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Archiver > LONDON > 1998-05 > 0896130472


From: Ed Jessop <>
Subject: Re: May 24th spec.day
Date: Mon, 25 May 1998 14:07:52 -0700


At 02:20 PM 5/25/98 -0500, Marita Ulrich wrote:
>Perhaps someone can shed some light.
>
>My neat Uncle Ernie (83) in Vancouver, B.C. tells me that as a kid they
>hearlded the day with a chant that went: "Twenty-fourth of May - the
>Queen's birth-day - if you don't give us a holiday, we'll all run away!" He
>said they didn't know which queen, and they didn't ask. It was a holiday
>from school, and that was all they wanted to know. Queen Victoria was too
>far back in history for their recollection.

>
>Is this holiday still observed today? Does anyone else remember chanting
>this ditty? Perhaps it was the May queens, not the royal kind?
>
>Marita in Hacienda Heights, CA
>
>
Hi Marita,
The queen in question IS Queen Victoria. She was born on May 24, though I
can never remember the year. When I was at school in England, we had May
24th off. It was called Empire Day but we were always reminded that it was
the late Queen's birthday. My brother's birthday is May 24th, and I guess
that is why it sticks in my mind.

Victoria Jessop
San Diego, CA, USA
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