Customs and traditions in Britain
From Scotland to Cornwall, Britain is full of customs and traditions. A lot of them have long stories. Some of them are funny and others are strange, but they are all interesting. They are all part of the British way of life.
Every nation and every country has its own traditions and customs. Traditions make a nation special. Some of them are old-fashioned and many people remember them, others are part of people’s life. Some British customs and traditions are known the entire world.
From Scotland to Cornwall, Britain is full of customs and traditions. A lot of them have very long histories. Some are funny and some are strange. But they are all interesting. There is the long menu of traditional British food. There are many royal occasions. There are songs, saying and superstitions. They are all part of the British way of life.
You cannot really imagine Britain without all its traditions, this integral feature of social and private life of the people living on the British Isles that has always been an important part of their life and work.
English traditions can classified into several groups: traditions concerning the Englishmen’s private life (child’s birth, wedding, marriage, wedding anniversary); which are connected with families incomes; state traditions; national holidays, religious holidays, public festival, traditional ceremonies.
What about royal traditions? There are numerous royal traditions in Britain, some are ancient, and others are modern.
The Queen is the only person in Britain with two birthdays. Her real birthday is on April 21st, but she has an “official” birthday, too. That is on the second Saturday in June. And on the Queen’s official birthday, there is a traditional ceremony called the Trooping of the Color. It is a big parade with brass bands and hundreds of soldiers at Horse Guard’s Parade in London. A “regiment” of the Queen’s soldiers, the Guards, march in front of her. At the front of the parade there is the regiment’s flag or “color”. Thousands of Londoners and visitors watch in Horse Guards’ Parade. And millions of people at home watch it on television. This custom is not very old, but it is for very old people. On his or her one hundredth birthday, a British person gets a telegram with congratulations from the Queen.
The changing of the Guard happens every day at Buckingham Palace, the Queen’s home in London. The ceremony always attracts a lot of spectators – Londoners as well as visitors – to the British capital.
So soldiers stand on front of the palace. Each morning these soldiers (the “guard”) change. One group leaves and another arrives. In summer and winter tourists stand outside the palace at 11:30 every morning and watch the Changing of the Guard.
Traditionally the Queen opens Parliament every autumn. But Parliament, not the Royal Family, controls modern Britain. The Queen travels from Buckingham Palace to the Houses of Parliament in a gold carriage – the Irish State Coach. At the Houses of Parliament the Queen sits on a “throne” in the House of Lords. Then she reads the “Queen’s Speech”. At the State Opening of Parliament the Queen wears a crown. She wears other jewels from the Crown Jewels, too.
Every year, there is a new Lord Mayor of London. The Mayor is the city’s traditional leader. And the second Saturday in November is always the day for the Lord Mayor’s Show. This ceremony is over six hundred years old. It is also London’s biggest parade.
The Lord Mayor drives to the Royal Courts of Justice in a coach. The coach is two hundred years old. It is red and gold and it has six horses.
As it is also a big parade, people make special costumes and act stones from London’s history.
In Britain as in other countries costumes and uniforms have a long history.
One is the uniform of the Beefeaters at the tower of London. This came first from France. Another is the uniform of the Horse Guards at Horse Guard’s Parade, not far from Buckingham Palace. Thousands of visitors take photographs of the Horse Guards.
Britannia is a symbol of Britain. And she wears traditional clothes, too. But she is not a real person.
Lots of ordinary clothes have a long tradition. The famous bowler hat, for example. A man called Beaulieu made the first one in 1850.
One of the British soldiers, Wellington, gave his name to a pair of boots. They have a shorter name today – “Wellies”.
Maundy Money
Maundy Thursday is the day before Good Friday, at Easter. On that day the Queen gives Maundy money to a group of old people. This tradition is over 1,000 years old. At one time king or queen washed the feet of poor, old people on Maundy Thursday, but stopped in 1754.
The Queen’s Telegram
This fairly new custom assures aspiring centenarians that they will receive a birthday telegram from the queen on their one-hundredth birthday. On his or her one hundredth birthday a British person gels a telegram from the Queen.
The Birthday Honors list and the New Year Honors list:
Twice a year at Buckingham Palace, the Queen gives lilies or honor once in January and once in June.
