Public holydays in Great Britain, Детальна інформація

Opening Of Parliament

If you want to see the spectacle of the third oldest parliament in the world in action (it was preceded by the Althing of Iceland and the Parliament of the Isle of Man), ask your consulate to get you a ticket admitting you to the visitors' galleries. On the opening of Parliament the Sovereign delivers the address from the Throne, a speech worded as though it emanated from the Crown, though actually it is written by the Prime Minister. This is a day when ceremony rules every gesture, and when officials appear to perform their appointed functions, whose exact role is not clear even to most Britons themselves -- like Black Rod, who leads the parliamentarians into the hall to attend their ruler's address. The titles and functions of such officials, mysterious even to the British, and naturally doubly so to foreigners. For example, no one is able to define the precise functions of Lord Privy Seal, for he has none. He is one of several members of the government who give it great flexibility since, having no stated department under their control, they are available for assignment by the Prime Minister to such special and unusual problems as may arise in the course of his term of office.

Although it is unlikely that you will be able to get inside the Houses of Parliament on the day of its opening, you can enjoy some of the spectacle in the street.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh ride, in state to Westminster. The famous gilded coach of which you heard so much at the time of the Coronation parades from Buckingham Palace to the Houses of Parliament, escorted by the brilliantly uniformed and superbly mounted Household Cavalry — on a clear day, it is to be hoped, for this ceremony takes place in late October or early November, depending on the exigencies of Parliament. As the Queen enters the Houses of Parliament the air shakes with the booming of heavy guns and all London knows that the processes that have so long protected England from oppression have once again been renewed with all their age-old ceremony.

The Lord Mayor's Show.

The local power of the City of London is headed by the Lord Mayor who is elected every year from among the most prominent citizens. The splendid ceremony of election known as the Lord Mayor's Show dates back more than six hundred years. It is always watched by many || thousands of people, who crowd the streets of the City of London on the second Saturday of November to see and admire its interesting procession. The ceremony begins at the Guildhall, the seat of the municipal government in the City of London. Starting from the Guildhall at about 11.30 a.m., the newly-elected Lord Mayor travels in a gilded coach which dates from the mid-eighteenth century. His body-guard is a company of Pikemen and Musketeers. The long, colourful procession, made up of liveried footmen and coachmen, moves along the narrow streets of the City. At about noon the Lord Mayor arrives at the Royal Court of Justice, where he takes the oath before the Lord Chief Justice and Judges of the Queen's Bench to perform his duties faithfully. The bells of the City ring out as the festive procession leaves the Court of Justice after the ceremony and heads for the Mansion House, the official residence of the Lord Mayor. During the evening the traditional Banquet takes place at Guildhall. The Banquet is attended by many of the most prominent people of the country, and is usually televised. The Prime Minister delivers a political speech, and a toast is proposed by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Changing of the Guard.

The royal palace is tradi-tionally guarded by special troops who wear colourf ul uniforms: scarlet tunics, blue trousers and bearskin caps. The history of the Foot Guards goes back to 1656, when King Charles II, during his exile in Holland, ''ecruited a small body-guard. Later this small body-guard grew into a regiment of guards. Changing o f the guard is one of the most popular ceremonies. It takes place at Buckingham Palace every day at 11.30. The ceremony always attracts a lot of spectators -Londoners as well as visitors— to the British capital.

The Ceremony Of The Keys

Every night at 9.53 p. m. the Chief Warder of the Yeomen Warders (Beefeaters) of the Tower of London lights a candle lantern and then makes his way towards the Bloody Tower. In the Archway his Escort await his arrival. The Chief Warder, carrying the keys then moves off with his Escort to the West Gate, which he locks, while the Escort «present arms». Then the Middle and Byward Towers are locked.

The party then return to the Bloody Tower Archway and there they are halted by the challenge of the sentry. «Halt!» he commands. «Who goes there?» The Chief Warder answers, «The keys.» The sentry demands, «Whose keys?» «Queen Elizabeth's keys,» replies the Chief Warder. «Advance, Queen Elizabeth's keys; all's well,» commands the sentry.

