The United Kingdom

THE UNITED KINGDOM

The United Kingdom occupies a substantial part of the British Isles. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or UK, is in Western Europe. It comprises the island of Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and the northeastern one-sixth of the island of Ireland (Northern Ireland), together with many smaller islands. The mainland areas lie between latitudes 49°N and 59°N (the Shetland Islands reach to nearly 61°N), and longitudes 8°W to 2°E. The Royal Greenwich Observatory, near London, is the defining point of the Prime Meridian. The United Kingdom has a total area of approximately 245,000 km². The UK lies between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, and comes within 35 km (22 miles) of the northwest coast of France, from which it is separated by the English Channel. Northern Ireland shares a 360 km international land boundary with the Republic of Ireland. The Channel Tunnel ("Chunnel"), bored beneath the English Channel, now links the UK with France.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY The physical geography of the UK varies greatly. It includes the chalk hcliffs of Kent and Dorset, the rolling hills and fields of southeast England, the granite cliffs of Cornwall, the mountains of Wales, the uplands of the Peak District and the Pennines, the lakes and mountains of Cumbria, the Scottish lowlands, highlands and islands, and the fields, lakes and mountains of Northern Ireland. The country can be roughly divided into highland and lowland along the Tees-Exe line. The overall geomorphology of the UK was shaped by the combined forces of tectonics and climate change, in particular UK's topography glaciation. The exact centre of the island of Great Britain is disputed. Depending upon how it is calculated it can be either Haltwhistle in Northumberland, or Dunsop Bridge in Lancashire. Main article: Geology of the United Kingdom. The geology of the United Kingdom is varied and complex. This gives rise to the wide variety of landscapes found across the UK. This variety, coupled with the early efforts of UK based scientists and geologists to understand it, has influenced the naming of many geological concepts, including many of the geological periods (for example, the Ordovician period is named after the Ordovices, a people of early Britain; the Devonian period is named after As this geological map of Great the county of Devon in south-west England). Britain demonstrates, the The oldest rocks in the UK are gneisses which date from at geology of the UK is varied and least 2,700 Ma ("Ma" means "millions of years ago") in the complex. Archaean Period, which are found in the far north west of

Scotland and in the Hebrides, with a few small outcrops elsewhere. South of the gneisses are a complex mixture of rocks forming the North West Highlands and Grampian Highlands in Scotland, as well as the Connemara, Donegal and Mayo mountains of north Ireland. These are essentially the remains of folded sedimentary rock, deposited over the gneiss, from 1,000 Ma, with a notable 7 km thick layer of Torridon Sandstone being deposited about 800 Ma, as well as the debris deposited by an ice sheet 670 Ma. The remains of ancient volcanic islands underlie much of central England with small outcrops visible in many places. Around 600 Ma, the Cadomian Orogeny (mountain building period) caused the English and Welsh landscape to be transformed into a mountainous region, along with much of north west Europe. The Welsh Skiddaw hslate deposits formed at around 500 Ma, during the Ordovician Period. At about this time, around 425 Ma, north Wales (and south Mayo in Ireland) experienced volcanic activity. The remains of these volcanoes are still visible, for example Rhobell Fwar, dating from 510 Ma. Large quantities of volcanic lava and ash known as the Borrowdale Volcanics covered both Wales and the Lake District, still seen in the form of mountains such as Helvellyn and Scafell Pike. In the Silurian Period, between 425 and 400 Ma, the Caledonian fold mountains formed (the Caledonian Orogeny), covering much of what is now the UK to perhaps 8,000 feet (2,500 m) thick. Volcanic ashes and lavas deposited during this period are still found in the Mendip Hills and in Pembrokeshire. Volcanic deposits formed Ben Nevis in the Devonian Period. Sea levels varied considerably, with the coastline advancing and retreating from north to south across England, and with the deposition of numerous sedimentary rock layers. The Old Red Sandstone of Devon gave the period its name, though deposits are found in many other places. During the Carboniferous Period, around 360 Ma, the UK was lying at the equator, covered by the warm shallow waters of the Rheic Ocean, during which time the Carboniferous limestone was deposited, still found in areas such as the Mendip Hills and the Pennines. The coal measures were formed at this time, in river deltas, swamps and rain forests. Coal can be found in many areas of the UK, as far North as Sutherland and as far south as Kent, though it has largely been mined in the Midlands, northern England and Wales. Also formed were the Millstone Grits. During the Permian and Triassic Periods, much of the UK was beneath shallow seas, leading to the deposition of sedimentary rocks such as shale, limestone, gravel, and marl. The seas finally receded to leave a flat desert with salt pans.

At the beginning of the Jurassic Period, the UK was under-water again, leading to the deposition of sedimentary rocks which now underlie much of England from the Cleveland Hills of Yorkshire to the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, including clays, sandstones, and the oolitic limestone of the Cotswold Hills. The burial of algae and bacteria below the mud of the sea floor during this time resulted in the formation of North Sea oil and natural gas. In the Cretaceous Period, much of the UK was again below the sea and chalk and flints were deposited over much of Great Britain. These are now notably exposed at the White Cliffs of Dover, and form Salisbury Plain, the Chiltern Hills, the South Downs and other similar features. The last volcanic rocks in the UK were formed in the early Tertiary Period, between 63 and 52 Ma, with the major eruptions that formed the Antrim Plateau and the basaltic columns of the Giant's Causeway. Further sediments were deposited over southern England, including the London clay, while the English Channel consisted of mud flats and river deposited sands. The major changes during the last few million years, during the Quaternary Period, have been brought about by several recent ice ages, leaving a legacy of U-shaped valleys in highland areas, and fertile (if often stoney) soil in southern England.

HUMAN GEOGRAPHY National government The UK is governed as a whole by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The UK is divided into four nations: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Each of these has its own brand of national government: Northern Ireland - Northern Ireland Assembly (currently suspended) Scotland - Scottish Parliament Wales - Welsh Assembly England - None overall - the current Labour government has stated that it believes England too large to host a single Assembly. Proposals for elected Regional Assemblies in England seem unlikely to progress in the short term following the rejection of an Assembly for the North East England in a referendum. See Government of England. The UK (specifically, Northern Ireland) has an international land boundary with the Republic of Ireland of 360 km. There is also a boundary between the jurisdiction of France and of the UK on the Channel Tunnel.

Local government Each part of the UK is subdivided in further local governmental regions: England: Unitary Authorities, county councils, district councils, parish councils Wales: Principal areas, communities Scotland: Council areas, communities Northern Ireland: Districts Historically the UK was divided into traditional counties or shires: administrative areas through which all civil responsibilities of the government were passed. There are eighty-six traditional counties across the whole of the UK. Each county or shire had a county town as its administrative centre and was divided into individual parishes that were defined along ecclesiastic boundaries. Between 1889 (1890 in Scotland) and 1974, the political boundaries were based on the traditional counties, but due to changes in population centres, the traditional counties became impractical as local government areas in certain highly urbanised areas. The Local Government Act 1972 created a new system of administrative counties, designed to take account of the widely differing populations across different parts of the country.

In the 1990s further population growth led to more political changes on a local level. Unitary authorities were formed across the entire of Scotland and Wales, and in larger cities in England. Many unpopular administrative counties were also abolished at this time, leading to a mixture of two-tier and singlepurpose authorities. Further reorganisations are planned if and when regional assemblies in England are revisited in the future.

Demographics Ethnic groups in the UK White

92%

Mixed

1%

Asian or British Asian 4% Black or Black British 2% Chinese

0.5%

Other

0.5%

At the April 2001 census, the UK's population was 58,789,194, the thirdlargest in the European Union (behind Germany and metropolitan France) and the 21st-largest in the world. As of July 2004, the population of the UK was estimated to be 60,270,708. This is based on a projection of average population growth from the time of the 2001 census of the UK. Around 27 million people identify themselves as Anglicans, 9 million as Roman Catholic, 1 million as Muslim, 400,000 as Sikh, 350,000 as Hindu and 300,000 as Jewish. English is spoken almost universally, although with a variety of accents and dialects (for example, Received Pronunciation, Estuary English, Geordie). Other indigenous languages include Welsh (spoken by about 26% of the population of Wales), Scottish Gaelic (spoken by about 60,000 in Scotland), Cornish, Irish Gaelic and various dialects of Scots. Other minority languages include Hindi, Urdu, Gujerati, Punjabi and Bengali, brought by immigrants from elsewhere in the Commonwealth of Nations. The overall population density of the UK is one of the highest in the world. Almost one-third of the population lives in England's prosperous and fertile southeast and is predominantly urban and suburban, with about 7.2 million in the capital of London. The UK has many other large population centres which at the 2001 census followed this order: London, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Sheffield, Bradford, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Manchester, Bristol, Nottingham, and Cardiff.

ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY The economic geography of the UK reflects not only its current position in the global economy, but its long history both as a trading nation and an imperial power. The UK led the industrial revolution and its highly urban character is a legacy of this, with all its major cities being current or former centres of all forms of manufacturing. However, this in turn was built on its exploitation of natural resources, especially coal and iron ore.

Primary industry The UK's primary industry was once dominated by the coal industry, heavily concentrated in the north, the Midlands and south Wales. This is all but gone and the major primary industry is North Sea oil. Its activity is concentrated on the UK Continental Shelf to the north-east of Scotland.

Manufacturing At one time or another virtually every product that can be imagined has been made in the UK. In particular its heavy manufacturing drove the industrial revolution. A map of the major UK cities gives a good picture of where this activity occurred, in particular Belfast, Birmingham, Glasgow, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham. Today there is no heavy manufacturing industry in which UK-based firms can be considered world leaders. However, the Midlands in particular remains a strong manufacturing centre. More recently, high technology firms have concentrated largely along the M4 motorway, partly because of access to Heathrow Airport, but also because of agglomeration economies.

Finance and services Once, every great city had a stock exchange. Now, the UK financial industry is concentrated overwhelmingly in the City of London and Canary Wharf, with back office and administrative operations often dispersed around the south of England. London is one of the world's great financial centres and is usually referred to as a world city.

Regional disparity The combined effect of changing economic fortune has created the so-called North-South divide, in which decaying industrial areas of the north of England contrast with the wealthy, finance and technology led southern economy. This has led successive governments to develop regional policy to try and rectify the imbalance. This is not to say that the south is uniformly wealthy: some of the worst pockets of deprivation can be found in London, especially east London.

CULTURE OF THE UK The culture of the United Kingdom is rich and varied, and has been influential on culture on a worldwide scale. It is a European state, and has many cultural links with its former colonies, particularly those that use the English language (the Anglosphere). Considerable contributions to British culture have been made over the last halfcentury by immigrants from the Indian Subcontinent and the West Indies. The origins of the UK as a political union of formerly independent states has resulted in the preservation of distinctive cultures in each of the home nations.

CULTURE OF ENGLAND The culture of England is sometimes difficult to separate clearly from the culture of the United Kingdom, so influential has English culture been on the cultures of the British Isles and, on the other hand, given the extent to which other cultures have influenced life in England.