Honors received include:
C.B.E. – Companion of the British Empire
O.B.E. – Order of the British Empire
M.B.E. – Member of the British Empire
These honors began in the nineteenth century, because then Britain had an empire.
Knighthood – a knight has “Sir” before his name. A new knight kneels it front of the Queen. She touches first his right shoulder, then his left shoulder with a sword. Then she says “Arise, Sir….and first name, and the knight stands”.
Swan Upping
There is a very special royal tradition. On the River Thames there are hundreds of swans. A lot of these beautiful white birds belong, traditionally, to the king or queen. In July the young swans on the Thames are about two months old. Then the Queen’s swan keeper goes, in a boat, from London Bridge to Henley. He looks at all the young swans and marks the royal ones. The name of this -strange nut interesting custom is Swan Upping.
On the River Thames there are hundred’s of swans and lot oil these beautiful while birds belong, traditionally, to the king of queen. In July, the Queen’s swan keeper sails up the River Thames, from London Bridge to Henley, lie looks at all the \young swans air marks the royal ones.
University boat race
One of the most interesting competitions is the university boat race.
Oxford and Cambridge are Britain’s two oldest universities. In the nineteenth century, rowing was a popular sport at both of them. In 1829 they agreed to have a race. They raced on the river Thames and the Oxford boat won. That started a tradition. Now, every Spring, the University Boat Race goes from Putney to Mortlake on the Thames. That is 6,7 kilometres. The Cambridge rowers wear light blue shirts and the Oxford rowers wear dark blue. There are eight men in each boat. There is also a “cox”. The cox controls the boat. Traditionally coxes are men, but Susan Brown became the first woman cox in 1981. She was the cox for Oxford and they won.
London to Brighton Car Rally
An annual British tradition, which captures the imagination of the whole nation is the London to Brighton Car Rally in which a fleet of ancient cars indulges in a lighthearted race from the Capital to the Coast.
When the veteran cars set out on the London – Brighton run each November, they are celebrating one of the great landmarks in the history of motoring in Britain – the abolition of the rule that every “horseless carriage” had to be preceded along the road by a pedestrian. This extremely irksome restriction, imposed by the Locomotives on Highways Act, was withdrawn in 1896, and on November of that year there was a rally of motor-cars on the London – Brighton highway to celebrate the first day of freedom -Emancipation Day, as it has known by motorists ever since.
Emancipation is still on the first Sunday of the month, but nowadays there is an important condition of entry – every car taking part must be at least 60 years old.
The Run is not a race. Entrants are limited to a maximum average speed of 20 miles per hour. The great thing is not speed but quality of performance, and the dedicated enthusiasts have a conversation all their own.
Highland Games
The Highland Games – this sporting tradition is Scottish. In the Highlands (the mountains of Scotland) families, or “clans”, started the Games hundreds of years ago.
Some of the sports are the Games are international: the high jump and the long jump, for example. But other sports happen only at the Highland Games. One is tossing the caber. “Tossing” means throwing, and a “caber” is a long, heavy piece of wood. In tossing the caber you lift the caber (it can be five or six meters tall). Then you throw it in front of you.
At the Highland Games a lot of men wear kilts. These are traditional Scottish skirts for men. But they are not all the same. Each clan has a different “tartan”. That is the name for the pattern on the kilt. So at the Highland Games there are traditional sports and traditional instrument – the bagpipes. The bagpipes are very loud. They say Scots soldier played them before a battle. The noise frightened the soldiers on other side.
Wimbledon
The world’s most famous tennis tournament is Wimbledon. It started at a small club in south London in the nineteenth century. Now a lot of the nineteenth century traditions have changed. For example, the women players don’t have to wear long skirts. And the men players do not have to wear long trousers. But other traditions have not changed at Wimbledon. The courts are still grass, and visitors still eat strawberries and cream. The language of tennis has not changed either.
Holidays of Great Britain
There are only six public holidays a year in Great Britain, that is days on which people need not go in to work. They are: Christmas Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Spring Bank Holiday and Late Summer Bank Holiday, Boxing Day.
