Presentation of Christmas in Great Britain for children. Christmas in Great Britain. From the history of the holiday, Christmas is a holiday that in many countries has given rise to a large number of symbols and traditions. K. The Story of Santa Claus
25th of December
The British do not attach much importance to New Year's celebrations (New Year) .
For them, the main winter holiday is Christmas. (Christmas) ,
which is celebrated throughout Europe
"Christmas tree" - Christmas tree.
Christmas tree (Christmas tree)- this is traditionally a live spruce or pine tree decorated with candles (candle),
beautifully wrapped sweets (candy) and various decorations (decorations) .
For the British, Christmas is a special family holiday. (holiday). It was on this day that the whole family (family) going to a festive Christmas dinner or lunch (dinner) .
“Christmas Dinner” - Christmas dinner.
Christmas pudding -
the main dish of the Christmas table in England.
At first it was ordinary plum porridge (plum-porridge).
Over time, the porridge turned into pudding (plum pudding) .
It is prepared from bread crumbs, fruits, and spices.
Mistletoe - Mistletoe.
There is a wonderful tradition of decorating the house (house) for Christmas with evergreen sprigs of ivy, holly and plant (plant) Mistletoe.
mistletoe (mistletoe)- a plant with which beautiful Christmas rituals are associated.
Every year (year) Europeans
buy thin branches
mistletoe and hanging
them above the door (door) .
- At Christmas in Britain it is customary to give each other gifts of the same value. And in the family circle gift ceremony carried out according to the ancient tradition - by lot.
- Second Day of Christmas – Day of Boxes (Boxing day). This name comes from the custom of installing special piggy banks in churches before Christmas, where offerings for the poor were placed.
- Today this tradition has turned into “Gifting Day”.
- Kind old gentleman Santa Claus delivers gifts to children (Santa Claus) red-cheeked, with a long white beard, dressed in a red fur coat and a tall red hat.
- In England there is a custom put gifts in stockings. Santa traveled through the air and entered homes through chimneys. Going down to one of the houses, he dropped several gold coins into a sock, which was hung to dry over the fireplace. Since then, they began to hang socks and stockings on the fireplace in the hope that something would fall there.
Dear Guys! Happy holiday! Congratulations!
From the history of the holiday, Christmas is a holiday that in many countries has given rise to a large number of symbols and traditions. Even his date applies to them. Eastern Christian churches originally set the celebration of Christmas on the sixth of January. However, the Roman Church deliberately moved it to the twenty-fifth of December - the day of the pagan holiday of the invincible sun. And the new date began to symbolize the victory of Christianity over paganism. According to Western tradition, the sixth of January is the day of Epiphany or Epiphany, often called by the British Twelfth Night.
The British were the first to decorate their homes with holly, ivy and mistletoe on the eve of Christmas. It was believed that holly scared away witches, and the ancient Druids considered mistletoe a sacred plant and a symbol of eternal life, the Romans valued it as a symbol of peace. It is believed that the custom of kissing under a mistletoe branch originated in England
Christmas Log One of the ancient British traditions is the Christmas log. It is believed that the ancient Vikings brought this ritual to England. At Christmas they cut down a huge tree, and all year it sat and dried. And only the next Christmas they brought it into the house, and it burned in the hearth for a long, long time. If it went out without burning to ashes, the owners expected trouble.
From the history of the Christmas tree The brilliant Victorian era gave Great Britain wonderful Christmas traditions. And first of all, this is connected with the Christmas tree - a symbol of eternal nature. The Germans are believed to be the first to use the Christmas tree in their celebrations, and Martin Luther was the first to decorate the top of the tree with a star, which symbolized the star that appeared over the stable in which Christ was born. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert (representatives of the German Saxe-Coburg dynasty) first installed a decorated Christmas tree at Windsor Palace in 1841 and presented it as a gift to children. Since then, this has become a sign of good manners. From this time on, the custom of giving gifts at Christmas was established; before that, the English exchanged gifts on New Year's Day or on Twelfth Night (the feast of Epiphany).
From the history of the Christmas stocking The custom of putting gifts in the Christmas stocking is associated with Victorian England. At that time, a fairy tale was told that "Father Christmas" traveled through the air and entered houses through a chimney. Going down to one of the houses, he dropped several gold coins into a sock, which was hung to dry over the fireplace. Since then, on Christmas Eve, they began to hang “socks and stockings on the fireplace in the hope that something would fall there.” And now on Christmas Eve, children hang a Christmas stocking on the fireplace or the edge of the bed so that Santa Claus can fill it with gifts. This tradition is gradually taking root here in Russia.
