This article belongs to the lore of Astyria.

Holidays in Great Nortend

Jump to navigation Jump to search

Legally recognised holidays in Great Nortend are established under the regular law, statute and royal proclamation. There are four types of holiday: customary holidays, full holidays, bank holidays and half holidays.

Customary holidays

Customary holidays are holidays by custom and are recognised by the regular law courts as being Christmas Day (25th of December) and Good Friday (as determined by Computus). Most commercial businesses are required by the regular law to close on these two holidays. Customary holidays are also compulsory church attendance days and every full subject is required to make reasonable effort to attend a religious service on this day.

Full holidays

Full holidays are enshrined in law in the Holy and Especial Days Act, 36 Cath. II, which superseded the 1893 act of the same name. Full holidays allow a servant of a company to not work on that day, except in certain exempted occupations such as constables, physicians, nurses, apothecaries, firemen, ambulancemen, utilities workers and railwaymen. The full holidays are: St Mark's Day (Rogation Day), St Christopher's Day (Hambria only), St Whimn's Day or Whimtould (Almeshire and South Heymeadshire), All Saints' Day, St Edmund's Day (Nortend and Cardoby only) and Holy Saturday.

Bank holidays

Bank holidays are holidays that mean no person may be compelled to make a payment. A payment made on the day thereafter would be equivalent in law as doing it on the day itself. On bank holidays, all banks are required to close. Bank holidays are announced every year by Royal Proclamation. The closing of banks, and the de facto closure of government buildings (except the Post Office), courts and schools mean that most commercial businesses also choose to close on most of these days by not all. Bank holidays are governed by the Bank Holidays Act, 23 Geo. II, and are presently: Whit Monday, St Stephen's Day or Boxing Day, Easter Monday and Hock Tuesday, as well as all Sundays.

Half holidays

Half holidays are holidays given on certain holy days that give workers the right to attend a morning church service before going to work and are determined by Royal Proclamation annually and include Lady Day (considered to be the first day of the year), St George's Day, Ascension Day, St John's Day, St Martin's Day, Michaelmas, All Souls' Day, St Lucy's Day, Feast of the Circumcision, Epiphany, Candlemas, Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday and all Ember Days.

Concurrence

Additional holidays are not created when two or more holidays coincide, including when a holiday coincides with a Sunday, the latter being a bank holiday.

Other celebrations

Other days celebrated, though not being holidays per se, include May Day, Whitsunday on which the occasion of the King's Birthday is celebrated, St Peter and Paul's Day, St James's Day, Lammas, Harvest Sunday, Hallow Sunday, St Nicholas's Day, Plough Monday and Easter Sunday. Some are bank holidays by virtue of their falling on a Sunday.