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"Merry England", or in more jocular, archaised spelling "Merrie England", is an idealised, idyllic, and pastoral way of life that the inhabitants of England allegedly enjoyed at some point or points between the Middle Ages and the onset of the Industrial Revolution. Pastoral, as an adjective refers to the lifestyle of Shepherds and Pastoralists moving livestock around larger areas of land according to seasons and availability England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture manufacturing and transportation had a profound effect on the Ronald Hutton's study of churchwarden's accounts, The Rise and Fall of Merrie England: The Ritual Year, 1400-1700 places the creation of "Merry England" in the years between 1350 and 1520, with the annual festive round of the newly-elaborative[1] liturgical year, with candles and pageants, processions and games, boy bishops and decorated rood lofts. Boy bishop was a name given to a custom very widespread in the Middle Ages, whereby a boy was chosen for example among cathedral Choristers to parody the real Bishop ROOD jong in de SP ( Dutch for RED young in the SP) is a Dutch youth wing linked to the Socialist Party. "Merry England" is a utopian and not completely consistent vision: a revisited England, "the thatched cottage, the country inn, the cup of tea, and Sunday roast". Utopia is a name for an ideal community taken from the title of a book written in 1516 by Sir Thomas More describing a fictional Island in the England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Tea refers to the cured agricultural product of the leaves leaf buds and internodes of Camellia sinensis, which have been prepared and cured for the market It may be treated both as a product of the sentimental nostalgic imagination, and an ideological construct. The term nostalgia describes a longing for the past often in idealized form "With Merrie England we are in the sphere of folklorism", Roy Judge addressed the Folklore Society in 1991. The Folklore Society was founded in England in 1878 to study traditional vernacular culture including traditional music song dance and drama narrative arts and crafts customs [2] "It is a world that has never actually existed, a visionary, mythical landscape, where it is difficult to take normal historical bearings. " Each Old England of the past reveals its own colour of nostalgia for an earlier age from which it was conscious of declining.

Contents

Origins and themes

O the Roast Beef of Old England (The Gate of Calais) by William Hogarth contrasts English plenty with French and Jacobite Highlander misery.
O the Roast Beef of Old England (The Gate of Calais) by William Hogarth contrasts English plenty with French and Jacobite Highlander misery. The Gate of Calais or O the Roast Beef of Old England is a 1748 painting by William Hogarth, reproduced as a print from an Engraving William Hogarth (10 November 1697 &ndash 26 October 1764 was a major English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic

The concept of a Merry England may have originated in the Middle Ages, describing a utopian state of life that peasants aspired to lead (see Cockaigne). Utopia is a name for an ideal community taken from the title of a book written in 1516 by Sir Thomas More describing a fictional Island in the Cockaigne or Cockayne (kɒˈkeɪn is a mythical Medieval land of plenty, an imaginary place of extreme luxury and ease where physical comforts Peasant revolts, such as those led by Wat Tyler and Jack Straw invoked a visionary idea that was also egalitarian. Walter Tyler, commonly known as Wat Tyler ( January 4, 1341 – June 15, 1381) was the leader of the English Peasants' Jack Straw (probably the same person as John Rackstraw) was one of the three leaders (together with John Ball and Wat Tyler) of the Peasants' Revolt Defined narrowly a visionary is one who experiences a vision or Apparition connected to the supernatural Egalitarianism (derived from the French word égal, meaning equal) is a political doctrine that holds that all people should be treated as equals and have Tyler's rebels wished to throw off the "Norman yoke" and return to a perceived time where the Saxons ruled in equality and freedom. The Norman yoke is a term that emerged in English Nationalist discourse in the mid-17th century The main arguments of Tyler's rebels were that there was no basis for aristocratic rule in the Bible, and that the plague had demonstrated by its indiscriminate nature that all people were equal under God. Thus they adopted the rhetoric of Norman vs. The Normans were the people who gave their names to Normandy, a region in northern France. Saxon conflict as part of a much wider ideology. For their language see Anglo-Saxon language. Anglo-Saxon is the term usually used to describe the invading Tribes in the south This idealized view of society was in any case an unrealistic version of life in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, although there was a period after the Black Death when labour shortages meant that agricultural workers were in stronger positions, and the good harvests and gentle inflation of the thirteenth century had eased fixed burdens owed to landlords by smallholders. The Black Death, or the Black Plague, was one of the deadliest Pandemics in human history widely thought to have been caused by a bacterium named Yersinia

