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1、英美社会与文化第 1 页共 48 页 Who are the British? I.TheThe ImmigrationImmigration toto thethe BritishBritish IslesIsles andand IrelandIreland 1.Earliest settlers: 10,000 years ago, the Stone Age hunters and gatherersarrived from European continent. 2.Then the Neolithic (新石器时代的) peoples followed themagricultur
2、alists, they kept domestic animals. 20002000 BCBC, the Stone Age people started to erect huge monuments, or (henges of giant rock slabs), possibly for religious purposes until the BronzeBronze Age,Age, aboutabout 15001500 BC,BC, e.g.,e.g., StonehengeStonehenge. (Note: Easy communication between the
3、islands and the continental mainland must have existed and from early times this encouraged migration.) 3.Around 700 BC, (by the end of the Bronze Age) Celtic peoples hadhad arrivedarrived from north Europe. They belonged to the Iron Age by their iron-working. They continued to come for about 500 ye
4、ars. 4.Until the Romans first landed in 55 BC, the Celtic culture was well established. Note: the earliest written records of British inhabitants come from the Romans who eventually conquered the various Celtic kingdoms then flourishing in England, Wales and the Scottish Lowlands. II.TheThe ScotsSco
5、ts 1.The Scots (like the Welsh) object to being called “English”. They like to be called “Scots”Scots”, or “ScottishScottish”, and notnot “ScotchScotch”. Their earliest known ancestors: Picts (origin uncertain) and the Celts. The Gaelic language is still spoken in remote parts. 2.The Scottish Highla
6、nder considers himself the “true” Scot and he wears his national dress, the kilt (苏格 兰方格呢短裙, 苏格兰打褶短裙, 通常是格子花呢缝制的)with pride. 3.The Highlanders are a proud, independent and hardy people who mainly live by farming sheep in the mountain areas; others, on the coasts and islands are fishermen. But most S
7、cots are lowlanders. The Scots have a reputation for being inventive, hardworking, serious-minded and cautious with money. They provided the British army with some of its most famous regiments. III. TheThe WelshWelsh 1.The Welsh have been united with England since the 1535 Act of Union. In 1980, onl
8、y 20 percent spoke the Welsh language (an ancient Celtic language, but different to Gaelic), but they are still very conscious of their separate Celtic heritage. 2.The Welsh are famous for their love of music and poetry and they have developed choral singing to a national art. “Land of My Fathers” i
9、s an old song that has almost become a national anthem 国歌 for Wales. They always sing it before a rugby(英式橄榄球, 亦作 Rugby football) match. 3.Every year there are many festivals of music and verse in Wales. Most famous: National Eisteddfod (the welsh word for “sitting”, 威尔斯艺术节, 威尔士诗歌音乐比赛年会) It takes pl
10、ace in each August and lasts for about a week. The highlight of the Eisteddfod is a competition for best epic poem about Wales written and read in Welsh; the winner is crowned Bard, (诗歌之王)considered the supreme honor in Wales. IV. TheThe IrishIrish 1.The Irish, a mainly Celtic people, have maintaine
11、d their ancient Gaelic language but English is spoken everywhere. 2.In 1169, Ireland was colonized by England. 1) Politically: constantly uprising; 2) Religiously: Catholic, refuse to accept Protestant Reformation. 3.Oliver Cromwell after the execution of Charles I, crushed various rebellions in Ire
12、land, immigrated and settled EnglishEnglish andand ScottishScottish ProtestantsProtestants there by giving them land. The purpose of this immigration was 英美社会与文化第 2 页共 48 页 to put down anti-British revolts by the native Irish. These protestants were numerically minor but politically powerful, except
13、 in Ulster. 4.Ireland was agricultural. Famine prevailed in the middle of the 19th century.many immigrated to the United States; -others remained and demanded autonomy. 5.In 1922, Ireland was partitioned. The 26 counties of southern Ireland(CatholicCatholic) became the Irish Free Statelater renamed
14、Republic of Eire. The six counties of Ulster in the north remained part of the United Kingdom with their own parliament, Stormont. 6.In 1919, IRA: Irish Republican Army, (爱尔兰共和军) a terrorist organization, is dedicated to the unification of all Ireland as one country; the Ulster Unionists, or Loyalis
15、ts insist that they remain part of Britain and that the Catholics should not participate in the political life in Ulster. 7.In 1976, Betty Williams, a Protestant housewife, and her Catholic partner, Mairead Corrigan lead Womens Peace Movement (later, the Peace People), decided to organize the women
16、of Ulster, both Protestant and Catholic, into a group working for peace and reconciliation. And the same year (1976), they were awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. 8.Finally: the conflicts between the Catholics and the Protestants are still not resolved. V.TheThe EnglishEnglish 1.The English is a mixed people of many origins. 2.700200 BC, the Celts from central and north-western Europ
