Chapter Text
In the UK, we have a number of public holidays, otherwise known as bank holidays. The descriptions are interchangeable but basically a public holiday is decreed by Royal proclamation and often goes back many centuries, while a bank holiday relates to employment laws requiring the banks to close on specific dates (and most other companies will do the same). Some are common to all of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales), while others are celebrated in specific countries only – these are usually Saints' days.
By the way, to avoid confusion, I should explain exactly why we have different names for the country as a whole!
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, usually known as either the United Kingdom or the UK, is a sovereign state that consists of the island of Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and the northern part of Ireland (the southern part of Ireland being the Republic of Ireland, a separate nation). A number of smaller islands are also included in the UK, although not the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands (Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark and Herm), which are self-governing Crown dependencies (don't even ask how that works…!).
So, the most accurate way of describing us as a country is the UK or United Kingdom. Although we're often also called Great Britain, this excludes Northern Ireland. However, it's true that as a people, we're most often known as British, and I know a family living in Northern Ireland who would describe themselves as 'British'. Please don't call the country England or the people English if you're referring to the entire nation, as that's not fair on the Welsh, Northern Irish and Scottish! But do feel free to do so if you're only referring to those who live in the England part of the nation!
I should point out that people living in specific regions often identify as a region first and as British second. In particular, a lot of Scottish people are very keen to be known as Scottish first and British second. Among many Scottish and Welsh people, there's no great love for the English, who are seen as dominating, London-centric and dismissive of the regions. This quite often comes out in sporting events, e.g. good luck if you're an England supporter at a Rugby Six Nations match being held in Scotland or Wales! Generally, it's good natured ribbing…! Also, there was a recent referendum held in Scotland to decide whether or not that region should break away from the UK. The 'Yes' campaign lost on that occasion, but there may be other referendums in the future, and there are plans to devolve more government powers to the four regions.
OK, back to public holidays and traditions. I'll deal with public holidays first and then traditions.
Public (or Bank) Holidays
These are days on which employees are not required to work (though in reality, major services such as supermarkets will often stay open, with workers paid at higher holiday rates if they agree to work). If the days with fixed dates happen to fall on a Saturday or Sunday then usually the following Monday becomes the 'bank holiday'.
1st January – New Years' Day. Although it's a public holiday, shops are usually open and advertising New Year sales. All other businesses close (apart from essential public services such as health care).
17th March – St Patrick's Day (the Patron Saint of Ireland). This is a public holiday in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and also in other parts of the world where there is a significant Irish community. It's not a public holiday in other countries of the UK, but there will be celebrations and religious services held.
Somewhere around March/April – Good Friday and Easter Monday. The dates vary, depending on when Easter takes place. Both are national public holidays, although supermarkets will often be open.
First Monday in May – May Day, a national public holiday. It's a spring holiday on which some traditions are still enacted in rural parts of the UK, e.g. maypole dancing, Morris dancing and the crowning of a local girl as the May Queen.
Last Monday in May – Spring Bank Holiday, a statutory national bank holiday.
12th July – Battle of the Boyne (Orangeman's Day) – Northern Ireland only, celebrating the victory of the Protestant King William of Orange over the Catholic King James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.
Last Monday in August – a statutory national bank holiday. This used to be the first Monday in August and I believe it still is in Scotland.
30th November – St. Andrew's Day (Patron Saint of Scotland). A bank holiday in Scotland only. If it takes place on a weekend, the following Monday becomes the bank holiday. However, unlike the other bank holidays, banks and other employers are not obliged to give their workers the day off if they choose to keep open.
25th December – Christmas Day – and pretty much the only day on which all shops, including supermarkets, are likely to be closed. However, in the big cities, shops in the more 'international' communities that don't observe Christmas may open as usual.
26th December – Boxing Day, a statutory bank holiday, although the shops will reopen.
If the above two days fall on a Saturday and Sunday, then 27th and 28th December will be bank holidays.
There are Saints' Days for each of the regions, but in the case of Wales (St. David's Day on 1st March) and England (St. George's Day on 23rd April), they are not public holidays. There have been petitions in both countries for public holidays to be created, so this situation may change.
UK Traditions relating to dates
The following relate to dates that are significant without being statutory public holidays.
Around March – Mothering Sunday.
