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Unit 7

Traditions and ways

English Traditions

London has preserved its own ceremonies to a greater extend than any other city in England. Most of these traditions have been kept up without interruption since the thirteenth century.

Foreigners coming to London are impressed by a number of ceremonies, which seem to be incompatible with the modern traffic and technical conditions of a highly developed country. Uniforms are rather characteristic of this fact. When one sees the warders at the Tower of London with their funny hats and unusual dresses with royal monograms, one feels carried back to the age of Queen Elizabeth I.

Even in the unromantic everyday life of English businessmen we can see the same formal traditions. In the City of London there may be seen a number of men in top-hats. There are the bank messengers who had to put on these hats according to traditions. The same tradition makes the Eton boys (the boys of Eton College which was founded in 1440 by Henry VI) put on a silk hat, a very short jacket and long trousers.

All of you, of course, have seen English films and noticed official black dresses and white wigs of judges and advocates, though wigs have not been used for nearly two hundred years in other countries.

One of the most impressive and popular ceremonies is «Changing the Guard», which takes place at Buckingham Palace every day, including Sunday, at 11.30. The uniform of the guards is extremely coloured – red tunics, blue trousers and bearskin caps, and they always attract London sightseers.

Another formal display is the “Ceremony of keys” which takes place every night at 9.53 p. m. when the Chief Warder of the Tower of London lights a candle lantern and carrying the keys makes his way with the Escort to the gates of the Tower and locks them. This ceremony takes place every night without interruption. It is said that on the night of April 16, 1941 air bombing stopped the ceremony, knocking out members of the Escort. Despite this the duty was completed.

Strange as they may seem to a modern European or American, nobody in London sees anything remarkable in these old traditions which mix harmoniously with the city everyday life.

The names of the months

The English names of the month of Latin origin. The ruler of Rome, Julius Caesar, arranged the year in six month of 31 days and six of 30 days. The first month of the year in those days was March. December was the tenth, January the eleventh and February the twelfth. It was King Charles IX of France who, in January 1563, decided that the year should begin of January 1 st. January was named after Janus, the god of Time and War, February after Februs, in honour of whom, in ancient Rome, a great festival “Febra” was celebrated. March was called after Mars, the god of War. April got its name from the Latin world aperire, which means “to open”. It is the month when the earth opens itself and nature returns to life. May was named after goddess Maia, the daughter of Atlas and mother of Mercury. June takes its name from Juno, the wife of Jupiter. July was named after Julius Caesar. The month of August took its name from Augustus, the first Roman emperor. September, October, November and December are the 7 th, 8 th, 9 th and 10 th months in the Jullian calendar and they were given their names by the number they represent.

The days of the week

It is interesting to know how the names of the week came to have such names. These names are very old: people chose them long, long ago in the days when they worshipped a different god each day.

Sunday was the Sun’s day and the next day was the Moon’s day of Monday. Tuesday was called after Tieu, the god of war. Wednesday was Woden’s day, highest god of the Teutonic peoples. Thor was the thunder god, his day was called Thor’s day, or Thursday.

His wife insisted on having a special day of her own. Her name was Freya, so her day came to be called Friday. Saturn was the Roman god of the fields, his day was Saturn’s day, or Saturday.

Greenwich mean time

How did the name of a pleasant part of London situated by the River Thames become synonymous with international time keeping? The reasons go back into history. Thousands of years ago, people had no reason to divide their lives into hours and minutes. Their time was the movement of the sun, which created day and night, and the rhythm of the seasons. Gradually, a 24-hour cycle was introduced, based on the point when the sun was in the middle of the sky which became midday. But, because the earth rotates, midday in one town might be twenty minutes after midday in another town a hundred miles away.

So each area of the world kept its own time. The obvious solution is a national standard time, so that every town could set their watches and clocks by it. The electric telegraph was the key to success, for a simultaneous signal could be sent along it to any part of the country. So, in 1852, the first signal went out from the astronomers of Britain’s Royal Observatory which was then situated at Greenwich. From then on, Britain followed Greenwich Mean Time.

The “Mean” refers to something which is in the middle – an average. When the noonday sun at its highest point was directly over a particular place (the Meridian Line in Greenwich), the astronomers defined this as noon, Greenwich Time. This Greenwich Time was used for the whole country, so it became the “Mean” by which time was calculated in Britain.

Britain managed quite well with Greenwich Mean Time, but the development of many different national times around the world meant that a country could still be out of step with its neighbours. So in 1912 an international conference decided that Greenwich Mean Time would be used throughout the world. In 1948 the Royal Observatory was moved away from the London air to a village in the South of England called Herstmonceux. Instead of changing the G in GMT to an H, the astronomers simply added 81 seconds to their calculations.

Tasks

Read the texts.

How well have you read? Can you answer the following questions?

When and where was it decided that GMT would be used throughout the world? Why?

What do the astronomers have to do now as a result of the change of place of the Royal Observatory?

Compare the origin of the names of the months and weekdays in English with those in Russian.

