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age of twenty-one without permission from parents was banned. In Scotland, however, this permission was not required, and Gretna Green was the first stop across the border. The laws that brought fame to Gretna Green no longer apply. But its reputation is secure. In this small place, at least one couple gets married, on average, every day of the year. Weddings for St. Valentine‟s Day have to be booked three months in advance.

Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day

In the Christian calendar, the three days before Lent were known as Shrovetide. It is a cheerful celebration because it means that winter is nearly over and warmer days are just around the corner. It is a time when Christians seek absolution and confess their sins before Lent – although the merrymaking has its origins in the Roman feast of Bacchus.

Shrovetide comprises four days: Shrove Saturday, Shrove Sunday (or Quinquagesima), Collop Monday and Shrove Tuesday; and occurs annually between February 2 and March 9, depending on the date of Easter (forty-seven days before Easter). Shrove derives from the Old English word shrive, meaning to confess all sins. However, coming before a forty-day period of austerity, it was second only to Christmas in its dedication to fun and frivolity during the Middle Ages.

Shrove Tuesday long ago acquired the character of a carnival or festival in England and other European countries, and a great many customs have developed in connection with this day. In the old days, people confessed in response to the curfew bell (pancake bell), rung in every parish and a great feast would take place. At the sound of the shriving bell, shops would close and school children would lock their teachers out of the classroom until promised an extra day‟s holiday – in a ceremony known as „barring-out‟. In many parts of the country, children would also go Shroving – a visiting custom whereby they sang or recited a poem in the hope of receiving food or money.

Church clipping was also popular in Somerset and Wiltshire on this day, where parishioners would clasp hands and surround their local church. At the same time Threading the Needle would be played, when couples danced in winding lines, taking it in turns to form an arch for the others to dance through.

Nowadays, Shrovetide is mainly observed by practising Christians, but Shrove

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Tuesday, or Pancake Day, is still celebrated by millions of English people. Pancake tossing contest (how many pancakes can you throw into the air and catch within a certain time) and pancake races (contestants have to run while continuously tossing a pancake. Anyone who drops his or her pancake is disqualified).One of the most famous competitions, which takes place in Olney, Buckinghamshire, is said to date from 1445. It is a women-only race, for those who have lived in the parish for at least three months. An apron and head covering are necessary. The course is 415 yards (379 metres) long and the pancake must be tossed at least three times during the race. The winner receives a kiss from the ringer of the Pancake Bell and a prayer book from the vicar.

In parts of England Shrove Tuesday Eve was once known as Mischief Night. Boys would blacken their faces before entering houses and throw broken crocks on the floor, then leave unnoticed. If confronted, they would demand money or pancakes before departing.

In the past, strict Christian Lenten rules barred the eating of all dairy products and meat. Lent was a time of fasting. Both meat and eggs were forbidden throughout the six weeks. The tradition was to eat up all your meat on the Monday before Lent, and all your eggs on the Tuesday – in pancakes. So shrewd housewives would make pancakes to use up their supplies of eggs, milk, butter and fats. Early English recipes included wheaten flour, eggs, butter or lard, a liquid (water, milk, ale or wine) and flavourings such as white or brown sugar, spices and liqueurs. The pancakes were fried in butter or fat and served flat or rolled and sprinkled with powdered sugar, topped with preserves or drenched with alcohol.

The Shrovetide football is a traditional English game dating back to the 12th century. A whole village is often used as a pitch, local features become goal posts and streams turn into obstacles. Brute force is an essential element in scoring goals, and the ball is usually kicked, carried or thrown. There are hardly any rules and no limit on the number of players or goals. It is believed by some that the game is pagan in origin, played to welcome the spring, while others maintain that it‟s a medieval precursor to modern English football. Either way, it‟s a rough, tough, dirty game, in which anyone can compete.

