A Family Event and a St. Andrew's Tradition

Last evening's (academic) family party was very fun! I was able to meet several siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles and of course saw many familiar faces. At one point, my Uncle Henry was commenting to me on how diverse a family we have. Many of us come from the U.S., I have a cousin from Bulgaria, and my brother was born in Zimbabwe! And as Henry said, "All corners of the U.K. are represented, except Northern Ireland and Wales...." However, the family is still growing. It was so fun and it's been a truly amazing week. I begin classes on Tuesday afternoon and lucked out this semester with a class on Tuesday, a class on Thursday, and a writing workshop on Wednesdays. The four-day weekend will hopefully allow me some time to travel, although I will need to work very hard in English and commit to a full work week of reading and writing throughout each day, and I will be challenged. However, spending time with my academic family was so funny and filled with so, so much laughter. I introduced to both my uncles the fist-bump/secret handshake my actual Uncle Kevin and I often exchange in greeting and hope it spreads to other Uncles in the U.K.! Below are a few photos of the party and some family members! :)

Myself and my wonderful Mum!

My mum and my Uncle Henry. They're both so great and continually keep me laughing with the funniest scenarios and stories.

Myself and my Uncle Marc.

My Aunt Jeannie and myself.

 

I do love it here so much. Just the last week has provided such a wonderful community of students and friends, and it's hard to believe I've been in Scotland for nearly two weeks.

 

After a late evening, I heard from my wonderful American friend Julie (who I first met at our airport gate in Boston) this morning asking me to join her on the weekly pier walk which takes place at St. Andrews every Sunday at 12 noon. Julie attends Tufts and we were roommates in Edinburgh for a few days when we first arrived. We are two of the very few staying for the year through our program, and it was wonderful to spend the week meeting other students, but then connect again a week later.

 

The pier walk weekly tradition honors a heroic student, John Honey who when a student at St. Andrews around 1800 witnessed a shipwreck in the St. Andrews bay. He swam out three times to the sinking ship each time bringing back survivors. On the fourth trip out though, he sadly drowned. Most students wear the traditional St. Andrews red gowns on the pier walk, although they are not required. I myself have chosen not to pay the 200 pounds ($325) for a gown, as they are not used for much else. Hundreds of years ago students were required to wear red gowns everywhere to be identified as students if one were to visit pubs or "houses of ill repute."

It was quite windy this morning when we set out from St. Salvator's quad in the mass of red robes. Neither Julie nor I wore one, but neither did several others. Quite a few postgraduates joined the hundreds participating as well and they typically wear black robes. Quite a few tourists and townspeople watched from the streets or down on the ocean, it felt a little bit like a graduation procession. The smell of fish and ocean was in the air (Side story: I was at the ocean with a group the other day, and the fish/ocean smell was very, very strong and sour. I walked past two elderly Scottish men just as one commented to the other in a very heavy accent, "It hasn't smelled good lately." The other commented, "It must be all of those freshers in town.") The pier was much longer than I imagined, and proceeding out on it, it was wide, but made of uneven cobblestones, and on one side, no barrier led to a stone pier cliff overlooking the ocean. It's quite the drop off and many of us who were new to the pier walk were keeping our distance from the edges. Upon reaching the end of the pier, Julie and I saw the first few in the massive line climbing an iron ladder to a higher level of the pier high above us on the left. With arms out on both sides for balance, students started to walk high above us in a single file line upon a very thin walkway of concrete headed back into town (not cobblestone, thankfully!)  overlooking the ocean with no barrier. The wind was quite a bit heavier and the thick red flannel gowns worn by those on the thin walkway began to fly high into the air like capes. Holding our breaths, Julie and I were both confused if the tradition involved the near-tightrope balancing act to return to St. Andrews as the rest of the pier walkers were all behind us and there would be little room to turn back the way we came, or if what we were witnessing were simply students taking risks in the wind.

As I (of course) struggled with the thought of climbing the iron ladder and doing the same, with the thought in my mind that I would catch a gust of wind and fly into the ocean far below, Julie was prepared! She moved closer as I slowly (again, of course) crawled farther and farther back.

Thankfully! A few official-looking men and a woman in a violet gown who I believe is Louise Richardson, the principal of the University (like the dean/president) appeared out of nowhere and shouted repeatedly to the hundreds gathered that the narrow walkway high above the ocean was optional, and that the wind did not make the walk extraordinarily safe today. We were directed where to join the crowd heading back by climbing stone steps to a wider cobblestone return walkway on the pier. As has happened every day here, large strands of my hair again flew out of their securement, and created visionary problems until I gathered all loose strands again. I've worn my hair up each day when outside as the wind tends to dominate.

I held Julie's paper cup of 'London fog' tea and cheered her on as she committed the balancing act in the single file of students in front of and behind her. As for my extreme caution, I would like to work up the courage to complete the narrow walkway. Perhaps not next Sunday or the following, but it is a wonderful tradition, and perhaps sometime this year.

 

I unfortunately had left my camera in my bag from the night before, and sadly walked without taking any pictures. However! Below are a few google images of the traditional walk. I did not photograph any of the images below.

 

From 1995.

The 'safer' trip back I took.

The narrow walkway is pictured at the very top left of the pier. This image shows students walking out to the pier from the town.

A nice painting depicting the walk and the view of the town from high above the pier. The view of the chapel ruins from the pier does look very much like this image though. Despite the wind, it was a gorgeous period of sun when out on the pier. 

 

Once back on solid land, the thick snake-like procession of bright crimson robes ahead split off into every which direction into town. Julie and I entered the chapel ruins (pictured above on the cartoonish image of the two towers connected) which today is a large cemetary between ruins of Scotland's once largest Catholic cathedral. The cathedral was built in 1150 (whoa.) and today only small parts are left standing. Examining the tombstones was very cool but many were no longer legible as all writing had faded away. Some of the earlies we saw dated to the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries, and resembled tombstones found in some of Boston's oldest cemetaries.

While I cannot say that I saw anything, supposedly the relics of Saint Andrew are buried in the cathedral cemetary. Legend varies, but supposedly they were brought to the Saint Andrew cathedral through divine guidance. Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland and he lived and died in the first century. According to more legend, Saint Andrew, a Christian apostle was martyred on a cross in the shape of an 'x.' Supposedly in a battle for possesion of Scotland in 832 A.D. Oengus II (the future king of Scotland) prayed to Saint Andrew for success in battle and promised to make Saint Andrew the patron saint of Scotland if victory was achieved. An 'x' appeared in the sky the morning of the battle, and the victory was achieved for Oengus II who then became king of Scotland. Today, Scotland's flag is a white 'x' set against a medium blue backdrop.

We explored more of the town, ate a tasty lunch of lentil/squash soup and a cheese toastie (a grilled cheese sandwich) at a coffee shop and headed back to our residences.