It's St. Andrew's Day!

Happy St. Andrew's day to Scots Everywhere

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

Today's St. Andrews Day is to be celebrated Worldwide. Wee Scotland is being recognised at last :)

[news.scotsman.com...]

[rj87uk]

Do employers have to give this day off in Scotland?

... I ... am ... in ... work!

[rj87uk]

A Holyrood committee endorsed the bill, but said employers would not be obliged to grant it as part of employee holiday entitlement.

Nope they dont!

[sem4u]

That's a shame!

Happy St. Andrews Day to all the Scots here :)

[TravelSite]

St Who's day? Oh right - that chap who may have existed, who may have lay in some tomb for 300 years, then who's remains may have been broken up and then may have been put on a ship, which may have travelled to Scottish waters and that may have been shipwrecked off Scotland and whose bones may have finally made it to the country that he's patron saint of.

It's a wonder why we Scots don't celebrate it already!

Yep, to be a Patron Saint of Scotland you don't even have to have set foot in the country while alive!

If I didn't know better I'd have assumed that our beloved MSPs were trying to cash in on the success of other celebrations like St Patricks Day to better promote Scotland to those living outside of Scotland ;)

To be honest I'm happy to celebrate Hogmanay, Burns Night and even Tartan Day (in April I think) and now St Andrews Day - but I'd be even happier if we got some more bank holidays to go along with them!

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

Some of us have been celebrating it for many years. I attended my local Burns club St Andrews night last Friday and I even made a speech ;)

[webmasterworld.com...]

It all went quite well!

[TravelSite]

BeeDeeDubbleU,

Glad your speech went well! Did you add a lot of humour to it?

Is there something traditional to do on St Andrews day (e.g. the speech you did)? E.g. Hogmanay has First Foot, someone piping in the bells/New Year, Auld Lang Syne, while Burns Night has the Burns Supper and Poetry Recital.

[edited by: TravelSite at 7:37 pm (utc) on Nov. 30, 2006]

[sem4u]

Eat haggis?

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

Is there something traditional to do on St Andrews day

On Burns' night the main toast (everywhere)is to the "Immortal Memory of Robert Burns". On St.Andrew's night the main toast is Scotland.

Haggis is not compulsory on St. Andrew's night. It's more of a Burns' thing (lovely grub!)

Speech ...

Did you add a lot of humour to it?

Yes, I did, but I also did a bit of research into the subject matter and it all seemed to be well received. There's free booze for the speakers so I may have a new career. NOT. ;)

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

Actually we had a lovely bowl of Scottish Vegetable Soup followed by Chicken Stuffed with Haggis, and a selection of vegetables. To finish we had tea or coffee and a wonderful cheese board.

(... and lots of booze :o)

[tbear]

I've been celebrating St. Andrew's Day for the last 53 years........
Just happens to be my birthday..........(I have Duncanson roots though

[ronin]

to be a Patron Saint of Scotland you don't even have to have set foot in the country while alive!

Fair point. That's not even that unusual. St. George is the Patron Saint of England, Bulgaria, Georgia and Moscow (and apparently Ethiopia and Montenegro too - who knew?)

But given that he was a Roman soldier serving under Diocletian in Asia Minor it's unlikely that he went to any of these places. Okay, Georgia and Bulgaria are not beyond the bounds of possibility, but England and Moscow? Give me a break.

I agree it would be nice to have patron saints who have some relevance to the countries which adopt them.

Actually, Saint Margaret, Scotland's other patron saint was the queen consort of Malcolm Canmore in the eleventh century and had quite a lot to do with Scotland. She was named patron saint of Scotland in 1673.

But you never hear about her.

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

Nemo me impune lacessit.