New Year
New Year is often launched with a party – either at home with family and friends or a gathering in the local pubs and clubs. Merry-making begins on New Year’s Eve and builds up to midnight. The stroke of midnight is the cue for much cheering, hooting, kissing and drinking toasts. Tradition has it that the first person over the threshold on New Year’s Day will dictate the luck brought to the household in the coming year. This is known as First Footing. At midnight on 31 December, particularly in Scotland and Northern England, “first footers” (traditionally a tall, dark, good-looking man) step over the threshold bringing the New Year’s Luck.
The first footer brings a piece of coal, loaf and a bottle of whisky. On entering he must play the fuel on the fire, put the loaf on the table and pour a glass for the head of the house, all normally without speaking or being spoken to until he wishes everyone “A happy New Year”. He must, of course, enter by the front door and leave by the back.
In Wales the back door is open to release the Old Year at the first stroke at midnight. It is then locked up “to keep luck in” and at the last stroke is let at the front door.
In Scotland the New Year remains the greatest of all annual festivals. Called “Hogmanay” (a word whose meaning has never been satisfactory established), it’s marked by the evening of drinking merrymaking, culminating at the stroke of midnight when huge gathering of people at Edinburgh’s Tron Kirk and Glasgow’s George Square greet the New Year by linking arms and singing “Auld Lang Syne”.
In England people celebrate the New Year. But it is not as widely or as enthusiastically observed as Christmas. Some people ignore it completely and go to bed at the same time as usual on New Year’s Eve. Many others, however, do celebrate it in one way or another, the type of celebration varying very much according to the local custom, family tradition and personal taste.
The most common type of celebration is a New Year party, either a family party or one arranged by a group of young people. And another popular way of celebrating the New Year is to go to a New Year’s dance.
The most famous celebration is in London round the statue of Eros in Piccadilly Circus where crowds gather and sing and welcome the New Year. In Trafalgar Square there is also a big crowd and someone usually falls into the fountain.
Every Year the people of Norway give the city of London a present. It’s a big Christmas tree and it stands in Trafalgar Square. Also in central London, Oxford Street and Regent Street always have beautiful decorations at the New Year and Christmas. Thousands of people come to look at them.
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In Britain a lot of people make New Year Resolutions on the evening of December 31st. For example, “/’// get up early every morning next year”‘, or “/’// clean, my shoes every day”. But there is a problem. Most people forget their New Year Resolutions on January 2nd.
But New Year’s Eve is a more important festival in Scotland then it is in England,, and it even has a special name. It is not clear where the ‘Hogmanay’ comes from, but it is connected with the provision of food and drink for all visitors to your home on 31s* December.
There is a Scottish song that is sung all over the world at midnight on New Year’s Eve. It was written by Robert Burns, the famous Scottish poet, and you may find some of the traditional words a bit difficult to understand, but that’s the way it’s always sung -even by English people!
It was believed that the first person to visit one’s house on New Year’s Day could bring good or bad luck. Therefore, people tried to arrange for the person of their owm choice to be standing outside their houses ready to be let in the moment midnight had come.
Halloween
Halloween (31 October) and its associations with witches and ghosts derives from the Celtic Old Year’s Night – the night of all withes, when spirits were said to walk to earth.
Withes and supernatural beings are still remembered all over Britain on Halloween, when bands of children roam the streets in ghoulish costumes, carring special lanterns – pumpkins hallowed out with a ghostly face cut into one side, which glows when a candle is placed inside.
In recent years the custom of ‘trick and treating’ has gained in popularity. Although we commonly associate this practical with America, the custom originated in England as ‘Mischief Night’ when children declared one ‘lawless night’ of unpunished pranks (usually May Day eve or Halloween).
Halloween parties (usually for children) include games such as apple bobbing, where apples are either floated in water or hung by a string. The object of the game is for the players to put their hands behind their back and try to seize an apple with their teeth alone.
On October 31st British people celebrate Halloween. It is undoubtedly the most colorful and exciting holiday of the year. Though it is not a public holiday, it is very dear to those who celebrate it, especially to children and teenagers. This day was originally called All Hollow’s Eve because it fell on the eve of All Saints’ Day. The name was later shortened to Halloween. According to old beliefs, Halloween is the time, when the veil between the living and the dead is partially lifted, and witches, ghosts and other super natural beings are about. Now children celebrate Halloween in unusual costumes and masks. It is a festival of merrymaking, superstitions spells, fortunetelling, traditional games and pranks. Halloween is a time for fun.
