I have misquoted the above lines for years, always putting England first. But let's forget about Harry for the moment and concentrate on George.
April 23 is St. George's Day. St. George is the patron saint of England, as is St. Patrick for Ireland, St. Andrew for Scotland and St. David for Wales.
St. George (d. about 303 A.D.) was an early Christian martyr born in Cappadocia, in eastern Asia Minor. His life is obscured by legend, but his martyrdom at Lydda, Palestine, is generally considered to be a matter of historical fact, testified to by two early Syrian Church inscriptions and by a canon of Pope Gelasius I dated 494, in which St. George is mentioned as one whose name was held in reverence.
The most popular of the legends that have grown up around him relates his encounter with the dragon. A pagan town in Libya was victimized by a dragon (representing the Devil), which the inhabitants first attempted to placate by offerings of sheep and then by the sacrifice of various members of their community.
The daughter of the king (representing the Church) was chosen by lot and taken out to await the coming of the monster, but George arrived, killed the dragon and converted the community to Christianity.
In 1222, the Council of Oxford ordered that a feast for St. George be celebrated as a national festival, and in the 14th century he became the patron saint of England and of the Order of the Garter. That's another story worth sharing. St. George must have been quite a traveler because he is also the patron saint of Russia, where doubtless he rescued a couple of Olgas from the Volga.
So much for St. George - April 23 is also Shakespeare's birthday. It is interesting to note that Shakespeare also died on April 23; there were, of course, a few years in between.
After 441 years, the words of Shakespeare live on. It might be interesting to see how many you can find. The following was on a key chain brought back from the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Ore. I was so taken with the rhyme I learned it by heart and will recite it at the drop of a hat. Since there are not many hats dropping around here, I will let you read it. See how many titles you can get. If anyone can identify the source, give me a call.
Ant & Cleo, Rom & Ju, famous lovers who stayed true
Comic Errors, dramas light, Midsummer's Dream and then 12th Night
Love's Labour's Lost and Much Ado, as You Like It, Tame the Shrew
Windsor's Wives, Verona's Gents, Measures two paid William's rent
Hamlet, Tempest, ghost and magic, Othello, Caesar: heroes tragic
Coriolanus and Macbeth: had fatal flaws, met violent deaths
Now we're in historic lore: parts one and two for Henry Four
For Henry 5th there is but one: three whole parts for Harry's son John, two Richards
And King Lear-
Stop! A made-up King should not be here!
Titus, Timon, blood and gore, Venetian Merchant - just five more
Troil and Cress and Cymbeline like Pericles, aren't often seen
Winter's Tale, and last to tell All is Well that Endeth Well.
"Shakespeare was a British bloke who made his living writing things to quote."
TTFN, Linda of London[[In-content Ad]]
