CONTENTS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Introduction

 

    The  theme of this course work is Customs and Holidays in Great Britain

    The aim of the course work is to describe in details customs and holidays of Britain. Some of them are very beautiful colourful. Others are curious, sometimes funny. All of this will present in following pages of this course work.

       Actuality of this theme is igronce foreigners the  traditions and  holidays of Great Britain.

    The object of this course work are customs and holidays in Great Britian. Every country and every nation has own holidays and customs. It's very important to know holidays and customs of other countries. It helps to know more about the history and line of different nations.

      Subject :

Customs and holidays in Great Britain

    The tasks :

To gather  the material

Analyze  the gathered materials

To give information about Customs and holidays in Great Britain.

    Methods:

Analysis, observation .

    Structure:

The course work consists of introduction, body, conclusion. 

 

Chapter I Holidays in Great Britain

1.1 The History of the Great Britain

 

    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) is located on the British Isles. The British Isles consist of two large islands, Great Britain and Ireland, and about five thousand small islands. Their total area is over 244 000 square kilometers.  The United Kingdom is made up of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Their capitals are, respectively, London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. Great Britain itself  consists of England, Scotland and Wales and does not include Northern Ireland. The capital of UK is London.

    London is political, economic, culture and commercial center of the country. It’s one of the largest cities in the world and in Europe. The population of London is estimated to be over 8 million inhabitants.

    The British isles are separated from the European continent by the North Sea and the English channel. The western coast of Great Britain is washed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea.

    The landscape of the British Isles varies from plains to mountains. The north of Scotland is mountainous and is called Highlands, while the south, which has beautiful valleys and plains, is called Lowlands. The north and west of England are mountainous, but all the rest - east, center and southeast - is a vast plain.

    There are a lot of rivers in GB, but they are not very long. The Severn is the longest river, while the Thames is the deepest and - economically - the most important one.

    The total population of the UK is over 57 million and about 80% of it is urban. The UK is highly developed country in both industrial and economical aspects. It’s known as one of world’s largest producers and exporters of machinery, electronics, textile, aircraft and navigation equipment.

    Politically, the UK is a constitutional monarchy. In law, the Head of State is the Queen, but in practice, the Queen reigns but does not possess real power. The country is ruled by the elected government with the Primer Minister at the head, while the necessary legislative background is provided by the British Parliament which consists of two chambers : the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

    Obviously, the history of the Great Britain is not framed within the period from 1558 to nowadays which is surveyed in this paper. Still, due to the limited volume, the author has to leave alone everything that happened by the sixteenth century, starting from the Roman invasion and ending with the pre-Elizabethan period, and describing only those events which seem to be essential for understanding of the general course of development of the country.

    Many researchers believe that there has been no greater period in English history than the reign of Elizabeth, who was proclaimed queen in 1558.

    At this time the most critical question in England was that of religion. In 1558 a large proportion of English people were still indifferent in religious matters, and the power of the crown was very great. It was quite possible, therefore, for the ruler to control the form which the religious organisation of the people should take. Elizabeth chose her own ministers, and with then exerted so much pressure over Parliament that almost any laws that she wanted could be carried through.

    She and her ministers settled upon a middle course going back in all matters of church government to the system of Henry VIII. To carry out this arrangement two important laws, known as the Act of Supremacy and the Act of Uniformity, were passed by Parliament. According to these laws, the regulation of the English Church in matters of doctrine and good order was put into the hands of the Queen, and she was authorized to appoint a minister or ministers to exercise these powers in her name.

    Thus the Church of England was established in a form midway between the Church of Rome and the Protestant churches on the continent of Europe. It had rejected the leadership of the Pope, and was not Protestant like other reformed churches. From this time onward the organisation of the English church was strictly national.

    The political situation in England was not simple by the time Elizabeth took the throne. England was in close alliance with Spain and at war with France. Elizabeth managed to make peace with France, which was vitally necessary for England: her navy was in bad condition, troops few and poorly equipped, and treasury empty.

    One of the most significant internal problems of England during that period was pauperism, since the changes, rebellions and disorders of the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary I had left much distress and confusion among people. Many men were out of work, prices were high and wages low, trade irregular. In one field, however, there was a great success. The restoration of the coinage took place; the old debased currency had been recoined to the new standards. This was one of the most beneficial actions of the long reign of Elizabeth. Also, in 1563 a long act for the regulation of labor was passed. It was known as the Statute of Apprentices and settled, among others, an approximate twelve-hour day of labour.

    The rivalry among Elizabeth and her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots became another chief political affair of sixteenth century, which finally led to Mary’s long imprisonment and execution. In 1588 the war with Spain broke out. The most significant battle (and of historical meaning) of that conflict was the navy one. On July 30, 1588, the Invincible Armada of the Spanish was almost completely destroyed by much smaller fleet of the British under Lord Howard of Effingham command (although it’s been assumed that the great deal of success in the battle was brought by the terrible storm that swept away the large part of the Spanish fleet).

