Isn’t it strange that the continent has always looked at England in much the same way that England looks at us? Cowboys, hicks, barbarians... uncouth... while generically speaking, the opposite is more likely to be true.
And as another thought, if one takes the analogy that nations are often thought of as female, and in applying human characteristics (which is fair, as an aggregate of it’s citizens), perhaps there is something to be said for the ‘catholic girls’, and ‘preacher’s daughter’ thing. Perhaps those who are righteous have further to fall, so they often attain a greater speed before the resulting (and more spectacular) crater. Just sayin’
Not really. Only the French, Spanish and to a lesser extent the Germans looked at the English in that way
On the contrary, the Portuguese and the Italians have been close friends to the English, the Portuguese have an alliance with the English since the 1200s and the upper-class Italians before WWII were Anglo-philes (which incidently, along with the fact that the lower classes were strongly pro-American explains why the Italians didn't really have any heart in fighting -- especially since they really didn't like the Germans (remembering Austrian occupation), they only didn't like the French (as the French took Marseilles from them in 1870))
The Poles were Anglophiles from the 1800s onwards (and Francophiles earlier when they thought Napoleon would help them regain their independence after the Partitions)
The Russians were also quite pro-English.
What you are describing is what we in the Anglo-Saxon world think, whereas in reality "the continent" that we think of is really just "France" -- the French and English have been blood-brothers fighting for 1000 years.
Cowboys, hicks, barbarians... uncouth... while generically speaking, the opposite is more likely to be true. -- strictly speaking about the Brits versus the Western Europeans, TODAY the Brits of TODAY are uncouth compared to the French or Germans (which says a lot as the French/Germans of today aren't great). imho the Brits during the 1800s and until the 1960s were the opposite -- they thought the continent was uncouth in comparison and to a large extent they were correct.
Not so much righteous as pomposity. Let's take the example of the Brits in India in the 1800s and then in the 1850s. in the 1800s they were well-liked and they saw the Indians as equals, hence their empire grew. however, the idea of British-Israelism grew and the despise of the wog grew and in a way led to the 1857 rebellion.
Pomposity -- Pride, the vice that is the most pervasive.