• 24th June 2011

We’re all in this together!

Spluttering retired colonels all over Britain have been popping their monocles this week at the news of research by geneticists from University College London which suggests that as many as half of Britons have German blood, as a consequence of Anglo-Saxon migration after the fall of the Roman Empire. So how has the nation as a whole reacted?

The Daily Telegraph’s story on the topic generated over 850 comments, many along the lines of ‘actually, that’s OK, I quite like the Germans’. There is of course the usual amount of online bickering, quibbling over bits of research and general hurling of abuse.  The selection below reflects the diversity of the response.

And the latest news: “Bear deposits brown stuff in woods!”  Why do they think the British have been referred to as Anglo-Saxons for all these years, it would appear everyone knew this fact apart from the researchers.  Zarzax

I have always wondered why my arm shoots out at 90 degrees when I click my heels together. Judgejuryandexecutioner

Could we find out who they are and put them in charge of running the economy? Grumpy old Ben

This survey only tested Y chromosones . The much more thorough studies by Brian Sykes in ‘Blood of the Isles’ and Stephen Oppenheimer’s ‘Origins of the British’ proves conclusively that British DNA ( both Y and Maternal) contains only 5% of Anglo Saxon DNA , and that 85% of our DNA is from the first hunter gathers who came here after the ice age 16,000 years ago. So we are not German at all and this article is just EU propaganda .  Fairedgar

How dare anyone suggest that I am anything other than PURE ENGLISH! My ancestors left Lille in France with William the Bastard and marauded along the West coast of Europe, before settling in Wales where their children have since married the local Danes, Celts, Vikings, and Dutch mercenaries…. As for my Y chromosome I have checked it and it sure doesn’t look German to me.  Confusus

Meanwhile the Daily Mail took the line that the Germans didn’t just migrate here, they crossed the North Sea ‘raping and pillaging’, but the 350 comments its article provoked are comparatively restrained. Some can’t avoid mentioning the war, but even more are basically just shrugging their shoulders, and saying ‘what’s new?’

We English ARE the Germanic invaders… why do you think the Anglophobic Scots call us Sassenach (Saxons)… and the Welsh anthem sings of defence against the Saxons? That’s us. English is a Germanic tongue. Mike

A story about Germans without any mention of Nazis or concentration camps? What’s going on? John

If we are German then how come we keep losing at football! Sam

I thought that everybody was from Nairobi? Ron

And finally, the Sun. Which actually used the story as an excuse for a typically witty ‘How German are you?’ quiz (sample questions below). A lot of the mostly appreciative comments under the article are actually from Germans!

What is your favourite number?

A. Seven.

B. Eight.

C. Nein!

Wearing leather trousers and slapping your thighs is OK only if…

A. You are a rock star or Russell Brand.

B. You are Max Mosley.

C. You fully appreciate what a magnificent traditional dance form it is.

Is the engine of your car…

A. Being held together with red Post Office elastic bands.

B. Getting you from A to B, thank you very much.

C. The benchmark for precision engineering.