Ethnic and all that.

I checked 'ethnic' in the Oxford dictionary and sure enough one of its meanings applies to me and any others with generations of ancesters Salopian born and bred. Here it is... 'denoting origin by birth or descent rather than nationality'. If there was a choice on the passport application form I would enter Salopian instead of English, or place of origin... the Welsh border.That is both true and romantic and certainly more meaningful. We Salopians ( I assume a liberty here) who live close to Wales are neither English nor Welsh. Our accents have a Welsh lilt noticeable when we travel to foreign parts ie. London and the South.
'Welsh are you?. 'No, no.' 'Well, you sound Welsh' . That's no insult as our ancesters have frequently moved backwards and forwards across the border as we do for shopping, for business and leisure and we do appreciate all things Welsh. But in the deepest heartlands of Wales our Englishness sticks out like a Union Jack fluttering among an array of Welsh dragons. A true Welshman would never take me for a compatriot. If there is a need to be labelled or fit into a niche in society which has a nationality tag I find it difficult to claim to be of English origin.What have I in common with the England portrayed by the T.V , the B.B.C news and the newspapers? Not much, just the language. For the true Salopian there is no place like home in the hills of the Welsh borders and no more accurate label than Salopian.
Musing over famous names associated with the county several pop into mind without much effort. Mary Webb, our literary equivalent of Thomas Hardy, Wilfred Owen, Thomas Bray, Edith Pargeter, Captain Webb, Sir Roland Hill, Edith Pargeter, Darwin. So although it is an agricultural county with the largest percentage of farmers per head of population, it has its share of great men and women. It is a fair and pleasant place to dwell and we who live here count ourselves most fortunate.