Celebrations

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Scottish Referendum – The Morning After

The morning after

Scotland, 19th September 2014

by Christine de Luca

Let none wake despondent: one way
or another we have talked plainly,
tested ourselves, weighed up the sum
of our knowing, ta’en tent o scholars,
checked the balance sheet of risk and
fearlessness, of wisdom and of folly.

Was it about the powers we gain or how
we use them? We aim for more equality;
and for tomorrow to be more peaceful
than today; for fairness, opportunity,
the common weal; a hand stretched out
in ready hospitality.         

It’s those unseen things that bind us,
not flag or battle-weary turf or tartan.
There are dragons to slay whatever happens:
poverty, false pride, snobbery, sectarian
schisms still hovering. But there’s
nothing broken that’s not repairable.

We’re a citizenry of bonnie fighters,
a gathered folk; a culture that imparts,
inspires, demands a rare devotion,
no back-tracking; that each should work
and play our several parts to bring about
the best in Scotland, an open heart.

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Auld Lang Syne

Growing up in Scotland, Hogmanay (New Year’s Eve) was perhaps the most important night of the year. After the house was cleaned from top to bottom, Dad set up the drinks trolley ready for the first footers. As the last hour of the old year ticked away, we’d have BBC Scotland (Andy Stewart or Kenneth McKellar’s Hogmanay show) playing on TV. Just before the ‘bells’, Dad would charge our glasses as we waited for the countdown.

Even then I found there was something melancholy about the passing of the old year. I greeted – and continue to greet – the New Year with excitement, but there’s still that sense that something magical has passed. But as that happens every Hogmanay, I now understand it means that every year – good or bad – brings its own magic.

Wishing you and your family health, happiness and magic in 2014.

Happy New Year!

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Christmas in Wartime

Starting one week today (Monday, January 6th 2014) I plan to return to eating World War Two British rations for one month. As before I’ll be adding in tidbits about the war, while Anne (my aunt) will once again add her own recollections of living in Scotland during that conflict.

To get my mind in the right headspace, I’ve recently been watching a few WW2 documentaries and dramas. A Wartime Farm Christmas, a documentary which can be found on Youtube, is a wonderful antidote to the excesses of our 21st Century festive season and a great tribute to the resilience of those wartime civilians.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vMoq288OHA

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St Andrew’s Day

In keeping this blog, I’m learning all kinds of things I really should have known before.  Take St Andrew’s Day on November 30th.  Of course I knew he was the patron saint of Scotland and one of Christ’s 12 apostles, but I didn’t realise he was the brother of St Peter and also the patron saint of Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Greece and… Barbados, where it is also Independence Day!

In addition, St Andrew is the patron of fishermen, singers and unmarried women.  And if you suffer from gout, St Andrew is the saint to pray to. Traditionally, St Andrew’s Day marks the opening of the Christmas markets in Europe.

Scottish flag

St Andrew is believed to have been executed on a transverse cross on November 30th by the Romans.  This became known as the Saint Andrew’s Cross and was adopted as Scotland’s national flag – the Saltire. (The saltire was reputed to have been seen above the fields of Bannockburn in 1314 when the Robert the Bruce beat the English during the wars for Scottish independence.)

Happy St Andrew’s Day!