Ronald Hutton's history reports the collapse of the annual festal round in parish society with the English Reformation. The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th century England by which the Church of England first broke away from the authority of the Pope Official prohibitions suppressed the confraternities that organized and supported church ales. A growing fashion for religious austerity forced maypoles and the like into the secular sphere, where they were attacked by the godly as disturbances; James I wrote a pamphlet against such sports. The maypole is a tall wooden pole (traditionally of Maple ( Acer) hawthorn or Birch) sometimes erected with several long coloured The Long Parliament put an end to ales, the last of which was held in 1641, and drove Christmas underground, where it was kept privately, as a form of protest. The Long Parliament is the name of the English Parliament called by Charles I, on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars.

At various times since the Middle Ages, authors, propagandists, romanticists, poets and others have revived or co-opted the term. The celebrated Hogarth engraving illustrating the patriotic song "The Roast Beef of Old England" (see illustration), is as anti-French as it is patriotic. " The Roast Beef of Old England " is an English patriotic ballad In Die Lage der arbeitenden Klasse in England (1844: translated as The Condition of the Working Class in England), Friedrich Engels wrote sarcastically of Young England (a ginger-group of young aristocrats hostile to the new industrial order) that they hoped to restore "the old 'merry England' with its brilliant features and its romantic feudalism. Friedrich Engels (28 November 1820 – 5 August 1895 was a German social scientist and philosopher, who Young England was a Victorian era political group The group was born on the playing fields of Cambridge and Eton. This object is of course unattainable and ridiculous . . . " The phrase "merry England" appears in English in the German text. [1]

In the 1830s, the Gothic revival promoted what once had been a truly international European style. The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement which began Its stages, though, had been given purely English antiquarian labels—"Norman" for the Romanesque, "Early English", etc—and the revival was stretched to include also the succeeding, more specifically English style: a generic English Renaissance revival, later named "Jacobethan". Regional characteristics of Romanesque architecture|Romanesque art Romanesque architecture is the term that is used to describe the architecture of Middle Ages Europe which English Gothic is the name of the Architectural style that flourished in England from about 1180 until about 1520 Jacobethan is the style designation coined in 1933 by John Betjeman to describe the English Revival style made popular from the 1830s which derived most of its inspiration The revival was spurred by a series of lithographs by Joseph Nash (1839 – 1849), illustrating The Mansions of England in the Olden Time in picturesque and accurate detail. They were peopled with jolly figures in ruffs and farthingales, who personified a specific "Merry England" that was not Catholic (always an issue with the Gothic style), yet full of lively detail, in a golden pre-industrial land of Cockaigne. In popular culture, the adjective Dickensian is sometimes used in reference to this view, but Charles Dickens's view of the rural past evoked nostalgia, not fantasy. The term nostalgia describes a longing for the past often in idealized form Fantasy is a Genre that uses magic and other Supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting Mr. Pickwick's world was that of the 1820s and 1830s, of the stagecoach before the advent of the railways. The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, better known as The Pickwick Papers, is the first novel by Charles Dickens. For other meanings see Stagecoach (disambiguation. A stagecoach (also called diligence) is a type of four-wheeled enclosed "Railroad" and "Railway" both redirect here For other uses see Railroad (disambiguation. The pseudo Old English carol "God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen" first appeared in 1833, in Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern, a collection of seasonal carols gathered and apparently improvised by William B. Sandys; after its brief appearance in Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" (1843), it quickly developed its reputation for being 16th century or earlier. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (or God rest you merry gentlemen) is a traditional Christmas carol. William B Sandys (1792 &ndash 18 February 1874) (pronounced "Sands" an English Solicitor, a member of the Percy Society and Fellow A Christmas Carol in Prose Being a Ghost Story of Christmas (commonly known as A Christmas Carol) is a Novella by Charles Dickens

