26185-1 (Customs and Traditions), страница 2

THE STATE OPENING OF PARLlAMENT

Parliament, not the Royal Family, controls modern Britain. But traditionally the Queen opens Parliament every autumn. She travels from Buckingham Palace to the Houses of Parliament in a gold carriage - the Irish State Coach. At the Houses of Parliament the Queen sits on a “throne” in the House of Lords. Then she reads the “Queen's Speech”. At State Opening of Parliament the Queen wears a crown. She wears other jewels from the Crown Jewels, too.

THE ORDER OF THE GARTER CEREMONY

The Order of the Garter ceremony has a long history. King Edward III started the Order in the fourteenth centur', that time, the people in the Order were the twent', four bravest knights inEngland. Now the knights of thc Order aren't all soldiers. They're members of the House of Lords, church leaders or politicians. There are some foreign knights, too. For example, the King of Norway, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg and the Emperor of Japan. They're called Extra Knights of the Garter. The Queen is the Sovereign of the Order of the Garter. But she isn't the only royal person in the Order. Prince Charles and Prince Philip are Royal Knights, and the Queen Mother is a Lady of the Garter.

In June the Order his a traditional ceremony at Windsor Castle. This is the Queen's favourite castle. It's also the home of the Order ~ the Garter. All the knights walk from the castle to St George's Chapel. the royal church at Windsor. They wear the traditional Clt)thCS or "robes" of the Order. These robes are verv heavv. In tact King Edward VIII once called them 'ridiculous". But they're an important part of one ot Britain's oldest traditions.

THE QUEEN'S CHRISTMAS SPEECH

Now here's a modern royal custom. On Christmas Day at 3.00 in the afternoon the Queen makes a speech on radio and TV. It's ten minutes long. In it she talks to the people of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth is a large group of countries. In the past they were all in the British Empire. Australia, India, Canada and New Zealand are among the 49 members.

The B.B.C. (the British Broadcasting Corporation) sends the Queen's speech to every Commonwealth countrv. In her speech the Queen talks about the past year. Traditionallv in speeches, kings or queens say “we” not “I” Queen Elizabeth II doesn't do this. She says “My husband and I” or just 'I''.

The Queen doesn't make her speech on Christrnas Day. She films it a few weeks before. Then she spends Christmas with her familY at Windsor. Does she watch the speech on TV? Nobody knows.

Songs, sayings and superstitions

There are thousands of traditional songs and sayings in English. Many of them tell stones about British historv. For example, here's one about the Great Plague.

Ring-a-ring-a roses

A pocket full of posies

A-tishoo, a-tishoo

We all fall down.

The Great Plague was an illness and it killed millions of people in Europe in the seventeenth century. One of the signs of the illness was j circle of red marks. Thev looked like roses, and that explains the first line of the song. In the second line, "posies" are small bunches of flowers. People carried flowers because of the smell of the Plague. "A-tishoo" is the sound of a sneeze. That was another sign of the Plague. Then, after a few days, people "fell down" or died.

How many of these traditional songs do you know?

Happy Birthday To You - You sing this song at birthday parties. People all over the world sing it.

Auld Lang Syne - This is a song from Scotland. Most people only sing it once a year, on New Year's Eve. "Auld Lang Syne" means "a long time ago". The song says, "we must never forget old friends".

God Save The Queen - This is Britain's national song or "anthem."

SUPERSTITIONS

Do vou believe in good luck and bad luck? Most people in the world have some superstitions. These are a few British superstitions with long traditions.

Good Luck

-Black cats are lucky

-Clover is a small plant. Usually it has three leaves, but a few have four. A clover with four leaves brings good luck.

-A horseshoe over the door of a new home brings good luck. But the horseshoe must be the right way up. l~he luck runs out of a horseshoe if it's upside down.

-On the first day of the month it's lucky to say 'White rabbits".

-It's good luck to see two magpies (large black and white birds).

-Catch falling leaves in autumn and you'll have good luck. Everv leaf means a lucky month in the next year.

Bad Luck

-Never open an umbrella in the house. That's very bad luck. Never break a mirror - that means seven years' bad luck. It's bad luck to see just one magpie.

-Don't walk under a ladder.

-Don't walk past soinchody on the stairs.

-The number thirteen i~ very unlucky (and Friday the 13th is a "cry unlucky date).

SAYINGS

Here are ten British “proverbs” or sayings.

1. Nothing ventured nothing gained.

You have to try or you won't get anything.

2. One man's meal is another man's poison.

People often don't like the same things.

3. The other man's grass is a/way's greener.

You always think that other people's lives are better than yours.

4. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Don't question good luck.

5.Every cloud has a silver lining.

There's always some thing good in bad times.

6. It's no use crying over spilt milk. Don't be too sad after a small acciden~.

7. Out of the frying pan, into the fire. From one problem to another.

8. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

Stupid people do things that other people never do.

9. You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink.

You can give a person a chance, but you can't make him or her take it.

10. A stitch in time saves nine.

Act early and you can save a lot of trouble.

Food and drink

THE ENGLISH BREAKFAST

In a real English breakfast you have fried eggs, bacon, sausage, tomato and mushrooms. Then there's toast and marmalade. There's an interesting story about the word "marmalade". It may come from the French "Marie est malade", or "Mary is ill." That's because a seventeenth-century Queen of Scotland, Mary Queen of Scots, liked it. She always asked for French orange jam when she was ill.

PANCAKES

British people eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday in February or March. For pancakes you need flour, eggs and milk. Then you eat them with sugar and lemon. In some parts of Britain there are pancake races on Shrove Tuesday. People race with a frying pan in one hand. They have to "toss" the pancake, throw it in the air and catch it again in the frying pan.