Ash Wednesday is the day in February when the Christian period of Lent begins. This refers to the time when Christ went into the desert and fasted for forty days. Although not many people actually give up eating during this period.

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March

Mothering Sunday

Laetare, or Mid-Lent Sunday, is a day when Christians can relax from selfimposed penitence and celebrate motherhood. For the non-religious, it provides the perfect excuse to shower their „mums‟ with gifts, flowers and greetings cards.

Mothering Sunday falls on the fourth Sunday in Lent. It is traditionally a time for children to give gifts, flowers and cards to their mothers and for the whole family to spend time together. In the old days, servants would be given time-off and worshippers would present offerings to their Mother Church. It was an especially important day in the calendars of apprentices, farm labourers and girls in service, because it meant that they could return home and share a meal with their parents.

Another popular ceremony on this day was church-clipping, when people would express their love for their house of worship by forming a circle and walking round the building holding hands. It has been suggested that this custom was pagan in origin but it seems more likely it was a symbolic act of friendship and love.

In a revival of a ceremony dating from Tudor times, young people still receive flowers and Simnel cakes at a service in the Chapel Royal at the Tower of London. These cakes were once baked by daughters throughout England – the name coming from the Latin simila, meaning „fine flour‟ – who would also decorate their mother‟s homes with violets, primroses, daffodils and other spring flowers. They would often prepare egg custard, comfits, lambs‟ tails, white sugar sweets, fig pies and wafers, and give their mothers a bunch of wild flowers that had been blessed in church.

During the latter part of the 20th century, England was much influenced by the

American Mother‟s Day. Following the Second World War this ceremony became an annual event, although it continued to be celebrated on Mid-Lent Sunday.

The Boat Race

Rowing race between the universities of Oxford and Cambridge has been held on the River Thames in London almost every year since 1836. The length of the course is 4.5 miles (7.2 km).

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April

April Fool’s Day

No one is sure how April Fools‟ Day got started. Most countries seem to have a day when people play tricks on each other. Children especially like these days.

Some people think that trick days began in India. People there celebrate a spring holiday called Holi. A favourite trick on Holi is to fill a bamboo pipe with coloured powder and blow the powder at people. Sometimes children fill the pipe with water and squirt each other.

Funnily enough, April Fool‟s Day is linked with the whole marvellous business of spring, the vernal equinox and the return of the sun and warmth.

In Scotland an old name for April Fool is April-gowk or -cuckoo. For some reason the cuckoo is a symbol for foolishness. The return of the cuckoo and the arrival of spring are connected with all this fooling.

In Cheshire some little time ago the first half of the day until noon was April

Fool‟s time. Then at 12 o‟clock “legging-over time” started. Whatever the origin was it certainly gave the slower ones the chance to get their own back on the quick-witted ones who had “fooled” them earlier on.

In the newspapers of 1860, there can be found the classical story of an April 1 trick involving a vast number of people. A few days before April Fools‟ Day they received through the post a card having every appearance of an official communication, bearing the following inscription: “Tower of London – Admit Bearer and Friend to view the Annual Ceremony of Washing the White Lions, on Sunday, April 1, 1860. Admittance only at the White Gate. It is particularly requested that no gratuities be given to the Warders or their Assistants”.

Flying High

At weekends, London parks and open spaces are full of people looking up into the sky. They are flying kites, which is a sport popular with the young and old. In the East the interest is as strong as ever. In Japan, kite flying is not just a hobby,

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it‟s an art form and the designs painted on kites are as important as the construction of the kite itself. The Japanese have festival days for their children and give their sons presents of kites, with their favourite heroes painted on them.

Kites were flown by men as long ago as 1000 BC. The first reference to them appears in an early Chinese legend. Bamboo cane and silk have always been available in China and these materials are still the finest for kite making.

On the practical side, kites have been used by builders to lift them into the air to lay tiles on a roof. Even today, fishermen in Japan use kites to tell them the direction and speed of the wind, before they put out to sea.