In a form adapted to political conservatism, the vision of "Merry England" extends to embrace a few urban artisans and other cosmopolitans; a flexible and humane clergy; an interested and altruistic squirearchy, aristocracy and royalty. Conservatism is a term used to describe political philosophies that favour Tradition, where tradition refers to various religious cultural or nationally defined Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given Religion. Altruism is selfless concern for the welfare of others It is a traditional Virtue in many cultures and central to many religious traditions In Feudal or Medieval times a squire was a Man-at-arms in the service of a Knight, often as his Apprentice. Aristocracy is a form of Government, where rule is established through an internal struggle over who has the most status and influence over society and internal relations A royal family is the extended family of a monarch. Generally the head of a royal family is a king or queen regnant Solidity and good cheer would be the values of yeoman farmers, whatever the foibles of those higher in the hierarchy. Yeoman is noun used to indicate a variety of positions or Social classes In the 16th century a yeoman was also a Farmer of middling social status who owned The Tory Young England set perhaps best reflected the vision of "Merry England" on the political stage. Young England was a Victorian era political group The group was born on the playing fields of Cambridge and Eton.

In the nineteenth century William Cobbett, and the later works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, subscribed to some extent to the "Merry England" view. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar William Cobbett ( 9 March 1763 &ndash 18 June 1835) was an English political pamphleter Farmer and prolific Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( 21 October 1772 &ndash 25 July 1834) was an English Poet, Critic and philosopher Thomas Carlyle's Past and Present also made the case for Merrie England; the conclusion of Crotchet Castle by Thomas Love Peacock contrasts the mediaevalism of Mr. Thomas Carlyle (4 December 1795 – 5 February 1881 was a Scottish essayist satirist and historian whose work was highly influential during the Victorian era. Past and Present is a book by Thomas Carlyle published in 1843 which combines Medieval history with criticism of 19th century British society Thomas Love Peacock ( October 18, 1785 - January 23, 1866) was an English satirist and Author. Chainmail to the contemporary social unrest. Barry Cornwall's patriotic poem. "Hurrah for Merry England", was set twice to music and printed in The Musical Times, in 1861 and 1880. The Musical Times, often abbreviated to MT, is a European classical music Journal edited and produced in the UK.

"A Garland for May Day 1895" woodcut by Walter Crane
"A Garland for May Day 1895" woodcut by Walter Crane

The idea of Merry England became associated on one side with the Anglo-Catholics and Catholicism, as a version of life's generosity; for example Wilfrid Meynell entitled one of his magazines Merrie England. Walter Crane (15 August 1845 &ndash 14 March 1915 was an English artist and book illustrator The terms Anglo-Catholic and Anglo-Catholicism (or sometimes possibly incorrectly High Church &mdashsee below describe people As a Christian Ecclesiastical term Catholic —from the Greek adjective, meaning "general" or "universal"—is described Alice Christiana Gertrude Thompson Meynell (22 September 1847 - 27 November 1922 was an English Writer, editor, Critic, and Suffragist The pastoral aspects of William Blake, a Londoner and an actual craftsman, lack the same mellow quality. William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827 was an English poet, painter, and Printmaker. G. K. Chesterton in part adapted it to urban conditions. Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936 was an influential English writer of the early 20th century William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement and other left-inclined improvers (whom Sir Hugh Casson called "the herbivores") were also (partly) believers. William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896 was an English Architect, Furniture and Textile designer artist writer and socialist associated The Arts and Crafts Movement was a British, Canadian, and American Aesthetic movement occurring in the last years of the 19th century and the Sir Hugh Maxwell Casson, KCVO, RA, RDI, ( 23 May 1910 – 15 August 1999) was a British Architect Walter Crane's "Garland for May Day 1895" (illustration, left) is lettered "Merrie England" together with progressive slogans ("Shorten Working Day & Lengthen Life", "The Land for the People", "No Child Toilers") with high-minded socialism ("Production for Use Not for Profit"). Walter Crane (15 August 1845 &ndash 14 March 1915 was an English artist and book illustrator For a time, the Merry England vision was a common reference point for rhetorical Tories and utopian socialists, offering similar alternatives to an industrialising society, with its large-scale movement off the land to jerry-built cities and gross social inequality. In the political tradition of some English-speaking countries, the term Tory has referred to a variety of political parties and Creeds since it was Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution Social inequality refers to a lack of Social equality, where individuals in a society do not have equal Social status.

Merry England did not really "decline" in the way that Storm Jameson said it did in her book The Decline of Merry England (1930). Margaret Storm Jameson ( 8 January 1891 &ndash 30 September 1986) was an English writer known for her 45 novels and criticism which has the significant subtitle an essay on Puritanism in England.

Deep England

The term "Deep England" is often used by those who dislike this vision, or the use to which it is put. In doing so, they identify themselves as political opponents of the Merrie England viewpoint and its supporters. In short, it is supposed or asserted that Deep England stands for what English cultural conservatives would wish to conserve. Cultural conservatism is Conservatism with respect to Culture.

The term, which alludes to la France profonde, has been attributed to both Patrick Wright and Angus Calder, opponents of this world-view. La France profonde ( "Deep France") is a phrase that denotes the existence of deep and profoundly "French" aspects of the culture of French provincial towns Patrick Wright is a British writer broadcaster and academic in the fields of Cultural studies and Cultural history. Angus Lindsay Ritchie Calder ( 5 February 1942 &mdash 5 June 2008) was a Scottish academician, Writer, Historian In their opinion, it glosses over the simple historical facts that undermine it: the bucolic vista of perceived loveliness was fundamentally one of widespread rural poverty, in which lives were brutal and short.

Those who make use of the vision are frequently regarded by their critics as having a cultural and racial agenda which is exclusive rather than inclusive. On another level, the concept of Deep England is often closely associated with an explicit opposition to modernism and industrialisation. Modernism describes an array of Cultural movements rooted in the changes in Western society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century is a process of social and economic change whereby a human group is transformed from a Pre-industrial society into an industrial one It has served a particular political purpose in the hands of certain political organisations, especially those of a retrospective inclination, espousing a yearning for a legendary golden age. The term Golden age is best known from Greek mythology and legend but can also be found in other ancient cultures (see below There was a ruralist movement in England before World War II, typified by the writer H. J. Massingham. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Harold John Massingham (1888 &ndash 1952 was a prolific British writer on matters to do with the countryside and Agriculture.

Major artists whose work has contributed to, or influenced, a more general view of Deep England include: the writer Thomas Hardy, the painter John Constable, the composers Ralph Vaughan Williams, George Butterworth and Gustav Holst, and the poets A.E. Housman, Rupert Brooke and Sir John Betjeman. Thomas Hardy OM (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928 was an English novelist Short story writer and poet of the naturalist movement though he saw John Constable ( 11 June 1776 &ndash 31 March 1837 Ralph (reɪf Vaughan Williams OM (12 October 1872 &ndash 26 August 1958 was an English Composer of symphonies, Chamber music For George Butterworth Illustrator & Cartoonist see George Butterworth (Cartoonist. Gustav Theodore Holst (21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934was an English Composer and was a music teacher for nearly 20 years Alfred Edward Housman (ˈhaʊsmən 26 March 1859 – 30 April 1936 usually known as A Rupert Chawner Brooke (middle name sometimes given as Chaucer) was an English Poet known for his idealistic war sonnets written during the First World Sir John Betjeman, CBE ( 28 August 1906 &ndash 19 May 1984 was an English poet writer and broadcaster who described himself in Who's Who However many of these figures have been linked to the concept by others, and have themselves denied any intention to invoke the idea. Indeed closer examination of many of these artists' works actually destroy the story. Thomas Hardy's use of the landscape as protagonist is perhaps the strongest example of this. The Protagonist or main character is the central figure of a story. (see also below).

Examples of this conservative or village green viewpoint include the editorial line sometimes adopted by the British Daily Mail newspaper and the ideological outlook of magazines such as This England. A village green is a common open area which is a part of a settlement The Daily Mail is a British newspaper currently published in a tabloid format This England is a quarterly Magazine, published in spring summer autumn and winter "for all those who love England 's green and pleasant land" A similar perspective was ascribed to the Conservative Party under John Major, partly because of a passage in a 1993 speech by Major on European integration, but Major has always insisted that the passage, which quoted George Orwell, has been misinterpreted. The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party) is a Political party in the United Kingdom. Sir John Major KG CH ACIB (born 29 March 1943 is a British Politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950 who used the Pseudonym George Orwell, was an English writer The radio soap opera The Archers presents a more dialectical picture of actual life in a small rural village. Radio is the transmission of signals by Modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible Light. A soap opera is an ongoing episodic work of Fiction, usually broadcast on Television or Radio. The Archers is a British radio Soap opera broadcast on the BBC 's main spoken-word channel, Radio 4.

