English Traditions
Every nation and every country
has its own customs and traditions. In Britain traditions play a more important
part in the life of the people than in other countries.
Englishmen are proud of their traditions and carefully keep them up. It has
been the law for about three hundred years that all the theatres are closed on
Sundays. No letters are delivered, only a few Sunday papers are published.
To this day an English family
prefers a house with a garden to a flat in a modern house with central heating.
English people like gardens.
Holidays are especially rich
in old traditions and are different in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England.
Christmas is a great English national holiday, and in Scotland it is not kept
at all, except by clerks in banks; all the shops, mills and factories are
working. But six days later, on New Years Eve the Scotch begin to enjoy
themselves. All the shops, mills and factories are closed on New Years Day.
People invite their friends to
their houses and "sit the Old Year out and the New Year in".
When the dock begins to strike
twelve, the head of the family goes to the entrance door, opens it wide and
holds it until the last stroke. Then he shuts the door. He has let the Old Year
out and the New Year in.
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