English

LOCATION: United Kingdom ( England)
POPULATION: 50.7 million, out of a total UK population of 60.7 million
LANGUAGE: English
RELIGION: Church of England; Protestant; Jewish; Sikh; Hindu; and Muslim

INTRODUCTION

While the English in large part share their national origins with the peoples of continental Europe, their outlook has always been colored by the fact that they live on an island. The surrounding seas have given England a security unknown to other European countries. No one has successfully invaded Britain since the Norman Conquest of 1066, although others have tried-notably the Spanish in 1588, the French in 1805, and the Germans in 1940-but English defenses were aided by the natural barrier formed by the English Channel and the North Sea.

The area that is now called England was first united by the Romans in the 1st century ad. When they withdrew (ad 410), the area was settled by Germanic tribes from continental Europe such as the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. It is often said that the name "England" is a contraction of "Angle-Land." England was converted to Christianity during the 6th and 7th centuries ad. During the early medieval period, coastal regions were regularly raided by the Vikings, who even came to rule most of the north and east of England. They were ejected by an alliance of nobles, led by the semi-legendary King Alfred.

In 1066, the Normans, from northwestern France, deposed the Anglo-Saxon dynasties, and the new rulers imposed a strong central government with their capital in London. At this point, England's history of expansion into its neighboring countries began. Wales, conquered in the Middle Ages, was incorporated into England in the 16th century. Ireland was first invaded in the 12th century, although it took over 400 years to bring the whole island under English rule. There was recurrent war with Scotland until the time of Henry VIII, but the Scots remained independent until 1603 when the monarchies of the two kingdoms were united. In 1707 Scotland and England were joined politically. From the Middle Ages onward, then, it is difficult to talk about England alone, for its history is inextricably linked to these other nations.

In the 17th century, the first English colonies in America were established. By the mid-19th century, England had become the center of an empire that was eventually to cover a quarter of the globe-28.5 million sq km (11 million sq mi). It was said that the sun never set on the British Empire, because it was always daytime in some part of it. Furthermore, the Industrial Revolution, which began in the 18th century, ensured that England was also the foremost economic, financial, and political power between the fall of Napoleon and the rise of Germany. At the height of the Empire's power, during the reign of Queen Victoria, England controlled an overseas population that was nearly 100 times larger than its own.

World War I (1914-1918) took an enormous toll on the English in terms of lives, resources, and national confidence. Altogether, the nation suffered over a million casualties, and more than 1 in 10 Englishmen under the age of 45 were killed. Soon after the war, the Empire started to disintegrate when Ireland became self-governing. Crippled economically by World War II (1939-1945), Britain withdrew from India and granted independence to most of the remaining colonies over the next 25 years, although almost all of them chose to remain part of the British Commonwealth of Nations. While England's international role is reduced from what it once was, the country is still prominent in world affairs as a member of the United Nations (with a permanent seat on the Security Council), the Commonwealth, the European Union (EU), and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

LOCATION AND HOMELAND

England is the largest of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom. (The others are Scotland and Wales-located, like England, on the island of Britain-and Northern Ireland.) Wales lies to the west of England and Scotland to the north. England is roughly triangular in shape, with a long, irregular coastline. Its varied terrain consists of rugged highlands in the north, flat plains to the east, lowlands and low hills in the south, and moors in the southwest. England's (and the United Kingdom's) capital city is London.

England has a high population density, with 383 people/sq km (992/sq mi), compared with 114 people/sq km (295/sq mi) for France. About 90% of England's people are city dwellers. Ethnically, the English are descended from a mixture of European groups, including Celts and Romans, various Germanic tribes, Vikings, the Norman French, and others. Immigrants from Scotland, Wales, and Ireland have settled in England, as have more recent arrivals from former British colonies in South Asia and the Caribbean.

LANGUAGE

English is the most widely spoken language in the world. It is spoken throughout the United Kingdom and, altogether, by an estimated 500 million to 1.8 billion people worldwide. (There are approximately 300-400 people worldwide who speak English as a first language, and anywhere rom 200 million to 1.4 billion people who speak English as a second language worldwide.) English is the international language of business and politics, too.

Derived from the Germanic tongue of Anglo-Saxon and modified by strong Latin, Greek and French influences, modern English has evolved from Old English-spoken until around ad 1100-and Middle English, which was in use from then until the late 1400s. Just as there are many types of English worldwide, so there are also many different dialects and regional accents throughout England itself; for instance, the speech of a person from Liverpool differs considerably from that of someone from Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The "Queen's English," the kind of English that foreigners learn and which BBC newsreaders speak, is a sanitized form of that which is spoken in the southeast of England and London. Furthermore, differences in education and class background can show up between speakers who live in the same region. Class-based speech differences among Londoners were memorably dramatized in George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion and its musical version, My Fair Lady.

Although Americans speak English, in addition to differences in pronunciation, Americans may have difficulty under
standing the speech of the English because the people of their respective countries refer to many of the same things using different terms. Examples include:

FOLKLORE

England's most famous body of folklore is that made up of the many different tales surrounding the legendary King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Particularly well-known are the stories of the disruption caused by the adultery between Queen Guinevere and Sir Lancelot, Arthur's favorite knight; Sir Gawain's meeting with the Green Knight; and the search for the Holy Grail. These stories have been retold many times. The earliest version is that of Geoffrey of Monmouth, composed in 1135, but Sir Thomas Malory's 15th-century book is probably the best-known. T.H. White's The Once and Future King is a very modern view of the legends, as are the many mo-tion pictures (such as Camelot, Excalibur, and even Monty Python and the Holy Grail) that have been made.

Probably the next most famous legends are those of Robin Hood and his Merry Men. They were outlaws who lived in Sherwood Forest near the city of Nottingham during the reign of King John (12th century ad), and were renowned for stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Their arch-enemy was the Sheriff of Nottingham, who, like King John, got his come-uppance when the legitimate king, Richard I, was restored to the throne. These tales are full of memorable characters like Little John, Maid Marian, Friar Tuck, and Will Scarlet.

There are many other folk tales, legends, and ghost stories from different parts of England, but their popularity declined after the Industrial Revolution made England more urban than agricultural. However, recent years have seen a revival of interest. Especially noteworthy is the resurgence of the medieval mystery plays. These plays, based upon Biblical stories but incorporating many non-Biblical elements drawn from daily life, were originally performed by ordinary townspeople during religious festivals.

RELIGION

Although there is almost complete freedom of worship in England, church and state are closely intertwined. The Church of England (or Anglican Church) is an established church. England was Roman Catholic until 1534, when Henry VIII broke with Rome and proclaimed himself supreme head of the Church of England. Today, the head of the church is still the reigning monarch who, upon ascending the throne, pledges to uphold the faith. Until the mid-19th century, a person had to be a church member in order to sit in Parliament or attend the prestigious universities of Oxford and Cambridge. There are approximately 13-17 million members of the Church of England, although only 1 million of those attend services each Sunday. Other Protestant sects, including Methodists and Baptists, are also active in England and are called free churches. The Roman Catholic church is still very strong, partly due to the large numbers of Irish immigrants and Polish or Italian refugees who have settled in England. The country also has one of Europe's largest Jewish populations, numbering 300,000, and many cities have recently become home to large Sikh, Hindu, and Muslim immigrant populations.

MAJOR HOLIDAYS

Most of England's holidays are those found in the Christian calendar. Others include New Year's Day, May Day and the August Bank Holiday. There is also a great deal of pageantry related to the government and the monarchy. The Queen publicly reviews her regiments of Guards-one of the elite forces of the British Army-at the Trooping of the Colour, which celebrates her official birthday in June. The Guards are the soldiers who perform the daily changing of the guard at the Queen's London residence, Buckingham Palace.

The annual State Opening of Parliament has a lot of complex ceremony built into it. For example, the Queen invites members of the House of Commons to come and hear her speech in the chamber of the House of Lords, but her envoy (known as Black Rod) always has the door to the Commons slammed in his face. He is expected to knock on the door and humbly request that the members come to hear the monarch. On the night before the opening of Parliament, the Tower of London guards search the basements of the Houses of Parliament for explosives (a ritual that harks back to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, a conspiracy to murder King James I as he opened Parliament).

The Gunpowder Plot is also commemorated on Guy Fawkes' Night (November 5) with bonfires, fireworks, and the burning of "guys" (cloth dummies) made from old clothes. Children go from door to door asking their neighbors to give them "a penny for the guy." Chestnuts are roasted in the same bonfire in which the guy is burning. Other historical events are recalled on Remembrance Sunday (the Sunday closest to November 11, the date of the armistice that ended World War I). On this date, the Queen leads a procession of retired soldiers to lay wreaths at the Cenotaph war memorial in Whitehall. At eleven o'clock, two minutes of silence are observed all over the country in honor of those who died in both world wars.

RITES OF PASSAGE

England, like the rest of Britain, is a modern, industrialized country. Hence, many of the rites of passage that young people undergo are connected with the education system. Apart from that, getting one's first job, gaining promotion, getting married, having children and retiring in one's sixties are the main signals of change in one's station.

INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS

The English are known for their politeness and their respect for law and order. They wait patiently in lines (or, as they call them, "queues") at stores, bus stops, movie theaters, and elsewhere. Hardly anyone dreams of jostling or trying to push ahead of others. Those living in the south are generally more reserved than northerners, who are more likely to greet strangers. The English also pride themselves on their dry humor and are known for their tolerance of other people's views, as well as of eccentric behavior.

