A Man of Kent?...............................

[10ClarionSt]

.......................or a Kentish Man? Why the difference? I know it refers to which side of the Medway you were born, but why does it matter? Is it a status thing? Local rivalry? Does anyone know the origin?

[jno]

I've copied this over from another website,
http://www.angelfire.com/tn/goldengreen/manoke nt.html
- looks like quite a touchy subject

The division may have arisen when the Jutes, who settled in Thanet over 1,500 years ago, moved into the area we know as Kent, calling on part East Centingas and the other West Centingas. There have been two Kent dioceses since AD605 - Canterbury (East Kent) and Rochester (West Kent). Unfortunately, it appears that the Men of Kent resisted William the Conqueror more stoutly than the Kentish Men, who weakly surrendered. Afterwards, according to Alan Major in A New Discovery of Kent Dialect, the bravery of the Men of Kent made them proud while Kentish Men were believed to be weak-minded, and so a keen rivalry developed.