    The last ten years of Elizabeth’s reign were a period of more settled conditions and greater interest in the arts of peace, in the progress of commerce, and in the production and enjoyment of works of literature. The reign of Elizabeth revealed several quite gifted and talanted English people who did a lot to widen the influence of England. Probably the most famous of them was Sir Francis Drake. The first one, n\being a corsair and a sea captain in Elizabeth’s service, leaded a number of sea expeditions, mainly in Atlantic and Pacific oceans, bringing a lot of new knowledge of the world, and discovered a sound, later named after him.

    In cultural aspect, the real crown of the age was the Elizabethan literature, with such bright writers as William Shakespeare, Philipp Sidney and Edmund Spencer.

1.2 Cultural Life in Great Britain

 

    Artistic and cultural life in Britain is rather rich, like in most of the European countries. It has passed several main stages in its development.

    The Saxon King Alfred encouraged the arts and culture. The chief debt owed to him by English literature is for his translations of and commentaries on Latin works. Art, culture and literature flourished during the Elizabethan age, during the reign of Elizabeth I; it was the period of English domination of the oceans and colonies, and, due to the strong political and economic position of the country, there were few obstacles in the way of the cultural development. This time is also famous for the fact that William Shakespeare lived and worked then.

    The empire, which was very powerful under Queen Victoria, saw another cultural and artistic hey-day as a result of industrialisation and the expansion of international trade during the so-called industrial age.

    However, German air raids caused much damage during the First World War and then during the Second World War. The madness of the wars briefly inhibited the development of British culture.

    Immigrants who have arrived from all parts of the Commonwealth since 1945 have not only created a mixture of nations, but have also brought their cultures and habits with them. Monuments and traces of past greatness are everywhere. There are buildings of all styles and periods. A great number of museums and galleries display precious and interesting finds from all parts of the world and from all stage in the development of nature, man and art. London is one of the leading world centres for music, drama, opera and dance. Festivals held in towns and cities throughout the country attract much interest. Many British playwrights, composers, sculptors, painters, writers, actors, singers and dancers are known all over the world.

    The people living in the British Isles are very fond of music, and it is quite natural that concerts of the leading symphony orchestras, numerous folk groups and pop music are very popular.

    The Promenade concerts are probably the most famous. They were first held in 1840 in the Queen's Hall, and later were directed by Sir Henry Wood. They still continue today in the Royal Albert Hall. They take place every night for about three months in the summer, and the programmes include new and contemporary works, as well as classics. Among them are symphonies and other pieces of music composed by Benjamin Britten, the famous English musician.

    Usually, there is a short winter season lasting for about a fortnight. The audience may either listen to the music from a seat or from the ‘promenade’, where they can stand or stroll about, or, if there is room, sit down on the floor.

    Concerts are rarely given out-of-doors today except for concerts by brass bands and military bands that play in the parks and at seaside resorts during the summer.

    Folk music is still very much alive. There are many folk groups. Their harmony singing and good humour win them friends everywhere.

    Rock and pop music is extremely popular, especially among younger people. In the 60s and 70s groups such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd became very popular and successful.

    The Beatles, with their style of singing new and exciting, their wonderful sense of humour became the most successful pop group the world has ever known. Many of the famous songs written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney are still popular. Some of the more recent rock groups are Eurhythmics, Dire Straits, and Black Sabbath.

    British groups often set new trends in music. New staff and styles continue to appear. One of the most popular contemporary musicians and composers is Andrew Lloyd Webber. The musicals and rock operas by A. L. Webber have been a great success both in Britain and overseas.

    The famous English composer of the 19th century was Arthur Sullivan. Together with William Gilbert, the writer of the texts, he created fourteen operettas of which eleven are regularly performed today. In these operettas the English so successfully laugh at themselves and at what they now call the Establishment that W. S. Gilbert and A. Sullivan will always be remembered.

    Britain is probably one of the most rich European countries when cultural inheritance is considered. Along with Italy and Germany, it’s a home for many famous art galleries and museums.

    If you stand in Trafalgar Square in London with your back to Nelson's Column, you will see a wide horizontal front in a classical style. It is the National Gallery. It has been in this building since 1838 which was built as the National Gallery to house the collection of Old Masters Paintings (38 paintings) offered to the nation by an English Private collector, Sir George Beamount.

    Today the picture galleries of the National Gallery of Art exhibit works of all the European schools of painting, which existed between the 13th and 19th centuries. The most famous works among them are ‘Venus and Cupid’ by Diego Velazquez, ‘Adoration of the Shepherds’ by Nicolas Poussin, ‘A Woman Bathing’ by Harmensz van Rijn Rembrandt, ‘Lord Heathfield’ by Joshua Reynolds, ‘Mrs Siddons’ by Thomas Gainsborough and many others.

    In 1897 the Tate Gallery was opened to house the more modern British paintings. Most of the National Gallery collections of British paintings were transferred to the Tate, and only a small collection of a few masterpieces is now exhibited at Trafalgar Square. Thus, the Tate Gallery exhibits a number of interesting collections of British and foreign modern painting and also modern sculpture.