It is hard to overstate the importance of class in English society. It has been a long time since England was anything like an absolute monarchy, but the nobility and the landed gentry did enjoy undisputed preeminence in English society until the middle of the 20th century, although the middle classes of businesspeople and industrialists have, for a long time, been far richer. In the 19th and 20th centuries, in fact, middle-class values tended to become the unofficial yardstick by which people's worth was measured. From a different perspective, many of the great philanthropic and reform movements of that time appear to be attempts to make poor people act more like the bourgeoisie. After World War II, many class barriers weakened, as working-class people gained access to better education and hence to better jobs, and society in general became more mobile. In the 1970s and 1980s, the meritocratic views of Margaret Thatcher, the Conservative Prime Minister, gained wide popularity, and a new class of "yuppies" was born. That said, the way in which one speaks, the school one attended, one's parents' occupations, and many other things, still tend to place one in some class or another.

LIVING CONDITIONS

In spite of England's high population density, there is less overcrowding than in most European countries. About half the population now lives in dwellings constructed after World War II, usually two-story houses with gardens. More than 80% of England's population live in houses, while the rest occupy apartments (called "flats"). In the 1980s, many tenants were allowed to purchase the low-income housing in which they lived, resulting in a shortage of housing in the low-income rental market. Today, there are a growing number of homeless people in London and England's other major cities.

A comprehensive National Health Service provides health care free, or at reduced rates, to all England's residents. This includes general medical, dental, optical, pharmaceutical, hospital, home health care, and preventive medical services. Average life expectancy in 2007 was 78.7 years. Primary causes of death include cardiovascular disease and cancer. The Department of Health carries out health education campaigns to inform people of the dangers from smoking and the often rather unhealthy English diet. Since 1982, the government has funded measures to control HIV/AIDS, including blood testing and public education.

England's 321,800 km (200,000 mi) of road are its most important means of transportation. Its rail system carries passengers and freight between cities, and high-speed trains provide passenger transport all over the country. England's merchant marine is one of the world's largest and safest. The Channel Tunnel linking England and France boasts the longest tunnel system ever built under water. There are several international airports, and Heathrow in London leads the world in volume of international air traffic.

FAMILY LIFE

England's families have gotten smaller over the years. The average household has 2.36 members, compared with 4 at the turn of the 20th century. As housing costs go up and families become more mobile, grandparents often live alone or in retirement homes rather than with the family. An increasing number of couples are living together without being married, and those who marry do so at a later age than previously-26 for men, 24 for women. Often, they try to establish themselves in an occupation or career before they marry and have children. In 2002, approximately 30% of those aged 16 and over were single, with 52% married, 9% per cent widowed, and 8% divorced. The traditional gender roles of men and women are changing both in the home and in the workplace. Equal pay for men and women performing the same work has been the law since 1975.

CLOTHING

There is no distinctive national costume for England. The one that is most readily associated with England-a man's dark jacket with striped trousers, bowler hat, and rolled umbrella-is in fact a rather old-fashioned and formal outfit for office-workers, particularly bankers and civil servants. For the most part, the English wear modern Western-style clothing similar to that of people in other industrialized nations. Blue jeans and T-shirts are very popular, heavy coats and mackintoshes (raincoats) and warm woolen clothes are required for the climate's cold, damp winters. Perhaps the best-known traditional costumes in England are the red uniforms and high black hats worn by the Queen's guard at Buckingham Palace. Ceremonial dress is worn by government troops and the royal family on such official occasions as Trooping the Colour. In rural areas, traditional folk costumes are worn for such festivals as May Day. On such occasions, men may appear in "motley"coats featuring swatches of many different colors, knee-length breeches and white hose, and have bells tied around their legs.

FOOD

English cuisine, like that of other Northern European countries, does not usually include many herbs or spices, nor elaborate presentations of food. It can therefore seem bland and unimaginative to people from other countries. It seems that many English people agree, given the popularity of food from other countries, especially India and China. However, traditional English cooking relies for its effect upon either the freshness of the ingredients or the taste of the cooking media themselves (which explains the preoccupation with frying food that the English often seem to have).

The English are often believed to eat a large "English breakfast" of bacon, eggs, sausages, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, fried bread, and, often, kipper, a popular type of smoked herring, every day-and, doubtlessly, some people do so. However, today most families eat a lighter, continental-type breakfast of cereal with milk and sugar, perhaps followed by toast and marmalade. The traditional breakfast, while still widespread, is far too time-consuming to make every morning, when people need to be at work or school on time.

The main meal of the day may be eaten either at midday or in the evening. In either case, it generally consists of a meat dish, vegetables, and dessert. Sunday lunch is the most important meal of the week. Traditional dishes for it include roast beef, mutton, or lamb served with roast potatoes, peas, and other vegetables. Other traditional English fare includes steak and kidney pie; cottage (or "shepherd's") pie, consisting of minced beef with a mashed potato topping; and "toad-in-the-hole," which is made out of skinned sausages baked in pancake batter. Puddings, including rice pudding and bread pudding, are the most common traditional dessert.

Tea is England's national beverage, and the English consume about a third of the world's tea exports. They are known for their custom of afternoon tea, accompanied by cakes and sandwiches. However, in the past, this was mainly a custom of the leisured classes, who were able to take a meal at 4:00 PM when most people were at work. These days, the custom is probably no more common than it ever was, except perhaps on weekends.

EDUCATION

Nearly the entire English population is literate, and education is compulsory between the ages of 5 and 16. The education system is divided between state-run schools (which the vast majority of pupils attend) and a much smaller private establishment. State primary education, divided into infant and junior stages, lasts until the age of 11. The state secondary education system is known as the "comprehensive" system, since the state schools-mainly founded in the years following World War II-are designed to give a wide education to those who could not otherwise afford it. There is less "tracking" of students into certain schools, although recently the government has given parents a greater say in which schools their children attend. Students who attend private schools go to "preparatory" school between the ages of 7 and 13. Private secondary schools are known (confusingly to Americans) as "public schools." The best-known of these schools are Eton, Harrow, and Marlborough. The state requires all pupils attempt certain examinations. At the age of 16, pupils sit for exams in several subjects in order to get the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE). Thereafter, one may either leave school to find a job, or continue one's secondary education until the age of 18. At that age, pupils take more specialized, advanced level exams ("A"-Levels). These are usually a way of preparing to attend a university.

The university system is substantially (but not wholly) subsidized by the state. There are about 50 chartered universities in England, established in several historical stages. The "greystones" were founded in the medieval period. These include the world-famous universities of Oxford and Cambridge, which date from the 12th and 13th centuries, respectively. Next oldest are the "redbricks," which were founded in the 19th century, often by philanthropists using money that they had made from industrial or commercial enterprises. During the mid-20th century, many new universities were set up by the government, and are usually called "modern" universities.

CULTURAL HERITAGE

England has a distinguished cultural heritage, particularly in literature, where it boasts one of the greatest writers of any time or place, the 16thcentury playwright William Shakespeare. It is traditionally held that his birthday (and also the date of his death) is April 23, which is the feast day of St. George, the patron saint of England. Besides Shakespeare, England can claim great writers and literary works as far back as the Old English epic Beowulf, written around the 10th century ad, and Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th-century Canterbury Tales. Modern readers are still moved by the works of great Romantic poets such as William Wordsworth and John Keats. The 19th-century clergyman Gerard Manley Hopkins exploited the purely musical potential of the English language perhaps more than any other writer. The 19th century saw a sudden flourishing of the novel, connected with such names as Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, the Brontë sisters, George Eliot, and Thomas Hardy. Only a few of the many great English names in modern literature are D. H. Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, W. H. Auden, and George Orwell. Great English writers born abroad include the Polish-born Joseph Conrad and the American-born T. S. Eliot. The contemporary scene includes Salman Rushdie, Martin Amis, Nick Hornby, Ian McEwan, and Harold Pinter. J.K. Rowling (b.1965) is the author of the wildly famous Harry Potter books.

Great 19th-century English painters include Joseph Turner and John Constable, while Francis Bacon, David Hockney, and Graham Sutherland achieved renown in the 20th century, as did sculptor Henry Moore. From John Dowland, William Byrd and Henry Purcell in the 1500s and 1600s, through Gilbert and Sullivan's popular 19th-century light operas, to the modern works of Ralph Vaughn Williams and Benjamin Britten, English composers have given the world much memorable music. The composer whose name is most inextricably linked to England is Sir Edward Elgar, whose "Pomp and Circumstance" provides the melody for "Land of Hope and Glory," which is something of an unofficial English national anthem. In the 1960s, England became a trend setter in popular music as the home of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, two of the most successful rock groups ever formed, as well as numerous other successful artists and groups in the 21st century.

WORK

The average English work week is 35 to 40 hours long, spread out over five days-half the length of the work week a century ago. About half of England's workers are employed in service sector jobs, a third in manufacturing and engineering, and the rest in agriculture, construction, mining, and energy production. The north is highly industrialized and contains over a third of the country's manufacturing labor force. However, many of the older industries have declined, resulting in unemployment which has led to heavy emigration from the region. About half the workers in the Midlands region are employed in the automobile industry. In the southeast, more than 80% of the labor force works in the service sector, and dairy farming is an important source of employment in the southwest.

SPORTS

The most popular spectator and participant sport in England is soccer (usually called "football"), which is played in professional and amateur leagues as well as in schools, colleges, and local boroughs. The ubiquity of the game is such that there are some 100 professional clubs alone. Other favorite sports include cricket and rugby (named for Rugby School, where it began). Soccer, cricket, and rugby all originated in England, and spread worldwide due to the influence of the British Empire. Gambling on sports-which is legal in England-is a popular pastime. Most betting is done on horse racing. Over 90% of the population has gambled at some point, and around half do it regularly. Other popular sports include hockey, cross-country running, tennis, swimming, and other water sports. A famous horse race takes place regularly at the Royal Ascot, in which horses owned by the Royal Family are often entered.

