favorite summer pastime for students to take food, drink, guitars (or,
alas, transistor radios) and girl friends on to a punt (a long, slim boat,
rather like a gondola) and sail down the rive, trying very hard to forget
about exams. Many students feel that they have not been christened into the
University until they have fallen into the River Cam. This has almost
become a tourist attraction.
Students also have an official excuse to “let themselves loose” once a
year (usually in November) on Rag Day*.
On this day, hundreds of different schemes are thought up to collect
money for charity, and it is not unusual to see students in the streets
playing guitars, pianos, violins, singing, dancing, eating fire, fishing in
drains for money, or even just lying in beds suspended over the street
swinging a bucket for money to be thrown into.
On May 21st every year, Eton College and King’s College, Cambridge,
honour the memory of their founder, Henry VI, who died very suddenly, and
was almost certainly murdered, in the Tower of London on that day in 1471.
he is generally supposed to have been killed whilst at prayer in the
Oratory of the Wakefield Tower, and here, on the anniversary, the Ceremony
of the lilies and Roses now takes place. Representatives of both colleges
walk in procession with Beefeaters and the Chaplain of the Tower, and the
short service is conducted by the latter, during which a player composed by
Henry himself is said. A marble tablet in the in the Oratory marks the
place where the King is believed to have died, and on each side of it
flowers are laid - lilies from Eton bound with pale blue silk, and white
roses from King’s College, bound with purple ribbon. They are left there
for twenty-four hours, and then they are burnt.
Transport in Britain
You can reach England either by plane, by train, by car or by ship. The
fastest way is by plane. London has three international airports: Heathrow,
the largest, connected to the city by underground; Gatwick, south of
London, with a frequent train service; Luton, the smallest, used for
charter flights.
If you go to England by train or by car you have to cross the Channel.
There is a frequent service of steamers and ferry-boats which connect the
continent to the south-east of England.
People in Britain drive on the left and generally overtake on right.
The speed limit is 0 miles per hour (50km/h) in towns and cities and 70 mph
(110 km/h) on motorways.
When you are in London you can choose from different means of
transport: bus, train, underground or taxi. The typical bus in London is a
red double-decker. The first London bus started running between Paddington
and the City in 1829. It carried 40 passengers and cost a shilling for six
kms.
The next to arrive were the trains; now there are twelve railway
stations in London. The world’s first underground line was opened between
Baker St. and the City in 1863. Now there are ten underground lines and 273
underground is also called the Tube, because of the circular shape of its
deep tunnels.
British Literature
Great Britain gave the world a lot of talented people. Many famous
writers and poets were born in Great Britain.
One of the best known English playwrights was William Shakespeare. He
draw ideas for his tragedies and comedies from the history of England and
ancient Rome. Many experts consider Shakespeare the greatest writer and the
greatest playwright in England language. William Shakespeare wrote 37 plays
which may be divided into: comedies (such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream),
tragedies (such as Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth) and historical
plays (such as Richard II, Henry V, Julius Caesar, Anthony and Cleopatra).
Robert Burns represents the generation of Romantic writers. In his
poems he described with love and understanding the simple life he knew.
Among his well-known poems are Halloween, The Jolly Beggars, To a Mouse.
George Gordon Lord Byron. His free-spirited lie style combined with his
poetic gift makes him one of the most famous figures of the Romantic Era.
His famous works such as Stanzas to Augusta, The Prisoner of Chillon,
Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Manfred draw readers into the passion, humors
and conviction of a poet whose life and work truly embodied the Romantic
spirit.
Sir Walter Scott wrote the first examples of historical novel; Lewis
Carroll became famous when he published Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Places of Interest in Great Britain
Britain is rich in its historic places which link the present with the
past.
The oldest part of London is Lud Hill, where the city was originated.
About a mile west of it there is Westminster Palace, where the king lived
and the Parliament met, and there is also Westminster Abbey, the coronation
church.
Liverpool, the “city of ships”, is England’s second greatest port
ranking after London. The most interesting sight in the Liverpool is the
docks. They occupy a river frontage of seven miles. The University of
Liverpool, established in 1903, is noted for its school of Tropical
Medicine. And in the music world Liverpool is a well-known name, for it’s
the town of “The Beatles”.
