British Christmas

Christmas 

Christmas in the United Kingdom 

In the UK (or Great Britain), families often celebrate Christmas together, so they can watch each other open their presents!

Most families have a Christmas Tree (or maybe even two!) in their house for Christmas. The decorating of the tree is usually a family occasion, with everyone helping. Christmas Trees were first popularised the UK by Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria. Prince Albert was German, and thought that it would be good to use one of his ways of celebrating Christmas in England.

Holly, Ivy and Mistletoe are also sometimes used to decorate homes or other buildings.

Most villages, towns and cities are decorated with Christmas lights over Christmas. Often a famous person switches them on. The most famous Christmas lights in the UK are in Oxford Street in London. Every year they get bigger and better. Thousands of people go to watch the big 'switch on' around the beginning of November.

Like a lot of countries, Nativity Plays and Carol Services are also very popular at Christmas time. The Church that I go to always has a Carols by Candlelight Service where the church is only lit up by candles. It is a very special service and always makes me feel very Christmassy! Lots of other British churches also have Carols by Candlelight and Christingle services.

Children believe that Father Christmas or Santa Claus leaves presents in stockings or pillow-cases. These are normally hung up by the fire or by the children's beds on Christmas Eve. Children sometimes leave out mince pies and brandy for Father Christmas to eat and drink when he visits them. Now, it's often a non-alcoholic drink that's left because Santa has to drive his sleigh.

Children write letters to Father Christmas/Santa listing their requests, but sometimes instead of putting them in the post, the letters are tossed into the fireplace. The draught carries the letters up the chimney and Father Christmas/Santa reads the smoke.

There are some customs that only take place, or were started, in the UK. Wassailing is an old anglo-saxon custom that doesn't take place much today. Boxing Day is a very old custom that started in the UK and is now taken as a holiday in many countries around the world.

In the UK, the main Christmas Meal is usually eaten at lunchtime or early afternoon on Christmas Day. It's normally roast turkey, roast vegetables and 'all the trimmings' which means vegetables like carrots & peas, stuffing and sometimes bacon and sausages. It's often served with cranberry sauce and bread sauce. Traditionally, and before turkey was available, roast beef or goose was the main Christmas meal. One vegetable that is often at Christmas in the UK are brussel sprouts. I love them but lots of people don't!

Dessert is often Christmas Pudding. Mince pies and lots of chocolates are often eaten as well!

Trifle is also a popular dessert at Christmas. It's made in a large bowl and consists of a layer of sponge cake (or sponge fingers) at the bottom of the bowl (which is often soaked in sherry or brandy) then there's a layer of fruit (normally suspended in a fruit flavored jelly) and it's topped with a layer of custard and then whipped cream. In Scotland there's a variation called 'Tipsy Laird' which uses whiskey to soak the sponge and the fruit are raspberries.

The dinner table is decorated with a Christmas Cracker for each person and sometimes flowers and candles.

The UK is also famous for Christmas Cake - some people love it and some people really don't like it! It's traditionally a rich fruit cake covered with marzipan and icing - and often top with Christmas themed cake decorations like a spring of holly.
In North Derbyshire and South Yorkshire (in the north of England), some very special carol singing, called 'The Sheffield Carols', happens in some pubs during the weeks leading up to Christmas (the traditional day for sorting the carol singing is Armistice Sunday near the middle of November). The pubs are often rural and out on the hills in that part of England. The carols are often very local ones and the same carol often varies from pub to pub. Not all the carols are ones about the Christmas story. The pubs are often packed, especially the nearer it is to Christmas. The singing can be lead/accompanied by local folk musicians, an organ in the pub or sometimes the singing is un-accompanied. You can find more about these carol singing sessions on these sites: www.villagecarols.org.uk/ (there are some wonderful recordings of the carols being sung on there as well) and www.localcarols.org.uk/.

In the UK, it doesn't snow very often, but people always want to know if it will be a 'White Christmas'. The British definition, used by the UK Meteorological Office (who say if it has been a White Christmas in the UK or not!), is that a single snow flake has been seen falling in the 24 hours of Christmas Day! This doesn't happen a lot in the UK!!!

Statistics show that in the UK, they get an official White Christmas about every 4 or 5 years and have real snow at Christmas about 1 in 10 years (but often this is only normally in Scotland!).

