Lecture VIII. British Customs and traditions

LECTURE VIII.
British Customs and traditions.


The points to be discussed:

1. 
   National Days of the UK
   
2. 
   Holidays
   

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KEYWORDS:
estival, bagpipes, buttonhole, procession, warp up, cracker, mince pie, pagan, resurrection, fireworks, bonfire, anonymous, convey, fairs, parades.


1. National days of the UK
Every nation and country has its own customs and traditions. In Britain traditions play a more important part in the life of the people than in other countries. Englishmen are proud of their traditions and carefully keep them up. It has been the law for about 300 years that all the theaters are closed on Sundays. No letters are delivered; only a few Sunday papers are published. Up to this day an English family prefers a house with a garden to a flat in a modern house with central heating. English people like gardens. Sometimes the garden in front of the house is a little square covered with cement painted green in imitation of grass and a box of flowers. Holidays are especially rich in old tradition and are different in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Christmas is a great English national holiday and in Scotland it isn’t kept at all, expect by clerks in banks; all the shops mils and factories are working. But 6 days later on New Year’s Eve the Scottish begin to enjoy them. People invite their friends to their houses and sit.
Scotland’s National Day is St. Andrew’s Day (30 November), which has now largely been overshadowed by Burns’ Night. St. Andrew, one of Christ’s twelve apostles, is the patron saint of Scotland. Some of his bones are said to have been brought to what is now St. Andrews in Fife during the 4^th century. Since medieval times the X-shaped saltier cross upon which St. Andrew was supposedly crucified has been the Scottish national symbol.
St. David’s Day (1 March) is the National Day of Wales. St. David (c.520-588), the patron saint of Wales, was the founder and first abbot-bishop of Menvia, now St. David’s in Dyfed, South Wales. The wearing of daffodils or leeks by patriotic Welsh people commemorates the day. Both plants are traditionally regarded as the national emblems of Wales.
St. Patrick’s Day (17^th March) is an official Bank Holiday in Northern Ireland. The work of St. Patrick (c.389-c.461) was a vital factor in the spread of Christianity in Ireland. Born in Britain, he was carried off by pirates, and spent six years in slavery before escaping and training as a missionary. The day is marked by the wearing of shamrocks (a clover-like plant), the national badge of both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.