Thread: WHAT DAY IS IT TODAY?

St. Crispen's Day Speech
William Shakespeare, 1599

Enter the KING

WESTMORELAND. O that we now had here
But one ten thousand of those men in England
That do no work to-day!

KING. What's he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin;
If we are mark'd to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires.
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more methinks would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.'
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

Originally Posted by sheerluck

I'd read that the "Gaelic" identity was pretty much a recent invention, and that there were no tribes/invaders that identified themselves as such. It was just an invention to gang together and try and get back at the English.

Made for some interesting times at family gatherings (I had 1 Welsh grandmother, 1 Irish grandmother, 1 Scottish grandfather and 1 English grandfather) and when the 6 nations rugby is going!

But hey. At least 596 years ago, we ganged up and trashed those dastardly Frogs!

It's interesting if you go back far enough you'll find the people now known as Celts, originated from what is now France (then known as Gaul) in fact the Bretons (one of the 6 Celtic Nations, Brittany) are still there.

They have been recorded as being as far east as what is now the middle east and as far south as Egypt on their nomadic journey to where they are now.

The Romans called them a very frightening enemy, but very disorginised, which brought them undone in many battles, then and to this day, the English used them to frighten the bejesus out of their enemy, which seemed to work quite well.

Baz.

PS The Viking influence still remains in Ireland, a little town called Dublin.