This particular Brit got fed up at school when told to memorise the dates of birth and death of all the English Monarchs. (I lost interest in them after that.)
But there certainly are castles dotted about our country, and very impressive they are too.
You’re a hard-working DM who specialises in a good background.
You’re also a big softie!
Just a quick question, is the use of Brit at all offensive? I assume it is not but sometimes I get caught off guard by what is a potentially offensive word. Hopefully it is an acceptable term.
As to your lovely countryside and castles, I can’t wait to get back over again in a few years. I was in Scotland far too long ago now. My wife and I took our Honeymoon for 17 glorious days in Scotland and the Lake Country. We did our own tour by car and B&B.
I’ve been to the UK three times, mostly in London and nearby, but also brief trips through Wales, the Lake Country, Devon and Cornwall. My wife and I met on a college semester abroad in London (she’s from Vermont). I’d love to get back someday.
Most people can live with Brit from the tourists. Just don’t start getting English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish mixed up. That way, trouble lies.
Good old, Edward I aka Longshanks aka Hammer of the Scots. Mel Gibson got it so horribly, horribly wrong in Braveheart. The Welsh castles are beautiful though, with Harlech being my personal favourite.
There is some of his works in London as well. Part of the Tower of London modifications are his.
I suspect I have minutia wrong here, but I think that British refers to a person from anywhere on the island of Britain (but not Ireland), while English refers to a British person from the parts of Britain that are not Scotland or Wales.
EDIT: And as usual, Wikipedia has a good breakdown in Venn diagram format.
Because of historical wars and alliances, we now have here:
5 major ‘areas’, each with history, tradition and identity: England / Scotland / Wales / **Northern Ireland **/ Eire (=Southern Ireland)
4 ‘groupings’ Great Britain = England + Scotland + Wales (forming the big island; no other significance) United Kingdom = Great Britain + Northern Ireland (one ‘country’, but with several Parliaments) British Isles = United Kingdom + Eire + small islands (such as Isle of Man) (geographical grouping only) British Islands = British Isles + Channel islands (most Brits wouldn’t know the difference)
Apologies for all the confusion. :o
At various times there were Unions between England and Scotland / Wales / Ireland, but then Eire went independent.
I never would have, but my confusion was from the other direction. I would never have called a Scotsman or a Welshman a Brit. I thought the Brits were those that were (more or less) native to the land south of Hadrian’s Wall and East of Wales and possibly excepting Cornishmen.
These sort of irrational geographical descrptions are difficult to keep abreast of over here too. I’ve lived in the Pacific Northwest for years, but I was in Richmond, VA before that, and people here are always very surprised when I describe Virginia as part of the South. “But it’s not really the South,” I’d be told. Al I know is that if you tried to tell that to the people in Richmond, you’d be laughed at. My grade school teachers would occasionally slip and refer to the “North Aggression.”
Britain is the island, so British includes Scots and Welsh.
(I’m about 25% Scottish myself ).
Cornwall is at one end of the country, but nowadays they worry more about rich folk buying up holiday homes (pushing up prices) than any separate identity.
S of Hadrian’s Wall and E of Wales is all England.
My understanding is that there have been many waves of settlers:
the Romans under Caesar arrived about 50BC, bringing roads, aqueducts and plumbing
the Angles and the Saxons (plus some Jutes?), who arrived several hundred year later, give rise to us being known as Anglo-Saxon
the Vikings raided regularly and even captured York in 866 (bringing lager :eek: )
William invaded successfully from Normandy in 1066 (bringing onions, bicycles and berets )
and that’s just the ancient history. We have loads of cuisines here , especially curry - all brought over by visitors.
You forgot the Celts that invaded in waves before even the Romans. They controlled most of the island by 500 BC. The Welsh are basically a Celtic group with a Celtic language if I recall correctly.
A type of Celt were dominant in Scotland before even 500 BC. Possibly several centuries before.
Then there was the Belgae who showed up in large numbers displaced by Romans around 150 BC I think.
I really like (ancient) English History, I have always read a lot of the history and legends of the British Isles.
I also just realized we need a single file order now minus the Dwarves. It should concentrate on protecting the two guests and Deor of course. Miron has to be the lead and beyond that it is up to you. If Folca is doing much scouting, you probably want Deor near the front for easy talking to Miron. Keep in mind there are pack animals and a few spares horses. Miron will need someone to lead his pack horse and Gwaelur has a pair of ponies. Lorliana will be switching between her horses during the track. I might have forgotten a pack animal and of course there are the two canines. They will actually be doing much better. Those 40 miles days were tough on them and they were eating food and GoodBerries to sustain.
I like this but wonder if Deor shouldn’t be moved closer to the middle of the pack. Maybe behind Gilraen but in front of Ghan’s dogs? That way he has more protection on all sides.
I think the idea is it speeds relay of info to Miron from what Deor sees through Folca’s eyes. He is sandwiched between your two bricks. It actually looks fairly sound with Gil-Gandel as rear guard and Mulligan to ride herd on the two guests.
I would recommend Deor make Elfstan invisible for the journey as an added surprise. It also gives Gil-Gandel a very effective rear armor.
Then if the Swamp Hobbit gets added in, he just goes up from with Miron.
Please keep in mind that Elfstan has Flower now, so he isn’t riding with Gil-Gandel. Elfstan doesn’t mind riding rear guard with Gil-Gandel. He would like to be able to watch out for Curunauth too.
I was also going to suggest making one or both of the Hobbits invisible.