Saint George's Day

“ The days when a great noble could change the fortunes of the day by withdrawing his vassals or transferring himself and them, on the eve of the fight, to the opposing party, were over, and men fought no longer in the interests of Warwick or of Percy, but in the cause of England and beneath the banner of St. George, the national Patron Saint.
"Thou, amongst those saints whom thou dost see, Shall be a saint, and thine own nation's frend And patron: thou Saint George shalt called bee, Saint George of Mery England, the sign of victoree." ”

“ George’s Day.| In some parts of Silesia the might of the witches is believed to be at the highest pitch on St. George’s Day. The people deem the saint very powerful in the matter of cattle-breeding and especially of horse-breeding. At the Polish village of Ostroppa, not far from Gleiwitz, a sacrifice for horses used to be offered at the little village church. ”

“ George's Day, April 23rd, has too long been suffered to pass almost unregarded. The annual festivals of St. Andrew, St. Patrick, and St. David are never overlooked by the members of the various nationalities, and it seems distinctly a thing to be regretted that the Englishman should allow the name day of his Patron Saint to pass unnoticed. [9] Whatever conduces to the recognition of national life is valuable, and anything that reminds Englishmen of their common ties and common duties—and reminds them, too, of their glorious heritage in the past—should scarcely be allowed to fall into disuse. ”

“ The Crusaders, including our Richard I., all invoked his protection. In 1348 Edward III. founded St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, and used the saint’s name when besieging Calais and routing the French. The effect of St. George’s name was so marked that he was adopted as the patron saint of England in lieu of Edward the Confessor. In 1349 the Order of St. George was instituted. In 1545 the saint’s day was made a red-letter day, with a proper collect, epistle, and gospel, in the services of the Church. Many of the great painters have shown their skill in representing the legend. ”

“ Then Datian became fiendishly angry,
and bade seize on the sorcerer, who had there believed in God,
and bring him out of the city, and instantly behead him.
Again on the second day the wicked emperor commanded
George to be bound on a broad wheel,
and two sharp swords to be set against him,
and so to be drawn up, and shoved backwards.
Then George commended himself boldly to God;
Deus in adiutorium meum intende; domine, ad adiuuandum me festina.
'Give heed, O God, to deliver me, make haste now to help me, O Lord' [Ps. lxx. i] . ”

“ George’s-Day has far more cause for vexation than you. The little respect usually paid to her celebration is eclipsed by the uproar of yours. “The Tower and Park guns proclaim so many big thundering fibs upon her anniversary” for you; and you call her, your elder sister, a “naughty kept creature;” poor thing! How eloquent is her silence compared with your loquacity! how dignified! yet she has antiquity to boast of—the antiquity of many generations, while you at the utmost, are only of sixty-three years standing; indeed, as the King’s-birth-Day, you are not halfway to your teens. ”

“ George's Day (the twentythird of April) , the young people deck with flowers and garlands a tree which has been felled on the eve of the festival. The tree is then carried in procession, accompanied with music and joyful acclamations, the chief figure in the procession being the Green George, a young fellow clad from head to foot in green birch branches. At the close of the ceremonies the Green George, that is an effigy of him, is thrown into the water. ”

“ Gradually the Adriatic became more clear and more gentle, approaching the green hue of the first leaves of the new shoots of willows. Alone, the red sails, as superb as if they were of purple, broke the diffused light.
"It's a holiday," thought George, dazzled by the splendid sunset, feeling palpitate around him the joy of life. Where does the human creature breathe for whom the whole day, from dawn to twilight, should not be a Holiday consecrated by some new conquest? ”

“ The rival of Athanasius was dear and sacred to the Arians, and the seeming conversion of those sectaries introduced his worship into the bosom of the Catholic church. The odious stranger, disguising every circumstance of time and place, assumed the rank of a martyr, a saint, and a Christian hero; and the infamous George of Cappadocia has been transformed into the famous St. George of England, the patron of arms, of chivalry, and of the garter. ”

“ A day came, however, when he was walking alone in the evening, and realised that the spring was all around him, that life was before him, that he was young and strong and in perfect health. George loves nature, which has on him a tranquillising effect and fills him with the joy of life ”

“ Andrew's Day every man in town wears a thistle and shakes hands with everybody else, and you see the fine old Scotch honesty beaming out of their eyes.
And on St. George's Day!--well, there's no heartiness like the good old English spirit, after all; why shouldn't a man feel glad that he's an Englishman? ”

“ One day we shall shout with joy at the result. God's providence led George and his mother through deep waters of affliction, but the hand of God was in it all and gave a blessing at the end."
"And what became of George, grandpa?"
"He grew up to be a man." ”

“ His thundering roar shall fill the earth with fear, and the flames of his nostrils shall set the sky afire. At the eclipse of the moon we shall be wedded, and at the eclipse of the sun I shall give birth to a Saint George, who shall slay me. ”

“ Let be, let be! in yonder line
All names are burned away.
Land of his love! the fame be thine,
It is St. George's Day.
Henry Newbolt
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1928.
This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works. ”

“ Rule thou in peace, our father and our lord!
'Midst the remembrance of thy favors past,
The meanest peasants most admire the last. [1]
May George, beloved by all the nations round,
Live with Heaven's choicest, constant blessings crowned. ”

“ As if to make this quite clear, the Slavs of Carinthia carry a tree decked with flowers in the procession in which Green George figures; and the ceremonies in which the leaf-clad masker takes a part plainly indicate that he is thought to stand in intimate connexion with rain as well as with cattle. This counterpart of our Jack in the Green is known in some parts of Russia, and the Slovenes call him Green George. Dressed in leaves and flowers, he appears in public on St. George’s Day carrying a lighted torch in one hand and a pie in the other. ”

