TRADITIONS CUSTOMS AND HABITS OF GREAT BRITAIN
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TRADITIONS CUSTOMS AND  HABITS OF GREAT BRITAIN

CONTENTS

           Introduction ………………………………………………………………   3

1.   Ways of everyday life ……………………………………………………  4

2.   Scottish traditions ………………………………………………………..   8

3. Welsh traditions …………………………………………………………. 10

4. Traditions of Northern Ireland ………………………………………….  13

Conclusion ……………………………………………………………...   14

Literature ………………………………………………………………. . 15

INTRODUCTION

I choose this topic because it’s very interesting and urgent for me now. People of different countries have their own traditions. And I think, it is very important to know customs and traditions of that country, which you are going to visit. The national traditions absorb, accumulate and reflect the historic experience of the part generations.

The aim of my work is to describe customs and habits of English. And I should say, that English life is full of traditions. Some of them are very beautiful, colorful and picturesque, and seem to be quite reasonable; others are curious, sometimes funny, and they often are maintained simply as a tourist attraction.

In additions, many English traditions have long outlived themselves and became burdensome. Moreover, they make no sense in the present day like and only complicate things. But they are preserved and kept alive because of the well-known traditional English conservatism.

There are many traditions associated with some historical facts, parliamentary, court and state ceremonies, university life, and popular holidays. Others are connected with the mode of everyday life. They deal with customs, manners of behaviour, and habits of the people. Studying them will help us to understand better the English way of life.  

1. WAYS OF EVERYDAY LIFE

Very often when speaking of English traditions we think first of some curious theatrical ceremonies of the court or parliament procedure. There come to our mind the medieval uniforms of the guards, the solemn cloaks and wigs of the judges or the top hats (bowlers) and the invariable umbrellas of the clerks of the London City.

But the word “tradition” does not mean only that. First and foremost “tradition” is the generally accepted made or way of living, acting, behaving of just doing things. There are many very good traditions of this kind in the everyday life of the English.

1. Lunch at 1 o’clock

Many foreigners are sometimes taken aback when they are faced with this typically English custom for the first time.

Whatever one is doing, no matter how important it is, or seems to be – a parliamentary debate or any kind of business routine – as soon as the clock strikes one everybody breaks for lunch.

The time from one to two o’clock is a “sacred” hour in England. And it appears to be not only good for health – having meals at regular times is certainly healthy – but it is very convenient socially as well. Everybody knows that there is no use trying to get in touch with some official, business executive or firm representative at this time. They won’t be in. It is no waste your time going from one shop to another at one o’clock sharp they will open. For punctuality is also one of the English traditions.

2. English Tea

If you are invited to an English home at five o’clock in the morning you get a cup of tea. It is either brought in by a heartily smiling hostes or an almost malevolently silent maid. You have tea for breakfast; then you have tea at eleven o’clock in the morning, then after lunch, then you have tea for tea, then for supper and again at eleven o’clock at night. You must not refuse any additional cups of tea under the following circumstances: is it is hot, if it is cold, if you are tired, if anybody thinks that you might be tired, if you are nervous, if you are gay, before you go out, if you have just returned home, if you have just had a cup…

3. Fireplaces

In English homes, the fireplace has always been, until recent times, the natural center of interest in a room. People  like to sit at a window on a summer day, but for many months of the year 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. 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, place was often provided over the fireplace for a painting or mirror. Above the fireplace there was usually a shelf on which there was often a clock, and perhaps framed photographs.

4. Pubs

Do you know what a pub is? The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary defines it as a public house or building where people go to drink and to meet their friends. English men like to get together in the pub in the evening. The usual opening hours for pubs are on weekends from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 10.30 p.m. On Sundays pubs may remain open for not more than 5 hours. Pubs usually have two drinking rooms called bars - the public and the saloon bar, which is more comfortable but more expensive. "Bar" also means the counter at which drinks are served.

Pubs serve alcoholic and other drinks and often light meals. The main drink served in pubs, is, of course, beer, light or dark. Light beer is usually called bitter. As for other kinds of alcohol, most pubs serve whisky, gin and wine. Beer is always sold in pint or half-pint glasses. A pint is equivalent to 0.57 liter. No alcoholic drinks may be served to young people under eighteen under British law.