Few holidays tell us much of the past as Halloween. Its origins dateback to a time, when people believed in devils, witches and ghosts. Many Halloween customs are based on beliefs of the ancient Celts, who lived more than 2,000 years ago in what is now Great Britain, Ireland, and northern France.
Every year the Celts celebrated the Druid festival of Samhain, Lord of the Dead and Prince of Darkness. It fell on October 31, the eve of the Druid new year. The date marked the end of summer, or the time when the sun retreated before the powers of darkness and the reign of the Lord of Death began. The Dun god took part in the holiday and received thanks for the year’s harvest.
It was believed that evil spirits sometimes played tricks on October 31. They could also do all kinds of damage to property. Some people tried to ward of the witches by painting magic signs on their barns. Others tried to frighten them away by nailing a piece of iron, such as a horseshoe, over the door.
Many fears and superstitions grew up about this day. An old Scotch superstition was that witches – those who had sold their souls to the devil – left in their beds on Halloween night a stick made by magic to look like themselves. Then they would fly up the chime attended by a black cat.
In Ireland, and some other parts of Great Britain, it was believed, that fairies spirited away young wives, whom they returned dazed and amnesic 366 days later.
When Halloween night fell, people in some places dressed up and tried to resemble the souls of the dead. They hoped that the ghosts would leave peacefully before midnight. They carried food to the edge of town or village and left it for the spirits.
In Wales, they believed that the devil appeared in the shape of a pig, a horse, or a dog. On that night, every person marked a stone and put it in a bonfire. If a person’s stone was missing the next morning, he or she would die within a year.
Much later, when Christianity came to Great Britain and Ireland, the Church wisely let the people keep their old feast. But it gave it a new association when in the 9th century a festival in honor of all saints (All Hallows) was fixed on November 1. In the 11th century November 2 became All Souls’ Day to honor the souls of the dead, particularly those who died during the year.
Christian tradition included the lighting of bonfires and earring blazing torches all around the fields. In some places masses of flaming stew were flung into the air. When these ceremonies were over, everyone returned home to feast on the new crop of apples and nuts, which are the traditional Halloween foods. On that night, people related their experience with strange noises and spooky shadows and played traditional games.
Halloween customs today follow many of the ancient traditions, though their significance has long since disappeared.
A favorite Halloween custom is to make a jack-j’-lantern. Children take out the middle of the pumpkin, cut whole holes for the eyes, nose and mouth in its side and, finally, they put a candle inside the pumpkin to scare their friends. The candle burning inside makes the orange face visible from far away on a dark night – and the pulp makes a delicious pumpkin-pie.
People in England and Ireland once carved out beets, potatoes, and turnips to make jack-o’-lanterns on Halloween. When the Scots and Irish came to the United States, they brought their customs with them. But they began to carve faces on pumpkins because they were more plentiful in autumn than turnips. Nowadays, British carve faces on pumpkins, too.
According to an Irish legend, jack-o’-lanterns were named for a man called Jack who was notorious for his drunkenness and being stingy. One evening at the local pub,, the Devil appeared to take his soul. Clever Jack persuaded the Devil to “have one drink together before we go”. To pay for his drink the Devil turned himself into a sixpence. Jack; immediately put it into his wallet. The Devil couldn’t escape from it because it had a catch in the form of a cross. Jack released the Devil only when the latter promised to leave him in peace for another year. Twelve months later, Jack played another practical joke on the: Devil, letting him down from a tree only on the promise that he would never purse him again. Finally, Jack’s body wore out. He could not enter heaven because he was a miser. He could not enter hell either, because he played jokes on the Devil. Jack was in despair. He begged the Devil for a live coal to light his way out of the dark. He put it into a turnip> and, as the story goes, is still wandering around the earth with his lantern.
Halloween is something called Beggars’ Night or Trick or Treat night. Some people celebrate Beggars’ Night as Irish children did in the 17th century. They dress up as ghosts and witches and go into the streets to beg. And children go from house to house and say: “Trick or treat!”, meaning “Give me a treat or I’ll play a trick on you”. Some groups of “ghosts” chant Beggars’ Night rhymes:
Trick or treat, Smell our feet. We want something Good to eat.
In big cities Halloween celebrations often include special decorating contests. Young people are invited to soap shop-windows, and they get prizes for the best soap-drawings.
