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Today we bring you a little bit of History from a very famous place: The United Kingdom.
Every year on July 12th, they celebrate what they call Orangemen’s Day and today we will tell you what are they conmemoratening and how.
But first, here is your idiomatic Expression of the week and your phrasal verbs.
Learn about this amazing country an enjoy!
Idiomatic Expression of the week: To Jump on the bandwagon
Definition: >To Turn Up:
Definition: To make an appearence, to arrive.
Example: A lot of people turned up at the party.
THE ORANGEMEN’S DAY
People in Northern Ireland have a bank holiday on or after Jly 12 to conmemorate the Battle of Boyne, which accured on Ireland’s east coast in 1690. It’s also as Orangemen’s Day, Orange Day, The Glorious 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 marchez are organized and are accompanied by a marching band.
Participants in the walks or marches, often waer dar suits, although they may remove thair jackets if it is hot. Traditionaly, they also wore black bowler hats and white gloves, although these are not as common now. The participants also wear collarettes. 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 chape 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 lodeges 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 displays images of William of Orange, deceased lodge members, local landmarks or the bible with a crown.
About The Battle of The Boyne
The Battle of the Boyne was held on July 1, 1690 on the banks of the Boyne River near the town of Dorgheda in 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 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 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 suggest that Catholics and Protestants fought on both sides.
Althoguh 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 1572 and September 14 followed September 2. Many dates in the calendar were mapped into the new calendar without a correction. However, the Orange orders were suspicious of the Greogorian calendar and its papist connections and continued to march on the corrected date of July 12.
Orangemen’s Day is aldo celebrated in some areas of the USA and Canada. In 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.
THAT’S ALL FOR THIS WEEK’S BLOG.
CHECK BACK NEXT WEEK FOR MORE ENGLISHCAFE NEWS!!!
ENJOY YOUT WEEKEND EC FANS!
