King Edgar and the Dee: the Ceremony of 973 in Popular History Writing

Abstract

WHEN ABROAD and faced with a question on nationality, a subject of Her Britannic Majesty tends to provide different answers according to the circumstances in which the question is asked. If the question is put officially, as when he enters the country, the answer is most likely that he is 'British'. Relaxing in the bar of an evening with other foreign guests, he is more likely to say English, Scottish or, probably less often, Welsh. This ambiguity suggests that the concept of 'Britishness' hardly exists at anything deeper than a culturally superficial, legal, level. The feeling is echoed by the ability of such a relatively small nation to field three separate national teams in sports such as rugby, and even when a national team exists it is usually called the 'English' not the 'British' team. There are parallels with, as yet largely peaceful, tensions in countries like Spain, uneasily containing the independent-minded Catalonia, which are only recently being recognised. What does 'Great Britain' amount to in the popular mind?This article does not attempt to explore the whole history of the Union and attitudes to it, but considers the treatment of one historic episode in that context. The Act of Union has attracted surprisingly little attention in general histories, considering its importance in ending the centuries old rivalry and hostility between two old enemies. Some studies of the British constitution simply ignore it: this may seem extraordinary, but as we shall see there was some justification for doing so. 1 Elisabeth Wicks has given us the most recent and detailed study, in which she explored the purpose and rationale behind the Act. It was born of pressing needs on both sides: for an opening to English markets (including the colonies) on one side, and to secure a dangerous northern frontier on the other. 2 It was not an exercise in mutual affection. Its first article declared That the two kingdoms of England and Scotland shall upon the first day of May, which shall be in the year of one thousand, seven hundred and seven, and for ever after, be united into one Kingdom by the name of Great Britain. 3 1 For one student history which managed to avoid mention of the Act