A Springtime…

sky,

waddle,

and bloom.

Daffodils

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

William Wordsworth

Harvest Happenings

I love this time of year.  The colours of the leaves are turning and the wind has already started collecting piles of earthen-toned leaves along the sidewalks.  I return to my youth as I kick my way through them on my walks to and from the office.

In celebration of the harvest season, my church holds an annual ‘Harvest Service’ at Alan Hill Farm, a farm store that sells local produce and homemade baked goods, has enclosed animals on the grounds, and has the best view of town around.  We thanked God for the good weather that morning (many years running) and for the farmers around the world, including those whom we know, those whom we don’t but whose fruits of labour we enjoy, and for those struggling to make ends meet in not-so-fertile regions.   It was a beautiful service on a beautiful autumn morning.

I myself have been harvesting fruits as well this autumn.  Judith has a Victorian Plum tree in her back yard, from which I’ve collected dozens of plums over the last couple weeks.  She also has two magnificent apple trees, from which I’ve harvested enough apples to make an apple pie for friends (not my greatest) and a batch of crock pot (or lower aga oven in my case) apple sauce.  Yum!

St Andrews at harvest time.

Otherwise, life here in St Andrews is back in full swing.  While last year I found myself in two tutoring capacities, this year I’m focused on my role as the Study Skills tutor for the University at large.  This means that I meet with undergraduate students on a one-on-one basis and discuss their methods of study: reading comprehension, note taking, scheduling, essay writing, etc., and do my best to provide suggestions for them to assist in the effectiveness and efficiency of their study skills.  I’m so grateful for this job. 

Also in full swing is the use of the ‘Training in Good Academic Practice’ module I was commissioned to write for the University of St Andrews last summer.  The latest report is that approximately 4500 students have taken the course and passed the exams!  Some students are sending the University hate mail for it (not really, but close) and others are writing feedback filled with gratitude and praises for the opportunity to take it.  We like those students. 

In other fun news, I gave a presentation at my church’s Guild Meeting the other night on ‘Life and Ministry in the Wild West’.  It was a slide show of photos and accompanying stories that made the jaw drop of every 65-80 year old women present there that night. 

They seemed to find particular horror in the view from Jeff and Donna’s bathroom… in June.

The take away from the talk, I told them, should be that their winters here are very mild and that they have nothing to complain about.  Even still, one of the women said to me at the end, ‘But there you clearly have people who know how to remove snow from the roads.  Our snow removal men can’t seem to figure it out’.  ‘Yes, that is true’, I told her.  ‘The three times it snows here each winter they do struggle to get the two or three inches off of the ground’!  It was a fun night!

Otherwise, the majority of my time  here is spent working away on the dissertation.  Over the next couple of months I’m writing a chapter focusing on Paul’s Son Christology.  Basically, if Christians are ‘conformed to the image of [God’s] Son’, then we should probably know what it means for Jesus to be God’s Son!  Talk about a lot to read! 

And in all of my spare time (.6 seconds each day) I’m beginning the job search.  Though I won’t have the PhD in hand by next fall, I can nevertheless apply for some jobs in hopes that they’ll allow me to teach and finalize the doctorate while doing so.  Chances are slim of landing a teaching position quite yet, but I’m now at the point of needing to make that effort. 

By the way, do you know anyone who works at or has connections to Carroll College in Helena, MT?  Carroll College has a New Testament position open right now that I’ll apply for.  It’s basically my dream job... and not just because it’s in Montana… though it is about the only teaching position in all of Montana or Wyoming that would suit me.  More than Montana, the institution is a perfect fit for me in a number of ways, far more so than most schools I’ll be applying to.  And, as most of you know… it’s not what you know (though that helps in this case) but who you know!  I had a great uncle who was the registrar there back in the 40’s, but that won’t help me much anymore! 

And with that, you are now caught up on all of my happenings since returning.  It’s now 6:20 am and time for me to translate some German.  Don’t be jealous. 

