Perfidious Albion
|
|
"Perfidious Albion" means "treacherous Britain" ("Albion" deriving for the pre-Roman name for Britain). The phrase was coined in a poem of 1793 by Augustin, Marquis of Ximenez, who wrote, "Attaquons dans ses eaux la perfide Albion". It was popularised in 1813 when it was used as a recruiting slogan for the Napoleonic war.