This is held on the 4th Sunday of the Christian period of Lent, so the date varies depending on when Lent and Easter fall each year. Although 'Mothering' referred to the 'Mother church' and it was a day traditionally reserved for servants to return to their home churches (and visit their mothers too, no doubt), it has come to be known as Mother's Day in the UK. It should not be confused with Mother's Day celebrated on different dates in other countries, but many of the traditions are the same – it's the day on which you generally make a fuss of your mother, buying cards and flowers and taking her out for lunch.
June – Father's Day
The equivalent of Mothering Sunday for fathers, always held on the 3rd Sunday in June in the UK. We copied this from the USA, so it's not particularly traditional.
September – Harvest Festival
Used to be more important, especially in rural communities, but now it tends to be celebrated only in churches and schools. It usually relates to the 'gathering in' of the harvest and is celebrated with displays of fruit and vegetables and the holding of Harvest suppers.
31 st October – Hallowe'en or All Hallows Eve
All Hallows Eve is the eve of the Christian festival of All Hallows Day, and is seen as a 'Christianized' version of an ancient pagan festival, in which the focus is on using humour and fun to combat evil spirits. It's a controversial date, with many evangelical churches holding 'Light' parties to counter the traditional Hallowe'en parties. Unlike Guy Fawkes Night (see below), people tend to focus their activities on this date specifically, whichever day of the week it falls on.
In recent years, the event has become more Americanized – it's now quite common for children to dress up as ghosts, witches, monsters etc. and go out Trick-or-Treating to get sweets from the neighbours. There are Hallowe'en dressing up parties and people carve pumpkins into lanterns. It's very similar to celebrations in other parts of the Western world. It quite often falls within a school holiday, so public places will hold Hallowe'en related events for children to go to – crafts, ghost story-telling etc.
5th November – Guy Fawkes Night (also known as Bonfire Night, Firework Night or Guy Fawkes Day)
This tradition relates to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in which a group of Catholic noblemen attempted to blow up the House of Lords, assassinating the Protestant King James I of England in the process. The plot was uncovered, and Guy (or Guido) Fawkes became the focus of anti-Catholic hate - he wasn't the leader of the group, but he was the one discovered guarding the gunpowder. The news that King James had survived an assassination attempt was celebrated with bonfires around the city, and the tradition continues to this day – a 'guy' (effigy) is placed on a bonfire before setting it alight and fireworks are let off as the fire burns. There are official bonfires, sometimes very big events with thousands of people, or families will have their own fireworks party. Although 5th November is always the official day, people will often hold bonfires on the nearest Saturday to the date, simply to make it easier to organise big events. That's probably why, in The Empty Hearse, we see that John was placed in the bonfire at least one night before the bomb was set to go off on 5th November.
Another tradition was that kids would get together to create their own 'guy' or effigy and display it on the streets for days beforehand to get a little money, calling out "Penny for the guy" to passers-by. Some still do, although they rarely look like much more than a pile of rags!
There's a little scrap of a poem that I remember relating to the date:
"Remember, Remember the 5th of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot"
However, many of the old traditions relating to the date have disappeared and it's largely an excuse for a big fireworks party. Sometimes people put the masks of specific hate figures on their 'guy', e.g. unpopular politicians.
Christmas traditions
I could go on and on with this one! And I'm sure there will be disagreement, as 'traditions' vary massively according to taste.
The focus usually begins…well, as far as some shops are concerned, in September, when Christmas products start to go on display! But in terms of general traditions, it generally starts with the first of the four Advent Sundays, at the beginning of December (or end of November).
I won't go into religious traditions. In terms of food, I mention that to some degree in another chapter, but just to clarify: a traditional Christmas meal will be roast turkey accompanied by vegetables (including the dreaded Brussels sprouts that no one likes!), roast potatoes, pigs-in-blankets (small sausages wrapped in bacon slices) and stuffing for the bird. People will often substitute with another meat, or possibly have more than one meat at the meal, or even fish or a vegetarian alternative according to preference. This will be followed by Christmas pudding, a dense fruit suet pudding which may be doused in brandy and set alight before being served. Other traditions are mince pies (filled with spiced dried fruit) and the Christmas cake, a very rich fruit cake covered in icing.
