British traditional holidays (english)

British traditional holidays IGreat Britain is famous for its oldtraditions. Some of them existed in ancient times and survived throughcenturies.Some of them appeared when Christianity came to British isles.Speaking about religious holidays one can t but mention Easter, Pancake Day andMother s Day. The dates of these holidays aren t strict, they depend on thedate of Easter, that varies every year. Pancake day is the popular name forthe Shrove Tuesday, the day before the first day of Lent. In the middle agespeople on that day made merry and ate pancakes.

Theingredients of pancakes are all forbidden by Church during Lent, that is whythey have to be used the day before. The most common form of celebrating this day in the old times was the all townball game or tug-of-war, in which everyone was tearing here and there, trying to get the ball or rope intotheir part of the city. Today the only custom, that is observed throughout Britainis pancake eating.For the English people the best-knownname for the fourth in Lent Sunday is Mothering Sunday or Mother s Day. For 3centuries this day has been a day of small family gatherings when absent sonsand daughters return to their homes.

Gifts are made to mothers by children ofall ages. Flowers and cakes are still traditional gifts. Violets and primrosesare most popular flowers.Sometimes the whole family goes to church and thenthere is a special dinner at which roast lamb, rice-pudding and home-made winesand served.

Easter is one of the most importantholidays in Christianity. In England it s a time for giving and receivingpresents, mostly Easter eggs. We can say that the egg is the most popularemblem of Easter, but spring-time flowers are also used to stress the nature sawakening. Nowadays there are a lot of chocolate Easter eggs, having some smallgifts inside.But a real hard-boiled egg, decorated and painted in brightcolours , still appears on breakfast tables on Ester Day, or it s hidden in thehouse or garden for children to finny.

In egg that is boiled really hard willlast for years. Egg-rolling is a traditional Easter pastime. You roll the eggsdown a clope until they are cracked andbroken, after they are eaten up.