This most recent Saturday, November 30, was St. Andrew’s Day—a holiday celebrated worldwide but most especially in Scotland, as St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland. With a lot of excitement and a bit of confusion, my friends and I talked up the holiday the few days before and made plans to celebrate all day on Saturday.
What we did know? That all of the city’s attractions that normally have an entrance fee would be free and that there would be a celebration in Grassmarket: a historic part of Old Town that lies just south of the castle, decorated by a line of pubs and cafes.
What didn’t we know? Who St. Andrew even was, and why he was even associated with Scotland at all. The remarkable thing is that we had already been to the town of St. Andrews and a few of us knew the flag of Scotland is actually the cross of St. Andrew himself. What did that mean, though? Again, none of us knew! As part of our celebration, we took it upon ourselves to learn about St. Andrew and his importance to the country of Scotland. Surprisingly, we discovered a lot more about the history and culture of Scotland than we ever expected.
Saint Andrew, whose name means “strong” and who was often described as extremely curious, was born in the first decade CE in Palestine. He suffered many hardships as he traveled to the Asia Minor and around Greece, Hungary, Poland, and Russia preaching Jesus’s word. When he was crucified in Patras, he asked that his cross be diagonal because he felt unworthy to be crucified on the upright cross of Christ. The bones of St. Andrew were brought around 732 A.D. by the Bishop of Hexman, a small English town. A hundred years later, Saint Andrew is said to have appeared to Angus mac Fergus, the King of the Picts, before fighting against the Saxon King Athelstane. During a battle, a diagonal cross was seen in the sky, motivating the Scots and leading them to victory. The cross of St. Andrew became the badge of the Picts, who would soon make up a large portion of the country of Scotland. The Declaration of Arbroath (1320), written by Scottish clergymen to Pope John XXII, argued against the English claiming that the Scots were a distinct people who had long enjoyed the protection of Saint Andrew. The saint is described in the Declaration of Arbroath as "our patron or protector."
Many years later during the Reformation, the reliquary which carried the bones of St. Andrew was destroyed. The street games, the festivities, the fireworks, and the processions with evergreens, which used to take place on November 30, were banished “forever.” In 1603, the new King James I and VI tried to make one united flag. Scotland resisted because their cross was not a focus of the design. Scottish ships at sea continued to fly St. Andrew’s cross in protest. The Union Jack became the official flag from the Union of the Parliaments in 1707. However, while the red Lion Rampant is the official Royal flag for Scotland, official heraldic decrees state the national flag and arms of Scotland are Saint Andrew’s Cross. The celebration of November 30 as St. Andrew’s Day began again with special significance to the country of Scotland.
The value of an annual celebration of St. Andrew is in representing strength and curiosity, two qualities which are by tradition very much part of the Scottish psyche. As a nation with past and current history of national struggle, Scotland has a genuinely unique ambience to it that you can feel even as you wander the country’s capital. I have experienced this first hand in the past three months while getting to know the Scottish people and culture, an experience that has been truly unforgettable. St. Andrew’s Day was a great starting point with everything that we have learned for the next few closing weeks of our time studying abroad in Edinburgh.