From Celtic culture to Norman wisdom, the English should delight in their hybridity | Letters

The origins of the English nation long preceded the Anglo-Saxons, says Rev Dr Richard Cleaves. Plus a letter from George Nicholson

Rev Dr John Caperon, writing about the Bayeux tapestry’s visit to Britain, appears to think that “the real origins of the English nation” lie in the “pre-1066 Anglo-Saxon culture” (Letters, 9 June).

This is utterly outrageous. A little respect is due to the Danelaw and the Vikings, to the Celts of the fifth, sixth and seventh centuries, to the continental, Middle Eastern and north African Roman occupiers, and to the iron-age Celts.