British English Holidays Twelfth Night
hi everyone i’m gina in the UK the
twelfth night refers to the twelfth
night after christmas and falls on the
5th of january in this lesson you’re
going to learn why the state is of
importance do you know what the
traditional twelfth night drink
Wasel is made from will show you the
answer at the end of this video the
twelfth night is when christmas
decorations should be taken down if any
decorations remain after the fifth of
January then they should be left until
next year the superstition is that
taking them down after the twelfth night
will bring bad luck upon the house in
the olden days it was believed that
spirits lived in the greenery such as
Holly and Ivy that was used to decorate
the house this greenery was bought
inside during the mid winter to help the
spirits but after the twelfth night it
was time to release them back into the
countryside and their natural habitat if
they were not released the spirits would
cause havoc in the house now you may be
thinking that twelve days after
Christmas is actually the sixth of
January and not the fifth and you would
be correct
however in olden days they started at
sunset and not at midnight also they
followed night and not vice versa
so by modern calendars the 12th day is a
six but to our ancestors it was a fist
twelfth night used to be a day for
practical jokes and plays it is believed
that Shakespeare named one of his plays
Twelfth Night for this reason and also
it was first performed on the Twelfth
Night and now I’ll give you the answer
to the earlier quiz do you know what the
traditional Twelfth Night drink Wasel is
made from it is a cider based drink
seasoned with various spices and
sometimes honey it is especially popular
in the south of
England but most apples for cider are
grown how was this lesson did you learn
something interesting if you decorate
your house in your country do you have
any special ceremonies or traditions for
taking down the decorations leave us a
comment at English class 101.com and
we’ll see you in the next lesson
Oh