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8.mistletoe

9.bagpipe

10.vigil

Task II. Fill in the blanks.

Resurrection, marching band, hearth, first-foot, mistletoe, public, remnants, common law, disciples, Simnel cake, bonnie lass, Yule log, harbinger, mourn, ward off, cleanse, bank, morning dew, lodge.

1. … holidays include … holidays and … holidays. 2. Every … who knocks at the door expects a … to open it. 3. The New Year babe is a … of years of good fortune for the whole family. 4. On Easter Sunday Christians celebrate the … of Jesus

Christ. 5. Churches are not decorated on Good Friday because people … Christ‟s death. 6. Eleven balls of marzipan on … represent the eleven true … . 7. Young women would rise early to … their faces in May… . 8. All Orange walks include at least one … which is always accompanied by a … . 9. … is thought to bring good luck and … evil spirits. 10. The large end of the … would be placed into the … and would be lit from the … of the previous year‟s log.

Task III. Complete the sentences.

1. The name “bank holiday” comes from the time when … . 2. In Wales the back door is opened to … . It is then locked up to … and at the last stroke … . 3. The first-foot is required to carry four articles: … . 4. When St. Patrick‟s Day falls on a Friday, some bishops will … . 5. Easter is a movable feast because … . 6. The pastry cross on top of the buns symbolises and reminds Christians of … . 7. Two garlands are prepared by the village children. One is made of … and the other of … . 8. The Orange Order was established as a ... . 9. The traditional Christmas dinner consists of … 10. On Boxing Day the alms boxes … .

Task IV. Are the statements true or false? Correct the false ones.

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1.Britain has a lot of public holidays compared with other European countries.

2.Saint patron‟s Day is celebrated only in Northern Ireland.

3.People sing “Auld Lane Syne” when sitting at the festive table.

4.A female first-foot is believed to bring bad luck.

5.St. Patrick‟s Day is celebrated only by Irish people.

6.Easter is a purely Christian holiday.

7.On Good Friday churches are not decorated and most of the pictures and statues are covered over.

8.Easter Sunday is not a public holiday.

9.Children cannot take part in the traditional Easter Egg Hunt.

10.Easter Monday has little religious significance.

11.Only the most honourable citizens are allowed to see the garlands on Garland Day.

12.The May Queen takes an active part in the games and dancing thus encouraging her “subjects”.

13.Elderly lodge members do not take part in parades on Orangemen‟s Day.

14.People don‟t wear fancy dress when taking part in Orange walks.

15.St. Andrew‟s Day is celebrated by all British people.

16.St. Andrew‟s Day is an official flag day in Scotland.

17.Carols are religious songs sung in churches.

18.Having the remains of the Yule log in the house throughout the year was thought to give protection against evil spirits.

19.All presents are opened on December 26.

20.The tradition of fox hunting on Boxing Day is slowly dying out.

Task V. Choose the right variant.

1. British bank holidays have been recognized since a) 1817, b) 1871, c)1917.

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2.St. Patrick‟s Day is observed in a) England, b) Wales, c) Northern Ireland.

3.The first-foot is required to carry a) 2, b) 3, c) 4 articles.

4.An enormous Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square is an annual gift from the people of a) Norway, b) Germany, c) France.

5.The first day of Holy Week is a) Easter Monday, b) Easter Sunday, c) Palm Sunday.

6. Good Friday is the day of Christ‟s a) arrival to Jerusalim, b) crucifixion, c) resurrection.

7.The traditional Easter gift is a a) simnel cake, b) chocolate egg, c) bunch of flowers.

9.The highlight of May Day is a) morris dancing, b) maypole dancing, c) the crowning of the May Queen.

10.On May Day villagers a) burn, b) dance around, c) worship a maypole.

11.Children write letters to Father Christmas and a) drop them in the mailbox, b) throw them into the hearth, c) give them to the parents.

12.The decorating of Christmas trees has been widely popular in England since a) 1841, b) 1741, c) 1641.

