Lindisfarne –The Holy Isle and the Gospel’s

Thankfully I have managed to make it to 3 very important places now to me now, Iona Tintagel, just last year, for that one, and the Holy Isle of Lindisfarne.

After the coffin of St Cuthbert was buried in a grave on Lindisfarne in the year of 687 It became apparent to the monks of the time that they had buried a saint, and then the subsequent elevation of Cuthbert’s body 11 years later enabled pilgrims to be as close to the skeleton relics as was possible then. In amongst all this Eadfrith the scribe was very busy using the hides of more than 130 calves who had donated there skins for all the parchments necessary to make a book, called the Lindisfarne gospels. It must have been difficult to write on such a material, as there was a hair side and a flesh side of course and although both surfaces took paint or ink equally well it seems it was easier to write on the flesh side. Apparently the parchments for this famous book were so well prepared it was difficult to see what side was which. At a time when quite a number of young people, and me, prefer to use spellchecker once we typed out fast our thoughts Eadfrith and his colleagues had no such means so he painstakingly wrote between drawn pricked lines with a pen made either from think reed or from a quill feather.

Of course the pens, whichever type had to be cut at the end and it is amazing how he managed to keep the same thickness as you cannot see on the writings any variation in width and evenness. For ink he used a mixture of soot , glue and water which produced a rich deep brown ink which does not easily fade, thank goodness. But then well the writing was in Latin, not the easiest of languages to write in. Forty-five different colours are used some quite delicate and the raw materials he sued were animal, vegetable and mineral, amazing stuff, worth a separate story.

The Monks fled the island in 875 AD following a series of attacks by Viking raiders but thankfully took the Gospels with them and went to Chester-le-street where the book was finished. Today you can see but not touch the Book and it is the British Library in London.

And so we have some pieces mainly jewellery designed with the Lindisfarne Gospels in mind and they are on our website.

http://www.celticconnexions.co/catalogsearch/result/?q=lindisfarne

And what better way of course is to take you there as well, we plan to do Iona and Tintagel and Lindisfarne as a package. Wow

Clan Maclean Gathering-18 – 24 Jun 2012, Mull

Since I heard about this gathering I have made it my intention to go, without or with some fellow travel companions, as I have a bit of interest here, not with family connections but just through a truly great friend of mine who passed away some time ago now, who wore the MacLean of Duart tartan with some pride as that was his mother’s tartan. So this trip is for Donald, but that’s another story.
Back to the Gathering.

Well it seems in 1912 the then Chief of Clan MacLean, Sir Fitzroy MacLean, invited the clan to join him at Duart to celebrate with him the return of the castle to MacLean ownership. So a story with a happy ending because the castle was saved from ruin just 2 years before and repaired. Invitations went out to MacLean’s, both on Mull and around the world. Nearly 700 clan’s people accepted his call and came to Duart. It was the first great clan gathering of any clan in modern times. Sir Fitzroy greeted his clan with the ancient Highland welcome, ‘Ceud mile failte’ – a hundred thousand welcomes and in June 2012 the clan will be welcomed with the same sentiment and happiness.
So 100 years of history and another possibly 500 years of turmoil and strife for MacLean forebears is certainly a cause for some celebration.

I read that the MacLean’s held lands not just on Mull but on Islay, Jura, Tiree and Coll, also in Knapdale and Morven as well. Of course on Iona we have MacLean’s cross, a fine 15th century carved stone cross, and it has occurred to me I need to put all this history together and come up with a mini gathering.

But for all this ceilidh of people in 2012 the event will centre round the castle of Duart, a truly magnificent and daunting stronghold which sits upon a rock like an eagle guarding the Sound of Mull now as it has done for centuries.
Come with us to attend this gathering, details now online but being added to as we get more information.

Bob

http://www.celticconnexionstours.com/clan-maclean-centenary-gathering-2012.php

Burns Supper-Hamilton Jan 25th 2012

An awesome time at our burns supper in the `Riv`bar and restaurant in Clyde Street was had by all.96 souls braved the haggis, most of them.

