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| St. Andrews Cathedral |
I had expected that our walking tour of St Andrews would be golf related. After meeting our genial guide, I realized this would be much more than that.
St. Andrews is, in fact, the birthplace of golf, but it is so much more. He explained we'd be learning about golf, religion, and education, not necessarily in that order. We started at the Old Course at St. Andrews, the place where the game of golf began. Our guide talked about how it started, some important people in the game, how rules were made, and golf's impact in Scotland. He pointed out the road that traverses the 1st and 18th holes. It was really fascinating hearing the stories and information.
We moved from there up the hill to a monument that memorializes 4 men who were murdered for their support of Martin Luther. The places where each man was hanged in town are marked on the street with their initials. He explained how the Reformation changed the face of Scotland.
From there we headed over to the University of St. Andrews, the 3rd oldest university in the English speaking world (after Oxford and Cambridge), founded in the 15th century. We visited the chapel, and moved among the students (who all looked sooo young!) St Andrews has a normal population of 6,000. When the student are in session it's 16,000.
From there we moved to the cathedral, built in the 12th century, that fell into ruin after the Reformation when the Catholic mass was outlawed. Mobs attacked the church and and the interior was destroyed. Townspeople used the remains of the cathedral for building materials. Even in the current state, the ruins are imposing. The original building was 390 feet long.
The Castle, now in ruin, sits at the edge of the North Sea. Our guide told us that the bishop who lived there had one of the 4 Reformation martyrs hanged in a place convenient for him to watch from his window. Not long after, the Protestants came for the bishop and hanged him from his window from one leg and one arm, forming St Andrews cross. (The X-shaped diagonal cross represents the apostle Saint Andrew, who was murdered by crucifixion. According to tradition, Andrew requested to be crucified on an X-shaped
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| Flag of Scotland |
cross because he felt unworthy to die on the same shape of cross as Jesus Christ.) Legend is that a Scottish king saw an x formation in the clouds before a victorious battle, and he took it as a sign. St Andrew became the patron saint of Scotland and the x (called a saltire) it's emblem.
Great day today! We really enjoyed our walk, even with the wind howling!
Lastly, we headed for our stay tonight at a b and b in Anstruther , a short distance from St Andrews. We were greeted by the proprietors, Jenny and Mark. In conversation, we discovered that their sons live not far from Rochester, and they spend winters with them. Talk about a small world!
Photos here
