Driscoll, Britain, CH4 Identity p 4

Geographical identity

A sense of identity based on place of birth is, like family identity, not very common or strong in most parts of Britain - and perhaps for the same reason. People are just too mobile and very few live in che same place all their lives. There is ąuite a lot oflocal pride, and people find many oppommities to express it. Tbis pride, however, arises because people are happy to live in what they consider to be a nice place and ofien when they are fighting to preserve it. It does not usually mean that the people of a locality feel strongly that they bdong to that place.

A sense of identity with a larger geographical area is a bit stronger. Nearly everybody has a spoken accent that identifies them as Corning from a particular large city or region. In sorne cases there is quite a strong sense of identification. Liverpudlians (from Liverpool), Man-cunians (from Manchester), Geordies (from the Newcastle area) and Cockneys (from London) are often proud to be known by these names (> What is a Cockney?). In other cases, identity is associated with a county. These are the most ancient dmsions of England. Although their botmdaries and names do not always conform to the modern arrangeme.nl oflocal government (see chapter 6), diey still claim the allegiance of some people. Yorkshire, in the north of England, is a notable example. Another is Comwall, in the south-west corner of England. Even today, some Cornish people still talk about ‘going to England’ when they cross the county border - a testament to its ethnic Celtic history.

Many Engiish people see themselves as either ‘northemers’ or ‘southerners’. The fact that tire south is on the whole richer than the north, and the domination of the media by the affairs of London and the south-east, leads to resentment in the north. This reinforces the pride in their northern roots felt by many northemers, who, stereotypically, see themselves as tougher, morę honest and warrner-hearced than the soft, hypocritical and unfriendly southemers. To people in the south, the stereotypical northerner (who is usually małe) is rather ignorant and uncultured and interested only in sport and beer-drinking.

> What is a Cockney?

Traditionally, a true Cockney is anybody bom within the sound of Bow belis (che bells or che church of Sc Mary-le-Bow in the East End of London). In face, the term is eom-moniy used co denote people who come from a wider area of the inner-most eascern suburbs of London and also an adjoining area soudi of the Thames.

‘Cockney¹ is also used to describe a strong London accent and, like any such locai accent, is associated with working-dass origins.

A feature of Cockney speech is rhyming slang, in which, for example, 'wife' is referrecl co as 'troubie and scrife’, and 'stairs' as 'apples and pears' (usually shortened to 'apples'). Some rhyming slang has passed into generał informal British usage; some examples are ‘use your loaf which means 'drink' (Erom ‘loaf ofbread' = ‘head’) and'have a butchers’, which means ‘have a look' (from ‘butcliers hook’ = ‘look’).

Regionu! identity is often ielt strongly at sporting events such as football matches