1. Scotland.
Up Helly Aa (English pronunciation: / ph li /ˈʌ ɛ ɑ UP-he-lee-ə) refers to any of a variety of
fire festivals held in Shetland, in Scotland, annually in the middle of winter to mark
the end of the yule [ju lː ] season. The festival involves a procession of up to a
thousand guizers in Lerwick ['l w kɜː ɪ ] and considerably lower numbers in the more
rural festivals, formed into squads who march through the town or village in a
variety of themed costumes.
The current Lerwick celebration grew out of the older yule tradition of tar barrelling
which took place at Christmas and New Year as well as Up Helly Aa. Squads of
young men would drag barrels of burning tar through town on sledges, making
mischief ['m s fɪ ʧɪ ] . After the abolition of tar barrelling around 1874–1880,
permission was eventually obtained for torch [tɔːʧ] processions. The first yule
torch procession took place in 1876. The first torch celebration on Up Helly Aa day
took place in 1881. The following year the torchlit procession was significantly
enhanced and institutionalised through a request by a Lerwick civic body to hold
another Up Helly Aa torch procession for the visit of the Duke of Edinburgh.[1]
The
first galley was burned in 1889.
There is a main guizer who is dubbed the "Jarl". There is a committee [kə'm tɪ ɪ] which a person
must be part of for 15 years before one can be a jarl, and only one person is elected to this
committee each year.
The procession culminates in the torches being thrown into a replica Viking longship or galley.
The event happens all over Shetland and is currently celebrated at ten locations – Scalloway,
Lerwick, Nesting and Girlsta, Uyeasound, Northmavine, Bressay, Cullivoe, Norwick, the South
Mainland and Delting.
After the procession, the squads visit local halls (including schools, sports facilities and hotels),
where private parties are held. At each hall, each squad performs its act, which may be a send-up
of a popular TV show or film, a skit on local events, or singing or dancing, usually in flamboyant
costume.
Due to the often-flamboyant [flæm'b əntɔɪ ] costumes and the large quantity of males
dressing up as females in the Lerwick festival (traditionally, the festival does not
permit women to partake in the squads), it has earned the joke name "Transvestite
Tuesday".
England.
The Queen's Official Birthday (King's Official Birthday in the reign of a male monarch) is the
selected day on which the birthday of the monarch of the Commonwealth realms (currently
Queen Elizabeth II) is officially celebrated in those countries. The date varies as adopted by each
Commonwealth country, but is generally around the end of May to the start of June, to coincide
with a high probability of fine weather in the Northern Hemisphere for outdoor ceremonies.[1]
The sovereign's birthday was first officially marked in the United Kingdom in 1748. Since then,
the date of the king or queen's birthday has been determined throughout the British Empire and
later the Commonwealth according to either different royal proclamations issued by the
sovereign or governor or by statute laws passed by the local parliament. The exact date of the
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2. celebration today varies from country to country and except by coincidence does not fall on the
day of the monarch's actual birthday (that of the present monarch being 21 April[2]
). In some
cases, it is an official public holiday, sometimes coinciding with the celebration of other events.
Most Commonwealth realms release a Birthday Honours List at this time.
It has been celebrated in the United Kingdom since 1748. There, the Queen's Official Birthday is
now celebrated on the first, second, or third Saturday in June,[19]
although it is rarely the third.
Edward VII, who reigned from 1901 to 1910, and whose birthday was on 9 November, in
autumn, after 1908[20]
moved the ceremony to summer in the hope of good weather.[19]
Queen Elizabeth II at the Trooping the Colour, London, on her Official Birthday, 14 June 2008
The day is marked in London by the ceremony of Trooping the Colour, which is also
known as the Queen's Birthday Parade. The list of Birthday Honours is also
announced at the time of the Official Birthday celebrations. In British diplomatic
missions, the day is treated as the National Day of the United Kingdom. Although it
is not celebrated as a specific public holiday in the UK (as it is not a working day),
some civil servants are given a "privilege ['pr v(ə)lɪ ɪʤ] day" at this time of year,
which is often merged with the Spring Bank Holiday (last Monday in May) to create
a long weekend, which was partly created to celebrate the monarch's birthday.
