Last week was one rooted in St. Andrews tradition. But before I tell you all about that, let me say a bit about the beginning of the week. On Tuesday, Becky, Jen, and I took a road trip to Glenrothes, where Becky is from. By the way, it is pronounced Glen-raw-this. Don't say Glen-rowths or people will think you are a posh English person. :) It was a lovely evening. Jen drove, we picked up some Indian take-out and then chatted with Becky's mum for quite a while. Glenrothes seemed okay to me, despite it's recently receiving the distinguished honor of being named one of the most dismal places to live in Scotland. Thursday began the weekend of time-honored St. Andrews tradition. We stayed up all night on Thursday and then, in the early hours of Friday morning (about 4 am), we wandered over to Castle Sands to participate in the May Dip.
This involves going into the North Sea at dawn. It was COLD!!!!!!!! The May Dip is compulsory for those who wish to remove the curse associated with either stepping on Patrick Hamilton's (first Protestant martyr of the Scottish Reformation) initials in the cobblestones outside of St. Salvator's chapel, or academic incest (i.e. getting involved in any way with any member of your academic family. If you have done either of these things and do not participate in the dip, legend has it that you will fail your exams at the very least, if not your entire degree.
Many people, such as myself, do it anyway, as a sort of important cultural ritual in St. Andrews. So that was the big deal of the week. Tradition continued over the weekend, however, with the annual Celtic Society (of which I am a member) Castle Ceilidh.
It is the largest outdoor ceilidh in Scotland, and therefore probably the world. Needless to say, I went and danced my little heart out. :) After the ceilidh, there was also a torchlit pier walk. We bought our giant flaming sticks (I named mine Hamish) and then walked out onto the pier,
following the kilted bagpiper. It was a pyromaniac's dream!
(Here we see Stefan, Jess, and Tim with torches. Tim appears to be trying to blow his out.) What a fabulous end to the night and the week! Will have more posts coming soon, now that classes are over and I will no doubt need something to help me procrastinate from revising (also known as studying for exams). Until then! -Sylvia
This involves going into the North Sea at dawn. It was COLD!!!!!!!! The May Dip is compulsory for those who wish to remove the curse associated with either stepping on Patrick Hamilton's (first Protestant martyr of the Scottish Reformation) initials in the cobblestones outside of St. Salvator's chapel, or academic incest (i.e. getting involved in any way with any member of your academic family. If you have done either of these things and do not participate in the dip, legend has it that you will fail your exams at the very least, if not your entire degree. 
Many people, such as myself, do it anyway, as a sort of important cultural ritual in St. Andrews. So that was the big deal of the week. Tradition continued over the weekend, however, with the annual Celtic Society (of which I am a member) Castle Ceilidh. 
It is the largest outdoor ceilidh in Scotland, and therefore probably the world. Needless to say, I went and danced my little heart out. :) After the ceilidh, there was also a torchlit pier walk. We bought our giant flaming sticks (I named mine Hamish) and then walked out onto the pier,
following the kilted bagpiper. It was a pyromaniac's dream! 
(Here we see Stefan, Jess, and Tim with torches. Tim appears to be trying to blow his out.) What a fabulous end to the night and the week! Will have more posts coming soon, now that classes are over and I will no doubt need something to help me procrastinate from revising (also known as studying for exams). Until then! -Sylvia
No comments:
Post a Comment