II. Let’s talk about customs and traditions of an
English-speaking country
British customs
and traditions are famous all over the world. When people think of Britain,
they often think of people drinking tea, eating fish and chips and wearing
bowler hats, but there is more to Britain than just those things.
In Britain
customs and traditions play a more important part in the life of people than in
other countries. A custom is the usual way of be¬having or acting. A tradition
is a custom, opinion or belief handed down from one generation to another,
often orally or by practice. The British are proud of their traditions and
carefully keep them up. Some of them are very old games or plays. There is the
Marbles Championship where people in beautiful clothes with ribbons and bells
on them dance to tradi-tional music with handkerchiefs or big sticks. The
British Champion wins a silver cup known among folk dancers as Morris Dancing,
May 1st isn't a
public holiday in Britain, but the 1st Monday after it is. There are many May
Day Celebrations, especially in the country. People erect a maypole then, a
tall pole with ribbons hanging from the top. Young children dance round it,
holding the ribbons. Teenage girls sometimes enter for the May Queen
competition.
Halloween is a
day on which many children dress up. The day was originally called All Halloween's
Eve, because it fell on October 31, the eve of all Saint's Day. Nowadays
children dress up in costumes and go from door to door where they knock on the
door, or ring the doorbell, and yell ‘Trick or treat!’ The idea being that the
owners of the house give the children a treat (sweets or money) or the children
will play a trick on them.
‘Remember,
remember the 5th of November’ are the words of an old English song. In 1605, a
man called Guy Fawkes had planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill
James I. But he was caught and hanged. And still the British remember Guy
Fawkes' Night or Bon¬fire Night. On November 5th children put their 'Guys',
figures made of sacks and straw dressed in old clothes, on the bonfire, bum
them and light their fireworks.
A popular
Scottish event is the Edinburg Festival for music and drama held each year. A
truly Welsh event is the Eisteddfod, a national festival of traditional poetry
and music, with a competition for the best new poem in Welsh and for the best
choir.
Some ceremonies
are traditional, such as a Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, Trooping
the Colour, the State Opening of Parlia¬ment. The Ceremony of Trooping the
Colour is one of the most fasci-nating. It is staged in front of Buckingham
Palace. It is held annually on the monarch’s official birthday on the second
Saturday in June. The Queen is escorted by Horse Guards riding to the Parade.
The ceremony is accompanied by the music of brass bands.
To know customs
and traditions means to understand the people and their culture better. It has
always been interesting for me to leam about Great Britain and its traditions.
I hope one day I’ll be able to go there to see it with my own eyes.
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