    The collection of Turner’s paintings at the Tate includes about 300 oils and 19,000 watercolours and drawings. He was the most traditional artist of his time as well as the most original: traditional in his devotion to the Old Masters and original in his creation of new styles. It is sometimes said that he prepared the way for the Impressionists.

    The modern collection includes the paintings of Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall and Salvador Dali, Francis Bacon and Graham Sutherland, Peter Blake and Richard Hamilton, the chief pioneers of pop art in Great Britain. Henry Moore is a famous British sculptor whose works are exhibited at the Tate too. One of the sculptor's masterpieces - the ‘Reclining Figure’ - is at fees Headquarters of UNESCO in Paris.

    Britain is now one of the world's major theatres centres. Many British actors and actresses are known all over the world: Dame Peggy Ashcroft, Glenda Jackson, Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud and others.

    Drama is so popular with the British people of all ages that there are several thousand amateur dramatic societies. Now Britain has about 300 professional theatres. Some of them are privately owned. The tickets are not hard to get, but they are very expensive. Regular seasons of opera and ballet are given at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London. The National Theatre stages modern and classical plays, the Royal Shakespeare Company produces plays mainly by Shakespeare and his contemporaries when it performs in Stratford-on-Avon, and modern plays in its two auditoria in the City's Barbican Centre. Shakespeare's Globe Playhouse, about which you have probably read, was reconstructed on its original site. Many other cities and large towns have at least one theatre.

    There are many theatres and theatre companies for young people: the National Youth Theatre and the Young Vic Company in London, the Scottish Youth Theatre in Edinburgh. The National Youth Theatre, which stages classical plays mainly by Shakespeare and modern plays about youth, was on tour in Russian in 1989. The theatre-goers warmly received the production of Thomas Stearns Eliot’s play ‘Murder in the Cathedral’. Many famous English actors started their careers in the National Youth Theatre. Among them Timothy Dalton, the actor who did the part of Rochester in ‘ Jane Eyre’ shown on TV in our country

 

Chapter II Customs and holidays in Great Britain

2.1 Customs and holidays in Great Britain

      The Englishmen have love for old things. They prefer houses with a fireplace and a garden to a flat, modern house with central heating. The houses are traditionally not very high. They are usually two-storied. British  buses are double- decked and red, mail- boxes are yellow, the cars keep to the left side of road-all these are traditions.

      Most  English  love garden in front of  the house is a little  square covered with cement painted green  in imitation of grass and a box of flowers.  They  love flowers very much.

      The English people love  animals very much, too. Sometime their  pets  have a far better  life in Britain than anywhere else. In Britain they usually buy things for their pets in pet-shops. In recent years they bagan to show love for mmore “exotic”  animals, such as crocodiles, elephants and so on.

Queuing is normal  in Britain, when they  are waiting for bus, waitng to be served in shop. People will come very angry, and even rude, if you”jump” the queue.

      Traditionally telephone boxes, letter boxes and  double-deker buses are red. Old customs and holidays many seem strange to visitors but the English still keep them up, hich  mix with everyday life in the streets.

    There are 8 public holidays  or bank holidays in a year in Great Britain, that are days on which people need not to go in to work. They are Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, May day, Spring Bank Holiday and Late Summer Bank Holiday. The term “bank holiday” dates back to the 19^th century when in 1871 and 1875 most of these days where constituted bank holidays, when banks were to be closed.

    All the public holidays, except Christmas (25 December) and Boxing Day (26 December) do not fall on the same date each year. Most of these holidays are of religious origin, though for the greater part of the population they have lost their religious significance and are simply days on which people relax, eat, drink and make marry.

          The 6 ravens have been kept in the Tower of London now for enturies. They used to come in form Esex for food cracks when the Tower was used as a palace. Over  the years people  thought that if the  raverns ever left the Tower, the  Monarchy would fall. So Charles II descreed that 6 ravens should always be kept in the Tower  and should be  paid a wage  from the treasury. Sometimes they live as long as 25 years, but  thrit wings are clipped, so they can’t fly away, and when araven dies another  raven brought from Essex.

          Some ceremonies are traditional, such as a Changing of the Guard at Bulkingham Palace, Trooping the Colour, the State Opening of Parlament. The front of  Buckingham Palace. It is held annually on the  monarch’s official birthday  which was  the second  Saturday in June. Her Majesty Queen  Elizabeth II  was Colonel-in- Chief of the Life Guards. She was escorted by Horse  Guards riding to the Parade. The ceremeny is accompanied by the music of bands.  The processionis is headed by the Queen.

          In England the Queen opens the parlament once a year, she goes to the Houses of Parlament in the golden coach, she wears the crown jewels. She opens the  Parlament with a speech in the House of Lords. The cavalrymen wear red uniforms, shining helmets, long black boots and long white gloves. These men are Life Guards.

    In the House of Lords, Chancellor sits on the sack of wool. This tradition comes from  the old times when sheep wool made England rich and powerful.

    In the  House of  Commons there are  two  rows benches: one row is for the government and the other one is for the opposition. The benches are  divided by a strip of carpet, which is also a tradition from old days, when that division prevented the two parties form fighting during  the debates.