ROAST BEEF AND YORKSHIRE PUDDING

This is the traditional Sunday lunch from Yorkshire in the north of England. It is now popular all over Britain. Yorkshire pudding is not sweet. It's a simple mixture of eggs, flour and milk, but it's delicious.

Two common vegetables with roast beef and Yorkshire pudding are Brussels sprouts and carrots. And of course there's always gravy. That's a thick, brown sauce. You make gravy with the juice from the meat.

HAGGIS

Haggis is a tradinonal food from Scotland. You make it with meat, onions, flour, salt and pepper. Then you boil it in the skin from a sheep's stomach - yes, a sheep's stomach.

In Scotland, people eat haggis on Burns Night. Robert Burns (Scots people call him "Rabbie" Burns), was a Scottish poet in the eighteenth century. Every year Scots people all over the world remember him and read his poems.

TEA

Tea is Britain's favourite drink. It's also a meal in the afternoon. You can eat tea at home or in a hotel. Tea at the Ritz hotel in London is very good. You can drink Indian or China tea. There are cucumber sandwiches and scones. (Scones are plain cakes. You eat them with jam and cream.) There are chocolate cakes and cream cakes too.

CHRISTMAS PUDDING

Some people make this pudding months before Christmis.

A lot of families have thcir own Christmas pudding recipe~.

Some, for example, use a lot of brandy. Others put in a lot of

fruit or add a silver coin for good luck.

Real Christmas puddings always have a piece of holly on the top. Holly bushes and trees have red berries at Chris~mas-ume, and so people use holly to decorate their houses for Christmas. The holly on the pudding is part of the decoration. Also, you can pour brandy over the pudding and light it with a match.

HOT CROSS BUNS

The first Christians in Rome made hot cross buns two thousand years ago. But now they're an Easter tradition in Britain. Here's a storv about hot cross buns. In 1800 a widow lived in a house in East London. Her only son was a sailor and went to sea. Everv vear she made hot cross buns and kept one for him. He never came back, but she kept a bun for him every year. Then, after many, years, she died. Now, her house is a pub. It's called 'The Widow's Son". For a long time people remembered the widow. Every Easter they put a hot cross bun in a special basket in the pub. Now the tradition is different. The owner of the pub sells the special hot cross bun. Then he gives the money to the British Sailors' Societv.

PUBS

Pubs are an important part of British life. People talk, eat, drink, meet their friends and relax there. They are open at lunchtime and again in the evening. But they close at 11.00 (10.30 on Sundays). This surprises a lot of tourists. But vou can always go to Scotland - the pubs close later there!

The word "pub" is short for "public house". There are thousands in Britain, and they nearly all sell pub lunches. One of these is a Ploughman's Lunch a very simple meal. It's ust bread and cheese.

Pubs also sell beer. (British beer is always warm.) The traditional kind is called “real ale”. That’s a very strong beer from an old recipe.

An important custom in pubs is 'buying a. round". In a group, one person buys all the others a drink. This is a "round". Then one by one all the other people but rounds, too.

If they are with friends, British people sometimes lift their glasses before they drink and sav "Cheers This means "Good luck".

In the pubs in south-west Lngland there~s another traditional drink - scrumpy. You make scrumpy with apples, but it's not a simple fruit juice. It's very very strong.

Pub names often have a long tradition. Some come from the thirteenth or fourteenth century.

Every pub has a name and every pub has a sign above its door. The sign shows a picture of the pub's name.

EMBLEMS

Each country also has a national "emblem" or sign. The English emblem is a red rose. The Welsh emblem is a vegetable or flower - a leek or a daffodil. The Scottish emblem is a wild plant - a thistle. And the Irish emblem is another wild plant - a shamrock.

It's traditional in Britain to wear your country's emblem on its saint's day. The leek doesn't go in a buttonhole, so the Welsh often wear a daffodil. These are Britain's patron saints and their days.

England - St George - April 23rd. Ireland - Si Patrick - March 17th. Scotland - St Andrew - November 30th. Wales - St David - March 1st.

The Scots, Welsh and English don't really celebrate their national saint's days. But St Patrick's Day is important for Irish people all over the world. In New York, for example, the Irish people always have a big St Patrick's Day parade.

Costumes and clothes

Many British costumes and uniforms have a long history. One is the uniform of the Beefeaters at the Tower of London. This came first from France. Another is the uniform of the Horse Guards at Horse Guards' Parade, not far from Buckingham Palace. Thousands of visitors take photographs of the Horse Guards, but the Guards never move or smile. In fact some visitors think the Guards aren't real. And that brings us to...Britannia. She wears traditional clothes, too. But she’s not a real person. She is symbol of Britain.

Lots of ordinary clothes have a long tradition. The famous bowler hat, for example. A man called Beaulieu made the first one in 1850.

The very cold winters in the Crimea in the war of 1853-56 gave us the names of the cardigan and the balaclava. Lord Cardigan led the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava (1854). A "cardigan" is now a warm woollen short coat with buttons, and a "balaclava" is a woollen hat.

Another British soldier, Wellington, gave his name to a pair of boots. They have a shorter name today - "Wellies".raced on the river Thames and the Oxford boat won. That started a tradition. Now, every Spring, the University Boat Race goes from Putney to Mortlake on the Thames. That's 6.7 kilometres. The Cambridge rowers wear light blue shirts and the Oxford roWers wear dark blue. There are eight men in each boat. There's also a "cox". The cox controls the boat. Traditionally coxes are men, but Susan Brown became the first woman cox in 1981. She was the cox for Oxford and they won.

ROYAL ASCOT