I – Art: English art is a term referring to a body of art originating from England. Nikolaus Pevsner attempted a definition in his 1956 book The Englishness of English Art. It has developed over several centuries to current movements, such as Brit art, and encompasses all forms - painting, sculpture and performance art. The Hay Wain by John Notable English artists presently working Constable is considered an range from Lucian Freud and Damien Hirst. archetypal English painting Oil painting came comparatively late to England. Hans Holbein, an imported talent, is generally credited with founding an English school of portrait painting. The rich ecclesiastical decoration of English churches was, in great measure, lost during the iconoclasm of the Reformation. And although Charles I of England built up a great royal collection of art, the disposal of these treasures during the English Commonwealth and the subsequent democratisation of society meant that the patronage of the state never formed great palace collections such as seen in other European states.

It is often considered that English landscape painting typifies English art, mirroring as it does the development of the country house and its landscaping.

II – Cuisine: England being the first industrialised country in the world, urbanised workers were in many cases cut off from regional food traditions. Some consider that English cuisine has consequently suffered from a widespread image of blandness and lack of distinctiveness. The openness of English diners to exotic dishes has also meant that English cooking does not enjoy as high a profile as other nations' culinary traditions. More recently, a new style of cooking called Modern British has emerged that combines traditional British ingredients with foreign culinary influences. The Full English breakfast remains an enduring tradition for many, despite the increasing popularity of the continental-style breakfast, or no breakfast at all, for busy workers. Tea and beer are typical drinks. Cider is produced in the West Country, and the south of England has seen the reintroduction of vineyards producing high quality white wine on a comparatively small scale. England produces a range of cheeses in various regions, including: 1. Stilton cheese: Stilton is a cheese of England. It is produced in two varieties: the wellknown blue and the lesser-known white. Hailed by some as "the king of cheese", both have been granted the status of a protected designation of origin by the European Commission. Only cheese produced in the three counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Nottinghamshire – and made according to a strict code – may be called "Stilton". Ironically, this means that Stilton cheese cannot legally be made in the village that — because it was sold there — gave the cheese its name. Stilton village is now in Cambridgeshire, in the former county of Huntingdonshire. There are currently just six dairies licensed to make Stilton, each being subject to regular audit by an independent inspection agency accredited to European Standard EN 45011. At present, all but one of the licenced dairies are based in the Vale of Belvoir, which straddles the NottinghamshireLeicestershire border. This area is commonly regarded as the heartland of stilton production, and the only current dairy producing stilton elsewhere owes this fact to a native of the Vale who bought the dairy over a century ago. The pioneer of blue Stilton was Cooper Thornhill, owner of the Bell Inn on the Great North Road, in the village of Stilton. In 1730, Thornhill discovered a distinctive blue cheese while visiting a small farm in rural Leicestershire. He fell in love with the cheese and forged a business arrangement that granted the Bell Inn exclusive marketing rights to blue Stilton. Soon thereafter, wagon loads of cheese were being delivered to the

inn. Since the main stagecoach routes from London to Northern England passed through the village of Stilton he was able to promote the sale of this cheese and the legend of Stilton rapidly spread. To be called blue Stilton, a cheese must: • Be made only in the three counties from local milk, which is pasteurised before use. • Be made only in a traditional cylindrical shape. • Be allowed to form its own crust or coat. • Be unpressed. • Have delicate blue veins radiating from the centre. • Have a "taste profile typical of Stilton". Stilton has a typical fat content of ~35%, and protein content of ~23%. Danish Blue is made in a similar way to Stilton and also possesses the distinctive blue veins.

2. Wensleydale cheese: Wensleydale cheese is a cheese produced in the town of Hawes in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire, England. There are two types, both of which are suitable for vegetarians: • White Wensleydale is usually shaped into a flat disc that is highly pressed, and has a honey flavour to it • Blue Wensleydale has blue veins and is produced in large drums 3. Lancashire cheese: Lancashire cheese, a crumbly English cow's-milk cheese, is considered one of the premier products of the county. Centred approximately 30 miles north of Manchester, many local farms produce this famous cheese, and it is associated with the town of Leigh. Depending on its aging period, it can range from extremely soft to semi-hard, but is generally crumbly and creamy. Similar to Caerphilly cheese, it is reputed to be the best toasting cheese in the world and as such is a favorite for Welsh rarebit. The marooned pirate Ben Gunn, a character in the Robert Louis Stevenson novel Treasure Island, craved Leigh Toaster during his three-year exile. It is often featured in supermarket cheese counters, although it (like most other cheeses) tastes better and more "genuine" from the many farms that produce it. It consistently wins British cheese awards, as well. 4. Dorset Blue Vinney cheese: Dorset blue vinney is a traditional blue cheese made in Dorset, England, from skimmed cows' milk. It is a hard, crumbly cheese. "Vinney" is a local Dorset term related to the obsolete word "vinew", which means to become

mouldy. Another explanation has it that "vinny" is a corruption of "veiny", referring to the blue veins running throughout the cheese. It is often made from unpasteurised milk. This is considered healthy by some and risky by others due to the potential for tuberculosis from infected cows passing into the milk. It has a strong taste and smell.

5. Cheshire cheese: Cheshire cheese is a dense and crumbly cheese produced in Cheshire, England, and the neighbouring counties of Denbighshire, Flintshire, Staffordshire, and Shropshire. History: Cheshire cheese is the one of the oldest recorded cheeses in British history and is referred to in the Domesday Book. Cheshire was the most popular cheese on the market in the late eighteenth century. In 1758 the Royal Navy ordered that ships be stocked with Cheshire and Gloucester cheeses. By 1823, Cheshire cheese production was estimated at 10,000 tonnes per year. Until the late 19th century, the different varieties of Cheshire Cheeses were aged to a sufficient level of hardness to withstand the rigours of transport (by horse and cart, and later by boat) to London for trading purposes. Younger, fresher, crumbly cheese that required shorter storage – similar to the Cheshire cheese of today - began to develop in popularity towards the end of the 19th century particularly in the industrial areas in the North and the Midlands. It was a cheaper cheese to make as it required less storage. Sales of Cheshire peaked at around 40,000 tonnes in 1960 subsequently declining as the range of cheeses available in the UK grew considerably. Cheshire Cheese remains the UK’s largest selling crumbly cheese with sales of around 6,500 tonnes per year. Form: It is a dense and crumbly cheese with a very sharp flavour derived from the area's abundant deposits of salt. It comes in three varieties: white, red (which has been dyed with annatto), and blue-veined (also known as Shropshire cheese). The blue-veined variety, which was once considered undesirable, is caused by mould penetration during aging. Cheshire cheese is considered by some to be a variety of Cheddar cheese, although cheshire cheese is not aged as long as most cheddars.

6. Double Gloucester cheese: Double Gloucester cheese is a cheese created using a mixture of morning and evening milk, hence the name, Double Gloucester. It is a

traditional, unpasteurized, semi-hard cheese which has been made in Gloucestershire, England, since the sixteenth century. Gloucester cheeses were at one time made only with the milk from Gloucester cows, which are now almost extinct. There are two types of Gloucester cheese: Single and Double. The main difference is that Single Gloucester is made with skimmed milk combined with a small amount of whole milk. Double Gloucester is made from only whole milk. Both types have a natural rind and a hard texture, but Single Gloucester is more crumbly, lighter in texture and lower in fat. Double Gloucester is allowed to age for longer periods than Single, and it has a stronger and more savory flavor. It is also slightly firmer. Both types are produced in round shapes, but Double Gloucester rounds are larger. Double Gloucester can be enjoyed as a snack, for grating or grilling. Double Gloucester cheese is also used every spring for cheese rolling on Cooper's Hill in Gloucestershire, a dangerous sport.

Other foods associated with England include: 1. Sunday roast: The Sunday roast is a traditional British and Irish main meal served on Sundays (usually in the early afternoon), and consisting of roasted meat together with accompaniments. Other names for this meal are Sunday dinner, Sunday lunch, and Sunday joint. The tradition arose because the meat could be left in the oven to cook before church on a Sunday morning, and it would be ready when the family arrived home at lunchtime. Sunday roasts are also common (though less so in recent times) in other Commonwealth countries such as Australia although there, roasts increasingly feature on the menus of cafes and restaurants catering to British backpackers. Typical elements Typical meats used for a Sunday roast are beef, pork, lamb or chicken, or more rarely duck, goose, gammon, turkey or game. Commonly, roasts are served with traditional accompaniments which vary according to the type of meat; these are: roast beef – served with Yorkshire pudding; and horseradish sauce or English mustard as relishes. roast pork – served with crackling and sage and onion stuffing; apple sauce and English mustard as relishes roast lamb – served with sage and onion stuffing and mint sauce as a relish roast chicken – served with pigs in blankets, chipolata sausages and stuffing, and bread sauce or cranberry sauce or redcurrant jelly

Sunday roasts are served with a range of boiled and roast vegetables. Boiled vegetables were commonly a part of almost all British main meals, but since the advent of more international cuisine this tradition has declined. The Sunday Roast is perhaps one of the last meals where this tradition survives. The vegetables served vary seasonally and regionally, but almost invariably this will include roast potatoes, which have been roasted in the roast meat drippings, and also a gravy made from the meat juices. Other vegetable dishes served with roast dinner can include mashed swede, turnips, boiled cabbage, roast parsnips, sliced boiled carrots and peas.

2. Lancashire Hotpot: Lancashire Hotpot originates from the days of heavy industrialisation in Lancashire, Northwest England, essentially consisting of meat, onion and potatoes left in a heavy pot baking on a low heat in the oven all day. It takes minimum effort to prepare and is a delicious and filling dish to return home to. It is sometimes served at parties in the North of England, because it is easy to prepare for a large number of people, and relatively inexpensive. There are doubtless regional variations - it is frequently found listed amongst the usual pub grub dishes in hostelries around Britain. The basic recipe consists of several layers made up of meat (for example, chunks of lamb and kidneys) with vegetables (carrot, turnip, onion or leek) then covered with sliced potato. As many layers can be added as will fit in the pot. Flavour can be enhanced with seasoning - salt and pepper would be the most traditional - and any other ingredients available in the kitchen. Some stock could be added but a well sealed pot on a low heat will probably have enough moisture within the meat, onion and potatoes, enhancing and mingling the flavours rather than washing them away. The hot pot referred to is a brown pottery dish with straight sides used to cook casseroles in British cooking. The basic recipe used to include oyster at one point, when they used to be more affordable. Pickled red cabbage is often served as an accompaniment. 3. Cornish pasty: A pasty (Cornish: Pasti, Hoggan, often mistakenly written as pastie) is a type of pie, originally from Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is a baked unsweetened pastry case traditionally filled with diced meat and vegetables. The ingredients are uncooked before being placed in the unbaked pastry case. Pasties with traditional ingredients are specifically named Cornish pasties. Traditionally, pasties have a semicircular shape, achieved by folding a circular pastry sheet over the filling. One edge is crimped to form a seal. Oggy is a slang term used in Britain which comes from a Cornish term for the pasty.

