Happy St Andrew’s Day

[Colr]

One of the twice yearly excuses to eat haggis!!

[Bangkok Hibby]

A very happy St Andrews day to everyone from Thailand. Ive been told of a couple of pubs who may have haggis tonight. How authentic it is remains to be seen 😀

[Peevemor]

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A very happy St Andrews day to everyone from Thailand. Ive been told of a couple of pubs who may have haggis tonight. How authentic it is remains to be seen ��

I was at a film festival in Douarnenez in Brittany and the theme of the year was Scotland. One night they served up some home made haggos, or at least what they thought haggis is. I don't think I've ever seen any "food" that looked or smelled worse. As for how it tasted - I've no idea.

Anyway - happy St Andrew's day y'all!

[Colr]

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A very happy St Andrews day to everyone from Thailand. Ive been told of a couple of pubs who may have haggis tonight. How authentic it is remains to be seen 😀

Well my Haggis Vindaloo went down a bomb a couple of years ago so if there’s a Thai way of cooking haggis, I’d love to hear about it!!

[Future17]

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Well my Haggis Vindaloo went down a bomb a couple of years ago so if there’s a Thai way of cooking haggis, I’d love to hear about it!!

I'm a big fan of Haggis Nachos - it's all about international relations!

[cabbageandribs1875]

god bless Andy Russians will feel the same ;)

[pollution]

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god bless Andy Russians will feel the same ;)

Ditto the Greeks!

[JeMeSouviens]

I’m about as non-religious as is possible but Andrew seems a bit of a duff choice for patron saint. There are quite a few with actual Scottish connections after all. Could’ve had Columba with murder/redemption backstory or Margaret, a refugee from England’s power struggles (appropriate!)

And what’s with a Scottish national holiday in ****** November? Nuts.

[Mibbes Aye]

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I’m about as non-religious as is possible but Andrew seems a bit of a duff choice for patron saint. There are quite a few with actual Scottish connections after all. Could’ve had Columba with murder/redemption backstory or Margaret, a refugee from England’s power struggles (appropriate!)

And what’s with a Scottish national holiday in ****** November? Nuts.

It has to be St Enoch, which is a derivative of Teneu or Theneva. She was an unmarried mother and a victim of domestic violence and I understand she was raped, or at the very least impregnated by her cousin. If you are wanting real Scottishness I think we have a winner

[Mr Grieves]

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One of the twice yearly excuses to eat haggis!!

You never need an excuse to eat haggis

[pollution]

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You never need an excuse to eat haggis

...as long as it's Hornigs. Never Macsweens.

[Colr]

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...as long as it's Hornigs. Never Macsweens.

All you can get here is Macsweens.

I tried Fortnum and Mason’s haggis once and I wouldn’t have fed that to my dog.......even if it had bitten me!

[Colr]

Went for katsu haggis with kakubin highballs!!

[JeMeSouviens]

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It has to be St Enoch, which is a derivative of Teneu or Theneva. She was an unmarried mother and a victim of domestic violence and I understand she was raped, or at the very least impregnated by her cousin. If you are wanting real Scottishness I think we have a winner

Her son was conceived when the Welsh prince Owain mab Urien raped her. Owain was disguised as a woman, and after sexually assaulting the naïve princess, he confused her by saying: "Weep not, my sister, for I have not known thee as a man is used to know a virgin. Am I not a woman like thyself?"

Blooming eck, this gender id thing has been rumbling on a while!

[Glory Lurker]

Having a national day based around a bloke who never came here and was something to do with an imaginary guy in the sky isnae cool, really. 6 April is the real deal.

[weecounty hibby]

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Having a national day based around a bloke who never came here and was something to do with an imaginary guy in the sky isnae cool, really. 6 April is the real deal.

With a bit of luck the 700th anniversary of that day will actually mean something to us here in Scotland

[NAE NOOKIE]

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I’m about as non-religious as is possible but Andrew seems a bit of a duff choice for patron saint. There are quite a few with actual Scottish connections after all. Could’ve had Columba with murder/redemption backstory or Margaret, a refugee from England’s power struggles (appropriate!)

And what’s with a Scottish national holiday in ****** November? Nuts.

