Ship of Fools: Monday Holidays

Thread: Monday Holidays Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Galloping Granny (# 13814) on :

The 'Is it true?' thread made me think of another 'is it true?' question: is New Zealand's Waitangi Day (our founding document signed at Waitangi on 6 February 1840) going to be Monday-ised?

It's not actually made a big fuss of, except for bi-cultural ceremonies at Waitangi, sometimes featuring disruptions by dissatisfied Maori elements – unlike Anzac Day 25 April commemorating war dead, which is huge. No suggestion of Mondayising that one.

As it is, whenever it falls on a Thursday or Tuesday, anyone who can will take the intervening day off as well and have a 4-day weekend.

Conversely, you miss out on your (in my case) singing lesson if it's on a Monday, or any officially provided service (currently Meals on Wheels).

What happens elsewhere, good or bad? Anyone had a serious holiday Mondayised?

GG

Posted by Prester John (# 5502) on :

Yes it has happened before here in the U.S.. When they instituted MLK Day it was assigned to a Monday as well. With the passage of time the day loses it's significance and becomes an excuse to shop. I'm waiting to see when the first MLK Day sale happens.

Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :

I'm in favour of Thursdayising holidays, for the reason you mentioned.

Posted by Arethosemyfeet (# 17047) on :

In the UK they even moved the May Day holiday to the first Monday in May for the convenience of businesses. [Mad]

Posted by Pomona (# 17175) on :

Of course in the UK, Monday is a normal day for holidays. We seem to have coped. I can't see that many employers over here allowing people to take the Friday off in the wake of a Thursday holiday?

Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Prester John:
I'm waiting to see when the first MLK Day sale happens.

They started years ago.
[Frown]

Posted by Eutychus (# 3081) on :

Here in France we have fixed dates for most holidays, including May 1st, and May 8. Ascension, however, is always a Thursday, and Pentecost always results in a Monday off.

The results in May can be staggering, especially when May 1st (and thus 8th) fall on a Thursday. People take all the Fridays off (known as faire le pont, 'do the bridge'). And if the dates fall right, you can fit in a veritable viaduct with Whit Monday. No work is done at all.

In 2016, May 1 and May 8 are Sundays. I'm not sure how we'll survive.

[ 27. October 2015, 20:03: Message edited by: Eutychus ]

Posted by marzipan (# 9442) on :

In Ireland, the only bank holidays which aren't tied to the x Monday of y month are Christmas Day, the day after Christmas (St Stephens day), New Year's Day and St Patrick's day. My colleagues in the UK were surprised that we all took St Patrick's day off this year since it was on a Tuesday...

Posted by Og, King of Bashan (# 9562) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Galloping Granny:
As it is, whenever it falls on a Thursday or Tuesday, anyone who can will take the intervening day off as well and have a 4-day weekend.

Conversely, you miss out on your (in my case) singing lesson if it's on a Monday, or any officially provided service (currently Meals on Wheels).

"Anyone who can" meaning anyone who has vacation or personal days to spare. Given a choice between (1) a handful of three day weekends and one longer vacation or (2) having the option to trade a longer vacation for a handful of four day weekends plus the occasional random Wednesday off, I would much rather take the first option.

As for services, don't they just delay a day? Around here, if Monday is a holiday, it just means that your trash pick-up is a day later that week.

Posted by no prophet's flag is set so... (# 15560) on :

In Canada, Victoria Day is the last Monday before May 25. People typically call it "May long" and the Monday itself is Victoria Day. It is considered the weekend that probably the ice will be melted off lakes and rivers, and mosquitos won't be out yet.

All the other ones are either scheduled as something like "the 3rd Monday in <some> month" with Canada Day (01 July) and Remembrance Day (11 Nov) are always on the designated day.

Christmas works well because even if it is on a Wednesday, because 26 Dec is Boxing Day and also a holiday. I don't think Boxing Day is a holiday in many other places. (I have been thinking of founding a political party called the Birthday Boxing Day Party which will give you your birthday off and the day following. I like both the idea of a holiday birthday and Birthday-Boxing Day. Perhaps this could go international like communism?)

