively from the poetry of William Shakespeare (in Richard II) and William Blake (And did those feet in ancient time). The inhabitants of England are the English. The slang terms sometimes used for them include "Sassenachs" (from the Scots Gaelic), "Limeys" (in reference to the citrus fruits carried aboard English sailing vessels to prevent scurvy) and "Pom/Pommy" (used in Australian English and New Zealand English), but these may be perceived as offensive. Also see alternative words for British.

Symbols and insignia

alternative words for British.]] The two traditional symbols of England are the St. George's cross (the English flag) and the Three Lions coat of arms (see above), both derived from the great Norman powers that formed the monarchy – the Cross of Aquitaine and the Lions of Anjou. The three lions were first definitely used by Richard I (Richard the Lionheart) in the late 12th century (although it is also possible that Henry I may have bestowed it on his son Henry before then). Historian Simon Schama has argued that the Three Lions are the true symbol of England because the English throne descended down the Angevin line. A red cross acted as a symbol for many Crusaders in the 12th and 13th centuries. It became associated with St George and England, along with other countries and cities (such as Georgia, Milan and the Republic of Genoa), which claimed him as their patron saint and used his cross as a banner. It remained in national use until 1707, when the Union Flag (which English and Scottish ships had used at sea since 1606) was adopted for all purposes to unite the whole of Great Britain under a common flag. The flag of England no longer has much of an official role, but it is widely flown by Church of England properties and at sporting events. (Paradoxically, the latter is a fairly recent development; until the late 20th century, it was commonplace for fans of English teams to wave the Union Flag, rather than the St George's Cross). The rose is widely recognised as the national flower of England and is used in a variety of contexts. Predominantly, this is a red rose (which also symbolises Lancashire), such as the badge of the English Rugby Union team. However, a white rose (which also symbolises Yorkshire) or a "tudor rose" (symbolising the end of the War of the Roses) may also be used on different occasions. The Three Lions badge performs a similar role for the English national football team and English national cricket team.

National anthems

Although England does not have an official anthem of its own, the following are widely regarded as English national hymns:
- "Jerusalem:" Words by William Blake, Music by Hubert Parry
- "I Vow to Thee, My Country": Words by Cecil Spring-Rice, Music by Gustav Holst
- "Land of Hope and Glory": Words by A C Benson, Music by Edward Elgar (although this refers to all of Great Britain, not only England)
- "Nimrod": Music by Edward Elgar "God Save The Queen" (the national anthem for the UK as a whole) is usually played for English sporting events (e.g. football matches), although "Land of Hope and Glory" has also been used as the English anthem for the Commonwealth Games. "Rule Britannia" despite being a song about Britain as a whole was often used for the English national football team when they play against another of the home nations but more recently "God Save The Queen" has been used by both the rugby and football teams. Many believe that English teams should use their own anthems, most popular of which is the use of "Jerusalem".

References


- [http://www.statistics.gov.uk Office of National Statistics]

See also


-
- English language
- English law
- English (people)
- List of monarchs of England – Kings of England family tree
- List of English people
- Angeln (region in northern Germany, presumably the origin of the Angles for whom England is named)
- UK topics
- List of not fully sovereign nations
- Education in England

References

External links


- [http://www.enjoyengland.com/ The official website of the English Tourist Board — Enjoy England]
- [http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/nations/ BBC Nations]: articles on England and her neighbours Category:Monarchies Category:European countries als:England zh-min-nan:England ko:잉글랜드 ms:England ja:イングランド simple:England th:แคว้นอังกฤษ

Composer

A composer is a person who writes music. The term refers particularly to someone who writes music in some type of musical notation, thus allowing others to perform the music. This distinguishes the composer from a musician who improvises. However, a person may be called a composer without creating music in documentary form, since not all musical genres rely on written notation. In this context, the composer is the originator of the music, and usually its first performer. Later performers then repeat the musical composition they have heard. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians also varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of music. For example, in the development of classical music in Europe, the function of composing music initially had no greater importance than the function of performing music. The preservation of individual compositions received little attention, and musicians generally had no qualms about modifying compositions for performance. Over time, however, the written notation of the composer has come to be treated as strict instructions, from which performers should not deviate without good reason. This notion is often seen as a purist one. The term "composer" is often used specifically to mean a composer in the Western tradition of classical music. In popular and folk music, the composer is typically called a songwriter (since the music generally takes the form of a song.)

