Category: Celebrations & Holidays

Although some religions have shunned New Year’s Eve celebrations as heathen, it is a natural inclination to mark significant milestones in life. Seeing the passing from one year to the next is one such milestone that appeals to everyone’s sense of personal history and anticipation of what is to come ~ hence our New Year’s resolutions for self-improvement. Ever since the recording of calendars, the start of a new year has been an excuse for a communal pat on the back (party) for having survived the old year.

In the UK, New Year’s Eve was on 24th March until 1752, when we adopted the Gregorian calendar, whereupon it became 31st December. The old system can be seen in the names September, October, November and December having Latin roots meaning seven, eight, nine and ten respectively.

New Year’s Eve is now associated with impressive fireworks displays in London and other major cities across the world, and parties at which there is a countdown to midnight. There is then the singing of ‘Auld Lang Syne’, a midnight kiss (for good luck), and sometimes the quaffing of champagne. Many people watch Jools’ Annual Hootenanny on BBC2, which has provided a two-hour televised concert party since 2006.

(Image: Alexas_Fotos at pixabay.com)

Saint George is the patron saint of England and St. George’s Day is on 23rd April. Unlike the other three patron days of the UK, this one is sadly very low-key as many people today feel awkward about English patriotism. George is also the patron saint of many other countries and never came to England. His legend tells that he slayed a dragon to rescue a princess, but was himself killed by the Romans for being a Christian.

Before George’s selection there were two other contenders ~ St. Edmund, king of East Anglia, who was murdered by the Vikings, and St. Edward the Confessor, a very religious king of England. However, it was King Edward III who really promoted St. George to top spot. He reigned from 1327 to 1377 and was highly successful in adopting long-range weaponry for the English army and making them invincible in Europe.

Taking a lead from the knights of The Crusades, including his grandfather, he flew St. George’s flag into battle ~ “Saint George!” was the battle-cry ~ and it subsequently became a symbol not only of Edward’s effective rule, but also of English bravery, courage, honour and national pride.

(Image: Maigheach-gheal at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

The Lord Mayor’s Show is the world’s oldest and longest street procession. It did not begin as a ‘show’; more a forfeit for the City of London being permitted by King John in 1215 to have its own mayor. This was one of the “ancient liberties” included in Clause 13 of Magna Carta Libertatum.

The purpose of the procession is a public display of the Lord Mayor travelling to Westminster to swear allegiance to the monarch. En route there is a stop-off at St. Paul’s Cathedral to receive a blessing. It also takes in Mansion House, which is the official residence of the Lord Mayor for the single year of his/her appointment.

In the past, the journey was made by horseback and barge on the River Thames. For safety (and appearance), the Mayor has had a gold State Coach since 1757. Today, the procession is a mixture of traditional and modern and there are three miles of floats and thousands of participants. It begins at 9am on the Thames, then from 11am to 3.30pm takes to the streets, which are closed to normal traffic. It takes place on the second Saturday of November.

(Top image: Peter Beaven at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

A house-warming party (or flat-warming party) is not quite so common nowadays, when family members no longer necessarily live near each other. However, it is a traditional way to celebrate moving to a new home and letting friends and family see your new surroundings.

In centuries gone by, it had a literal meaning ~ the new house was probably cold, especially if it had been empty for a while, so people would bring firewood to light in the fireplaces and to ward off evil spirits. They might also have given gifts such as brooms, knives, salt, bread, coins and honey, each with its own symbolic meaning. In a religious household, a priest may have been asked to purify the house by walking through each room sprinkling holy water while reciting a blessing.

Today, it is usual to have the party within a month or two after moving in, before any serious decorating or renovations take place. Instead of firewood, gifts may include ‘Home Sweet Home’ or ‘Bless this House’ trinkets such as small signs, pictures, cushions, fridge magnets, cards and candles.

(Top image: Photo Mix at pixabay.com)

Christmas Day, on 25th December, is perhaps the biggest celebration of them all. It is one of only two days in the UK when all shops are closed and it is coupled with Boxing Day as a two-day Bank Holiday. Although Christianity commandeered it as a remembrance of Jesus’s birthday and gave it their own name, it is fundamentally a secular holiday with ancient roots.

Saturnalia was the Roman Empire’s winter solstice festival, lasting a week and comprising drunkenness and general unruliness, while Yule was the British pagan equivalent. This lasted twelve days and was a fire festival in gratitude for the ‘re-birth’ of the sun. Pagan elements of Christmas include bringing a tree indoors and decorating it, hanging up mistletoe and holly, feasting, lighting candles, outdoor singing and gift-giving.

St. Nicholas (Santa Claus), who helped produce the New Testament in 325, was merged with the pagan god Woden, but his red suit and chubby red cheeks are entirely thanks to the advertising team at Coca Cola in 1931. Christmas today is a strange assortment of ancient and modern rituals, not least of which is the little white lie that otherwise honest parents feel compelled to tell their children about… shhh!

