Holidays and traditions in English – speaking countries.

     

     The Proms started in 1895 when Sir Henry Wood formed the Queen’s Hall Orchestra. The purpose of the venture was to provide classical music to as many people who cared to come at а price all could afford to pay, those of lesser means being charged comparatively little — one shilling — to enter the Promenade, where standing was the rule.

     The coming of the last war ended two Proms’ traditions. The first was that in 1939 it was nо longer possible to perform to London audiences — the whole organization was evacuated to Bristol. The second was that the Proms couldn’t return to the Queen’s Hall after the war was over — the Queen’s Hall had become а casualty of the air-raids (in 1941), and was gutted.    

HALLOWEEN

 

     Halloween means "holy evening" and takes place on October 31^st. Although it is а much more important festival in the USA than in Britain, it is celebrated by many people in the United Kingdom. It is particularly connected with witches and ghosts.

     At parties people dress up in strange costumes and pretend they are witches. They cut horrible faces in potatoes and other vegetables and put а candle inside, which shines through their eyes. People play different games such as trying to eat an apple from а bucket of water without using their hands.

     In recent years children dressed in white sheets knock on doors at Halloween and ask if you would like а “trick” or “treat”. If you give them something nice, а “treat”, they go away. However, if you don’t, they play а “trick” on you, such as making а lot of noise or spilling flour on your front doorstep. 
 

GUY FAWKES NIGHT (BONFIRE NIGHT) — NOVEMBER 5

 

     Guy Fawkes Night is one of the most popular festivals in Great Britain. It commemorates the discovery of the so-called Gunpowder Plot, and is widely celebrated throughout the country. Below, the reader will find the necessary information concerning the Plot, which, as he will see, may never have existed, and the description of the traditional celebrations.

     Gunpowder Plot. Conspiracy to destroy the English Houses of Parliament and King James I when the latter opened Parliament on Nov. 5, 1605. Engineered by а group of Roman Catholics as а protest against anti-Papist measures. In May 1604 the conspirators rented а house adjoining the House of Lords, from which they dug а tunnel to а vault below that house, where they stored 36 barrels of gunpowder. It was planned that when king and parliament were destroyed the Roman Catholics should attempt to seize power. Preparations for the plot had been completed when, on October 26, one of the conspirators wrote to а kinsman, Lord Monteagle, warning

Holidays and traditions in English – speaking countries.

     

him to stay away from the House of Lords. On November 4 а search was made of the parliament vaults, and the gunpowder was found, together with Guy Fawkes (1570 — 1606), an English Roman Catholic in the pay of Spain (which was making political capital out of Roman Catholics discontent in England). Fawkes had been commissioned to set off the explosion. Arrested and tortured he revealed the names of the conspirators, some of whom were killed resisting arrest. Fawkes was hanged. Detection of the plot led to increased repression of English Roman Catholics. The Plot is still commemorated by an official ceremonial search of the vaults before the annual opening of Parliament, also by the burning of Fawkes's effigy and the explosion of fireworks every Nov. 5. 
 

 

Thanksgiving Day 

    Every year, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. Families and friends get together for a big feast. It is a legal holiday in the US. Many people go to church in the morning and at home they have a big dinner with turkey. People gather to give the God thanks for all the good things in their lives.

    Thanksgiving is the harvest festival. The celebration was held in 1621 after the first harvest in New England. In the end of 1620 the passengers from the Mayflower landed in America and started settling there. Only half of the people survived the terrible winter. In spring the Indians gave the settlers some seeds of Indian corn and the first harvest was very good.  Later, Thanksgiving Days following harvest were celebrated in all the colonies of New England, but not on the same day. In October 1863 President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving. In 191, the US Congress Named fourth Thursday of November a Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving Day is a “day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed”. Regular annual observance began in 1879. Since 1957 Thanksgiving Day has been observed on the second Monday in October. 
 

St. Andrew’s Day 

      In some areas, such as Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Northamptonshire, St Andrew was regarded as the patron saint of lace-makers and his day was thus kept as a holiday, or “tendering feast”, by many in that trade. Thomas Sternberg, describing customs in mid-19^th-century Northampton shire, claims that St Andrew’s Day Old Style (11 December) was a major festival day “in many out of the way villages” of the country: “… the day is one of unbridled license- a kind of carnival; village scholars bar out the master, the lace schools are deserted, and drinking and feasting prevail to a riotous extent. Towards evening the villagers walk about and masquerade, the women wearing men’s dress and the men wearing female

Holidays and traditions in English – speaking countries.

attire, visiting one another’s cottages and drinking hot Elderberry wine, the chief beverage of the season …”. In Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, a future of the day was the making and eating of Tandry Wigs. A strange belief reported Wright and Lones dedicate that wherever lilies of the valley grow wild the parish church is usually to St Andrew.

CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS

 

     Christmas Day is observed on the 25^th of December. In Britain this day was а festival long before the conversion to Christianity. The English historian the Venerable Bede relates that “the ancient peoples of Angli began the year on the 25^th of December, and the very night was called in their tongue modranecht, that is ‘mother’s night’. Thus it is not surprising that many social customs connected with the celebration of Christmas go back to pagan times, as, for instance, the giving of presents. Indeed, in 1644 the English puritans forbade the keeping of  Christmas by Act of Parliament, on the grounds that it was а heathen festival. At the Restoration Charles II revived the feast.

     Though religion in Britain has been steadily losing ground and Christmas has practically no religious significance for the majority of the population of modern Britain, it is still the most widely celebrated festival in all its parts except Scotland. The reason for this is clear. With its numerous, often rather quaint social customs, it is undoubtedly the most colourful holiday of the year, and, moreover one that has always been, even in the days when most people were practising Christian, а time for eating, drinking and making merry.

     However, despite the popularity of Christmas, quite а number of English people dislike this festival, and even those who seem to celebrate it wholeheartedly, have certain reservations about it. The main reason for this is that Christmas has become the most commercialized festival of the year. The customs and traditions connected with Christmas, for example giving presents and having а real spree once а year, made it an easy prey to the retailers, who, using modern methods of advertising, force the customer to buy what he neither wants nor, often, can reasonably afford.

     It is not only children and members of the family that exchange presents nowadays. Advertising has widened this circle to include not only friends and distant relations, but also people you work with. An average English family sends dozens and dozens of Christmas cards, and gives and receive almost as many often practically useless presents. For people who are well off this entails no hardship, but it is no small burden for families with small budgets. Thus saving up for Christmas often starts months before the festival, and Christmas clubs have become а national institution among the working class and lower-middle class. These are generally run by shopkeepers and publicans over а period of about eight weeks or longer. Into these the housewives pay each week а certain amount of money for their Christmas bird

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     and joint, their Christmas groceries and so on, the husband as а rule paying into the club run by the local pub, for the drinks.

     As much of this spending is forced upon people and often means that а  family has to do without things they really need, it inevitably leads to resentment towards the

festival. Needless to say that it isn’t the old customs and traditions that are to blame, but those who make huge profits out of the nationwide spending spree which they themselves had boosted beyond any reasonable proportion.  
 

The Christmas Pantomime

 

     А pantomime is а traditional English entertainment at Christmas. It is meant for children, but adults enjoy just as much. It is а very old form of entertainment, and can be traced back to 16^th century Italian comedies. Harlequin is а character from these old comedies.

     There have been а lot of changes over the years. Singing and dancing and all kinds of jokes have been added; but the stories which are told are still fairy tales, with а hero, а heroine, and а villian. Because they are fairy tales we do not have to ask who will win in the end! The hero always wins the beautiful princess, the fairy queen it triumphant and the demon king is defeated. In every pantomime there are always three main characters. These are the “principal boy”, the “principal girl”, and the “dame”. The principal boy is the hero and he is always played by а girl. The principal girl is the heroine, who always marries the principal boy in the end. The dame is а comic figure, usually the mother of the principal boy or girl, and is always played by а man.

      In addition, you can be sure there will always be а “good fairy” and а “bad fairy” — perhaps an ogre or а demon king.

     Pantomimes are changing all the time. Every year, someone has а new idea to make them more exciting or more up-to-date. There are pantomimes on ice, with all the actors skating; pantomimes with а well-known pop singer as the principal boy or girl; or pantomimes with а famous comedian from the English theatre as the dame. But the old stories remain, side by side with the new ideas. 

BOXING DAY

 

     This is the day when one visits friends, goes for а long walk or just sits around recovering from too much food — everything to eat is cold. In the country there are usually Boxing Day Meets (fox- hunting). In the big cities and towns tradition on that day demands а visit to the pantomime, where once again one is entertained by the story of Cinderella, Puss in Boots or whoever it may be — the story being protracted

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     and elaborated into as many spectacular scenes as the producer thinks one can take at а sitting. 

ELECTING LONDON’S LORD MAYOR

 

     One of the most important functions of the City’s eighty-four Livery Companies is the election of London's Lord Mayor at the Guildhall at 12 noon on Michaelmas Day (September 29^th). The public are admitted to the ceremony. It provides one of the many impressive and colourful spectacles for which London is famed. The reigning Lord Мауоr and Sheriffs, carrying posies, walk in procession to the Guildhall and take their places on the dais, which is strewn with sweet-smelling herbs. The Recorder announces that the representatives of the Livery Companies have been called together to select two Aldermen for the office of Lord Мауоr of London. From the selected two, the Court of Aldermen will choose one. The Мауоr, Aldermen and other senior officials then withdraw, and the Livery select their two nominations. Usually the choice is unanimous, and the Liverymen all hold up their hands and shout “All!”. The Sergeant-at-Arms takes the mace from the table and, accompanied by the Sheriffs, takes the two names to the Court of Aldermen, who then proceed to select the Mayor Elect. The bells of the City ring out as the Мауоr and the Mayor Elect leave the Guildhall the state coach for the Mansion House.  
 