The First Official Founding: St Mary’s of the Assumption

The year is now 1539.  Martin Luther has nailed his 95 Theses to the Wittenberg door (1517) and has been excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church; the Protestant Reformation is officially under way in Europe; and, in England, Henry VIII has established the Church of England in separation from the Roman Church (1536).  In Scotland, the Papacy still reigns, the Cathedral in St Andrews remains a place of pilgrimage, and Archbishop James Beaton still resides in the St Andrew’s Castle, but small cracks are beginning to form in the Mother Church’s Scottish foundation. 

Only eight years previous, in 1528, a former student of St. Leonard’s College, by the name of Patrick Hamilton, became one of the Protestant Church in St Andrew’s most well known martyrs.  He was tried, convicted, and burned at the stake by Archbishop James Beaton for teaching the heretical doctrines of Martin Luther, which he had become acquainted with during his travels to Paris.  He was burned at the stake outside of St. Salvator’s Chapel, where a monogram of his initials silently testifies to his Lutheran witness today.

(A legend exists today that if students step on the monogram at any point during the course of their studies, then they won’t receive their degree.  If they do unwittingly step on the stones, however, all is not lost.  They need only to join the rest of the inebriated students at 5am on the 1st of May for the annual ‘May Dip’.  A baptism of sorts in the icy North Sea for the remission of University sins.)

Though St. John’s College was abandoned in 1527, its presence lived on, even in the form of a school of divinity.  Only 12 years later, in 1539, then current Archbishop James Beaton requested of the Pope that a new College be founded on the same site, which, at this point, is still just the buildings along South Street, particularly the Chapel of St John the Evangelist and the Principle’s House.  A Papal Bull and a meeting in the St Andrew’s Castle made the new college official on February 7, 1537.  It was to be called St. Mary’s of the Assumption and to be dedicated to the training of new priests for the Catholic ministry.  The Archbishop was determined that the Roman Catholic Church would remain dominant in Scotland.  Unfortunately, less than one week later, Archbishop James Beaton died of ill health and would not see the College flourish.  His nephew, Cardinal David Beaton, succeeded him in establishing the College on the site of St. John’s College, still referred to as The Pedagogy. 

Over the next six or seven years, Cardinal David Beaton had a library built on the site where today sits the Eastern half of the King James Library and Parliament Hall.  Cardinal Beaton’s library was to become the primary library for the University of St Andrews for the next several hundred years. 

The years from 1539 to 1550 were nothing short of tumultuous for the College, the University, and the town.  Protestantism was spreading throughout Europe and beginning to find significant support in Scotland.  On March 1, 1546, Cardinal Beaton followed in his uncle’s footsteps and had a Scottish Protestant minister by the name of George Wishart burned at the stake.  Wishart was responsible for spreading the teachings of Calvin and Zwingli throughout Scotland, as well as raising up his famous disciple, John Knox. 

In retaliation, Protestant supporters murdered Cardinal Beaton on May 29th of that same year, mutilating his body and hanging it from the window of the St Andrew’s Castle, the Cardinal’s residence.  It is said to have been hanged in the second-story front-facing window of the remaining tower—for everyone to see.

Much would change for the College of St. Mary’s of the Assumption over the course of the next century, but it will all require its own post.  Until next time…

The Unofficial Founding: St John’s College

Imagine that it’s 1413. 600 years ago this year. Scotland is as Catholic as it ever was, and the University of St Andrews, Scotland’s first University, is being founded by Papal Bulls coming from ‘Anti’-Pope Benedict XIII in France at the end of the ‘Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy’.

Now imagine that it’s 6 years later—1419. A chapel dedicated to St. John the Evangelist stands on the south side of South Gait (Street) (somewhere near the intersection of the current King James Library and Parliament Building) and is given to the founding of Faculties of Theology and the Arts within the University, colloquially known as The Pedagogy.

And now it’s 1430, 11 years later. The University of St Andrews is 17 years young and boasts two Colleges: St Salvator’s College and St. Leonard’s College. The Pedagogy has grown as other buildings along South Gait have been slowly erected over the last eleven years, and is now declared by the current Roman Catholic Bishop, Bishop Wardlaw, as the official site of the third College of the University of St Andrews.  Not St. Mary’s, but St. John’s College.