13.The Yule log is a) a tree, carefully chosen and brought into the house with great ceremony, b) a decorated fir-tree, c) a small tree brought by the firstfoot.

14.Traditionally there will be a cracker a) in each Christmas gift, b) next to each plate on the Christmas dinner table, c) in all corners of the room.

15.Boxing Day is a day for a) sports competitions, b) fishing, c) playing board games.

Task VI. What holidays are these words associated with?

First-footing, a stocking, fox hunting, Guinness, mistletoe, a garland, a cracker, a sunrise service, a maypole, a shoe, Auld Lane Syne, a plateful of gold and silver

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rings, Nativity play, shamrock, holly, alms boxes, a piece of coal, jarping, a carol, Simnel cake, a series of parades, the Biddenden Dole, maypole dancing, the Yule log, a bagpipe.

Task VII. What / Who is it?

Lent, Hogmanay, the Saltire, Simnel cake, New Year babe, Palm Sunday, a Hot Cross Bun Ceremony, Orange walks, William III, Maundy Thursday, jarping, May Queen, Nativity play, morris dancing, the Yule log, the Biddenden Dole, maypole dancing, the Borders, St. Boniface, the Orange Order.

Task VIII. What do these things symbolize?

A piece of coal, a piece of bread, a coin, greenery, the pastry cross on top of the buns, eggs, eleven balls of marzipan on Simnel cake, the red berries of holly, an orange, a red ribbon, four sticks, a candle.

Task IX. Answer the questions.

1. What is the difference between bank holidays and common law holidays? 2. Do people work on bank holidays? Why? 3. I wonder what happens when public holidays in the Christmas and New Year period fall on Saturdays and Sundays. 4.

Where do people celebrate Hogmanay? 5. Who wrote “Auld Lane Syne”? 6. Why is it considered the height of merriment to have a crone come to the door when the first-foot knocks? 7. How do people celebrate St. Patrick‟s Day? 8. St. Patrick‟s Day is a purely secular holiday, isn‟t it? 9. When do people observe Easter? What does the date depend on? 10. What did monarchs use to do at the Chapel Road on Good Friday? 11. What do people usually eat on Easter Sunday? 12. What would people do before sunrise on May Day? 13. Who prepares garlands on Garland Day? 14. Where was the tallest maypole erected? Why was it felled? 15. What does Orangemen‟s Day commemorate? 16. What do young girls do on St. Andrew‟s Day? 17. When does the period of frantic Christmas shopping start? 18. Why was a fir tree taken as a sign of the Christian faith? 19. What can be found inside Christmas crackers? 20. What are the explanations for the origin of Boxing Day?

Task X. Prove that …

1. New Year‟s Day has always been one of the most important annual events in Scotland. 2. Easter is the most important Christian holiday. 3. May Day celebrations have their origins in the Roman festival of Flora. 4. The British honour their patron saints. 5. Children adore Christmas.

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Task XI. Work in groups. Find out from your partners…

1) which holiday appeals to them most of all and why; 2) which customs and traditions seem exciting, unusual, old-fashioned; 3) how they celebrate these holidays.

Chapter III

CALENDAR OF SPECIAL OCCASIONS

(WINTER – SPRING)

January

An English January has always been a cold, dark and cheerless month. It is the first cycle of twelve months – although different groups of England‟s ancient multi-ethnic society once held turn-of-the-year celebrations at other times. For instance, Pagans welcomed in the New Year at the end of what is now October; Anglo-Saxons at the back-end of what is now September and Vikings at the winter solstice. These days, Christmas officially ends on January 6, the Twelfth Night, but to all intent and purposes it is over in people‟s minds as they prepare to bring in the

New Year on January 1.

The English have long believed that January is a good month for predicting the weather. Some say the first three days of the year reflect the climate of each of the next three months, while others maintain that fine weather means the year will be miserable.

On the first day of the month, one week after the Nativity, New Year‟s Day or the Circumcision takes place, marking the ritual admission of Jesus into the Temple of Israel. Old Father time, who is depicted carrying his scythe, is symbolically replaced by a new born baby, and church bells “ring in” the new year.

