God's Own Country

God’s Own Country, is a phrase that is used to refer to several places such as the United States, New Zealand, Kerala, India and Yorkshire. Abbreviated to Godzone or less often Godzown, the term has been used for more than 100 years by New Zealanders to describe their homeland. It has subsequently been adopted by some other countries, notably Australia, but this has declined as the phrase has become increasingly associated with Kerala, India.^{[citation needed]} In recent years the phrase has been adopted as a slogan by the tourism department of the Kerala state government in India as people started to explore more places outside the traditional tourist spots.

Early uses

United States

The phrase found sporadic use to describe several American regions. It was used by the Confederate army to describe parts of Tennessee in the 1860s.^[1] The phrase was also used to describe California in the 1860s,^[2] and by Clement Laird Vallandigham to describe the land of the Mississippi plains ^[3] None of these remained a widely used to describe a region, though it is still occasionally used to describe the United States overall.^[4]

Elsewhere

Before its American usages, the expression had been used to describe the Wicklow Mountains of Ireland by Edward du Bois under the pseudonym "A Knight Errant" in 1807,^[5] and in a poem describing the English county of Surrey in 1839.^[6] The phrase was also used in its more literal meaning to refer to Heaven, in a poem by Elizabeth Harcourt Rolls Mitchell in 1857.^[7]

New Zealand

The earliest recorded use of the phrase as applied to New Zealand was as the title of a poem about New Zealand written by Thomas Bracken.^[8] It was published in a book of his poems in 1890, and again in 1893 in a book entitled Lays and Lyrics: God's Own Country and Other Poems.^[9] God's Own Country as a phrase was often used and popularised by New Zealand's longest serving prime minister, Richard John Seddon. He last quoted it on June 10, 1906 when he sent a telegram to the Victorian premier, Thomas Bent, the day before leaving Sydney to return home to New Zealand. "Just leaving for God's own country," he wrote. He never made it, dying the next day on the ship Oswestry Grange.^[10] Bracken's God's Own Country is less well known internationally than God Defend New Zealand which he published in 1876. The latter poem, set to music by John Joseph Woods, was declared the country's national hymn in 1940, and made the second national anthem of New Zealand along with God Save the Queen in 1977.

Australia

In Australia, the phrase "God's own country" was often used to describe the country in the early 1900s, but it appears to have gradually fallen out of favour.^[11] The phrase "God's Country" is often used to describe the Sutherland Shire in southern Sydney.^[12]

Rhodesia

The phrase "God's own country" was heard during the 1970s in Rhodesia (formerly: Southern Rhodesia, now: Zimbabwe), where most people perceived the land as beautiful despite the ongoing Bush War of the time. Evidence of the phrase being used earlier in reference to Rhodesia is found in Chartered Millions: Rhodesia and the Challenge to the British Commonwealth by John Hobbis Harris, published 1920 by Swarthmore Press (refer to page 27). The phrase "Godzone" is distinctly different and was not used in Rhodesia.

Kerala, India

Official logo of the Kerala Government Tourism Department.

Kerala is a state in south-west India, which is a top tourist destination. The National Geographic's Traveller magazine names Kerala as one of the "ten paradises of the world"^[13][14] and "50 must see destinations of a lifetime".^[15] Travel and Leisure names Kerala as "One of the 100 great trips for the 21st century".^[14]

United Kingdom

Scotland

Scotland is also referred to as 'God's Country' because of the beautiful landscapes and countryside.

Yorkshire, England

In the United Kingdom the phrase is commonly used by people to describe Yorkshire, England's largest county.^[16][17][18] This is used interchangeably with God's Own County.^[19][20][21]

The phrase is used by the British author Ross Raisin as the title of his debut 2008 novel, which is set in the Yorkshire countryside.^[22]

United States

The term "God's Own Country" has been used to refer to the United states.^[23]

References