LL-L 'Traditions' 2006.12.10 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L List]

L O W L A N D S - L * 10 December 2006 * Volume 01
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From: Obiter Dictum <obiterdictum at mail.ru>
Subject: LL-L 'Traditions' 2006.12.09 (03) [E]

Ron het geskryf:
>>Please allow me to add that on List, besides New Year's Eve
>>and Hogmanay, December 31 is also known as "Sandy the
>>Fleming Day," since it's your birthday and thus a great
>>occasion for your fellow listers to celebrate.

Gabriele het geskryf:
>Hey, and I was born on Guy Fawkes Day (and my sister on Halloween),
>so between us we seem to have it all pretty much wrapped up!

***

For that matter, myself--(i) born on the _then_ Japanese soil, under
the Tenno's Sacred Rule; (ii) currently resident within a hailing
distance of 皇居 (Koukyo Imperial Palce); and (iii) my
application
for my reinstatement in the the Japanese nationality pending,--
have my birthday, as becomes Tenno's good subject, on 元日
(ganjitsu)
January 1. Tak-to vot :).

Vlad Lee.... er... Ri:)
PS: Didn't know Sandy could supply so much literary delight.
Going to visit his site right away:)

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From: Jan Strunk <jan.strunk at googlemail.com>
Subject: Traditions

Hello Lowlanders,

Ron wrote:
 >Please allow me to add that on List, besides New Year's Eve and
Hogmanay, December 31
 >is also known as "Sandy the Fleming Day," since it's your birthday and
thus a great occasion
 >for your fellow listers to celebrate.
 >Since this time around I will be traveling south with little or no
internet access,
 > I wish you a happy birthday now, and I hope you'll get lots of
compliments on your costume, if you wear one or not.

This brings me to an interesting question... My girlfriend is spending a
year in Edinburgh as a grad student at the moment.
Some weeks ago I visited her there and a fellow student of hers had a
birthday party. The party was on the weekend
before her actual birthday. Nobody hesitated at all to congratulate her
on the day of the party and to wish her
a happy birthday and everybody even gave her presents on that day.

My girlfriend and me were the only people around who found that strange.
In Germany (at least the Northwest, where
we are from) it is absolutely forbidden to congratulate someone before
their actual birthday and presents are usually given
only on the birthday or afterwards. It is a very strict tradition that
you can say "Herzlichen Glückwunsch nachträglich"
("Happy birthday belatedly") but cannot congratulate the person before
the actual day.

I think this has to do with superstition: If you say "Happy birthday"
too early, this will make it more likely that
the person won't live to see his or her next birthday. Basically, if you
say it too early and the person gets run over
by a bus, it might as well be your fault. (Of course, nowerdays nobody
would argue like that, but the tradition is
still strong.) I think it is linked to the German saying "Man soll den
Tag nicht vor dem Abend loben.". Don't praise
something before it has actually happened, because something bad might
still happen before it's over
(you can never know God's plans, and if you pretend that you do he might
teach you a lesson...).
(Quite a pessimistic outlook, maybe!)

My girlfriend and me and another German were the only people who had
ever heard of this rule. There were
some Americans and Brits there, but they didn't know it. Even a Girl
from somewhere as close as Czechia had
never heard about it.

Is this rule common in the Lowlands at all? Or are we Germans just some
weird people who have not quite
left medieval superstition to arrive in the age of enlightment?

Best greetings!

Jan Strunk
strunk at linguistics.rub.de

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From: Clarkedavid8 at AOL.COM
Subject: Traditions

Guy Fawkes day on November 5 used to be one of the main festivals  of the
year, comparable with Easter, Hull Fair and my birthday, although not as
 good as
Christmas. My parents would ask  the neighbours round and  my mother would
cook special food, such as bonfire toffee, parkin, potatoes  in their skins
and
Oxtail soup, and after we had set off the fireworks, but  before the food,
we
would burn the Guy, a lifesize model of a man consisting of  my father's old
clothes stuffed with newspaper. Before his ceremonial burning,  he would be
left hanging on the swing while the fireworks were being let off. As  he was
consumed by the flames, his villainous face (drawn by my mother) would  seem
to
take on a doleful expression.

The cinders of the fire would glow for days, which was great fun as they
could be used to start further fires. Halloween is a US (re-?)import into
England and wasn't celebrated or noticed much when I was a child. Nor was
New  Year.

I am told that the best place for Guy Fawkes celebrations is the town of
Lewes in East Sussex. Perhaps this is due to their strong protestant
traditions
following the burning of protestant martyrs in the town during the rain of
Mary  Tudor ("Bloody Mary").

David Clarke

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Traditions

Hi, Jan!  You're right.  Germans are traditionally in mortal fear of jinxing
things. My mother, who was quite superstitious, often exclaimed Beschrei das
nicht! (Don't jinx it!). (North German das can stand for both 'that' and
'it'.)

Most important, in my experience, is the fear of jinxing the birth of a
child, understandably so considering rampant infant mortality in the past. A
"baby shower" tradition as in America, in which gifts for the baby are given
before birth, is therefore unthinkable. In the past, not even baby clothes
were made before birth.  You'd wait till the baby had arrived, and then
you'd be given hand-me-downs while new baby clothes were being made.
Apparently, this has changed.  In many families it's now all right to make
or buy baby clothes before birth, not in all families.  However, many
families still only have large items like beds, pushers or carriages (prams)
put on lay-away, or just stored after paying for them, and someone brings
them home as soon as the baby is born.  I imagine this is now in flux and
there is much diversity in this regard.

Hey, Vlad! Sorry about the Japanese script.  It only came through as code,
and I didn't know how to convert it.

As for your birthday date, very impressive, rather lucky for a Japanese
subject, I believe.

As for Sandy's birthday on Hogmanay and Gabriele's on Guy Fawkes' Day ...
well, why am I not surprised?  And I mean this in the nicest possible way.

Here's a question for Sandy and our other amis écotophones:
Are there any Christmas songs in Scots, or has Scots been considered to
"low" for such a thing?  I'm asking because I've never come across such a
song.

Best regards!

Reinhard/Ron
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