4. Fish and chips (and mushy peas): Fish and chips or fish 'n chips (in Scotland: a fish supper), a popular take-away food, consists of deep-fried fish in batter with deep-fried potatoes. For decades fish and chips dominated the take-away food sector in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, and had considerable popularity in Canada, Ireland, South Africa, the United States, and some coastal towns of the Netherlands and Norway. Fish and chips also enjoy great popularity in Denmark, where the dish appears as "fish fillets" (Danish, fiskefiletter) — always accompanied by deep-fried potatoes. British, and some international countries, refer to the fried potatoes as chips; while most countries that use American English call chips "French fries", the combination still has the name "fish and chips". American-style French fries typically have a slimmer shape than their English counterparts "chips"; thicker fries sometimes appear on menus as "steak fries". (The food that Americans term "potato chips" equates to "crisps" in the UK.) Traditional frying uses dripping (beef fat), however vegetable-oil now predominates. A minority of vendors in the north of England and Scotland still use dripping, as it imparts a different flavour to the dish, but it has the side-effect of making their product unsuitable for vegetarians. Some maintain that Lincolnshire Whites or Maris Piper potatoes produce the best chips, although the Belgians and Swedes swear by the Bintje variety. The covering of the fish may also vary, with bread-crumbs available alongside the traditional batter. The pronunciation of fish and chips serves as a traditional method of distinguishing Australians and New Zealanders (a Shibboleth; see also New Zealand English). In England, "fish and chips" sometimes appears as the spoonerism "chish and fips". Mushy peas are dried marrowfat peas which are first soaked overnight and then simmered until they form a bright green paste. Sodium bicarbonate is often added to soften the peas and to inhibit fermentation during soaking which reduces later flatulence. They are a very traditional northern English accompaniment to fish and chips, and are considered a part of traditional British cuisine. One of the most popular brands is Batchelors. A knob of butter is commonly added to enhance flavour. In Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and parts of Lincolnshire, they are often served with mint sauce. They are also sometimes served in batter as a pea fritter. 5. Clotted cream from Devon and Cornwall: Clotted cream is a treacle-thick yellow cream made by heating and then leaving unpasteurized cow's milk in shallow pans, for several hours, it is very similar to the Indian Malai. During this time, the cream content rises to the surface into 'clots'. Purists prefer the cows to come from the counties of

Devon or Cornwall in England; true Cornish clotted cream must be made from unpasteurised milk or the clots will not form. Clotted cream is a required ingredient for a cream tea (also known as Devonshire tea). It has a minimum fat content of 55%. A reasonable facsimile may be made by combining two parts whole milk with one part whipping (heavy) cream, heating at the very lowest possible heat for a couple of hours until a skin forms, leaving it undisturbed overnight, and then harvesting the skin and its underclots—one may do whatever one likes with the remaining milk. In the European Union, Cornish clotted cream is a protected designation of origin for cream produced by the traditional recipe in Cornwall. In the United States, clotted cream is usually sold in specialty stores with the label 'Devon Double Cream', regardless of the country of origin. Clotted cream is generally served at tea time on (warm) buttered scones with strawberry or raspberry jam. Argument exists between Devon and Cornwall as to which "invented" clotted cream and also the ettiqette of cream teas. In Cornwall the cream is spread on the scone first, and then the jam, whilst in Devon the order is reversed. The advantage of the former is to maximise the amount of cream that can be piled on the scone whilst the latter allows the jam to moisten the scone.

6. Stargazy pie from Cornwall: Stargazy pie is a Cornish dish made of baked pilchards (sardines) covered with a pastry crust. The pilchards are arranged with their tails toward the center and their heads poking up through the crust around the edge, so that they appear to be gazing skyward. 7. Yorkshire pudding: Yorkshire pudding is an English savoury dish similar to a popover made from batter. It is most often served with roast beef, but may be eaten with sausages or other dishes, or on its own. Gravy is considered an essential accompaniment by many. It may have originated in Yorkshire, but is popular across the whole country. Yorkshire pudding is cooked by pouring batter into a greased baking tin, and baking at a very high heat until it has risen. Traditionally, it is cooked in a large tin underneath a roasting joint of meat, in order to catch the juices that drip down, and then cut appropriately, although individual round puddings (baked in bun trays) are increasingly prevalent. Yorkshire pudding may also be made in the same pan as the meat, after the meat has been cooked and moved to a serving platter, which also takes advantage of the meat's juices that are left behind.

The Yorkshire pudding is a staple of the British Sunday dinner, and in some cases is eaten as a separate course prior to the main meat dish. This custom could have arisen in poorer times, to provide a filling portion before the more expensive meat course. When baked with sausages (within the batter), it is known as toad in the hole. In pub cuisine, Yorkshire puddings may be offered with a multitude of fillings, with the pudding acting as a bowl. It can also be eaten as a sweet dish, with jam or golden syrup.

8. Sausage and mash: More of a serving suggestion than a recipe, Bangers and Mash is a British colloquial name for sausages (bangers) served alongside mashed potato, very often with gravy being poured over both. The sausages may be one of a variety of flavours such as pork, pork and apple, tomato, beef, Lincolnshire or Cumberland. The full meal will usually include a vegetable (e.g. peas, brussels sprouts). The gravy may be flavoured with the appropriate meat stock, or may be an onion gravy. It is a very popular winter dish, and can range in quality from the very cheapest sausages and instant mash accompanied with an instant gravy mix such as Bisto, or with high-end gourmet sausages and carefully-made mashed potatoes and gravy. This dish may, even when cooked at home, be thought of as an example of pub grub - relatively quick and easy to make in large quantities as well as being tasty and satisfying. More up-market varieties, with exotic sausages, are sold in gastropubs, as well as less exotic alternatives being available in regular pubs. 9. Bakewell tart: Bakewell tart, is a traditional English baked dessert tart or cake consisting of a shortcrust pastry shell, spread with jam and covered with a sponge-like filling enriched with ground almonds. Recipes abound, for example those given by Ben Mathews (1839), Eliza Acton (1845) and Mrs Beeton (1861), and modern commercial examples are to be found in most cake shops and on every supermarket shelf. The name only became common in the 20th Century; the dish was previously known as Bakewell Pudding. The Derbyshire town of Bakewell claims to be the home of the authentic Bakewell Pudding, and indeed there is a variant (and supposedly secret) recipe still made there with a puff pastry shell with a layer of jam, covered with a filling of eggs, sugar, butter and almonds. This dish is said to be an accidental invention of the 1860s, which occurred when a nobleman visiting the White Horse Inn at Bakewell ordered strawberry tart. The cook, instead of stirring the egg mixture into the cake, spread it on top of the jam.

However, this claim is almost certainly spurious, as the pudding was by then already well-known, and its antecedents can be traced back to medieval times. A cherry Bakewell is simply a Bakewell tart with a cherry on top.

10.Eccles cake: An Eccles cake is a small, round cake filled with currants. It is made with flaky pastry, enriched with butter. It is named after the English town of Eccles, near Manchester. 11. Cumberland sausage: Cumberland Sausages are a type of traditional sausage that originated in the traditional county of Cumberland, England. They are usually very long (up to 50cm), and sold rolled in a flat circular coil. Sometimes they are made shorter, like ordinary British sausages. The meat is pork, the seasonings are prepared from a variety of spices and herbs and there are traditionally no colouring or preservatives added. The crucial thing is that the meat should be chopped, not minced; consequentially the texture is relatively chunky. They are often served with a fried egg on top, accompanied by chips and peas. There is currently a campaign by some Cumbrian butchers and meat manufacturers to have Cumberland Sausage placed under a British Protected designation of origin classification.This would provide the same protection as afforded to Parma ham and Feta cheese. The association is still discussing the exact criteria for the sausages, but so far they include a high meat content of more than 80%, the sausage to be coiled, not linked, a wider diameter than conventional sausages and a rough cut texture. It says the sausage should be prepared in Cumbria and while individual butchers have their own recipes, they are generally more highly seasoned than traditional sausages, which is thought to come from the import of spices at Whitehaven. The product takes its name from the old Cumberland pig. Heavy boned, slow to mature, and extremely hardy, the creature became a symbol of the region, but was sadly allowed to die out in the early 1960s. As an alternative the following breeds can be used: • Large black • Gloucester old spot • Welsh

12.British Curries: a. Balti: Balti is the name for a style of food probably first devised and served in Birmingham, England around the late 1970s, probably 1977. The food is a hot curry-style dish, most likely taking its name from the thick flat-bottomed steel or iron pot in which it is both cooked and served. Normally the balti is served with large unleavened naan bread; pieces of which are torn off by hand and used to scoop up the hot curry sauce from the pot. Side dishes and starters usually include onion bhajis, samosas, poppadums and creamy dips. * The origin of the word The exact origin of the word is debated. The following origins are sometimes given: The term "balti" refers to the steel or iron pot in which the food is cooked or served, taken from the word balti in Hindi for a bucket. This is the usual explanation. However, in Hindi, the word balti refers to a bucket not a cooking pot. The term for the metal container in which a balti is served would be, from Urdu, a karahi or karai The Kashmiri term for a karahi or karai is bati. It is possible that this was corrupted, under the influence of the Birmingham accent, into "balti". The origin of the food would not appear to come from the region of Baltistan or the Balti people who live there; they cook a very different type of Tibetan-influenced food that is based around pasta/noodle dishes. However, Baltistan is a very remote and littlevisited mountainous area on the border of Kashmir, and so it is possible that Kashmiris in Britain may have tried to give their newlyinvented dish a cover of spurious 'authenticity' - by claiming its origin as being in mysterious Baltistan. Some suggest it arose from "bowl tea", a pidgin-english phrase used by English working-class workmen who found the meal to be an affordable and filling 'tea' (dinner) at the end of a day's work. One theory is that the dish was devised by a particularly hairless Indian chef, known to all his workmates as "Baldy", and that his nickname was corrupted into the name of his signature dish, the balti. b. Chicken Tikka Masala: Chicken Tikka Masala is Chicken Tikka in a masala gravy (commonly referred to as a sauce). There is no standard recipe for Chicken Tikka Masala, but most are variants of a tomato gravy (using puree or even ketchup) with cream or coconut cream and various common spices. While fish and paneer tikkas are very common, the corresponding tikka masalas are not as popular.

Chicken Tikka Masala is one of the most popular Indian dishes in the world. So popular is it that British politician Robin Cook described it as "a true British national dish". Its popularity has proven so great that almost every Indian restaurant worldwide offers it. It has even conquered the Indian subcontinent and has arguably replaced Tandoori Chicken as the flagship of Indian food. So popular is Chicken Tikka Masala that its origins has gained mythic proportions. Though its earliest forms are from India it is believed by many Brits that Chicken Tikka Masala originated from the kitchens of Bangladeshi chefs in the UK.The original is claimed by many establishments from London to Glasgow, but none of these claims have been convincingly established. There are many theories about how the dish originated, probably around the late sixties. Some say the chef tossed together a tomato gravy when a diner returned a dry tikka; some think it was a way to recycle yesterday's leftover kebabs, and others say it was just an inventive adaptation of Indian techniques to both Indian and British palates. Still other "origin stories" suggest that its birth came from British India. The necessity to adapt Indian food to the British palate was the impetus of creation, some allege. It is hard to verify which story is true. What is known is Chicken Tikka Masala is similarly prepared like the popular Murgh Makhni (butter chicken) from the Punjab region which also has a tomato gravy. This fact, coupled with the fact that a large percentage of Indian and Pakistani immigrants came to Britain from the Punjab region, would suggest that this is a very likely ancestor, and origin point. In recent years, Bangladeshis have proven to be among the most enthusiastic restaurateurs in the community so it is understandable that many restaurants in England claim the Chicken Tikka Masala as "their" creation.

