|
Borogravia Map
Borogravian government Borogravia is headed by duke or a duchess, who inherists her position as sovereign. He or she is also the country's religious leader. During Duchess Annagovia's reign, the belief that the leader could also transmit believers' wishes to the god Nuggan gained footing, and the people began to pray to their hidden duchess. It's unclear what kind of a government is formed around the ruler, but it seems to have stopped functioning decades ago. The Duchess Annagovia had no issue, and has not been seen for a very long time. Officially in mourning, Annagovia is instead dead, and Borogravia leaderless. Borogravia's war continued because the army's High Command kept the army functioning as an army should, without asking for a ruler's permission to protect the country, squabble over borders, or avenge raids.
Army The Borogravian army is headed by its High Command, which in turn is headed by General Froc. The Tenth Foot, Light Infantry, which boasts the Monstrous Regiment, is nicknamed the Ins-and-Outs. Other regimental nicknames include Side-to-Sides and Backwards-and-Forwards. The uniform
The Shilling Note: The tradition of the shilling and the colours of the uniform hark to the army of Great Britain, strictly speaking England, in the 19th century and before. There were certainly other countries with red and white uniforms, but England's uniforms were more consistently of that colour up until after the Crimean War, when it became apparent that bright uniforms were not a good idea in a war where the ability to conceal the soldiers was of some value.
Lowlanders and highlanders ...with more Zs and Vs in it than any lowlander could pronounce. There have been mentions of lowlanders and highlanders in Discworld before, to differentiate people who live on the Ramtops and people who, well, don't. In Borogravia's case, though, the terms seem to be differently applied. Borogravia is set in the Ramtops, near Uberwald, and has vast forested areas. There's not much more we know about it's geography, so it's not easy to say whether parts of Borogravia are considerd highlands and part lowlands. It's not entirely impossible that "lowlanders" here mean foreigners who live in lower lands, but it's more likely that there are in fact two types of Borogravians. This is suggested by the fact that there are different types of names in Borogravia, which suggests two languages, or two peoples living in the same nation. There are the English-sounding names such as Polly, Tewt and Blouse, and Slavic-sounding names such as Vlopo and Annagovia. To make things even more confusing, there are names that sound German to me - Hausegerda, Munz. The capital city's name seems to celebrate the confusion - PrinceMarmaduke (English) Piotr (Russian) Albert (international) Hans (German or Nordic) Joseph (spelling English) Bernhardt (German) Willhelms (spelling German) berg (Nordic)! There is a Borogravian language which is not the same as Ankh-Morpork's language, and on which the national anthem was written, but now apparently they all speak Ankh-Morporkian, as do the Zlobenians. Ankh-Morpork's human residents have mostly English-sounding names, so if we assume that Morporkians and Borogravians speak "English" (of course there is no England on Discworld), the old Borogravian language has fallen into disuse. So we must assume that Borogravia's original (Slavic?) culture was overtaken by immigrants from the Circle Sea area. It would make sense that these immigrants and the original Borogravians are still separated in lose ethnic groups called lowlanders and highlanders.
Outside links |