as “getting up at the crack of noon”.
Church bells are another typical feature of an English Sunday morning,
although by many their summons remains unanswered, especially by those in
need of physical rather than spiritual comfort. But whether people get out
of bed for morning service or not, their first meaningful contact with the
world beyond the four walls of their bedroom will be the delicious aroma of
bacon and eggs being fried by mother downstairs in the kitchen. This smell
is for most people sо much а part of Sunday mornings that they would not be
the same without it.
During the mid-morning most people indulge in some fairly light
activity such as gardening, washing the саг, shelling peas or chopping mint
for Sunday lunch, or taking the dog for а walk. Another most popular pre-
lunch activity consists of а visit to а “pub” — either а walk to the
“lосаl”, or often nowadays а drive to а more pleasant “country pub” if one
lives in а built-up area. It is unusual for anyone tо drink а lot during а
lunchtime “session”, the idea being to have а quiet drink and а chat,
perhaps discussing the previous evening’s entertainment or afternoon’s
sport. One additional attraction of Sunday lunchtime drinks is that most
men go to the pub alone, that is to say without their wives or girlfriends,
who generally prefer to stay at home and prepare the lunch.
Sunday has always been а favourite day for inviting people — friends,
relations, colleagues — to afternoon tea, and there are nо signs that this
custom is losing popularity
nowadays.
In recent years television has become increasingly popular, and Sunday
evening is now regarded as the peak viewing period of the week.
Concerning the differences between а typically English Sunday and а
Sunday on the Continent, there are still many forms of entertainment which
а visitor from Europe would be surprised to find missing on Sundays in
England. Professional sport, for example, was for many years forbidden on
Sundays, and although the restrictions have been relaxed in recent years,
it is still difficult to find any large sporting fixture taking place on
Sundays. This is in marked contrast to the situation in most European
countries where Sunday afternoon is the most popular time for so-called
“spectator sports” — football, horse-racing and, in Spain of course,
bullfighting.
Holidays and traditions in English – speaking countries.
On the Continent museums and art galleries also attract large numbers
of visitors on Sundays, whereas in England it is only in recent times that
such places as the National Portrait Gallery and “The Tate” have been open
on such days – at present between 2 р. m. and 6 р. m. One of the most
popular attractions in London on Sunday afternoons, especially in summer,
is the Tower, although this too was closed for many years on Sundays.
FIREPLACES
In English homes, the fireplace has always been, until recent times,
the natural centre of interest in а room. People may like to sit at а
window on а summer day, but for many months of the year they prefer to sit
round the fire and watch the dancing flames.
In the Middle Ages the fireplaces in the halls of large castles were
very wide. Only wood was burnt, and large logs were carted in from the
forests, and supported as they burnt, on metal bars. Such wide fireplaces
may still be seen in old inns, and in some of them there are even seats
inside the fireplace.
Elizabethan fireplaces often had carved stone or woodwork over the
fireplace, reaching to the ceiling. There were sometimes columns on each
side of the fireplace.
In the 18th century, space was often provided over the fireplace for а
painting or mirror.
When coal fires became common, fireplaces became much smaller. Grates
were used to hold the coal. Above the fireplace there was usually а shelf
on which there was often а clock, and perhaps framed photographs.
DANCING
Dancing is popular, and the numerous large and opulent-looking public
dance-halls are an important element in the folklore and courtship
procedures of all but the upper and middle classes. They manage to survive
against the competition of the more modern, smaller, noisier discotheques.
They are strictly places for dancing, with good floors and good bands, but
often no tables for people to sit at when they are not actually dancing,
only rows of chairs round the walls. They are visited mainly by young
unmarried people. Girls tend to go in groups of two or three, friends from
the same street or the same or officeсе, relying much on each other’s
support as they go in; the young men sometimes go in groups too, but often
alone. All the girls tend to congregate together between dances, and the
young men similarly. At the beginning of each dance а man chooses а girl
from the mass, and will ask the same girl to dance with him again if he
finds her company agreeable, but the girl may refuse. Most of the dancers
go home as they come — but not quite at all. If а couple like one another
Holidays and traditions in English – speaking countries.
the young man may offer an invitation to go to а cinema on some future
night, and this invitation may be succeeded by others. After several рrе-
arranged meetings а
couple may regard themselves as “going steady” together though for а long
time they will meet only in public places, and an invitation home implies
great admiration. Young people are thoroughly emancipated, and find it easy
enough to meet each other.
III. 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 Mort lake 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.
Introduction.
At the end of the 9th form my classmates and I were given a very
interesting task for the examination: to write the reports on different
themes. I introduced with all of them very carefully and choose one that I
like more then others. The theme of my report is “Holidays and Traditions
in English- Speaking Countries”. I was eager to work with the material on
this theme because it’s really interesting and exciting for me to know more
about the customs and traditions that came to people’s life many hundreds
years ago. I’m also interested in their everyday way of life and I can get
something for myself. I worked hard and did my best to deal with different
kinds of information and literature to make my report differ from the
reports of my classmates. I tried to explain everything with simple phrases
to make my listeners and readers be satisfied with my work. I wish
everybody could get a lot of new information about customs and traditions
of many civilized countries and may be hold them in future too. I hope that
my report will be interesting for everybody.
Conclusion.
I feel proud of myself because I did my best to cope with this work
and I hope that I did it quiet well. In my report I tried to show the life
of different nations, which live in English – speaking countries. I wrote
about their customs, traditions and holidays, about their costumes and
clothes. It was very interesting to look for the information for my
project.
