Читать книгу We’re British, Innit: An Irreverent A to Z of All Things British - Iain Aitch - Страница 24

While the rest of the (Christian) world gets on with life as normal from about 5 pm on Christmas Day, we draw the whole thing out by adding Boxing Day on 26 December. The day is said to be when servants were given their ‘Christmas box’, usually some kind of bonus, by their employer, though its name may also be derived from this being the day when drunk or hungover members of the aristocracy were most likely to beat (or ‘box’) their charges. This tradition of fisticuffs on Boxing Day was continued by football fans, as the day saw local derby matches played between teams such as Liverpool and Everton as well as between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. Fans of these teams still have songs in their repertoire that boast ‘We shall fight for ever more, because of Boxing Day’. I am sure that some families would be only too willing to echo those sentiments.