III – Folklore: English folklore is the folk tradition which has evolved in England over a number of centuries. Some English legends can be traced back to their roots, even as far as before the Roman invasion of Britain, while the origin of others is fairly uncertain or disputed. England abounds with folklore, in all forms, from such obvious Morris dancing is one of manifestations as the traditional semi-mystical the more visible English folk traditions, with many Arthurian legends and semi-historical Robin Hood differing regional tales, to contemporary urban myths and facets of variations cryptozoology such as the Beast of Bodmin Moor. Morris dance and related practices such as the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance preserve old English folk traditions, as do Mummers Plays. The utopian vision of a traditional England is sometimes referred to as Merry England. English mythology is no longer widely believed. Whereas some folklore legends were formerly believed nationally across the whole of England, most can generally be divided into regional areas of England.

IV – Heritage:

In recent years, Stonehenge has become a focus for modern summer solstice celebrations

V – Literature:

Stonehenge holds an iconic place in the culture of England. Other built structures like cathedrals and parish churches are associated with a sense of Englishness. The English country house and the lifestyle associated for centuries with an élite minority now forms an interest among many people in England as typified by visits to properties managed by English Heritage or the National Trust. Landscape gardening as developed by Capability Brown set an international trend for the English garden. Gardening and visiting gardens are also a facet of the culture of England for many people.

William Hogarth's depiction of a scene from Shakespeare's The Tempest is an example of how English literature influenced English painting in the 18th century

The term English literature refers to literature written in the English language, or literature composed in English by writers who are not necessarily from England. Writers noted for expressing Englishness, or associated particularly with regions of England, include William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy (Wessex), A. E. Housman (Shropshire), Rupert Brooke, Jane Austen, Arnold Bennett and the Lake Poets (Lake District). But Joseph Conrad was Polish, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Edgar Allan Poe was American, Salman Rushdie is Indian: all have enriched English literature.

VI – Music: England has a long and rich musical history. The United Kingdom has, like most European countries, undergone a roots revival in the last half of the 20th century. English music has been an instrumental and leading part of this phenomenon, which peaked at the end of the 1960s and into the 1970s. The achievements of the Anglican choral tradition following on from 16th century composers such as Thomas Tallis, John Taverner and HWilliam Byrd have tended to overshadow instrumental composition. The semi-operatic innovations of Henry Purcell did not lead to a native operatic tradition, but George Frederick Handel found important royal patrons and enthusiastic public support in England. The rapturous receptions afforded by audiences to visiting musical celebrities such as Haydn often contrasted with the lack of recognition for home-grown talent. However, the emergence of figures such as Edward Elgar and Arthur Sullivan in the 19th century showed a new vitality in English music. Ralph Vaughn Williams and others collected English folk tunes and adapted them to the concert hall. Cecil Sharp was a leading figure in the English folk revival. Finally, a new beat out of Liverpool emerged in 1962. The Beatles: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, became the world's most popular musicians of all time. The "Fab Four" opened the doors for British acts such as The Rolling Stones, The Who, Queen and Led Zeppelin to the globe. Some of the leading contemporary artists include Kaiser Chiefs, Robbie Williams and Coldplay.

VII – Religion in England: History of Religion in England. Britain used to be a Roman Catholic country. In 1533, during the reign of Henry VIII, England broke from the Roman Catholic Church to form the Anglican Church. Why? Henry VIII, the king, wanted a divorce. He wanted a son and his wife only gave birth to daughters. He asked the Pope for permission to divorce, but was refused. Henry VIII became very angry and decided to make his own church. Henry VIII became leader of the Church of England (Anglican Church). He had the Bible translated to English and the people who believed in this new religion were called Protestants. Back to being a Catholic Country In 1553, Mary became Queen. She changed the country back to Catholicism and burned Protestants who wouldn't change at the stake (similar to a bonfire). All change again In 1558, Elizabeth became Queen. She changed the church back to Anglican and it has been the official religion of England since.

CULTURE OF ENGLAND The culture of Scotland is the national culture of Scotland. It originates from various differences, some entrenched as part of the Act of Union, others facets of nationhood not readily defined but readily identifiable.

I - Scots law: Scotland retains Scots Law, its own unique legal system, based on Roman law, which combines features of both civil law and common law. The terms of union with England specified the retention of separate systems. The barristers being called advocates, and the judges of the high court for civil cases are also the judges for the high court for criminal cases. Scots Law differs from England's common law system. Formerly, there were several regional law systems in Scotland, one of which was Udal Law (also called allodail or odal law) in Shetland and Orkney. This was a direct descendant of Old Norse Law, but was abolished in 1611. Despite this, Scottish courts have acknowledged the supremacy of udal law in some property cases as recently as the 1990s. There is a movement to restore udal law to the islands as part of a devolution of power from Edinburgh to Shetland and Orkney. Various systems based on common Celtic Law also survived in the Highlands until the 1800s.

II - Scottish education: Scotland also has a separate Scottish education system. The Act of Union guaranteed the rights of the Scottish universities, but more importantly, Scotland became the first country since Sparta in classical Greece to implement a system of general public education. This began with the Education Act of 1696 and became compulsory for children from the implementation of the Education Act of 1872 onwards. As a result, for over two hundred years Scotland had a higher percentage of its population educated at primary, secondary and tertiary levels than any other country in Europe. The differences in education have manifested themselves in different ways, but most noticeably in the number of Scots who went on to become leaders in their fields during the 18th and 19th centuries. The politician Jim Wallace stated in October 2004, that Scotland produces a higher number of university and college graduates per-head than anywhere else in Europe.

School students in Scotland sit Standard Grade exams and then Higher Grade and/or Advanced higher exams. Also, a Scottish university's honours degree takes four years of study as opposed to three in the rest of the UK. The university systems in several Commonwealth countries show marked affinities with the Scottish rather than the English system.

III - Banking and currency: Banking in Scotland also features unique characteristics. Although the Bank of England remains the central bank for the UK Government, three Scottish corporate banks still issue their own banknotes: (the Bank of Scotland, the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Clydesdale Bank). These notes have no status as legal tender (although they can be used throughout the UK, particularly in Northern Ireland, where Irish banks also issue their own banknotes) and they are also freely accepted in the Channel Islands. In Scotland, neither they nor the Bank of England's notes rank as legal tender (as Scots law lacks the concept), however banknotes issued by any of the four banks meet with common acceptance. See British banknotes. The modern system of branch banking (in which banks maintain a nationwide system of offices rather than one or two central offices) originated in Scotland. Only strong political pressure during the 19th century prevented the resultant strong banking system from taking over banking in England. However, although Scottish banks proved unwelcome in England at the time, their business model became widely copied, firstly in England and later in the rest of the world. This is not to say that the Scottish banking system was immune from crises - especially the collapse of the City of Glasgow Bank in 1878. The Savings Bank movement was created in Scotland in 1810 by the Reverend Henry Duncan as a means of allowing his parishioners to save smaller amounts of money than the major banks would accept as deposits at that time. His model for the Ruthwell Parish Bank was adopted by well-to-do sponsors throughout the world. The American examples eventually became Savings and Loan Associations and most of the British savings banks amalgamating to form the Trustee Savings Bank, which recently merged with the commercial bank, Lloyds Bank, to form Lloyds TSB. However the Airdrie Savings Bank maintained its position outside this process. Scotland also developed a number of powerful Life Assurance companies during the 19th and 20th centuries. These were predominantly managed on the mutual model, offering with-profits investment as well as protection business. Financial pressures since the 1980s have led to their demutualisations and most are now part of larger financial institutions.

IV – Sports: Scotland has many national sporting associations, such as the Scottish Football Association (SFA) or the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU). This gives the country independent representation at many international sporting events such as the football World Cup. Scotland cannot compete in the Olympic Games independently however, and Scottish athletes must compete as part of the Great Britain team if they wish to take part. Scotland does however send its own team to compete in the Commonwealth Games. Scotland also has its own sporting competitions distinct from the rest of the UK. The main football competitions are the leagues organised by the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League. Teams in the Highland Football League, the East of Scotland Football League and the South of Scotland Football League also compete in the Scottish Cup, while those in the Scottish Junior Football Association are outwith that structure. Scottish football clubs compete in international competitions, such as the UEFA Cup and the Champion's League. The Scottish Rugby Union are responsible for that sport, whose main competition is the BT Premier League. Regional Scottish rugby clubs also compete in the Celtic League, along with teams from Ireland and Wales and in the Heineken Cup, the European League for Rugby Union. Scotland is considered the "Home of Golf", and is well known for its courses. As well as its world famous Highland Games (athletic competitions), it is also the home of curling, and shinty, a stick game similar to Ireland's hurling, and England's field hockey. Scottish cricket is a minority game.

V – Media: Scotland has distinct media from the rest of the UK. For example, it produces many national newspapers such as the Daily Record (Scotland's leading tabloid), the broadsheet The Herald, based in Glasgow, and HThe Scotsman in Edinburgh. The Herald, formerly known as the Glasgow Herald, changed its name to promote a national rather than a regional identity, while The Scotsman, which used to be a broadsheet, recently switched to tabloid format. Sunday newspapers include the tabloid Sunday Mail (published by Daily Record parent company Trinity Mirror) and the Sunday Post, while the Sunday Herald and Scotland on Sunday have associations with The Herald and The Scotsman respectively. Regional dailies include The Courier and Advertiser in Dundee and the east, and The Press and Journal serving Aberdeen and the north.

Scotland has its own BBC services which include the national radio stations, BBC Radio Scotland and Scottish Gaelic language service, BBC Radio nan Gaidheal. There are also a number of BBC and independent local radio stations throughout the country. In addition to radio, BBC Scotland also runs two national television stations. Much of the output of BBC Scotland Television, such as news and current affairs programmes, and the Glasgow-based soap opera, River City, are intended for broadcast within Scotland, whilst others, such as drama and comedy programmes, aim at audiences throughout the UK and further afield. Sports coverage also differs, reflecting the fact that the country has its own football leagues, separate from those of England. Three Independent Television stations (Scottish TV, Grampian TV and Border) also broadcast in Scotland. Although they previously had independent existences, Scottish TV (serving the Central Lowlands) and Grampian (serving the Highlands and Islands) now belong to the same company (SMG plc) and resemble each other closely, apart from local news coverage. "Border" has had a more complex position, as it also has to serve neighbouring areas across the border in England, as well as the Isle of Man, and it now has separate news programs for each side of the border. Most of the independent television output equates to that transmitted in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with the exception of news and current affairs, sport, cultural and Scottish Gaelic language programming. Tele-G is the only Gaelic language service, broadcasting UK wide on the Freeview platform every night between 6pm and 7pm on Channel 8.

VI - Food and drink: Although the Deep fried Mars bar is jokingly said to exemplify the modern Scottish diet, Scottish cuisine offers such traditional dishes as haggis, Buccleuch Scotch beef, the Arbroath Smokie,salmon,venison, cranachan, bannock, Scotch Broth and shortbread. 1. Scotch whisky and its distilleries: Scotch whisky is a whisky made in Scotland. In North America, the term is often abbreviated to "Scotch". In Great Britain, the term whisky almost always refers to Scotch whisky, and the term "Scotch" is rarely used by itself. Scotch whisky is divided into at least three distinct categories: single malt, vatted malt (also called "pure malt") and blended. Due to an issue with the confusing and misleading term "Pure Malt", the Scotch Whisky Association recently introduced new terminology, whereby a "Vatted Malt" is to be referred to as a "Blended Malt" this has met with much push-back from the industry.