In old times, practical jokes were even more elaborate. It was quite normal to steal gates, block house doors, and cover chimneys with turf so that smoke could not escape. Blame for resulting chaos was naturally placed on the “spirits”.
At Halloween parties the guests wear every kind of costume. Some people dress up like supernatural creatures, other prefers historical or political figures. You can also meet pirates, princesses, Draculas, Cinderellas, or even Frankenstein’s monsters at a Halloween festival.
At Halloween parties children play traditional games. Many games date back to the harvest festivals of very ancient times. One of the most popular is called bobbing for apples. One child at a time has to get apples from a tub of water without using hands. But how to do this? By sinking his or her face into the water and biting the apple!
Another game is pin-the-tail-on-the -donkey. One child is blind folded and spun slowly so that he or she will become dizzy. Then the child must find a paper donkey haging on the wall and try to pin a tail onto the back.
And no Halloween party is complete without at least one scary story. It helps too create an air of mystery.
Certain fortunetelling methods began in Europe hundreds of years ago and became an important part of Halloween. For example, such object as a coin, a ring, and a thimble were baked into a cake or other food. It was believed that the person who found the coin in the cake would become wealthy. The one who found the ring would marry soon, but the person who got the thimble would never get married.
Unfortunately now most people do not believe in evil spirits. They know that evil spirits do not break steps, spill garbage or pull down fences. If property is damaged, they blame naughty boys and girls. Today, Halloween is still a bad night for the police…
Christmas
The most popular holiday in Britain is Christmas. Christmas has been celebrated from the earliest days of recorded history, and each era and race has pasted a colorful sheet of new customs and traditions over the old.
On the Sunday before Christmas many churches hold a carol service where special hymns are sung. Sometimes carol singers can be heard in the streets as they collect money for charity. There are a lot of very popular British Christmas carols. Three famous ones are: “Good King Wenceslas”, “The Holly and The Ivy” and ‘We Three Kings”.
Each year, hundreds of thousands of people all over the world send and receive Christmas cards. Most of people think that exchanging cards at Christmas is a very ancient custom but it is not right. In fact it is barely 100 years old. The idea of exchanging illustrated greeting and presents is, however, ancient. So the first commercial Christmas card was produced in Britain in 1843 by Henry Cole, founder of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The handcolored print was inscribed with the words ‘A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year to you’. It was horizontally rectangular in shape, printed on stout cardboard by lithography.
A traditional feature of Christmas in Britain is the Christmas tree. Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, brought the German tradition (he was German) to Britain. He and the Queen had a Christmas tree at Windsor Castle in 1841. A few years after, nearly every house in Britain had one. Traditionally people decorate their trees on Christmas Eve – that’s December 24th. They take down the decorations twelve days later, on Twelfth Night (January 5th).
An older tradition is Christmas mistletoe. People put a piece of this green plant with its white berries over a door. Mistletoe brings good luck, people say. Also, at Christmas British people kiss their friends and family under the mistletoe.
Those who live away try to get back home because Christmas is a family celebration and it is the biggest holiday of the year. As Christmas comes nearer, everyone is buying presents for relatives and friends. At Christmas people try to give their children everything they want. And the children count the weeks, than the days, to Christmas. They are wondering what presents on December 24th. Father Christmas brings their presents in the night. Then they open them on the morning of the 25th.
There is another name for Father Christmas in Britain – Santa Claus. That comes from the European name for him – Saint Nicholas. In the traditional story he lives at the North Pole. But now he lives in big shops in towns and cities all over Britain. Well, that’s where children see him in November and December. Then on Christmas Eve he visits every house. He climbs down the chimney and leaves lots of presents. Some people leave something for him, too. A glass of wine and some biscuits, for example.
At Christmas everyone decorates their houses with holly, ivy colorful lamps.
In Britain the most important meal on December 25th is Christmas dinner. Nearly all Christmas food is traditional, but a lot of the traditions are not very old. For example, there were no turkeys in Britain before 1800. And even in the nineteenth century, goose was the traditional meat at Christmas. But not now.
