Bloody foreigners: the story of immigration to Britain by Robert Winder. Abacus, 2005.
Immigrants tend to be entrepreneurial risk-takers and rule-flouters, with a keen sense of individual liberty. Migration can also be forced, either directly (war, famine, political) or indirectly (poverty).
The first settlers of the UK, some 25,000 years ago, probably came from the south. Later waves of settlement followed from the Rhine basin; from southern Europe (dark colouring); and the Celts (fair skin and red hair) from east of the Alps. (Those with dark 'Celtic' colouring are actually likely to be Mediterranean in origin). The Romans forced the local tribes (including the Brythonic, from which we get the term Britons) to the edges of the country in Cornwall (and overseas to Brittany), Scotland and Wales. The Roman army had few Italians; the majority of the troops were Gauls, Hungarians, Germans and some North Africans.
The next invasions were from Northern Germanic tribes - Jutes from northern Denmark, Angles from central Denmark and Saxons from northern Germany, and Vikings. The Celtic language all but vanished and Latin was little used. The Norman (themselves Danish in origin) invasion formed the basis of the English aristocracy. Since this time there have been many migrants over the centuries.
In the 12th century came Dutch textile workers; also Jewish money lenders, though tensions eventually led to their expulsion in 1290. In the 13th century the migrants were Italian financiers, German, Dutch, Italian and French traders and craftsmen. The first gypsies were recorded in c. 1480.
The next centuries saw religion influencing migration. The French Huguenots fled persecution, especially from 1685; the French textile and allied trades suffered from the loss of skills. Then Dutch and Germans brought printing and paper making and artists. At the Restoration of the Monarchy, German and Prussian scholars were joined by Jews fleeing persecution in Europe. When Willam III took the throne, Dutch migrants followed.
In 1709, the Poor Palatines (farmers) came from Germany, fleeing persecution from the new (Catholic) Elector; some intended to go further and try their luck in America. The Hanoverian period saw the arrival of Germans, Dutch, Italians and some Jews from north and eastern Europe. The formation of the East India Company resulted in small numbers of Indians being brought back as servants and seamen, as did the slave trade with African servants. The Acts of Emancipation took down the barriers to immigration (1829 Roman Catholics and 1853 Jews).
In Europe, Britain had a reputation for being a good (if grudging) friend to the displaced. The 19th century saw 'clever' refugees from the failed continental revolutions of 1848: Italy, France, Hungary, Poland and Russia. Victoria's marriage to Albert saw further German migration. Italians first came as street urchins (organised by gang-masters), builders and allied trades; later Italian migrants sold ice-cream and fish and chips. The Irish came as seasonal workers and manual labourers, especially at the time of the Potato famine in the 1840's (Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1707 to 1922).
The 20th century saw a Jewish exodus from Poland, Russia, the Baltic and Eastern Europe. There was a drift of Chinese seamen and African and Caribbean students, plus doctors, lawyers, scholars and entrepreneurs from India. More Jews came in the 1930's as the Nazi party gained power; some went on the the USA. After WW2, some Poles stayed on, while West Indians came for better prospects (and to fill labour shortages). Indians, especially Anglo-Indians, arrived after the India/Pakistan partition in 1948. Hungarians fled the Soviet takeover (1956) and Cypriots fled the Greek/Turkish partition. Other groups were actually or virtually expelled from their home countries: Asians from Kenya (1967) and Uganda (1971), Chinese via Hong Kong (1960's) and Vietnam (1970's). More recent immigrants have been refugees from war-torn areas and economic migrants from Eastern Europe.
Germany and Italy are both federations of once competing sovereignties, while the US is a mix of recent immigrants; Europe is currently promoting the federal model not separate nations. In contrast, in other places ethnic pride has been at the forefront and resulted in enmity: India v Pakistan; Isreal v Palestine; Cyprus; Sri Lanka; Hutu v Tutsi in Rwanda. This should raise warning signs over the current separatist feelings in Scotland and Wales.
Children of migrants are more outgoing than their parents but the next generation occasionally revive rather than abandon the convictions of their grandparents. It seems that the original immigrants need to die before their descendants can accept themselves (or be accepted) as British. Most earlier migrants were keen to blend in, but some recent migrants are not so keen: examples are fundamentalist Muslims who wish to retain Islamic culture and laws, and the northern Punjab Muslims who are reluctant to sever ties with their homeland and family-based culture.
The 2001 Census showed that 7.9% of the population had an ethnic origin, but of these more than half were born in the UK. Immigrants do tend to cluster in certain areas, such as large cities, but are often uncommon in more rural communities. The Census also showed that the population of Scotland had declined by 2% as people moved to London. Headlines on immigration issues rarely note that nearly as many people emigrate each year.
Policies to govern immigration often backfire. Restrictions on short-term economic migrants and human rights acceptance of re-uniting families led to more young men settling and then bringing in wives and children. Since there is a clear correlation in recent British history that when unemployment rises, immigration falls, there could be an argument for self-regulation. Migrants do tend to have larger families; 'British' families remain at an average of 2.4 children. There has been more acceptance of, and actual rates of, 'cross-breeding' in the UK than in other cultures.
RW noted that Irish Aran jumperes were a marketing invention by a German entrepreneur in the 1930's. He chose Aran as the name of a new knitwear range after seeing a documentary on the island. When Irish wool proved unsuccessful, they were made in the Scottish Hebrides.
My note: Kilts were originally loose-fitting, full body and short-skirted garments, similar to Roman togas, that can be traced back to ancient times. Worn exclusively by male warriors in the Scottish highlands, they were made of a checked wool fabric that came to be known as tartan. (Tartan is an old Spanish word that originally described a type of cloth, irrespective of whether it was patterned.) At this time, clans or tribes did not claim specific patterns or colours as their own. However, in 1739, the British military began to organize Highlanders into regiments that wore specific tartans as part of their uniforms. Soon after Sir Walter Scott's novel Waverley (pub. 1814) became famous, a commission in London created an official register of clan tartans. Many clan leaders sent samples of whatever they had in the attic. Other tartans came from fabric manufacturers such as Wilson & Son of Bannockburn, who more or less invented designs for customers. Most of today's clan tartans were invented by weavers and revisionist authors using fabricated 'historic' sources in the early 19th century.
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