Official ceremonies, academic awards, university names and traditions, along with the pipers who lead their processions – all these have been inherited from the practices of the Celts of Scotland, through their Canadian children. In a country whose first Prime Minister was a MacDonald, whose first woman Prime Minister was a Campbell, and which boasted no fewer than nine Prime Ministers of Scottish ancestry (only five Prime Ministers were French), it is not a stretch of the imagination to suggest that Scotland still has at least a pint or two of its own running through the bloodstream of Canadian culture.
The endurance of Saint Andrew’s Cross is seen in the presence it still has in Scotland’s largest emigree nation – Canada. Like the people for whom it flies, Saint Andrew’s Cross has proven its resilience and strength. (For the record, Saint Andrew was martyred on an X-shaped cross). Simple in its design, it has withstood centuries of political and religious turmoil, and remained the standard for Christian Scots, as well as those who have forgotten the reason their banner bears the Cross. The Cross of Saint Andrew – the blue and white emblem of Scotland’s patron saint – is believed to be the oldest continuously used flag in the world. Land of my heart for ever, Scotland the brave! Land of my high endeavour, land of the shining river, High may your proud standards gloriously wave, Towering in gallant fame, Scotland my mountain hame, High as the spirits of the old Highland men. There where the hills are sleeping, now feel the blood a-leaping, Loudly and proudly calling, down through the glen. Hark when the night is falling, hear, hear the pipes are calling,
0 kommentar(er)