ENTERTAINMENT AND RECREATION

Many people in England enjoy spending their leisure time relaxing at home with television or a video. The vast majority are regular newspaper readers, and nearly half read books on a regular basis as well. On weeknights, the hours between 7:00 and 11:00 PM are generally spent watching television or reading. More than 90% of English households own a television set and over half have a VCR or DVD. Until the mid-1980s, only four television stations were available. Since then, however, satellite broadcasting has considerably expanded the alternatives. Second to home recreations is visiting the local pub or club. There are many kinds of drinking establishments, but the most familiar is the quiet, traditional pub which serves not only alcohol but good traditional food.

Angling is the most popular pastime in the country. England has many miles of rivers and canals in which anglers fish for trout, carp, bream, and roach. The English are also very fond of games. Both snooker and darts are played by many people (the latter being especially popular in pubs), and, despite not being very visually exciting events, draw large audiences during televised professional tournaments. Among older people, bingo and cribbage are often taken very seriously.

The English are known for their love of gardening, and even apartment-dwellers without a plot of their own will often rent a piece of land on which to garden, or at least have a window box full of flowers. Fishing, hiking, and horseback riding are other popular outdoor leisure time pursuits. Many adults enjoy taking evening classes in every subject from basket weaving to yoga. Pets are very popular in England and half of its households have one-most often a dog, which is the national favorite.

FOLK ART, CRAFTS, AND HOBBIES

England has a history of fine furniture-making dating back to the 18th-century craftsmen Thomas Chippendale and George Hepplewhite, examples of whose art can still be seen today. Their contemporaries Josiah Wedgwood and Josiah Spode made England famous for its ceramics as well, especially the blue-and-white Wedgwood jasperware that England still exports today. The most famous English folk dance is the Morris dance, still seen at local festivals. Male dancers stomp and leap while waving pieces of cloth and jingling bells.

SOCIAL PROBLEMS

Class divisions and economic inequality are facts of life in present-day England. Approximately 25% of the nation's wealth is owned by 1% of the population, while unemployment was 5.4% in 2007 and 14% of the population lived below the poverty line. Many immigrants from the West Indies, India, Pakistan, Hong Kong, and other countries have settled in urban areas, where they are often subjected to housing and other types of discrimination and have a high rate of unemployment. Racial tension between the white English community and non-white immigrants has erupted into riots in London, Liverpool, Bristol, and Birmingham. As well, England has been a target of international Islamic terrorists, with bombings on the London public transit system carried out in July 2005, killing 52 and injuring 700. In 2006 controversial Egyptian-born Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri was jailed for seven years after being found guilty of inciting murder and race hate. Abu Hamza, who is being sought for extradition by U.S. authorities on terror-related matters, preached at the Finsbury Park Mosque, in north London.

GENDER ISSUES

Women in England have a long tradition of working for equal rights. The 19th century saw the rise of the suffragettes (the right to vote for English women was won in 1918), and Girton at Cambridge University was founded as England's first women's college in 1869. The number of women in paid work increased substantially after the two world wars, but they generally had low-paid, female-dominated occupations, such as teaching and clerical work. In the late 1980s women made up more than 40% of the workforce in England, and they increasingly took managerial and professional jobs. However, although equal pay for men and women performing the same work has been the law since 1975, few women enjoy parity with men in pay. In 2007 pro-choice British women celebrated 40 years of legalized abortion.

Homosexuality is increasingly being tolerated by a large portion of the British population. However, some gay people still find it difficult to admit their sexuality, especially while at school or university. It is becoming more common for gay men to "come out" openly, but is not common to see gay men showing their sexuality in public (for example by holding hands or kissing). Many older British people still find it difficult to accept homosexuality. The official teachings of most churches in the UK remain hostile to homosexuality. Homosexuality was legalized in the United Kingdom in 1967, and the homosexual age of consent has been reduced since then from 21 to 18 and now to 16 (the same age as for sex between men and women). Since 2003 it is unlawful to discriminate in the workplace against someone on the grounds of his or her sexuality. Gay men and women have been allowed to serve in the military since 2000. Gay marriages are not legal in the UK. However, the Civil Partnership Act (in force as of 2005) created a new legal relationship of "civil partnership," which two people of the same sex can form by signing a registration document.

London, Brighton, and Manchester all have large gay communities. Blackpool, Bournemouth, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Newcastle also have significant gay communities. The most famous place for gay people to meet is in Old Compton Street in London's Soho area. Every summer (late June or early July) in London there is a Pride London parade and rally. There is an annual film festival in London showing gay and lesbian films.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abbe Scientist Research Division. AIDS and HIV in the United Kingdom. Washington DC: Abbe Publishers Association, 2008.

Díëez Medrano, Juan. Framing Europe: Attitudes to European Integration in Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2003.

England in Pictures. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 1990.

Fuller, Barbara. Britain: Cultures of the World. London: Marshall Cavendish, 1994.

Gall, Timothy, and Susan Gall, ed. Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations. Detroit: UXL, 1996.

Greene, Carol. England. Enchantment of the World Series. Chicago: Children's Press, 1994.

Helweg, Arthur W. "English." In Encyclopedia of World Cultures (Europe). Boston: G. K. Hall, 1992.

James, T. B. The Story of England. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Tempus Pub., 2003.

Illustrated Encyclopedia of Mankind. London: Marshall Cavendish, 1978.

Langley, Andrew. Passport to England. New York: Franklin Watts, 1994.

-revised by J. Hobby

ENGLISH

In the fifteenth century, drama in England was dominated by modes now thought of as characteristically "medieval": cycles of liturgical mystery plays, morality plays—of which Mankind (c. 1465), and Everyman (c. 1509–1519) are among the best-known examples—and secular interludes such as Henry Medwall's Fulgens and Lucrece (c. 1497) and John Heywood's The Four Ps (c. 1520–1530). By the end of the eighteenth century, the stage would have been almost unrecognizable to Medwall or Heywood. A tradition of performance based within communities was gradually supplemented by commercial structures; this new tradition was in its turn broken by the order that the public theaters be closed on the outbreak of the Civil War in 1642. Although dramatic activities did not cease—private and surreptitious performances continued and a wide variety of dramatic texts were aimed at readers—there was a break with the pre–Civil War stage and with many of its conventions.

CHANGING THEATERS

In the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, drama was performed mainly in the houses of the nobility, in civic venues such as town halls or churches, or in educational establishments such as schools, universities, and the Inns of Court, where law students were educated. In the later period, large-scale open-air amphitheaters or innyard conversions were developed, with which settled companies became established: the best-known include the Red Lion (1567), the Theatre (1576), the Rose (1592), the Globe (1599), and the Red Bull (c. 1604). Other, smaller, commercial theaters were constructed in indoor venues; they were used in the first place by the children's companies that had devolved from performances by the choir schools of St. Paul's and the Chapel Royal. By 1610, an adult company, the King's Men, had started to perform at the indoor Blackfriars Theatre, and by the end of the seventeenth century Continental-style proscenium arch theaters had supplanted the amphitheaters.

Perhaps the greatest change was in the nature of performers: professional actors rose from the level of vagrants to become substantial landowners and celebrities—Edward Alleyn, Richard Burbage, Thomas Betterton, and David Garrick are only the most famous. The Restoration (1660–1685) also saw the introduction of the first professional female performers, of whom the most celebrated include Elizabeth Barry, Anne Bracegirdle, and Anne Oldfield. This was also the period when women began to write for the commercial stages; the best-known of these writers include Aphra Behn, Mary Pix, and Susanna Centlivre.

KINDS OF DRAMA

In the early to mid-sixteenth century, classical influences began to intersect with folk and morality play influences, notably in plays such as Ralph Roister Doister (c. 1552) by Nicholas Udall, and Gammer Gurton's Needle (1566), often attributed to William Stevenson. The universities (Gammer Gurton was first performed at Cambridge) and the Inns of Court saw plays in English and Latin. Particularly noteworthy is the performance of the first English blank-verse tragedy, Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville's Gorboduc or Ferrex and Porrex, at the Inner Temple in 1562.

Tragedy. Influential tragedies included Christopher Marlowe's opulent and exotic two-part tragedy Tamburlaine (c. 1587–1589), Thomas Kyd's hugely popular revenge tragedy The Spanish Tragedy (c. 1589), William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet (c. 1595), and Thomas Heywood's domestic tragedy A Woman Killed With Kindness (c. 1603). These models for tragic drama were developed throughout the period by writers including George Chapman, John Webster, John Ford, Philip Massinger, and James Shirley. A related line of historical drama can be traced from John Bale's moral history King Johan (c. 1539) through Marlowe's Edward II (c. 1592), Shakespeare's first (Henry VI, Part One; Henry VI, Part Two; Henry VI, Part Three; and Richard III) and second (Richard II; Henry IV, Part One; Henry IV, Part Two; and Henry V) tetralogies, Shakespeare and John Fletcher's Henry VIII (1613), and Ford's Perkin Warbeck (1634).

"Closet" tragedy (intended primarily to be read, not staged) was more closely associated with classical and continental traditions: notable examples include Mary Sidney's version of Robert Garnier's Antonius (1595), Fulke Greville's Mustapha (1596) and Alaham (1600), and Elizabeth Cary's Tragedy of Mariam (1613), the first original English play written by a woman. A heavily classicist form of tragedy pioneered on the public stage by Ben Jonson in Sejanus (1603) and Catiline (1611) was unsuccessful in its own day.

