Беликова Е.К., Саратовская Л.Б. - The United Kingdom and United States of America in Past and Present (1268141), страница 8
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On this day bells are rungby order of Parliament to mark the deliverance of the King and hisgovernment at the exposure of the Gunpowder Plot. It is customary togive the ringers money and drinks.Christmas Eve (December the 24th) and Christmas Celebration.There are a lot of traditions connected with Christmas but perhaps themost important one is giving presents. The origin of the now traditionalChristmas Celebration, distinct from earlier pagan winter holidays,dates to the sixth century. Customs from pre Christian days wereincorporated into the later celebrations.
In the middle ages, it was a wellestablished important holiday, with traditional coral music and feasting.During the time of Republic Oliver Cromwell, who considered feastingon a holy day to be immoral, initiated passing a law that made Christmasillegal. All festivities were banned until the restoration of monarchy in1660. The Holy Days and Fasting Days Act of 1551 (which has not yetbeen repealed) states that every citizen must attend a Christian churchservice on Christmas Day, and must not use any kind of vehicle to get tothe service. The law may have been intended to encourage humility byforcing even the wealthy to attend the church on foot, or perhaps it wassimply to avoid the traffic and parking crush that universal attendancewould otherwise have brought about.31Later, during Queen Victoria's reign, Christmas became a time for giftgiving, and a special season for children It is the time when Santa orFather Christmas is supposed to come.
Children hang up their stockingsand go to sleep. Santa and his elves make all the toys for Christmas in hishome in Greenland. On Christmas Eve he piles all the toys onto his sleighand rides across the sky with his nine reindeer. In the morning when thechildren wake up they open their stocking presents. Traditionally onChristmas Eve mince pies and sherry (or milk) are left out for Santa andnowadays carrots are left for his reindeer.In England less emphasis is placed on Christmas Eve than in othercountries, much more takes place on Christmas Day.Carol singing,midnight church services and going out to the pub are some of theactivities that many families enjoy. At some time on Christmas Day thefamily will sit down to a big dinner followed by Christmas pudding. Theymay watch the Queen on television as she delivers her traditionalChristmas message to the people of the United Kingdom and theCommonwealth.26th December is also a public holiday - Boxing Day, and this is thetime to visit friends and relatives or watch football.St.
Patrick's Day (March 17th). St Patrick (c.389-c.461) is the patronsaint of Ireland. According to the legend, he was an ancient Briton livingat the time of the Roman Empire. When he was sixteen he was capturedby pirates and brought to Ireland. While working as a shepherd, he got agreat spiritual experience and decided to serve God. He returned home,then travelled to Gaul (now France) and returned to Ireland as amissionary. His work in Ireland transformed the country.
St Patrick droveall the snakes out of Ireland, which went into the sea and drowned. As thesnake was a pagan symbol, the story tells metaphorically that St. Patrickdrove paganism out of Ireland and converted the country's druids bycalling down heavenly fire to show the power of the True God. Besideshe taught people about the mystery of the Trinity by using a shamrockleaf and made the shamrock (трилистник) the symbol of Ireland.In Ireland, March 17th is a public holiday, when most people attendchurch. Shamrocks are sold on the preceding days and sent along withgreeting cards to friends and family abroad. The day is also regarded inIreland as announcing of the spring coming.
Dances and parties are held.The traditional food - boiled bacon and cabbage are served. St. Patrick32day has become so popular that it is celebrated all over the worldwherever Irish exiles gather.St David's Day (March 1st) St. David (.520-588), or Dewy is thepatron saint of Wales. He founded twelve monasteries (e.g. first abbotbishop of Men via), across the country and went on pilgrimage toJerusalem.
Once there he was consecrated a bishop. St David's day isn'tso popular in the world as St Patrick's Day in Ireland; however it iscommemorated by patriotic Welsh people by wearing a daffodil (желтыйнарцисс) or a leek (лук порей). Both plants are traditionally regarded asthe national emblems of Wales.Bank Holiday Monday. On the first Monday in August all banks andshops are closed, and the public holiday is declared.
There is a famousfair on Hampstead Heath in London, and the parade in suits covered withpearl buttons. The couple with the most beautiful costumes is declaredPearly King and Queen for one year.Edinburgh Festival. Edinburgh Festival began in 1947, with the aim ofproviding “a platform for the flowering of the human spirit”. Right fromthe start people were inspired to put on shows of their own, and thesesoon grew into the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Since then half a dozenor so festivals have grown up around it and are often called collectivelyas “the Edinburgh Festival”.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is oftencalled the Edinburgh Fringe and sometimes just "the Fringe".The Highland games are events held throughout the year in Scotland asa way of celebrating Scottish and Celtic culture and heritage, especiallythat of the Scottish Highlands. It is not quite clear when the Scots of theHighlands first gathered for the Games but it is announced in Highlandgames’ programs, that in the 11th century King Malcolm III of Scotlandsummoned contestants to a foot race to find the fastest runner in the landto be his royal messenger. The Games reflected the severe life of theearly Scots, who had to be very strong to survive. Handling timber, liftingrocks to build houses and hunting were the means of livelihood.