In Great Britain today there are some 80,000 pubs situated in different cities, country towns, villages, and so on. Every English pub has its own sign and name. Some people refer to pub signs as a great open-air portrait gallery, which covers the whole country. But actually this gallery includes far more than portraits. In London the famous Sherlock Holmes pub with the big portrait of the famous detective smoking his favourite pipe attracts thousands of visitors.        Skittles is one of the oldest pub games and dates back to medieval England, the object of the game being to knock down as many skittles as possible with a wooden ball. This pub game has lots of variations all over Britain. Darts is also an old game, ' which was played by the Pilgrims in 1620 when they sailed, from England to the New World. That is why it is well known in the USA, too. The aim of the game is to score as quickly as possible with the least number, of throws. So, if you come to Britain drop in a pub, enjoy a pint of bitter and a "tongue sandwich, which speaks for itself”.

It sounds funny to foreigners but when it is closing time, the pub barman calls "Time!" or "Time, gentlemen, pleaser!” 

5. English Habits of Politeness

Some greetings in England are very informal: a simple “good morning” or a wave of the hand across the street is quite enough. Handshakes are only exchanged on a first introduction or as a congratulation. “Sorry” takes the place of “no” when you cannot do something for a person or give a positive answer in situation like “May I use your pen?”, “Do you know the time?” or “Have you any size seven shoes?”.  “Pardon” is the polite way of asking somebody to repeat what he has said.

English people do not readily ask each other to do anything, they prefer to wait for a service to be offered before asking for it. If they do ask, then they say something like “I don’t really like asking you, but…”

It is considered polite to give up one’s seat a woman who is standing, to open door for her, carry things for her  and so on.

6. Manners in Public

Our manners in public, like our manners in our homes, are based on self-respect and consideration for other people.

It is really surprising how stingy we are with our “Please” when we ask anyone to do something for us. We unwillingly part with our “Thank you”, as if it were the most difficult and costly thing in the world. We don’t stand aside for others to pass us in the trams, buses or the underground. We don’t rise to let people pass us to their seats in the theatres or movies.

Not to attract unfavourable attention to yourself or others here are some of the rules for correct behaviour in a public place:

1. Not to be conspicuous, don’t wear conspicuous clothes.
2. One should not talk loud or laugh loud.
3. No matter how trying the circumstance, do not give way to anger or uncontrolled emotion.
4. Never eat anything in the street, or in a public place (restaurants, buffets and cafes excluded).
5. Do not rudely push your way through crowds.
6. Never stare at people or point at them.
7. Do not ridicule or comment on anyone in public.
8. Reserve “affectionate demonstration” (kissing, embracing, etc.) for appropriate places.
9. Don’t monopolise the sidewalk, by walking 3 or 4 abreast, or by stopping in the centre to speak with someone.
10. When in the street keep to the right.

II. SCOTTISH TRADITIONS

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 Tartan

Tartan is the distinguishing mark of the Highlander. It has a long history. Evidence can be brought to show that as long as the thirteenth century, and probably earlier, Highlanders wore brightly coloured striped tartan plaids, which they called "breacan". Traditionalists state the Highlanders wore tartan as a badge so that they could recognize each other and distinguish friend from foe in battle. Even though the old tartans were simpler than the modern ones, they could not easily be recognized at a distance.

The study of the portraits shows that there was no uniformity of tartan even in the early eighteenth century.  Members of the same family are found wearing very different tartan and, what is more surprising, many of the men are seen to wear the kilt of one tartan and a Jacket of another.

The fashion for tartan was fostered by the amazing spectacle of a kilted King George IV in 1822.

Clansmen wrapped themselves in a generous length of tartan cloth some sixteen feet wide. The upper portion covered the wearer's shoulders, and it was belted at the waist, the lower portion hanging in rough folds to the knees. Modern Highland dress consists of a day-time kilt of heavy material, sometimes in a darker tartan, worn with a tweed jacket, while for the evening finer material, possibly in a brighter "dress" tartan, can be matched with a variety of accessories.