It left its mark, however, on tragedies of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries such as John Dryden's All for Love (1678) and Joseph Addison's Cato (1713). These tragedies are often also termed "heroic drama": the mode is exemplified by Dryden's Conquest of Granada (1670) and Thomas Otway's Venice Preserved (1682) and parodied in George Villiers, duke of Buckingham's The Rehearsal (printed 1672) and Henry Fielding's Tom Thumb (1730). This period also saw a revival of domestic tragedy in George Lillo's The London Merchant (1731) and the revival and adaptation of many of Shakespeare's tragedies. Notable examples include Nahum Tate's versions of King Lear (1681), Richard II (The Sicilian Usurper, 1681), and Coriolanus (The Ingratitude of a Commonwealth, 1681), Colley Cibber's Richard III (1700), and Garrick's adaptations of Romeo and Juliet (1748) and Hamlet (1771), in which he also acted.

Comedy. Comedies such as Campaspe (1583) and Sappho and Phao (1584), written by John Lyly for the children's companies, combined classical settings with topical allusion to court and country in witty antithetical structures (Lyly's technique is often termed "euphuism" after the title of his bestselling prose romance, Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit, published in 1578). The romantic comedies of the next generation of writers, including those of Shakespeare, were heavily influenced by Lyly's work. Another important mode was comedy portraying the city, exemplified by Thomas Dekker's The Shoemaker's Holiday (1599), Ben Jonson's Volpone (1605) and The Alchemist (1610), John Marston's The Dutch Courtesan (1605), Thomas Middleton's A Chaste Maid in Cheapside (1613), Massinger's A New Way to Pay Old Debts (1625), and Richard Brome's The Weeding of Covent Garden (c. 1632). In the mid-Jacobean period, the mixed genre of tragicomedy came to prominence, largely through plays written by Shakespeare and by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher. Both of these modes were quickly revived in the 1660s, and they exercised a shaping influence on the comedies of Behn, Centlivre, William Congreve, George Etherege, George Farquhar, John Vanbrugh, and William Wycherley. The plays of these dramatists constitute what is usually known as "Restoration Comedy": social satires that simultaneously criticized and enjoyed excessive behavior. Famous examples include Behn's The Rover (in two parts, 1677–1681), Wycherley's The Country Wife (1675), Etherege's The Man of Mode (1676), Vanbrugh's The Relapse (1676), Congreve's The Way of the World (1700), and Farquhar's The Beaux' Strategem (1707). Later, Richard Steele's The Conscious Lovers (1722) pioneered "sentimental" comedy, reacting against the supposedly immoral tone of Restoration comedies. A return to irreverence can be found in Fielding's 1730s farces, and in Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer (1773) and Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The School for Scandal (1777) and The Critic (1779).

Occasional drama. The early modern period also saw a flourishing tradition of occasional drama. Court theater included lavish entertainments under Elizabeth I—such as the entertainment at Kenilworth (1575), Philip Sidney's The Lady of May (1578), and the Elvetham Entertainment (1591)—and the masques on which Ben Jonson collaborated with the architect Inigo Jones during the reigns of James I and Charles I. Other occasional drama included Thomas Nashe's Summer's Last Will and Testament (1592), John Milton's Masque at Ludlow (better known as Comus, 1634), and the earliest English opera, The Siege of Rhodes (1656), with a libretto by William Davenant and music (now lost) by Henry Lawes, Matthew Locke, Henry Cooke, George Hudson, and Edward Coleman. The Siege of Rhodes is also notable for featuring the first use in England of perspective scenery, designed by John Webb, and one of the earliest appearances by a female performer, Mistress Coleman. Major cities such as London, Coventry, Norwich, and York had their own tradition of plays, shows, and pageants, many of them organized by the trades guilds to mark religious festivals, the accession or entry to a city of monarchs, or the appointment of civic leaders. Other popular dramatic modes included puppet shows and, later, pantomimes.

SOCIAL AND POLITICAL THEMES

Drama was throughout the early modern period a socially and politically engaged form. John Skelton's Magnificence, performed around 1519, launched a devastating critique on Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, chief adviser to Henry VIII, and on Henry's young courtiers. Nicholas Udall's Respublica (1553) was a political allegory lauding the accession of Mary I and the restoration of the Roman Catholic Church in England. A decade later, Sackville and Norton wrote Gorboduc to advise Elizabeth I about the succession. Middleton's A Game at Chess (1624), performed for nine days consecutively at the Globe Theatre, allegorized Anglo-Spanish relations and caused a public scandal by representing on the stage real people such as the Spanish ambassador, Don Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, marquis de Gondomar. During the Civil War (1642–1649) and Commonwealth (1649–1660), printed drama was highly prevalent in political polemic, including plays and dramatic dialogues such as A New Play Called Canterbury His Change of Diet (1641), Crafty Cromwell (1648), and Cromwell's Conspiracy (1660). These political playlets were published anonymously or under pseudonyms such as Mercurius Melancholicus (Crafty Cromwell) and Mercurius Pragmaticus (Cromwell's Conspiracy). Toward the end of the period, John Gay's The Beggar's Opera (1728) focused on the inhabitants of Newgate, the famous London prison, and the career of the highwayman Macheath. It launched a new form of socially aware drama, and, drawing on genres such as the ballad, re-inscribed the stage's associations with other areas of popular culture.

The Beggar's Opera seems to be a world away from the civic religious drama of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. However, in spite of the many changes in performance location, casting, and dramatic style, the theater continued to exist in relation to society and the communities in which it was performed.

See also Beaumont and Fletcher ; Behn, Aphra ; English Literature and Language ; Jonson, Ben ; Marlowe, Christopher ; Shakespeare, William ; Sheridan, Richard Brinsley .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Sources

Space does not allow an exhaustive list of primary texts. Useful anthologies of early modern English drama include the following:

Bevington, David, Lars Engle, Katharine Eisaman Maus, and Eric Rasmussen, eds. English Renaissance Drama: A Norton Anthology. New York and London, 2002.

Canfield, J. Douglas, ed. The Broadview Anthology of Restoration and Early Eighteenth-Century Drama. Peterborough, U.K., 2001.

Kinney, Arthur, ed. Renaissance Drama: An Anthology of Plays and Entertainments. Malden, Mass., and Oxford, 1999.

Lyons, Paddy, and Fidelis Morgan, eds. Female Playwrights of the Restoration: Five Comedies. London and Rutland, Vt., 1991.

Manning, Gillian, ed. Libertine Plays of the Restoration. London and North Clarendon, Vt., 1999.

Somerset, J. A. B., ed. Four Tudor Interludes. London and New York, 1974.

Walker, Greg. Medieval Drama: An Anthology. Oxford and Malden, Mass., 2000.

Whitworth, Charles Walters. Three Sixteenth-Century Comedies: Gammer Gurton's Needle, Ralph Roister Doister, The Old Wife's Tale. London and New York, 1984.

Womersley, David, ed. Restoration Drama. Oxford, 2000.

Secondary Sources

Beadle, Richard, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Medieval English Theatre. Cambridge, U.K., and New York, 1994.

Braunmuller, A. R., and Michael Hattaway, eds. The Cambridge Companion to English Renaissance Drama. Cambridge, U.K., 1990.

Cox, John D., and David Scott Kastan, eds. A New History of Early English Drama. New York, 1997.

Fisk, Deborah Payne, ed. The Cambridge Companion to English Restoration Theatre. Cambridge, U.K., and New York, 2000.

Gurr, Andrew. The Shakespearean Stage 1574–1642. Cambridge, U.K., 1980.

——. The Shakespearian Playing Companies. Oxford and New York, 1996.

Kinney, Arthur F., ed. The Cambridge Companion to English Literature 1500–1600. Cambridge, U.K., 2000.

Owen, Susan J. A Companion to Restoration Drama. Oxford and Malden, Mass., 2001.

Randall, Dale B. J. Winter Fruit: English Drama 1642–1660. Lexington, Ky., 1995.

Walker, Greg. The Politics of Performance in Early Renaissance Drama. Cambridge, U.K., and New York, 1998.

White, Paul Whitfield. Theatre and Reformation: Protestantism, Patronage and Playing in Tudor England. Cambridge, U.K., and New York, 1993.

Wiseman, Susan. Drama and Politics in the English Civil War. Cambridge, U.K., 1998.

Lucy Munro

ENGLISH
1. The name of a people (the achievements of the English); the adjective associated with that people and with its country, England, which occupies the southern part of the island of Britain (English traditions).

2. Short forms E, E., Eng. The name of a language originating in north-western Europe (the history of English); the adjective relating to it (English dialects).

3. A course offered in schools, universities, and other institutions, whose aim is to provide students with knowledge about (and skills in relation to) the language, aspects of its literature, or both; first-year English; English as a Foreign Language (EFL); English language teaching (ELT); English Language and Literature; Business English; remedial English.

4. The adjective and noun used in Canada for speakers of English as opposed to French, regardless of ethnic origin: differences between the French and the English; English Canadians. [In the article that follows, the first and second senses only are discussed. For the third sense, see TEACHING ENGLISH; for the fourth, see CANADIAN ENGLISH.]

The English

Early Germanic settlers in Britain were referred to in Latin as the gens Anglorum, which can be translated as both ‘Angle race’ and ‘English people’, and called themselves Englisc/Ænglisc or Angelcynn (‘Angle-kin’). The name Englisc contrasted with the names of both Celtic and Scandinavian people in Britain: ‘Nah naðer to farenne ne Wylisc man on Ænglisc lond ne Ænglisc on Wylisc’ (Neither Welshman to go on English land, nor English on Welsh: ordinance); ‘Gif Ænglisc man Deniscne ofslea’ (If an Englishman kills a Dane: Laws of Aethelred, both citations from c.1000). However, by the time of the Norman Conquest, English was the name for all inhabitants of England, regardless of background. For many years after 1066, the Normans were commonly distinguished from their English subjects as French, a dichotomy sustained in state documents long after it ceased to mean much in social terms. By the 14c, English was again the name for all subjects of the king or queen of England, whatever their background, and has remained so ever since.