Lists of composers


- List of composers
- List of opera composers
- List of uncategorized composers
- List of soundtrack composers

By style, time period, or technique


- List of classical music composers
- List of 20th century classical composers
- List of 21st century classical composers
- List of modernist composers

By nationality, culture, or identity


- List of French composers
- List of Dutch and Flemish composers
- List of Indonesian composers
- List of Italian composers
- List of Russian composers
- List of Polish composers
- List of Indian composers
- List of female composers
- List of gay, lesbian or bisexual composers
- List of composers of African descent

By chronology


- [http://members.chello.nl/epzachte/Wikipedia/EasyTimeline/Introduction.htm Timeline of classical composers] Category:Classical music Composers Category:Occupations in music ko:작곡가 ja:作曲家 th:คีตกวี

Organist

An organist is a musician who plays the organ, whether pipe or electronic. In the United States there is a national organisation called the American Guild of Organists (AGO). Comparable bodies in other countries include the Royal College of Organists (RCO) in the United Kingdom and the Royal Canadian College of Organists (RCCO). All these institutions are oriented toward the organist involved in classical music rather than popular music.

Classical and church organists

Worldwide, the greatest number of organists are principally involved in church music, due to the vital role that the organ plays in traditional Christian worship. The role of the organ varies from denomination to denomination; for example, Lutheran churches in the U.S. have greater emphasis on use of the organ in worship than some others. Since there were few organs installed in locations other than churches until the late 19th century, classical organ literature was almost exclusively written for liturgical use. Organists are expected to accompany congregational singing of hymns, accompany the choir, and provide solo music for preludes, postludes, and covering music during otherwise silent portions of the worship service. Many organists also direct a choir. Since the strengths and weaknesses of the organ are difficult to understand without a good deal of playing experience, most music composed for organ has been written by organists. Like other musicians, many organists also teach.

Theater organists

The theater organ has a separate repertoire and playing style, and in its heyday there were considerable numbers of organists employed. A few carry on the tradition today.

Organists in popular music

There are many organists employed in the production of popular and jazz music. Most of them play the Hammond organ. Most are classically trained, often in piano rather than organ.

Famous organists

Notable classical organists of today include: Carlo Curley, Marie-Claire Alain, John Weaver, Ken Cowan, Alan Morrison, Diane Meredith Belcher, Felix Hell, Paul Jacobs, Daniel Roth, Thomas Murray, Cherry Rhodes, Olivier Latry, Gillian Weir, Eberhard Fölster, Rosalinde Haas, Lionel Rogg, Evgenija Lisitsina, Frederick Hohman, and [http://www.everhardzwart.nl/ Everhard Zwart]. Notable organists of the past, many of whom were also composers for the instrument, include: [http://www.feikeasmastichting.com/ Feike Asma], Johann Sebastian Bach, Marcel Dupré, Louis Vierne, César Franck, Jean Langlais, Helmut Walcha, Virgil Fox, Charles Courboin, Fernando Germani, Maurice Durufle, Marie-Madeleine Durufle-Chevalier, Jeanne Demessieux, Pierre Cochereau, Karl Richter, George Dorringtion Cunningham, Sir George Thalben-Ball, Alexander Schreiner, Camille Saint-Saens, Karl Straube, [http://www.everhardzwart.nl/ Everhard Zwart]. In Europe, the historical importance of churches as employers of musicians meant that many composers not now remembered for their association with the organ nevertheless were engaged as professional organists: for example, Mozart, Reger, and Elgar.

