by Ben Fogle
Berners, Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson, 14th Baron 93–4
Betty’s Tea Room, Harrogate 7, 259–63
Blackburn, Marlene 137
Blake, William: Milton: a poem 226–7
Blazer, HMS 47
Blitz (1940–1) 29, 77, 263
Blyton, Enid 251, 276
BNP (British National Party) 8, 279, 280, 281
Boaks, Commander Bill 148–9
Boat Race 68, 73
Boden floral shirts 85
Bourke, Anthony 157, 158
bowler hat 112–13, 115
Boy’s Own Paper 166–7
Bracton, Henry de: On the Laws and Customs of England 184
Bradley, Dr Kate 195
Bragg, Billy: England, Half English 276–7
Bramble Bank cricket match, Solent 10, 117–21
Brexit 11, 216
Bridgefoot, Tony 82
Bridgewater, Francis Henry Egerton, 8th Earl of 94
Bridges, Robert 226
British identity ix, 7–8, 14, 275–6, 277–8
British Olympic Association 131
British Rail 34
Broadcasting House, London 40–4, 53
Brown, Capability 86, 224, 237, 238
Budding, Edwin 224
Burberry 102–4, 110
Burberry, Thomas 102–3
Bury Fen Bandy Club 136
Butlin, Billy 52
Cambridge Archetypals 68
Campbell, Colen 238
cardigan 112
Cardigan, Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of 112
Carlyle, Thomas 194
Carnarvon, 5th Earl of 237
Carnarvon, Lady 237–8
Carter, Henry 237
Castle Howard, North Yorkshire 238
Cerialis, Flavius 100
Channel Tunnel 51, 149
Charles, Prince 106, 111–12
Charles I, King 37–8
Chatsworth House, Derbyshire 163, 224, 238
cheese rolling 2–7, 9
Chelsea Flower Show 72, 76, 78, 79
‘Chicken Song, The’ 151–2
children’s books 164
Chipperfield’s Circus 86–7
Christian the Lion 157–8
Christie, Gus 77
Christie, John 77
Churchill, Sir Winston 112, 219
Clarke, Kenneth 107
Clarkson, Jeremy 205–6
cloth cap (Tudor bonnet) 111–12, 276
cockney rhyming slang 255–6
Coke, Edward 113
Constable, John 32
Cook, Captain James 61–2
Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling, Gloucestershire 2–6
Coren, Giles 72
Cornwall, Duchess of 163–4
Corvan, Edward: ‘The Monkey Song’ 171–2
Cotswold Olimpick Games 131–2, 137–8
Cotton, Captain Mark 107–8
Countryfile 127
Country Life 32–3
Cowper, William 36
Crabbing Championships, Walberswick, World 128–30
Cracknel, James 62, 63–4, 70, 71
Craig, Murray 180
cricket 62, 130, 157, 223, 227, 238, 275; BF and 134–6; Bramble Bank cricket match, Solent 10, 117–21; rules of 135
crisps 221–2
Crooks, Dennis 218
Cunanan, Andrew 231
Curtis, Richard 129, 130
Dahl, Roald 251, 276
Damazer, Mark 49–50
Danaos, Stavros 41, 44
Davies, Robert 181
Debrett 78
Defoe, Daniel: ‘The True-Born Englishman’ 278
Delevinge, Cara 104, 142
Denge acoustic mirrors 234–5
Desert Island Discs (radio programme) 245–6
Devonshire, Dowager Duchess of 238
Diana, Princess 106
Discovery expedition (1901–4) 63
Dixon Wright, Clarissa 163
dogs 161–4
Domoney, David 79
Dover, Robert 131
Downton Abbey (TV programme) 72, 237
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan: The Lost World 65
Drabble, Phil 163
Drake, Sir Francis 61
dress, English national 10, 99–116; Barbour 99–100, 101–2, 104–8, 110, 276; Belstaff 110–11; ‘birrus Britannicus’ 100–1; bowler hat 112–13; Burberry 102–4, 110; cardigan 112; cloth cap (Tudor bonnet) 111–12, 276; Mackintosh 102; red trousers 68–9; trench coat 103–4; umbrella 113–16; waterproof clothing, history of 99–101; wax jacket 99–101, 104–8, 276; Wellington boot 108–10
Drummond, Stuart 173
Dungeness, Kent 10, 231–6
Dyers’ Company 185, 186
Ebberston Hall, North Yorkshire 238–40
eccentricity 85–97; animals and 65, 92, 94, 156–8; aristocracy and 9, 10, 86–97, 240–