Posted by Philip Charles (# 618) on :

Waitangi Day is not being Mondayised. It will be celebrated on Saturday 6 Feb next year, BUT there will be a holiday on Mon 8 Feb. This means that we will always have a day off because of Waitangi Day.

Posted by Alan Cresswell (# 31) on :

Here in Japan we seem to get a relatively large number of holidays, almost all on Mondays - at least one per month, which is a lot better than the long holiday drought between the Spring Bank Holiday and Christmas in Scotland (why have all the bank holidays crammed into just half the year, surely it would make sense to spread them out a bit?). Having public holidays on a Monday (or Friday) where most people don't work weekends makes a three day break, long enough to do something like contemplate a long drive to visit family or whatever. A day mid week is a day off work, but it's much harder to do something other than local day trips. Especially when the number of days of paid annual leave is very small.

The university here has a term that loosely translates as "Wednesday like a Monday". Wednesday is a day with reduced formal teaching, the day when most of the student societies meet, when the sports teams play other universities etc. Given the large number of Mondays lost due to holidays, they occasionally schedule additional classes on a Wednesday to compensate.

Posted by Og, King of Bashan (# 9562) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Philip Charles:
Waitangi Day is not being Mondayised. It will be celebrated on Saturday 6 Feb next year, BUT there will be a holiday on Mon 8 Feb. This means that we will always have a day off because of Waitangi Day.

The practice in government posts in the States is that when Christmas, New Years, or the Fourth of July falls on a Saturday, you get Friday off, and if it falls on a Sunday, you get Monday off. So either way, you have a day to travel home / sleep one off. The only other holiday that hasn't been assigned to Monday is Thanksgiving, which is always on Thursday, and if you want the day after off, you have to take a leave day.

Posted by Galloping Granny (# 13814) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Philip Charles:
Waitangi Day is not being Mondayised. It will be celebrated on Saturday 6 Feb next year, BUT there will be a holiday on Mon 8 Feb. This means that we will always have a day off because of Waitangi Day.

Thanks for clarifying that.

GG

Posted by Galloping Granny (# 13814) on :

quote:
As for services, don't they just delay a day? Around here, if Monday is a holiday, it just means that your trash pick-up is a day later that week.

Yes, King Og, that applies to Council stuff like rubbish collection.
Social support providers (household help, meals) don't do Mondays, except, of course, for personal care.

Alan, I always thought bank holidays were quarterly. Is that England but not Scotland? What is a Bank Holiday anyway? Just a day when banks are closed? While they balance the books?

GG

Posted by Alan Cresswell (# 31) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Galloping Granny:

Alan, I always thought bank holidays were quarterly. Is that England but not Scotland? What is a Bank Holiday anyway? Just a day when banks are closed? While they balance the books?

Or fiddle the books? [Biased]

In the UK Bank Holidays are days when not only the banks, but most businesses close down - obvious exceptions for emegency services, and on most of them these are now big retail and leisure days so shops, museums etc are open. They include major religious (Christian - Christmas, Easter, Pentecost-ish) festivals and civic occasions (New Year, May Day).

So, in Scotland we get:
1 & 2 January, New Year holiday (substitute Mon/Tue if falls on the weekend)
Good Friday and Easter Monday
May Day (nearest Monday)
Spring Bank Holiday (last Monday in May) - originally a Pentecost holiday
Christmas Day and Boxing Day (substitute Mon/Tue if falls on the weekend)

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Og:
As for services, don't they just delay a day? Around here, if Monday is a holiday, it just means that your trash pick-up is a day later that week.

Oh, if only. Miss your Monday slot and you may have to wait until next week. If your collection is fortnightly, you may have to wait longer.

Posted by Huia (# 3473) on :

Our rubbish was picked up on the Monday holiday this time. Sometimes they change it to Saturday as making it another week day interferes with the pickups from other parts of town.

Luckily my brother's support people turned up on Monday as he got muddled and didn't take his pills on Sunday.

I kind of like having holidays that move through the week, like ANZAC Day (25th April) and Waitangi Day (6th February).