Stratford-on-Avon lies 93 miles north-west of London. Shakespeare was
born here in1564, and here he died in 1616. Cambridge and Oxford
Universities are famous centers of learning.
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument, presumably build by Druids,
members of an order of priests in ancient Britain. Tintagel Castle is King
Arthur’s reputed birthplace. Canterbury is the seat of the Archbishop o
Canterbury, head of the Church of England.
The British Museum is the largest and riches museum in the world. It
was founded in 1753 and contains one of the world’s richest collections of
antiquities. The Egyptian Galleries contain human and animal mummies. Some
parts of Athens’ Parthenon are in the Greek section.
Madam Tussaud’s Museum is an exhibition of hundreds of life-size wax
models of famous people of yesterday and today. The collection was started
by Madam Tussaud, a French modeler in wax, in the 18 century. Here you can
meet Marilyn Monroe, Elton John, Picasso, the Royal family, the Beatles and
many others: writers, movie stars, singers, politicians, sportsmen, etc.
Sports in Great Britain
British people are very fond of sports. Sport is a part of their normal
life. The two most popular games are football and cricket.
Football, also called soccer, is the most popular sport in the United
Kingdom. England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own
Football Leagues and national teams. Games are played on Saturday
afternoons from August to April. In addition to the FL games there is a
competition called the Football Associations Cup. The Cup Final is played
at Wembley Stadium(London) in May.
Cricket is considered to be the English National game. Its rules are
very complicated. Two teams of eleven men each play it, the player at a
time tries to hit ball with a bat.
Golf is the Scottish national game. It originated in the XV century and
the most famous golf course in the world, known as a Royal and Ancient
Club, is at St. Andrew’s.
Lawn tennis was first played in Britain in the late 19th century. The
most famous British championship is Wimbledon, played annually during the
last week of June and the fist week of July.
Those are the most popular kinds of sport in the UK. But there are many
other sports such as rugby, golf, swimming, horse-racing and the
traditional fox-hunting.
Scotland
Scotland is a country in the north of Great Britain. It is a part of
the United Kingdom. Scotland is divided into three natural regions: the
Southern Uplands, the Central Lowlands and the highlands and islands. A lot
of places in Scotland are a natural paradise, still untouched by man.
The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh, well known for its castle.
Glasgow is the industrial capital of Scotland. It us the third largest city
in Great Britain. The typical products of Scotland are timber, whisky,
salmon. Golf is the Scottish natural sport it seems to have originated in
this country.
Scottish Traditions
The thistle is the national emblem of Scotland. This is how, according
to a curious legend, this plant came to be chosen as a badge, in preference
to any other. Many years ago the Vikings once landed somewhere on the east
coast of Scotland. The Scots assembled with their arms and took their
stations behind the River Tay. As they arrived late in the day, weary and
tired after a long march, they pitched their camp and rested, not expecting
the enemy before the next day. The Vikings, however, were near: noticing
that no guards were protecting the camp, they crossed the Tay, intending to
take the Scots by surprise. For this purpose they took off their shoes so
as to make the least possible noise. But one of them stepped on a thistle.
The sudden and sharp pain he felt caused him to shriek. The alarm was given
in the Scots' camp. The Vikings were put to fight, and as an
acknowledgement for the timely and unexpected help from the thistle, the
Scots took it as their national emblem.
The Scottish national costume (Highland dress) includes a kilt worn by
men. For day wear, the kilt is worn with a tweed jacket, plain long socks,
a beret and a leather sporran, that is, a pouch hanging from a narrow belt
round the hips. The Scottish beret - tam-o'-shanter - is a woollen cap
without a brim but with a pompon or a feather on top, traditionally worn
pulled down at one side. It got its name after Tam o' Shanter, the hero of
Burns's poem of that name.
The Clan
The Gaelic word "clan" means "children", and the central idea of a clan
is kinship. Nowadays it refers, as a rule, only to Highland families, in
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