Unfortunately, St. John’s College failed to develop any further, and by 1527 was so obsolete that it was officially abandoned as a College of the University.

Today, only one of the original buildings from St. John’s College remains: The Principle’s House. Since its inception, the College has been governed by an acting Principle—someone who overseas the governance of the school.  Today the role is entirely administrative and far less authoritative, given that the College has basically lost its original autonomy and is now governed more by the University at large than by its own adjudicators.  Nevertheless, the Office of Principle of the College remains, and, historically, has been a rather prestigious position to hold. 

What doesn’t remain, however, is his residence.  For most of the College’s history, the Principle and his family lived on-site, as did most of the faculty and a major portion of the students of the College, and he lived in this house.  Today it plays host to faculty offices, what’s known as the Senior Common Room, and a few classrooms; but more on that anon!

You can see approximately half of the original Principle’s House in the photo below, the box-like building with the white gable just to the right of centre. At this point in the College’s history, a stone wall stood in the place of the current gated entrance and the tower-like building with a staircase entrance and building extending to the left did not exist. The Principle’s House stood alone and, at this point, was unadorned by lintels.

Here’s the less-photogenic, but more clearly visible street-side view.  When it was part of St. John’s College, the archway extending to the left was a simple stone wall and, from what I can tell by some drawings I’ve seen, the roof had a more flat-like appearance, or perhaps the third level didn’t exist at all.  The paint doesn’t do much for the aesthetics of the building today, but, along with the lack of lintels, it does keep its appearance slightly more basic and true what the original probably looked like. 

Now imagine that the street is a simple dirt path with horses drawing carriages and men and women pushing carts and wheel barrows filled with fresh produce and grains, and you have yourself a proper mid-1400’s Principle’s House of St. John’s College scene!  Most passers by would have no clue that it is one of the oldest buildings of St Andrews still in use today. 

St Mary’s College and Her Living History

The grounds of St Mary’s College, the School of Divinity here at the University of St Andrews, are some of the most beautiful parts of not only the University, but of the entire town.  On sunny days, students are seen lounging on its grasses, professors standing and chatting in its courtyard, and tourists passing through, snapping photos of the 460+ year old College.  It’s truly hard not to enjoy this place.

Like all of Europe’s late medieval building sites, the extant buildings, walls, and features of St Mary’s are a silent witness to the changes throughout her history.  Some of these changes are noticed, but unquestioned.  Many, though present and visible, are never noticed.  And most are hidden by renovations and modernizations throughout their years.  The stones of buildings and walls have been added to, renovated, moved, torn down and rebuilt, or contemporized, and now hide the St Mary’s College that once was but is no longer.  

Envisioning what life might have been like as a student or professor 200, 300, or 400 years ago here is often what consumes my thoughts as I pass from one building to another and is what often inspires yet another photo of the same quadrangle I’ve photographed probably one too many times.  Though I sit on a regular basis in the same room as students did 300 years ago, tutor in the same rooms, and walk the same grounds, I’m confident that my experience at St Mary’s is entirely different than theirs. And yet, in many ways, our experiences are probably very much the same.

I have read pieces of the history of St Mary’s in various places, and what little I know I’d like to share with you.  In a series of posts, I’ll show your photos of the college as it stands today and make an effort to describe to you some of the changes  the buildings, structures, and features of the College have undergone throughout the last five centuries.  A lot can change in 500 years.  It may be difficult for some of you to imagine, having never been here, but perhaps you’ll enjoy learning a bit of the history and seeing the photos nonetheless!  St Mary’s truly has a living history—a history in which I am blessed to participate.

^{**The majority of my information will come from two sources:  Shaw, D.W.D., ed. In Divers Manners:  A St Mary’s Miscellany. St Andrews: St Mary’s College, 1990; and Gow, Elizabeth, Eveline Cowden, Gillian Wood and Dorothy Stewart. A History of the Grounds of St. Mary’s College, University of St. Andrews. A Research Project Undertaken by Heritage Volunteers of Fife Decorative and Fine Arts Society. n.d.}

Patti and Mackenzie Day Two: The East Neuk of Fife

The second day of the overseas Goranson adventures started with sun!  Naturally, it wouldn’t last, but at least we saw it for a couple hours anyway.  Despite the dreariness that set in late morning, we had another wonderful day!