Next Waitangi Day I will be able to go to Rapaki which (I think) was one of the signing places for the Treaty as my bus route has just been extended to include that area [Yipee]

.

Huia

[ 28. October 2015, 06:37: Message edited by: Huia ]

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

Our Council recently changed their bin collection rota to four, longer, days instead of five. So our Monday collection became a Tuesday one. The only time it may change now is over Christmas and New Year.

Posted by anne (# 73) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Alan Cresswell:
[QUOTE]

So, in Scotland we get:
1 & 2 January, New Year holiday (substitute Mon/Tue if falls on the weekend)
Good Friday and Easter Monday
May Day (nearest Monday)
Spring Bank Holiday (last Monday in May) - originally a Pentecost holiday
Christmas Day and Boxing Day (substitute Mon/Tue if falls on the weekend)

Aren't there local holidays too? When I lived in Ayrshire there was a long weekend (Monday and Friday) in, I think, September which coincided with the Gold Cup. In Dumfries, there were two days off at another time for the Guid Neichburs (please excuse my spelling, it was a long time ago now). These were effectively local bank holidays.

Anne

Posted by Alan Cresswell (# 31) on :

Yes, there are local "fair holidays" (usually one in July and one in September) the dates of which will vary on where you are. However, they are far from universally observed - the local government may close then (including schools and bin collection), and some local firms may also close for a day, but most businesses will be open as usual. They aren't formally recognised public holidays, so you try to convince a bank based in London that it's a holiday - unless you're willing to take it as a days annual leave.

On the other hand, many English based companies (banks, UK government agencies etc) will close on the Monday at the end of August, even though it isn't a public holiday in Scotland. Plays havoc with organisations like the benefits agency - pensioner has a query but won't call over the fair weekend expecting it to be a holiday (it isn't) but will try to call on the last Monday in August to find no one there because the office is closed on a non-holiday.

It's called a failure on the part of English based organisations to recognise local customs north of the border. Which is why Scotland should be independent.

Posted by Forthview (# 12376) on :

Local holidays in Scotland were originally tied in to the communion season preparation in the Presbyterian church. Friday before communion was a Fast day and no work was done. This was changed
later to a Monday ,when it was established that most people were not spending the Friday in prayer and fasting.

Most Scottish towns now have a series of local holidays ,one in Spring and one in Autumn. On these days the banks would be open just for a short time.

The English expression 'Bank holiday' is known in Scotland, but often, in fact, simply refers to a day when the banks are closed, while most people are working.

Certainly in a place like Edinburgh few shops are closed on any holiday, be it either 'Bank holiday' or local holiday.

Until the mid 1960s the only general public holiday in Scotland was New Year's Day, generally celebrated on 1st January. Celebrations ,however, had to be changed in some
way if 1st January fell on a Sunday.

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

Alan: I remember living in Glasgow in the mid-70s on Good Friday and being surprised to find it a normal working day. (This was before shops, but not businesses, generally opened then in England).

And my father-in-law had to go to work in the Clydebank shipyards on Christmas Day morning until the mid-1960s. (It was a half-holiday though, and lots of men went to football in the afternoon).

Posted by Alan Cresswell (# 31) on :

Well before my time in Scotland, only since the mid 90s for me. By then most of the English bank holidays had been added to Hogamany in Scotland, and the older traditional fair holidays (I'd bet your father in law would have had probably a whole week off for the Glasgow fair holiday, probably joining half the city heading for the Ayrshire coast from what I've been told) being rapidly phased out - in the mid 90s it was still common to have the Friday and Monday of the fair weekend off, there was also a holiday first Monday in August that has also been cut.

There's been a cycle of:
(Hogamany + Fair Holiday) -> (Hogamany + Fair Holiday + most English bank holidays) -> (Hogamany + most English bank holidays)

In a sense it's fair, we get the extra day on 2nd Jan and lose the end of August holiday keeping the number of days equal. It's just a very long time from the end of May to Christmas without a public holiday.

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Alan Cresswell:
I'd bet your father in law would have had probably a whole week off for the Glasgow fair holiday, probably joining half the city heading for the Ayrshire coast from what I've been told.

