3 replies to this topic

[Karl]

• Chapman, Jonson and Marston were famously thrown in prison for including in their play Eastward Ho! a number of satirical jibes at the court of King James. Among these was the following passage, in which Captain Seagull describes the golden land of Virginia, which is free from all the irritations of London life, excepting

  
  … a few industrious Scots, perhaps, who indeed are dispersed over the face of the whole earth. But as for them, there are no greater friends to Englishmen and England, when they are out on't, in the world, than they are. And for my part, I would a hundred thousand of them were there; for we are all one countrymen now, ye know; and we should find ten times more comfort of them there than we do here. (3.3.38-45)

  
  The RSC's recent revival of the play put an intriguing spin on this famous slur: as Seagull uttered his first sentence, a couple of Scottish sailors thumped their tankards down and stood menacingly. The remainder of Seagull's speech became a hastily spluttered attempt at pacifying the angry Scots, and the cutting sarcasm of his closing phrase was obscured. It is, of course, no longer acceptable to encourage derisive laughter at Scots on the British stage (although, as the playwrights discovered to their cost, it was unacceptable in 1605 too), and the interpolated Scotsmen demonstrated a desire to smooth over those aspects of the play that might seem embarrassingly outdated to its audience. However, the larger question of the play's overriding satirical aims was dealt with less thoughtfully. Reviving topical city comedies like Eastward Ho! is not easy, and the RSC's production was only a partial success. Although it frequently captured the madcap humour that makes the play still funny today, it was less successful at communicating its satire on the politics and culture of 1605, and thus presented a watered-down version of this savage little play.

King James I, stuart king through the three poets in prison for mockery of the jocks in 1605 showing how long they have been misreble bastards for. George Chapman, who wrote the offensive passage was a translator of the Greek classics and well respected by his contemporaries including Shakespeare, died a pauper. A good Englishman not to be forgotten.

The child of Mary Queen of Scots,
  A shifty mother's shiftless son,
Bred up among intrigues and plots,
  Learned in all things, wise in none.
Ungainly, babbling, wasteful, weak,
  Shrewd, clever, cowardly, pedantic,
The sight of steel would blanch his cheek,
  The smell of baccy drive him frantic.
He was the author of his line--
  He wrote that witches should be burnt;
He wrote that monarchs were divine,
  And left a son who--proved they weren't!

Rudyard Kipling  (Poem - James I)

[Guy]

Things will never change between our two Nations, too much bad blood has flowed under the bridge. Even if they managed somehow to airbrush any discord out of our systems over a period of time, there is always at least one who will carry the hate on for future generations to re-ignite. and of course we have the classic examples of how the Scots and Irish keep dragging up past conflicts going back hundreds of years, whereas we accept the defeat or victory and move on. Something in the Celts psychology that won't allow them to let go, they always want to be the victim.

[Unbroken Shieldwall]

As I said in my video: I feel sorry for the scots gaining independance not because they won't but beacuse they can't claim to be victims of the "English oppressors".

[Guy]

Unbroken Shieldwall, on 02 February 2012 - 02:41 PM, said:

As I said in my video: I feel sorry for the scots gaining independance not because they won't but beacuse they can't claim to be victims of the "English oppressors".

But I think they will, I saw a good example of this on the DM's story and comments section today [cameron and the Euro-Fighter deal]. Many of the Indians both here and in India, were still laying blame on the British or should I say English shoulders for what was done in the past and ongoing today. What angered me most was the vitriolic shit coming out of the mouths of Indians living here. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you!