From the history of Christmas cards In England, during the reign of Victoria, the custom of exchanging greeting cards for the New Year also arose. The first Christmas greeting card was printed in 1843 in London and marked the beginning of the formation of a separate independent printing industry, and later, the direction of the printing industry. As key characters for Christmas cards, printer artists chose motifs akin to ancient rituals, customs, and paraphernalia. It could have been the robin, which replaced the bird in 18th-century celebrations. wren, sprigs of ivy, holly, mistletoe, heather. Such cards have become a unique opportunity to congratulate emigrants who find themselves far from their homeland at Christmas.
About pudding For many centuries, a common food for all the inhabitants of the British Isles at Christmas was a special oatmeal porridge, plum-porridge, cooked in meat broth, bread crumbs, raisins, almonds, prunes and honey were also added to it and served on the the table is very hot. The pudding was prepared in large copper cauldrons several weeks before Christmas by the whole family. During preparation, each family member made a wish. Four items were placed in the pudding: a coin, a thimble, a button and a ring. Later, when the pudding was eaten, each item found in the pudding had its own meaning. The coin meant wealth in the new year, the button meant single life, the thimble for a girl meant unmarried life, and the ring meant marriage. During the 18th century. Plum-porridge is gradually being replaced by plum-pudding, and by the middle of the 19th century. the latter becomes the most important dish of the Christmas table. Plum pudding is made from bread crumbs with the addition of various spices and fruits; before serving, it is doused with rum and lit. And it is still the custom among the British to hide small silver coins and decorations in the Christmas pudding - “for good luck.”
Preparations for Christmas in England In England, preparations for them are carried out very carefully and there such a collapse occurs every year, however, unlike us, all people celebrate Christmas purely in the family circle (in our country this is not practiced in every family), and another difference is that that this great holiday is almost two weeks early for them.
Preparing for Christmas The British take the holidays very seriously and always respect traditions, for this reason, preparing for Christmas in England is a very serious undertaking. A week before the holiday itself, everyone cleans the house very carefully, wiping the windows until they shine. From the street, you can see the decorated Christmas trees in the windows. There is always a green wreath of mistletoe on the door of every house, and multi-colored light bulbs above the door. (As for apartments, each door of an apartment or room can be decorated with a wreath).
Christmas is celebrated on December 25th. A month before Christmas, the house is decorated with wreaths of mistletoe and holly plants, decorating them with ribbons, sparkles, pine cones, and berries. A Christmas tree A Christmas tree with an angel and a Christmas star at the top is an integral attribute of the holiday.
Father Christmas in a green coat It's no secret that England and America celebrate and celebrate Christmas much more than the New Year. Little Britons expect gifts not from Santa, but from Father Christmas. This is what was originally called the kind bearded wizard in green robes, delivering gifts.
In America, on the night before Christmas, a glass of milk and a plate of macaroons are always placed on the table in the living room. According to legends, it is believed that this is Santa’s favorite food and you need to feed him after a long journey. Sometimes they leave carrots for Rudolph, Santa's favorite reindeer. And in England they feed Santa more heartily - mince pie)) Milk and biscuits A carrot
“Once upon a time there was a deer in the world named Rudolph. He had a big red shining nose and everyone around him teased him for it, even his relatives and closest people laughed at the poor deer. But one day on Christmas Eve there was a thick white fog and Santa and his got lost in the sled. All of Christmas was in jeopardy, because what kind of holiday can there be when there is no Santa. But then Rudolph came to the rescue, he lit the way with his glowing nose. This was his calling. Since then, Rudolph has become Santa's favorite and that's why he always stands first in his team." a deer with a red nose
In England they bake a fortune pie for Christmas. According to an ancient tradition, a prudent housewife puts a coin, ring, bean or button into the pie dough. Each item has its own meaning: marriage, happiness, wealth or poverty (if someone is lucky, they will be so lucky). My favorite food is a Christmas pie!
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Where did it all start?
Christmas in England originated back in October, when most people sat down at the table at home and, sticking out the tip of their tongue from diligence, wrote Christmas Lists to Father Christmas with the most serious look. Shop owners in England started selling various themed junk right from that moment... But in general, all this is an established age-old Tradition. In the United Kingdom, there are probably more traditions, rituals, signs, quirks, quirks and other things associated with winter festivities than in the rest of Europe. Moreover, there are ancient traditions, and there are relatively young ones, but they have already managed to firmly cement themselves in the depths of the British mentality.
