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I have a calender that shows an old English word or expression for every day and also, where possible, details of an old custom of that day. Last Friday the word was "tip the velvet" which, according to B. E.'s Dictionary of the Canting Crew (1699) means "To tongue a woman" - which action I obviously don't understand  The Friday of Shrove week was "Kissing Friday" and on this day schoolboys were allowed to kiss the girls in their class without fear of punishment or rejection. This practice lasted until the 1940s (during my lifetime, then) but sadly seemed to have died out by the time I was old enough to have wanted to take advantage of it! Richard English [This message was edited by Richard English on Sun Mar 16th, 2003 at 12:36.] | ||
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Today, 17 March, is St Patrick's day. I noticed with gloom that a number of local pubs were advertising special "St Patrick's day weekend" "celebrations" on 15 and 16 March. Presumably they thought that not many drinkers would want to go out on a Monday, so they switched their promotion to the Saturday and Sunday. They also don't seem to be as generous as in the past. One pub was offering one free pint for "every five pints of Guinness bought by your group". I remember a couple of years ago going to a pub on St Paddy's day and getting pints of Guinness for a pound -- that's quite a bit less than half price. | |||
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Richard, as for your first description, "tip the velvet", I read a funny article the other day pertaining to the U.S.'s current dislike of the French. Not only should we no longer use the terms "French" fries or "French" braids, but also we should kiss only with our mouths closed! Okay, arnie, I am glad you brought the subject about St. Patrick's Day up because I have a question. When I was a little girl, I lived in a highly Protestant area. On St. Patrick's Day several of the kids who hated the Catholics would wear orange. It was always a terrible insult to the Catholic kids, and I never understood why. Do you know why? BTW, we celebrate St. Patrick's Day here in the U.S. too. In fact, last Friday they made an announcement on the train saying that no alcohol was allowed Saturday, Sunday or Monday on the train!  | |||
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Time for a history lesson. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin... Charles II was succeeded as king in 1685 by his brother, James II. James was however a Roman Catholic, and annoyed Parliament by appointing a number of Catholics to important positions. Within three years, both the old nobility and the commercial class had been totally alienated by James. His second wife, Mary of Modena, gave birth to a male heir, James Francis Edward, which interfered with Parliament's wish that James' Protestant daughter, Mary, would succeed to the throne upon the death of her father. The Protestant Members of Parliament, thoroughly disgusted with James, invited Mary and her husband, William of Orange, a prince of the Dutch royal family, to take the throne. James was forced to abdicate in 1689 and fled to France. He gathered Catholic Irish forces (which were supported by French troops provided by Louis IX), but was defeated by William's Protestant army at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. Ever since Ireland has been split into the Protestants, who were mostly, but not necessarily all, in favour of the Union with Great Britain, and the Catholics, who were mainly in favour of an independent Ireland. William of Orange (or King Billy as he is often known locally) was the Protestants' hero. The Protestant inhabitants of Northern Ireland still celebrate the anniversaries of the Battle of the Boyne and other battles, such as the siege of Derry, with marches, much to the annoyance of the Catholics. | |||
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Oh, arnie, thanks so much! Is there the orange/green dispute in England on St. Patrick's Day? I haven't heard about it in years. I have seen a lot of Irish flags out today, though. Arnie, I have an apostrophe question. Am I still not getting it? I would have written it as "James's Protestant daughter", similar to "the boss's desk". | |||
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July 12th, the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne, was celebrated here in Canada within my lifetime as " The Glorious Twelfth". Members of the Loyal Orange Lodge would traditionally parade through town on this day. It was also called "Orangemen's Day". (Hope I got that apostrophe right!) Burnie, an old, old, friend of mine related the following story. In the 1930s he was a provincial policeman and was posted to a district so remote that he was the only government representative in the area. On the 12th of July,a dais was constructed and the Orangemen paraded and Burnie (representing His Majesty, George V) stood on the dais and received the salute from the parade. It was a completely Protestant district and Burnie told me that as he took the salute he was thinking that he was probably the only Roman Catholic within a radius of 100 miles! Burnie was flattered that the Protestants would offer him the salute and the Orangemen were pleased that he accepted it and everyone got along famously. The Glorious Twelfth is no longer celebrated around here as a major holiday. | |||
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quote:It sure is in the Kalleh/shufitz home!  | |||
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Not so much in England but there is still bitter Catholic/Protestant rivalry in Northern Ireland. Richard English | |||
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A few cities like Liverpool and Manchester have pretty sizeable Irish populations and the Orange/Green rivalry occurs from time to time, but it seems less than it was. Scotland, Glasgow in particular, is still divided, with the Catholics supporting Celtic Football Club, and the Protestants supporting Rangers. Sorry for the typo -- mea culpa -- I should of course have written it as "James's Protestant daughter". | |||
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quote: This reminds me of happy hour at Mapplin's on Hi-de-Hi (UK telly, like Seinfeld, but set in a holiday camp and funny), which was seven pints for the price of six between quarter to six and six o'clock. Tipping the Velvet was also the name of a fantastic recent TV programme, full of velvet-tipping, based on a book by Sarah Waters, who writes like Wilkie Collins, if Wilkie Collins had been a lusty lesbian. As for St Patrick's Day. It's not all it's craiced up to be. | |||
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quote:Huh? The only similarity between Seinfeld and Hi-de-Hi that I can see is that they are both TV programmes. You might just as well have said that it was like Teletubbies -- that's on TV as well. Oh, just thought of another similarity -- they both last about half an hour. | |||
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