Monday, August 27, 2007

Holiday Schmoliday...

[sneeze]
Yep, still up to my eyeballs in cold and sinus........bloody marvellous for a Bank Holiday.
A what? I hear my overseas friends ask.......
Today is the most British of institutions the Bank Holiday.
Prior to 1834, the Bank of England observed about thirty-three saints' days and religious festivals as holidays, but in 1834, this was reduced to just four: 1 May, 1 November, Good Friday, and Christmas Day.
'Bank Holidays' were originally brought in by the Bank Holidays Act 1871 by Sir John Lubbock (a cricket fanatic) so bank employees could take part in cricket games traditionally played between villages where he was raised. Easter Monday, Whit Monday, Last Monday in August, Boxing Day were the four for England.
Exactly a century after the 1871 Act, the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971, which currently regulates bank holidays in the UK, was passed giving 8 Bank Holidays including religious observance days (Christmas, Good Friday, Easter Monday).
It has been noted that the number of holidays in the UK is relatively small compared to the number in many other European countries. There have been calls for an increase in the number, particularly for recognising April 23 (St Georges Day) in England and March 1 (St David's Day) in Wales to have a public holiday on the feast day of the relevant patron saint. March 17 (St Patrick's Day) is already a bank holiday in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and, from 2007, November 30 (St Andrew's Day) is a bank holiday in Scotland.
There are also calls for new national bank holidays such as one to represent the United Kingdom, British Day (possibly part of Gordon Brown's new Britishness policy), Trafalgar Day (as a result of the recent bicentennial), Waterloo Day and also one to represent the European Union, (making Europe Day a bank holiday) and one to represent the monarchy such as the Queen's Birthday or coronation.
[whisper] being a civil servant, I already get the Queen's birthday off
:-)
I vote for Trafalgar Day and St Georges Day......
cq
(detail from Wikipedia)

16 comments:

Bobkat said...

I vote for all of them! You can never have too many bank holidays! [wink]. I definitely believ the Patron Saints days should be denoted as bank holidays in their respective realms.

Hope youa re starting to feel a bit better. Lots of veggie soup and Vit C for you!

Jennifer said...

I have the same old sinus junk over here across the pond. Nasty, isn't it? Hope you feel better soon...I agree...this is no way to spend a holiday!

Unknown said...

You've been sick too long a;ready, i hope you feel better soon. No more wasted holidays!

November Rain said...

we have tons of bank holidays in Germany (I think it adverages up to 2 a month lol)


Sorry that you are still sick

When I was sick my Nana always put rosemary and eucalyptus into boiling water and made me inhale for 2-3 hours just before bed

eucalyptus oil in your nose hankie by your pillow helps too

also she gave me a hot toddy before bed (not if I had a fever though)

hope you get better thanks for coming by my blog and the pleasant comments

MaR said...

I hope you are doing better,cq, one is supposed to enjoy holidays and bad colds should be regulated by law...
Sending sunshine your way, together with get-well-soon wishes :)

Ladybug Crossing said...

Don't you hate being sick on a holiday?? Kinda ruins the fun of not having to go to work.
Feel better soon!
xo
LBC

Jean-Luc Picard said...

On a bank holiday, we either get rain or fall ill.

Some of Brown's prposals are ridiculous. Trafalgar Day and St George's Day are good, though.

Anonymous said...

Awwww, sorry to hear you're still a lil under the weather hon. That sucks, especially on a holiday (Psssst: I knew what bank holidays are hehe)

We get a lot of holidays here too. From May to December, there's one every month I think.

May - Victoria Day
June - St Jean Baptiste Day (not observed in BC)
July - Canada Day
August - Civic Holiday
September - Labor Day
October - Thanksgiving
November - Remembrance Day
December - Christmas Day

Whew! *Dusts fingers off*

Moon said...

Sorry to hear u are still sick...hope u feel better soon ...or atleast actually enjoy the next bank holiday!!!

Nikki - Notes of Life said...

I'm waiting for St. David's Day to become a national holiday in Wales... but I guess I'm going to be waiting a long time! :D Oh, and since I'm right by the border, St. George's Day would be good too :D

OldLady Of The Hills said...

Sooo sorry you are still feeling rotten, my dear....And on a Bank Holiday, too! I hope this begins to get out of your system soon...!

If I had a vote for these Holidays, I would vote for ALL of them! Why not? Nice L-O-N-G weekends...(Without illness, of course...)...Too bad I am not The Queen! I would decree all these days "HOLIDAYS"!
Take care, dear heart.

ribbiticus said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ribbiticus said...

holidays are the best! any day that'll enable me to not go to the office has my vote - hahaha! get well soon, dear! ;)

Melli said...

STILL ailing??? Ugh! Get BETTER already! Life's too short to spend it sick!

You know... when it comes to holidays (Bank or otherwise) I'm all FOR them! I say vote for them ALL! I do hope they are all PAID holidays!

Lazy Daisy said...

Hey Babe, so sorry you are "under the weather"....summer cold are the worst. I love holidays, bank or otherwise. Sending you hugs and chicken soup.

OldLady Of The Hills said...

Hope you are feeling somewhat better, my dear....I know you hope so too!

I did laugh at your comment about Longford....Looney Longford??? LOL! I thought it was a very interesting film....I was not familiar with this story at all...and how accurate this film is---I have no idea. I DO love Broadbent and all the actors were wonderful....And the way they revealed that Myra had actually killed 5 children....well, it made it seem that Longford was kind of duped....Was that accurate?
Anyway...I have one more post on these Emmy Voting things...it's a category more people will have probably seen....Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama....
That will be in a few days. Probably going to post some flowers in between....I'm kind if bored with these Emmy things at this point....LOL!