After dinner--The speech we almost gave?

We had an All-Scotland Zone Conference on Thursday, with a visiting GA. There was a dinner for senior missionaries afterwards and we were asked to give a 20 minute presentation on our impressions of Scotland. The following is what we prepared, with a few additions as we are no longer limited to 20 minutes. We cut the presentation down a little/lot on the fly, as time was short. Preparing it was fun, so it would have been worthwhile even had we not presented it at all..

L: Climate. When we first arrived in Scotland, in the middle of January, it was dark when we drove to the office in the morning, and dark when we left the office in the evening. Most of the time it was both dark and damp, and on occasion the sidewalks were icy. After a few weeks of this we turned to each other and said, "why would anyone live in a place like this?"
Last weekend we took a much anticipated trip northward, to visit the villages and towns where my ancestors lived according to 18th century records. We walked through the cemeteries and along the seashore, and took photographs of the now-ruined churches where the  young couples were married and then brought their children.  We drove through the Highlands to Inverness and then eastwards to Marnoch, Auchtertell, Fordyce, Banff and Peterhead.  The countryside was varied and lovely. The coastal villages were breathtakingly beautiful. The weather was perfect. And we turned to each other and said, "how could anyone bear to leave such a beautiful place?"
Winters in Scotland are cold and dark and wet. The rest of the year is so beautiful that, once you have experienced it, winter becomes quite tolerable - just a temporary hardship. 2 Nephi 2:11 seems appropriate as a cross reference here.

R: Travel

When we were called a friend who had recently served as an MP said, "Make sure you see the country, while you are there". It was advice we took to heart, even in those early gloomy-weather weekends. We visited castles, museums and monuments. We wanted to try to understand these people we were living among, to talk to them and to see their historical (and modern) setting. So we explored castles and palaces, both ruined and working. We caught glimpses of a great people, and developed a profound gratitude for modern plumbing. After a bunch of history we broadened to exploring the countryside. The roads are narrow and winding, yes, but as you sweep round a corner and over a hill you catch your breath at all the shades of green and earth. Rolling green fields are dotted with sheep or tunnels of tomatoes. There are acres of oats, horizons of dazzling yellow rapeseed, and the windmills, sweeping the blue sky clean of pollution. It is a patchwork art form to delight the beholder and to sustain a nation. And always, never far away, there are sea-coasts and harbours, working harbours redolent with the odors of fish, harbours with pleasure boats, perfect natural harbours, and harbours at low tide with ancient wrecks and with the boats stranded on the wet sand giving life to Elder Cook's 2015 talk about "ship-shape and Bristol fashion"

The Scottish author Alexander McCall Smith described Edinburgh, but I think we could extend it to all of Scotland, just substitute 'country' for 'city’. He said, "This is a city of shifting light, of changing skies, of sudden vistas. A city so beautiful it breaks your heart again and again."

       -- Alexander McCall Smith

So we saw castles and we saw palaces, ruined and restored and continuously inhabited for centuries. All of them testifying to a people who cared for their country and for their families.

Initially we planned each trip but later developed our own technique for finding new experiences.

L: Thistling. Thistling has been our great P-day occupation. All it requires is a car, some time, and a sign at the side of the road, with an arrow pointing to some nearby point of interest. The signs are brown and are distinguished by a drawing of a thistle. We call it "going thistling" and have found many treasures - hidden treasures one might say, except for the great big sign pointing the way.

R: History

The places we explored helped us understand the people we met, and as best we could we engaged them in conversations about themselves, their pets and their families, and sometimes about their ancestors. Family History is a great conversation lead-in to gospel discussions.

We have come to love the history of these places. It's not just castles, it's the people who built them and who left a legacy for their modern descendants, most of whom seem to be very aware of it even today.

Everybody knows about William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, famous for winning battles  but also--apparently--almost everyone who claims Scottish roots can trace their genealogy back to Robert the Bruce. But there are other events and people who lived long ago, that still cast shadows over modern life. The battle of Flodden fields, 500 years ago,  was a terrible loss and defeat for the Scots--just about every noble family in Scotland lost a family member in that battle. The battle is still remembered in the song "Floores o' the Forest" the flowers, of course, being the youth that were lost.

