I Wish We Had Bagpipes and Kilts at Our Wedding
St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, and all around the world today, those of Scottish ancestry celebrate their heritage. One of the traditions in Scotland is to fly the nations flag. Since I don't own one to put outside my house, I figure posting one on my blog (my second home) is as good as any.
I know that I post a lot on my blog about being Irish, but I am a number of other things, one being Scottish. I didn't know much about my Scottish ancestry until I got in touch with a cousin of mine from Utah who had some names and information for me.
Our ancestors came over from Scotland in the mid 1800's. In Scotland, they lived in a town called Paisley, in the area of Renfrew. Though I can't tell for certain, the documents I have add "Abbey" beside the location of Paisley referring to the local Abbey, which was a former monastery and a place where Kings of Scotland have been buried.
While we haven't researched our Scottish history (Matt is Scottish too) as detailed as we have done with our Irish traditions, we wanted to celebrate St. Andrew's Day. Unfortunately since Matt works late, there's little celebrating going on in this house right now. However acknowledging the day is enough for right now. If you'd like, Scotland's First Minister sent out a message to wish all Scots across the globe a good St. Andrew's day. It's really a great read.
So while I'm not Catholic, I can appreciate the history of Scotland and their patron Saint. After all, all things happen for a reason and if it weren't for the circumstances that my ancestors were in long ago in their homeland, they never would have eventually come to America where they in turn settled, started families of their own . . . eventually making me.
And for that, I can be very grateful.