more here
www.RabbieBurns.Co
Hamilton Burns Supper on PhotoPeach

http://photopeach.com/public/swf/story.swf

Gretna Green –Runaway Marriage Centre

Gretna Green-Runaway Marriage centre on PhotoPeach

http://photopeach.com/public/swf/story.swf

Where possible I try to `land `in Scotland so that I avoid further travel and of course not many airlines have that option unless you drop down in Europe first. But when you make the journey by car and hit the border well, that feeling is just magic.
When you hit the border by a route you have not been on for a long while even better
And so it was with `Gretna green in October 2011. You have to meander a little to get into the heart of the village and then every sign leads you to the new centre and of course the infamous Blacksmiths. But there is a huge story, well isn`t there always as to how this all came about.
The Scottish border country is steeped in history, when not so long ago an Act of parliament forbidding irregular marriage unions in England drove ardent young men ,some romantic old ones, bigamists and all manner of folk who needed for one reason or another to get married , to the Scottish border. There they came across Gretna, going strong as a clandestine marriage centre where any young couple might be instantly united by the local fisherman, joiner or more famous, the blacksmith. However as these marriages were a simple affirmation on scots soil, witnessed by anyone that could write, it is probable that they were held in any beer-house in Gretna Green. In 1791 a band of weavers settled in the District and established a village at Springfield, near Gretna and right on the main road so this new place began to steal away all the weddings. It seems the trade was so well organised that the Carlisle hotels had an `understanding` with the priests and where to send the couples.
A great change came over the `marriage market` after the opening of the `English road in 1830, as now the crossing was at the boundary at Sark bar and nearer Gretna again. The whole business collapsed in 1856 when Scottish law demanded that a residential qualification necessary for marriage.
What tales there must be of the various rivalries between the various rogues and vagabonds who slept and frequented the Scottish border with one ear listening for the sound of a galloping horse team and the possibility of few coins to be made one way or the other?

We think we must investigate more.

Bob
www.celticconnexionstours.com

The Caledonian Canal.-my Childhood Playground and Visit

The Caledonian Canal.We will pass by.
There was never a huge amount of boat traffic through the canal when I was young. You could wait for hours to see the locks being opened and usually it was a number of small boats what went through at once, but it was fun to watch. The huge gates were opened by a series of levers in some locks all by hand until diesel generators made the change to a more mechanical operation. Lock-keepers were employed there to do this job and there seemed to be quite few then. In the heyday of sea travel it seemed the canal was much favoured as a safer travel than around Cape Wrath, so aptly named, and the Pentland Firth.
The first survey for the canal was carried out in 1773 by James Watt and impelled by the strategic needs of the war against Napoleon when French privateers haunted our coastal waters. But work on the canal was delayed a start until 1803 and commenced under the direction of Thomas Telford, a man we heard much of at school. But the victory of the battle of Trafalgar lessened the urgency for the project and the building proceed slowly until opening in October 1822. Was it slow, is 19 years a long time to build such a fantastic engineering project for its time. I think not. At the inaugural ceremony about 70 gentlemen, we can assume noted dignitaries traversed the canal from `sea to sea` in a steam barge. In 1847 the canal was much improved and gave greater access for larger vessels. Before the advent of course of that steam sailing ships took over 2 days to traverse the length of the canal, some 60 miles. The ultimate cost of the canal, as completed in 1849 was 1.3 million pounds, seems a pretty colossal sum for these times and at the maximum effort some 300 men were engaged in the building, mostly Highlanders. One of the real highlights is the collections of locks along the length and the best group is at Neptune’s staircase, between Banavie and Corpach, some 3 miles above Fort William. The total length of the canal is some 60 miles.
Worth a visit, absolutely, a pleasant change from castles and haunted places and just a huge marvel at the building of it all. It’s as sacred to me as our River, the Ness.
Talking of Fort William and before I get into more interesting stuff I mention Rannoch Moor, not too far away from there, but into central Perth-shire and surely of all the Bens and glens, the corries and screes we will encounter, something must also be made of the vast moorlands, and this is one. Rannoch is by far the largest area of moorland, a peaty desolation, rises to over 1000 feet, and will jog some into having a place in literature for the part it plays in RL Stevenson’s book, the classic `Kidnapped. Because all in all as we tour we will pass along the road from Tyndrum to Glencoe, majestic scenery if ever there was. We pass newish Ski areas and the ample viewing of mountains. But we should not think of Rannoch as a black desolation of sour peat, treacherous bog, and heather, intersected by ditches of stagnant water and marshy pools. This area was not always a treeless waste as in every ditch you will find the roots of trees long gone, preserved in time and blackened like ebony by the peat.
And in amongst it all lies the Kingshouse hotel sticking out like a beacon and calling you in for a rest stop. Such history and all will be revealed on the next part at the new Visitor Centre at Glencoe.

Anne Stokes and Dragons at Celtic Connexions

Well it’s nearly Christmas again !

Where do they all go these years. Anyway we are on and up and have just got our hands on all these wonderful Anne stokes goodies

have a look please

 

 

Witches Well- Edinburgh `s Royal mile

As you approach the Castle coming up the Royal mile, on the side of the Tartan weaving mill is a fountain which commemorates,maybe the wrong word, an area where over 300 women, were burnt at the stake accused of being witches. You can easy miss this spot but guides will usually point it out. The small fountain was erected here in 1912 as a reminder of the terrible days when many people believed implicitly in witchcraft and sorcery.

They were first tortured and hung out into the Nor Loch, now the Gardens in Princes Street,to establish if they were indeed witches. A plaque above the fountain –memorial explains the design, of a serpent coiled around 2 female heads signifying the evil and the serene sides where there probably was indeed some substance for the condemnation but in other cases these poor souls were completely innocent.

A foxglove spray is also used to as a reminder of
the medical use.

We can have a look next time on our trips.

 

www.celticconnexionstours.com