Mercia

Sunday, October 19th, 2008

I was born in Birmingham in the West Midlands but I was raised in, what was then a small town, Tamworth in Staffordshire. I look on Tamworth as my home town.

In the 600's to 900's AD, Tamworth was the capital of a kingdom called Mercia, the largest kingdom in the land at the time. One of its rulers, Offa, was famous for constructing a dyke along the border with Wales and for his relationship with Charlemagne.

Edward the Elder, considered by some to be the first king of England, was crowned in Tamworth; he was the son of Alfred the Great of Wessex and ruled all England south of the Humber. This was after the death of Ethelfleda, his sister who ruled Mercia for many years. She is alleged to have built the mound on which the current Norman castle stands. She was also the subject of my junior school's song.

Edward had a son and Ethelfleda looked after him. His name was Athelstan. He went up North and whacked the Scots; he received fealty from the Welsh kings and smacked the Danes. A shadowy figure in many ways but not for nothing was he called rex totius Britanniae - King of All Britain. Well that's pushing it a bit but in my eyes and those of many others, he was the first true king of all the English.

I am not shouting for Mercian independence but do you not wonder why I smile at all these 'johnny come latelys' clamouring to be nation states? For we, the Midlanders were the first masters of this island (for no Romans ever contained the Scots) and don't you forget it.

We don't moan about our lot, we don't complain and we certainly do not expect this world to provide us with a living. We just get on with it.