Exactly that: Saltcoats was their choice (we have the photos to prove it).

My wife once had to try and rush through a Passport Application during Fair Week: well-nigh impossible!

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Alan Cresswell:
It's just a very long time from the end of May to Christmas without a public holiday.

I'm puzzled: the Scottish Government's own website has both the first Monday in August and St. Andrew's Day listed as Bank Holidays. But perhaps they're not public holidays which I know aren't technically the same thing?

[ 28. October 2015, 08:17: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]

Posted by Enoch (# 14322) on :

The reason why they are called Bank Holidays is because it's an act of bankruptcy for a bank not to open on a normal business day. Perhaps if a bank in Scotland is closing on an English bank holiday that doesn't apply in Scotland, you could act quickly and put it into receivership.

Prior to sometime in the nineteenth century, all the red letter saints days were public holidays.

When I started work, New Year's Day was not a Bank Holiday in England. I've had to work on New Year's Day.

Posted by Galloping Granny (# 13814) on :

Then there were weekends, when in my youth no shops opened for two days except for convenience stores, and even then there was a limited selection of what they could sell.

About 37 years ago I bought myself a 125 cc motor bike and went to a motorcycle school that used the car park of a supermarket on a Saturday morning when the shops were shut.

Some years later Sunday trading was introduced. Presbyterians at first tended to feel guilty when buying groceries on the way home from church. One confided as much to me but having met me there added "If it's okay for an elder it must be all right."

GG

Posted by Alan Cresswell (# 31) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:

quote:
Originally posted by Alan Cresswell:
It's just a very long time from the end of May to Christmas without a public holiday.
I'm puzzled: the Scottish Government's own website has both the first Monday in August and St. Andrew's Day listed as Bank Holidays. But perhaps they're not public holidays which I know aren't technically the same thing?

I'm not sure about the early August holiday (it used to exist, but I've not had that day off for at least 10 years). The Scottish government are quite clear about St Andrews Day
Did the Bill create a new public holiday? No
Does it give any extra holiday rights? No
What effect does the Bill have? Bugger all as far as I can tell.

Posted by Eutychus (# 3081) on :

hosting/

I hereby declare this to be Move Heavenly Content Threads to Heaven Day in Purgatory. Hold on...

/hosting

Posted by leo (# 1458) on :

These Mondays play havoc with the school timetable.

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

They used to play havoc with my wife's Beaver Scout group, too.

Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :

No Prophet got in before me about the Canadian holidays, of which we seem to have an inordinate number; I'd much rather they just gave us a decent leave entitlement.

Here we also have St. John's Day, sometimes referred to as "Founder's Day" (marked on the nearest Monday to 24th June); Regatta Day (first Wednesday in August, but moveable according to weather conditions); St. Patrick's Day (nearest Monday to 17th March*); and, for reasons that are not completely apparent bearing in mind the religious demographics here, Orangemen's Day (which we get as the nearest Monday to 12th July).

* After seeing a few St. Patrick's Day celebrations in Ireland, I came to the conclusion that it would make far more sense for the public holiday to fall on the 18th ... [Big Grin]

Posted by Forthview (# 12376) on :

First Monday in August is indeed a Bank holiday in Scotland, but only the banks are closed, which is great inconvenience to people who have not remembered that the banks will be closed.

The Scottish government wish St Andrew's Day (30th Nov.) to be a public holiday. However banks are not closed and neither are schools or offices or factories for the most part.

One of the inconveniences of living in the Scottish part of the United Kingdom is that English terms which are often heard on radio and television are employed casually in Scotland but wrongly.

Whilst St Andrew's Day is a public holiday, it is
NOT a Bank Holiday, though sometimes referred to as such.

It is even more common to hear many Scottish people looking back to their school days, talking about o'levels which never existed in Scotland
although there were school exams called o' grades

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Forthview:
First Monday in August is indeed a Bank holiday in Scotland, but only the banks are closed, which is great inconvenience to people who have not remembered that the banks will be closed.

True, but cash machines, internet banking and debit/credit card transactions still work. The real problem comes if you are expecting some money to come into your account (e,g. salary) and it doesn't arrive till the next day.