Fromthose old activities the contests of tossing the caber (a 6-6 meter longlog), putting the weight and throwing the hammer have developed.During the time of English occupation and the Scottish Wars ofIndependence in an attempt to prevent another Scottish uprising Britainbanned the Scots to train especially with arms. However they continuedtheir national traditions and developed their skills.Certain aspects of thegame such as bagpipe, kilt, heavy events and Highland dancing33competitions have become emblematic of Scotland, attracting largenumber of spectators from all over the world.
The Highland Games are avery spectacular attraction. All competitors and judges wear Highlanddresses. Several events take place at the same time: pipers and dancersperform on a platform; athletes toss the caber, wrestle or throw thehammer Highland dances such as the Sword Dance and the Red areperformed to bagpipe music. The competition for the best-dressedHighlander is also held. Since the Second World War the culturalhighpoint of Scottish life has become the famous annual EdinburghFestival of Music and Drama, which attracts artists and audiences fromall over the world.
The Festival was organized to oppose the influence ofAmerican films, television and music and to balance the new culture withthe culture of the past, e.g. Scotland’s treasury offolk-music and songs.National Dress in BritainUnfortunately the English don'treally have a traditional NationalDress as such. One of the thingsthat people associate withBritain is Scottish kilt. The kiltis as famous all over the worldas Scottish whisky and haggis.The kilt is a relic of the time,when the clan system existed inthe Highlands. Everybody in theclan had the same family name,like MacDonald or MacGregor (Mac meant “son of”).The clan had itsown territory and was ruled by a chieftain.Each clan had its own tartan. Todaytraditional dress for men in Scotland is a kiltwith a shirt, waistcoat and tweed jacket,stockings with garter flashes, brogue shoesand a sporran.
A bonnet is often worndisplaying the clan crest.Traditionally ladies don't wear kilts, they dohowever wear dresses or pleated skirts in atartan material. More often though they weara light plaid or shawl of tartan material,34Welsh National dress is relatively young and not as famous as ScottishNational dress. Still the Welsh do have a National costume, but it's theway the ladies dress that is most well known. In fact there isn't really aNational costume for men although recently through the rise ofnationalism in Wales a tartan has been created and tartan trousers or kiltsare often worn.For the ladies the typical Welsh costume consists of a black felthat, which is worn over a lace cap.
A red flannel shawl is worn over awhite blouse, and a skirt made of wool with a black and white checkpattern and a starched, white apron. Proper Welsh ladies always woreblack woolen stockings and black shoes and carried a basket, made fromwillow withies.Irish National Dress has turned into the globallanguage. With the revival of Irish dancing, thetraditional Irish costume has become associatedwith the bright costumes worn by traditional Irishdancers. However in ancient Ireland people weremore likely to be seen wearing “leine” (Irish forshirt), “trews” (Irish for trousers) and long cloaksfastened with a brooch.Elements of traditional costumes are used byBritish popular fashion designers of today: John Galliano, StellaMcCartney and Alexander McQueen.
Thanks to old traditions Britishfashion is creative, original and often controversial. London's CarnabyStreet used to be the original home of British fashion in the 1960s and itis alive again with concept stores for vintage, street and sports brands likePuma, Ben Sherman, Fred Perry and Lambretta. There are loads ofclothes stores around Covent Garden and Portobello market for coolrejects.
Away from the capital, city centres like Manchester and Leeds arehome to individual boutiques original, up-to-the-minute designs.1. Answer the following questions: 1. Is it necessary to know the culturaltraditions when talking to British people? 2. What particular values, customs,beliefs and behavior patterns of the British people did you get known? 3. Whatplays written by W.Shakespeare do you know? 4.
Which more recent modernrock groups have you heard of? 5. Which holidays are of the British origin? 6.What events take place at Scottish Highland Games?2. Choose the correct one from the three possibilities in the proverbs:1. An Englishman’s home is his … a) security b) castle c) mansion2. Many …. make light work. a) servants b) hands c) cooks353. Birds of a … flock together. a) family b) cage c)feather4…. begins at home: a) Charity b) Learning c) Love5.
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