Christmas trees and decorations often go up in the early weeks in December. Trees will be either real or artificial according to preference. Tradition states that they shouldn't go up until 24th December and should come down on Twelfth Night (6th January); any earlier or later is considered bad luck. However, many trees go up at the start of Advent. Presents might be placed under the tree to be opened on Christmas Day. If there are children in the house, they often also get a stocking on Christmas morning on the end of their beds (more usually a pillow case!). These will be hung up on Christmas Eve and filled with small toys and sweets. Traditionally, they contained such 'luxuries' as oranges or packs of dates – my mum remembers getting those in her stocking in the late 1940s and early 1950s, when Britain was still experiencing rationing and certain types of food were hard to obtain. Even now, I still associate the smell of oranges and satsumas with Christmas!
In addition, many families have Advent calendars with doors to open for each day of December up to the 25th. Traditionally these contained bible texts or little pictures associated with the Nativity, but they are now more likely to contain chocolates or little toys.
Carol singing (Wassailing) is still fairly popular in the UK, although it's less likely that people will go out in groups to sing from house to house. More usually, groups will sing in public spaces, e.g. shopping centres where they will collect money for charity, or they will sing in hospitals or at care homes for older people.
Carols from Kings – I can't leave this out! For many people, this represents the real start of Christmas. It's when the BBC broadcasts the traditional Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King's College in Cambridge, which is renowned for its choir. It is broadcast on the TV and radio in the afternoon on Christmas Eve and has been broadcast on this date every year since 1928 (except for 1930 for some reason). The Lessons (readings) are always the same. The carols can vary but the service always starts with 'Once in Royal David's City', with the first verse sung unaccompanied by a boy soprano. And it always ends with 'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing'. Trust me, whether you're religious or not, when you hear those first few notes of the service, your hair stands on end. Try YouTubing 'Carols from Kings' to see what I mean!
Churches will usually hold a Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve to welcome in the following day.
Christmas Day itself could consist of pretty much anything. The religious go to Church for a morning service, which will traditionally end with 'O Come All Ye Faithful', including its final verse that can only be sung on that date. Christmas lunch usually stretches on for hours and will often be an excuse for the extended family to get together. Others like to go for a long Christmas Day walk with the family. There's the usual Christmas Day TV on offer, with Christmas editions of popular soaps and comedies and big movies. The Royal Christmas Message (also known as the Queen's Speech) has been broadcast on radio since 1932, with just a few exceptions, and on TV since the 1950s, and more traditional people will usually try to catch that (nowadays TV broadcasts vary between the BBC and other channels). I still remember as a child being made to sit quietly during the Queen's speech, while my parents and grandparents sat with glasses of sherry, with which they would toast the Queen afterwards! I always imagine Mrs. Hudson listening to it, with Sherlock making disparaging comments in the background! I'll bet Mr. and Mrs. Holmes will listen too – and no doubt Mycroft wrote it!
Boxing Day, the public holiday on 26th December, is usually a quiet affair, with most people trying to recover. Traditionally, it was the day on which servants would receive Christmas gifts from their employers (think Downton Abbey). Although, it's a public holiday, various sporting events will take place and it's also the official start of the sales, with many shops opening for bargain hunters (although in more recent years, the sales will start even before Christmas).
School Holidays / Statutory Holiday for Workers
Just in case it's of use…the holiday dates (and length) will vary slightly between regions, but in general, school children get 13 weeks' holiday a year.
The school term in England and Wales starts at the beginning of September and there are three terms – autumn (or Christmas) term, spring (or Easter) term, and summer term. These are broken up with 3 major holidays – a two-week Christmas holiday (covering Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day), a two-week Easter holiday and a six-(or seven-) week summer holiday, taking place during half of July and the whole of August. In addition to these, each term has a one-week holiday in the middle, called Half Term.
In Scotland, the summer holiday is significantly earlier, with the new school year starting in August. In Northern Ireland, the summer holiday is longer, at least two months, with fewer holidays during the rest of the year.
School holidays can cause contention between schools and families – holiday costs rise significantly during the school holiday periods, but any parent who takes their child out for a holiday during term times can face a fine, and even a prison sentence if they persistently keep their child out.
Workers in the UK are entitled by law to a minimum of 28 days' holiday (or 4 full weeks), though this can include public holidays. In reality, many workers get more than this and in some organisations will give employees extra days as a reward for long-term service. The average is around 4-5 weeks plus public holidays.