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

I quite like having the Monday off in most cases. It makes for a longer weekend and a happier Friday. If you have the Friday off you're still faced with Monday morning.

If you have another day off during the week, as it might be, Wednesday, it breaks the week up into two two-day working weeks which is psychologically difficult to get your head round, because one of the two days feels like Monday and the other feels like Friday with half a weekend in between. So you're emotionally catapulted from one to the other and never quite get into either working mode or holiday mode.

Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :

My real problem with Monday (or any other day for that matter) public holidays is that they're not actually of any use to me. I live on the other side of the planet from most of my nearest and dearest, so it's not as if I can pop over to see them for the weekend. Fortunately my boss (who's also a Brit abroad) understands, and is happy for me to work the public holidays to make up time to take off later.

I reckon the staff at the University of Ulster got it right: a few years before I started working there, they decided to bin all the public holidays except Christmas, New Year, Easter Monday, May Day and the 12th and 13th of July, and instead close the whole place for a week at Christmas and a week at Easter (in addition to the 5 or so weeks of ordinary leave we got). This particularly suited us, as D. got the post-Christmas/Easter holidays too.

Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :

If I do have a holiday, I prefer a Friday instead of a Monday. Maybe we should open a poll? [Smile]

Posted by Alan Cresswell (# 31) on :

If going away, a Friday holiday gives a two day break and back for church on Sunday. A Monday gives three days away, and a chance to go to a different church.

Both are good options.

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

Being a minister, you can tell which option I'd prefer for my members!

(PS Apologies for incorrect use of hanging participle - but you know what I mean!)

[ 29. October 2015, 07:06: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]

Posted by Alan Cresswell (# 31) on :

You would prefer your members to experience some of the richness of the breadth of Christian faith as expressed through the worship of different communities. Naturally [Biased]

Oh, and of course offer a warm welcome to visitors from elsewhere taking the opportunity to do the same within your church.

Posted by Baptist Trainfan (# 15128) on :

I dunno. All the places I've ministered in seem to be ones which people "go away from" rather than "come to". [Cool]

Although I did know a Vicar in a well-heeled part of London who told me that he stood up in church on Christmas Day and discovered roughly the same number of worshippers as he had on a Sunday but hardly recognised anybody!

[ 29. October 2015, 08:03: Message edited by: Baptist Trainfan ]

Posted by la vie en rouge (# 10688) on :

For a supposedly secular state, France has a rather surprising number of Catholic days off. I think they decided that separation of church and state could be overlooked if it meant getting extra holidays [Big Grin]

.

We have Easter Monday, Pentecost Monday, the Assumption of the Virgin, the Ascension and All Saints. As Euty said, you really hit the jackpot when Pentecost falls in May. One year it fell on Wednesday 7th May. May 8th is also a public holiday (VE Day) so all you had to was take your Friday off to get a veritable aqueduct of a five day weekend.

Posted by The Scrumpmeister (# 5638) on :

I work Tuesday to Saturday (or, technically, following my employer's business week, Saturday, and Tuesday to Friday).

I quite like having a weekday off, and working on Saturday isn't really that bothersome. I finish at 4 so still have Saturday evening in addition to the two following days off.

Given the choice, I usually prefer to work on bank holidays. That way I get the time off work when it is actually useful to me rather than when a calendar dictates that I should have it. This was particularly beneficial when I was following the Julian calendar for worship. Days such as Gregorian Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter were of no religious significance to me, so my working them would both give someone else the opporunity to have the day off and would also give me time off in lieu of working them which I could take for the Julian dates.

The only downside to not having Monday as a regular working day is that I do miss out on the benefits of being able to work on the Monday bank holidays. Most of the time they don't even enter my consciousness unless someone mentions that it's a bank holiday weekend.

Posted by Forthview (# 12376) on :

I'm really surprised to hear about Pentecost falling on Wednesday,7th May,one time in France.
In the Catholic liturgy Pentecost is the 50th day (more or less) after Easter Sunday and is liturgically celebrated on a Sunday.

Traditionally it is a church festival with an extra day's holiday, just like Christmas and Easter. Whilst many culturally Catholic countries have now dispensed with the Pentecost Monday holiday, many other,mainly non culturally Catholic countries, retain the traditional Pentecost Monday holiday.

Although France is a secular state, the state also recognises that a good number of its citizens claim to follow in some way the Catholic religion
and has never abrogated the agreement since Napoleonic times that Sundays should be non-working days and that four church festivals, not necessarily celebrated on Sundays, should be recognised as public holidays -Christmas,Ascension,Assumption and All Saints.

Posted by leo (# 1458) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
but cash machines....still work.

Not necessarily. So great is the demand that they often run out of money before the weekend is over.

Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :

My employer doesn't give Bank Holidays or Sick Leave or Annual Leave, or any benefits at all that I can see...

...but then I don't have to either go to or do any work either so I suppose I shouldn't complain.

Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :

Quite right - you shouldn't. [Devil]

I get BT's vicar friend's point - our congregation at Midnight Mass at the Cathedral is quite markedly different from the usual Sunday mob.

If they came at Easter as well, we'd call them C&Es, but it's usually just Christmas these days.

Posted by The Scrumpmeister (# 5638) on :

quote:
Originally posted by leo:

quote:
Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
but cash machines....still work.
Not necessarily. So great is the demand that they often run out of money before the weekend is over.

Well, quite.

That's often the case on a normal weekend, let alone long bank holiday weekends. I say this as someone who works in a city centre and finds that most cash machines are useless on Monday morning before they have been refilled after the revelling weekend. If you add a bank holiday into the mix and want to withdraw cash, you can forget it until Tuesday lunchtime.

[ 29. October 2015, 12:37: Message edited by: The Scrumpmeister ]

Posted by la vie en rouge (# 10688) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Forthview:
I'm really surprised to hear about Pentecost falling on Wednesday,7th May,one time in France.

Now I think about it, you must be right. I think I’ve got my holidays mixed up. There were definitely two in a row, tho.

Posted by Forthview (# 12376) on :

Probably the 8th May and Ascension Thursday that you are thinking of.I do remember at least one year when these two dates followed one another.

The Jewish Feast of Pentecost,on which the Christian one is based,often falls on a Wednesday
but Jewish festivals are not public holidays in France.

Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :

I find Brazilian holidays ridiculously hard to remember. I've arrived at an empty office rather often: "Oh, is it Corpus Christi?"

[ 29. October 2015, 19:53: Message edited by: LeRoc ]

Posted by Spike (# 36) on :

quote:
Originally posted by leo:
These Mondays play havoc with the school timetable.

How? Most Bank Holidays occur during the school holidays. The only one that occurs in term time is May Day

Posted by Alan Cresswell (# 31) on :

And, Spring Bank Holiday at the end of May.

Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :

Nope, the Spring Bank Holiday, the one that was originally Whitsun, is the first Monday of the May half term. Spike is right, the only one that usually affects schools is the May Day one.

The other time schools are affected is when there is a very early or late Easter. In 2016, the Easter school holiday where I am starts on Good Friday and runs for two weeks after, which rather mucks up Holy Week for me, because I will be deep in end of term reports. A few years back we had the two Easter bank holidays off as a long weekend in March followed by a Spring Holiday in the middle of April. Or when Easter has been very late we've had a two week school holiday that finished with the Easter weekend so starting back on the Tuesday.

[ 30. October 2015, 06:33: Message edited by: Curiosity killed ... ]

Posted by Alan Cresswell (# 31) on :

OK, maybe in England. In Scotland they just add on a day off on the Friday before to give a 4 day weekend break. It isn't designated a mid-term break though.

Posted by leo (# 1458) on :

Easter Monday can fall in term time now that many schools ignore Easter for standard-length terms.

Added to that, many schools have in-service daysd on Mondays to lengthen the amount of time parents can take theirt kids on holidays.

Posted by Piglet (# 11803) on :

Easter Monday used to be quite likely to fall in term-time in Scotland, where the exams (and the summer holidays) start earlier than they do in England.

While New Year's Day has always been a public holiday in Scotland, my dad (who's 90) can remember when Christmas Day wasn't.

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