Interestingly (you may have already seen this news) there was a poll conducted by the Publican (newspaper for pub owners/landlords, etc) that asked about making St. George's day a national holiday. It was prompted by the Guinness PR people who were doing likewise for St. Paddy. Pretty cheeky trying to get St. Pat's Day designated a holiday in England! Anyway, St. George's Day won out by a huge margin. What I found really interesting, however, was that very soon after that another poll asked whether or not St. George should be the English patron saint. He came in a distant third behind St. Alban (runaway winner) and St. Cuthbert.

My favourite view on this topic was expressed by a good friend of mine whose observation makes him--in my opinion--quintessentially English, even though he's Geordie. When asked if he'd be participating in the St. George's day parade he said "I try to avoid those things; full of god botherers and sectarians."