WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2216, 13 June 1908, Page 1

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

[To thu Editor.]

Sir, —The iDunedjii “Star” correspondent, who objects to the American absurdity—.as he calls it-—Britisher, must be hard to please in the matter of names. It really would be difficult .to find a word which we could apply to natives of all sections of the United Kingdom without raising a protest from sonic of them. AVe meet people from Ireland, Scotland, 'Wales, oven Cornwall, who impress on us tho importance of their own particular patchof earth, and to whom tho name “Englishman” is anything but a compliment.. Others want all the inhabitants of the three (or is it four?) Kingdoms called by the generic mnie of Englishmen, yet will always refer to the British Empire, 'British army, British fleet, etc.. But a man who claims to have been born in New Zealand, and whose immediate ancestors were natives of so many different parts of Pile Empire, .to insist on being called an Englishman betrays an extraordinary panping spirit. And he is proud to think of himself as an Englishman first and a Now Zealander afterwards. Then to satisfy him, those who have had tho fortune—or would he call it misfortune—to bo born hero, Should, if asked as to their nationality, reply, “An Englishman, born in New Zealand.

The mord Britisher, though, seems ,to mo singularly appropriate. to ‘tho football team now in Now Zealand. It includes a large proportion of Welshmen, descendants of the ancient Britons, some of them can speak the old British (Celtic) language, ,and three words in their battle cry hopelessly defeat all our .attempts to pronounce them. I don’t .think many of the team will kick at being called Britishers. It is not a very euphonious word, but the names of the "United Kingdom do not readily lend themselves as foundations of words pleasing to the ear. 'Englishman, Irishman, Scotchman, or- Welshman are just as harsh and awkward as Britsher, and none nearly so well describes all of them. I.f the ancient and honorable word Briton came into more general use, it would fill a long felt want. .Any Englishman, .Britisher, Irishman, Celt, .Scot, who objects to being called a Briton, should be recommended to change his nationality.—l am, etc., “COSMO.”