Northern Ireland.
People in Northern Ireland annually celebrate Orangemen's Day to commemorate the Battle of
Boyne, which occurred on Ireland’s east coast in 1690. It is a bank holiday on or after July 12
and often features marches. This day is known as "Orangemen's Day", "Orange Day", "the
Glorious Twelfth" or just "the Twelfth".
What do people do?
In many towns in Northern Ireland, marches or walks are held by organizations with a Protestant
orientation. The marching season lasts from April until August but the Glorious Twelfth (of
July), or Orangemen's Day, is particularly important. Many marches are organized by Lodges of
the Orange Order and are accompanied by a marching band.
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3. Participants in the walks, or marches, often wear dark suits, although they may remove
their jackets if it is hot. Traditionally, they also wore black bowler hats and white
gloves, although these are not as common now. The participants also wear
collarettes [ k lə'retˌ ɔ ]. This type of collarette is made from a long thin piece of cloth,
which is draped around the neck of the wearer and joined to form a “V” shape at the
front. Many collarettes are made from orange cloth, although there may be other
colors. The collarettes bear the number of the lodge that the wearer belongs to and
a range of badges showing the person’s positions in or degrees from the lodge.
Many lodges carry at least one flag during the marches. This is normally the Union Flag,
sometimes known as the Union Jack, although some carry Scottish, Ulster or
Orange Order flags. Many lodges also carry one or more banners. These display
the name and number of the lodge on one side. The other side often displays
images of William of Orange, deceased [d 'si stɪ ː ] lodge members, local landmarks
or the bible with a crown.
Public life
Orangemen's Day, or the Glorious Twelfth, is a bank holiday in Northern Ireland. It normally
falls on July 12 but if that date is on a Saturday or Sunday, the bank holiday falls on Monday,
July 13 or 14. Schools, public offices, many businesses and organizations, and some stores are
closed. Public transport services may run on their regular or special holiday timetables.
In some towns and cities there may be local disruption to traffic on Orangemen’s Day as local
lodges hold marches, or walks, through certain districts. Orangemen’s Day may be observed and
celebrated in other parts of the United Kingdom (Scotland, England and Wales) where it is not a
bank holiday.
Background
The Battle of the Boyne was held on July 1, 1690 on the banks of the Boyne River near the town
of Dorgheda on the East coast of Ireland. It was a battle between King James VII of Scotland and
James II of England and Ireland and his supporters on one side and Prince William of Orange
and his followers on the other side. Prince William of Orange won the battle and became King
William III.
The Battle of the Boyne has been seen as symbolic of the sectarian struggles between Catholics
and Protestants in Ireland. King James was seen as representing the Catholics and Prince
William was seen to represent the Protestants. This gave the Battle of the Boyne an important
symbolic role in Irish politics and life. However, modern analysis of documents from the time
suggests that Catholics and Protestants fought on both sides.
Although the Battle of the Boyne is now commemorated on July 12, it was held on July 1, 1690.
The shift in the date is due to the changeover from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar.
In Ireland, the Gregorian calendar was adopted in 1752 and September 14 followed September 2.
Many dates in the calendar were mapped into the new calendar without a correction. However,
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4. the Orange orders were suspicious of the Gregorian calendar and its papist connections and
continued to march on the corrected date of July 12.
Orangemen’s Day is also celebrated in some areas of the USA and Canada. In the Canadian
provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, Orangemen's Day is usually celebrated on the
Monday closest to July 12. In some fishing communities the celebrations are held in the winter
so fishermen do not lose valuable days at sea during the cod fishing season.
The Orangemen's Day bank holiday in Northern Ireland is proclaimed by the Secretary of State
for Northern Ireland. The bank holiday falls on July 12. If July 12 falls on a Saturday or Sunday,
the holiday moves to Monday July 13 or 14.
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