To think most of what people call “British” is actually borrowed from other cultures?

I do think Scots / Welsh / Northern Irish have various bits of unique culture. It’s not quintessentially British though.

I do think people say this when they mean English and I don’t know what else people expect? It was pretty much a colonised nation for a thousand years. They all l brought their influence romans, Vikings, Germanic tribes and then the Normans. The English language itself is a hodgepodge of Germanic and French. Waves of invasion displaced the older Celtic culture and so it’s just been a bit mixed ever since.

Well English has borrowed from many other languages but there’s something called English.

I don’t think you’re onto much here, except that people visit other countries, discover new things there, which are subsequently absorbed into British culture.

I think we can all agree to that.

People are being a bit argumentative on here and seem to be (deliberately?) missing the OP's point.
I think, OP, you mean the sort of swivel-eyed loon who goes on social media to huff and puff about 'Londonistan' and how they don't like seeing black people in the street because in their grandparents' day everyone was white. In their eyes there is a pure British tradition and culture, and it's narrow and homogeneous.
Clearly a lot of 'British' culture is shaped by its history, for better or worse.
I'm with you in believing that the UK's diversity and pluralism is what makes it as rich and exciting as it is.

I agree they are sometimes Victorian revivals rather than true survivals, but where I grew up there was regular maypole dancing by school children (great fun to watch), Mayday processions, well-dressings ( remnant of sacred spring worship), and beating the bounds.

I live in the countryside. I don’t dress wells or dance round maypoles. I would be amazed if any of those traditions are still carried on by country people without the encouragement/organization of “down from Lunnons”

This is a highly suspect narrative pushed by many archaeology and history documentaries. Once, we learned about invasions by Romans, Saxons, Vikings and Normans. Now some (particularly the Saxons) of these events are presented as migrations instead. Well…they certainly involved people entering Britain from other countries, but the idea that the locals welcomed them, gave up their land to them and got along famously is a bit Disney.

Humans are a barbaric lot today so why would they be any different in the past?

And the fact that Hogmanay is more of an event in Scotland is because the Presbyterian church suppressed the celebration of Christmas, so the Scots moved their main mid-winter festival to NYE.

I find all this stuff fascinating!

Oh for goodness sake. Can we stop with this nonsense that we’re a nation of immigrants and always have been. Yes, we’ve been invaded a few times a thousand years ago but the numbers were TINY. The entire population of England in 1066 was under 2 million.

Until the Second World War there was minimal immigration. So the whole melting pot nonsense is no more than 75 years old.

I suppose it’s because the contemporary things are alive and happening all around us and easily accessible. The old things are only known to older or well-educated people and need to be promoted, interpreted and even explained to be understood in their historical context.

Eventually those new things will become old things though!

This is why, when I was teaching music at a not-very-affluent primary school, I used to include lots of classical, folk and world music. I didn’t dismiss contemporary pop, but the children were already immersed in that and had no trouble accessing it. What their families would never have introduced them to were the older genres.

Well Jesus and his friends and relations are Jewish, for sure. Like tea, however, you can’t be even vaguely aware of the reformation and the King James Bible and the Royal Family's role in the modern church and not think England has its own very special version.

Although ultimately the great specialness of Brit Culture is religious tolerance.

What I mean is this: people living in cities are not going to automatically think of dancing round the maypole on May Day, or the annual craft & produce show, or beating the bounds of the village, or the local pancake race, or well dressing as traditions, whereas people living in the countryside will. The English don't celebrate Burns Night, only the Cornish do the Floral Dance, lacemaking is a tradition in some counties, the folk of London are well versed in royal pomp and circumstance, and the annual New Year fireworks display on the Thames. As for swan upping... well, that's a weird one.

The majority of cultural traditions tend to be regional and whether you are rural or urban, don't they?

Many, including established media, are blaming Craig however. My socials feeds are full of posts in which images of white, working-class supposedly foolish flag-wavers are used as shorthand for The Problem.

The Problem is older than Tory or Labour policies - it's how societies change i.e. people currently with power and resources make decisions that materially affect people without them. The Problem is endless.

Life on these islands has been changing so rapidly on multiple fronts that more people may feel they had no say in decisions made or stake in their outcomes - and consensus to try to enact policies for a whole nation has gone, we live in our subcultures now.

I thought Kier Starmer's comment about an island of strangers was a good comment on cultural fragmentation. Typically he swithered and withdrew it, choosing not to address The Problem.

Craig, though, is real - he's just done my bathroom.

Interested in “the inventor of modernity”. Do you mean the Industrial Revolution?

What have the Romans ever done for us?

Don't forget spotted dick!

@LandRites I don't by any means blame a fictional "Craig", although I have seen this kind of narrative. I would however say that the many actual concerns I hear about immigration are often about the loss of jobs and services (if I ignore the outright racism and islamaphobia of some bigger names on the far right). Things that I would say are due to the remnants of various Tory governments - e.g. housing crisis, recession, loss of jobs, privatisation and loss of industry, underfunded NHS. This is by no means a "Craig" problem. The Prime Minister himself has called us an island of strangers and and vowed to stop the small boats. It's easier for those with power and money if we blame each other and scapegoat immigrants and, indeed, "Craig".

lol….. apparently the Chinese copied it from wasps about 2000 years ago. Chinese history is just incredible. Apparently before that, they used silk, bamboo and parchment.

Industrial Revolution

And the Chinese didn't even invent paper - they stole the idea from wasps.

as the inventor of modernity...

Is this a line from some 'history' textbook?

What exactly does it mean?

That’s the history of the whole world, not a single unique to Britain.

The fact remains that as a force for good, and as the inventor of modernity, Britain’s legacy has been a positive one of which we should be proud, and should be grateful for. A little gratitude for those who went before us, and enabled us to live freely in this marvellous place, would not go amiss.

Ah, Greggs. Something everyone can rally round 😁

Christianity is middle - eastern.

Good point!

It’s similar story with the traditional British spud!

YANBU, OP.

I think you have had a very hard time on this thread and some PP's have arguably strayed away from 'traditional British politeness' which is quite ironic.

By the way, English is officially classified as a Germanic language.