Britannia and the British Empire what Marianne is to France or perhaps what Columbia is to the United States. Britannia became a very potent and more common figure in times of war, and represented British liberties and democracy. During the 1990s the term "Cool Britannia" (drawn from a humorous version by the Bonzo Dog Band of the song "Rule Britannia", with words by James Thomson [1700–1748], which is often used as an unofficial national anthem), was used to describe the contemporary United Kingdom. The phrase referred to the fashionable scenes of the era, with a new generation of pop groups and
Britannia (1783 Saltcoats ship) Britannia (1783 Saltcoats ship) Britannia, was a vessel launched in 1783 at Saltcoats. She made two voyages in the African slave trade, grounding at Liverpool in 1793 after the first, and having a French privateer capture her in 1795 during the second. First slave voyage "Lloyd's Register" for 1793 shows "Britannia"s master as J. James, her owner as Gregson, and her trade as Liverpool-Africa. She had undergone a thorough repair in 1792. A database of slave voyages from Liverpool shows that "Britannia", Joseph James, master, and John Gregson, owner, had sailed her for West Central Africa and St. Helena on