The History of the Neck in Britain
The
history of the neck in Britain is somewhat of an elusive subject,
prone to wild speculation and hearsay. As this will attempt to be
a purely narrative
piece, such idle imaginings will be kept to a minimum and the facts
of the matter will be made as prominent as possible.
It
is impossible to relate the history of the neck in Britain without
first mentioning the history–its invention, popularization
and refinement–behind
the pressure to adopt it. How the neck came about, how it changed
over time and how it spread throughout the civilized world is just
as important
to its role in British history as the factors relating to its introduction.
Evidence
from temple carvings and relief pictograms give credence to the notion
that the first people who made wide-spread use of the
neck were
the Egyptians. Though it is not certain if the Egyptians actually
invented the neck or if it was adopted from a sub-Saharan tribe,
it is known that
the availability and use of the neck by the common man in ancient
Egypt was a major factor in their rise to power. Greater visual
range in battle
and better observation of fields allowed the Egyptians to both
dominate their enemies in war and out-produce any of their rivals in
terms
of agriculture.
Plato
is known to have purchased a neck on his trip to Egypt and he displayed
it proudly above his toga a practice which
was later
adopted by his followers
whose necks can be seen in their busts.
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The
next stage in the spread of the neck was its rapid spread throughout
the Mediterranean after being adopted by Roman centurions while on campaign
in Greece. With the Roman Empire the neck spread and was popularized
as the legions advanced throughout Europe and the Middle East. The Germanic
tribes, the Spaniards, North-Africans and Arabs were all quick to adopt
the neck having realized its advantages in virtually all areas of life.
This
is where the history of the neck in Britain first begins to directly
involve Britain. After having concurred any given area, the Romans typically
were resident in that geographical region for several hundred years.
This gave the local people great exposure to the neck and allowed its
peaceful dissemination throughout the indigenous population. However,
in the case of Britain, the Romans were only present for a short period
of time, during which the neck was common, but after which virtually
no evidence of neck use is been found.
After
the fall of the Roman Empire, communication within Europe ground to a
halt which set the stage for neck differentiation. The French, Spaniards,
Germans, Greeks and Italians all developed their own distinct style of
neck, man of which became national symbols. The four red horizontal stripes
on the flag of Catalonia, in Spain, are representative of the necks of
four brave fighters who lost their lives fighting for its independence.
During
the renaissance, neck usage was restricted to the middle and upper-class
who almost uniformly adopted the French neck, which had undergone the
highest level of neck refinement during the dark ages. During this time,
many artists and poets used necks to free their heads from the constraints
of the body and allow their creative expression to flow. Leonardo Da
Vinchi even showed that the human body could only make a perfect circle
and square, if its head was perched on a neck.
After
the renaissance, when neck usage again returned to the lower classes,
France elected to restrict its usage further to only the aristocratic
level of society, a move, which, as history shows, was their downfall.
The
reason why Britain resisted adopting the neck, even during the renaissance
also had to do with France. Anti-French sentiment, and thus, anti-French
neck sentiment, created during the hundred years war was bolstered by
the squabbling over colonies that took place in the sixteenth to eighteenth
century. This sentiment prevented the adoption of the popular French
style neck and caused the population of the British Isles to be anti-neck
in general. It was not until the French revolution, when riotous mobs
began distributing the hoarded necks of the aristocrats to the general
population did the question of a British neck arise.
By
this time neck development in Britain was quite far behind the rest of
the world, but many British entrepreneurs were determined to create a
neck both as functional and advanced as those of France. From 1800 to
1850 neck development in Britain progressed at a rapid rate, aided by
the steam-powered workshops and factories of post industrial revolution
England. Developing a functional and suitable neck was not easy and only
in 1850 did Sir Alfred Windy succeed in creating a functional and distinctly
British neck.
The
popularization of the neck in Britain was aided, in part, by the fashions
of the Victorian period. High collars enabled noblemen and the British
middle class to obscure their newly purchased necks from public view.
During this time, any man seen with a bare neck in public would be subject
to the cries of small children: “Get rid of the neck you fucking
frog!”, a phrase indicative of lurking anit-french-neck sentiment.
As the middle class grew the use of the neck increased until any man
- or woman, for the neck is the second great equalizer, alongside death – could
display his neck without fear of reproach.
Sadly,
some families in Britain still have not adopted the neck, mostly out
of tradition and pride. However, in place of it, many British families
have begun experimenting with large, functional ears and teeth. Though
these are only in the prototype stage early examples can be seen on Prince
Charles. Now that it seems that the neck if firmly rooted in Britain,
it is impossible to tell what the British will be able to accomplish.