It is now time to make New Year resolutions, exchange gifts and visit friends and relatives.

In Haxey, on the Isle of Axholme, a lively game of Haxey Hood is played on January 6, to commemorate the day when 13th century villagers chased and returned the black silk hood of Lady de Mowbray, which had blown off in a gust of wind. Indeed, January has always been a popular month for playing vigorous outdoor games, sword dancing and gathering around the fire telling stories. In

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Maldon, Essex, a mud race takes place on New Year‟s Day, when participants race across the mud of the river Blackwater. While on January 17, or Old Twelfth Night, apple wassailing was, and still is, popular in parts of Herefordshire. Cider is poured on to tree roots and the trees are cheered and begged to produce a good crop in the coming year.

The first Monday after Twelfth Night is Plough Monday, a day when ploughmen traditionally blackened their faces and wore white shirts. They would decorate their ploughs and go around collecting money, accompanied by someone acting the Fool. This character would dress in skins and a tail, and carry a pig‟s bladder on the end of a stick. Ploughmen would also perform leaping dances in village festivals – the higher they leaped, the taller the following season‟s crop would grow. Shepherds and farm-hands would also embroider smocks with patterns denoting their trades, and Plough Monday plays were popular in parts of Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and the East Midlands.

At Whittlesey, in Cambridgeshire, on the week following Plough Monday – which is the first Monday after January 6 – the Whittlesey Straw Bear is paraded through the town. The Straw Bear is actually a man in costume, who is led through the streets accompanied by a musician. The custom disappeared in the early 20th century but was revived in the early 1980s by the Whittlesey Society. The event was transformed into a small folk festival, with morris dancers coming from far and wide to give displays and take part in a parade.

Some of the more unusual events include the cast at London‟s Drury Lane

Theatre consuming cake and wine on January 6, as instructed in the will of Baddeley, a comedian who died in 1795. On January 8, or the first Sunday after, the Chaplain of Clowns preaches a sermon and recites a prayer over the grave of Joseph Grimaldi (the clown), before laying a wreath near the former St. James Church, Pentonville.

Finally, on January 30, the English mark the Anniversary of Execution of Charles I, in memory the day he was beheaded by Puritans in 1649. Memorial services are held in a number of London churches and a wreath is laid at Banqueting House, Whitehall.

Burns Night in Scotland

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Small societies of admirers often honour great writers by putting up monuments and statues in their birthplaces or in cities like London. But Robert Burns (1759–1796) is regarded by the whole Scottish people as their national poet. His birthday is celebrated every year in cities, towns and villages by all kinds of clubs and associations. The main event at these celebrations is a “Burns Supper”, opening with the traditional toast, “To the Immortal Memory of Robert Burns”.

Literary critics are not the only people in Scotland with a profound and broad knowledge of the poet‟s life and work. The speakers at the supper may include a farmer (as was Burns himself), a shopkeeper, a doctor or a policeman. All are equally eloquent in expressing their love and admiration.

Burns‟ poems and songs, written in a dialect often very unlike English, combine tenderness and rich humour with unusual lyric beauty. He wrote from his own experience as a village inhabitant: his love of nature, together with his independence and love of freedom have won him their foremost place in Scottish hearts.

Hunting the Mallard

The strange ceremony of “hunting the mallard” takes place just once every

100 years (most recently January 2001), in memory of a huge 15th century duck flying from a drain during building works.

Archbishop Henry Chichele, the man who instituted Oxford‟s All Souls

College in 1438, is said to have had a premonition about the duck in a dream. Ever since, a noisy and highly secretive midnight procession has taken place, led by an elected Lord Mallard (who is held up on a sedan chair). A wooden mallard duck is carried at the head of the procession on a pole, although the duck used in past ceremonies was often a live bird. The dead duck would be tied to a pole for the procession and its blood was mixed with red wine and drunk by the revellers.

