St Andrew's Day

November 30, 200520 yr

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The day every Scot should celebrate our unique culture

IAN MARLAND

Key points

• Did you know that today is St Andrew's Day?

• Scotland is slowly waking up to the significance of 30th November

• 41 events to be celebrated world-wide

"Internally, there is still a reluctance among Scots at home to celebrate St Andrew's Day, perhaps because it is perceived as a Nationalist totem. Leaving that aside, externally, it is important that at every opportunity we market Scotland to the rest of the world." - Kenny MacAskill, of the SNP

THE majority of Scots are likely to go about their business today without a thought for the significance of the date, and without any plans to note either its arrival or passing.

While our churches mark a point on the calendar and while some of the country's schoolchildren may have been primed to reflect on its religious aspects, for the vast majority of the nation, St Andrew's Day will be like any other.

So what is it about Scotland that makes us reluctant to commemorate our saint's day? And why are other countries so successful in using it to mark community and national pride?

There are signs Scotland is slowly waking up to the benefits of celebrating St Andrew, if not with an official holiday, then with cultural and social festivities which set the day apart from any other.

MSPs recently voted against a bill put forward by the independent Dennis Canavan to make St Andrew's Day a public holiday. But they agreed to examine ways that 30 November can be celebrated without the loss of a day's work.

So this year, the Executive hosts festivities in Edinburgh for the first time: a One Scotland Ceilidh playing at an open air stage and an indoor venue in the capital.

And across the world the Executive is supporting 41 St Andrew's Day events, with celebrations taking place as far afield as Australia, the US, Russia and Japan.

The First Minister, Jack McConnell, yesterday circulated a St Andrew's Day message to embassies and consulates around the world raising awareness of what he said were Scotland's achievements.

But academics, politicians and religious leaders said Scotland had a long way to go before it fully embraced the potential of the occasion - and urged the country to go further.

Professor Tom Devine, at the centre for Irish and Scottish Studies at the University of Aberdeen, said Scotland should be learning the lessons of the Irish over the last quarter of a century. "It is no accident that the Irish have raised their national profile above those of their neighbours. That they have raised their profile in such a way, through tremendous marketing guile, has been a major factor in the rise of the Celtic Tiger economy.

"The Irish story is an amazing one. It is a hard one to quantify in terms of Irish punts, but their celebration and marketing of St Patrick's Day has been a huge factor in the Irish economic miracle."

Kenny MacAskill, the SNP's justice spokesman, said Scotland should be doing all it can to market itself as a culturally rich nation.

"Internally, there is still a reluctance among Scots at home to celebrate St Andrew's Day, perhaps because it is perceived as a Nationalist totem. Leaving that aside, externally, it is important that at every opportunity we market Scotland to the rest of the world.

"We do it on Burns Night and Hogmanay and this day should be no different," said Mr MacAskill, who is co-author of Global Scots: Voices from Afar, a book serialised in The Scotsman which examines the nation's diverse diaspora.

"It is important to celebrate the day in Scotland because if you pull your punches at home then you are hardly likely to land a full-force blow abroad."

The Catholic Church in Scotland, which has backed the principle of a national holiday on St Andrew's Day, says it has recognised a movement towards a greater celebration. "People like the idea of St Andrew's Day and it is already marked in a variety of ways, in an unofficial sense, in the way newspapers and media cover it," a spokesman said.

"It has some way to go, but it does appear to be growing in stature. But strangely it seems to be very much a bottom-up campaign. Schools will mark it, or certainly some schools will, but there is not much in the way of official action from the top. While the position overseas is important, I think the way St Andrew and St Andrew's Day is seen abroad should be a reflection of how they are projected at home. If we don't celebrate the day in Scotland, then we can hardly expect our diplomats to market it around the world."

The programme of festivities today includes a performance of songs in the tradition of Robert Burns in Dumfries, the Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Awards in Edinburgh celebrating the best of Scottish talent and a Taste of Scotland reception in Brussels.

Pete Irvine, head of Unique Events, said he sensed a surge of national pride for St Andrew. He said: "I think there is probably a rising swell of opinion that feels we should do something. There is more awareness of St Andrew - the media are going on about it and there is more appetite for such things. In the wake of devolution there is perhaps more enthusiasm for events that define and endorse our cultural identity."

While a start may have been made on raising awareness of St Andrew, Greater strides towards embracing a national celebration may come with a change of attitude towards any political symbolism which may lay behind it.

Prof Devine said: "People suspect that there could be some kind of political agenda attached with St Andrew's Day.

"I don't believe that because the Saltire has been recognised for centuries as the symbol for Scotland, and the fact that it may be regarded by some as a symbol of nationalism is simply nonsense because it a symbol of the Scottish nation and as such has a resonance for people of all political parties and all religions. The same can be said for St Andrew's Day."

Mr MacAskill said: "We have to come to terms with celebrating Scottishness whether or not someone believes in Scottish sovereignty and independence.

"Nationalists have to give an undertaking not to view the day as a Trojan horse and instead see it as an opportunity to promote our people and our culture. We should argue about independence at other opportunities and leave St Andrew's Day for selling Scotland.

An Executive spokesman said: "Scotland's government has always seen St Andrew's Day as a fantastic opportunity to celebrate Scottish culture. It is a chance to demonstrate everything that is good about modern Scotland."

The saint we share with spinsters and singers

• St Andrew was a fisherman in Capernaum, Israel. He became an apostle of Christ and was crucified in 60AD.

• The cross on which he was bound (not nailed) was x-shaped - hence the x-shaped cross on Scotland's flag.

• Around the eighth century, the Church conceived of patron saints as a way of easing converts to the notion of a single god. Saintly relics held in Rome were dispersed.

• Tradition has it that in 733 a monk was warned in a dream to take St Andrew's bones to the ends of the earth. He landed in what would later be called St Andrews, Fife, with a tooth, an arm bone, a kneecap, and some fingers of the saint.

• St Andrew's Day is popular among Scots abroad. This year the Royal Gurkha Rifles will entertain Scots in Kuala Lumpur, whisky will be shared at the Renaissance Hotel in Moscow and there will be skiing plus haggis in Aspen, Colorado.

• St Andrew is also patron saint of Greece, Russia, Amalfi in Italy, fishermen, gout, singers, spinsters and sore throats.

• In Russia, St Andrew's Day was popular before the 1917 revolution and is mentioned in Dr Zhivago. It was banned as a religious holiday but parties with borsch and vodka are making a comeback.