A twentieth-century British Christmas dinner is roast turkey with carrots, potatoes, peas, Brussels sprouts and gravy. There are sausages and bacon, too. Then, after the turkey, there’s Christmas pudding. Some people make this pudding months before Christmas. A lot of families have their own Christmas pudding recipes. Some, for example, use a lot of brandy. Others put in a lot of fruit or add a silver coin for good luck. Real Christmas puddings always have a piece of holly on the top. Holly bushes and trees have red berries at Christmas time, and so people use holly to decorate their houses for Christmas. The holly on the pudding is part of the decoration.
Crackers are also usual at Christmas dinner. These came to Britain from China in the nineteenth century. Two people pull a cracker. Usually there is a small toy in the middle. Often there is a joke on a piece of paper, too. Most of the jokes in Christmas crackers are not very good. Here is on example:
Customer: Waiter, there’s a frog in my soup. Waiter: Yes, sir, the fly’s on holidays.
A pantomime is a traditional English entertainment at Christmas. It is meant for children, but adults enjoy is just as much. It is a very old form of entertainment, and can be traced back to 16th century Italian comedies. There have been a lot of changes over the years. Singing and dancing and all kinds of jokes have been added; but the stories that are told are still fairy tales, with a hero, a heroine, and a villain.
In every pantomime there are always three main characters. These are the “principal boy”, the “principal girt’, and the “dame”. Pantomimes are changing all the time. Every year, someone has a new idea to make them more exciting or more up-to-date.
Father Christmas
Britain was a largely Saxon stronghold. Christianity came from two sides basically, the Celtic Church and the Roman Church. Although the Celtic Christians were brought in line with Roman practice from a decree at the Synod of Whit by in the 7lh century, Christianity was still somewhat isolated from mainstream Europe. Many of the images in the Saxon churches were By/antine in style not Roman. The Byzantine Church had already begun to split from the Church in Rome, creating Eastern and Western Christians. Roman iconography was quite different lo that of the Eastern Church, and Celtic imagery was harking back to what the early Church considered pagan’ imagery.
Vs with many customs associated with British Christmas, the tradition of Father Christmas icmaincd, when the saintly or religious elements were lost. He became a benevolent, jovial :character, synonymous with the Goodwill of Christmas, but his saintly attributes were gone. He vas the modernized version of the Saxon and Viking deities, he controlled the winter elements, md he kept people happy at a dismal time of year.
Boxing Day
Boxing Day (26 December) is so-called because it’s a time when tradesmen and women receive a ‘Christmas Box’ – some money in appreciation of the work they’ve carried out all year. Traditionally a time for visiting family and friends and indulging in more feasting, Boxing Day is a popular day for football matches and other sporting fixtures. The day is a public holiday, so the banks are closed. Shops also used to be shut but more recently, many have broken with tradition and now open on Boxing Day to encourage shoppers who can’t wait to spend their Christmas money.
Traditionally boys from the shops in each town asked for money at Christmas. They went from house to house on December 26th and took boxes made of wood with them. At each house people gave them money. This was a Christmas present. So the name of December 26th doesn’t come from the sport of boxing – it comes from the boys’ wooden boxes. Now, Boxing Day is an extra holiday after Christmas Day.
Traditionally Boxing Day Hunts is a day for foxhunting. The huntsmen and huntswomen ride horses. They use dogs, too. The dogs (fox hounds) follow the smell of the fox. Then the huntsmen and huntswomen follow the hounds. Before a Boxing Day hunt, the huntsmen and huntswomen drink not wine. But the tradition of the December 26th hunt is changing. Now, some people want to stop Boxing Day Hunts (and other hunts, too). They don’t like foxhunting. For them it’s not a sport – it is cruel.
Guy Fawkes Night
In 1605 Guy Fawkes, a Roman Catholic, and his fellow conspirators attempted to blow up King James I and the Houses of Parliament, as they disagreed with the King’s Protestant policies.
They succeeded in storing some 30 barrels of gunpowder in a cellar under the
Houses of Parliament, but before it opened on 5 November, the ‘gunpowder plot’, as it has come to be known, was discovered. Guy Fawkes and his colleagues were executed for treason.
Since then, 5 November has been celebrated in England by the burning of stuffed figures of Guy Fawkes on bonfires, usually accompanied by firework displays.
These may be large organized events open to members of the public, or smaller, private gatherings of family and friends held in people’s gardens. Guy Fawkes Night is also known as Bonfire Night or Firework Night.
