== Copyedited section 'Saint Lucy/Lucia' and removed copyedit tag == 

  

 Very interesting article. In England, children celebrate Halloween, when witches ride about in the sky on broomsticks, on 31 October, which I believe marked the end of the old year in the ancient Celtic calender. This, of course, is going back to pre-Christian times, which in England is effectively before the fourth century AD, since Roman Christianity was introduced into the province of Britannia then, and the pagan Anglo-Saxons who followed wouldn't have retained the old Celtic calender. Goes to show how ancient traditions can survive.