1; Baron de Rothschild 94; Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson, 14th Baron Berners 93–4; Lord Bath 86–90; Lord North 95; Lord Rokeby 94; ‘Mad Jack’ Mytton 92–3; Mark McGowan 90–2; Sir John (‘Jack’) Leslie 95; William John Cavendish-Bentinck-Scott, 5th Duke of Portland 95–6
Edgar, King 271
Edward II, King 181
Edwards, Michael (‘Eddie the Eagle’) 56–60
Elgar, Edward 49, 226
Elizabeth I, Queen 111, 272
Elizabeth II, Queen vii, ix, 7, 10, 11, 12, 27–8, 76, 78, 80–1, 106, 108, 155, 175–9, 181, 183–8, 228
Endeavour, HMS 61
English Channel 52, 232, 233
English Summer Season 67–81
European Union 11, 275, 283
Everest, Mount 26, 64
Everett, Kenny 151
explorers 60–6
extreme ironing 130, 138–40
failure, heroic 14, 55–66; Captain Cook 61–2; Captain Scott 63–4; Eddie the Eagle 56–60; George Mallory 64; Percy Fawcett 64–5
Falklands War (1982) 107–8
Farber, Paul: The Development of Taxidermy and the History of Ornithology 168
Fawcett, Jack 65
Fawcett, Lieutenant Colonel Percival ‘Percy’ 60, 64–5
Fawley Challenge Cup 71
Fawley House, Buckinghamshire 157
Fell Top Assessor 7, 24–7
Fenton, Major William de Wend 239–40
ferret-legging 136–7
Fidler, Robert 241, 242
First World War (1914–18) vii, 65, 104, 109, 206, 220
fish and chips 12, 49, 52–3, 217–21
Fish, Michael 19–20
Fitzroy, Captain Robert 45
Fogle, Ben: accent 10–11, 244; Freedom of the City of London 179; Queen, first meets 27–8; race to South Pole 63–4, 70; rows the Atlantic 27, 46, 52, 62–3, 70; Royal Navy and 46–7 see also under individual subject and event
Fogle, Ludo (son) 156, 188
Fogle, Iona (daughter) 188
Fogle, Marina (wife) 161, 231, 235, 236
food 14, 91–2, 149, 205–22; crisps 221–2; fast food 220–1; fish and chips 12, 49, 52–3, 217–21; Marmite 10, 11, 12, 14, 57, 128, 129, 205–17
football 130, 132–4, 173, 209, 227, 279–80, 282
Forester, C. S. 52
fox hunting 73, 146
Fox, Kate: Watching the English 9, 269
Fox, Uffa 118–19
Fraser, George MacDonald: Flashman novels 112
Freedom of the City 179–80, 181
Freer, Chris 119
Frobisher, Sir Martin 61
Fulford family/Fulford, Francis ‘Fucker’ 10, 240–1
Fusco, Stuart 218, 219
Garway, Thomas 265
George II, King 271–2
Gill, A. A. 72; The Angry Island: Hunting the English 66, 130, 132
Glastonbury Festival 7, 12, 37, 107, 110, 144
Glorious Twelfth 73
Glyndebourne Opera 72, 76–8
Goodwood House, Sussex 238
Grahame, Kenneth: Wind in the Willows 95–6, 251
&
nbsp; Grant, Hugh 11, 14
Great Exhibition (1851) 168
Green, Charles 61
Grenville, HMS 61
Grosberg, Harry 110
Gyarmathy, Anna 88
Hadrian’s Wall 100
Haines, Joe 84
Half a Sixpence (film) 13
Halsall, Eric 163
Hamble Sailing Club 119
Hamilton, Neil 85
Hampton Curtains 68
Hanway, John 114
Harris, William Cornwallis 164
Harrogate, North Yorkshire vii–ix, 7, 259–63
Hedgehog Foods Ltd 221–2
Helga’s Folly, Sri Lanka 9
Helvellyn, Lake District 7, 24–7
Henley Royal Regatta 67–72, 73, 75, 78
Hessian boots 108–9
Highclere Castle, Hampshire 236–7
Hill, Benny 11, 56, 141, 150
Hoby, George 108, 109
‘Hole in My Shoe’ (song) 151
Holmwood Hotel, Cowes 118–19
Holt, Leon 126
Honeycrock Farm, Surrey 241
horses 153–4, 169–70
hound trailing 161–2
Howard, Nick 238
humour 141–52; Benny Hill 150; Carry On films 150; comedy politicians 143–9; Monty Python 141, 143, 150, 151; sarcasm 142; saucy seaside postcards 150; self-deprecation 142; songs, comedy 151–2; understatement 142–3
Hunter Boot Ltd 109–10