In the days leading up to the event children traditionally take home-made guys out onto the streets of their town or village and ask passers-by for ‘a penny for the guy’. This money is supposedly used as a contribution towards their fireworks.
Guy Fawkes1 Day : November 5th is Guy Fawkes1 Day in Britain. All over the country people build wood fires, or bonfires in their gardens. On the top of each bonfire is a guy. That’s the figure of Guy Fawkes. People make guys with straws, old clothes and newspapers. On November 5th Guy Fawkes tried to kill the King James. I le and a group of his friends put a bomb under the Houses of Parliament in London. But the King’s men found the bomb and they found him too. They took him to the Tower of London where the king’s men cut off his head.
Remembrance Day
(What is the significance of the poppy and
when is it worn?)
The poppy is traditionally worn on Remembrance Day in memory of service personnel who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars and subsequent conflicts like the Falklands War and the Gulf War The red poppies represent the poppies that grew in the cornfields of Flanders in the First World War, where many thousands of soldiers lost their lives. The paper poppies that are worn today are made by ex-service personnel and are sold by representatives of the Royal British Legion, an organization of ex-servicemen and women. Remembrance Day falls on the nearest Sunday to 11 November – the day peace was declared in 1918.
The day is commemorated by church services around the country and a parade of ex-service personnel in London’s Whitehall. Wreaths of poppies are left at the Cenotaph, a war memorial in Whitehall, built after the First World War. By tradition, at 11.00am on Remembrance Sunday a two minute silence is observed at the Cenotaph and elsewhere in the country to honor those who lost their lives. In recent years, a two minute silence has also been observed at 11.00am on 11 November itself…
Easter
Easter day is named after the Saxon goddess of spring, Eostre, whose feast took place at the spring equinox. Easter is now the spring feast of the Christian church, commemorating the resurrection of Jesus. It falls on a Sunday between 22 March and 25 April, according to the church calendar.
Traditionally Easter eggs, dyed and decorated or made of chocolate, are given as presents symbolizing new life and the coming of spring. Egg rolling competitions take place in northern England on Easter Monday; hard-boiled eggs are rolled down a slope, with the winner being – according to local preference – the one which rolls the furthest, survives the most rolls, or is successfully aimed between two pegs! The most well-known event takes place at Avenham Park in Preston, Lancashire.
Easter parades are also part of the Easter tradition, with those taking part wearing Easter bonnets or hats, traditionally decorated with spring flowers and ribbons.
Bank holidays
Many public holidays in the United Kingdom are known as ‘bank’ holidays – so called because these are days on which banks are legally closed. Most fall on a Monday.
In England and Wales there are six bank holidays: New Year’s Day, Easter Monday, May Day (not necessarily 1 May), Spring and Late Summer Holidays at the end of May and August respectively, and Boxing Day. There are also two common law holidays on Good Friday and Christmas Day.
In Scotland there are nine public holidays: New Year’s Day, January 2, Good Friday, Easter Monday, May Day (not necessarily 1 May), Spring and Summer Holidays at the end of May and the beginning of August respectively, Christmas Day and Boxing Day In Northern Ireland there are seven bank holidays: New Year’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day (17 March), Easter Monday, May Day (not necessarily .1 May), Spring and Late Summer Holidays at the end of May and August respectively, and Boxing Day.
There are also two common law holidays on Good Friday and Christmas Day and a public holiday on the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne (12 July).
There are holidays in lieu of those public holidays which fall at weekends. Shops, museums and other public attractions, such as historic houses and sports centers, may close on certain public holidays, particularly Christmas Day, as this varies, it is advisable to check with the individual establishment beforehand.
Pancake Day
Pancake Day or Shrove Tuesday (the Tuesday which falls 41 days before Easter) is the eve of the Lenten fast. On this day in earlier times all Christians made their compulsory confessions or ‘shrifts’ from which the name ‘Shrove Tuesday’ derives, and took their last opportunity to eat up all the rich foods prohibited during Lent.
Thus all eggs, butter and fat remaining in the house were made into pancakes, hence the festival’s usual nickname of Pancake Day.
Though the strict observance of Lent is now rare, everyone enjoys eating the customary pancakes and some regions celebrate the day with pancake races.
