Public Holidays
In England，Christmas Day and Good Friday have been holidays (literally "Holy Days")for religiousreligious adj.信奉宗教的，虔诚的，宗教上的，修道的，严谨的n.僧侣，尼姑，修道士 reasons since the establishment of Christianity in this country. Christmas is celebrated on december25，not Christmas Eve as in several other European countries. The other public holidays (or "Bank Holidays") are easterMonday，May Day (May 1st)，the Spring Bank Holiday (the last Monday in May)，theSummer Bank Holiday (the last Monday inAugust)，December 26th (Boxing Day)，andNew Year，s Day. The term "Bank Holiday"goes back to the Bank Holidays Act of 1871，which owes its name to the fact thatbanks are closed on the days specified.
Boxing Day takes its name from the old custom of giving employeesemployee n.职工，雇员，店员 or tradesmen (such as the milkman) an annualannual n.一年生植物，年刊，年鉴 adj.一年一次的，每年的，一年生的 present or "Christmas box" on that day. It has nothing to do with the sport of "boxing"！
If Christmas Day or Boxing Day falls atthe weekend，the weekday which follows December 25th and 26th becomes a Bank Holiday.
Easter Monday is generally regarded as anunofficial consecrationconsecration n.供献，奉献，献祭仪式 of Spring. In many towns there are funfairs with roundabouts，coconutshies，switchbacks and other amusements. The fair on Hampstead Heath，in the north of London，is particularly famous. Easter Monday used to be theday on which the ladies would parade inthe parks，wearing new dresses and hats. Although this custom is dying out，thetradition still provides the ladies with a pretextpretext n.借口，托辞v.借口 for buying spring clothes.
The August Bank Holiday is probably themost popular one of the year，partly because it comes at a time when children are not at school. Very many people try tomake this a long weekend，and go away to the seaside or the country (as they may indeed have done at Easter or in Spring). The result is that anyone who can manage to take a holiday at another time would be well advised to do so，for the roads get congestedcongested adj.拥挤的 with traffic.
In recent years，there has been a good deal of talk of creating another Bank Holiday midway between August and Christmas，but nothing has yet been done. Octoberwould be a good month，as the weather is often very agreeable then. Many peoplewould welcome an extra "Bank Holiday" or two as England has fewer than most Continental countries.
In Ireland，St.Patrick，s Day (March 17th) is also a Bank Holiday. St.Patrick isthe Patron Saint of Ireland. It is curious that St.George，s Day (April 23rd) is not a public holiday in England，for St.George is the Patron Saint of zngland，and in addition that day is the anniversary of the birth of the most famous of Englishmen，William Shakespeare. However，the flag of St.George (a red cross on a white background) or the Union Jack is flown on that day，particularly by churches of the Church of England.
The public holidays in Scotland are NewYear，s Day and the second of Januare (the third，if the first or second of January is a Sunday)，Good Friday，May Day andusually the first Monday in August. There are local variations. New Year，s Evein Scotland is an occasion for much joyous and noisy celebration. It is a Scottish tradition that the first person to cross the threshold of your house on New Year，s Day should be darkhairedsuch a person brings luck. In London，Scottish people gather on the steps of St.Paul，s Cathedral and sing "Auld Lang Syne" at midnight. There are also large crowds in Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square，and New Year，s Eve is a great occasion forparties and jollity.
When November 5th comes，many people feel that they should give their dog a sedative，for some dogs get very nervous when they hear loud bangs，and the eveningof Guy Fawkes Day is sure to be noisy ifthere are children living in your neighbourhood in England.
November 5th is a day on which traditionally，children are allowed，under propersupervision，to let off fireworks，to make a bonfire and burn on it the figureof a ragged dummy (a "guy")made of old clothes，straw，and -if possible-one of father，s oldest hats. Even the smaller children are allowed to stay up until it isreally dark，so that they can admire the rockets that burst in the sky and senddown a shower of manycoloured sparks.
In the days before Guy fawkes Day，somechildren may be seen going about the streets with their faces blackened，and wearing some kind of disguise. Sometimes they have a little cart or an old pram，and in it there is a "guy"；they ask the passersby to spare "a penny for the guy".
With the coppers they get，they buy fireworks.
The origin of this custom lies in the Gunpowder Plot 1605. In that year King James I was on the throne. Harsh measures had been taken against members of the Roman Catholic faith and certain Catholicsplotted to blow up the Houses of Parliament on November 5th，when the King was toopen Parliament and when，of course，all the Members would be present. The plotters had hired premises adjoining the House of Lords，and had been able to obtain access to a vault beneath the House. There，they had stored thirtysix barrelsof gunpowder，These were to be blown up，when the time came，by a very brave，coolheaded man，Guy Fawkes. Unfortunately，according to the traditional account，the plot was discovered when one of the plotters wrote to warn a relation. On november 4th the vaults were searched，and Guy Fawkes was found and arrested. It is said that he had been warned that the plot had been discovered，but he gallantly persisted in his purpose，hoping against hope that he might be favoured by chance and be able to rid his country of men whom he considered evil. He was condemned to be hanged，along with others of his fellowconspirators. He met his death with great fortitude.
It is the failure of this man，who was staunch in his faith though perhaps misguided in actions，that is perpetuated bythe children，s fireworks of November 5th. It is a poor tribute to Fawkes，s courage that his Christian name，Guy，was long used in English to denote a person whois a figure of fun chiefly because of his odd dress.
公共假日