2. Scottish beer and the "shilling" classification: Scottish ale is a designation for beer produced in Scotland. * History Brewing in Scotland goes back at least 5,000 years. Archeologist Merryn Dinsley, of Manchester University, has suggested that one of the buildings uncovered at Skara Brae could have been a brewery, producing ale from malted spelt, flavoured with meadowsweet in the manner of a Kvass or Gruit made by various North European tribes including the Celts and the Picts. By analysing remains found inside one of the Grooved ware pots, Merryn Dineley was able to reconstruct this beer which she named Grooved Ware Beer. The use of bittering herbs to flavour and preserve beer continued longer in remote parts of Scotland than it did in the rest of the British Isles. Thomas Pennant wrote in A Tour in Scotland in 1769 that on the island of Islay "ale is frequently made of the young tops of heath, mixing two thirds of that plant with one of malt, sometimes adding hops". Though, as in the rest of Britain, hops had replaced herbs in Scotland by the end of the 19th century, this Celtic tradition of using bittering herbs was revived in Brittany by Brasserie Lancelot in 1990, and in Scotland by the Williams Brothers two years later. Even though ancient brewing techniques and ingredients remained longer in Scotland than the rest of Britain, the general pattern of development was the same, with brewing mainly in the hands of "broustaris", or alewives, and monasteries, just as it was throughout Europe; though, as with brewing ingredients, the trend was for develoments to move more slowly. The Leges Quatuor Burgorum, a code of burgh laws, showed that in 1509 Aberdeen had over 150 brewers - all women; and this compares with figures for London which shows that of 290 brewers, around 40% were men. After the Reformation in the 1560s commercial brewing started to become more organised, as shown by the formation in 1598 of the Edinburgh Society of Brewers - though London had formed its Brewers' Guild over 250 years earlier in 1342. However, after the Acts of Union 1707, new commercial opportunities became available that proved a substantial stimulus to Scottish brewers. Tax on beer was held at a lower amount than the rest of the United Kingdom, and there was no tax on malt in Scotland - this gave Scottish brewers a financial advantage. During the 18th century some of the most famous names in Scottish brewing established themselves, such as William Younger in Edinburgh, Robert & Hugh Tennent in Glasgow, and George Younger in Alloa. In Dunbar in 1719, for example, Dudgeon & Company's Belhaven Brewery was founded. Scottish brewers, especially those in Edinburgh, were about to rival the biggest brewers in the world. While it has long been assumed for various reasons that Scottish brewers didn’t make much use of hops, the available information from

brewing and trade records show that brewers in Edinburgh used as much hops as English brewers, and that the strong, hoppy ale that Hodgeson was exporting to India and which became known as IPA, was copied and brewed in Edinburgh in 1821, a year before Allsopp is believed to have first brewed it in Burton. Robert Disher’s brewery in the Canongate area of Edinburgh had such a success with his hoppy Edinburgh Pale Ale that the other Edinburgh brewers followed, exporting strong, hoppy Scottish beer throughout the British Empire, and into Russia and America. The beer historians Charles McMaster and Martyn Cornell have both shown that the sales figures of Edinburgh’s breweries rivalled that of Dublin and Burton upon Trent. Charles McMaster, the "leading historian of the Scottish brewing industry" according to Roger Protz, believes that the hard water of Edinburgh was particularly suitable for the brewing of Pale Ale - especially the water from the wells on the "charmed circle" of Holyrood through Canongate, Cowgate, Grassmarket and Fountainbridge; and that due to the quality of this water brewer Robert Disher was able to launch a hoppy Edinburgh Pale Ale in 1821. While Martyn Cornell in Beer: The Story of The Pint, shows that when the brewers of Burton in the late 1800s were exporting their hoppy Burton Ales in the form of India Pale Ale, so were the William McEwan and William Younger breweries. When the Burton brewers exported strong malty Burton Ales, so did the Edinburgh brewers, under the name Scotch Ale. The Edinburgh brewers had a very large and well respected export trade throughout the British colonies rivaling that of the Burton brewers. By the mid 19th century Edinburgh had forty breweries and was "acknowledged as one of the foremost brewing centres in the world". Some writers such as Pete Brown in Man Walks into a Pub, and the beer style writers for BJCP believe that beer brewed in Scotland developed significantly different to beer brewed south of the border. The belief is that hops were used sparingly, and that the shilling designation was uniquely Scottish. However, Dr John Harrison in Old British Beers gives a recipe for the English brewery Brakspear's 1865 50/- Pale Ale in which 1.8 oz of hops are used per imperial gallon, along with the Scottish brewery W. Younger's 1896 Ale No 3 (Pale) which also uses 1.8 oz of hops per imperial gallon. This both indicates that there was no difference in use of hops, even for the everyday domestic beers, and that the shilling designation was used in other parts of the British Isles.

V – Mythology: Scottish mythology may refer to any of the mythologies of Scotland. Myths have emerged for various purposes throughout the history of Scotland, sometimes being elaborated upon by successive generations, and at other times being completely rejected and replaced by other explanatory narratives.

* National mythology Origin Legends: Several origin legends for the Scotti were created during the historical period, serving various purposes. Wishing to maintain a connection with Ireland, a common origin in the kingdom of Dál Riata was asserted for many centuries. The Scottish Crown's claim of independence against the aggressively expansionist English Crown during the Scottish Wars of Independence was the incentive for other more creative origin legends. Picts: Once the Picts were assimilated into the Gaelic world and their actual characteristics faded out of memory, folkloric elements filled the gaps of history. Their "sudden disappearance" was explained as a slaughter happening at a banquet given by Kenneth MacAlpin (an international folklore motif) and they were ascribed with powers like those of the fairies, brewing heather from secret recipes and living in underground chambers. In the eighteenth century, as Lowlanders were eager to be accepted as fellow Anglo-Saxons by the Anglocentric British Empire, the Picts were co-opted as a "Germanic" race.

* Religious mythology Myth is sometimes an aspect of folklore, but not all myth is folklore, nor is all folklore myth or mythological. People who express an interest in mythology are often most focused on nonhuman (sometimes referred to as "supernatural") beings. There have been numerous groups of such entities in Scottish culture, some of them specific to particular ethnic groups (Gaelic, Norse, Germanic, etc), others of them probably evolving from the circumstances unique to Scotland. The Aos-sídhe, Sìdhichean, or "Fairies" were originally the pre-Christian divinities of the Gaelic-speaking people. They eventually came to "co-habitate" the conceptual spiritual world with Christianity, generally diminishing in power and prominence over the centuries. The medieval Gaelic literati grouped them together as the Tuatha De Danann, who share certain characteristics with other characters in Celtic literature. Folk beliefs about the Banshee also reflect aspects of these beings. There are other supernatual beings whose characteristics reflect folkloric patterns from around the world. Ancestral spirits, and giants who help to form the landscape and represent the forces of nature, are ubitiquous and may point to non-elite registers of mythology.

CULTURE OF WALES Though a part of the United Kingdom and in union with England since 1282, the nation of Wales has preserved its own distinctive culture, including its language, holidays and music. Wales is primarily represented by the Welsh Dragon, but other national emblems include the leek and daffodil. The Welsh words for leeks (cennin) and daffodils (cennin Pedr, lit. "(Saint) Peter's Leeks") are closely related and it is likely that one of the symbols came to be used due to a misunderstanding for the other one, though it is less clear which came first. I - Holidays: The patron saint of Wales is Saint David, Dewi Sant in Welsh. St. David's Day is celebrated throughout the country on 1 March, which some people argue should be a public holiday in Wales (although others disagree). Other days which have been proposed for public commemorations are 16 September (the day on which Owain Glyndŵr's rebellion began) and 11 December (the death of Llywelyn the Last). However, the traditional seasonal festivals in Wales were Calan Gaeaf (Hallowe'en-type holiday on the first day of winter), Calan Mai, and Midsummer. Additionally, each parish celebrated a Gŵyl Mabsant in commemoration of its native saint. II – Music: Wales is often known by the phrase "the Land of Song" (Welsh: Gwlad y Gân) and its people have a renowned affinity for poetry and music. Perhaps the most well-known musical image of Wales is that of the choir, in particular the male voice choir (Welsh: côr meibion). While this is certainly a part (though of greatly diminished importance) of the current musical life of the nation, it is by no means the only or the oldest part, and the choral tradition does not really stretch back significantly beyond its heyday in the 19th century. Much older is the tradition of instrumental folk music. The harp has been closely associated with Wales for a very long time, and one kind of harp, the triple harp is uniquely Welsh. Other specifically Welsh instruments included the crowth and the pibgorn, though both fell out of general use by the end of the 18th century. Due to Nonconformist Christian disapproval, the instrumental folk tradition fell into decline through the 19th and early 20th centuries, but has

since seen a revival and is now arguably as strong as ever. The principal instruments are the harp and the fiddle, but many other instruments are used, and both the crwth and pibgorn are again being played by a small but growing number of people. Wales also has a long tradition of folk song which, like the instrumental tradition, and for the same reasons, was long in decline but is now flourishing again. One notable kind of Welsh song is cerdd dant which, loosely, is an improvised performance following quite strict rules in which poetry is sung to one tune against the accompaniment of (usually) a harp to a different tune. In the mid- to late 1990s new Welsh music became unexpectedly fashionable, with the chart successes of bands including Manic Street Preachers, Catatonia, the Stereophonics and The Oppressed. These groups helped the media at the time invent the epithet "Cool Cymru", an answer to Britpop's "Cool Britannia". Prior to that, Welsh acts including The Alarm, Shakin' Stevens and Bonnie Tyler had all had high profiles, but there had never been much of a movement. Around this time, groups such as Super Furry Animals and Gorky's Zygotic Mynci rose to popularity, and artists such as Tom Jones, John Cale, and Shirley Bassey had something of a renaissance. The Welsh music industry is currently in good health, with boundless creativity from many lesser known groups, and labels such as Ankstmusik, Crai, and Boobytrap. And, in recent years, a large alternative and punk scene has sprung up from the Valleys towns in south Wales, of which Lostprophets and Funeral for a Friend have achieved notable international success. Picture Frame Seduction from Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, West Wales created their own disturbing punk sound in 1978, and in 2003 they signed to Grand Theft Audio Records in Los Angeles, USA. They were once dubbed the "Welsh Sex Pistols" due to their attitude towards the music establishment in the UK. III - Literature: The term Welsh literature may be used to refer to any literature originating from Wales or by Welsh writers. However, it more often refers to literature written in the Welsh language. Literature by Welsh writers in the English language is usually called Anglo-Welsh literature or Welsh literature in English. This article will give an overview of the history of Welsh-language literature. For information about Welsh literature in English, see Anglo-Welsh literature. For more information about Welsh-language literature refer to the articles noted. After literature written in the classical languages, literature in the Welsh language is the oldest surviving literature in Europe. The Welsh literary