The oldest and most famous is held at Olney in Buckinghamshire. The race is run over 415 yards (about 380 meters) by women over sixteen, wearing a cap and apron. They must ‘toss’ their pancake (flip it over in the frying pan) at least three times during the race. The winner receives a kiss from the Pancake Bell Ringer (church bells were traditionally rung to remind parishioners to come to confession) and a prayer book from the vicar!
St. David’s Day
March 1st is a very important day for Welsh people. It’s St. David’s Day. He’s the “patron” or national saint of Wales. On March 1st, the Welsh celebrate St. Davids Day and wear daffodils in the buttonholes of their coats or jackets.
Valentine’s Day
On February 14th it’s Saint Valentine’s Day in Britain. It is not a national holiday. Banks and offices do not close, but it is a happy little festival in honour of St. Valentine. On this day, people send Valentine cards to their husbands, wives, girlfriends and boyfriends. You can also send a card to a person you do not know. But traditionally you must never write your name on it. Some British newspapers have got a page for Valentine’s Day messages on February 14th.
This lovely day is widely celebrated among people of all ages by the exchanging of “valentines”.
Saint Valentine was a martyr but this feast goes back to pagan times and the Roman feast of Lupercalia. The names of young unmarried girls were put into a vase. The young men each picked a name, and discovered the identity of their brides.
This custom came to Britain when the Romans invaded it. But the church moved the festival to the nearest Christian saint’s day: this was Saint Valentine’s Day.
Midsummer’s Day
Midsummer’s Day, June 24th, is the longest day of the year. On that day you can see a very old custom at Stonehenge, in Wiltshire, England. Stonehenge is on of Europe’s biggest stone circles. A lot of the stones are ten or twelve meters high. It is also very old. The earliest part of Stonehenge is nearly 5,000 years old. But what was Stonehenge? A holy place? A market? Or was it a kind of calendar? Many people think that the Druids used it for a calendar. The Druids were the priests in Britain 2,000 years ago. They used the sun and the stones at Stonehenge to know the start of months and seasons. There are Druids in Britain today, too. And every June 24th a lot of them go to Stonehenge. On that morning the sun shines on one famous stone – the Heel stone. For the Druids this is a very important moment in the year. But for a lot of British people it is just a strange old custom.
April 1st is April Fool’s Day
April 1st is April Fool’s Day in Britain. This is a very old tradition from the Middle Ages (between the fifth and fifteenth centuries). At that time the servants were masters for one day of the year. They gave orders to their masters, and their masters had to obey.
Now April Fool’s Day is different. It is a day for jokes and tricks.
April Fool’s Day: April 1st is April Fool’s Day in Britain. This is a very old tradition from the Middle Ages. At that time the servants were masters for one day of the year. They gave orders to their masters and their masters had to obey. Now the day is different., It is the day for jokes and tricks and no one gets upset when strange things happen on the street or at the office
Mother’s day
In recent times Mothering Sunday has in Britain taken on the name and character of the US Mother’s Day. The original meaning of mothering Sunday in England has been largely lost. Mothers Day in America is a fixed date and does not change from year to year like Mothering Sunday does in England.
May Day
May Day: May 1st was an important day also in the Middle Ages. In the very early-morning, girls went to the fields and washed their faces with dew. They believed this made them beautiful for a year after that. Also on May Day they young men of each village tried to win prizes with their bows and arrows and people danced round the maypole.
Many English villages still have a maypole and on May 1 st, the villagers dance round it. Midsummer’s
June, 24th
Day: June, 24th is the longest day of the year. On that day you can sec a very old custom at Stonehenge, in Wiltshire., England. Stonehenge is one of Europe’s biggest stone circles. But what was this monument built for? A market, a kind a calendar, a holy place?’ The Druids were the holy priests in Britain 2,000 years ago. They used the stones and the sun to know the start of the months and seasons. There are Druids in Britain today too. And every June 24th a lot of them go to Stonehenge. On that morning the sun shines on one famous stone-the Heel Stone. For many British is just a strange old custom. Halloween: on October 31 st you can expect to meet witches and ghosts all over the places. A long time ago people were afraid to go out on this night as they thought all the spirits were free to come back on earth and haunt those who did them harm. But now it is, a time for fun. There are a lot of parties where people wear masks and costumes.
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