British Seasonal Celebrations
by Ben Johnson
Here you will find articles and features about seasonal celebrations around the UK, such as the customs for celebrating Christmas and New Year, Easter and May Day, to name but a few!
An Anglo-Saxon Christmas
How was Christmas celebrated in the early medieval period? Christmas is, after all, an Anglo-Saxon word – Cristesmæsse, a word first recorded in 1038…
A Medieval Christmas
Some well known modern Christmas traditions have their roots in medieval times…
A Tudor Christmas
The twelve days of Christmas would have been a most welcome break for the workers on the land, which in Tudor times would have been the majority of the people. All work, except for looking after the animals, would stop, restarting again on Plough Monday, the first Monday after Twelfth Night. For the gentry, Christmas was a time for serious feasting….
A Georgian Christmas
The latest in our series of ‘Christmas Traditions through the Ages’. How was Christmas celebrated in Georgian and Regency times? We consult Jane Austen…
A Victorian Christmas
Christmas trees, carol singers, Christmas cards, Santa Claus…We can thank the Victorians for many of our Christmas traditions today…
Christmas Traditions in Wales
Including the unique Boxing Day custom of beating young girls with boughs of holly…
All over Britain on Christmas Day, families can be found sitting around their dining tables enjoying a traditional lunch of roast turkey with all the trimmings – and all, regardless of age, wearing coloured paper hats. So why this quaint tradition? Where do these paper hats come from? The answer is the Christmas Cracker….
New Year’s Eve Celebrations in Scotland: Hogmanay
Only one nation in the world can celebrate the New Year or Hogmanay with such revelry and passion – the Scots! But what are the actual origins of Hogmanay, and why should a tall dark stranger be a welcome visitor after midnight?
Robert “Rabbie” Burns Burns Night – January 25th
Robert Burns is the best loved Scottish poet, admired not only for his verse and great love-songs, but also for his character and wit, his high spirits, ‘kirk-defying’, hard drinking and womanising!
St Dwynwen St Dwynwen’s Day
St Dwynwen is the Welsh patron saint of lovers, which makes her the Welsh equivalent of St Valentine……
February 29th – or bachelors beware!
Leap years are very special years, and the 29th February itself is an especially important day……
Pancake Day (Shrove Tuesday)
Large numbers of people, often in fancy dress, racing down streets tossing pancakes…yes, it’s Pancake Day again!
The Friday after Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday is Kissing Friday. Kissing Friday? That sounds odd…
Easter Customs and Festivals
Egg rolling, morris dancing, pace-egging, bottle kicking and the nutters dance….
May Day in Merrie Olde England
Down through the centuries May Day has been associated with fun, revelry and perhaps most important of all, fertility……
Michaelmas – 29th September
Michaelmas, or the Feast of Michael and All Angels, is celebrated on the 29th of September every year. As it falls near the equinox, the day is associated with the beginning of autumn and the shortening of days…
Halloween or Hallowe’en is celebrated across the world on the night of 31st October. Modern celebrations generally involve groups of children dressed in scary costumes roaming from house to house, demanding “trick-or-treat”. The origins of these celebrations however date back thousands of years, to pagan times……
Remember, Remember the 5th of November…. Bonfire Night
Why do the British celebrate with fireworks, bonfires – and set fire to ‘Guy’?
St Martin’s Day or Martinmas falls on November 11th and was traditionally celebrated with feasting as it also marked the end of autumn. According to folklore, if it is warm at Martinmas, then a harsh winter will follow…
Christmas Gift Guide
Fretting over what Christmas present to buy for the history buff in your life? Well fret no more, for we’ve got just the gift guide for you!Christmas Gift Guide for History Buffs