Burns Night    (25 January)

The anniversary of the poet's birth, is celebrated in every corner of Scotland. There are hundreds of Burns Clubs scattered throughout the world. The first club was founded at Greenock in 1802.  The traditional menu at the suppers is cock-a-leekie soup (chicken broth), boiled salt herring, haggis with bashed neeps (turnips), champit tatties (mashed potatoes) and dessert. The haggis is carried into the dining room behind a piper wearing traditional dress. He then reads a poem written especially for the haggis! "The Immortal Memory" is toasted, and the company stand in silent remembrance. Then fellows dancing, pipe music, and selections from Burns's lyrics, the celebration concluding with the poet's famous Auld Lang Syne.

Scottish Weddings

Everybody knows about Gretna Green, the famous Scottish village just beyond the border. In the old days runaway couples escaped from England to Gretna Green to get married. The practice started in the year 1774.  In Scotland the legal age limit was sixteen – and still is for that matter.

You may ask why all those young people chose Gretna Green for their wedding. After all, there are many romantic places in Scotland. The answer is simple. Gretna Green was the nearest village across the Scottish border, only ten miles of Carlisle, on the main highway. To get there took the least time and the least money.

The blacksmith at Gretna Green was always ready to perform the marriage ceremony at a small fee. The formalities were very simple. All that was needed was a declaration made by the young couple in the presence of two witnesses.  

The old tradition is still remembered. Many young couples who cannot get married in England because they are under age still think it romantic to go to Gretna Green. But today they must have enough money to stay there for three weeks.    

III. WELSH TRADITIONS

St. David’s Day  (1st March)

Dewi (“David” in English), was the son of a Welsh chieftain. He was brought up as a Christian and went abroad to learn more about the life of a monk. Then he returned to Wales and founded many monasteries which became centers of religion and learning in the Welsh countryside. The monks lived a simple life of prayer, growing their own herbs and vegetables and offering generous hospitality to anyone in need. Because David’s holiness and his inspiring teaching, he was made a bishop. The center of his bishopric was in the settlement we now know as St. David’s on the Western tip of the country of Dyfed.

David is thought to have died on 1st march, AD 589, and his shrine at St. David’s was a place of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages. Later, when people of North and South Wales became one nation, he was chosen as the patron saint of Wales.

 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. However, 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.

Many churches are dedicated to David in southwest Wales, and if you are traveling there, you might visit the cathedral at St. David’s.

 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.

Lovespoons 

 The custom of giving lovespoons died out in the nineteenth century. Making lovespoons became something of an art form and woodwork competitions.

 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.

 The history of the lovespoon belongs to Welsh romantic folklore. From the mid-seventeenth century, lovespoons were carved from wood in Wales and there is one dated 1677 in the collection at the Welsh Folk Museum in Cardiff.

Some young men did not have the time or the skill to carve their own spoons and professional lovespoon carters emerged. Spoons were bartered for or purchased from these skilled craftsmen and a tradition of spoons made by the same wood worker grew in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.  It was no wonder then, that the spoon became more decorative and elaborate.

A great deal of imagination was used in the creation of lovespoons.  Two or even three bowls were carved instead of one to make it more interesting and attractive.  In this way, symbols were incorporated: hearts, locks, keys, shields, anchors and wheels were favoured themes. Nationalistic emblems such as a daffodil, a leek 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. 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!  

IV. 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 to observe them, although traditions are in very big number.

       The aim of my work was helpful for 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.    

LITERATURE

1. Praill A. United Kingdom: A Modern Tradition. Foreign & Commonwealth Office., 2002.
2. Кощеева Н.Е. English Reader Part II. English National Traditions. М., 1972.
3. Нестерова Н.М. Страноведение: Великобритания. Ростов н/Д: Феникс, 2006.
4. Сатинова В.М. Читаем и говорим о Британии и британцах. Минск:  Высш. шк., 1997. – 255с.
5. Радовель В.А.Страноведение: Великобритания. Ростов н/Д: Феникс, 2005.