Праздник Троицы в Англии - Whitsun

День Св.Валентина - День Сурка - Троица - День Колумба - День Благодарения - День Ветеранов - День Гая Фокса - Хеллоуин

Whit weekend is usually the first holiday weekend of the year with any hope of decent weather, and a fine Whit Monday (now renamed the Late Spring Bank Holiday) will see families flocking to the coast or countryside.

THE ORIGINS OF THE FESTIVAL
Pentecost or Whitsun is observed on the seventh Sunday after Easter. The word Pentecost has its roots in the Greek "pentekoste" meaning the fiftieth day after Easter. Whit Sunday commemorates the coming of the Holy Spirit in the form of flames to the Apostles, as recorded in the New Testament. The recent adoption of a Late Spring Bank Holiday on the last Monday in May is an attempt to deal with the fact that Whitsuntide is a moveable feast dependent on the date of Easter. Although it is no longer necessarily at the church's Whitsuntide, the general public still refers to this holiday as "Whit Monday."

commemorate - праздновать, отмечать

Holy Spirit - Святой Дух

flames - языки пламени

Whitsuntide - неделя после Троицы

moveable feast -переходящий праздник

CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS
Two main traditions persist, particularly in the North of England - Whit Walks and Whitsun Ales. Whit weekend, being a three-day break, is, like May Day, an important date on the Morris-Dancing calendar, and it also marks the start of the Well Dressing season.

Whit Walks are now confined almost exclusively to the industrial towns of northern England although they were once much more widespread.
The whole community assembles at a central point - usually a school or church - and parades around the town or village. The parades will be led by a brass band with the clergy and local dignitaries, followed by the uniformed organisations - Scouts and Guides, Boy's Brigade etc., and finally local families all in their best new clothes with the girls dressed in white, Whitsun being a corruption of White Sunday. The Whit Walkers will very likely make their way to the local green or playing field and there the "Whitsun Ale" will begin.

confine - ограничивать

assemble - собираться

brass band - духовой оркестр

clergy - духовенство

dignities - знатные люди

corruption - искажение

A Whitsun Ale is, despite its name, not a type of beer! Whitsun Ales are country fairs, with sports and competitions, Morris dancing displays, music and of course socialising, eating and drinking, in fact a major event on the social calendar.
After the Civil War (English, not American) the Puritan government banned all types of merrymaking but after the Restoration of Charles II, Whitsun Ales became a major event - helped no doubt by the fact that Charles was born on a Whit Monday and so encouraged the celebration. The Ales are often sponsored by a pub or brewery, giving rise to the misconception that the event is named for the beer!

fair - ярмарка

ban - запрещать

merrymaking - веселье

brewery - пивоварня

misconception -неправильное представление

For hundreds of years the Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling has been taking place on a steep hillside in the English countryside. Initially held at midsummer, the event now takes place on May bank holiday Monday. A guest roller starts the race by releasing a 7-8lb round of cheese down a treacherous slope. Competitors then hurl themselves down the slope after the cheese. The first person to arrive at the foot of the hill (usually after numerous tumbles) wins the cheese. There are a number of races every year including a ladies race that make this event a great day out.

release - отпускать, сбрасывать

lb - фунт

treacherous - коварный

slope - склон

tumble - падение, кувыркание

"An ancient and unique Derbyshire custom"

The Mayor and the Bishop of Derby at the Blessing Ceremony Derby, 1997

This beautiful custom is all but unique to Derbyshire. Once known as 'well flowering', it's thought to have originated in pagan times. Did the remote hills of Derbyshire escape the waves of invasion by Romans, Saxons, Danes and Normans that swept other parts of Britain into new cultures and new customs?

However well dressing began, it was banned by the early Christians along with all other forms of water worship - but the tradition refused to die.

So what is it? At its simplest, it's the art of decorating springs and wells with pictures made from local plant life. The dressings are set in clay-filled wooden trays, mounted on a wooden frame. They take hours to complete, and villagers often work through the night to finish in the early hours of the first festival morning. Some villagers dress their wells in secret. Others invite you to come along and watch - the best way to find out how it's done.

The well dressing season spans from May through to late September each year. There are several well dressings which occur over the same dates, so during your visit to Derbyshire you should be able to visit at least one!

pagan - язычник

well - родник, колодец

flowering - украшение

spring - источник

clay-filled -заполненный глиной

tray - желоб, доска

wooden frame -деревянная рама