tradition still lives, stretching from the sixth century to the twentieth first. Its fortunes have fluctuated over the centuries, in line with those of the Welsh language. Even today the language of the early Middle Ages is recognisable to modern-day Welsh speakers. * The Middle Ages Early recorded Welsh has been dated at sometime between 400 and 700 AD and the earliest surviving literature in Welsh is poetry dating from this period. The poetic tradition represented in the work of Y Cynfeirdd ("The early poets"), as they are known, then survives for over a thousand years to the work of the Poets of the Nobility in the sixteenth century. The core tradition was praise poetry and the poet Taliesin was regarded as the first in the line. The other aspect of the tradition was the professionalism of the poets and their reliance on patronage – from kings, princes and nobles in their turn – for their living. The fall of the kingdom of Gwynedd and the loss of any form of Welsh independence in 1282 did prove a crisis in the tradition but a crisis which was overcome. It led to the innovation – the development of the cywydd meter, a more loose definition of praise, and a reliance on the nobility for patronage. The professionalism of the poetic tradition was sustained by a Guild of poets, or Order of bards, with its own 'rule book'. This 'rule book' emphasised their professionalism and that the making of poetry as a craft. Under its rules it took an apprenticeship of nine years for a poet to become fully qualified. The rules also set out the payment a poet could expect for his work – these payments varied according to how long a poet had been in training and also the demand for poetry at particular times during the year. But kings, princes and nobles not only had their court poet, they also had their storyteller (Welsh: cyfarwydd). Like poets, the storytellers were also professionals; but, unlike the poets, little of their work has survived. What has survived are literary creations based on native Welsh tales which would have been told by the storytellers. These tales are usually known as the Mabinogion. Welsh prose in the Middle Ages was not confined to the story tradition, it included a large body of both religious and practical works, in addition to a large amount translated from other languages. * The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries These two centuries in Wales, as in the rest or Europe, was a period of great change. Politically, socially, and economically the foundations of modern Wales were laid at this time. In the Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542 Wales was annexed and integrated fully into the English kingdom, losing any vestiges of political or legal independence. The political-religious settlement of Elizabeth I through

the 1559 Act of Uniformity made Wales in name a Protestant country only to be reinforced by developments during and after the English Civil War. And finally this period also saw the beginnings of industries such as coal-mining, metalmining and smelting, which led to the mass industrialisation of the following centuries. * The end of the Guild of poets system From the middle of the sixteenth century onwards a decline is seen in the praise tradition of the Poets of the Nobility, the cywyddwyr. It became more and more difficult for poets to make their living from the craft of poetry. This happened primarily for social reasons beyond their control. The Dissolution of the Monasteries, that had become important sources of patronages for the poets, and the Anglicisation of the nobility during the period of the Tudors, exemplified by the Laws in Wales Acts, meant that there were fewer and fewer patrons willing or able to support the poets. But there were also internal reasons for the decline: the conservatism of the Guild of poets, or, Order of bards, made it very difficult for it to adapt to the new world of renaissance learning and the growth of printing. However, the Welsh poetic tradition of the traditional meters and cynghanedd did not disappear completely, but it did lose it professionalism, and came into the hands of 'ordinary' poets who kept it alive through centuries. Cynghanedd and traditional meters are still used today by very many Welshlanguage poets. * Renaissance learning Without an university of its own, without other learned institutions, without even a court and courtiers of its own, Wales was not in a very good position to participate fully in the revolution in ideas and scholarship, which is usually termed the renaissance. Wales did not really have any towns of great significance at this time which could have acted as centres for the type of society where such ideas and movments flourish. But the renaissance did hit Wales in no uncertain terms, and that due to the commitment of certain individuals, both Protestant and Catholic, in ensuring that the Welsh language would be part of this new movement. * The first printed Welsh book In 1546 the first book to be printed in Welsh was published, Yn y llyvyr hwnn (=In this book…) by Sir John Price of Brecon. John Price (ca.1502-55) was an aristocrat and an important civil servant. He served as secretary of the Council of Wales and the Marches and he was also one of the officers responsible for administrating the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the area.

He was also a scholar who embraced the latest ideas relating to religion and learning: reform and humanism. It is also known that he was a collector of manuscripts on various subjects, including the history and literature of Wales. * Other humanists and scholars Shortly afterwards the works of William Salesbury began to appear. Salesbury was an ardent Protestant and coupled his learning with the new religious ideas from the continent. On the other hand, Gruffudd Robert was an ardent Catholic, but in the same spirit of learning published an important Welsh grammar while in enforced exile in Milan in 1567. A huge step forward for both the Welsh language and its literature was the publication, in 1588, of a full-scale translation of the Bible by William Morgan. * Other works Most of the works published in Welsh for at least the next century were religious in nature. Morgan Llwyd, a Puritan, wrote in both English and Welsh, recounting his spiritual experiences. During this period, poetry also began to take a religious turn, in terms of subject matter. By now, women as well as men were writing, but little of their work can be identified. * The beginnings of Welsh writing in English The seeds of Anglo-Welsh literature can also be detected, particularly in the work of Henry Vaughan and his contemporary, George Herbert, both Royalists. * The Eighteenth Century The trend in favour of religious literature continued and grew even stronger as Nonconformism began to take hold of Wales. The Welsh Methodist revival, initially led by Howell Harris and Daniel Rowland, produced not only sermons and religious tracts, but also hymns and poetry by William Williams Pantycelyn and others. The Morris brothers of Anglesey were leading figures in the establishment of the London Welsh societies, and their letters to one another are an important record of the time. The activities of the London Welshmen helped ensure that Wales retained some kind of profile within Britain as a whole. The activities of a number of individuals, including Thomas Jones of Corwen and the Glamorgan stonemason and man of letters, Iolo Morganwg, led to the revival of the National Eisteddfod and the invention of many of the traditions which surround it today. Although Iolo is sometimes called a charlatan because so many of his discoveries were based on pure myth, he was also an inveterate collector of old manuscripts and thereby did perform a

service without which Welsh literature would have been the poorer. Some of the gentry continued to patronise bards, but this practice was gradually dying out. * The Nineteenth Century Largely as a result of the Industrial Revolution, there was a large influx of people into the South Wales valleys during the 19th century. Although many of them were English, some made an effort to learn the Welsh language in order to integrate themselves with the local communities, and there was increased demand for literature in the form of books, periodicals, newspapers, poetry, ballads and sermons. Some of the more wealthy incomers, such as Lady Charlotte Guest, Lady Llanover and others, were of active assistance in the trend towards a richer cultural life for the principality. Thanks partly to the eisteddfod network, writing became a popular pastime, and all forms of poetry thrived. Poets now used their bardic names to disguise their identity in competitions, and continued to use them when they became well known. The most celebrated poets of the century were: Evan Evans, John Blackwell, William Thomas and John Ceiriog Hughes, who went by the bardic names of "Glan Geirionydd", "Alun", "Islwyn" and "Ceiriog" respectively. The novel had been slow to pick up momentum in Wales. Translations of works such as Uncle Tom's Cabin existed, but the first recognised novelist in the Welsh language was Daniel Owen, author of Rhys Lewis (1885) and Enoc Huws (1891), among others. * Twentieth Century onwards In the late 19th and early 20th century, Welsh literature began to reflect the way the Welsh language was increasingly becoming a political symbol. Two of the greatest figures in the literary history of this period were the prolific Saunders Lewis and the writer/publisher Kate Roberts. Lewis, who had been brought up in Liverpool, was a leader of the nationalist movement, jailed for his part in protests; he chose drama as a means of drawing attention to the rightness of his cause. Novelist Kate Roberts worked as a teacher, and was one of few writers to have lived in and written about both north and south Wales. The industrialisation of parts of Wales was now beginning to be regarded as a mixed blessing, and the old agricultural way of life which persisted in most of the country was idealised by many writers. Meanwhile, Welsh poetry, which had been verging on stagnation, took on a new lease of life as poets sought to regain mastery over the traditional verse forms, partly to make a political point. Alan Llwyd and Dic Jones were leaders in the field. Female poets such as

Menna Elfyn gradually began to make their voices heard, overcoming the obstacle of the male-dominated bardic circle and its conventions. The scholar Sir Ifor Williams also pioneered scientific study of the earliest Welsh written literature, as well as the Welsh language, recovering the works of poets like Taliesin and Aneirin from the uncritical fancies of various antiquarians, such as the Reverend Edward Davies who believed the theme of Aneirin's Gododdin is the massacre of the Britons at Stonehenge in 472. IV – Costumes: The national costume of Wales is usually thought of as the traditional woman's costume of a red cloak and a tall black hat. This form of the costume was developed in the 19th century, during a revival of Welsh culture, mainly by Lady Llanover. The national dress was based on the clothes worn by Welsh country women in the early nineteenth century. They wore a striped petticoat, usually made of flannel, with a flannel open fronted bedgown over the top. They also wore an apron, a shawl and either a kerchief or a cap. The tall black hats usually associated with the Welsh Lady costume did not appear until the late 1840s. Between 1840 and 1870, shawls became very popular. They are not traditionally Welsh, and were worn in many places, although the shawl, usually with a checked or paisley pattern, is an accepted part of traditional costume. Shawls were also used by Welsh women to carry their babies, and this method of nursing a baby is still referred to as "Welsh fashion".

CULTURE OF NORTHERN IRELAND The Culture of Northern Ireland relates to the traditions of Northern Ireland and its resident communities. Elements of the culture of Ireland and culture of the United Kingdom are to be found. I – Heritage: Since 1998 the Ulster Museum, Armagh Museum, Ulster Folk and Transport Museum and the Ulster American Folk Park have been administered by MAGNI (National Museums and Galleries of Northern Ireland). The Linen Hall Library, the oldest library in Belfast, has endured many changes of fortune since its foundation in 1788, but has maintained a vision of providing access to literature and local studies to the population at large. 1. Museums in Northern Ireland: • Belfast Exposed: Belfast Exposed is Northern Ireland's only dedicated photographic gallery. Established in Belfast in 1983, it houses a 20x7m gallery for the exhibition of contemporary photography, digital archive browsing facilities, a spacious black and white photographic darkroom and a digital editing suite. The gallery has focussed on the production of socially and politically engaged work, the development and exhibition of community photography. Training is used to encourage local communities to use photography to record and understand their environment. Belfast Exposed hosts an archive of half a million images, which were to be published online in a digital archive by March 2004. • Ormeau Baths Gallery: The Ormeau Baths Gallery in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is one of Ireland's premier contemporary art spaces. It has curated exhibitions by prominent international artists including; Yoko Ono, Gilbert & George, Victor Sloan, Bill Viola, Hans Peter Kuhn, Stan Douglas, David Byrne, Willie Doherty and Alastair MacLennan. There are four main galleries with a total exhibition space of 10,000 square feet. It is located on the site of a Victorian Bath House. In 1995 its conversion to an art galley once again restored the venue to the public realm. Hugh Mulholland, previously the founder and Director of Context Gallery in Derry, has been the Director of the Ormeau Baths Gallery since 1997. The gallery programme includes a mix of solo and group shows; national and international in all art disciplines. The Ormeau Baths Gallery is managed by a Board of Trustees.

It also organises Perspective, an annual open submission exhibition with works selected by well-known figures from the art world. Perspective offers an important platform for the presentation of new approaches and ideas within contemporary visual art practice from around the world. The gallery used to receive its major funding from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Belfast City Council, but in a surprise move, the Arts Council suddenly announced at the end of February 2006 that it was not going to renew its funding, and that the gallery would close and all its staff be made redundant four days later. Over the last 18 months, there have been ongoing problems between the gallery and the Arts Council over financial and management issues - which have culminated in the withdrawal of funding, and caused the gallery's closure. A silent protest vigil of Irish artist and gallery supporters was held outside the locked gallery at 1pm on 1 March 200. Over 100 people braved the snow showers to protest at the sudden closure. Whether the gallery will reopen - with new funding and perhaps new management - is uncertain. The Arts Council have responded to a number of questions posed by gallery staff, seeking to address possible misconceptions, and explain the council's desire to see the gallery space "opened again in the immediate future. A public meeting was held on Saturday 4 March 2006 at 2pm at Belfast Exposed photo gallery to allow interested parties to get more information on the circumstances relating to the closure. • Ulster Museum: The Ulster Museum is located in the Botanical Gardens in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and has around 8,000 square metres of public display space, featuring material from the collections of Fine and Applied Art, Archaeology, Ethnography, Treasures from the Spanish Armada, Local History, Numismatics, Industrial Archaeology, Botany, Zoology and Geology. The Museum was founded, as the Belfast Natural History Society in 1821 and began exhibiting in 1833, it has included an art gallery since 1890. In 1929 the museum moved to its present location, the new building was designed by James Cumming Wynne. A major extension by Francis Pym was begun in 1962 and opened in 1964. Since the 1940s, the Ulster Museum has built up very good collection of art by modern Irish, and particularly Northern Irish, artists. In 1998, the Ulster Museum, which includes Armagh County Museum, merged with the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum and the Ulster-American Folk Park to form the National Museums and Galleries of Northern Ireland.

In July 2005 a £12m refurbishment of the museum was announced, with funding coming from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure. The Ulster Museum contains important collections of birds, insects, molluscs, marine invertebrates and flowering plants as well as an archive of books and manuscripts relating to Irish natural history. The museum also maintains a natural history website named Habitas.

2. Historic houses in Northern Ireland: • Tower house: A tower house stands on a hillock near Quin along the back road from Limerick to Ennis. Neidpath Castle near Peebles in Scotland. A tower house is a particular type of stone dwelling, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Such buildings were constructed in the wilder parts of Great Britain, particularly the Scottish Borders, and throughout Ireland, beginning in the middle ages and continuing at least up to the 17th century. The remains of such structures are dotted around the Irish and Scottish countryside. Some are still intact and even inhabited today, while others stand as mere shells in a field or on a hillside. Tower houses are often called castles, and despite their diminutive size compared to a major castle, they are formidable habitations and there is no clear distinction between a small castle and a tower house. The few surviving round Scottish iron age towers known as Brochs and the remains of numerous duns indicate that the idea of tower houses goes back at least two thousand years.

• Bawn: Bawn is the anglicized version of the Gaelic word badhun meaning cattle-fort. It is a defensive wall built around a tower house. It gets its name because it was used to protect livestock during an attack.

3. National parks of Northern Ireland: Northern Ireland does not currently have any national parks established, although a number of AONBs (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) have been identified. As of 2002, an effort was being made to establish the first park for the Mountains of Mourne. 4. Gardens in Northern Ireland: Belfast Botanic Gardens is a public park in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Occupying 28 acres of south Belfast, the gardens are popular with office workers, students and tourists. They are located on Stranmillis Road in Belfast's university area, with Queen's University nearby. The Ulster Museum is located at the main entrance.H 5. Giant's Causeway: The Giant's Causeway is an area of 40,000 tightly packed basalt columns resulting from a volcanic eruption 60 million years ago. It is located along the northeast coast of Ireland about 3 km north of the town of Bushmills in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, and a National Nature Reserve in 1987 (by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland). In a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, Giant's Causeway was named as the fourth greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom. The Giant's Causeway is owned and managed by the National Trust. The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. Most of the columns are hexagonal, however there are some with four, five, seven and eight sides. The tallest are about 12 metres (36 ft) high, and the solidified lava in the cliffs is 28 metres thick in places.

* History: Sixty million years ago Antrim was subject to intense volcanic activity, when highly fluid molten rock was forced up through fissures in the chalk bed to form an extensive lava plateau. The rapidly cooling lava contracted into hexagonal basaltic columns. The "discovery" of the Giant's Causeway was announced to the world in 1693 by the presentation of a paper to the Royal Society from Sir Richard Bulkeley, a fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, although the "discoverer" had, in fact, been the Bishop of Derry who had visited the site a year earlier. At the time there was much argument as to whether the Causeway had been created by men with picks and chisels, by nature, or by the efforts of a giant. The issue was not settled until 1771 when a Frenchman, Demarest, announced the origin of the causeway to be the result of volcanic action. * Legend: The Giant's Boot Legend has it that the giant Fionn mac Cumhail (Finn McCool) built the causeway to walk to Scotland to fight his Scottish equivalent Benandonner. One version of the legend tells that Finn McCool fell asleep before he got to Scotland so when Benandonner came looking for him, Finn's wife Oonagh laid a blanket over Finn and pretended he was actually Finn's baby son. In a variation, Finn fled after seeing Benandonner's great bulk, and asked his wife to disguise him as the baby. In both versions, when Benandonner saw the size of the "infant", he assumed the father must be gigantic indeed, and fled home in terror, ripping up the Causeway in case he was followed. The Scottish side of the causeway on the isle of Staffa has similar basalt formations at the site of Fingal's Cave that are part of the same ancient lava flow.

II - Food and drink: 1. Irish breakfast: * The contents: The traditional Irish breakfast includes at least the following fried items: pork sausages, bacon rashers, egg(s), black pudding, and white pudding, accompanied by tea or coffee and usually toast or traditional brown soda bread (one of the more distinguishing features). Similar traditional breakfasts, often with the same ingredients, are served in other parts of the British Isles (see Full English breakfast). The serving of white pudding is also often found in the traditional breakfast meal in Scotland. Often, the bacon is grilled and not fried and less commonly the sausages can be too. Although the items listed are the main criteria for a proper Irish breakfast, other items are sometimes included. This may include boxty (although nowadays this is rare), and fried mushrooms or fried tomato - all of which may also feature in similar traditional breakfasts. Breakfast in Ireland

may also be served with some non-traditional items such as baked beans. Bananas, grilled with the bacon, are becoming popular in the south of Ireland. They impart a sweeter flavour to the bacon rind. * Hotel and other fare: The term Irish breakfast is the only term used in Ireland for fried breakfasts (often with varying selections of the aforementioned ingredients). It is also used by the Irish abroad, or by traditional Irish pubs outside of Ireland, or by those hotels choosing to apply the term Irish to various fried breakfast items. Around the world, various types of fried breakfast may be alternatively described as English, a more An Irish breakfast common label in some quarters. In France for consisting of sausages, example, the phrase petit déjeuner anglais black and white pudding, (English breakfast) is prevalent. bacon and fried eggs, Many Irish hotels and B&Bs serve a fine served with orange juice. Irish breakfast, as do many cafes and pubs. Hotel breakfasts tend to be more expensive and less inclined to 'experiment' with the ingredients than their cafe counterparts. Tourist class hotels often serve nothing but an Irish breakfast with varying degrees of quality. One of the most expensive places Irish breakfasts are found is on the dining car of trains (see Iarnród Éireann). * Health effects: Because of its high content of meat, and consequently fat and cholesterol, the Irish breakfast is considered by dieticians to be unfit for frequent consumption. * History: The traditional cooked breakfast is a relatively modern invention. Before the arrival of the potato in the middle of the 17th century, the Irish diet reflected the nature of the cattle based economy. Meat was mostly the preserve of the gentry whilst the poor made do with oats, barley, milk, milk products and offal. The practice of bleeding cattle and mixing the blood with milk and butter (much like the Masai of today) was not uncommon. After the potato arrived in Ireland it quickly became the dominant source of food for the poor. From the late 17th century to until the late 19th century most people in Ireland lived on a meagre diet that consisted mostly of potatoes cultivated at a subsistence level. Potatoes were also used as a food for pigs that were fattened-up and slaughtered at the approach of the cold winter months. Much of the slaughtered pork would have been cured to

provide ham and bacon that could be stored over the winter. In Ireland bacon is traditionally boiled and not cut into rashers and fried. The reliance on potatoes as a staple crop meant that the people of Ireland were vulnerable to poor potato harvests, consequently a number of what today might be called 'lesser famines' occurred throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. The first great famine of 1739 was the result of extreme cold weather but the famine of the late 1840s (see Irish potato famine) which lasted several years led to the death of nearly 1,000,000 people and the emigration of another 2,000,000 was caused by potato blight. After the famine some 3,000,000 people were left destitute. Throughout this period most people would have eaten a simple breakfast of potatoes or porridge washed down with hale and later tea and would have had a more substantial dinner at around midday. The traditional fried breakfast emerged in the houses of wealthy farmers or landowners in the late 19th century. For the more well-to-do, an array of breakfast dishes would be laid out buffet style in much the same way as hotels do today. Up until this period, fresh meat was generally considered a luxury except for the most affluent. Chickens were not cultivated on a large scale until the second half of the 19th century. The emergence of town grocers in the 1880s allowed people to exchange surplus eggs etc. and for the first time purchase other food items and diversify their diet. Only with the relative increase in the wealth of the general populace in the 20th century was the consumption of the meal commonplace amongst the working classes. The opening of Ulysses by James Joyce contains a famous Irish breakfast scene, in which Leopold Bloom prepares and eats a fried pork kidney with bread and tea. The meal is often reenacted by those who partake in the annual Bloomsday celebrations. * Variations: The traditional Ulster fry does not normally include puddings and soda bread, and so stands apart from the traditional Irish breakfast. However it should include fried potato farls (potato bread) and soda farls (flat bread leavened with baking soda not yeast) - grilled or sometimes fried. It is said to be a particularly good fry, often to A small Ulster fry, including potato farls be found south of the border and even further afield. A breakfast roll is a French bread demi-baguette, filled with this kind of breakfast. The concept developed as a ready-to-go meal from convenience

stores. It was spurred on by the innovation of in-store ovens being used to cook part-baked frozen French bread. In addition to standard breakfast ingredients, it usually includes ketchup, and sometimes spicy potato wedges or other random ingredients from the hot counter, and is often used as a hangover cure due to its high grease content.

2. Ulster fry: An Ulster Fry, is a dish of fried food that is popular throughout the province of Ulster in Ireland. Some claim it as the national dish of Northern Ireland. A traditional Ulster Fry consists of bacon, eggs, sausages (either pork or beef), the farl form of soda bread (the farl split in half crossways to Ulster fry expose the inner bread and then fried with the exposed side down), potato bread and tomato. Other common components include mushrooms, baked beans, wheaten bread, and pancakes. Black pudding, and/or white pudding may be added to create an Irish breakfast, though neither are used in a traditional Ulster Fry. All this is traditionally fried up in lard, though many people use sunflower or vegetable oil these days. Despite, or perhaps because of, the comic reference of "heart-attack on a plate", many people in Ulster have taken to grilling most of the ingredients. Unlike an English fry-up or the more general form of an Irish breakfast, the Ulster fry is not just a breakfast dish, although it may well be served for breakfast, and it is often served up for lunch and dinner in households and cafés around the province. 3. Farls: A farl is a term used in Northern Ireland and Scotland for some roughly triangular flat breads and cakes, traditionally made by cutting a round into four pieces. In Northern Ireland it generally refers to soda bread and potato bread/cakes (potato farls). While soda bread can be made like normal breads, it is made into farls for use in the Ulster fry. A farl is a flat piece of bread about 3/4 inch thick with a rough quarter circle shape. A farl is made by spreading the dough on a griddle or skillet in a rough circular shape. The circle is then heavily cut into four equal pieces and cooked. Once one side is done the dough is flipped to cook the other side. In Scotland today the word is used less than in Northern Ireland, but a farl can be a quarter piece of a large flat scone, bannock or oatcake. It may also be used for shortbread when baked in this particular shape. The word may be related to fallaid in some way. However, the Dictionary of the (Lowland) Scots Language says that farl is a shorter form

of fardel, the word once used in some parts of Lowland Scotland for "a threecornered cake, usually oatcake, generally the fourth part of a round". In Old Lowland Scots fardell meant a fourth or quarter.

