If England was what England seems
And not the England of our dreams
But only putty, brass and paint
How quick we'd drop her.
But she ain't
I think most British folk will know who wrote that. Well, there's only one contender for verse like that isn't there?
ps. St George is really big in Genoa too - a city covered with his flags. They told me there that King Richard II (The Lionheart) had been wrecked on the ironbound coat nearby (San Fruttuoso) returning from a crusade and was so astonished and grateful at his miraculous survival that he declared he would adopt the local saint as England's own, which turned out to be St George.
I doubt this is more than a local folk tale though it is a nice one.