Public holydays in Great Britain

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a

manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace,

good will toward men.

The Role Of Tradition

There is no other nation that clings to the past with the tenacity of the British. The Briton has a sense of the continuity of history. He loves to go through his ancient ceremonies as he has always performed them with the consciousness that he is keepнng faith with his ancestors, that he is maintaining the community they created. He does not often change his manner of carrying out official acts, and if ever he does, the new method at once becomes the tradition.

Qu'een Elizabeth the First provided one of these examples of discarding the old and supplanting it with the new. She was knitting when the list of nominees for sheriff was brought to her. Tradition decreed that she should take up her quill and make a check in ink against the name of each person whom it was her pleasure to-appoint. There was no pen handy. So Elizabeth the First, with one of her knitting needles, pricked a little hole in the parchment beside each favoured name. That is the reason why today Queen Elizabeth the Second appoints sheriffs of England by pricking holes in the listing of their names.

Even the casual visitor to London can view without effort many of the brilliant parades and spectacles in which the colour of medieval times has been preserved for ours. And if you wish you can also enter the visitors' gallery of the House of Commons and participate in the ceremony that has ruled the Commons as long as it existed. If a speaker steps across the Hne on the floor that marks the point at which he would be within sworпs length of his adversaries on the opposite side of the Chamber, the session is automatically suspended. If a rebellious member should seize the great mace, the symbol of authority that rests on the table before the Speaker's chair, and make off with it (this happened at least once), no legal business can be transacted until the mace has been restored to its position. You can also go into the House of Lords, where the glitter is more pronounced, the royal scarlet more in evidence, and where your own back will begin to ache sympathetically at the speetacle of the Lord Chancellor, so uncomfortably seated on the edge of the enormous woolsack.

Traditions.Clubs. One of English traditions is clubs. A club is an association of people who like to meet together to relax and discuss things. These people are usually upper-class men or men connected with the govern-ment or other powerful organizations which control public life and support the established order of soci-ety. However, there are clubs of people not connected with the ruling circles, for example cultural clubs, whose members are actors, painters, writers and critics and their friends. In a word, clubs are organizations which join people of the same interests. A club usually owns a building where members can eat, drink, and sometimes sleep. Gardening. Gardening is yery popular with many people in Britain. Most British people love gardens, and this is one reason why so many people prefer to live in houses rather than flats. In suburban areas you can see many small houses, each one with its own little garden of flowers and shrubs. For many people gardening is the foundation of friendly rela-tions with neighbours. Flower-shows and vegetable-shows, with prizes for the best exhibits, are verypopular.

London's Ceremonial Events

The London calendar is distinguished by many picturesque events and ceremonies, some of ancient origin. Among the best known are: Trooping the Colour, Opening of Parliament, the Lord Mayor's Show, the annual Opening of the Law Courts, about October 1, with a procession through the main Hall of the Courts, preceded by a special service at Westminster Abbey, and the annual Royal Academy Dinner, held on the Saturday before the opening of the summer exhibition. Less distinguished but extremely picturesque annual events include Van Horse Parade on Easter Monday and the Cart Horse Parade on Whitmonday, both in Regent's Park; the Sheep-Dog Badge, and the University Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge on the Thames; the Fairs on Easter Monday, Whitmonday and August bank holiday, on Hampstead Heath and Black Year's Eve; the Soho Fair, in July, and the Chelsea Arts ball on New Year's eve. Daily ceremonies include the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, the Mounting of the Guard of the Household Cavalry in Whitehall, and the nightly locking up of the Tower of London, or Ceremony of the Keys by the chief warder of the yeomen warders («Beefeaters»).

Trooping The Colour

The ceremony of «Trooping the Colour» takes place annually in London on the Official Birthday of the Sovereign. It is notable for the colourful appearance and precise movements of the Foot Guards who perform it, and for the part taken in it by the Queen herself.

The ceremony derives from two old military ceremonies: Trooping the Colour and Mounting the Queeir s Guard. From earliest times Colours and Standards have been used to indicate the position of the commander in battle and act as rallying point for the soldiers, and were honoured as symbols of the spirit of military units. It was probably in the eighteenth century that it became customary in the British Army, before a battle, to salute the Colours by beat of drum before carrying them along the ranks (this is what the expression «Trooping» means) so that every soldier could see them and be able to recognise them later. It soon became usual to troop the Colour daily at the most important parade or the day: for the Regiment of Foot Guards; who traditionally have the honour of guarding the Sovereign, the most important was obviously the Mounting of the Queen's Guard.