Kites also have many military uses. Men have been lifted in kites to spy on their enemies or to use the kite as a platform from which to throw rocks down on the enemy. They have carried messages and food to troops in battle, cut off from the main army. In World War II British airmen carried a kite in their escape kit. If their plane crashed into the sea, they flew it from a dinghy as a signal to ships that they needed help.

Science owes a lot to the kite. It wasn‟t a man who took the first aerial photograph. It was a kite – or at least a kite, which carried a camera. Marconi made his successful radio tests by raising the receiving aerial on a kite. In 1752 Benjamin Franklin carried out his famous electrical experiment with a kite.

The London Marathon

The London marathon is one of the biggest marathons in the world. Each year about 30,000 people start the race and about 25,000 finish. Some people take part to raise money for charity, often wearing costumes. There is also a race for people in wheelchairs.

May

The Chelsea Flower Show

Each May, an event takes place in London which draws horticulturists and garden lovers from all over the world. It is held on May 29 (Oak Apple Day). This is the famous Chelsea Flower Show – the Spring Show of the Royal Horticultural Society – which is acknowledged to be the premier occasion of its kind in the world. Held in the grounds of Chelsea‟s historic Royal Hospital, the Show presents

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a scene that dazzles the eye, with great banks of sweet-scented flowers wherever the gaze is turned.

The focal point of the Show is the Marquee, a vast-structure which covers nearly 31/2 acres of ground and is said to be the largest marquee in the world. This is where most of the exhibits of cut flowers are displayed, and it is here that the crowds linger longest – among the billowing masses of sweet peas, carnation and giant-sized blooms of all kinds that fill the air with perfume.

How does Chelsea differ from other flower shows? The answer is primarily in its emphasis on individual plants, in addition to mass displays. New plants and new strains that have been raised during the past years are exhibited in a special section of the Marquee, and this is inevitably a centre of great interest. All new plants are studied by various Committees, recommendations are made for awards, and then they are put on view for the remainder of the Show. Also in the Marquee is the

Horticultural Information Bureau, where members of the Society‟s staff give advice on all gardening problems.

Visitors to the Show can order anything that takes their fancy; plants, seeds, garden furniture or equipment – and at the end of the Show many of the nurserymen sell the plants that have formed their exhibits. Thus, at the close of the final day, heavily-laden enthusiasts can be seen disappearing along the roads of Chelsea, clutching enormous fuchsias, rhododendrons and other treasured trophies.

Oak Apple or Royal Oak Day

Cromwell (1599–1658), the leader of the Parliamentary side from 1654– 58, raised a highly successful cavalry force and declared Britain a republic in 1649. He was also part of a special commission that tried King Charles I and condemned him to death that same year. The king‟s son (also Charles) escaped in September 1651 when he hid in an oak tree following the Battle of Worcester. He spent nine years wandering through Europe after his escape, but then issued a Declaration that promised a general amnesty and freedom of conscience. Parliament accepted and he was proclaimed king.

The wearing of a sprig of oak on the anniversary of Charles‟ crowning showed that a person was loyal to the restored king. Those who refused to wear an oak-sprig were often set upon, and children would challenge others to show their sprig or have their bottoms pinched. Consequently, this day became known as

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Pinch-Bum-Day. In parts of England where oak-apples are known as shick-shacks, the day is also known as Shick-Shack Day. It is also likely that the royal association conceals a pagan tradition of tree worship.

These days it is traditional to decorate the house with oak branches on May 29. In All Saints Church in Northampton, a garland of oak-apples is laid at Charles

II‟s statue. Whereas, in Grovely Forest, Salisbury, a procession takes place at first light, accompanied by the sound of horns. It is also traditional to drink beer and eat plum pudding – especially at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, which was founded by Charles II on this very day.

