Lammas Day, August 1. A former festival in which bread made from the first harvest of corn was blessed.
The predecessor of Thanksgiving Day and Canada's Harvest Festival.
See also Saint Peter.
Queen's Birthday, a Saturday in the middle of June (Jun 12, 2004). The exact date is set by
annual proclamation, but is typically the second Saturday of June.
Celebrates the birthday of Queen Elizabeth of England.
Burns Day, January 25. Honors Robert Burns, author of
Auld Lange Syne.
Boxing Day, December 26.
See
Boxing Day.
If December 26 falls on a weekend, Boxing Day will be observed on the following Monday.
Public holidays throughout the United Kingdom are
New Year's Day, Good Friday,
Easter Monday, May Day (1st Mon.
in May), Spring Bank Holiday (4th Mon.
in May), Late Summer Bank Holiday (4th Mon.
in Aug.), Christmas, and Boxing Day.
Iron-on patch with the flag of United Kingdom.
Just $3.
Delivery is FREE.
Guy Fawkes Day, November 5. Memorializes the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605 in which Guy Fawkes and others attempted
to blow up the King and Parliament.
At the time Catholics who refused to attend services of the Church of England (recusants)
were considered traitors and persecuted.
When James I accended the throne the Catholics were hopeful, for he had promised not to
collect the fines against the recusants, but instead of keeping his promises he continued
to execute the severe laws against them.
Fawkes, who was Roman Catholic, joined with veteran conspritors Robert Catesby and others
in a plot to blow up the whole Parliament, king and lords included.
A vault directly under the House of Lords was conveniently for rent, and Fawkes took it.
They filled it with 36 barrels of gunpowder and waited for parliament to meet, which was
delayed several times and finally set to be November 5th.
In the mean time disagreements broke out among the conspirators because the Catholic
lords and members of parliament would be killed in addition to the king and other
intended victims.
Ten days before Parliament opened, a Catholic lord who was friend to several of the
conspiritors received an anonymous tip not to attend, for "they shall receyve a terrible
blowe this parleament".
He relayed his message to the king.
Despite warnings that all was found out, Fawkes remained determined to see the plot
through, but was discovered on the day of the planned plot.
To reveal the names of his partners, Fawkes was tortured in accordance with the King's
letter which said, "If he will not otherwise confess, the gentlest tortures are to be
first used to him, and so on, step by step, to the most severe, and so God speed the good
work." All the conspirators were hanged if not killed in the act of being taken, and the
laws against recusants were made more severe.
The fifth of November was ordered to be a day of Thankgiving by an Act that lasted over
two hundred years.
The eve of this day is known in some areas of England as
Mischief Night, and is a night that young people make pranks.
Nigel Pennick writes in
The Pagan Book of Days about the custom of burning an effigy of Guy Fawkes on this night.
Guy Fawkes Night, celebrated by the burning in effigy of a would-be regicide,
continues the earlier tradition of burning effigies of the evil spirits of the
past old year. By cremating them, along with outworn hurts and grievances, the
new year may be faced in a purer way, free of unnecessary and unhelpful
psychic leftovers.
Oak Apple Day, May 29. Celebrates the anniversary of the day in 1660 when King Charles II was restored to the
throne after being saved in the Battle of Worcester by hiding in an oak apple tree.
Also known as
Royal Oak Day.
Battle of Britain Day, September 15. Anniversary of the historic World War II air battle in 1940.
Lord Mayor's Day, November 9. The annual installation of the Lord Mayor of the City of London.
The Lord Mayor is elected on Michaelmas, September 29, by the aldermen sworn into
office on November 8, and installed on the following day.
The celebration includes a procession of the Lord Mayor and his retinue from the
Guild Hall to the Law Courts, andlater to Westminster.
Mothering Sunday, Easter - 21 (Mar 21, 2004). Mid-Lent Sunday.
An old English custom.
Observance includes attending the mother church in which one was baptized, and offering
gifts at the altar to the Church, and also to one's mother, as tokens of love and
gratitude.
Woman Peerage Day, January 30.
Pancake Tuesday, Easter - 47 (Feb 24, 2004). This is a popular name in England for
Shrove Tuesday.
It is named for the custom of eating pancakes on this day in order to use up all the fat
in the house before the beginning of Lent.
It was once the custom to give the first pancake to the woman with the most questionable
virtues: "She that is noted for lying a-bed long, or any other miscarriage, hath the first
pancake presented to her at Shrovetide...
which most commonly falls to the dog's share at last, for no one will own it their due."
Public holidays
New Year's Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, May Day,
Spring Holiday, Late Summer Holiday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Bank Holiday.
Scotland
Bannockburn Day, June 24. On this day in 1314, Robert Bruce drove the English from Scotland, thus gaining its
independence.
The Day After, January 2.
Handsel Monday, first Monday in January (Jan 5, 2004). Celebrates the new year.
Highland Games, last Saturday in September (Sep 25, 2004).
May Day, May 1. [observed on last Monday in May?]
Public holidays
New Year's Day (Jan 1-2), Good Friday, May Day, Spring Holiday,
Summer Bank Holiday, Chistmas, Boxing Day, Bank Holiday.
Additional holidays in Edinburgh:
Scottish New Year's Day (Jan 2), Victoria Day (3rd Mon in May),
and Autumn Holiday (3rd Mon in Sep).
Wales
Saint David's Day, March 1. Saint David, or "Dewi Sant" in Welsh,
is the patron saint of Wales. He is credited with converting Wales to Christianity.
This holiday also commemorates King Caswallon's victory on this day in 640 AD.
Northern Ireland
Orangeman's Day, July 12. Commemorates a Protestant victory over Roman Catholic forces in the Battle of the
Boyne of 1690.
Also known as
Orange Day.
Public holidays
Same as for England, plus St Patrick's Day, and Orangeman's Day.
United Arab Emirates
Oak Apple Day, May 29. Celebrates the anniversary of the day in 1660 when King Charles II was restored to the
throne after being saved in the Battle of Worcester by hiding in an oak apple tree.
Also known as
Royal Oak Day.