Little England and propaganda

In Angus Calder's re-examination of the ideological constructs surrounding Little England during World War II in The Myth of the Blitz, he puts forward the view that the story of Deep England was central to wartime propaganda operations within the United Kingdom, and then, as now, served a clearly defined political and cultural purpose in the hands of various interested agencies. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Propaganda is a concerted set of messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located

Calder cites the writer and broadcaster J.B. Priestley whom he considered to be a proponent of the Deep England world-view. John Boynton Priestley, OM ( 13 September, 1894 &ndash 14 August, 1984) was an English Writer and broadcaster Priestley's wartime BBC radio "chats" described the beauty of the English natural environment, this at a time when rationing was at its height, and the population of London was sheltering from the Blitz in its Underground stations. The Blitz was the sustained bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941 in World War II. The London Underground is a Metro system serving a large part of Greater London and neighbouring areas of Essex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire In reference to one of Priestley's bucolic broadcasts, Calder made the following point:

Priestley, the socialist, gives this cottage no occupant, nor does he wonder about the size of the occupant's wage, nor ask if the cottage has internal sanitation and running water. His countryside only exists as spectacle, for the delectation of people with motor cars. " (Angus Calder, The Myth of the Blitz, London 1991)

However, in Journey Through England, Priestley identified himself as a Little Englander because he despised imperialism and the effect that the capitalist industrial revolution had on the people and environment. Little Englander is a term dating from the time of the Second Boer War (1899&ndash1901

Part of the imagery of the 1940 patriotic song There'll Always Be an England seems to be derived from the same source:

There'll always be an England
While there's a country lane,
Wherever there's a cottage small
Beside a field of grain. Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. " There'll Always Be an England " is an English patriotic song written and distributed in the summer of 1939 but which became highly popular upon the outbreak

The continuation evokes, however, the opposite image of the modern industrialised society:

There'll always be an England
While there's a busy street,
Wherever there's a turning wheel,
A million marching feet.

The song seems therefore to offer a synthesis and combine the two Englands, the archaic bucolic one and the modern industrialised one, in the focus of patriotic loyalty and veneration.

Literature and the arts

The transition from a literary locus of Merry England to a more obviously political one cannot be placed before 1945, as the cited example of J. Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar B. Priestley shows. Writers and artists described as having a Merry England viewpoint range from the radical visionary poet William Blake to the evangelical Christian Arthur Mee. William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827 was an English poet, painter, and Printmaker. See also Arthur Butler Phillips Mee, noted astronomer and journalist The Rudyard Kipling of Puck of Pook's Hill is certainly one; when he wrote it, he was in transition towards his later, very conservative stance. Joseph Rudyard Kipling (30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936 was an English Author and poet Puck of Pook's Hill is a children's book by Rudyard Kipling, published in 1906 containing a series of short stories set in different periods of history Within art, the fabled long-lost merrie England was also a recurring theme in the Victorian-era paintings of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (also known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters Poets, and critics founded in 1848 by The 1890 News from Nowhere by William Morris portrays a future England that has reverted to a rural idyll following a socialist revolution. Year 1890 ( MDCCCXC) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common News from Nowhere (1890 is a classic work combining Utopian socialism and Soft science fiction written by the artist designer and socialist pioneer William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896 was an English Architect, Furniture and Textile designer artist writer and socialist associated Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution

Reference points might be taken as children's writer Beatrix Potter, John Betjeman (more interested in Victoriana), and the fantasy author J. R. R. Tolkien, whose hobbit characters' culture in The Shire embodied many aspects of the Merry England point of view. Victoriana refers to items or material from the Victorian period (1837–1901 especially those particularly evocative of the design style and outlook of the time Fantasy is a Genre that uses magic and other Supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting In J R R Tolkien 's legendarium, Hobbits are a diminutive race that inhabit the lands of Middle-earth. The Shire is a region of J R R Tolkien 's fictional Middle-earth, described in The Lord of the Rings and other works

