Older Scotland

Days 4-6

Scotland is pretty old, especially to an American. In my part of the world, people think New England is old because there are still buildings there from the 1700s. Here, that's new. So far, I'm getting the history here is a bigger deal than it is in the States. Not only is there more of it, but there's more of an effort to preserve it. I've read that this is particularly the case in Scotland, because of its history with England; that is, the Scots want to preserve as much of their original culture as possible. So there are obviously a lot of old traditions, as well as buildings, here - one of them being dancing.

The Ceilidh (pronn. "Kaelie") is a traditional Scottish dance in large groups of people, including traditional music and kilts (though only a few of these appeared at the one I attended the night of day 5). The closest equivalent we have in the States is a barn dance or hoe down, but the music and the dances themselves are quite different at Ceilidhs. The bottom picture is one of the Ceilidh I attended.

I dance for 3 1/2 hours and it's a good cardiovascular workout. The band (consisting of a guitar, something like a ukulele, and a drum - unfortunately, no bagpipes) calls out the steps as we go along, teaching us along the way, and we do each of the dances several times so we can get the hang of them. Halfway through, we break for stovies, corned beef and onions mixed with mashed potatoes, which is actually quite good, as far as Scottish fare goes. Several people tell me there are more of these throughout the semester, several of them put on by the Celtic Society. Apparently they're fairly popular, which makes sense, I suppose. For those of us who aren't dancers, not only is it a welcome change to see other people not knowing what to do either, but it's also nice to have specific directions on how to move.

Speaking of directions, two people ask for them on day 5, so I must look like I know what I'm doing to at least some people. I actually did know how to get where they were each headed (the music centre and library, respectively), but had just finished wandering around for a little while myself, after taking a wrong turn. I think they only asked me because I was walking on the British side of the pavement (the word "sidewalk" doesn't exist here). They both seemed surprised when I started speaking.

Saturday, day 6, a couple of friends and I visit St Andrews cathedral (the top three pictures). It's gray and rainy, so all my pictures are dark and probably hard to see, but the cathedral itself is pretty majestic, and only about two streets away from the building where I live. It was built a little while after 700 A.D., and later its stones were taken to build the town of St Andrews itself, I read. Another thing I like about the history here is that no one pretends it's more glamorous than it actually is. In the States we recreate things, reenact them, and set up rooms to look like they had when people lived there. While that's useful, there's something to be said for the cathedral that's bare except for its stones. The only things on this site have been there for thousands of years.

There's plenty here in Scotland that I wish we had in the U.S.: castles, runes, old churches, green grass, and lots of old traditions that are well kept up. So far, the only things I miss from home are fruits, vegetables, skim milk, and not having to think too hard before crossing the street.