St. Andrew`s Day

30/11/2014
St. Andrew's Day ­ Speakuponline.it
St. Andrew's Day
Novembre 2014
Il 30 novembre la Scozia è in festa: si celebra il patrono, St. Andrew. La croce del santo è l’emblema della
bandiera scozzese, la X bianca su sfondo blu che è anche l’elemento distintivo dell’Union Jack: tutto sarebbe
cambiato se fosse passato il referendum. Pericolo scampato, almeno per la bandiera...
di Jonathan Cameron
Speaker: Derek Allen (Standard British accent)
November 30th is St. Andrew’s Day. St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, and so
it will be a time of celebration north of the border. It marks the beginning of
Scotland’s winter festivals. They will continue with “Hogmanay” on New Year’s Eve
and Burns Night, in honour of the national poet, Robert Burns, on January 25th.
REFERENDUM BLUES
St. Andrew’s Day is a national holiday in Scotland even if, after the defeat in the
independence referendum in September, the mood will probably be more melancholic
this year. One person who is not very happy is the Scottish tennis star Andy – or
Andrew – Murray. He tweeted in support of independence on the day of the
referendum, and many British people criticized him.
ROYALTY AND GOLF
St. Andrew isn’t only the patron saint of Scotland. He is also the patron saint of Greece, Romania, Russia and
Ukraine. He was an apostle, and it is said that he was crucified on an X­shaped cross. This explains the X shape of
the St. Andrew’s flag. His connection with Scotland is a bit of a mystery. According to legend, his relics arrived in
Scotland in the 10th century “under divine guidance.” The relics appeared in a port which is now called St.
Andrews. This town is famous for two other reasons: it is the home of St. Andrews University, a prestigious
institution where William and Kate first met as students. It is also “the home of golf,” Scotland’s national sport.
THE UNION JACK
The Scots chose St. Andrew as their patron saint in the 10th century. Later they adopted the X­shaped blue and
white flag, which is also called “the saltire.” The flag situation became interesting when Scotland and England
came together to form “The Kingdom of Great Britain” in 1707, and when Ireland joined in 1801 to form “The
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.” The flag for the “Kingdom of Great Britain” was simply a
combination of England’s red and white St. George’s Cross and Scotland’s blue and white diagonal St. Andrew’s
Cross. When Ireland joined the Union, the red and white diagonal St.Patrick’s Cross was added. The new flag was
called “the Union Jack” and it is was attractive even if, unfortunately, it did not include a Welsh flag.
A NEW FLAG?
The flag didn’t change when most of Ireland became independent in the 1920s. “Northern Ireland” stayed in Britain
and so the St. Patrick’s Cross remained part of the Union Jack. In the case of the Scottish referendum, a victory for
the Yes vote would have changed the flag. It would have been impossible to keep the St. Andrew’s Cross in the
Union Jack. A new British flag – without the St. Andrew’s Cross – would have been very ugly!
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30/11/2014
St. Andrew's Day ­ Speakuponline.it
Explains
Would have been very ugly! Sarebbe stata molto brutta! Qui troviamo alcuni esempi del past conditional in
inglese: would have changed the flag (avrebbe cambiato la bandiera), it would have been impossible (sarebbe stato
impossibile). The conditional in inglese si forma con would + l’infinito: I would say (direi), I would like (mi
piacerebbe), I would think (penserei). The past conditional si forma con would + have + the past participle: I would
have said (avrei detto), I would have liked (mi sarebbe piaciuto), I would have thought (avrei pensato). È
relativamente semplice in inglese (rispetto all’italiano) poiché la forma non cambia: I, you, he/she, we, you, they
would have said.
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