In Scots (a Scottish dialect) Happy/Merry Christmas is 'Blithe Yule'; in Gaelic it's 'Nollaig Chridheil'; in Welsh (which is spoken in some parts of Wales it's 'Nadolig Llawen', in Cornish (spoken by some poeple in Cornwall in south west England) it's 'Nadelik Lowen' and Manx (spoken by some people on the Isle of Man) it's 'Nollick Ghennal'.

https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/

Countries of the United Kingdom

Countries of the United Kingdom

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Countries of the United Kingdom
England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland
Category	Administrative division
Location	United Kingdom
Found in	Legal jurisdictions
Number	4
Possible status	NUTS 1 region (3) European constituency (3) Legal jurisdiction (3)
Additional status	Home Nations
Government	Devolved legislature (3) None (1)

The United Kingdom (UK) comprises four countries: England, Scotland, and Wales (which collectively make up Great Britain) and Northern Ireland^[1][2] (which is variously described as a country, province or region).^[3][4][5]

Although the UK is a unitary sovereign state, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales have gained a degree of autonomy through the process of devolution. The UK Parliament and British Government deal with all reserved matters for Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, but not in general matters that have been devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly, Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales. Additionally, devolution in Northern Ireland is conditional on co-operation between the Northern Ireland Executive and the Government of Ireland (see North/South Ministerial Council) and the British Government consults with the Government of Ireland to reach agreement on some non-devolved matters for Northern Ireland (see British–Irish Intergovernmental Conference). England, comprising the majority of the population and area of the United Kingdom,^[6][7] remains fully the responsibility of the UK Parliament centralised in London.

England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales are not themselves listed in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) list of countries. However the ISO list of the subdivisions of the UK, compiled by British Standards and the UK's Office for National Statistics, uses "country" to describe England, Scotland, and Wales.^[8] Northern Ireland, in contrast, is described as a "province" in the same lists.^[8] Each has separate national governing bodies for sports and compete separately in many international sporting competitions, including the Commonwealth Games. Northern Ireland also forms joint All-Island sporting bodies with the Republic of Ireland for most sports, including rugby union.^[9]

The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are dependencies of the Crown and are not part of the UK. Similarly, the British overseas territories, remnants of the British Empire, are not part of the UK.

Historically, from 1801, following the Acts of Union, until 1921 the whole island of Ireland was a country within the UK. Ireland was split into two separate jurisdictions in 1921: Southern Ireland and Northern Ireland. Southern Ireland left the United Kingdom, secured full independence and became the Republic of Ireland in 1919.

Contents

• 1Key facts
  • 1.1Statistics
• 2Terminology
  • 2.1Acts of Parliament
    • 2.1.1Current legal terminology
  • 2.2Other official usage
    • 2.2.1Current
• 3Identity and nationality
• 4Competitions
• 5See also
• 6References
  • 6.1Citations
  • 6.2Sources

Key facts[edit]

Name	Flag	Capital	Legislature	Executive	Legal systems	Jurisdiction
England		London	none1	none2	English law	England and Wales
Northern Ireland	none3	Belfast	Northern Ireland Assembly	Northern Ireland Executive	Northern Ireland law, Irish land law	Northern Ireland
Scotland		Edin-burgh	Scottish Parliament	Scottish Government	Scots law	Scotland
Wales		Cardiff	National Assembly for Wales	Welsh Government	English law, Welsh law	England and Wales
United Kingdom		London	UK Parliament	UK Government	UK law	United Kingdom

¹ The UK Parliament makes all English legislation, whilst the London Assembly scrutinises the Mayor of London.

² The UK Government, the Mayor of London and their Mayoral cabinet, Metro Mayors and combined authorities, and the councils of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly exercise executive power in England.

³ The former flag of Northern Ireland, the Ulster Banner, is still used in some sport-related contexts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countries_of_the_United_Kingdom

Stereotypes of the British

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Common stereotypes[edit]

Politeness[edit]

Both historically and in the present day, the British have often been associated with good manners by many people around the world,^[3] similar to Canadians.^[4]

Humour[edit]

British people are well known for their use of sarcasm and irony.^[5] Some of the most highly-regarded television comedies, such as Fawlty Towers and Mr. Bean, are British.^[6]

Football[edit]

Football is very popular and originates within the United Kingdom.^[7][8]

Tea[edit]

Tea is seen as a key part of British culture.^[9] Originally introducted as a luxury product in the 17th century, cheap imports from colonial india allowed it's consumption to significantly increase during the second half of the 19th century.^[10] Today it remains a massively popular beverage. One survey of British adults from 2017 found that almost three quarters of responders drank on average two or more cups a day.^[11] Whilst, research from a similar time showed that the UK had the twelfth largest per capita tea consumption in the world.^[12] Though other hot drinks such as coffee are also very popular.^[13]

