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 PART 1 – Chart 3 – More on British Life in the Past (p. 63)

 
 
1 VOCABULARY
Read the texts and for each word in square brackets form another word appropriate to the context. Then make separate lists for nouns, adjectives, adverbs and verbs.
 
2 READING
Read the texts about Christmas and take notes of
1. its origins
2. when and how it got its name
3. how it developed over the centuries
4. what traditions are still maintained today.
 
The evolution of Christmas in England
Christmas means many things to many people. Some generations have emphasized the [1. religion] aspects, others have played it down. It was Pope Julius I who, in 350 AD, [2. official] declared that the birth of Jesus would be celebrated on the 25th December. This date was [3. probable] chosen because, on the ancient Roman calendar, it was the date of the winter solstice (the [4. short] day and [5. long] night of the year).
In England Christmas was [6. original] called Yule. The old Saxon word Yule meant mid-winter. In ancient times most pagans held some kind of mid-winter festival celebrating the [7. approach] end of winter and the victory of the sun over the [8. dark]. When the Saxons were converted to [9. Christian] the word Yule came to mean Jesus' birthday.
The word Christmas (Christ mass) was not used until the 11th century. In time, Christmas grew in [10. popular] and many of the pagan traditions associated with the winter solstice became associated with Christmas as well.
 
The Middle Ages
In the Middle Agespeople used to fight off the dark and cold and hunger with fire, light, [11. feast] and [12. dance]. Epiphany, or Twelfth Night, was much more popular and festive than Christmas in the early Middle Ages. It was a time for the offer of gifts in the tradition of the three Wise Men – a custom that survives to this day.
The Yule log was an integral part of their mid-winter [13. celebrate]. A log was burnt and kept burning for 12 days. The ashes that remained were scattered over fields to bring [14. fertile], or cast into wells to purify the water. A small part of the log was kept for the [15. follow] year, when it would be used to light the new Yule log.
Holly, ivy, and mistletoe were used for [16. decorate]. They were all important plants to the Druids and it was believed that good spirits lived in the branches of holly.
At [17. gather] people would drink wassail, a strong, hot drink, [18. usual] a [19. mix] of ale, honey, and spices. Before drinking from a large bowl they would lift it and greet their companions with 'waes hael', (meaning 'be healthy' in Old English).
Other customs developed as part of Christian belief. For example, mince pies shaped like a crib had more [20. signify] than today. They contained mince meat, fruit and spices: it was important to add three spices (cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg) for the three gifts given to the Christ child by the Magi.
 
The Tudor Age
Christmas was the [21. great] [22. festive] celebrated by the Tudors. Celebrations] began on Christmas Day and went on to Epiphany with dances and games. During the Twelve Days, people would decorate their houses with evergreens like holly, ivy, yew, mistletoe, box and laurel. They would visit their neighbours [23. share] and [24.enjoy] the [25. tradition] mince pies.
The twelve days of Christmas were a most welcome break for the [26. work] on the land, which in Tudor times were the [27. major] of the people. All work, except for looking after the animals, stopped. [28. Spin], the prime [29. occupy] for women, was banned and flowers were placed around the wheels to prevent their use.
On Christmas Day, the Monarch was required to attend mass and to give a rich banquet. Up to 24 courses would be served, much more than was needed for the guests, but it was a status symbol and left over food would be used to feed the poor.
A Tudor Christmas pie consisted of a turkey stuffed with a goose stuffed with a chicken stuffed with a partridge stuffed with a pigeon. All of this was put in a pastry case, called a coffin and served surrounded by hare and small game birds.
Turkey was first introduced into Britain in about 1523 with Henry VIII being one of the first people to eat it as part of the Christmas feast. The popularity of the bird as a Christmas feast food grew quickly and each year, before the [30. come] of the railways, large flocks of turkeys could be seen [31. walk] to London from Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire [32. head] to the Londoners’ Christmas tables.
The Tudors also practiced the ancient custom of burning a Yule Log. The Yule was cut and dragged home by oxen or horses as the people walked alongside and sang merry songs. It was often decorated with evergreens and [33. final] set alight on Christmas Eve for the 12 days of Christmas.
Few traditions have endured as long as that of wassailing (see above). Often a crust of bread was placed at the bottom of the Wassail bowl and offered to the most important person in the room – hence today's ‘toast’ as part of any [34. drink] ceremony.
The Tudors also had a kind of Christmas pudding but this was shaped like a sausage and contained meat, oatmeal and spices.
Another Christmas tradition was the [35. perform] of plays. There are records from the early 16th century that both Oxford and Cambridge colleges employed [36. travel] and [37. play] in their Christmas [38. entertain]. Carols flourished throughout Tudor times as a way to celebrate Christmas and to spread the story of the nativity. A carol used to be a dance with a song.
An important part of the Christmas season was Twelfth Night, which concluded the twelve days of Christmas. On this day the normal order of things was reversed: the King and ‘high’ people would exchange roles with the peasants. At the [39. begin] of the festivity, a special cake was eaten that contained a dried bean. The person who found the bean became king or queen of the night's festivities.
Midnight [40. signal] the end of his/her rule and the world would return to normal.
Oliver Cromwell’s Puritan [41. govern] banned Christmas in 1647. They [42. approve] of Christmas (and other festivals) because they were religious festivities connected to Catholic religion. Although the ban ended in 1660, from the late 17th century onwards Christmas went out of fashion.
 
