Customs and Traditions in Britain
    Some British customs and traditions are famousall over the world and a lot of them have very long histories. First I will tellyou about British customs during the year. In January, there is a festival, calledUp-Helly-Aa.In the ninth century, men from Norway came to the Shetlands. The Shetlands areislands near Scotland. These men were theVikings. They came to Britain in shipsand carried away animals, gold, and sometimes women and children, too. Now, 1000 years later, people in the Shetlands remember the Vikings with a festival.They call the festival "Up-Helly-Aa". Every winter the people of Lerwick, thisis a town in the Shetlands, make a model of a ship. It?s a Viking"longship", with the head of a dragon at the front. Then, on Up-Helly-Aa nightin January, the Shetlanders dress inViking clothes, carry the ship through thetown to the sea and there they burn it. They do this because the Vikings puttheir dead men in the ship and burned them. It goes without saying that therearen?t any men in the modern ships. Now the festival is a party for thepeople of the Shetland Islands. Like our traditions there is also in BritainSt Valentine?sDay in February andApril Fool?sDay on April1st. In May there is also a tradition with a longhistory. May 1st was an important day in the Middle Ages. In the veryearly morning, young girls went to the fields and washed their faces with dew.They belived this made themvery beautiful for a year after that. Also onMayDay the young men of each village tried towin prizes with their bows and arrows, and people danced around the maypole.Many English villages still have a maypole, and on May 1st, thevillagers dance round it. Midsummer?sDay is on June 24th. This isthe longest day of the year. On that day you can see a very old custom atStonehenge in Wiltshire. Stonehenge is one of Europe?s biggest stonecircles, a lot of the stones are ten or twelve metres high. It?s also veryold, the earliest part of Stonehenge is nearly 5 000 years old. The Druids, theywere the priests in Britain 2 000 years ago, used it for a calendar. They usedthe sun and the stones at Stonehenge to know the start of months and seasons.There are Druids in Britain today, too and every June 24th a lot ofthem go to Stonehenge, because on that morning the sun shines on one famousstone-the Heel stone. For the druids this is a very important moment in theyear. In October is Halloween. Halloween is an oldword for "Hallows Evening", the night bevor "All Saints? Day". On that onenight of the year, ghosts and witches are free. A long time ago people wereafraid and stayed at home on Hallowe?en. But now in Britain it?s atime for fun. There are always a lot of parties on October 31st . Atthese parties people wear masks and they dress as ghosts and witches, or asDracula or Frankenstein?s monster. And some peoples make special Halloweenlamps from pumpkins. November 5th isGuy Fawkes?Day in Britain. All over the countrypeople build wood fires or "bonefires", in their gardens. On top of each bonfireis a guy. That?s a figure of Guy Fawkes. People make guys with straw, oldclothes and newspapers. The British remember Guy Fawkes on November5th, because on this day in the year 1605, he tried to kill KingJames I. He and a group of friends put a bomb under the Houses of Parliament inLondon. But the King?s men found the bomb and found Guy Fawkes, too. Theytook him to the Tower of London and there the King?s men cut off hishead. In December there are lots of Christmas and NewYear traditionsin Britain. Before Christmas, groups of singers go fromhouse to house. They collect money and sing traditional Christmas songs orcarols. There are a lot of very popular BritishChristmasCarols. Three famous ones are: "Good KingWenceslas", "The Holly and The Ivy" and "We Three Kings". OnChristmasEve that?s on December24th, British children don?t open their presents. FatherChristmas brings their presents inthe night and then they open them on themorning of the 25th. In Britain the most important meal on December25th is Christmas dinner. Nearly all Christmas food is traditional,but a lot of the traditionsare not very old. For example, there were no turkeysin Britain before 1800. And even in the nineteenth century, goose was thetraditional meat at Christmas, but not now. A twentieth- century BritishChristmas dinner is roast turkey with carrots, potatoes, peas, Brussels sproutsand gravy, but there are sausages and bacon, too. Then, after the turkey, thereis Christmas pudding. Crackers are also usual at Christmas dinner. These came toBritain from China in the nineteenth century. Two people pull a cracker andusually there?s a small toy in the middle and often there?s a joke ona piece of paper, too. December 26th isBoxingDay. Traditionally boys from the shops ineach town asked for money at Christmas. They went from house to house onDecember 26th and took boxes made of wood with them. At each housepeople gave them money and this was their Christmas present. So the name ofDecember 26th doesn?t come frome the sport of boxing, it comesfrom the boys? wooden boxes. Now, Boxing Day is an extra holiday afterChristmas Day. In Scotland there is a tradition, calledFirstFooting. The name for New Year?s Evein Scotland isHogmanay. After midnight people visit their friends and they takea piece of coal as a present, because traditionally the first visitor of theyear must carry coal into the house. This is first footing and it brings goodluck. It also helps to make fire in the middle of winter. In Britain there are many RoyalTraditions. For example thetrooping of thecolour: The Queen is the only person in Britain with twobirthdays. Her real birthday is on April 21st , but she has an"official" birthday on the second Saturday in June, too. And on the Queen?sofficial birthday, there is a traditional ceremony called the Trooping of theColour. It?s a big parade with brass bands and hundreds of soldiers atHorse Guards? Parade in London. ............