Weather[edit]

According to a popular stereotype, weather in the United Kingdom is often seen as being poor,^[1] mostly consisting of heavy rain.^[19] In reality, British weather is generally fairly mild but changeable. ^[20] Though, in recent years, climate change has caused the UK's weather to become more extreme with incidents such as heatwaves, heavy snow and flooding occurring more frequently.^[21]]

Food[edit]

Jokes are often told about British food being either poor in quality or inedible. Though historically British cuisine was generally fairly bland since around the post-WW2 period onwards globalization and immigration have caused it to become significantly more diverse.^[2][22]

Monolingual[edit]

There is a common stereotype that the British are only able to speak English. To a large extent, this stereotype has some level of truth to it and the same trend also exists in many English-speaking countries where levels of bilingualism are relatively low.^{[23][24][25][26][27]}Additionally, the number of people who speak a language other than English as there first language is reasonably low, especially among those who were born in the UK (even among those with immediate immigrant ancestry).^[28] However, most British children receive at least a few years tuition and instruction in foreign languages at school. Traditionally, these services were provided to them during their early adolescence.^[29] Though, in recent years, the teaching of foreign languages at an earlier age has been viewed as increasingly important.^{[30][31][32][33]}

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotypes_of_the_British

Symbols of the United Kingdom

Symbols

Main article: Symbols of the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man

The Statue of Britannia in Plymouth. Britannia is a national personification of the UK.

The flag of the United Kingdom is the Union Flag (also referred to as the Union Jack). It was created in 1606 by the superimposition of the Flag of England on the Flag of Scotland and updated in 1801 with the addition of Saint Patrick's Flag. Wales is not represented in the Union Flag, as Wales had been conquered and annexed to England prior to the formation of the United Kingdom. The possibility of redesigning the Union Flag to include representation of Wales has not been completely ruled out.^[591] The national anthem of the United Kingdom is "God Save the Queen", with "Queen" replaced with "King" in the lyrics whenever the monarch is a man.

Britannia is a national personification of the United Kingdom, originating from Roman Britain.^[592] Britannia is symbolised as a young woman with brown or golden hair, wearing a Corinthian helmet and white robes. She holds Poseidon's three-pronged trident and a shield, bearing the Union Flag. Sometimes she is depicted as riding on the back of a lion.^{[citation needed]} Since the height of the British Empire in the late 19th century, Britannia has often been associated with British maritime dominance, as in the patriotic song "Rule, Britannia!".^{[citation needed]} Up until 2008, the lion symbol was depicted behind Britannia on the British fifty pence coin and on the back of the British ten pence coin.^{[citation needed]} It is also used as a symbol on the non-ceremonial flag of the British Army.^{[citation needed]}

A second, less used, personification of the nation is the character John Bull. The bulldog is sometimes used as a symbol of the United Kingdom and has been associated with Winston Churchill's defiance of Nazi Germany.^[593]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom

Sport in the United Kingdom

Sport

Main article: Sport in the United Kingdom

Wembley Stadium, London, home of the England national football team, is one of the most expensive stadiums ever built.^[559]

Major sports, including association football, tennis, rugby union, rugby league, golf, boxing, netball, rowing and cricket, originated or were substantially developed in the UK and the states that preceded it. With the rules and codes of many modern sports invented and codified in late 19th century Victorian Britain, in 2012, the President of the IOC, Jacques Rogge, stated; "This great, sports-loving country is widely recognised as the birthplace of modern sport. It was here that the concepts of sportsmanship and fair play were first codified into clear rules and regulations. It was here that sport was included as an educational tool in the school curriculum".^[560][561]

In most international competitions, separate teams represent England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland usually field a single team representing all of Ireland, with notable exceptions being association football and the Commonwealth Games. In sporting contexts, the English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish / Northern Irish teams are often referred to collectively as the Home Nations. There are some sports in which a single team represents the whole of United Kingdom, including the Olympics, where the UK is represented by the Great Britain team. The 1908, 1948 and 2012 Summer Olympics were held in London, making it the first city to host the games three times. Britain has participated in every modern Olympic Games to date and is third in the medal count.^{[citation needed]}

A 2003 poll found that football is the most popular sport in the United Kingdom.^[562] England is recognised by FIFA as the birthplace of club football, and The Football Association is the oldest of its kind, with the rules of football first drafted in 1863 by Ebenezer Cobb Morley.^[563][564] Each of the Home Nations has its own football association, national team and league system. The English top division, the Premier League, is the most watched football league in the world.^[565] The first international football match was contested by England and Scotland on 30 November 1872.^[566] England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland usually compete as separate countries in international competitions.^[567]

The Millennium Stadium of Cardiff opened for the 1999 Rugby World Cup.