Hyde Park, London 154, 169
immigration 278–9
Irvine, Andrew ‘Sandy’ 64
Island Sailing Club 119, 120–1
ITV 79, 151; Weather 18, 21
jackspeak (navy slang) 254–5
James Bond films 106, 115
James I, King 131, 232, 272
Jamrach, Charles 165–7
Jarman, Derek 234
Jenkinson, Anthony 61
‘Jerusalem’ (hymn) 226, 227
Johnson, Samuel: ‘Discourses on the Weather’ 31–2
Jonsson, Ulrika 20
Kennedy, John F. 115
Kennedy, Joseph 115
Kettley, John 20
Kipling, Rudyard: ‘If’ 55
Kora National Reserve 158
labradors viii, 10, 28, 84, 89, 161, 237, 276
Lake District 24–7, 178
Land Rover 10, 24, 100, 108, 112, 153, 182, 276, 281, 282
landscape 223–42; aristocratic houses/architecture 236–41; Dungeness 231–6; ‘green and pleasant land’ 226–7; lawns 223–6; Sealand, Principality of 228–31; seaside resorts 227–8
language 243–57; BF and 243–4; Cockney rhyming slang 255; jackspeak (navy slang) 254–5; Oxford English Dictionary 9, 251–3; regional dialects 253–4, 255–6; Shakespeare and 243–51; worldwide spread of/Pitcairn Island 256–7
lawns 223–6
Lees, John 220
legal system: archaic institutions and rules 181–2; Freedom of the City 179–80; New Forest Verderers 181–5; Queen’s Guide to the Sands 175–9; Queen’s Swan Marker 185–8
Lephard, Robert 82
Leslie, Sir John (‘Jack’) 95
Livingstone, Dr 143
Lock & Co., St James’s 113
London Olympic Games (2012) 20, 49, 227
London Zoo 168
Longleat, Wiltshire 86–9
Lord Buckethead 143–7
Lord’s Cricket Ground, London 73, 120, 134
Love Your Garden (TV programme) 79
Lovell, Tony 119
Lupton, Betty 259
Lygon, Margaret 239
Macintosh, Charles 102
Mackintosh coat 102
Malin, Joseph 220
Mallory, George Herbert Leigh 64
Mandela, Nelson 246
Mandler, Professor Peter 277–9
March, Lord 238
Markov, Georgi 116
Marmite 10, 11, 12, 14, 57, 128, 129, 141, 205–17, 221, 276
Mary Poppins (film) 89–90, 112
McAlpine, Sir Bill and Lady 157
McClellan, Shelly 216
McGill, Donald 150
McGowan, Mark 90–2
McKenna, Virginia 158
Merle, William 32
Merryweather, Dr George 32
Met Office 39, 42, 46, 48, 80
Mikes, George: How to Be an Alien 194
Mildmay, Audrey 77
Mill, John Stuart: On Liberty 85, 97
Milligan, Spike 142
Mitchell, Sir Peter Chalmers 168–9
Monster Raving Loony Party 148, 149
Monty Python 141, 143, 150, 151, 282
Moody, Captain Eric 143
Moore, Dr Terry 160
Morecambe Bay 7, 175–9, 181; Queen’s Guide to the Kent Sands of Morecambe Bay 175–9
Moss, Kate 107, 108, 110
Mr Fishfinger 147
Murphy, William 32
My Fair Lady (film) 31
Mytton, Mad Jack 85, 92–3
New Forest Verderers 181–5
Newton, John 36
No. 10 Downing Street 7
Norman Conquest (1066) 37, 51
North British Rubber Company 109
North, Lord 95
Oates, Laurence 63
O’Brian, Patrick 52
Old Lighthouse, The, Dungeness 231–6
Oliver, Jamie 269
One Man and His Dog (TV programme) 163–4
Operation Centaur 169–70
Orwell, George 276, 278; The English People 193–4; The Road to Wigan Pier 220
Osbaldeston, George 238–9
Oxford English Dictionary (OED) 9, 251–3
Page, Robin 163
Parry, Sir Herbert 226
Paxman, Jeremy: The English 9, 243
pets 159–61, 164, 165–6, 170
Philip, Prince 28, 106, 118, 176–7
Pile, Stephen: The Book of Heroic Failures 55
Pinsent, Sir Matthew 70, 71
Pitcairn Island, South Pacific 256–7
place names, eccentric 86
politeness viii, 12, 181, 194, 196, 200–3, 280, 283 see also apologizing
Portland, William John Cavendish-Bentinck-Scott, 5th Duke of 95–6
Portsmouth University 46–7
Prescott, John 49
Proms, The ix, 72, 227
Prospect Cottage, Dungeness 234
