Ensign Etiquette

[nigelm]

So are you saying no-one is British but either Welsh, English or Scottish?

Spot on old bean , rebuild Hadrians wall , blow up the severn bridge , put back border control and let em all get on with it


Dunno about ensigns n flags but i once had a pair of knickers flown from the spreaders after a stop over in ostend

[bumblefish]

Right out of Sloe Gin at present, but I'll take the Laphroig on account?

[FishyInverness]

Act of Union - signed by the privelidged in the back pocket of the English Government - where the true Scottish populace remained repressed and opposed.

You can hardly criticise a nation for it's feelings against an enforced union, and the general consensus from the majority living there that they are most certainly NOT British at heart...hence Devolution and a growing movement in those that would like to see independance.

But fair enough, rebuild the wall, cut off the ties - The English can buy the oil and growing wind/seapower from the Scots and stop complaining...oh no wait, they're English!

(Written by an Englishman now firmly at home in Scotland!)

[ukmctc]

So are you saying no-one is British but either Welsh, English or Scottish?

No read the message.......doh
I'm Scottish not british, everyone else, I don't know

[ukmctc]

Hmm, if you actually look at the wall, the garrisons are built on the Scottish side not the English. The old Italians wanted to keep the English out of Scotland not the other way, Infact when the conquered English got a bit lairy the Italians got us to raid south for them.
As a Nation, I don't think we Scotts have been conquered, unlike those south of the border.

[awol]

And so back to flags and ensigns now that there have been explanations why the Scots, and others, have predilections for preferring their own form of ensign over that containing the union flag with its St George's cross superiority.

As for blue ensign warrant holders, of which I am one, they seem to get a bad press from some. If you feel offended by the actions of a blue ensign wearing boat there is the simple remedy of reporting the behaviour to the Commodore of the club that provided the warrant. http://www.burgees.com/BGroupRoyal.htm is a guide to which club the offender belongs.

[Searush]

Hmm, if you actually look at the wall, the garrisons are built on the Scottish side not the English. The old Italians wanted to keep the English out of Scotland not the other way, Infact when the conquered English got a bit lairy the Italians got us to raid south for them.
As a Nation, I don't think we Scotts have been conquered, unlike those south of the border.

That's odd, all the ones I visited were SOUTH of the wall. I presume you do know which way is up?

I love the way Celts can carry a grudge for over 300 years and still not deal with it! Are you descended from the Serbs by any chance?

[FishyInverness]

I love the way Celts can carry a grudge for over 300 years and still not deal with it! Are you descended from the Serbs by any chance?

*Cough*FRANCE*Cough*

[Fascadale]

Oh dear, all this talk of the past, Romans in the Gloamin, the Act of Union, the Darien scheme: as a former history teacher in Scotland I have enjoyed the debate.

But what of the future?

Many would argue that the old union has outgrown its usefulness and is now an uncomfortable anachronism.

The old union with our larger and then richer neighbour in the south may (or may not) have been appropriate all those years ago but many Scots now feel a closer affinity to Europe.

Perhaps it is time for Scotland to to more fully enter a union with Europe.

As the junior partner in the old union the Scots do not have the baggage, or the memories of past imperial glories, the "little Englander" tradition, or the sense that "we are be right so foreigners must be wrong". Neither UKIP nor the BNP have any foothold in Scotland.

Scotland lost its sovereignty so many years ago that the English fear of a "loss of sovereignty to Brussels" has little meaning north of the border.

Should the English wish maintain their standoffishness and distrust of Europe then that is fine. An England free of Scotland could then become a xenophobic backwater of "warm beer and the sound of leather on willow"

[chinita]

David Cameron and his entourage were visiting a Hospital in Lanarkshire.

Accompanied by a white coated Consultant they entered a Ward. Stopping at the first bed Cameron addressed an elderly man:

"Hi! I'm the Prime Minister - but you an call me Dave"

With fire and emotion in his eyes, the old man stared back:

"Ye banks and braes o’ bonny Doon,
How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair?
How can ye chant, ye little birds,
And I sae weary fu’ o’ care?"

"Quite" smiled Cameron = "anyway, nice to meet you, must move on..."

At the next bed he looked down upon a frail old lady "and how are you my dear? You have never had it so good you know"

The lady looked up and with thunder in her expression said:


"Auld Nature swears the lovely dears
Her noblest work she classes, O;
Her ’prentice han’ she tried on man,
And then she made the lasses, O!"

"Erm, yes", says Cameron casting a nervous look at the Consultant.

Hastening towards the door Cameron is blocked by a man in a wheelchair. The man struggles up and places both hands on Cameron's shoulders.

"The best laid schemes o’ mice and men
Gang aft a-gley;
And leave us naught but grief and pain
For promised joy."

"Ah, well, absolutely" says Cameron.

Shufflig past the wheelchair Cameron turns to the Consultant:

"I say, Doctor, is this some kind of Mental Ward?"

"Oh no" replies the Consultant. "This is the Serious Burns Unit"