List of active concert and church organists


- Alain, Marie-Claire (France)
- Belcher, Diane Meredith (USA)
- Burroughs, Michael (USA)
- Cowan, Ken (USA, born in Canada)
- Frenkel, Simonah (USA, born in Russia)
- Haas, Rosalinde (Germany)
- Hell, Felix (USA, born in Germany)
- Jacobs, Paul (USA)
- Lohmann, Ludger (Germany)
- Morrison, Alan (USA)
- Nordstoga, Kåre (Norway)
- Sherer, John (USA)
- Teti, Federico (USA, born in Italy)
- Watanabe, Kiyo (USA, born in Japan)
- Weaver, John (USA)

See also


- organ recital
- [http://www.mattaniah.org/organist.htm Organ Music Sample]
- [http://www.andreknevel.com International Organist] Category:Classical musicians by instrument ko:오르가니스트

Lincolnshire

:This article is about the English administrative county. For the Illinois village, see Lincolnshire, Illinois; for the Kentucky city, see Lincolnshire, Kentucky. Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs) is a county in the East Midlands of England. It borders onto Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Rutland, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire and (for just 19 metres, England's shortest county boundary) Northamptonshire. Its county town is the ancient city of Lincoln.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Lincolnshire The ceremonial county of Lincolnshire (composed of the 'administrative' counties of Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire and North-East Lincolnshire) is the second largest of the English counties and one that is predominantly agricultural in character. For the purposes of a general geographical classification the county can be broken down into a number of sub-regions including: the Lincolnshire Fens, the Lincolnshire Wolds, and the industrial Humber Estuary and North Sea coast around Grimsby and Scunthorpe.

Towns and villages

The county of Lincolnshire is characterised by the absence of any major urban area. The prinicpal settlements and their populations are: Lincoln (85,000), Boston (35,000), Grantham (34,000), Spalding (22,000) and Stamford (19,000). Many of the towns in the county continue to hold a weekly market, a centuries-old tradition reinvigorated recently by the growth of farmers' markets. For a full list of Lincolnshire towns and villages see the List of places in Lincolnshire page.

Transport

Main article: Transport in Lincolnshire Being on the economic periphery of England, Lincolnshire's transport links are less well developed than many other parts of the United Kingdom. The road network within the county is dominated by single carriageway trunk roads (A roads) and minor roads (B roads) rather than motorways or dual carriageways — the administrative county of Lincolnshire is one of the small number of UK counties without a motorway and up until a few years ago, it was said that there was only approximately thirty-five kilometres (twenty-two miles) of dual carriageway in the whole of Lincolnshire. The low population density of the county means that the number of railway stations and train services is low considering the county's large physical size. A large number of the county's railway stations were permanently closed following the Beeching Report of 1963. Lincoln retained its direct train service to London until the late 1980s, but it is now necessary to change trains in Newark, Nottinghamshire. However, the East Coast Main Line passes through the county and so it is still possible to catch direct trains to the capital from Grantham. There is a local joke that Lincolnshire is the only county where most people's second car is a Massey Ferguson (a make of tractor). Since April 1994, Lincolnshire has had an Air Ambulance service [http://beehive.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/default.asp?WCI=SiteHome&ID=4781&PageID=24114] which was extended to also cover Nottinghamshire in 1997. The air ambulance is stationed at RAF Waddington near Lincoln and can reach emergencies in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire within 19 minutes.

History

Main article: History of Lincolnshire. Lincolnshire derived from the merging of the territory of the ancient Kingdom of Lindsey with that controlled by the Danelaw borough Stamford. For some time the entire county was called 'Lindsey', and it is recorded as such in the Domesday Book. Later, Lindsey was applied only the northern core, around Lincoln, and emerged as one of the three Parts of Lincolnshire, along with the Parts of Holland in the south-east and Kesteven in the south west. In 1888 when county councils were set up, Lindsey, Holland and Kesteven each received their own separate one. These survived until 1974, when Holland, Kesteven, and most of Lindsey were unified into Lincolnshire, and the northern part, with Scunthorpe and Grimsby, going to the newly formed administrative county of Humberside, along with most of the East Riding of Yorkshire. A further local government reform in 1996 abolished Humberside, and the parts south of the Humber became the unitary authorities of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. These areas became part of Lincolnshire for ceremonial purposes such as the Lord-Lieutenancy, but are not covered by the Lincolnshire police. These two authorities are in the Yorkshire and the Humber region. The remaining districts of Lincolnshire are Boston, East Lindsey, Lincoln, South Holland, South Kesteven, North Kesteven and West Lindsey. They are part of the East Midlands region.

