Has it Always Been Like This?

A couple of years ago a shocking revelation was made in the British media. King Arthur might have been a Welshman, it proclaimed. ‘Recent research indicates...’ etc, etc. It was clearly meant to be an astounding piece of news meant to shock people in England; that was the obvious tone of the piece.

Now, hang on a minute. Anybody with even a modicum of knowledge about the Arthurian story knows that the first references to him come from Welsh folk tales. He is, first and foremost, a Welsh hero. And all the evidence from the early sources indicates that if Arthur actually existed, he would almost certainly have been the leader of British resistance to the incoming Angles and Saxons somewhere between the 5th and 7th centuries. (I should point out here that ‘British’ and ‘Welsh’ in this context effectively mean Cornish, Welsh or Scottish in modern parlance.) Nobody with any interest in the historical reality of Arthur has ever doubted that he was a Welshman - or Cornishman or Scotsman. Or he might have come from the Romano-British aristocracy. There’s certainly never been any question of him having been English. So why the shock-horror revelation? And what’s this reference to recent research all about?

In similar fashion, another news story broke today. An archaeologist working in Coventry has found a mediaeval artefact depicting the three lions badge of England. The BBC reports this as ‘featuring the England football team’s three lions logo,’ and a spokesman from the Football Association said the resemblance was ‘uncanny.’ More mind-blowing tosh! The three lions passant device has been, with a few interruptions, the royal standard of England since Richard I introduced it in 1198. The England football team uses it, as does the England cricket team, because it’s a long-established English emblem. How can there be anything ‘uncanny’ about the resemblance?

This kind of inanity in both media reports and the comments of people in positions of influence happens all the time, and when I read stuff like this I wonder just why these people are where they are. It serves to accentuate my complete lack of faith in the media and the people running the show at all levels.

So my question is this: is such a silly state of affairs something new, or has it always been like this and I’ve only started noticing it over the last few years? Answers on a postcard to this blog.