Very little is actually known about St George. He is believed to have been born in Cappadocia in what is now Turkey. George became a soldier in the Roman army, but refused to follow the emperor’s orders to renounce his Christian faith. The emperor offered him land, money and slaves if he would make a sacrifice to the pagan gods, but George refused. For this, he was tortured and executed in Palestine on 23 April 303, no doubt an election year and the emperor wanted to make a statement about being tough on Christian behaviour, and tough on the causes of Christian behaviour.
As well as England, St George is the patron saint of Moscow, Georgia, Lithuania, Portugal, Germany, Greece, and local council Health & Safety Officers among others.
St. George’s day is celebrated in England in the following ways;
• Attending a church service, it is after all a Christian holy day.
• Wearing the red rose of England, in the case of us toffees, this is unlikely.
• Saying “Eh what? Today? Oh flip I forgot, never mind. He was a foreigner anyway, why can’t we have … (insert inclusive cliché here)… instead”.
• Joining in a debate/general moan on why we don’t celebrate like the Irish or Scots, blaming everyone except ourselves that we are not morris dancing, drinking cider, and holding street parties in celebration.
I shall mark the day in the usual way by going to the pub with Silly Old Fool Next Door and The Rambler. We’ll moan about the weather and tell tall tales and old jokes for a few hours then get a kebab on the way home.
Happy St Georges Day to all who can be arsed!