Providor (trawler) 218
pub 270–3
Quayside restaurant, Whitby 218, 219
Queen’s Guide to the Kent Sands of Morecambe Bay 175–9
Queen’s Swan Marker 185–8
queuing viii, 12, 80, 189–97; birth of idea 195; cricket and 134; etymology 194; festive queues 196–7; hatred of 196; jumping a 196; personal space and 196; politeness and 201; Second World War and 195; Wimbledon and 80, 115, 189–93, 196
Raffles, Sir Stamford 168
Received Pronunciation (RP) 10, 254
red trousers 68–9
Redgrave, Sir Steve 70, 71
regional dialects 253–4
Rendell, John 157–8
Richardson, Tom 119
Richmond Ferret Rescue League 137
Richmond Park 169
Rimell, Raleigh 65
ring-necked parakeets 170–1
Robinson, Cedric 176–9
Rokeby, Lord 94
Roman Empire 51, 100–1, 176, 225, 271, 282
Room 101 (TV programme) 113
Rothschild, Baron de 94
rowing 27, 46, 52, 62–3, 67–8, 69–71, 188
Royal Ascot 68, 72, 75, 78, 80–1
Royal Britannia Naval College, Dartmouth 47
Royal Household Cavalry 7; summer holiday 153–6
Royal Meteorological Society 33
Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) 53
Royal Navy 17, 44–5, 46–7, 51, 230, 254–5
Royal Parks 169
Royal Society of London 61
RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) 158–9
rugby 130, 133, 134, 276
Ruskin, John 17
safari tourism 164–5
Salazar, Mauro 11
Scott, Captain Robert Falcon 60, 63, 64, 276
Screaming Lord Sutch 147–8
Sealand, Principality of 228–31
seaside holidays/resorts 52, 150, 153–6, 219, 227–8
Second World War (1939–45) viii, 2, 102, 109–10, 111, 195, 206, 220, 229–30, 263, 270
Shackleton, Ernest 56, 60, 103, 276
Shakespeare, William 50, 243–51; Hamlet 246; Richard II 50, 153; words added to English language 246–50
Shaw, Phil 138, 139
sheep dog trials 162–4
shin-kicking 137–8
Shipping Forecast (Radio 4) 39–51, 53, 276
Shufflebottom, Tom 121
Silly Season (August news stories) 81–4, 160
Skelton, St John 208–9, 210, 211, 212–14
Skyfall (film) 106
Smith, Sophie 121
Smythson, Robert 86
Soanes, Zeb 50
Solent 10, 117–21
South Pole 63–4, 70, 103
Spa Sweethearts Women’s Institute vii–ix
Spanish Armada (1588) 37
Speyer, Sir Edgar 63
Spitting Image (TV programme) 151–2
sport/games 117–40; bandy 136; Bramble Bank cricket match 117–21; Cotswold Olimpick Games 131–2, 137–8; cricket 117–21, 134–6; English invention of 130–1; extreme ironing 138–40; ferret-legging 136–7; football 132–4; rugby 134; shin-kicking 137–8; World Crabbing Championships, Walberswick 128–30; World Worm Charming Championships 121–8
St George’s Cross ix, 276, 279–80
Stagg, Group Capt J. M. 32–3
Stanley, Henry Morton 143
Stevenson Screen 32, 33, 34
sturgeon, Queen and 181, 184
Summer Season, English 67–81
swans, Queen and 185–8
Tatler 72
tea vii, ix, 259–70; British consumption of 265; ‘Everything Stops for Tea’ (song) 263–4; Betty’s Tea Room, Harrogate 7, 259–63; brewing the perfect cuppa 268–70; history of 260, 261–2, 265, 269, 270; milk, adding 261–2, 270; sugar and 269; tea tasters 265–8
Tebbutt, Charles 136
teeth 12, 14, 57
Tennyson, Alfred, Lord: ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ 112
Terra Nova Expedition (1910–12) 63
Thompson, William 238
Throssell, Reg 83
Thynn, Ceawlin 89
Thynne, Sir John 86
Titchmarsh, Alan 79
Today programme (radio programme) 40
Travers, Bill 158
Turner, J. M. W. 37
Twinings 217, 269
Typhoo 265–7
umbrellas 12, 13, 14, 113–16
Verasamy, Lucy 18–19, 20–2, 23–4, 28
Victoria, Queen 158–9, 167–8
Victory, HMS 47
Vintners’ Company 185–6