TRADITIONS AND HOLIDAYS OF GREAT BRITAIN
Every nation and every country has its own traditions and customs. Traditions make a nation special. Some of them are very old and many people remember them, others are part of people’s life. Some British customs and traditions are known all over the world.
From Scotland to Cornwall, Britain is full of customs and traditions. A lot of them have a very long history. Some of them are funny and some are strange. But they all are interesting. They all are part of the British way of life.
English traditions can be classified into several groups: traditions concerning the Englishmen’s private life (child’s birth, wedding, marriage, wedding anniversary); which are connected with families incomes; state traditions; national holidays, religious holidays, public festivals, traditional ceremonies.
Christmas is the most popular holiday in Britain. Christmas has been celebrated from the earliest days of recorded history, and each era and ethnic group has pasted a colourful sheet of new customs and traditions.
On Sunday before Christmas many churches hold a carol service where special hymns are sung. Sometimes carol singers can be heard in the streets as they collect money for charity. There are many very popular British Christmas carols. The famoust ones are: “Good King Wenceslas”, “The Holly and the Ivy” and “We Three Kings”.
Each year, hundreds of thousands of people all over the world send and receive Christmas cards. Most of people think that exchanging cards at Christmas is a very ancient custom but it is not right. In fact it is barely 100 years old. The idea of exchanging illustrated greeting and presents is, however, ancient. The first commercial Christmas card was produced in Britain in 1843 by Henry Cole, who was the founder of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The hand coloured print was inscribed with the words “A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year to you”. It was horizontally rectangular in shape, printed on stout cardboard by lithography.
December 26th is Boxing Day. It is called like that because traditionally boys from the shops in each town went to ask for money at Christmas. They went from house to house on December 26th and take boxes made of wood with them. At each house people gave them money. This was a Christmas present. So the name of December 26th does not come from the sport of boxing – it comes from the boys’ wooden boxes. Now Boxing Day is an extra holiday after Christmas Day.
Traditionally Boxing Day Hunts is a day for foxhunting. The huntsmen and huntswomen ride horses. They use dogs, too. The dogs (fox hounds) follow the smell of a fox. Then the huntsmen and huntswomen follow the hounds. Before a Boxing Day hunt, the huntsmen and huntswomen drink hot wine. But the tradition of the December 26th hunt is changing. Now, some people want to stop Boxing Day Hunts (and other hunts, too). They do not like foxhunting. For them it is not a sport – it is cruelty.
On October 31st British people celebrate Halloween. It is undoubtedly the most colourful and exciting holiday of the year. Though it is not a public holiday, it is very dear to those who celebrate it, especially to children and teenagers. This day was originally called All Hallow’s Eve because it fell on the eve of All Saints’ Day. The name was later shortened to Halloween. According to old beliefs, Halloween is the time, when the veil between the living and the dead is partially lifted, and witches, ghosts and other super natural beings are about. Now children celebrate Halloween wearing unusual costumes and masks. It is a festival of merrymaking, superstitions spells, fortune telling, traditional games and pranks. Halloween is a time for fun.
Few holidays tell us much of the past as Halloween. Its origins date back to a time, when people believed in devils, witches and ghosts. Many Halloween customs are based on beliefs of the ancient Celts, who lived more than 2,000 years ago in what is now Great Britain, Ireland, and northern France.