Ach, lots of countries have a patron saint they don't have a connection to, England even have a made up one

Couldn't agree more about the time of year though .... Burns night, Hogmany, St Andrew's day .... all of them when its bloody freezing outside, not to mention dark for most of the day

Even in 2014 I think the proposal was to make independence day the same day as the signing of the declaration of Arbroath which is the 6th of April, still probably 7 degrees or so outside. That's why its good that we will get a second go ... when we win we should arrange to sign on the dotted line during the summer, June, July or August would do just fine

[cabbageandribs1875]

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Ditto the Greeks!

every days a skool day, ta

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Ach, lots of countries have a patron saint they don't have a connection to, England even have a made up one

Couldn't agree more about the time of year though .... Burns night, Hogmany, St Andrew's day .... all of them when its bloody freezing outside, not to mention dark for most of the day

Even in 2014 I think the proposal was to make independence day the same day as the signing of the declaration of Arbroath which is the 6th of April, still probably 7 degrees or so outside. That's why its good that we will get a second go ... when we win we should arrange to sign on the dotted line during the summer, June, July or August would do just fine

the poor Dragons would disagree

[Pretty Boy]

I've always quite liked that St Andrews Day and, to a lesser extent, Burns Night are pretty restrained.

I couldn't think of anything worse than either being turned into something resembling the Guinness Marketing campaign that is St Patrick's Day. A bunch of students stumbling about wearing see you Jimmy hats, trying to force down a pint that they don't like whilst desperately trying to claim a Scottish heritage that doesn't exist. St Patrick's Day is like the most cringeworthy section of the Celtic support on steroids. Hopefully us Scots can maintain a bit dignity and avoid going down the same route.

[heretoday]

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I've always quite liked that St Andrews Day and, to a lesser extent, Burns Night are pretty restrained.

I couldn't think of anything worse than either being turned into something resembling the Guinness Marketing campaign that is St Patrick's Day. A bunch of students stumbling about wearing see you Jimmy hats, trying to force down a pint that they don't like whilst desperately trying to claim a Scottish heritage that doesn't exist. St Patrick's Day is like the most cringeworthy section of the Celtic support on steroids. Hopefully us Scots can maintain a bit dignity and avoid going down the same route.

They're restrained to the point of invisibility though.

It's a bit self-denying.

[Pretty Boy]

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They're restrained to the point of invisibility though.

It's a bit self-denying.

It's probably down to our rather dour Calvinist history.

Calvin himself, and in turn John Knox, absolutely refused to see any difference between veneration of the Virgin Mary, the Saints and the Martyrs and the adoration due to God alone. He argued it was idolatry and apostasy and thus should not be practiced. Feast days tend to be far more a feature of the Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican/Episcopalian Church; at the extreme end of the scale the Free Church doesn't celebrate Christmas or Easter. I was at the vigil Mass on Saturday night and Andrew was added to the Canon of the Mass during the, sadly overused, shortened Eucharistic prayer II (as an apostle he's included in the full canon/Eucharistic Prayer I which names 42 Saints in total). The closing hymn was also 'Great St Andrew Friend of Jesus' which mentions Scotland in the 4th verse. It probably also doesn't help that St Andrews Day, or the Sunday closest to it, will quite often fall on the first Sunday of Advent which reflects a time of penance in the Church so everything becomes far more solemn.

Obviously we live in a secular country now but it's probably a carry over in the national psyche. Whilst St Patrick's Day in Ireland would have seen a High Mass and a day/half day off work for many, and thus an excuse to eat, drink and be merry; in Scotland St Andrew's Day was just another day. It's hard to manufacture a tradition where one doesn't exist.

[Cataplana]

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With a bit of luck the 700th anniversary of that day will actually mean something to us here in Scotland

It means nothing to me just now. What happened?

[Glory Lurker]

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It means nothing to me just now. What happened?

Signing of the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320. Re-declaration of Scotland's independence. All feudal royalty stuff, but essential to us getting international (particularly papal) recognition of being on our feet again after what those two Edward rascals had tried to pull.

[NAE NOOKIE]

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I've always quite liked that St Andrews Day and, to a lesser extent, Burns Night are pretty restrained.

I couldn't think of anything worse than either being turned into something resembling the Guinness Marketing campaign that is St Patrick's Day. A bunch of students stumbling about wearing see you Jimmy hats, trying to force down a pint that they don't like whilst desperately trying to claim a Scottish heritage that doesn't exist. St Patrick's Day is like the most cringeworthy section of the Celtic support on steroids. Hopefully us Scots can maintain a bit dignity and avoid going down the same route.

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They're restrained to the point of invisibility though.

It's a bit self-denying.

Yeh, there's a happy medium required. I agree with PB that St Paddy's day has become more like an advertising campaign for Guinness than a celebration of Irishness as such and it is indeed all a bit cringe worthy. St Andrew's day on the other hand is so understated, as Heretoday says, it practically goes unnoticed.