Ambiguity

A new uncertainty developed in the 16c. Wales was united with England in 1535 and the English and Scottish monarchies became one in 1603. The union of the parliaments of England and Scotland took place in London in 1707 and the state of Great Britain officially came into existence. Increasingly from these dates, the term English has been used in three ways: to refer to the people of England and matters concerning England alone; to refer to the people of England and Wales and matters concerning both; to refer to the people of Great Britain (England, Wales, Scotland, and varyingly all or part of Ireland), and matters concerning them all. Generally, the first usage prevails when Irish, Scots, Welsh, and English people are talking to or about each other, although English people are famous among the others for using their generic name to cover all four. When talking among themselves, through the media, and in international situations, many English people use English without specifying whether they are discussing themselves or all Britons and perhaps without being clear about the limits they intend. This is also often the case with Americans, mainland Europeans, and others:
‘While Rafelson is a great admirer of Robert Redford, he did not think an American playing an aristocratic Englishman in “Out of Africa” worked. So he decided he wanted English actors and settled for two virtual unknowns. Patrick Bergin, like Burton, whom he plays, is Irish and the star of “Act of Betrayal,” a recent mini-series about an Irish Republican Army informer. Iain Glen, a Scotsman, who plays Speke, was in the West End production of Tom Stoppard's “Hapgood” early last year’ (in ‘Quest for the Source of the Nile, on Film’, New York Times, Feb. 1989).

The language

English is part of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, along with, among others, Danish, Dutch, and German. Once confined to Britain, it is now used throughout the world. Its use and distribution can be discussed in various ways, including geographical distribution, status as an official or other language, and status as majority language or mother tongue (first language), alternative language, medium of education, second language, or foreign language.

In the later 20c, non-native users of English have come to outnumber native users, partly because of the accelerating spread of the language, and partly because of increases in population and educational opportunities in many parts of the world. Estimates of the overall number of users of English relate to the three criteria of English by birthright (in the ENL territories in the 1970s estimated at c.300m people), English through historical association (in the ESL territories also c.300m), and English through usually formal acquisition (in the EFL territories c.100m). The total of c.700m was widely accepted in the early 1980s, but some linguists, for example David Crystal (‘How Many Millions?—The Statistics of World English’, English Today 1, Jan. 1985), have discussed doubling this total to c.1.4bn so as to bring in anyone who uses any kind of English, extended or restricted, ‘correct’ or ‘broken’. It is probably safe to assume that by 1990 some 10% of the inhabitants of the EFL nations were usefully familiar with English, and that around a billion people currently use it in varying degrees and for various purposes, in almost a 2-to-1 ratio of non-natives to natives.

Variety

The diversity of English has always been so great that efforts have often been made to distinguish between a ‘proper’ or ‘correct’ core, almost always a minority form associated with class and education, and other forms that are closer to or further away from that core, which is usually perceived as the standard language. There are four ways in which this kind of distinction has been made:

Language and dialect.

The use of such terms as LANGUAGE and DIALECT for mutual definition is common to most European languages, but there is a paradox in how they are used and understood. Although a language is widely seen as being ‘made up’ of dialects, there is nonetheless in every language a single form held to be superior to all dialects: the social, literary, and educational standard. In this tradition, English paradoxically contains its dialects while standing apart from them. Linguists have sought to overcome the problem by treating STANDARD English as another dialect, the standard dialect, whose generally assumed superiority and prestige are not attributable to intrinsic merit but rather to social utility. Because of its status, this dialect has diversified in ways that make it the only one that can be used in discussing such matters as philosophy, economics, and literature. However, although a perception of the standard as also being a dialect may be helpful in social and educational terms (making it first, as it were, among equals), tensions persist between speakers whose usage is judged (more or less) non-standard and those whose usages (more or less) fit the norm.

Language and lect.

Sociolinguists have created such terms as acrolect, mesolect, and basilect from the root element of dialect. At first the terms referred, respectively, to the high, middle, and low forms of CREOLE languages, when compared with the standard form of the language on which they are based: for example, the acrolectal form of Jamaican Creole is that form perceived by sociolinguists and others as closest to standard English, while its basilect is the form or forms farthest removed from standard English, its mesolects jostling for space somewhere between. The terms have, however, been extended in recent years to refer to positions on the continuum of all relationships in any language complex. From this viewpoint, standard English is an acrolect in a firmament of other assorted lects.

Language and variety.

In order to avoid the social and class implications of such terms as dialect and lect, scholars have in recent years often preferred the neutral term VARIETY. Here standard English is one variety among others (whether it is first among equals or unequals), and in turn has its own (sub)varieties. The standard and its varieties are used for one range of purposes, Scots, Cockney, and their equivalents and all their varieties for other purposes, and Jamaican Creole, Krio, and their equivalents and all their varieties for others still. By and large, this approach has proved useful and even emollient. Variety coexists with dialect and lect and enables diverse difficult issues to be examined and discussed in non-adversarial ways. It does not, however, change the general perception of one English that is, in effect, more equal than the others, an ‘educated’ variety that spreads into a vast periphery of other (usually ‘uneducated’) varieties.

The Englishes and the English languages.

The most radical departure in recent years looks at English not as singular but plural: in effect, a family like the Germanic languages. In such a view, the term ‘English’ has always covered more than one language: Old English different from Modern English; Scots different from English (both being Germanic languages as distinct as Dutch and Frisian in the Netherlands, or Dano-Norwegian and Nynorsk in Norway). In addition, Krio in Sierra Leone, Kriol in Australia, and Tok Pisin in Papua New Guinea, etc., are so different from the core that they are ‘English-based’ rather than ‘English’. The commonest term for the plurality of English, especially in Africa and Asia, is the New Englishes, referring to varieties that have grown up in territories once controlled or greatly influenced by the UK and the US. An even more controversial expression is the English languages, which places the main varieties of English on a par with such groups as the Romance languages and Slavonic languages.

Many kinds of more or less marginal usage occur every day. In code-switching, a mix of English and Hindi (or Spanish, or Tagalog, etc.) may be more English one moment, more Hindi the next; it is often hard to indicate precisely when speakers cross the border between two otherwise distinct languages, as for example English and French in Montreal, Quebec. One group of English-speakers may refuse to confer equivalent status on another (‘They don't really speak English’), on weak grounds such as differences of accent or on strong grounds such as general unintelligibility. However, there is nothing new in this.

Diversity

Regardless of the terminology they might use, few scholars have supposed that there is only one monolithic English; rather, the problem has been how to reconcile one label with the many facets of the thing so labelled. English was diverse when it began and has continued to be diverse. Until the Union of the Parliaments (1707), the varieties used in England and Scotland were no less distinct than the different but closely related Spanish and Portuguese, but a consequence of the Union was the subordination of Scots (the English language of Scotland) to English (the English language of England) and a blurring of its ancient distinctness. In large part, the generic name English contributed to the assumption even among Scots that there was only one English language properly so called. In the same century, however, the American Declaration of Independence (1776) marked the creation of a new national and linguistic ‘pole’: a second national variety of the standard language that had been disconnected from London and the institutions of England. In the later 20c, Australia had begun to create the institutions of yet another national standard, while at the same time the concept of national standards has begun to spread: if there could be acknowledged varieties of the standard in two long-established autonomous nations, there could be further such varieties elsewhere.

National standards

The question has become: how many such standards are there (or can there be), and how do (or should) they relate to each other? In the last two decades, there has been a thoroughgoing reconsideration of the idea of a standard language or dialect or variety. Effectively, this is as much a political as a linguistic issue. In places once diffident about their English and accustomed to being patronized (such as Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, and Scotland), the possibility that they too either have or could have their own standard has led to such works as ‘The Accents of Standard English in Scotland’ ( David Abercrombie, in Languages of Scotland, edited by A. J. Aitken and Tom McArthur, 1979) and In Search of the Standard in Canadian English (edited by W. C. Lougheed, 1985). Whereas few disagree that there is a national standard for the US and for England (or Britain), many are dubious about a standard Australian or an Irish standard, while others doubt that there is even such an entity as Indian English out of which a standard might grow. The debate proceeds, and institutions are emerging (linguistic surveys, dictionaries, publishers' house styles, centres of language study) that increasingly serve to reinforce and even extend claims that once seemed both radical and slightly absurd.

See HISTORY OF ENGLISH, STANDARD ENGLISH.

THE WORLD DISTRIBUTION OF ENGLISH

The territories in which English is a significant everyday language, in alphabetic order according to regions of the world, are:

Africa and the western Indian Ocean.

Botswana, British Indian Ocean Territory, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

The mainland Americans and the South Atlantic.

Argentina, Ascension (Island), Belize, Bermuda, Canada, the Falkland Islands, Guyana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, St Helena, Surinam, Tristan da Cunha, the United States.

Asia.

Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cyprus, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Kuwait, Malaysia, the Maldives, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam.

The Caribbean.

Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, St Christopher and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Virgin Islands (American and British).

Europe

The Channel Islands, Gibraltar, the Irish Republic, the Isle of Man, Malta, the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland).

Oceania

Australia, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Hawaii (in the US), Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Western Samoa.

It is not always easy to establish whether English has a constitutionally endorsed status in the territories in which it plays a role. It might be expected to have such a status in the UK and the US, but does not; in both it is a de facto rather than a de jure official language, although in a number of US states it is formally endorsed as the official language: see ENGLISH LANGUAGE AMENDMENT. English has generally acquired legal status only when a government has concluded that explicit recognition is necessary, usually to establish it as a sole medium or a comedium of administration and education. In the following countries, English has a statutory role: Botswana (with Setswana), Cameroon (with French), Canada (with French), Gambia, Ghana, India (with Hindi), the Irish Republic (with Irish Gaelic), Lesotho (with Sesotho), Malawi (with Chichewa), Nigeria, Pakistan (with Urdu), Papua New Guinea (with Hiri Motu and Tok Pisin), the Philippines (with Filipino), Seychelles (with Creole and French), Sierra Leone, Singapore (with Mandarin Chinese, Malay, and Tamil), the Solomon Islands (with Solomon Islands Pidgin English), South Africa (with Afrikaans, Ndebele, Pedi, Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Swati, Tsonga, Venda, Xhosa, Zulu), Swaziland (with Siswati), Tanzania (with Swahili), Uganda, Vanuatu (with French and Bislama), Zambia, Zimbabwe.