In his essay "Epic Pooh", Michael Moorcock opined:

"The little hills and woods of that Surrey of the mind, the Shire, are 'safe', but the wild landscapes everywhere beyond the Shire are 'dangerous'. Epic Pooh is a 1978 article by the British Science fiction writer Michael Moorcock, originally written for the British Science Fiction Association Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939, in London) is an English writer primarily of Science fiction and fantasy who has also Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. A shire is an Administrative division of Great Britain and Australia. Experience of life itself is dangerous. The Lord of the Rings is a pernicious confirmation of the values of a declining nation with a morally bankrupt class whose cowardly self-protection is primarily responsible for the problems England answered with the ruthless logic of Thatcherism. Humanity was derided and marginalised. Sentimentality became the acceptable substitute. So few people seem to be able to tell the difference. "

Here the shift has taken place: Tolkien was profoundly conservative with respect to cultural traditions, as Moorcock is quite aware, but not at all an imperialist. He set an area based upon the West Midlands region within a Middle-earth, but made it apparent that its perimeter was maintained by external allies. The West Midlands is an official Region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. Middle-earth refers to the fictional lands where most of the stories of author J

The Pyrates, the 1983 spoof historical novel by George MacDonald Fraser, sets its scene with a page-long sentence composed entirely of (immediately demolished) Merry England tropes:

"It began in the old and golden days of England, in a time when all the hedgerows were green and the roads dusty, when hawthorn and wild roses bloomed, when big-bellied landlords brewed October ale at a penny a pint. Year 1983 ( MCMLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar) George MacDonald Fraser, OBE (2 April 1925 &ndash 2 January 2008 was a British Author of both Historical novels and Non-fiction books See also Figure of speech In linguistics trope is a rhetorical Figure of speech that consists of a play on words i . . "

The novel England, England by Julian Barnes describes an imaginary, though plausible, set of circumstances that cause modern England to return to the state of Deep England. England England (1998 is a Satirical Science fiction novel by Julian Barnes which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Julian Patrick Barnes (born January 19, 1946 in Leicester, England) is a contemporary English Writer. The author's views are not made explicit, but the characters who choose to remain in the changed nation are treated more sympathetically than those who leave.

In Kingsley Amis's novel Lucky Jim, Professor Welch and his friends are devotees of the Merry England legend, and Jim's "Merrie England" lecture somehow turns into a debunking of the whole concept (a position almost certainly reflecting that of Amis). Sir Kingsley William Amis, CBE ( April 16, 1922 &ndash October 22, 1995) was an English Novelist, Lucky Jim is a comic Novel written by Kingsley Amis, first published in 1954 by Victor Gollancz.

A few popular music artists have used elements of the Merry England story as recurring themes; Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull in particular has often alluded to an anti-modern, pre-industrial, agrarian vision of England in his songs (the band's namesake was himself an agrarian, the inventor of the seed drill). Ian Scott Anderson, MBE (born 10 August 1947 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland) is a Scottish Singer Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967-1968 Their music is marked by the distinctive vocal style and lead Flute work of front man At the opposite end is The Kinks' The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society, which is equal parts a satire of sentimentalism and homage to what was seen as a passing England; as well as certain elements of Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire). The Kinks were an English pop and rock group formed in 1963 and categorised in the US as a British Invasion band The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society is a pop-rock album released by the British music group The Kinks on 22 November Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire is a Concept album by the English rock band The Kinks, released in late 1969

Merrie England is a comic opera by Edward German. Merrie England is an English Comic opera in two acts by Edward German to a Libretto by Basil Hood. Comic opera, or light opera, denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature usually with a happy ending Sir Edward German ( 17 February 1862 &ndash 11 November 1936) was an English musician and composer of Welsh descent best remembered

Further reading

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Hutton discovered that, far from being pagan survivals, many of the activities of popular piety criticised by sixteenth-century reformers were actually creations of the later Middle Ages.
  2. ^ Roy Judge, "May Day and Merrie England" Folklore 102. 2 (1991, pp. 131-148) p 131.

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