122 Calan" in Wales the children get up early to visit their neighbors
and sing songs. They are given coins, mince pies, apples and
other sweets for singing. This stops at midday. Some areas still
celebrate Dydd Calan on January 12th.
Scotland In Scotland people celebrate New Year better than any-
where else. The celebration of New Year's Eve is called "Hog-
manay". The word Hogmanay comes from a kind of oat cake
that was traditionally given to children on New Year's Eve.
In Edinburgh the celebrations always include a massive
party from Prince's Street to the Royal Mile and Edinburgh Cas-
tle. Unfortunately due to overcrowding in the past the event is
now ticket only.
On New Year's Day (actually from the stroke of midnight)
the tradition of first footing is observed. This is because the first
person to set foot in a residence in a New Year is thought to pro-
foundly affect the fortunes of everyone who lives there. Gener-
ally strangers are thought to bring good luck. Depending on the
area, it may be better to have a dark-haired or fair-haired stranger
set foot in the house, but it does mean Scotland is a very wel-
coming place for strangers at New Year
!
/http://www.learnenglish.de/culture/newyear.htm/
British Tea Afternoon tea – Drinking tea in the afternoon is a custom
which began during the 19th century. Its development is attrib-
uted to the Duchess of Bedford. Due to the fact that the aristoc-
racy customarily ate only two meals a day being breakfast and
dinner, the afternoon tea was meant to abate the hunger between
the meals. The afternoon tea was served along with a light meal
between the hours 3:00-5:00 p.m.
High tea - A further development and refinement of the
afternoon tea; this is actually an early dinner which includes tea.
One assumption is it that the name was derived from the late