Day off!

Did you have a nice Spring Bank Holiday last Monday?  It's now fixed as the last Monday in May, but it used to be Whit Monday, the day after (you've guessed it) Whit Sunday, which is the seventh Sunday after Easter, and as such is a moveable feast. Why Whit?  It's short for white, and traditionally the priest or vicar wears white vestments for the day.  It's also called Pentecost which comes from the Greek meaning fiftieth, and it is the fiftieth day after Easter Sunday, if you count that day as day one.  In 1971 the Bank Holiday was changed to the last Monday in May as a fixed date was felt to be more desirable.  There have been calls to do the same thing with the Easter Bank Holidays but that's not so easy (see post dated 3/4/10).