“ Years had told upon George more than they had upon Philip, and, though there were no touches of grey in the flaming red of his hair, the bloodshot eyes, and the puckered crowsfeet beneath them, to say nothing of the slight but constant trembling of the hand, all showed that he was a man well on in middle-life, and who had lived every day of it. ”

“ Saint George and the Princess Cleodolinda led the dragon into the market-place, followed by the wondering crowd; and there Saint George drew his sword and cut off the head of the hideous monster. Then were the people sure that they were indeed delivered from their great enemy for ever, and they burst forth into wild rejoicings. They would have given all they possessed to Saint George in their joy and gratitude; but he told them that the only reward he desired was that they should believe in the true God, and be baptized Christians. ”

“ Every nation has its own patron saint whom the people love to honour, and who is looked upon not only as their protector in war and peace, but as a model of all that is best and highest and most worthy to be copied in their own lives.
Ever since the days of the Crusades, when our lion-hearted King Richard went to fight the infidels in the Holy Land, the special saint whom England has delighted to honour has been Saint George. ”

“ A king represents the majesty of the public welfare, and maintains the dignity of the throne whereon he is placed by promoting the interests of the people. His present Majesty regards your, and their, and his own, interest by remembering you, when you are not entitled to especial recollection with another day in the almanac, and this remembrance stands in April 1825, thus—
23. S. St. Geo. K. b. d. k.
St. George’s-Day does not supersede you ”

“ On the sixteenth of August, the King embarked at Orange-Holder, and landed two days afterwards at Greenwich. Every ship in the river saluted the royal vessel as it sailed, and multitudes thronged the banks of the Thames, uttering loud acclamations of joy at the arrival of the monarch. Yet George the First, a man of plain understanding, without ambition, the romance of monarchs, felt, it is said, that he had arrived to claim a crown not his own, and had an uncomfortable notion all his life, that he was somewhat of a character to which nature had little disposed him, an usurper. ”

“ He could not picture him as blowing his trumpet beside the moon, or wearing a golden crown as in "The Seven Brothers." He had never heard of "The Seven Brothers," and nobody in the world wore crowns except kings. As for the old eagle, it is doubtful whether George had ever felt the symbolism of his presence on a silver coin, or that he had ever linked him in his heart with God. ”

“ The popularity of St George in England has never reached the height attained by St Andrew in Scotland, St David in Wales or St Patrick in Ireland. The council of Oxford in 1222 ordered that his feast should be kept as a national festival ”

“ O Lord our God, who upholdest and governest all things by the word of thy power; Receive our humble prayers for our Sovereign Lord GEORGE, as on this day set over us by thy grace and providence to be our King; and, together with him, bless, we beseech thee, our gracious Queen Mary, Alexandra the Queen Mother, Edward Prince of Wales, and all the Royal Family; that they, ever trusting in thy goodness, protected by thy power, and crowned with thy gracious and endless favour, may long continue before thee in peace and safety, joy and honour, and after death may obtain everlasting life and glory ”

“ Surely, when the books are opened and the last log is read, when the overlooker calls our names and reads out the indictment “Lacking culture,” we may stand up manfully and answer as clearly as we can, “Lord, we had our business in great waters.”
XII
In such wise, I imagine, will George the Fourth reply. He is an admirable foil to the Most Wonderful Man on Earth. He regales you with no false sentiment; he is five feet ten in his socks, and he is clamorously indignant when you suggest that he will one day “get married.” He considers love to be “damned foolishness,” and despises “womanisers.” ”

“ This was king George the Third’s birth-day, and therefore during his reign was kept at court, and in many towns throughout the kingdom.
At Bexhill, on the coast of Sussex, where the inhabitants, who scarcely exceed 800, are remarkable for longevity and loyalty, on the 4th of June, 1819, they celebrated the king’s birth-day in an appropriate and remarkable manner. Twenty-five old men, inhabitants of the parish, whose united ages amounted to 2025, averaging eighty-one each (the age of the king) dined together at the Bell Inn, and passed the day in a cheerful and happy manner. ”

“ In which we find out that truthfulness is a great virtue.
To-day we are going to talk about a little boy named George Washington. His mother and father lived on a large farm, and George’s life was just like that of other boys. He played games and learned to read just as boys do to-day. George was very fond of pretending to be an [316] Indian warrior. One day while playing that he was a chief of the tribe he picked up his father’s hatchet to use as a tomahawk. After pretending that he had killed many wild animals, he walked through the orchard where the young fruit trees had been planted. ”

“ The landlord kindly gave him leave to sit and work in the light garret, two pair of stairs higher. In this garret, amid six or seven other workmen, his active mind employed itself in composing the Farmer’s Boy.” George, with filial piety and fondness, tells of his mother’s pains to imbue Robert’s mind in infancy with just principles. “As his reason expanded,” continues George, “his love of God and man increased with it. ”

“ Then she sprinkled him with the water of life, and George rose up again, as if he had been born anew, as fresh as a stag, and youth beamed from his countenance. ‘Oh, how heavily I have slept!’ said George, and rubbed his eyes. ‘Yes, indeed, you have slept heavily,’ said Goldenhair; ‘and if it hadn’t been for me, you wouldn’t have waked for ever and ever.’ When the old king saw that George had come to life again, and that he was younger and handsomer than before, he wanted to be made young again also. ”

“ The day arrived—the party of young noblemen and gentlemen met, and were as happy and jovial as men could be. George was never seen so brilliant, or so full of spirits; and exulting to see so many gallant young chiefs and gentlemen about him, who all gloried in the same principles of loyalty (perhaps this word should have been written disloyalty) , he made speeches, gave toasts, and sung songs, all leaning slyly to the same side, until a very late hour. ”