English character

One of the most striking features of English life is the self-discipline and courtesy of people of all classes. There is little noisy behavior, and practically no loud disputing in the street. People do not rush excitedly for sets in buses of trains, but take their seats in queues at bus stop in a quiet and orderly manner.

Englishmen are naturally polite and are never tired in saying “Thank you”, “I’m sorry”, “Beg your pardon”. If you follow anyone who is entering or a room, he will hold a door open for you. Many foreigners have commented on a remarkable politeness of the English people.

English people don’t like displaying their emotions even in dangerous and tragic situations, and ordinary people seem to remain good-tempered and cheerful under difficulties.

The Englishman does not like any boasting or showing off in manners, dress or speech. Sometimes he conceals his knowledge: a linguist, for example, may not mention his understanding of a foreigner’s language.

The Englishman prefers his own house to an apartment in a block of flats, because he doesn’t wish his doing to be overlooked by his neighbours. “An Englishman’s house is his castle”.

Many Englishmen help their wives at home in many ways. They clean the windows on Saturday afternoon, they often wash up the dishes after supper in the evening.

Sunday is a very quiet day in London. All the shops are closed, and so are the theatres and most of the cinemas.

Londoners like to get out of town on Sundays. The sea is not far-only fifty or sixty miles away and people like to go down to the sea in summer or somewhere to the country for skiing in winter.

Tasks

Before reading the text, define the English character as you see it.

Read the text and describe the author’s idea of the English character.

Compare the two descriptions.

English meals

The English usually have 4 meals a day: breakfast, lunch, tea (5 o'clock), and dinner. Breakfast can be a full 'English breakfast' of corn flakes with milk and sugar, or bacon and eggs, toast and marmalade, tea or coffee. Some people, however, have just a cup of tea or coffee with a toast or something similar. This is usually called a 'continental breakfast'.

At midday everything is stopped for lunch. Most offices and small shops are closed for an hour and the city pavements are full of people on their way to cafes, coffee bars, restaurants. Factory and plant workers usually eat in their canteens.

The English like what they call 'good plain food'. Usually they like steak, roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, and fish and chips.

Afternoon tea is taken at about 5 o'clock, but it can hardly be called a meal. It is a cup of tea and a cake or biscuits. At the weekends afternoon tea is a special occasion. Friends and visitors are often invited to have a chat over a cup of tea.

Dinner is the most substantial meal of the whole day. It is usually eaten at 7 o'clock. The first course may be soup (though the English don't like it very much). The main course will often be fish or meat, perhaps the traditional roast beef of old England, and a lot of vegetables. The next course will be something sweet and often baked, such as a fruit pie. Last of all there may be cheese, often with biscuits.

It is common knowledge that the English are very fond of tea. They like to have 'a nice cup of tea' 6 or 8 times a day, sometimes even more.

On Christmas Day a roast turkey is traditionally cooked for dinner. It is usually followed by Christmas pudding. Long before Christmas housewives begin to plan what cake to make for Christmas. Usually they make fantastic Christmas cakes.

Task

1. Read the texts.

2. How well have you read? Can you answer the following questions?

1. How many meals a day do the English have?

2. What is the traditional 'English breakfast' like?

3. What is usually called a 'continental breakfast'?

4. When do the English usually have lunch?

5. What do the English mean by 'good plain food'?

6. What kind of meal is five о 'clock tea in England?

8. What is the traditional dish for Christmas table?

9. What other dishes are popular in England?

Read the extract below. Compare the unformation given in ot with that of the text ‘English meals’ and say what new facts you’ve learned from it.

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There are four meals a day in an English home: breakfast, lunch, tea, and dinner.

Breakfast is the first meal of the day. It is at about 8 oclock in the morning, and consists of porridge with milk and salt or sugar, eggs — boiled or fried, bread and butter with marmalade or jam. Some people like to drink tea, but others prefer coffee. Instead of porridge they may have fruit juice, or they may prefer biscuits.

The usual time for lunch is one o'clock. This meal starts with soup or fruit juice. Then follows some meat or poultry with potatoes — boiled or fried, carrots and beans. Then a pudding comes. Instead of the pudding they may prefer cheese and biscuits. Last of all - coffee (black or white). Englishmen often drink something at lunch. Water is usually on the table.

Some prefer juice or lemonade.

Tea is the third meal of the day. It is between 4 or 5 oclock. On the table there is tea, milk or cream, sugar, bread and butter, cakes and jam. Friends and visitors are often present at tea.

Dinner is the fourth meal of the day. The usual time is about 7 o'clock, and all the members of the family sit down together.

Dinner usually consists of soup, fish or meat with vegetables — potatoes, green beans, carrot and cabbage, sweet pudding, fruit salad, ice-cream or cheese and biscuits. Then after a talk they have black or white coffee.

This is the order of meals among English families, But the greater part of the people in the towns, and nearly all country-people, have dinner in the middle of the day instead of lunch. They have tea a little later — between 5 and 6 o'clock, and then in the evening, before going to bed, they have supper.

So the four meals of the day are either breakfast, dinner, tea, supper; or breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner.