st. george's day

having been born in england i still carry allegiance to some of the customs and traditions that accrue to that privilege. one of those is my acknowledgement of st. george's day. in england, st. george's day also marks its national day. it is celebrated on april 23rd, as that is the traditionally accepted date of saint george's death back in 303 a.d.

now why is george so famous. well it's to do with him slaying the dragon. i checked into this and the wikipedia entry suggests that this extraordinary event took place in libya.

here's a jolly george giving a bit of stick to a diminutive dragon . . .

this is more like it . . . notice the remains of previous victims, the mightily chuffed female onlooker . . .

time was, st. george's day in england was celebrated to almost the same degree as christmas with feasting and jolly frolicking and whatever else fit the day. unfortunately, it has now faded into the mists of simple recognition. there has been a fair bit of rumbling and grumbling around george's fade into obscurity with some people clamouring for the return of the day on a grand scale and others asking the (to me) more reasonable question, why would england celebrate the death of a guy who had very little connection with the country. others such as edmund, cuthbert, and alban really have much more merit as a national saint in my own view.

anyhow, to all my english visitors. happy st. george's day!