THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT

It would not be too much to say, in sooth, that the British Lion’s strength is largely built up on a combination of fried haddock and pieces of potato cooked in melted fat.  Why? Nobody knows.  It’s like asking a man to explain why he smokes.  He can’t do it, any more than the inhabitants of Great Britain can explain why they can’t get away from fish ’n’ chips.  Give the Frenchman his boiled frogs, and the Chinaman his toasted birds’ nests, but whatever you do, don’t take away our fish ’n’ chips.

‘P.A.S.’ (1924) in Gray/Cods, 2024