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And for children?
Children generally have a good time at Christmas. On Christmas Eve in the evening they go to bed after prayers and Christmas stories are read to them. Before that, they always leave mince pie and milk for Father Christmas (and carrots for a certain Rudolph) - otherwise there will be no gifts! In the morning, before dawn, children with greedy eyes burst into the bedrooms of their sleepy ancestors and drive them quickly downstairs to the living room, where under the tree, in stockings or special socks, lies “what they have been waiting for so long.”
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The story of Santa Claus.
Saint Nicholas is traditionally considered in the West and America to be the giver of gifts. In 1804, a historical society was founded in New York under the patronage of St. Nicholas. In 1809, Washington Irving published a satirical History of the City of New York, which mocked New York's Dutch past (many traditions, including St. Nicholas the gift-giver, came to New York from Holland). Every year on St. Nicholas's Day, a wooden statue of the saint (tall, in a long robe) was taken out into the street and a song about St. Nicholas - Zankta Klaus (in Dutch, Sinterklaas) was sung.
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In 1822, another New Yorker, Clement Clark Moore, wrote a series of fairy tales in which he described Santa Claus arriving in the country on eight reindeer. Clement Clark Moore also had Santa Claus climb into the house through the chimney to hand out gifts. In 1841, in Philadelphia, a certain businessman Parkinson hired a man to attract customers to his store and dressed him as Santa Claus. The first living Santa Claus sat on the roof of the house where the store was located, next to the chimney. In 1863, cartoonist Thomas Knight depicted Santa Claus with huge sideburns and wearing fur from head to toe. In 1869, poems by Georges Webster were published, where the North Pole was indicated as Santa Claus's home. Publisher Louis Prang spread the English tradition of sending greeting cards to friends and relatives at Christmas in America. In 1885, he released a greeting card featuring Santa Claus in a red suit. Since then, Santa Claus has increasingly been depicted in a red robe, rather than in furs or a robe of any other color.
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And now…
Now Santa Claus has taken root in many homes in Western Europe and America. Entering the house through pipes and windows, he places gifts in stockings, most often hung on the fireplace, and jingles the bells, as if announcing the arrival of the New Year.
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What other traditions are there in England for Christmas?
Advent wreath The Advent wreath is of Lutheran origin. This is an evergreen wreath with four candles. The first candle is lit on Sunday four weeks before Christmas as a symbol of the light that will come into the world with the birth of Christ. Every next Sunday another candle is lit. On the last Sunday before Christmas, all four candles are lit to illuminate the place where the wreath is placed (this could be the church altar or the dining table).
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Bells The ringing of bells on Christmastide came to us from the winter pagan holidays. When the Earth was cold, it was believed that the sun died and the evil spirit was very strong. To drive out an evil spirit, you had to make a lot of noise. The Christmas tradition of ringing bells, singing and shouting at the same time has survived to this day. During Christmas time, church bells ring in churches all over the world. But not to drive out evil spirits. In this way people welcome the coming of Christ. In Scandinavia, the ringing of a bell means the end of work and the beginning of a holiday; in England, it is a funeral ringing at the funeral of the devil and the greeting of Christ.
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Chimney In Scandinavian countries and Germany, on December 24th, Santa Claus knocks on the door, but in England and America his visit is secret. Santa Claus supposedly enters the house through the chimney.
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Christmas cards In 1843, the Englishman Horsley drew the first Christmas card. 1000 copies of the postcard were sold that year in London. Publisher Louis Prang popularized Christmas cards in 1875. He held a nationwide competition in America for the best Christmas card design. Improvements in the postal system and cheaper postage made it possible to send Christmas cards to many friends all over the world.
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Christmas tree
It is believed that the first undecorated Christmas trees appeared in Germany in the 8th century. The first mention of spruce is associated with the monk Saint Boniface. Boniface read a sermon about Christmas to the Druids. To convince the idolaters that the oak was not a sacred and inviolable tree, he cut down one of the oaks. When the felled oak fell, it knocked down all the trees in its path except the young spruce. Boniface presented the survival of the spruce as a miracle and exclaimed: “Let this tree be the tree of Christ.” Later, Christmas in Germany was celebrated by planting young trees.
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The Christmas tree owes its popularity in England to the German Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria. In the 17th century, German immigrants brought the Christmas tree tradition to America.
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