~~~CLASS OPPERTUNITY~~~

November 15 - December 30, 2012

The Scottish Highlands: 16th & 17th Centuries

Instructor: Sharron Gunn w/a Sheila Currie


Prereauisite: a love of and an interest in the Scottish Highlands
In the 16th & 17th centuries, the laws and customs of the Scottish Highlands were considered archaic; they were common in western Europe in the High Middle Ages, but had disappeared by the Renaissance. Highland chiefs were still inaugurated, not crowned, in ancient ceremonies and revered by their clansmen as quasi-sacred figures. A Highland assembly for justice in the 17th century resembled a Viking Thing of the 10th or 11th centuries. Secular marriage outside the church was normal. What really frightened Lowlanders and English was the chiefs' ability to raise a small army at little cost to themselves. The Jacobite Rebellions would have been impossible without clan armies. This course shows how life in the Highlands was different from the Lowlands and other parts of Great Britain and how similar to Ireland.
Instructor Bio:
Sharron lives in British Columbia, and teaches Scottish, Irish and medieval history part-time at university. While living over eight years in Europe, she studied the languages and history of Great Britain and France, and has a BA in French and an MA (2nd first degree) in Scottish History and Celtic Studies from the University of Glasgow. She is working on an historical fantasy set in WWII.

To register for this class, please go to the Celtic Hearts Romance Writers web site. www.celtichearts.org and scroll down.

Thank you!
Sarah Hoss

St. Andrew's Day is November 30th.

Saint Andrew is the Patron Saint of Scotland. Scots around the world celebrate St. Andrew's Day on Nov. 30th. The flag of Scotland is the Cross of St. Andrew. It is widely displayed as a symbol of national identity.


Not much is known about the Patron Saint. It is believed that he and his brother, Simon Peter or Saint Peter, were fisherman in Galilee, which is now a part of Israel. They both became apostles of Jesus Christ.

Word has it that St. Andrew may have been responsible for the spreading on tenets of the Christian religion through Asia Minor and Greece. Through tradition we learn that St. Andrew was put to death by the Romans in Patras in southern Greece by being pinned to a cross. The diagonal shape of the cross is reflected on the Scottish flag.

There have been two stories which depict how St. Andrew became affiliated to Scotland. The first begins that St. Andrew was entombed after his death. 300 years later, his bones were moved by Emperor Constantine to his new capitol in Constantinople. (This is now Istambul in Turkey.) Then a Greek Monk called St. Rule or St. Regulus, was warned in a dream by an angel that St. Andrew's remains were to be moved to the ends of the earth for safe keeping. St. Rule removed a tooth, an arm bone, a knee cap, and some fingers from his tomb. Scotland was where St. Rule had become shipwrecked and it was believed to be as far away as one could get. St. Rule then came ashore near a Pictish settlement on the east coast of Scotland. This town became known as St. Andrew.

The other story is that Acca, bishop of Hexham, who was a collector of relics, brought the relics of St. Andrew to the town of St. Andrew in 733. There was a religious centre in the town at the time. It was either founded by St. Rule in the 6th century or by a Pictish King, Ungus, who reigned from 731-761.

Either of these stories could be true, but the fact remains that the relics were placed in a specially constructed chapel. The chapel was replaced by the Cathedral of St. Andrews in 1160. St. Andrews then became the religious capitol of Scotland and a great centre for the Medieval pilgrims who came to view the relics.

There is little evidence of truth to the St. Rule story, though the name exists still today in Scotland. There is St. Rule Tower which remains amongst the ruins of St. Andrew's Cathedral.

The history of Trick or Treating

WHO doesn't love Trick or Treating? As a child, it was so exciting to go shopping with mom to find the perfect outfit. I remember one year being Wonder Woman. I remember the plastic outfit I would wear and the face with the elastic band to hold it in place. Trying to find your way around looking through the tiny eye slots. How my voice sounded talking through the mask. How about the smell of the plastic. I still love that smell and when it hits me, I automatically think of the costume.

Sometimes we would make our own costume. Those were just as fun! Now that I am the mom, Halloween is just as fun. I went today to the store to buy my son the items needed to turn him into Frankenstein. My older two, along with their father, participate every year in the local Haunted House, so it is just he and I going around town.

This got me to wondering though, how did Trick or Treating come about?

This event dates back a long time ago to Britain on All Souls Day, which was Nov. 1. The beggars would "go a souling" or begging door to door. Housewives would give them special treats called "soul cakes" and the "soulers" would promise to say a prayer for the dead. The term "Trick or Treating" is an American tradition and can be found in print for the first time after 1939.

Scotland and Ireland also do this on All Souls day and they call this guising as the children are in disguises. The children in these two countries perform, whether it be singing, reciting a poem, or a card trick. Then the household will give them their treat. In Ireland, as an old custom, they do this in preparation of the festival of St. Columbkill.

So, we have the fun part of it down, but why do we do this on Oct. 31? Well, the Celts believed that the night before their New Year blurred the boundaries between the living and the dead. The Celts believed that the spirits came to Earth to cause mischief and make animals sick. The Celts would also use the presence of the spirits to foretell the future.

Samhain, pronounced saw-win, means summers end. This was what the Celts called their New Year's Eve. During this festival the Celts would dress themselves up in the heads and skin of the recent animals they had killed. They took the weak and the old from their herd on order for the stronger to survive. The made huge bonfires and sacrifices of crops and animals. Then they would take embers from the bonfire and light the fires within their home before extinguishing the huge bonfire. They believed this would offer protection through the winter months.

Imagine this.

You are walking down the dark street in your neighborhood. You are almost home. Your feet hurt and but your child's bag is filled to the rim with his treasures he has collected. Every other corner has a street light on, but the one on the end flickers, shutting off for just the briefest of moments, before turning back on. In those few seconds of total darkness, an owl hoots in the distance and the wind blows, caressing your cheek ever so gently. Goose bumps decorate your flesh. A twig snaps off to your left and you turn quickly to see who or what it is. You feel slightly embarrassed for being so jumpy, but yet, you just can't seem to help yourself. You take two more steps and you hear the sound again. What is the sound you wonder? Your mind plays tricks on you and starts to imagine all sorts of things. And I ask you, could it be the spirits of the dead, come to wander the earth? I'll Let you decide!! Happy Halloween!