In 2003, rugby union was ranked the second most popular sport in the UK.^[562] The sport was created in Rugby School, Warwickshire, and the first rugby international took place on 27 March 1871 between England and Scotland.^[568][569] England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France and Italy compete in the Six Nations Championship; the premier international tournament in the northern hemisphere. Sport governing bodies in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland organise and regulate the game separately.^[570] Every four years, England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales make a combined team known currently as the British and Irish Lions. The team currently tour Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Cricket was invented in England, and its laws were established by Marylebone Cricket Club in 1788.^[571] The England cricket team, controlled by the England and Wales Cricket Board,^[572] and the Irish cricket team, controlled by Cricket Ireland are the only national teams in the UK with Test status. Team members are drawn from the main county sides, and include both English and Welsh players. Cricket is distinct from football and rugby where Wales and England field separate national teams, although Wales had fielded its own team in the past. Irish and Scottish players have played for England because neither Scotland nor Ireland have Test status and have only recently started to play in One Day Internationals.^[573][574] Scotland, England (and Wales), and Ireland (including Northern Ireland) have competed at the Cricket World Cup, with England winning the tournament in 2019. There is a professional league championship in which clubs representing 17 English counties and 1 Welsh county compete.^[575]

Wimbledon, the oldest Grand Slam tennis tournament, is held in Wimbledon, London every June and July.

The modern game of tennis originated in Birmingham, England, in the 1860s, before spreading around the world.^[576] The world's oldest tennis tournament, the Wimbledon championships, first occurred in 1877, and today the event takes place over two weeks in late June and early July.^[577]

Thoroughbred racing, which originated under Charles II of England as the "sport of kings", is popular throughout the UK with world-famous races including the Grand National, the Epsom Derby, Royal Ascot and the Cheltenham National Hunt Festival (including the Cheltenham Gold Cup). The UK has proved successful in the international sporting arena in rowing.^{[citation needed]}

The UK is closely associated with motorsport. Many teams and drivers in Formula One (F1) are based in the UK, and the country has won more drivers' and constructors' titles than any other. The UK hosted the first F1 Grand Prix in 1950 at Silverstone, the current location of the British Grand Prix held each year in July.^[578] The UK hosts legs of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing, World Rally Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship. The premier national auto racing event is the British Touring Car Championship. Motorcycle road racing has a long tradition with races such as the Isle of Man TT and the North West 200.^{[citation needed]}

St Andrews, Scotland, the home of golf. The standard 18 hole golf course was created at St Andrews in 1764.^[579]

Golf is the sixth most popular sport, by participation, in the UK. Although The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in Scotland is the sport's home course,^[580] the world's oldest golf course is actually Musselburgh Links' Old Golf Course.^[581] In 1764, the standard 18-hole golf course was created at St Andrews when members modified the course from 22 to 18 holes.^[579] The oldest golf tournament in the world, and the first major championship in golf, The Open Championship, is played annually on the weekend of the third Friday in July.^[582]

Rugby league originated in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire in 1895 and is generally played in Northern England.^[583] A single 'Great Britain Lions' team had competed in the Rugby League World Cup and Test match games, but this changed in 2008 when England, Scotland and Ireland competed as separate nations.^[584] Great Britain is still retained as the full national team. Super League is the highest level of professional rugby league in the UK and Europe. It consists of 11 teams from Northern England, and one each from London, Wales and France.^[585]

The 'Queensberry rules', the code of general rules in boxing, was named after John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry in 1867, and formed the basis of modern boxing.^[586] Snooker is another of the UK's popular sporting exports, with the world championships held annually in Sheffield.^[587] In Northern Ireland Gaelic football and hurling are popular team sports, both in terms of participation and spectating, and Irish expatriates in the UK and the US also play them.^[588] Shinty (or camanachd) is popular in the Scottish Highlands.^[589] Highland games are held in spring and summer in Scotland, celebrating Scottish and celtic culture and heritage, especially that of the Scottish Highlands.^[590]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom