A legend tells how David suggested that his people should wear a leek in their bonnets during battles so that they could be easily recognized; Welsh Guards are still distinguished by a green and white plume in their black bearskins. At Windsor, on the Sunday nearest St. David’s day, it is now a tradition that every member of the Brigade of Welsh Guards is given a leek by a member of the Royal Family. As St. David’ Day is celebrated at the beginning of spring when daffodils are blooming, this flower has become a second, more graceful emblem of Wales. David’s own emblem is a dove.

    It is said that David had a sweet singing voice. He encouraged his monks to sing as well as possible for the glory of God, and perhaps this was the beginning of the Welsh tradition of fine made-voice choirs.

    Many churches are dedicated to David in southwest Wales, other places too are called after the saint.

      The Welsh "national" costume seen on the dolls and postcards is largely a myth created for tourism. Certainly, the seventeenth-century country women wore long coloured skirts, a white apron and a tall black hat, but so did English women at that time. In the nineteenth century, the idea of a national costume was born and this pleased both tourists and locals, although there is no evidence at all of a long-lost costume.

    The Welsh Eisteddfodau 

    No country in the world has a greater love of music and poetry than the people of Wales. Today, Eisteddfodau are held at scores of places throughout Wales, particularly from May to early November. The habit of holding similar events dates back to early history, and there are records of competitions for Welsh poets and musicians in the twelfth century. The Eisteddfod sprang from the National Assembly of Bards. Since then it has become an annual event for the encouragement of Welsh literature and music and the preservation of the Welsh language and ancient national customs.

    The Royal National Eisteddfod of Wales is held annually early in August, its actual venue varying from year to year. It attracts Welsh people from all over the world. The programme includes male and mixed choirs, brass-band concerts, many children's events, drama, arts and crafts and, of course, the ceremony of the Crowning of the Bard.

    Next in importance is the great Llangollen International Music Eisteddfod, held early in July and attended by competitors from many countries, all wearing their picturesque and often colourful national costumes. It is an event probably without parallel anywhere in the world. There are at least twenty-five other major Eisteddfodau from May to November. In addition to the Eisteddfodau, about thirty major Welsh Singing festivals are held throughout Wales during the same period of time.

    Lovespoons 

    Lovespoons were given by suitors to their sweethearts in Wales from the seventeenth to the early nineteenth century. The custom of giving lovespoons died out in the nineteenth century but they continued to be carved especially in some country districts. Making lovespoons became something of an art form and woodwork competitions and Eisteddfoday often had examples of the genre.

    In recent years, interest in lovespoons has reawakened and many people seek them out as desirable keepsakes. Visitors to Wales, particularly from overseas, wanting something uniquely Welsh to remind them of their visit often choose a lovespoon. There is also a growing tendency for Welsh people themselves to give lovespoons as gifts to commemorate special occasions — a new baby, a birthday, an impending marriage, a retirement or to celebrate a success of some kind. Lovespoons also make excellent Christmas presents. Today, when most people have neither the tine nor the inclination to carve their own lovespoons, the accepted practice is to buy a ready-made example of the craft or to commission one of the woodcarver specialists to make one.

    Since pre-history, beautiful, hand-carved objects have had ceremonial, romantic and religious significance: long incense and cosmetic spoons, for example, have survived from Egyptian times. In the Middle Ages, a pair of knives in a sheath was considered a worthy gift and it was common for a bridegroom to present his bride with one: such sets were known as "wedding knives".

    The history of kitchen utensils and the spoon belongs to Western culture. The history of the lovespoon belongs to Welsh romantic folklore.

    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 Wales. 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!   
 

    6. 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

    Great Britain has a lot of interesting and original traditions. British people are very conservative. They are proud of their traditions and carefully keep them up, although they are so numerous that foreigners coming to Britain are stuck at once by quite a number of customs and peculiarities.

LIST OF SOURCES USED

1. Голицынский Ю. Great Britain. - С.-Петербург: Каро, 1999 – 271 c.;
2. Кощеева Н.Е. English Reader. Part II. English National Traditions. - М.: Высшая школа, 1985. - 196 с.
3. Хишунина Т.Н. Customs, traditions and holidays in Britain. - С.-Петербург: Просвещение, 1975. – 225c.
4. http://www.learnenglish.de/britishculture
5. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history