Saint Andrew’s Day!
30 November marks the Feast Day of St. Andrew, the apostle who has been Scotland’s patron saint since the Dark Ages. I don’t think we’ve ever quite known what to do with St. Andrew’s Day in Scotland, it feels a distinct third place in the ‘Scottish Days’ calendar behind Hogmanay and Burns Night. I am here to stake a case for us celebrating the day a bit more and, naturally, I think we should use it to explore & reflect on our heritage a wee bit and leave the boozing, haggis and poetry to the other two! So with that in mind, let me share one explanation for how he came to become Scotland’s Patron and why a good way to celebrate him might be to head into England! Read on…
The remains of the extraordinary St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Fife. They speak of a place of incredible devotion and pilgrimage.
Credit: VisitScotland / Kenny Lam
One well established explanation for St. Andrew becoming Patron of Scotland is that St. Regulus, a very early (4th century) Christian missionary, brought the relics of the apostle to Scotland and was shipwrecked in Fife, creating the Cathedral and town of St. Andrew’s on the spot with the finger bones and various other fragments of his body as the centrepiece. A romantic, dramatic and rugged tale for sure. Further legend has it that 500 years later in the year 832 at The Battle of Athlestaneford (modern East Lothian) the Pictish King Angus II saw an X shaped cross in the sky ahead of his battle with the Anglian’s of Northumberland. St. Andrew was crucified on a x shaped or saltire cross and Angus also claims to have had a vision of the Saint, helping to lead the Picts to victory over the Northumbrians, and giving birth to Scotland’s flag. There’s a very fine wee visitor centre at Athlestaneford today (housed in a 16th century doocot!) which tells this story. All of this seems shrouded in a very foggy mist of time and scant written sources, but these two events have become generally accepted as legend and help explain why Andrew is our Patron as opposed to, say, Columba who not only spent time in Scotland but is generally regarded to have created the cradle of Christianity in Britain at Iona.
An alternative to these legends was presented to me just this week, on a visit south of the Border to Hexham in Northumberland. Even in the days of medieval expansion and toing and froing this part of what was Anglian Northumbria and is now England has never been close to being a part of Scotland - but there is a remarkable, underground secret which may hold the real key to Andrew’s patronage of Scotland…
Hexham Abbey, Northumberland
The Abbey Church is dedicated to St. Andrew
Hexham is a bustling market town in Tynedale, Northumberland and is renowned for its magnificent Abbey, which has stood for over 1,300 years. The present structure primarily dates from the 12th and 13th centuries, with additions from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Unlike the Abbeys north of the Border, Hexham's monastic buildings were not destroyed, making the site a fascinating place to explore for a whole morning.
The oldest part of the original church, linked to St. Andrew, has to be one of the UK's wonders. The Anglo-Saxon crypt, built by St. Wilfrid around 674 AD, is an intricately designed shrine. It features two corridors leading to a central chamber that once said to have housed the relics of saints, including St. Andrew’s finger and other bones. For a small fee, visitors in the present day can descend into the crypt — I have to say it is a truly remarkable experience. The warmth and dampness are palpable as you navigate the narrow north and south corridors (which would have been pitch black for pilgrims, to enhance the spiritual experience), leading to a small antechamber and the shrine itself. Here, you sense both the immense weight of the church above and the 2,000 years of history surrounding you. The crypt not only connects you to the Dark Ages but also showcases the Roman masonry reused by the Anglo-Saxons, showing the long and fascinating history of Northumberland.
As I emerged from the crypt, my genial Northumbrian guide greeted me, remarking in his broad regional accent, “St. Andrew’s bones might still be doon there if you Scots hadna pinched them!” Whether the relics were taken north by fair means (perhaps by St. Acca, Bishop of Hexham, who was exiled in the 8th century) or otherwise, remains uncertain. If this version is true, then perhaps the legend of Regulus being shipwrecked was invented and backdated to add more ancient weight to Andrew’s Scottish link?
What I love about this story is how it highlights the twists of history — if the relics had stayed in Hexham, perhaps England would fly the saltire today, and celebrate Andrew, not George. The whole path of history might have changed - we might even have been spared listening to ‘Three Lions’ every few summers. Here in Scotland we might have adopted St. Columba as our Patron, and celebrated in a more Celtic manner on June 9th. We simply don’t know, but my recommendation to you this St. Andrews Day is to dive into Scotland’s rich history and find out more about the people, places and events that shaped us - you might find a surprise or two.
Happy St. Andrew’s Day!
Hexham Abbey is open daily from 10am - 4pm and welcomes visitors. Entry is free but please donate if you can - it costs around £15,000 per week to maintain the building. The Abbey is an inclusive and thriving Anglican church with regular events and services, and I was given such a warm welcome by the excellent volunteer guides. Entrance to the crypt is £3 per person but for anyone able to navigate the steep stairs then it is a must do.