Having received permission to proceed through the Archway, the party then form up facing the Main Guard of the Tower. The order is given by the officer-in-charge to «Present Arms». The Chief Warder doffs his Tudor-style bonnet and cries, «God preserve Queen Elizabeth. «Amen», answer the Guard and Escort.

At 10 p. m. the bugler sounds the «Last Post». The Chief Warder proceeds to the Queen's House, where the keys are given into the custody of the Resident Governor and Major.

The Ceremony of the Keys dates back 700 years and has taken place every night during that period, even during the blitz of London in the last war. On one particular night, April 16, 1941, bomb blast disrupted the ceremony, knocking out members of the Escort and Yeomen Warders. Despite this, the duty was completed.

Only a limited number of visitors are admitted to the ceremony each night. Application to see it must be made at least forty-eight hours in advance at the Constable's office in the Tower. Visitors with permission are admitted at 9.40 p. m. and leave at 10 p. m.

Late Summer Bank Holiday

On Bank Holiday the towns' folk usually flock into the country and to the coast. If the weather is fine many families take a picnic-lunch or tea with them and enjoy their meal in the open. Seaside towns near London, such as Southend, are invaded by thousands of trippers who come in cars and coaches, trains, motor cycles and bicycles. Great amusement parks like Southend Kursaal do a roaring trade with their scenic railways, shooting galleries, water-shoots, Crazy Houses, Hunted Houses and so on.Trippers will wear comic paper hats with slogans such as «Kiss Me Quick» and they will eat and drink the weirdest mixture of stuff you can imagine, seafood like cockles, mussels, whelks, shrimps and fried fish and chips, candy floss, beer, tea, soft drinks, everything you can imagine.

Bank Holiday is also on occasion for big sports meetings at places like the White City Stadium, mainly all kinds of athletics. There are also horse race meetings all over the country, and most traditional of all, there are large fairs, with swings, roundabouts, coconut shies, a Punch and Judy show, hoopla stalls and every kind of side-show including, in recent years, bingo. These fairs are pitched on open spaces of common land, and the most famous of them is the huge one on Hampstead Heath near London. It is at Hampstead Heath you will see the Pearly Kings, those Cockney costers (street traders), who wear suits or frocks with thousands of tiny pearl buttons stitched all over them, also over their caps and hats, in case of their Queens. They hold horse and cart parades in which prizes are given for the smartest turn out. Horses and carts are gaily decorated. Many Londoners will visit Whipsnade Zoo. There is also much boating activity on the Thames, regattas at Henley and on other rivers and the English climate being what it is, it invariably rains.

Holidays.

New Year. New Year is not such an important holiday in England as Christmas. Some people don't celebrate it at all.

Many people have New Year parties. A party usually begins at about eight o'clock and goes on until early in the morning. At midnight they listea to the chimes of Big Ben, drink a toast to the New Year and Sing Auld Lang Syne.

In London crowds usually gather round the statue of Eros in Piccadilly Circus and welcome the New Year. 

February 14th

When all the fun of Christmas and New Year is over, there's a feeling of anti-climax. The rest of January is dreary and cold. But before long the empty shops seem to come to life once again with displays of attractive and brightly coloured «I love you» Valentine cards.

St. Valentine was a priest who lived in Rome and died for his faith in A.D. 170. His feast happens to fall on February 14th -the traditional day for lovers. But this is mere coincidence. He was not noted for helping lovers in distress and was not therefore the true patron saint of lovers.

There was in early times a strong belief that on this day birds choose their mates. To some extent this might explain why lovebirds seem to be such popular motifs on Valentine cards. A fourteenth-century poet wrote: «On Valentine's Day all the birds of the air in couples do join». And Shakespeare carried on the tradition when Theseus says in «A Midsummer Night's Dream»:

St. Valentine is past:

Begin these wood-birds

but to couple now?

But antiquarians maintain that St. Valentine's Day celebrations are a continuation of a Roman festival of Pan and Juno.