ENL, ESL, AND EFL TERRITORIES

The global distribution of English is often currently described in terms of English as a Native Language (ENL), English as a Second Language (ESL), and English as a Foreign Language (EFL):

1. ENL territories.

Most people in ENL territories have English as their first and often only language. There are two groups: (a) English profoundly dominant: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Ascension Island, Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Dominica, England, the Falkland Islands, Grenada, Guyana, the Isle of Man, Jamaica, Montserrat, Northern Ireland, St Christopher and Nevis, St Helena, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States of America (but see next), the Virgin Islands (American and British). (b) At least one other language significant: Canada (French), Channel Islands (French), Gibraltar (Spanish), the Irish Republic (Irish Gaelic), Liberia (various Niger–Congo languages), New Zealand (Maori), St Lucia (Creole French), Scotland (Scottish Gaelic, and Scots if defined as a distinct language from English), South Africa (Afrikaans; various Bantu and Khoisan languages), Wales (Welsh). Some commentators argue that the US is, or will soon be, a member of this group, with Spanish as the other nationally significant language.

2. ESL territories.

Many people in ESL territories use English for various purposes, and in some English has an official, educational, or other role. English may be generally accepted or more or less controversial. The territories are: Bangladesh, Botswana, Brunei, Cameroon, Cook Islands, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Hong Kong, India, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Western Samoa, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

3. EFL territories.

The rest of the world. English may be more or less prestigious and more or less welcome in particular places. Many people learn it for occupational purposes and/or as part of education and recreation, at school or in college, or its acquisition may be casual and haphazard, in the family or the workplace, or on the street. Competence varies across a gamut from fluent to a smattering gleaned for limited purposes.

Provisos.

These categories need to be buttressed by certain provisos regarding, among other things, the varieties of English used in ENL territories, the existence and use of related English-based creoles in both ENL and ESL territories, and the presence of communities of native speakers in some EFL territories.

English

ETHNONYM: Engl

Orientation

Identification. England, unlike Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland, does not constitutionally exist, and thus it has no separate rights, administration, or official statistics. The Church of England is its main distinctive institution. The English maintain their separate identity in sports (soccer, cricket, and rugby) and heritage; this is manifest in the monarchy, aristocracy, and associated pageantry, parliament, pride in their country, and love for their local community (with the local pub being an integrating institution). English poetry, literature, and art is also distinctive. With the decrease of specialized industry, an increase in mass marketing, and greater population mobility, English distinctiveness is threatened. However, measures such as restoration and protection of city centers, the countryside, and historic buildings—along with the movement for greater control and participation in local affairs—help counter the trend toward homogeneity.

Location. England constitutes the largest land area and highest population density of any of the four units of the United Kingdom. It is also the most intensely industrialized region. Located off the northwest coast of continental Europe, it is bounded on the north by Scotland and on the west by Wales. It is located approximately between 49°56′ and 55°49′ N and 1°50′ E and 5°46′ W (not including the Channel Islands). Geographically, England constitutes 130,863 square kilometers or 53 percent of the land area of the United Kingdom and is divided into the uplands and lowlands. Following a line joining the mouths of the Tees and Exe rivers, the uplands in the northwest are characterized by rocky and mountainous areas while the lowlands of the southeast contain gentle rolling country with some hills. For the United Kingdom as a whole, the terrain is 30 percent arable, 50 percent meadow and pasture, 12 percent waste or urban, 7 percent forest, and 1 percent inland water. The climate is variable and mild for its latitudes. Rainfall for the south is 90 centimeters, with the southwest receiving 105 to 158 centimeters per year, while the extreme east gets 63 centimeters. The mean temperature for England in July is 16° C; in January and February it is 5° C. However, the north is slightly colder than the south; winter in the north averages 70 days of frost while the south averages 13.

Demography. The English number 46,168,120 (1989 estimate), 81.5 percent of the population of the United Kingdom. They have maintained their relative proportion of the United Kingdom population, but the proportion of younger and older people has increased because the birthrate declined between 1921 and 1942 and then increased after World War II. The population is primarily urban and suburban. In 1921, more than 40 percent of the people lived in the six great conurbations that center on London. After World War II, there was movement from the inner cities to the suburban fringes and beyond, with the inner cities showing a marked decrease. However, English population density is among the highest in the world, averaging 840 persons per square mile in 1981 for England and Wales and rising to 12,600 for the greater London area.

Linguistic Affiliation. The English language is of the Indo-European Family. Its parent tongue is the West Germanic Group of Proto-Indo-European. The closest related Languages are German, Netherlandic, and Frisian. There is considerable dialectical variation, the most distinctive being in Lancashire, Cornwall, and parts of East London. Radio, television, and transportation are causing these differences to diminish, with the style of the southeast becoming the Standard. However, there is no difference in literary style between the various regions.

History and Cultural Relations

Early English history is marked by immigration. Although not the first, the Celts began arriving around 2,500 to 3,000 years ago. England became part of the Roman Empire in a.d. 43. After the Roman withdrawal in a.d. 410, waves of Jutes, Angles, and Saxons arrived and established control, in spite of Danish incursions from the eighth through the eleventh centuries. By the fifth century a.d., the term "English"—"Angelcynn," meaning "angel kin"—was applied to the Teutonic inhabitants collectively. By the eleventh century, the term included the Celtic and Scandinavian elements and all natives of England, except for the Normans, who remained separate for several generations after their conquest in 1066. The signing of the Magna Carta in 1215 guaranteed the rights of rule by law, a point of pride for the English. In 1301, Edward of Caernarvon, son of King Edward I of England, was created Prince of Wales. The Hundred Years' War (1338-1453) resulted in the claim to large parts of France being lost, and the War of the Roses (1455-1485) led to the Tudor monarchy, which in turn led to a distinctively flourishing English civilization. In 1534, religious independence from the pope was established. Under Queen Elizabeth I, England became a major naval power and its colonies and trade expanded. In 1603, James VI of Scotland succeeded to the throne of England as King James I, and the island of Britain was united under one royal family. After a civil war (1642-1649), a republic under Oliver Cromwell was established, but the monarchy was restored in 1688, confirming the sovereignty of the English Parliament and the English Bill of Rights. By increasing colonial holdings and industrial power in the eighteenth century, the United Kingdom became a world power. Although victorious in both world wars, the country lost its position of world leadership, but it continued its industrial growth. During the postwar period, the Labor party governments passed some socialist legislation nationalizing some industries and expanding social security; but the Thatcher government reversed that trend and increased the role of private enterprise.

Since the Norman Conquest in 1066, a relatively homogeneous population has been maintained. However, England has been a haven for refugees ranging from the Huguenots in the seventeenth century to persecuted Jews in the twentieth. Starting in the 1950s, population homogeneity has been challenged by the immigration of West Indians and South Asians. As of 1989, they comprise about 4 percent of England's population (2 percent of the United Kingdom's population). Laws curbing immigration and prohibiting racial discrimination have been enacted, but racial tensions are present, especially in the inner urban centers of London and West Midlands where 60 percent of the immigrants reside.

Settlements

About 90 percent of England's population is urban or suburban, and less than 3 percent of its people are engaged in agriculture. Thus, there is a structure of towns, villages, and cities where one sees scattered groups of high-density residence patterns. In spite of the large urban sprawl, England has extensive tracts of farms with smaller villages engulfed by trees, copses, hedgerows, and fields. Settlement patterns are classed into seven categories: conurbations, cities, boroughs, towns, villages, hamlets, and farms. Conurbations refer to the large complexes of densely populated urban areas with a complex of suburbs and towns surrounding or within a large city. A city is a large important borough. A borough is a town possessing a municipal corporation with special privileges conferred by royal charter (a city can have boroughs within it). A town can be incorporated or not incorporated within a conurbation, but either way it is a small cluster of buildings, which has an independent government with greater powers of rating (taxation), paving, and sanitation than those of a village. The village is smaller than a town and has less independence, and a hamlet is smaller still, often without a church. An examination of settlement patterns of towns, villages, and hamlets reveals a great variety of planned or unplanned settlements, with buildings at regular or random intervals. They can be clustered around a center, with its own structure of roads or lanes, or linear, along the sides of a road or field. Farmsteads generally comprise the farming family.

Economy

Subsistence and Commercial Activities. For planning purposes, England is divided into eight regions, but it can be grouped into four divisions comprising the north, Midlands, southeast, and southwest. The north contains about one-third of the total land area and one-third of the population. Although there is some dairy and grazing livestock production, the division is highly industrial, comprising 35 percent of England's manufacturing labor force (43 percent of England's total work force in manufacturing). Most cities are near coal fields. Old, stable industries have declined, leading to unemployment. Emigration from the region has been high, although the region continues to have a slight population increase. The Midlands has about half of its workers employed in manufacturing industries, making automobiles, metal goods, and related products. About 3 percent of them work in coal and iron ore fields and 1.5 percent in mixed farming. It is common to find villages that specialize (locks and keys in Willenhall, needles and hooks in Ridditch, and so on). In the southeast, more than 60 percent of the labor force is in Service industries such as construction and public administration, 32 percent in manufacturing, and less than 2 percent in agriculture. Electrical equipment, machinery, paper, printing, and publishing are the leading industries. The southwest has a lower population. Dairy farming is prominent and manufacturing employs 32 percent of the labor force. Many people retire there and tourism is important. However, unemployment is also high. In essence, England has been going through a long process of change. In the nineteenth century, the north, which was previously underdeveloped and backward, became the powerhouse or "workshop of the world." As the United Kingdom lost its prominence in the world economy, the north also lost its importance and power shifted to the southeast.

