British Holidays and London Pageantry.

It may seem surprising but the British have fewer holidays than many other countries. Some of them are named Bank Holidays due to the fact that on those days the banks are closed.

In England and Wales they comprise at present five bank holidays (New Year’s Day, Easter Monday, spring and late summer holidays at the end of May and August respectively, and Boxing Day1; they also have two common holidays (Good Friday2, Christmas Day). In Scotland and Northern Ireland they have six bank holidays, plus two other public holidays. The particular dates of the bank holidays are fixed annually.

New Year’s Day

January, 1

It is a bank holiday though many Britons do not celebrate on New Year’s Eve. In Scotland New Year’s Eve is called Hogmanay3 and is an occasion for joyous celebration. In London Scottish people gather on the steps of St. Paul’s Cathedral and sing "Auld Lang Syne"4 at midnight.

Valentine's Day (February 14)

How did Valentine's Day start? Some people think it started in Rome hundreds of years ago. During a special festival, young single men would choose their girlfriends by drawing (тянуть) their names out of a box. They would exchange gifts.

Another belief is that there were two St. Valentines from Rome. One loved children. He was jailed (заключать в тюрьму) for not worshipping (почитать) Roman gods. Children sent him loving notes.

The other saint married couples against the wishes of the Roman ruler.

It is celebrated on February 14. Those who are in love exchange valentines — presents or cards with some sweet words written on them.

Here's a possible message for your valentine:

Dear___ , / think you are very sweet, wonderful and nice. I like you morning, noon and night, and around the clock. I hope you will keep this card next to your heart. I hope to see you around Feb. 14. Maybe you will kiss me. You are a super person. Please be my valentine. From your secret valentine.

JUST for FUN

The Love Letter

Once there was a boy who loved a girl very much. The girl's farter, however, did not like the boy and did not want their love to grow. The boy wanted to write the girl a love letter on Valentine's Day, but he was sure that the girl's father would read it first. At last he wrote this let to the girl.

The great love I said I have for you

is gone, and I find my dislike for you

increases every day. When I see you,

I do not even like the way you look;

the one thing I want to do is to

look the other way. I never wanted to

marry you. Our last conversation

was very dull and in no way has

made me anxious to see you again.

You think only of yourself.

If we were married, I know that I would find

Life very difficult, and I would have no

pleasure in living with you. I have a heart

to give, but it is not a heart

I want to give to you. No one is more

demanding or selfish than you, and less

able to care for me and be of help to me.

I sincerely want you to understand that

I speak the truth. You will do me a favor

if you consider this the end. Do not try

to answer this.

Your letters are full of things that do not interest me.

Good-bye! Believe me,

I do not care for you. Please do not think

I am still your loving friend.

The girl's father read the letter. He was pleased, and then gave the letter to his daughter, The girl read the letter and was very happy. The boy still loved her!

Can you guess why she was pleased? She and the boy had a secret way of writing to each other. She read only the first line of the letter, and then the third line, and then the fifth line, and so on to the end of the letter.

So, what did the original letter read?

Easter

April, 3

The word Easter owes its name and many of its customs to a pageant festival hold eostre which is the name of Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring time. Every spring European peoples celebrated the festival to honour the awakening of new life in nature. Christians related the rising of the sun to the resurrection of Jesus and their old spiritual rebirth. This "holy" day is celebrated in many countries of the world.

Spring and Summer Bank Holidays

The Summer Bank Holidays is the most popular holiday, because it comes at a time when children are not at school. Many families try to go away to the seaside or the country as they may indeed have done at Easter or in Spring.

Guy Fawkes Night

November, 5

Guy Fawkes Night or Bonfire Night is an annual celebration held on the evening of 5 November to mark the failure of the Gunpowder Plot of 5 November 1605, in which a number of Catholic conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, attempted to destroy the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament, in London. The occasion is primarily celebrated in the United Kingdom where, by an Act of Parliament called The Thanksgiving Act, it was compulsory until 1859, to celebrate the deliverance of the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Festivities are centred on the use of fireworks and the lighting of bonfires.

Halloween

October, 31

Halloween is also called All Saints’ Eve. It has ancient roots in the polytheistic Celtic harvest festival of Samhain (pronounced /sɑːwɪn/) and the Christian holy day of All Saints, but is today largely a secular celebration.

Halloween activities include trick-or-treating , wearing costumes and attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, ghost tours, bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, pranks, telling scary stories, and watching horror films.

Remembrance Day

November, 11

Remembrance Day (also known as Armistice Day) is observed throughout the Commonwealth and dates back to November 11, 1918 when all fighting in the First World War ended. it now commemorates British soldiers, sailors and airmen who gave their lives in the two world wars. Special Services are held and wreaths are laid at the Cenotaph, a war manorial at Whitehall, where thousands of Londoners observe the two-minute silence and participate in the remembrance ceremony. Similar ceremonies are held throughout the country.

