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Man
of Kent or Kentish Man?
places
feature
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Which are you?
| Which
are you? |
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Which are you? A Man of Kent or a Kentish Man?
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We do of course
mean Maids of Kent and Kentish Maids too but, as is often the case, these
references to the people of Kent were 'gendered' a long time ago...
So, which is which?
Well, it's quite straightforward. A Man of Kent comes from the area to the
east of the River Medway and a Kentish Man comes from the west of the river.
Pubs on either side of the divide have often adopted appropriate names.
For example, there is a pub in East Peckham called 'The Man of Kent'...
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And
an explanation?
The division may have arisen when the Jutes, who settled in Thanet
over 1,500 years ago, moved into the area we know as Kent, calling
one part East Centingas and the other West Centingas.
A few hundred years later, it appears that the Men of Kent resisted
William the Conqueror more stoutly than the Kentish Men, who weakly
surrendered!
Afterwards, according to Alan Major in 'A New Discovery of Kent
Dialect', the bravery of the Men of Kent made them proud while Kentish
Men were believed to be weak-minded, and so a keen rivalry developed.
Today, native-born Kentish Men and Men of Kent guard their birthright
with great pride, and "foreigners" immigrating merely
to take up residence are not normally or readily admitted to either
clan.
BBC South East Today's weather presenter Kaddy-Lee-Preston spoke
to historian Bob Ogley about the divisions in the county.
 Listen
to Bob Ogley's explanation
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