Sunny Days

Stirling Castle and the Royal Gardens
(taken on one of my sunny day walks!)

I had heard that it rains every day in Scotland – maybe not all day, but at least part of the day, every day. I’m happy to report that this is a false reputation. For the past couple weeks we have been blessed with several terrifically sunny days! I’m trying to make the most of this great weather by spending time outside each day, loading up on fresh air and vitamin D! The air is cool so we have to bundle up, but it’s still great to get out for walks, especially when there are so many great things to see in this city.

I haven’t posted an update since Toby & Rebecca’s visit, so I’ll start from then. After our visitors left on Monday morning, Liam and I went to St. Mary’s for Mass. I had not yet made it to weekday Mass but decided that by week 3, I was well enough established to start making the morning trip to St. Mary’s for 10am. As it turns out, Fr. Kenneth is off on Mondays, so parishioners gather for Liturgy of the Word and communion. I joined the small group gathered in the sacristy, and afterwards was invited to tea by one of the ladies there. I enjoyed a nice visit with her and two others, and then started towards home with the intention of walking about town a bit and taking some pictures.

One of the many historic buildings in Stirling is the Church of the Holy Rude (“rude” is Gaelic for cross). It is situated at the foot of the castle hill, about a five- minute walk from our apartment. I took a few photos of it from a distance and then approached to see if I could go inside. A sign said that it was closed to visitors for the season, but I noticed that the door was ajar so I went in anyway. There were some people inside who appeared to be on a tour of the place. I wanted to hear what the guide was saying but was shy to approach them, so I hung back a bit. Eventually one of the men came over to me and asked where I was from. I asked if the others were on a tour and he said that the church was officially closed but that people (like me!) kept wandering in! I asked him when the church was built and he said, “Well come over here and I’ll tell you about it.” He then led me to the middle of the building and proceeded to give me a short history! I felt very fortunate to have happened upon a free tour of the church! 

Here’s a summary of what he told me: Holy Rude now belongs to the Church of Scotland, but was originally a Roman Catholic church. The first part was built in 1414. A second part was built later – I don’t remember the date. It is the only church in Scotland (still standing) at which a coronation took place – that of James VI, son of Mary Queen of Scots. After the Reformation, Holy Rude was taken over by the Church of Scotland and all the stained glass windows and side altars were removed. Eventually, the congregation split, and a dividing wall was constructed to separate both parties – so there were two different congregations using the church as their place of worship. They were later reconciled, however, and the wall removed. In the 1930’s a transept was added in the middle of the church (where the wall had been), to give it more of a cross shape. A beautiful organ was also purchased and fitted in this space. Gradually, patrons of the church contributed funds to have some of the stained glass windows redone. Today most of the windows are stained glass, but a few are still plain. I wish I had taken pictures of the inside… but I didn’t. Hopefully I’ll have another chance to visit. The church often hosts choir concerts, and we’re planning to attend the Christmas one. Apparently the choir is quite good - I’m looking forward to hearing them.

After visiting Holy Rude, I walked through the cemetery behind it to take some pictures of the castle on a sunny day. Here’s one of the better ones:

Monday night we went out to a birthday party. Christy, whom we met at the Catholic Society, had a birthday that day and invited a bunch of people over for a party. We were also out on Thursday night – one of the girls who had been to our place for dinner the previous week invited the group to her house for dinner. Apart from those two nights out, the week went by fairly quietly. We stayed close to home on the weekend too. We had been very active the previous two weekends, so it was nice to have a bit of down time. Brendan spent most of the weekend studying while Liam and I entertained each other. On Sunday afternoon we joined the youth group in Christmas card making. They make cards every year to sell as a fundraiser for their activities. A few others from CathSoc were there too. We made cards, listened to Christmas music, drank hot chocolate… it was a lovely way to spend an afternoon!

Thanksgiving dinner

This past week has been a bit busier than the previous. Tuesday I had a meeting with Fr. Kenneth and Catriona about helping out with some of the parish ministries, which I’m very excited about. It’s so good to be connected to a parish and have a chance to serve! That evening the Catholic Society held an American Thanksgiving dinner, to which we all contributed various dishes. I made my first roast chicken and stuffing. I worried about over or under cooking the meat, but with directions from my mom, I turned out a successful bird! There was an abundance of delicious food and we all left the table quite thoroughly satisfied!

Father-Son time before Thanksgiving dinner

Wednesday Brendan had planned a special surprise for me. He doesn’t have class on Wednesdays, but he normally goes to school anyway to study. This week, however, he didn’t study at all and we spent the whole day together as a family! In the morning we went to see a pantomime called Snow White of the Seven De’ Wharffs, a modified version of the Snow White story that included a man playing Maria from the Sound of Music! The theatre was packed with school kids, which made the pantomime experience a lot of fun! (Pantomime is a style of theatre in which the actors interact with the audience… hundreds of 6-10 year-olds need very little prompting to engage enthusiastically!). The theatre is at the university, so we stayed afterwards for Mass in the chaplaincy and lunch with our friends. We walked home to make the most of yet another sunny day. 

Some shots taken on our walk home:

Stirling Bridge, where William Wallace won his most
famous battle. 

View of the castle from the bridge

View of the Wallace Monument from the bridge

Tonight CathSoc is hosting a St. Andrew’s Day Ceilidh at St. Mary’s. I’m looking forward to my first real Scottish ceilidh!