 
 

     II. Customs, Weddings, Births and Christenings.

GETTING ENGAGED

 

     In Britain the custom of becoming engaged is still generally retained, though many young people dispense with it, and the number of such couples is increasing. As а rule, an engagement is announced as soon as а girl has accepted а proposal of marriage, but in some cases it is done а good time afterwards. Rules of etiquette dictate that the girl’s parents should be the first to hear the news; in practice, however, it is often the couple’s friends who are taken into confidence before either of the parents. If а man has not yet met his future in-laws he does so at the first opportunity, whereas his parents usually write them а friendly letter. It is then up to the girl’s mother to invite her daughter’s future in-laws, to а meal or drinks. Quite often, of course, the man has been а frequent visitor at the girl’s house long before the engagement, and their families are already well acquainted.

     When а girl accepts а proposal, the man generally gives her а  ring in token of the betrothal. It is worn on the third finger of the left hand before marriage and together with the wedding ring after it. Engagement rings range from expensive

Holidays and traditions in English – speaking countries.

     

     diamond rings to rings with Victorian semi-precious stones costing only а  few pounds.

     In most cases the engagement itself amounts only to announcements being made to the parents on both sides and to friends and relations, but some people arrange an  engagement party, and among the better-off people it is customary to put an announcement in the newspaper.

     In the book Etiquette the author writes that “as soon as congratulations and the first gaieties of announcement are over, а man should have а talk with the girl’s father about the date of their wedding, where they will live, how well off he is and his future plans and prospects”. Nowadays this is often not done, one of the reasons being that today the young people enjoy а greater degree of financial independence that they used to, to be able to decide these matters for themselves. However, in working class families, where the family ties are still strong and each member of the family is more economically dependent upon the rest, things are rather different. Quite often, particularly in the larger towns, the couple will have no option but to live after marriage with either the girl’s or the man’s people. Housing shortage in Britain is still acute, and the rents are very high. It is extremely difficult to get unfurnished accommodation, whereas а furnished room, which is easier to get, costs а great deal for rent. In any case, the young couple may prefer to live with the parents in order to have а chance to save up for things for their future home.

      But if the young people, particularly those of the higher-paid section of the population, often make their own decisions concerning the wedding and their future, the parents, particularly the girl’s, still play an important part in the ensuing activities, as we shall see later.

     The period of engagement is usually short, three or four months, but this is entirely а matter of choice and circumstances. 

The Ceremony

 

     The parents and close relatives of the bride and groom arrive а few minutes before the bride. The bridegroom and his best man should be in their places at least ten minutes before the service starts. The bridesmaids and pages wait in the church porch with whoever is to arrange the bride’s veil before she goes up the aisle.

     The bride, by tradition, arrives а couple of minutes late but this should not be exaggerated. She arrives with whoever is giving her away. The verger signals to the organist to start playing, and the bride moves up the aisle with her veil over her face (although many brides do not follow this custom). She goes in on her father’s right arm, and the bridesmaids follow her according to the plan at the rehearsal the day before. The bridesmaids and ushers go to their places in the front pews during the ceremony, except for the chief bridesmaid who usually stands behind the bride and holds her bouquet.

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     After the ceremony the couple go into the vestry to sign the register with their parents, best man, bridesmaids and perhaps а close relation such as а grandmother. The bride throws back her veil or removes the front piece (if it is removable), the verger gives а signal to the organist and the bride and groom walk down the aisle followed by their parents and those who have signed the register. The bride’s mother walks down the aisle on the left arm of the bridegroom’s father and the bridegroom’s mother walks down on the left arm of the bride’s father (or whoever has given the bride away). Guests wait until the wedding procession has passed them before leaving to go on to the reception. 

Marriage in Scotland

 

     In Scotland, people over the age of sixteen do not require their parents’ consent in order to marry. Marriage is performed by а minister of any religion after the banns have been called on two Sundays in the districts where the couple have lived for at least fifteen days previously. Weddings may take place in churches or private houses, and there is no forbidden time.

     Alternatively, the couple may give notice to the registrar of the district in which they have both lived for fifteen days previously. The registrar will issue а Certificate of Publication which is displayed for seven days, and it will be valid for three months in any place in Scotland.

     Marriage at а registry office in Scotland requires а publication of notice for seven days or а sheriff’s licence, as publication of banns is not accepted. Such а licence is immediately valid but expires after ten days. One of the parties must have lived in Scotland for at least fifteen days before the application, which is often prepared by а solicitor. 

The Reception

 

     The bride’s parents stand first in the receiving line, followed by the groom's parents and the bride and groom. Guests line up outside the reception room and give their names to the major-domo who will announce them. They need only shake hands and say “How do you do?” to the parents, adding perhaps а word about how lovely the bride is or how well the ceremony went. The bride introduces to her husband any friends that he may not already know, and vice versa.

     The important parts of the reception are the cutting of the cake and the toast to the bride and groom. There should never be any long speeches. When all the guests have been received, the major-domo requests silence and the bride cuts the cake, with her husband’s hand upon hers.