I am off to Rhodes for a week on Friday, so might not be able to post as often as I usually do. I will be taking my laptop so there will be some anniversary posts, maybe not as many as usual.Got a busy day tomorrow in preparation, and a friends birthday, so may not have so many posts as well.
There is one tribute post that I have done a little work on so far, other than that who knows. Friday I will see how things go at the Airport as we await the flight.
Greece and Scotland have some connections, some tenuous, some contentious, but all relevant.
Ancient Greece has been a source of great fascination for centuries. Scotland’s connection to the ancient civilisation is visible in Scotland’s ancient name, “Caledonia”, which may have come from Caledon, an ancient city-state in Ancient Greece which experienced migrations to the place that we now call Scotland.
History supports Caledon as the name given to Scotland by the Romans, which could have something to do with the Greek settlers living in the country at the time.
The National museum of Scotland holds around 3,000 permanent artefacts which relate to ancient Greece, These artefacts might not be as famous as the main ones in the British museum, The Elgin Marbles which were "acquired" by oor ain Lord Elgin in Athens, Greece between 1801 and 1805. Elgin sold them to the museum in 1815. Greece has disputed the British Museum’s ownership of the sculptures, maintaining that Lord Elgin removed them illegally while the country was under Turkish occupation as part of the Ottoman Empire. I'm all for repatriating artefacts stolen, however tenuously you want to say they weren't, and think they should be returned to there rightful place on the Parthenon.
The case for Scotland’s link to ancient Greece may displease some Scots, as it has recently been reported that Scottish tartan may have actually first been weaved by the ancient Greeks, and it has long been known that a haggis-type dish was eaten before Scotland was any more than a rugged isle.
Of course we also share a patron saint, the Apostle, Andrew went to Greece where he was told to stop spreading the teachings of Jesus by the governor Aegeas as he still believed in the Roman gods. When he refused, Andrew was sentenced to death by crucifixion in the city of Patras.
St Andrew has been celebrated in Scotland for over one thousand years, with feasts being held in his honour as far back as the year 1000 AD. However, it wasn't until 1320, when Scotland's independence was declared with the signing of The Declaration of Arbroath, that he officially became Scotland's patron saint.
There are two stories about how his remains came to their final resting place in St Andrews in Scotland.
One fairly probable explanation is that the bones were brought to St Andrews in 732 AD by Acca, Bishop of Hexham who was a venerator of Saint Andrew.
The other story suggest that the Greek monk who kept St Andrew’s relics in Patras was told in a vision to set aside some of St Andrew’s relics in hide until further instruction.
In the following days the emperor removed the remaining parts of St Andrew’s body to Constantinople (now an area in Turkey).
Then the angel came again in a vision to the Greek monk Rule and told him to take the bones west on a ship and wherever they were shipwrecked he should lay the foundations of a church.
The ship was driven ashore on the headland of Muckross in Fife into the village of Kilrymont, which would later become St Andrew’s.
At the same time as Rule arrived in Scotland, legend has it that St Andrew appeared to the Pictish King, Angus when he was preparing for battle promising victory.
When the King’s army was victorious he dedicated St Regulus Church to St Andrew and to God.
In the dream when St Andrew appeared to the King, he saw St Andrew’s Saltire cross in the blue sky, Angus vowed that if, with the saint’s help, he gained the victory, then Andrew would thereafter be the patron saint of Scotland. The Scots did win, and the Saltire became the flag of Scotland.
The second flag in the gif is that of Rhodes.