III – Media: 1. Ulster Television: Ulster Television plc (also referred to as the UTV Group) is a Broadcasting and New Media company in Northern Ireland. It is the Channel 3 (ITV) licensee for Northern Ireland, and the owner of UTV Radio which operates the UK Independent National Radio station talkSPORT along with several radio stations in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. 2. BBC Northern Ireland: BBC Northern Ireland (Irish: BBC Thuaisceart Éireann; sometimes called BBC NI) is a radio and television broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is the region's main public service broadcaster. It is one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's three national regions (along with BBC Scotland and BBC Wales). As well as radio and television, it also provides online and interactive TV content. It is based in Broadcasting House in Belfast city centre which is not to be confused with the BBC's main radio headquarters at Broadcasting House in London. 3. BBC Radio Ulster: BBC Radio Ulster is a BBC Radio station based in Belfast and is part of BBC Northern Ireland. It has a range of programmes including news and music shows. It was founded in January 1975, replacing what had been an opt-out of BBC Radio 4 (previously the BBC Home Service). An opt-out of the station exists in the north-west of the region called BBC Radio Foyle. This carries alternate programming and news for most of the time between 7am and 5pm weekdays and a few hours at the weekend. The station is also now broadcast on DAB Digital Radio, digital television and the internet. 4. Belfast Telegraph: The Belfast Telegraph is a daily evening newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland by Independent News and Media. Unlike its London-based stablemate The Independent, the Belfast Telegraph is conservative in outlook. In the context of Northern Irish politics, the Belfast Telegraph tries to attact readers from across the community, though it does appear to be moderate unionist in outlook. Its competitors are the News Letter and the Irish News.

According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the paper had an average daily circulation of 94,540 between June 2004 and January 2005. It is the largest Northern Irish newspaper by some distance, despite falling sales. The morning "Compact Edition", launched in March 2005, has struggled to replicate the evening newspaper's success. Its editorial content is more tabloid orientated, with a greater entertainment story count than the evening paper. The evening edition of the newspaper was originally called the "Sixth Late", and "Sixth Late Tele" was a familiar cry made by vendors in Belfast City Centre in the past. * Belfast Telegraph Group The Belfast Telegraph is the primary title of the Belfast Telegraph Group, responsible for printing: • Belfast Telegraph • Morning "Compact Edition" (Mon-Sat) • Afternoon broadsheet format "City Edition" (Mon-Fri) • Evening broadsheet format "Final Edition" (Mon-Fri) • County Edition • North West Telegraph (for the Derry Area) • Saturday compact "Final Edition" • Sunday Life • Ads for Free • Ireland's Saturday Night

5. The (Belfast) News Letter: The News Letter is one of Northern Ireland's main daily newspapers, published Monday to Saturday. It is the oldest English language newspaper still in publication in the world, having first been printed in 1737. The newspaper's editorial stance and readership is strongly unionist. Its primary competitors are the Belfast Telegraph (which is also unionist in outlook) and the Irish News which adopts a (largely) Irish nationalist perspective. The News Letter was part of the Trinity Mirror newspaper group until late-2003 when it was acquired by the 3i group advised by former Mirror Group Newspapers chairman, David Montgomery. It is now operated by a holding company entitled Local Press Ltd. 6. The Irish News: The Irish News is a Berliner-sized newspaper based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is broadly Irish nationalist and Social Democratic in outlook. Despite this, it focuses primarily on Northern Irish content, though is widely available in the Republic of Ireland.

* Northern Ireland newspaper market: Northern Ireland has two other main newspapers: • (Belfast) News Letter (morning — unionist) • The Belfast Telegraph (evening — conservative/centre-ground) Two new newspapers have recently been launched: • The Belfast Telegraph's new tabloid morning edition • Daily Ireland (Irish republican) Contrary to expectations Daily Ireland has failed to attract many readers and to date has had a negligible impact on Irish News sales. Most newspaper readers in Northern Ireland don't read the local newspapers, and instead predominantly read national United Kingdom newspapers like (tabloids) The Sun, The Mirror, and (broadsheets) The Guardian and The Times. A minority also read Republic of Ireland nationals such as the Irish Independent and The Irish Times, the former of which is becoming increasingly available north of the border. * Circulation: According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the paper had an average circulation of 50,274 between June 2004 and January 2005. Circulation & Readership Circulation 50,274 Readership Dates June 2004 — June 2005 Source Audit Bureau of Circulations

7. Daily Ireland: Daily Ireland is a daily newspaper launched in January 2005 throughout the island of Ireland to cover news stories from an Irish republican viewpoint. It is linked to the Belfast local newspaper, the Andersonstown News. Its supporters regard the paper as the first mass market Irish republican newspaper. Critics have accused it of being overly supportive of the politics of Sinn Féin, the biggest nationalist party in Northern Ireland. Some supporters and opponents have compared it to the defunct Irish Press newspaper, which was strongly associated with, and supportive of, Fianna Fáil, Ireland's largest party. A comment by the Republic's Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell on RTÉ's Questions and Answers live television debate programme, in which he claimed the newspaper was backed by the Provisional IRA and compared it to the Nazi party newspaper the Völkischer Beobachter, led to a threat of legal action for libel by the publishers of the papers. The publishers denied

his allegation and demanded its withdrawal. As some Sinn Fein supporters have been killed or threatened by loyalists, staff at Daily Ireland contend that McDowell's comments put them in danger. A member of the paper's management was later told by the Police Service of Northern Ireland that he was at risk of attack by loyalist paramilitaries. McDowell to date has refused to withdraw his comments, and told Daily Ireland he would see them in court. When they brought a suit against him in Belfast, his defence team declared that as Minister of Justice, McDowell has sovereign immunity. The case continues. In May 2005 the management of the paper denied media reports that Daily Ireland was experiencing poor circulation and was about to lay off many of its staff. This was confirmed by the paper on 14 May 2005 when it claimed that poor advertising revenue was being caused by the decision of the British government not to place advertisements in it (as it is obliged to do with papers that have reached a certain circulation), and that 30 jobs were in danger as a result. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the paper had an average circulation of 10,474 for February, March and April 2005, considerably below expectations (most county newspapers have higher sales) and well below break-even level. In contrast the Irish Independent had a circulation of approximately 160,000 and the Irish Times a circulation of 117,000. They are not universally available in Northern Ireland and so have their principal market in the Republic of Ireland, unlike Daily Ireland which was intended to be an all-Ireland newspaper. The Irish News, which is largely restricted to Northern Ireland, has a circulation of over 50,000, although new newspapers regularly start at a low base and lose money for their first couple of years. Circulation & Readership Circulation 10,474 Readership Dates Feb-April 2005 Source Audit Bureau of Circulations

8. East Belfast Observer: The East Belfast Observer which first appeared on March 4, 2004, is (as of June 2004) Northern Ireland's newest newspaper. Distributed throughout east Belfast and North Down, the East Belfast Observer has a print run of 10,000. Published weekly by East Belfast Publishing Ltd, the newspaper is relatively weak on news in comparison to regional papers, although it is strong when compared to its direct competitor, Independent News and Media's Community Telegraph. The news agenda is focussed on local issues

in the various boroughs of east Belfast with a particular focus on politics and the illegal activities of loyalist paramilitary organisations. The paper has been lauded for its coverage of local sport under the section editor, Chris Holt. Support for the local football) team Glentoran F.C. has been particularly strong. Other sport covered by the newspaper includes rugby, hockey and notable support of youth sport and kickboxing. The newspaper has had several positive feature on the local kickboxing personality Billy Murray. Though the newspaper has been an early success, it has been turbulent and relationships in the newsroom are known to be strained. In early June 2004 there were staff changes with reporter Alex Crumlin, formerly of the North Belfast News being made redundant. The picture desk was also closed with greater use being made of freelance contributors. It has been suggested that this has created further friction at the title.

9. Community Telegraph: The Community Telegraph is a free distribution newspaper published by Independent News and Media. The newspaper, a sister paper of the paid-for title, the Belfast Telegraph, was created in order to replace its direct predecessor, the now defunct Herald and Post, also a freesheet. The Community Telegraph is funded through advertising and is low on editorial content, bring more closely related to direct-mail advertising than paid-for newspapers. The Community Telegraph is distributed weekly in four editions throughout north, south and east Belfast and County Down, Northern Ireland. Its paid-for competitors are the North Belfast News and South Belfast News from the Andersonstown News group, the East Belfast Observer from East Belfast Publishing and the Bangor Spectator and Newtownards Chronicle. 10. North Belfast News:

The North Belfast News is a weekly nationalist newspaper published by the Andersonstown News group in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

11. Belfast News: The Belfast News is a weekly free-sheet spin-off from the (Belfast) News Letter. 12.Andersonstown News: The Andersonstown News is a republican tabloid newspaper, published twice-weekly on Monday and Thursday, in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Its stablemates, the North Belfast News and South Belfast News, are published weekly. The group also publishes the daily Irish language title Lá (meaning "Day"), and has shares in the Lucan Gazette. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, the Andersonstown News has an average circulation of 8,457 for the Monday edition and 16,453 for the Thursday edition. The Andersonstown News launched a new All-Ireland newspaper Daily Ireland in January 2005.

IV – Languages: There are two recognised regional languages in Northern Ireland: the Irish language (see Irish language in Northern Ireland) and the local variety of Scots known as Ulster Scots. British and Irish sign languages have been recognised since 29 March 2004. Chinese is now the second most widely spoken language in Northern Ireland, with Urdu also a significant minority language. Symbolism and traditions There is no longer an official Flag of Northern Ireland, as the 'Northern Ireland Flag' was abolished along with the Parliament of Northern Ireland in 1972. Unionists tend to use the Union flag and sometimes the Flag of Northern Ireland, while nationalists usually use the Flag of Ireland, or sometimes the Flag of Ulster. Both sides also occasionally use the flags of secular and religious organizations they belong to. Some groups, including the Irish Rugby Football Union and the Church of Ireland use the Flag of St. Patrick as a symbol of Ireland which lacks the same nationalist or unionist connotations. The flax flower, representing the linen industry, has been used as a neutral symbol - as for the Northern Ireland Assembly. St. Patrick's Day is celebrated by both nationalists and unionists, and while Belfast City Council has refused to provide any funding for the city's annual parade to date, they have promised to do so for 2006. Celebrations to mark the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne are held every Twelfth of July and draw huge crowds. The Apprentice Boys of Derry also organise commemorative events. The bowler hat is a symbol of Orangeism.

Big Ben - London

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