People

Lincolnshire is relatively unusual in the composition of its population, being one of the least ethnically diverse counties of the United Kingdom (98.5 percent of the population describe themselves as "white"). Over recent years inward migration by people from ethnic minority communities has increased (particularly to population centres such as Lincoln) but the absolute number of non-white Lincolnshire residents remains very low. Recently, the county has also witnessed a growing trend towards an in-migration of retired persons from other parts of the United Kingdom, particularly those from the southern counties of England attracted by the generally lower property prices and generally slower and more relaxed pace of life. Skegness was recent voted the most popular place in Britain to retire to, with Spalding and Mablethorpe also recommended, by a recent study [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/4395281.stm]. Those born in Lincolnshire are sometimes given the slighly comic nickname of Yellowbellies (often spelt "Yeller Bellies", to reflect the pronunciation of the phrase by the typical Lincolnshire farmer). The origins of this phrase are much speculated upon but remain unclear.

Culture

Lincolnshire is a rural area where the pace of life is slow. Sunday is still largely a day of rest, with generally only shops in Lincoln (and some of the larger market towns) and on the North Sea coast remaining open. There is a relatively high proportion of elderly and retired people, and this is reflected in the many of the services, activities, and events. An example of this is the relatively large number of garden centres and plant nurseries, although this is also partially attributable to the due to the longstanding agricultural heritage of the county.

Unofficial anthem

The unofficial anthem of the county is the traditional folksong, 'The Lincolnshire Poacher', which dates from around 1776. A version of the song was the theme to BBC Radio Lincolnshire for many years.

Search for a flag

In August 2005 BBC Radio Lincolnshire and Lincolnshire Life magazine launched a vote for an unoffical flag to represent the county. Six competing designs were voted upon by locals and one won - [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/4371070.stm see here]. You can visit the Lincolnshire Flag website by clicking [http://www.lincolnshireflag.co.uk here.]

Accent and dialect

The accent and dialect words of Lincolnshire are poorly known outside the county when compared to Scouse or Cockney, which have received far more media exposure. The effects of modern media, education, and in-migration to the county have indeed diluted the traditional accent, and many dialect words have been lost. However, the accent certainly exists, and a native 'Yeller Belly' will still easily pick out a Lincolnshire speaker, even distinguishing between the various parts of this large county - the northern residents of Lindsey tending towards Yorkshire dialect; the south-east of the county (Holland and the Fens) more like that of East Anglia. In common with most other Northern and Midlands dialects in England, "flat" a is preferred, i.e. over , and also in words like water, pronounced watter. Similarly, is usually replaced by . Features rather more confined to Lincolnshire include:
- Elaboration of standard English or into a complex triphthong approximating, and often transcribed -air- or -yair-. For example: "mate" ; "beast" ; "tates" (potatoes) .
- An equivalent elaboration of standard English - commonly in Northern England - into -ooa-. For example "boat" .
- Insertion of an extra schwa into the standard English diphthong . For example, the town of Louth is pronounced by some inhabitants.
- Vocabulary: "duck" as a term of endearment or informal address, "mardy" meaning upset or angry, "while" as a substitute for standard English "until", and the inimitable salutation "now then!?" (hello), sometimes written nairn to reflect pronunciation, but often drawn out into a sing-song nyEEEAaairn-myeeeaaairt!!! in the mouth of the more rural and traditional speaker. Lincolnshire has its own dialect 'champion', a farmer from the village of Minting called Farmer Wink (real name Robert Carlton), who has produced videos about rural life, narrated in his broad Lincolnshire accent, and who has a regular slot on BBC Radio Lincolnshire.

Food

Lincolnshire has a number of interesting local dishes:
- stuffed chine - this is roasted and sliced belly of pork, stuffed with a strong sage, or parsley stuffing (other ingredients are normally kept secret). Served cold, it's considered by many in the county to be an acquired taste
- haslet - a type of pork loaf, also flavoured with sage
- Lincolnshire pork sausages - most butchers in Lincolnshire have their own secret recipe for these and a competition is held each year to judge the best sausages in