Scone or Scone?

This newsletter looks at Old England Christendom, but it’s amazing how the environment of Dark Ages England still has an impact on the Anglo-sphere today; everything from our language, concepts of justice and our sensibilities and attitudes.

Along with talking about the Old English retelling of the Bible and looking at the early English saints, I’ll also show how the Old English culture still impacts us today.

Have you ever wondered why the English queue, why they are obsessed by ‘fair play’ and why they prize the English eccentrics? Then you will enjoy this light hearted addition to the newsletter.

So we will start with the question around whether a scone is said as scone or scone?

It seems that every so often, the question as to how an English person says scone comes up in conversation.

Should it be pronounced scone as in bone or scone as in gone? Which is the correct way to say it?

And a strange observation to add to this, is that there isn’t a firm divide in the country. If you travel only a few miles, you will sometimes find variations with the pronunciation.

I think, it is not the answer which is important, but the question. If the other person understands the cultural significance of the question, then the questioner knows that the other person is English. It’s like a secret test, that only someone in the ‘English club’ will know about.

This difference in pronunciation was first seen in a poem published in the early 1900s, but it was likely in the cultural milieu before this.

But I think there is a deeper layer.

Anglo-Saxon Roots

Even though this phenomena is barely 100 years old, I think this question has deeper cultural roots. And roots which can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon world.

Over 1,000 years ago, England was inhabited by several tribes. There was a delicate balance between the different groups; the Celts, the Romano-British, the Anglo-Saxons and the Danes. No one could declare an all out war, as they would likely lose to the combined strength of the other three.

Unlike in Scotland, we’re they wiped out their Pictish co-inhabitants, the English developed a way to co-exist.

So within the mindset of the English, they developed tolerance. But it is a peculiar tolerance compared to Modern British culture. This tolerance is summed up with phrases like, ‘keep your nose out of other people’s business’ or ‘it doesn’t cost anything to be polite’.

By asking the Scone question, the questioner is saying, “Isn’t it funny how we say scone differently and it doesn’t matter, because we are having a conversation.” And if they are part of a conversation, then they are connecting.

It’s a very English way of including others by opening up a conversation without overstepping local cultural boundaries and causing possible offence.

It’s like talking about the weather. It doesn’t matter what the weather is doing, just opening up a conversation automatically connects people together. So next time you find yourself discussing scones, don’t forget to take it to the next level and ask, “which is first, cream or jam?”

(BTW - Scone is pronounced like bone, due to the presence of the magic ‘e’ 😜)