Raymond A. Brown wrote:
>
> At 7:11 pm -0600 22/12/98, Eric Christopherson wrote:
> >When did the new year fall before Christianity came to Britain? I
> >thought it was Halloween, but maybe that was just the Celts, or maybe
> >I'm just wrong :D
>
> Couldn't be Halloween before Christianity came, since that is the eve of a
> Christian festival: Hallowmas or 'All Saints'. Of course the strictly
> correct answer is 1st Jan. since Britain was using the Roman calendar well
> before Christianity arrived here.
[...]
> But what the Celts did before the Romans came is AFAIK not known, tho there
> are many theories. The festivals of Beltane and Samaine (spelling varies,
Of course, by 'Halloween' I meant Samhain :)
> >(BTW, did anyone ever think "Celtics" is a stupid name for a sports
> >team? It should be "Celts" if anything :D )
>
> Celtic [sEltIK] without the final -s - the word is an adjective. The
> Protestant Glaswegian team has a plural noun: Rangers - the Catholic team
> is Glasgow Celtic.
Actually, I was refering to the Boston Celtics. I wasn't aware that
there was a Glasgow Celtic team. I find it interesting there are
separate Catholic and Protestant teams.
> When we talk of the Celts then the 'c' is always hard: Celts [kElts],
> Celtic [kEltic].
Hmmm... why is the Glasgow team pronounced with /s/?