【文档】Christmas In BRITISH ISLES Unit 2 （英语人教必修五）.doc

Christmas in British Many of our current American ideals about the way Christmas ought to be derive from the English Victorian Christmas, such as that described in Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol. The caroling, the gifts, the feast, and the wishing of good cheer to all - these ingredients came together to create that special Christmas atmosphere. 　　The custom of gift-giving on Christmas dates only to Victorian times. Before then it was more common to exchange gifts on New Years Day or Twelfth Night. Santa Claus is known by British children as Father Christmas. Father Christmas, these days, is quite similar to the American Santa, but his direct ancestor is a certain pagan spirit who regularly appeared in medieval mummers plays. The old-fashioned Father Christmas was depicted wearing long robes with sprigs of holly in his long white hair. Children write letters to Father Christmas detailing their requests, but instead of dropping them in the mailbox, the letters are tossed into the fireplace. The draft carries the letters up the chimney, and theoretically, Father Christmas reads the smoke. Gifts are opened Christmas afternoon. 　　From the English we get a story to explain the custom of hanging stockings from the mantelpiece. Father Christmas once dropped some gold coins while coming down the chimney. The coins would have fallen through the ash grate and been lost if they hadnt landed in a stocking that had been hung out to dry. Since that time children have continued to hang out stockings in hopes of finding them filled with gifts. 　　The custom of singing carols at Christmas is also of English origin. During the middle ages, groups of serenades called waits would travel around from house to house singing ancient carols and spreading the holiday spirit. The word carol means song of joy. Most of the popular old carols we sing today were written in the nineteenth century. 　　The hanging of greens, such as holly and ivy, is a British winter tradition with origins fa