11月30日St. Andrew's Day蘇格蘭國慶日?

  聖安德魯Saint Andrew這個聖人，是耶穌的漁夫門徒，也是蘇格蘭的守護聖者同時也守護歌手、魚販、女僕、處女、以及老處女。雖然我一直找不到大家為什麼把11月30日定為他的節日，但這一天從2006年開始成為蘇格蘭的國定假日，也被列為是蘇格蘭的國慶（National Day）。這一天，就是要把蘇格蘭的藍色X字旗掛出來，因為據稱聖安德魯在希臘Patras城被羅馬人幹掉的時候，就是被綁在X形十字架上，而蘇格蘭的旗幟就因此而來。

那麼，這一天要幹嘛？除了蘇格蘭全境放假之外（不過今年剛好是週六！），就是大家一起吃吃喝喝跳跳舞、吟詩作對、煮道地蘇格蘭菜餚，還有揭開蘇格蘭冬季慶典的序幕，為耶誕節做準備。這一天，很多蘇格蘭的景點也會免費開放參觀，應該是體驗蘇格蘭慶典的好時機呢！

St Andrew has been associated with Scotland for more than a millennium. Legend has it that relics of the Apostle, who was crucified in Patras in Greece, were first brought to Scotland as early as the seventh or eighth century.

A monk known as St Rule (or St Regulus) dreamt that St Andrew's remains were to be moved from their tomb and on the directions of an angel took them as far away as he could for safe-keeping.

After a lengthy voyage St Rule was shipwrecked on the east coast of Scotland at Muckross, (later Cill Rimhinn and now St Andrews) in Fife where, with the support of a Pictish king, he is said to have established a church and created the link between St Andrew and Scotland.

An alternative explanation is that the relics were brought to St Andrews by the Bishop of Hexham who gave them to the Pictish King Angus. Either way St Andrews became a major religious centre and St Andrew's relics were enshrined within a church there. They were later kept within the magnificent confines of the great Cathedral of St Andrews.

The link between Scotland and St Andrew is also evident in another legend which offers an explanation of the adoption of the cross of St Andrew as the basis for the Scottish national flag.

When St Andrew was martyred he is said to have been crucified on an X-shaped cross as he believed himself unworthy of dying in the same way as Christ.

Centuries later just before an important battle St Andrew appeared in a dream to King Angus and told him victory was his. On the day of the battle itself a white X-shaped cross appeared against the blue sky in front of the king's army. Believing they had God and St Andrew on their side the Pictish army was indeed victorious.

A grateful King Angus donated a tenth of his wealth to the glory of St Andrew and encouraged the dedication of churches to the Apostle. He was also later baptized by St Regulus at St Andrews. More relics of St Andrew, who was a brother of St Peter, were given to Scotland in 1874 and again in 1969 by the Vatican.

St Andrew's Day may be fundamentally a religious day devoted to remembering the first Apostle but it has now also become a day dedicated to celebrating Scottish traditions and culture. St Andrew's Day festivities in Scotland and abroad frequently feature Scottish traditional food, music, songs, poetry and dance.