Christmas

December, 25

In England Christmas is the most important of all the bank holidays of the year. it is celebrated much the same way as in the United States of America. On December 26, the Boxing Day, traditionally people give each other Christmas presents, which used to come in boxes. It is a very pleasant custom indeed.

London remains one of the world’s strongholds of pageantry much of which is centred on traditional observances connected with the Royal family. They are always attracting large crowds of spectators, native Londoners as well as foreign visitors. Here are two of them.

Trooping the Colour

This ceremony is held on the Sovereign’s official birthday in June. This is the most colourful of all London’s annual events, a pageantry of rare splendour with the Queen riding side-saddled on a highly trained horse. On Horse Guards’ Parade in Whitehall the Queen inspects the Brigade of Guards, dressed in ceremonial uniforms. Then comes the Trooping ceremony, followed by the March past of the Guards to the music of the bands. Specially noted should be the precision drill of the regiments.

The State Opening of Parliament

This is another royal event at the end of November which draws thousands of spectators, who see the Queen on the drive from Buckingham Palace to the Houses of parliament in the State Coach. The public are not admitted to parliament to see her read the speech from the Throne, prepared for her by the Government. But the State Opening is televised. Visitors are admitted to the Public Galleries only by the personal invitation of the members of Parliament.

Словарь.

Boxing Day (День подарков) – праздник этот - продолжение англо-саксонской традиции дарить традиционные подарки бедным людям и рабам. В средние века в этот день священники обычно открывали ящики для пожертвований и раздавали их содержимое бедным людям прихода. Впоследствии отсюда развился обычай раздачи рождественских денежных подарков ("boxes") прислуге и государственным служащим. обслуживающий персонал и пр. Празднуется обычно 26 декабря, после Рождества, в день св. Стефана.

Good Friday - Великая пятница (также Страстная пятница, лат. Dies Passionis Domini) — пятница Страстной недели, которая посвящена воспоминанию крестной смерти Иисуса Христа, снятию с креста Его тела и погребения.

Hogmanay (произносится [hɔɡməneː], с ударением на последнем слоге) – так в Шотландии называют последний день года Считают, что это слово происходит от гэльского «oge maidne», что означает «новое утро». Также есть мнение, что название праздника - англо-саксонского происхождения и изначально писалось как «Haleg Moneth» - «святой месяц». «Хогманай» - очень древний праздник, который отмечали еще язычники, поклонявшиеся огню и солнцу. Также он связан и с праздником солнцеворота, который существовал у викингов.

Auld Lang Syne (шотландское произношение: [΄ɔːld lɑŋ΄səin]: скорее "s" чем "z") - буквальный перевод на английский язык названия этой песни: "old long since", или "long long ago", или ещё более идиоматично: "days gone by". Вообще "Auld Lang Syne" - Это шотландская поэма, написанная Робертом Бёрнсом в 1788 году и переложенная на мелодию народной шотландской песни .

Words / Слова к теме

pageantry — 1. пышное зрелище, великолепие, блеск 2. шик 3. помпа

pageant — 1. пышное зрелище 2. пышная процессия 3. карнавальное шествие 4. маскарад

celebrate — 1. праздновать 2. прославлять

eve — 1. канун 2. (уст.) вечер

joyous — 1. довольный 2. радостный, счастливый

awakening — пробуждение

spiritual — 1. духовный 2. одухотворенный, возвышенный 3. святой, божественный 4. религиозный, церковный 5. (амер.) спиричуэл, негритянский религиозный гимн

resurrection of Jesus — воскрешение Иисуса

annual — ежегодный

to hold (held, held) celebration — проводить празднование, праздновать

failure — провал, неудача

conspirator — заговорщик

deliverance — 1. освобождение, избавление 2. официальное заявление 3. (юр.) вердикт

firework — фейерверк

bonfire — костер

Commonwealth — содружество

commemorate — 1. отмечать 2. праздновать 3. чтить память 4. служить напоминанием

wreath — венок, гирлянда

remembrance — 1. воспоминание2. память 3. сувенир, подарок на память

ancient roots — древние корни

harvest — урожай

holy — святой

trick-or-treating — фраза, которую говорят американские дети на Хэллоуин, обходя окрестные дома с требованием конфет — «Откупись, а то заколдую!», или «Конфеты или жизнь!»

carve — высекать, вырезать

jack-o'-lantern — 1. блуждающий огонек 2. фонарь из тыквы

ghost — привидение

haunted attractions — аттракционы с привидениями

haunt — часто посещать, преследовать (о привидениях)

prank — 1. выходка, проказа, проделка, шалость 2. шутка

scary — 1. (разг.) жуткий 2. пугливый

stronghold — оплот

observances — 1. (of) соблюдение 2. обряд, ритуал 3. (уст.) почтение

splendour — 1. блеск 2. великолепие, пышность 3. величие, слава

draw (drew, drawn) thousands of spectators — привлекать тысячи зрителей