On or near this date, a curious figure called the Garland King rides through the streets of Castleton, Derbyshire, at the head of a procession. His head and the upper part of his body are completely hidden by a „garland‟ – a heavy wooden construction, shaped like a beehive and covered with flowers and greenery. On top of the garland is a small bouquet of flowers, which is called the „queen‟. Behind the king rides his woman (at one time played by a man in woman‟s clothes), accompanied by a band and children dressed in white. After pausing to dance at various points along the way, the procession arrives at the church and the garland is pulled up to the top of the church tower and fixed to a pinnacle. The „queen‟ bouquet is then placed on the town war memorial.

FA (Football Association) Cup Final

It is the biggest day in the football calendar. Two English football clubs play to win FA Cup. The match takes place at Wembley Stadium in London. Scotland has its own FA Cup Final, played at Hampden Park in Glasgow.

VOCABULARY FOCUS

solstice n − солнцестояние

to all intents and purposes – как бы то ни было, в любом случае, фактически, по существу

the Nativity n − рождество Христово

the Circumcision n – 1) (церк.) обрезание; 2) (перен.) духовное очищение

admission n – вход

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scythe n − коса

to ring in the new year – возвестить колокольным звоном наступление нового года

wassail n − пунш c cахаром, пряностями и печеными яблоками cider n – сидр, яблочное вино

Plough Моnday n – пахотный понедельник, 1-й понедельник после Крещения

[Epiphany]

pig‟s bladder n – свиной мочевой пузырь embroider v – вышивать, украшать вышивкой smocks n – (pl.) мелкие сборки, буфы

straw n − солома

the Chaplain n – капеллан (священник) sermon n − проповедь

wreath n − венок

eloquent adj – красноречивый, убедительный, выразительный premonition n − предостережение, предчувствие

mallard n – кряква, дикая утка drain n − водосток

sedan chair n − стул на носилках pole n − шест, жердь, кол

reveler n − бражник, гуляка, кутила martyr n – мученик, страдалец

martyrdom n мученичество, пытка, мучение

Juno n Юнона (в древнеримской мифологии царица богов, жена Юпитера, покровительница брака и рождения; аналог богини Геры в древнегреческом пантеоне)

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parchment n – пергамент

drag v − тянуть, тащить, волочить bay leaf n – лавровый лист yarrow n − тысячелистник

jokey adj – забавный, смешной , шутливый condemn v − осуждать, приговаривать

Shrovetide n – масленица (продолжается 3 дня до пепельной среды [Ash Wednesday])

merrymaking n − веселье, празднество, гулянье

Quinquagesima n − сыропустная неделя; Quinquagesima Sunday – воскресенье перед Великим постом

absolution n − отпущение грехов

mischief n − 1) вред; повреждение; убытки, ущерб; 2) озорство, проказы shrive v − исповедовать (ся)

austerity n − строгость, аскетизм, суровость

frivolity n − легкомыслие, ветреность, несерьезность curfew bell – вечерний звон, звон колоколов

pancake tossing – подбрасывание блинчика (в последний день масленицы пекут блины и переворачивают их, подбрасывая на сковороде)

lard n − свиное сало, жир

drenched adj − промокший насквозь

Laetare – Материнское воскресенье penitence n − раскаянье, покаяние

Simnel n − средопостье

custard n − сладкий заварной крем

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comfit n − засахаренные фрукты, орехи

blessed adj − благословенный, освященный, святой

gowk/cuckoo n − кукушка

leg over v – не слушаться , не повиноваться

dinghy n − небольшая моторная лодка, спасательная шлюпка

horticulturist n − садовод

marquee n − большая палатка, шатер

linger v − засиживаться, тянуть

nurseryman n – владелец питомника

precursor n − предшественник, предвестник

gratuity n − подарок, вознаграждение

sprig n – побег, росток, веточка

oak-apple n − чернильный орешек, галл (нарост на листьях дуба)

beehive n − улей

pinnacle n − вершина, пик, кульминационный пункт, апофеоз