(Image: Karen Warfel at pixabay.com)

The celebration of birthdays is naturally dependent upon having a calendar or being well-acquainted with astronomical configurations. More than that, it depends upon cultural value being given to celebrating a person’s birth every year. There is evidence that the pagans recognised birthdays to enable the casting of horoscopes, but the early Christians did not do so, both because they were pagan and due to their belief that they were satanic ~ likening one’s existence to that of a god.

Nevertheless, by the fourth century the Christians had accepted the popular desire to celebrate birthdays. The Germans are credited with the origin of birthday cakes with one candle for each year of life, plus one for luck! In the UK, it was the Victorian era’s sentimentality which saw the growth of birthday parties, gifts, cakes and cards. The ‘Happy Birthday’ song appears to originate in the USA at this time.

Today, almost everyone in the UK expects birthday greetings from their family and friends. Children’s birthday parties can be quite expensive. Adults may have parties for certain milestone ages ~ namely, 18, 21, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 105 and every year after that! From age 100, the government will organise a birthday congratulations message from the Queen on application.

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There have been many gimmicky celebratory days concocted in recent times, but the International Talk Like A Pirate Day has a peculiarly British appeal to it, even though it originated in the USA. It takes place on 19th September and its adherents take on a West Country English accent, speaking as if they were back in the 1700s and sailing the seas as pirates.

The inspiration comes from the character of Long John Silver in ‘Treasure Island’, written by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. The 1950 Disney film of the story featured English actor Robert Newton as the pirate Silver and he used his native Dorset accent for the part. Along with his roguish facial expressions his mode of speech identified him as a trickster-baddie with a soft side. Here’s a flavour:-

The idea of talking like a pirate has spawned many online videos, children’s games, teacher resources and party themes. Robert Newton (1905-56), he be the ‘patron saint’ of the movement and he would doubtless say “Yarr! Me hearties!” to all his devotees, that he would, arrr, arrr.

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After World War 1, also known as the Great War, a two-minute silence was observed every year at 11am on 11th November (Armistice Day), in order to remember and honour those who had died for their country. Part of this remembrance was the fervent wish that never again would we see such a terrible loss of life in such unprecedented numbers on all sides.

However, just two decades later, still recovering from the first World War, we entered into World War 2. The two-minute silence was moved to the Sunday nearest to Armistice Day, so as not to interrupt the renewed ‘war effort’. It was named Remembrance Sunday and it has been held on the second Sunday of November ever since.

All those involved in national warfare gather together at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London to solemnly lay poppy wreaths at its base. Memorial services are held throughout the UK and the Commonwealth to give meditative thanks and regrets for all those who have been killed in wars since 1914. Poppy pins, badges and brooches are worn on coat lapels as a symbol of the dead lying on the battlefield where otherwise there would be beautiful countryside.

(Image: David Dixon at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

St. Patrick’s Day is on 17th March because he died in Ireland on that day in 461. St. Patrick was born as ‘Maewyn’ in northern Britain in 387 but in 403 he was either kidnapped and taken to Ireland as a slave or he chose to leave home. Maewyn worked as a shepherd for six years, during which time he learnt the Irish language and had a religious awakening.

He returned to Britain, trained as a priest and returned to Ireland as a missionary. He travelled all around the northern half of Ireland setting up churches and converting thousands of people. 17th March was eventually put on the Catholic saints calendar in the 1600s and it can be moved if it clashes with Easter. Over time, St. Patrick’s Day’s religious observance merged with Irish cultural symbols and festivities.

Today, some believe it has become too much of a commercialised portrayal of an Irish stereotype ~ for example, with people wearing leprechaun costumes and drinking to excess. It is a public holiday in Ireland, Northern Ireland and the British Overseas Territory of Montserrat in the Caribbean, where it has a unique West Indian flavour. The biggest St. Patrick’s Day parade is in New York.

(Image: David Dixon at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

If you ever wondered why Scotland has an extra day for New Year’s Bank Holiday (1st and 2nd January), the Hogmanay celebration is the answer. It lasts at least three days, sometimes more, and is a bigger event traditionally than Christmas. It could rightly be called a ‘fire festival’ as there are torchlight parades, fireworks and swinging fireballs to be seen, with people taking to the streets and parks to enjoy parties, concerts and community gatherings.

Centuries-old traditions include:-

• cleaning the house ~ ready for the new year;
• paying off debts ~ to round off the old year;
• singing ‘Auld Lang Syne’ ~ sung at midnight on 31st December, as a fond farewell to the old year;
• first footing ~ the first person to enter your house on New Year’s Day must be a dark-haired male, bearing a lump of coal, a black bun, salt, whisky or shortbread, to bring good luck for the new year.

(Image: Jenni Douglas at Flickr.com / CC BY 2.0)