Burn an Effigy for me!
Remember, remember
The Fifth of November!
(I find myself deeply interested, suddenly, in early modern Catholic-Protestant terrorism. Perhaps there are historical lessons that need to be learned there.)
posted by Rebecca @ 2:53 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Happy Guy Fawkes Day!
After living in Scotland for seven years, I could bore you endlessly with examples of how early modern Protestant-Catholic terrorism still has traction today. I will simply recount what I found to be the most interesting incident.
A group of young men, in the kit of their favourite football team, singing the songs of their favourite football team is no strange occurrence on a city street in Scotland. Nor, if they are Rangers fans, is it uncommon to hear them singing the following bigoted song:
Hullo, Hullo
We are the Billy Boys
Hullo, Hullo
You'll know us by our noise
We're up to our knees in Fenian blood
Surrender or you'll die
For we are
The Brigton Derry Boys
I must confess, however (cue self-flagellation), that my jaw dropped when, on one occasion, I noticed that the singers in question were Pakistani-Scots. The mind boggled: a group of people who were predominantly Muslim and from immigrant families, singing Protestant sectarian tunes in preparation for a football match against the 'Catholic club'. One wonders whether the irony of all that was grasped, or whether singing was merely a function of 'going through the motions'.
As a footnote, there has been a recent move, in large part at the insistence of UEFA (the European governing body for football) to stamp out the sectarianism present in Scottish football. Starting this year, there have been PA announcements at all Rangers games noting that the singing of 'The Billy Boys' is banned.
Cheers,
Mike Davidson
I gather I'll have to break down and finally watch V for Vendetta. To the top of the Netflix queue it goes!
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