Crufts Dog Show

Dog breeders from all over the world bring their valuable dogs to take part in Crufts Dog Show in London. There are prizes for most breeds and one for the best dog, who is given the title Crufts Supreme Champion.

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February

St. Valentine’s Day

When all the fun of Christmas and New Year is over, there‟s a feeling of anticlimax. The rest of January is dreary and cold. But before long the empty shops seem to come to life once again with displays of attractive and brightly coloured “I love you” Valentine cards.

Valentine‟s Day in old England was traditionally a combination of the commemoration of the martyrdom of St. Valentine (February 14, AD 273), with the pagan celebration of Lupercalia (February 15).

In ancient Rome, February 14 was a holiday to honor Juno, the Goddess of women and marriage. On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. Each young man would draw a girl‟s name from the jar and would then be partners for the duration of the festival with the girl whom he chose. Sometimes the pairing of the children lasted an entire year, and often, they would fall in love and would later marry.

Under the rule of Emperor Claudius II Rome was involved in many bloody and unpopular campaigns. Claudius the Cruel was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues. He believed that the reason was that Roman men did not want to leave their loves or families. As a result, Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome. The good Saint Valentine was a priest at Rome in the days of Claudius II. He and Saint Marius aided the Christian martyrs and secretly married couples, and for this kind deed Saint Valentine was seized and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off.

There was in early times a strong belief that on this day birds choose their mates. To some extent this might explain why lovebirds seem to be such popular motifs on Valentine cards. A fourteenth-century poet wrote: “On Valentine‟s Day all the birds of the air in couples do join”.

Despite the unromantic reputation of the British, on this day every year аbout 7 million pounds worth of flowers are delivered, an extra 40 million chocolates are sold and greeting-card manufacturers collect 25 million pounds. It is now customary for the English to send anonymous cards and presents to a person they

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love or admire. In fact, Valentine cards made of parchment were sent as long ago as the 15th century. At one time, it was believed that a girl should place a bay leaf or yarrow under her pillow at night in order to see her future lover in her dreams. Boys would also present their desired ones with a pair of gloves – a symbol of both love and authority.

Just over a century ago it became fashionable to send pretty lace-edged cards. Earlier, ludicrous and sometimes vulgar cartoons were sent to friends and strangers on this day.

In our own time, too, the Valentine tradition has undergone a sort of revival in Britain. There seems to be no limit to the variety of cards on sale for this celebration. They are happy or sad, romantic or humorous, serious or ridiculous. The card manufacturers, realising they are on to a good thing, cater for all tastes – including the vulgar. You can pay anything from uр to 10 pounds, depending on the depth of your love and the depth of your pocket! If you really want to get rid of some money you can always use the St. Valentine‟s Day Greetings Telegram – a service put on specially for February 14 by the Post Office, for the really love-sick.

Of all the Valentine cards on the market the humorous variety seem to be the most popular, but some of them are so cruel you would have to be quite heartless to send them, even to your worst enemy. Anonymity is, of course, part of the thrill of sending Valentine cards – you must not say who you are. The person receiving it must be left to wonder. You can send cards to anyone you like, or, for that matter, even people you don‟t like. There are cards specially printed to My Wife,

My Husband, Mother, Father, Sweetheart, and, would you believe it, Grandmother and Grandfather. At least it is good to know that in this troubled world love is still living and spreading a little happiness, especially in dreary February.

In some parts of England, children would go from door to door early in the morning, singing “Good morrow, Valentine”, expecting to be given cakes, fruit or money, and in Norwich, people laid anonymous packages on doorsteps, banged the knocker and hurried away. For a period, it was also common to send one‟s valentine a jokey gift or worthless item beautifully wrapped. Throughout England,

St. Valentine‟s Day is still celebrated and many towns and villages organise fairs and fun-days.

Every St. Valentine‟s Day thousands of people travel to a tiny village on Scotland‟s border with England. The village is Gretna Green. Its romantic reputation began in 1754. In England in that year, marriage for people under the

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