The image of the British man is still the dark pinstripe suit, bowler hat, white shirt and silk tie, handmade shoes to match the color of the suit, the city gent. Britain's political culture is thought to have developed over enough centuries that the British are seen as the ultimate democrats, tolerant and respecting of every different point of view.
Britain is a country of tradition and there are many strange traditions that have survived, probably because of their peculiarity. Few are as strange as gurning which is a Cumbrian activity peculiar to Egremont and its neighboring areas. It involves pulling faces, and began as a result of a feature in the local fair as far back as the thirteenth century when crab apples were thrown at the crowds by the Lord Mayor on the Parade of the Apple Cart during the Crab Fair.
The idea of gurning is to pull as bad a face as possible, and they actually hold what they call World Championships each year in September when encouraged at times with a little alcohol; contestants put their heads through a horse halter and grimace. Lack of teeth helps in the attempt to win incidentally; make the face as horrific as possible.
This activity is a far cry from the city gent in his cheaney shoes; cheaney existing since the nineteenth century.
More pleasant traditions abound however. Dancing round the maypole during early summer dates back centuries and involves a pole with multiple ribbons attached to its top. Dancers hold the ribbons and dance round the pole.
Another tradition is the celebration of a failed attempt to oppose democracy when Guy Fawkes was unsuccessful in blowing up the House of Parliament in the early seventeenth century, 5th November 1605 to be precise. The aim was to blow the Houses up with the King James 1 and the whole of the aristocracy inside with a view to restoring the Catholic faith. The fact that the majority of the Catholic Aristocracy were also inside was seen as immaterial.
Bonfires were lit ever since on the day in November; fireworks are lit to celebrate and a stuffed image of a person, a guy, is often sacrificed on the top of the bonfire.
If there is any tradition that goes more against our gent image and his dark suit, bowler, white shirt and cheaney shoes , cheaney, it is the activity of bog snorkeling, yes, bog snorkeling! A ditch is filled with liquid mud and people come from all over the world to don snorkel, flippers and swimming gear to race each other the length of the trench in support of charity.
So we have now established that the Brits are mad! Who could possibly have dreamt up a more stupid activity than bog snorkeling? Perhaps it shows that the Brits will tolerate anything, and their insistence of fair play as a national trait comes from the traditions and the eccentricity with some of those traditions.
