Traditions customs and habits of great Вritain

It must be stressed that  many  assumptions have been made  about  the meanings of the motifs which appear on lovespoons. Imagery is always difficult to explain and certain motifs may have had more personal significance for the donor than can be appreciated by the casual observer. Spoons were not mass-produced but made by one individual for another and many relied on personal nuances other than symbols to convey meaning.

Some spoons are dated. If the couple eventually marry, they then become a keepsake of the suitor's original interest. Other spoons are personalized either by initials or by an emblem of the occupation or the interests of the donor or donor. Often a carver wishes to incorporate a date, a monogram, a motto, a name or a quotation into a carving. If he wants to keep it a secret, he may work the date or name into the design.

Nationalistic emblems such as a daffodil, a leek, the word Cymru or even a dragon are sometimes used, but they are usually to be found on modern spoons. Some spoons are intended to be in the nature of Valentines and to be anonymous. It is difficult to understand, though, that someone who had spent many hours creating such a gift would not want his work to be appreciated. Others are decorated with dual initials, those of the suitor and his lady or with a single initial when we are left to guess whether this represents the donor or the donor. But we must try not to read too much into the minds of the carvers of earlier days. Whatever we think, we cannot help being amazed by the consummate skill of these lovespoon craftsmen.

The Welsh National Game

Rugby is a form of football. It is named after Rugby School in Warwickshire where it was developed, though the exact date (1823 or later) is in dispute.

Rugby is the national game of Welsh team was thought to be the best of the world. The rules of the game are rather complicated but mainly involve the carrying of an egg-shaped ball over your opponents’ line and pressing it firmly on the ground to score a try. A team consists of fifteen players, eight of whom are usually much bigger and heavier than the rest. Their job is to win the ball so that the three-quarters can run forward over the line, trying to avoid the tackles of the opposing team. Often the heavier forwards can be seen pushing together in a scrum, trying to kick the ball backwards. Although the game seems to be similar to American football, the players are not allowed to throw the ball forward. Other point can be won by kicking the ball between the special “H” – shaped goal – posts.

When the Welsh side are playing at home at Cardiff Arms Park their supporters often try to encourage them to play better by singing the Welsh National anthem, “Land of My Fathers”. The sound of thousands of Welsh voices singing this famous song usually helps the Welsh side to score another try to win the game. Naturally they are especially pleased when this is against the English! 

 

VII. TRADITIONS OF NOTHERN IRELAND

St. Patrick’s and the Shamrock

St. Patrick’s Day is the seventeenth of March, and Irish men and women everywhere, together with a good many English people as well, try to obtain  a sprig of shamrock to wear on that day. For St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, and the shamrock is his special emblem.

Nearly every one must know the story of how it became so. He was preaching, standing out of doors on a little hill, trying to make his hearers understand the doctrine of the Trinity, how Three Persons could yet be one God. Unable to make them see, he stooped and picked a spray of shamrock, the little three-leaved plant growing among the grass at his feet. Holding it up, he explained that, as the leaves were still only one leaf since they all radiated from a central point, so Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, although Three Parsons, were yet but one God. And so, in memory of their patron saint and in honour of their country, the Irish people wear sprays of shamrock on St. Patrick’s Day.

St. Patrick’s Day, later, became associated with a custom which the saint would certainly have condemned had he been alive to do so during the time it was in vogue – it has practically died out now. It was called “Drowning the shamrock”, and it consisted simply in drinking excessively of spirits and beer. Two or three hundred years ago, some one started a legend that St. Patrick had taught the people of Ireland how to distil whisky, and those who liked strong drink were quick to seize the chance to indulge their taste. It become the practice of innkeepers to offer their customers free meals on St. Patrick’s Day, consisting of very salt fish with a glass of beer or whisky to wash it down. The generosity paid the innkeeper handsomely, for the fish was always so salt that it took many more than the one free drink to quench the thirst of his customers afterwards, and the extra drinks, of course, would all have to be paid for.                         

 

CONCLUSION

 

In conclusion, I would like to say, that Great Britain has a lot of interesting and original traditions. People respect their customs and try observe them, although traditions are in very big number.

The aim of my work was helpful people, who prepare to make journey to Great Britain; helpful acquaint with customs, manners of behaviour, habits of the people. Studying them help us to understand better the English way of life.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GLOSSARY

 

Bar of the House of Lords –   решетка Палаты Лордов, за которую допускаются только лорды

bearskin –   медвежья шапка (английских гвардейцев)

Beefeater –   лейб-гвардеец

Beefeaters –   стража королевских замков

Changing of the Guard –   смена караула

court –   двор (королевский)

deny royal access –   отказывать королю в праве заходить в парламент

Footguards –   гвардейская пехота

gargling water –   вода без полоскания горла

Gentleman-at-Arms –   лейб-гвардеец при королевском дворе

Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod –   пристав чёрного жезла

Guildhall –   ратуша в Лондоне

Gun Powder Plot –   Пороховой заговор

Gurkha soldier – солдат полка курков

Her Majesty –   Её Величество

High Court of Justice –   Верховный суд

Horse Guards –   конная гвардия

Household Cavalry –   гвардейская кавалерия

Sunday Observance Laws – законы, запрещающие развлечения в воскресенье

Lord Mayor –   лорд мэр

Mace –   булава, жезл

Magistrate –   член городского магистрата

Magna Carta –   Магна Карта (1215г.), Великая Хартия Вольности

Mansion House –   резиденция лорда мэра

pageantry –   пышное зрелище

pub –   пивная, трактир

Public Bill –   законопроект

pursuivants –   служащие в коллегии герольда

Rag Day –   день студенческих шуток

Regiment of the Line –   армейский полк

Queen’s Life Guard of Household Cavalry –   личная охрана королевы из состава конной гвардии

royal ceremony –   торжественная церемония с участием королевы

“tellers” –   счётчики голосов в парламенте

Sergeant-at-Arms – парламентский пристав

Service –   род войск

taburds –   камзол гарольда

trooping of the colour –   вынос знамени (церемония)

woolsack – набитая шерстью подушка, на которой сидит лорд-канцлер в палате лордов

Yeomen Warders –   иомены-смотрители, охраняющие Тауэр

 

LITERATURE

 

1.  Кощеева Н.Е.    English Reader    Part II. English National Traditions          М. 1972.

2.  Пинягин Ю.Н.    Великобритания: история, культура, образ жизни.         – Пермь: Изд-во Перм. Ун-та, 1996. – 296.

3.  Сатинова В.М.    Читаем и говорим о Британии  и британцах. Мн.: Выш. шк., 1997. –  255с.  

4.  Традиции, обычаи и привычки. М.: ИНФРА-М, 2001. – 127с.

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5.  Lilies and roses / English 1996 №18

6.  Feasts in March / English 1998 №15

7.  Pubs in Great Britain / English 1997 № 41