St. Patrick's Day 2012

Well, it just came to my attention that, while I have celebrated two St. Patrick's Days on this blog already, I have failed to write something about the history behind it!

Typically, St. Patrick's Day is just a saint's day commemorating St. Patrick who was the patron saint of Ireland. The reason it is quite well celebrated still today and so widely spread, is most likely the fact that it had a certain Irishness incorporated into it, such as wearing green, which started mostly in the 17th century.  This was only heightened during the 1798 Rebellion, where wearing green became more of a thing of patriotic pride than anything else.

Shamrocks were worn on St. Patrick's Day at about the same time green was; leprechauns, on the other hand, never have had anything particular to do with this holiday, and I think that's just some random things the American's threw into the mix. Leprechauns are simply characters from Irish folk and fairy tales. It's odd how random things like this get into the mix...

Here's a webpage that goes into the history of St. Patrick and St. Patrick's Day a bit: http://www.theholidayspot.com/patrick/historyofpatrick.htm

So, wear green today, do something a little Irish, and Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all!

Slainte, Hazel

The Taking of the Stone of Destiny

While looking for an historic event that happened on Christmas Day in Scotland, the first thing that came to my mind was that Christmas Eve night in 1950 when four young people broke into Westminster Abbey, liberated the Stone of Destiny, and drove it back over the Border of Scotland.

The Stone of Destiny; the symbol of sovereignty in Scotland. Wherever the stone rested, there would Scotland be ruled, said the old legends. It was taken by Edward Longshanks during the Wars for Independence and brought to England, resting there for nearly seven centuries until a young man, Ian Hamilton, and three compatriots decided to take it back.

If you read Ian Hamilton's biography, Stone of Destiny, you find that he had grown up with stories of Bruce and Wallace and the devastation Scotland had suffered through the ages by many English rulers. Times in Scotland in the mid 20th century were hard, pleas for home rule kept being denied by Parliament; the people of Scotland needed a symbol to bring back their pride and Ian Hamilton and his three companions, Alan Stewart, Gavin Vernon and Kay Matheson decided they were going to take back the Stone of Destiny.

They planned for months, studying maps and layouts of the Abbey and procuring funds and everything they would need to do it. The entire story of the taking of the Stone is something right out of a fiction thriller, in fact, I've read fiction with less exciting plots! Going down to London in middle of winter, sleeping in freezing cars, nearly getting caught on more than one occasion, struggling to drag the stone out of the Abbey into their waiting vehicle... I'm not going to attempt to tell the whole story for I could not do the it justice here, so I would suggest highly that you all go and find a copy of Ian Hamilton's book. There's no better way to describe it than he does, for, obviously, he was there, and he lived it.

When they drove the Stone back over the Border, it was the first time the Stone had been back in Scotland since Longshanks took it in 1296. That Christmas Day in 1950 was one Scotland will remember for centuries to come as the day that true Patriots of Scotland won a victory as big as Bannockburn and brought hope back to the people.

They eluded the police for months, and probably never would have been found by them if they hadn't given the Stone back, putting it in Arbroath Abbey where the famous Declaration of Arbroath was signed by Robert the Bruce and his followers in 1320. The Stone was sent back to England, Ian and his friends were arrested, but never were put in prison, and Scotland was given the hope it needed to thrive once again.

And of course, now the Stone is back in Scotland where it belongs, having come over the Border in 1996 to much exaltation; then 1997 brought the Yes-Yes vote and Scotland's own Parliament.

So at the end of this post, I wish to quote that famous passage from the Declaration of Arbroath:

"For as long as a hundred of us remain alive, we shall not submit to the domination of the English. It is in truth not for glory, or honor, or riches that we fight, but for Freedom alone. Which no honest man gives up but with life itself."


Go read Ian Hamilton's book Stone of Destiny and also watch the wonderful film of the same name. Both are spectacular, and the fact that it's a true story only makes it more so.

Merry Christmas, and a Guid Hogmany to you all!

Alba gu Brath

Slainte, Hazel

Shortbread Galore

I just wanted to post a quick thanks to the people who sent me shortbread recipes, particularly, Karen and Mara who's recipes I tried yesterday and found they turned out quite wonderful! I even tried them on friends and we shared them over hot chocolate. Again, thank you very much! If anyone still has any recopies, you may send them, even any other traditional Scottish/Irish/English desert, especially surrounding the holidays would be a treat. =)

I feel terribly awful for not posting anything historical in a long time, but I have truthfully been so busy I have not had time to research. I usually wrote along the lines of what I was writing in novel form, but I have not been working on any particularly Scottish novels in a long time. However, I am planning a special Christmas post this week about a very wonderful, and amazing true story that happened on Christmas Eve and was to change Scotland forever. So keep a look out for that, and do have a wonderful holiday!

Slainte, Hazel

Happy 4th of July

Hey, everyone, here's a happy Fourth of July to all my American readers! Take a look at my post from last year where I talked about the similarities on the Declaration of Independence and the Scottish Declaration of Arbroath. It's always been amazing to see the likeness between the American and Scottish wars for independence. As a treat, I will be posting a short story I wrote a while ago on my other blog, The First Scribbles. Go read it and tell me what you think :)

Happy Independence Day, and let us not forget all those men who fought and died in the American Revolution and who signed their lives away on this back in 1775.

Slainte, Hazel

Scottish Traditions and Christmas Pudding

Since it's almost Christmas, I thought I should write something about Scottish holiday traditions. But guess what. Like so many other things in Scotland, the celebrating of Christmas was banned. And stayed banned, for almost four hundred years. It started with Oliver Cromwell in the Reformation. In 1647, parliament put a ban on celebrating Christmas and it lasted fifteen years. When Cromwell lost his power, the ban was lifted from most of Britain, but not Scotland. The ban was actually not lifted until the 1950s!

Because of this, the Scots celebrate New Years or Hogmanay. However, most of the Scottish Christmas traditions started to be celebrated on Hogmanay instead so they do still exist today. First Footing is one of those traditions. The first visitor to a home on Christmas day was a First Footer and he had to bring gifts and money. They also lit a candle in the window to welcome strangers into their houses. Yule Bread was another tradition (the eating of it was banned as well). Each person would get a Yule Bread and the person who found the hidden trinket in their loaf would have good luck the next year. There were several other traditions like that, and also burning the twig of a Rowan tree to bring peace between family members. ;-)

The Scots also upheld the old Viking tradition of keeping a fire going to keep away evil spirits. I also remember reading somewhere too, that they had to keep a fire going all night on Christmas Eve so elves would not come and steel the gifts!

Traditional foods, included Black Bun which is like a fruit cake and also Called Twelfth Night Cake along with Turkey, lot's of shortbread and, my favorite, venison stew!

This year, however, I decided to embrace the English part of my heritage and make a traditional Christmas pudding! My mom and I put it together this morning and everyone stirred it and made a wish! It's cooking right now, and I will be sure to tell everyone how it turns out, even if it turns out bad! I love trying traditional recipes. I like to think of all the people who have made the things over the years. How many of my ancestors might have eaten the same things. And if it's really good, I may have started a new tradition! I used this recipe in case anyone is interested, though I did not used either candied peel, or raisons and sultanas. I used apricots and dried cranberries instead.

So I hope everyone has a very good holiday, and I will be back next week to wish ye all a Guid Hogmanay!

Happy Hollidays, and Merry Christamas!

Slainte, Hazel