Here's a brief excerpt, sung by Isla St. Clair. Since she's singing in Scots, Here are copies of the lyrics. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTkGNcntD7s

Flowers of the Forest

I've heard them liltin'

At the yowe milkin'  (yowe = ewe)

Lassies are liltin'

Before dawn o' day

Now there's a moanin'

On ilka green loanin'  (ilka=each, loaning =lane)

The Flow'rs o' the Forest

Are a' wede away   (wede = withered)

We'll hae nae mair liltin'

At the yowe milkin'

Women an' bairns

Are heartless an' wae (wae=woeful)

Sighin' an' moanin'

On ilka green loanin'

The Flow'rs o' the Forest

Are a' wede away

That is traditionally played at funerals and memorial services to this day, and, out of respect, most pipers won't play it in public except on those solemn occasions. There were so many other famous people; skipping over Mary Queen of Scots, we’ll mention Bonnie Prince Charlie who was a great party-animal, but a poor military commander. He lost the Battle of Culloden near Inverness, (and by the way, the Skye Boat Song is about his escape after the battle).

This led immediately to laws banning the wearing of kilts and other tartans. So jump ahead, to the 19th century  to Sir Walter Scott, who is still much revered, and the Radical Road, which is a very steep eight-foot wide path up the side of Salisbury crag in Holyrood Park. Now how did they come to build such a difficult road there and what has it got to do with the popularity of kilts and tartans--well, I'll tell you.

The aftermath of the Napoleonic wars left the Scottish economy depressed. Despite being fairly well educated—this was the time of the Scottish Enlightenment after all—many working class people, especially the weavers were struggling and angry--which led to the Radical War, which were strikes and violence and a very strong response from the government to crush it. That didn't solve the problem, there was still not enough work and not enough money in the economy, but the Radical Party was powerless.

Then Sir Walter Scott, the poet and author, who was very influential, became involved in a scheme to invite King George IV to Scotland. It had been 200 years since a reigning monarch had visited Scotland so this was a big deal.

King George like to play to a crowd, and Sir Walter Scott stage-managed the whole production. King George appeared in a Stuart tartan, (the law banning tartans had been changed a few years before, but people had got out of the habit of wearing them), now suddenly all the rich and powerful people needed tartans to attend the royal ball.  Much of lowland Scotland had never worn tartans, but  an enterprising cloth merchant created them, and they have been a prominent part of Scottish culture ever since.

There was an important after-effect of all this hoopla. After the Royal visit the government was persuaded by Sir Walter Scott to fund a public works project. A road around the side of Salisbury crags--this provided employment for many of the out-of work radicals and it is a testimony to Scottish engineering that the road still functions today, 200 years later. The Radical Road was built by out-of-work Radicals.

All this helps us understand the ordinary people we meet every day.

R: Tech

The other thing we love about the Scots is that they embrace engineering and technology. They build bridges that are not only utilitarian but beautiful too. The three bridges over the river Forth were built in three different centuries. And there are hundreds of other examples of sweeping architecture, with an unashamed recognition of good engineering design.

L: Haggis. Let's talk about haggis for a moment. The Scottish may or may not have invented it. The earliest recipes are found in English recipe books from the 1300's, and certainly the dish has Scandinavian roots as well. It is the Scottish, however, who have taken the unwanted meat (heart and lungs) chopped it, spiced it and stretched it with oatmeal, then cooked it in another unwanted meat (stomach) and turned it into their national dish. This process has been greatly aided by Robbie Burns' Ode to Haggis, and, speaking of odes, I have never found the courage to eat anything but a vegetarian form of haggis, so I thought I would write an odious poem about that. 

Och I love tae be in Scotland when the haggis is in flower,

And the rain can turn to sun, then wind, then rain within the hour,

When the gorse jumps out ta bite ye but ye quell it with a glance

And o’er every croft and castle ye can see the saltire dance.

If yer Scottish blood be stirring—friend ye dinna need a kilt

Just sit ye doon and eat yer haggis ‘fore the wee thing starts to wilt

(The saltire is the blue Scottish flag with the white cross of St Andrew. It is a symbol of Scottish nationalism.)

R:

The contrast between  the cold and wet climate when we first arrived was matched by uncertainty in the roles would fill in the mission.

What a joy to see so many familiar and well-loved missionaries in the chapel this morning. It matches the sunshine of the Scottish summer.

We have been blessed to come here. We have felt the Spirit in abundance. We love the missionaries, young and Less young. We love Scotland and its people and we are confident of the growth of the gospel here. These are a kind and noble people that build upon their past centuries of experience to create a better world today, one where the Saviour can come in.