Industrial Arts. Service industries employ about half of England's work force, while a third of the workers are in manufacturing and engineering. The remainder are in agriculture, construction, mining, and energy.

Trade. Three types of trade take place in English communities. The traditional institution is the central market, which is often covered but open. It has stalls that sell everything from fish to clothes. Within neighborhoods there are clusters of specialty shops which usually comprise a grocer, butcher, newsstand, appliance store, and sweet shop. Since 1970, chain enterprises in fast food and groceries have developed and expanded.

Division of Labor. There is a hierarchy and division of labor with limited mobility. In manufacturing, jobs are specialized according to skill and hierarchy of class is maintained where bosses have authority over subordinates. Division of labor according to gender is diminishing in the workplace as well as the domestic sphere. Class consciousness is decreasing, with the upwardly mobile young urban professional (Yuppie) becoming a dominant role model.

Land Tenure. Land in England is privately owned.

Kinship, Marriage, and Family

Kinship. The most important kin group is the extended family, which generally includes all known relatives. Although descent is not strictly lineal, the family name is traced patrilineally. However, relationship through the female line is acknowledged informally. If he has no male heir, a son may incorporate the name of his mother's family as his family name in a hyphenated form. Kin relationships are strongly Influenced by distance, stage of life, and closeness of relationship. In practice, the mother-daughter relationship dominates and it is around the wife's mother that much family activity is determined. Other members of the kin group are included if they live nearby. However, neighbors are very Important in providing companionship and social support, and these friendships are often maintained after a person has moved away.

Marriage. The emphasis on marital status has decreased in the last decade. Self-esteem and status are now determined by a career, whereas previously they centered on having a spouse and children. Today people often delay marriage and children until their career aspirations stabilize. Generally marriages are by the choice of the male and female. Abortion is legal and divorce is acceptable; both have increased in the postwar era.

Domestic Unit. The nuclear family is the most prevalent domestic unit. It consists of the mother, father, and juvenile children. During times when housing was scarce, it was Common for a newly married couple to live with the wife's family. Among the landed gentry residence for the eldest son was patrilocal while other offspring resided elsewhere.

Inheritance. Traditionally, inheritance was through the male line. The aristocracy maintained its wealth by a system of primogeniture, where the estate went to the eldest son. Other sons had to serve in the army, the church, or business, or vanish into obscurity or poverty. Now, inheritance is according to the wishes of the owner of the resources. He or she dictates the inheritance by a will or testament. If there is no will, it is probated in a court.

Socialization. Parents, peers, and media are three primary influences for socialization. Parents discipline, but corporal punishment is not acceptable. Evaluation by one's peers is important for English children. Television, videos, rock music, advertising, and other forms of popular media culture exert a strong influence on children.

Sociopolitical Organization

England is a constitutional monarchy. There is no written constitution, and so statutes, common law, and practice guide governance. The monarch is the chief of state and Controls the executive branch. The prime minister is the head of the government and has a cabinet. The legislative section is a bicameral Parliament composed of a House of Commons and a House of Lords; primary power lies with the House of Commons. There is also a court system, with the House of Lords being the highest level.

Social Organization. In English society, the aristocracy, "new society," middle class, and working class are the primary units. The landed aristocracy is the only aristocracy. Alongside the aristocracy is the new society, the self-made rich. In the nineteenth century, wealth did not buy power, because it was concentrated in the aristocracy. However, the aristocracy has lost its monopoly on power. At present, most Britons see themselves as belonging either to the middle or working class. What makes a person claim membership to one of these two classes varies; economic affluence and occupation are not consistent indicators. Also, the middle class is fragmenting with each group defining itself in opposition to other groups.

Political Organization. Under the central government, the country is divided into municipalities, counties, and Parliamentary constituencies. In 1974, the conurbations were detached from existing counties and designated as metropolitan counties.

Social Control. The court system, sense of tradition, public opinion, and mass media all work together to promote conformity and resolve conflicts in English society.

Conflict. Since England has not suffered from invasions since the Norman Conquest, there is no focused animosity against any particular group, although some resentment toward the Germans exists as a result of the two world wars. Internal conflicts have been primarily with Northern Ireland. They started in 1968 with demonstrations by Catholics who charged that they were discriminated against in voting rights, housing, and employment. Violence and terrorism has intensified between the Irish Republican Army (which is outlawed), Protestant groups, police, and British troops. Racial tensions between the white English community and the West Indians and South Asians have developed recently, but they have not resulted in ongoing terrorism and violence.

Religion and Expressive Culture

Religious Beliefe and Practices. Although England is a secular country, about one-half of the population is baptized in the Anglican church; however, only 10 million are communicant members. Roman Catholics number 6 million, and the rest belong to nonconformist free churches such as Methodist or Baptist. Except for some areas of Irish settlements in the northwest, religious tolerance persists.

The Church of England traces its history back to the arrival of Christians in Britain during the second century. It has preserved much of the tradition of medieval Catholicism while holding on to the fundamentals of the Reformation. It broke with the Roman papacy during the reign of Henry VIII (1509—1547). The church has gone through persecution and was also influenced by the Puritans. Nevertheless, it has maintained an episcopal form of government, with the monarchy acting as the secular head of the English church and the Archbishop of Canterbury having spiritual prominence.

Arts. England has a strong and distinctive tradition in literature, theater, and architecture. In literature, writers tend to focus on their particular region, while in plays they are more likely to deal with England as a whole. In architecture, the English have borrowed from other cultures, but they have transformed the concepts into a characteristically English style. England has also become a leader in popular culture with musical groups that have captured international prominence. London is the theater center for the English-speaking world.

Medicine. England's national health service provides quality care. However, the system has declined somewhat under the Thatcher government and private practice has increased.

Death and Afterlife. In the Anglican church, exactly what happens at death is a mystery. However, Anglicans believe that the individual "is received by God into his arms," which is taken to mean the person passes into a timeless and spaceless relationship with God, unlike that which is experienced in this life. Funerals are conducted by a priest or minister a day or two after death.

Bibliography

Bonfield, Lloyd, Richard M. Smith, and Keith Wrightson, eds. (1986). The World We Have Gained. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Helweg, Arthur W. (1986). Sikhs in England. 2nd ed. Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Newby, Howard (1979). Social Change in Rural England. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

Noble, Trevor (1981). Structure and Change in Modern Britain. London: Batsford Academic and Educational.

Priestley, J. B. (1934). English Journey. New York and London: Harper Brothers.

Sampson, Anthony (1983). The Changing Anatomy of Britain. New York: Random House.

United Kingdom, Government of. Central Office of Information (1989). Britain 1989: An Official Handbook. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.

Young, Michael, and Peter Willmott (1957). Family and Kinship in East London. Baltimore: Penguin.

ARTHUR W. HELWEG

English

PRONUNCIATION: ING-lish

LOCATION: United Kingdom (England)

POPULATION: Over 48 million

LANGUAGE: English

RELIGION: Church of England; Protestantism; Judaism; Sikhism; Hinduism; Islam

1 • INTRODUCTION

England is unique among European countries. As an island, it has been protected by surrounding waters that form a natural barrier. No country has successfully invaded England for the last 1,000 years.

The area now called England was occupied by many European cultures and tribes. In 1066 ad the Normans, from France, invaded and became the new rulers of England. London was established as the country's capital. Soon after, England began expanding into its neighboring countries—Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. England's history has been continuously linked with these three nations through to present times.

In the seventeenth century, the first English colonies in America were established. England continued to expand its colonies and became an empire (a government with many territories under its rule) that covered one-quarter of the world.

England suffered enormous losses during World War I (1914–18). After the war, England began to lose authority over its colonies. Ireland was the first to become independent. World War II (1939–45) was also devastating to England. In the twenty-five years that followed, the British Empire granted independence to the majority of its other colonies. Most of the former colonies still retain economic and political ties to Britain. The British economy and society still have a strong influence in world affairs today. The British royal family, which no longer has any political power, is often the focus of international publicity.

2 • LOCATION

England is the largest of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom. Two others—Scotland and Wales—share the same island (Britain) with England, and the three countries are collectively known as Great Britain. The fourth, Northern Ireland, is a close neighbor. England is roughly triangular in shape, with a long, irregular coastline. Its countryside includes many types of terrain, including mountains, plains, lowlands and low hills, and moors (marshy, open areas). London is the capital city.

England has a high population density (many people living close together). Most of England's inhabitants live in cities. Ethnically, they come from a mixture of European groups. Many people have moved from Scotland, Wales, and Ireland to live in England. Immigrants have also come from former British colonies in South Asia and the Caribbean.

3 • LANGUAGE

English is the most widely spoken language in the world. It is spoken throughout the United Kingdom and by close to 450 million people around the globe. Many varieties of English are spoken worldwide, and many dialects and regional accents exist within England. Although Americans speak English, they may have difficulty understanding the speech of the English people. In addition to differences in pronunciation, people in the two countries often use different words for the same thing. Examples include:

4 • FOLKLORE

The most famous folklore of England is about King Arthur and the Knights of theRound Table. If there was a real King Arthur, he most probably lived in the sixth century ad. King Arthur is believed to have ruled justly, which was uncommon for rulers of that era. Famous characters from that folklore include Queen Guinevere and Sir Lancelot. Many books and movies tell these stories, including T. H. White's The Once and Future King and the movies Camelot and Excalibur.