Victorian Christmas
The Victorians revived the 'spirit' of Christmas and made it a family celebration. A Victorian Christmas entailed the exchange of gifts between parents and children, [43. attend] together at Church services, a multi-course family dinner, and visits with friends, relatives and other families.
The Victorians influenced many aspects of Christmas that are celebrated today. Most of the things that make up a traditional English Christmas were [44. actual] invented (or imported into England from other countries) in the 19th century. That includes Christmas trees, Christmas cards, Christmas crackers and, of course, Father Christmas or Santa Claus with his white beard and red costume.
The Victorians used holly, ivy, fir and mistletoe to decorate their houses at Christmas, as well as coloured paper decorations. They gathered around the Christmas tree with its elaborate decorations made of gingerbread men, candies, cookies, fruit, and trinkets of all kinds. Some families set up a Nativity under the tree, using moss for grass and mirrors for ponds. In 1848 the Royal Family were shown with their Christmas tree at Windsor Castle in a picture in the 'Illustrated London News' and the custom of having a Christmas tree, hung with lights and ornaments, with presents placed round it, became widespread throughout Britain.
The Victorians also promoted charity to the poor as an essential part of Christmas. In 1843, Charles Dickens wrote the novel A Christmas Carol. Its instant popularity played a major role in portraying Christmas as a festivity [45. emphasis] family, goodwill, and compassion. A phrase from the tale, 'Merry Christmas', became popular ever since.
The Victorians revived old traditions and created new ones. For centuries it was traditional to burn a Yule log in the fireplace at Christmas which would be kept burning throughout the twelve days of Christmas. In the 19th century it was also common to light a large Yule candle.
Carols had been popular in Tudors times. After the Puritans banned all festivities including Christmas, carols disappeared and remained [46. virtual] extinct until the Victorians revived them. The dance element had disappeared over the centuries but the song was used to convey stories.
The Twelve Days of Christmas may have been a game set to music in which a leader recited a verse, each of the players repeated the verse, the leader [47. add] another verse, and so on until one of the players made a mistake. That player had then to pay a penalty, such as offering up a kiss or a sweet.
Both Christmas pudding and mince pies have been eaten at Christmas in England since the Middle Ages. They contained minced meat with fruit and spices. In the 19th century the meat was replaced by suet (beef or mutton fat). Originally Christmas cake was eaten on Twelfth Night (6 January). In the late 19th century, people began to eat the traditional Twelfth Night cake at Christmas.
Before 1840 ordinary people did not send cards because the cost of post was high. After the penny post was introduced in 1840, the first Christmas cards were designed, which soon became very popular in England. Some of the [48. early] Christmas cards featured images of robins delivering the mail (with [49. refer] to the red tunics worn by postmen). Like Santa and reindeer, robin became linked with Christmas.
Father Christmas and Santa Claus were originally two different figures. In England Father Christmas was a man dressed in green who did not bring gifts, but visited families at Christmas. In the 19th century in England Father Christmas merged with the Dutch Santa Claus/St Nicholas. According to the tradition, St Nicholas (a Christian bishop who lived in Turkey in the 4th century AD) gave generous gifts to the poor.
Christmas crackers were first made in 1847 by a confectioner named Tom Smith. He added mottoes to the sweets (later these evolved into jokes) and then the 'bang'. Later little gifts were also added to Christmas crackers.
Boxing Day (December 26th) was originally a day when alms-boxes in churches were opened and the money was distributed to the poor. Later 'boxes' were given to [50. serve].


Questo file è un’estensione online del corso M. G. Dandini, NEW SURFING THE WORLD.
Copyright © 2010 Zanichelli Editore S.p.A., Bologna [1056]