Also famous are the English legends about Robin Hood and his Merry Men. These noble outlaws lived in Sherwood Forest near the city of Nottingham in the twelfth century ad. They were famous for stealing from the rich and giving to the poor.

5 • RELIGION

Church and state are closely intertwined in England, unlike in the United States. About 60 percent of England's population are members of the Church of England (also called the Anglican Church). Other Protestant sects are also active in England, as is the Roman Catholic Church. England has one of Europe's largest Jewish populations. In addition, many cities have recently become home to large immigrant populations of Sikhs (followers of a Hindu-Islamic religion), Hindus, and Muslims (followers of Islam).

6 • MAJOR HOLIDAYS

Most of England's holidays are those celebrated by the Christian religion. Other holidays include New Year's Day (January 1), May Day (May 1), and the August bank holiday.

There is also a great deal of celebration related to the government and the monarchy. Much ceremony surrounds the State Opening of Parliament (the governing council) each year. Traditions also surround anniversaries of many historical events. Among them is Remembrance Sunday, which commemorates the armistice (military truce) that ended World War I (1914–18).

7 • RITES OF PASSAGE

England is a modern, industrialized country. Therefore, many of the rites of passage that young people undergo are connected with their progress through the educational system. Other rites of passage include getting a first job, being promoted, getting married, having children, and retiring in one's sixties. These are the main markers of significant life changes.

8 • RELATIONSHIPS

English people are known for their politeness and their respect for law and order. They wait patiently in lines (which they call "queues") at stores, bus stops, and movie theaters. It is uncommon for people to try to push ahead of each other. Those living in the south are usually more reserved than northerners, and are less likely to greet strangers. The English are also known for their acceptance of other people's views and eccentricities (peculiar behaviors).

Social class is an important feature of English society. In earlier times, people from wealthy families enjoyed great privileges not available to working-class and poor people. After World War II (1939–45), working-class people gained access to better education and therefore to better jobs. As a result, many barriers between classes weakened. However, class identity is still inferred from such things as patterns of speech, which school one attended, and one's parents' occupations.

9 • LIVING CONDITIONS

Even though England has a high population density, there is less overcrowding than in most European countries. About half the population now live in dwellings constructed after World War II (1939–45). These are usually two-story houses with gardens. More than 80 percent of England's population live in houses, while the rest occupy apartments (called "flats.") There is a shortage of low-income rental housing. This has contributed to a growing homeless population in London and England's other major cities.

10 • FAMILY LIFE

England's families have gotten smaller over the years. Grandparents are more likely to live alone or in retirement homes rather than with their families. More young couples are living together without marrying. Those who marry do so at a later age than in previous times. They often establish themselves in their occupations before starting a family. Gender roles of men and women are changing, both at home and in the workplace.

Women are moving toward greater equality in relationships and responsibility. A 1975 law established equal pay for men and women performing the same work.

11 • CLOTHING

There is no unique national costume for England. For the most part, the English wear modern-style clothing similar to that worn in the United States and other industrialized countries. Blue jeans and T-shirts are very popular. The cold, damp winters require heavy coats, mackintoshes (rain-coats), and warm woolen clothes.

The most famous traditional costumes in England are the red uniforms and high black hats worn by the royal guard at Buckingham Palace. Ceremonial dress is worn by government troops and the royal family on official occasions. In rural areas, traditional folk costumes are worn for festivals such as May Day (May 1, a celebration of spring).

12 • FOOD

English cuisine can seem bland and unimaginative to people from other countries. It usually does not include many herbs or spices, or fancy presentations. This may be why food from other countries, especially India and China, is popular in England.

The traditional English breakfast is quite substantial. It includes bacon, eggs, sausages, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, fried bread, and kipper (a type of smoked fish). Modern English people rarely take the time to prepare such an elaborate breakfast before going off to work or school. They usually eat a lighter meal, often cereal and toast with marmalade.

Recipe

Bubble and Squeak

Ingredients

• 2½ cups shredded cabbage
• ½ pound roast beef (corned beef may be used), cut into bite-sized pieces
• 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• ¼ cup sliced onions
• ½ cup mashed potatoes
• Pepper

Directions

1. Fill a pot large enough to hold the shredded cabbage with water. Heat until the water is boiling.
2. Add the cabbage, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the cabbage, and drain in a colander. Press on the cabbage to squeeze out most of the water.
3. Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the onions and cook them over low heat, stirring constantly, until the onions are softened (about 2 minutes).
4. Add the cabbage to the skillet and stir to combine with the cooked onions.
5. Add the mashed potatoes and mix. Cook the mixture for about 3 minutes.
6. Add the meat to the mixture.
7. Cook until the meat is heated through (about five minutes), stirring occasionally.

Adapted from Howard Hillman, Great Peasant Dishes of the World. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1983.

The main meal of the day may be eaten either at midday or in the evening. It usually consists of a meat dish, vegetables, and a dessert. Sunday lunch is the most important meal of the week.

Tea is the national beverage. The English are known for their custom of afternoon tea, accompanied by cakes and sandwiches. The custom originated with the wealthier classes who were able to eat at 4:00 pm when most people were at work. Nowadays, afternoon tea is mostly a weekend event.

Bubble and Squeak is a dish with a funny name that was invented to make use of leftovers from a roast beef dinner. The "bubble and squeak" refers to the dish as it cooks. A recipe for Bubble and Squeak is on the previous page.

13 • EDUCATION

Education is required for all children between the ages of five and sixteen. Nearly all English people are literate (able to read and write). Most students attend state-run schools. Primary education lasts until the age of eleven, followed by secondary education. At the age of sixteen, pupils sit for exams in several subjects to get the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE). After that, they may either leave school to find a job, or continue secondary education until the age of eighteen. At that age, they may take more advanced exams (A-Level). These are usually taken in preparation for attending a university.

14 • CULTURAL HERITAGE

England has a distinguished cultural heritage, including one of the greatest writers ever, the sixteenth-century playwright William Shakespeare. Other great writers include the poets William Wordsworth and John Keats; novelists Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, the Brontë sisters (Charlotte, Emily, and Anne), George Eliot, and Thomas Hardy; and modern writers D. H. Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, W. H. Auden, George Orwell, and T. S. Eliot.

Great English painters include Joseph Turner and John Constable (nineteenth century), and Francis Bacon, David Hockney, and Graham Sutherland (twentieth century). Henry Moore was a famous twentieth-century sculptor. English composers include John Dowland, William Byrd, and Henry Purcell (1500s and 1600s); Gilbert and Sullivan (nineteenth-century light operas); and Ralph Vaughan Williams and Benjamin Britten in modern times. In the 1960s, England became a trendsetter in popular music as the home of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

15 • EMPLOYMENT

The average English workweek is five days and thirty-five to forty hours long. This is about half of the workweek of a century ago. Approximately half of England's workers are employed in service sector jobs (jobs that directly serve the public). A third work in manufacturing and engineering. The rest work in agriculture, construction, mining, and energy production.

16 • SPORTS

The most popular sport in England, both for watching and playing, is soccer (called "football"). It is played in professional and amateur leagues as well as in schools, colleges, and small towns. Other favorite sports include cricket and rugby. These three games all originated in England and spread throughout the world due to the influence of the British Empire. Other popular sports include horse racing, hockey, cross-country running, tennis, swimming, and other water sports. Gambling on sports—which is legal in England—is popular.

17 • RECREATION

Many people in England spend their leisure time relaxing at home watching television or videos. Most are regular newspaper readers, and nearly half read books regularly. The English also enjoy going to a local pub (bar) for good traditional food as well as alcoholic beverages.

Angling (fishing with a hook and line) is the most popular pastime in the country. The English are also very fond of games, including snooker (a billiards game) and darts. Older people often enjoy bingo and cribbage (a card game). The English are known for their love of gardening. Even apartment dwellers cultivate window boxes full of flowers, or rent a piece of land on which to garden. Fishing, hiking, and horseback riding are also popular, as are raising pets and taking a variety of evening classes.

18 • CRAFTS AND HOBBIES

England has a history of fine furniture-making. This dates back to the eighteenth-century work of Thomas Chippendale and George Hepplewhite. The ceramics of Josiah Wedgwood and Josiah Spode also date back to that time. England still exports blue-and-white Wedgwood jasperware. The most famous English folk dance is the Morris dance, still seen at local festivals. Male dancers stomp and leap while waving pieces of cloth and jingling bells.

19 • SOCIAL PROBLEMS

The most serious social problems in modern-day England are class divisions and economic inequality. Over 20 percent of the nation's wealth is owned by 1 percent of the people. Unemployment hit 10 percent in 1993.

Many immigrants from the West Indies, India, Pakistan, Hong Kong, and other countries have settled in England's urban areas. They often suffer the effects of discrimination and have high rates of unemployment. Racial tension between the white English community and nonwhite immigrants has erupted into riots in several major cities.

20 • BIBLIOGRAPHY

England in Pictures. Minneapolis, Minn.: Lerner Publications Co., 1990.

Fuller, Barbara. Britain: Cultures of the World. London, England: Marshall Cavendish, 1994.

Gall, Timothy, and Susan Gall, eds. Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations. Detroit: UXL, 1996.

Greene, Carol. England. Enchantment of the World Series. Chicago: Children's Press, 1994.

Helweg, Arthur W. "English." In Encyclopedia of World Cultures (Europe). Boston: G. K. Hall, 1992.

Langley, Andrew. Passport to England. New York: Franklin Watts, 1994.

WEBSITES

British Council. [Online] Available http://www.britcoun.org/usa/, 1998.

British Information Service. United Kingdom. [Online] Available http://www.britain-info.org, 1998.

British Tourist Authority. [Online] Available http://www.visitbritain.com, 1998.