After a spot of breakfast my dear land lady, Judith, drove us to a nearby town where we were to pick up our rental car, and where I made my debut as an Other-Side-of-the-Road-Driver!

As we got in the car at the rental unit we could feel the nervousness exuding from us, particularly from Patti and I.  Can we drive on the other side of the road?  Can we drive with the steering wheel on the other side of the car?  Should we have taken the train?  Are we going to die?  Those were some of my thoughts, anyway, as I climbed in to that driver’s seat and contemplated my life thus far.  I’m happy to tell you that we’re all safe and sound, and that I am now a professional Other-Side-of-the-Road Driver! 

After picking up the car we headed east to the coast where we spent the afternoon touring the East Neuk of Fife, the region of Fife which is known for the quaint fishing villages, boat harbours, and old stone buildings.  We first went to Elie, a village known for its spectacularly long beach that can be walked at low tide.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t low tide.

We made up for not being able to walk the beach in Elie by having a great lunch at another great pub, this time at the Ship Inn.  Kenzie had ‘the best fish and chips [she’s] ever eaten’ and Patti and I shared a seafood platter!  Note the coal fire in the corner!

After Elie we continued down the coast to Pittenweem, my favourite village on the East Neuk.  I love the harbour in Pittenweem, which we seemed to have almost entirely to ourselves, with the exception of the fishermen out doing their work. 

Or at least I’m sure they were contemplating doing their work!

Pittenweem also has some great rock formations and beautiful stone steps that lead down, down, down to the harbour at differing intervals along the coast.  Patti really liked the high stone walls and rock formations!

By this time we were plenty ready for a hot drink so we nipped in to the Cocoa Tree and gave ourselves a proper Scottish chocolate fix!  Three thick and rich hot chocolates, a wonderful orange carrot cake and four specialty chocolates from around the world later, and we were three happy girls!

After Pittenweem we continued on to Crail, another great little village.  We didn’t spend much time there as the rain was picking up, but we did take a few moments to go and look out over the sea.  

Notice the very old sun dial just behind Kenzie!

From the look-out point we could also see the harbour of Crail.

After Crail we decided we were plenty chilled from the east wind coming off of the sea all day and so headed back to St Andrews to a wonderfully warm Gowrie Cottage and Kenzie’s new best friend, Holly, the West Highland Terrier who lives there!

We enjoyed a great Chicken and Leek pie made by yours truly, a nice bottle of wine, and a relaxing evening of listening to the rain pitter patter on the roof top tiles.  It was a great night and a great finish to a spectacular day!

Wish you were all here to enjoy it with us!  Day three will take us north and into the highlands on our overland adventure through Scotland!  Pray for us!

Patti and Mackenzie Day 1: A dreich day in St Andrews

They’re here!  Patti and Mackenzie made it safe and sound to Edinburgh on Tuesday evening, after (what I’m sure was) a delightful trans-Atlantic flight.   More astonishing exciting yet, they made it out of the Amsterdam airport on their layover and in to the city centre for a quick stroll down the lanes and canals of the tulip-filled city before boarding their flight to Scotland.  They tell me that it took them thirty minutes to find the exit out of the airport, so I’m not quite sure just how they managed to actually see Amsterdam and find their way back to the airport to make their next flight, but they did! 

After a bit to eat at an Edinburgh Pub, where Patti had the traditional Cullen Skink Soup and Mackenzie a plate of fish and chips (nothing like diving in to Scottish cuisine!), we boarded the train back north to St Andrews.  We would have gotten home a bit earlier than we did (had I not dazed for just a minute and thereby missed out train stop. oops.), but we eventually made it to Gowrie Cottage, my Scottish home. 

They had a few nice views on the train before all of our eyelids started sinking!

On the train!

Today they slept in and then enjoyed a cup of brew outside in Judith’s beautiful spring garden.  Well, Patti did anyway.  At 10:30.  We almost had to wrestle Kenzie out of bed at 12:15 but she finally decided to reenter the Scottish world! 

Eventually we made our way in to the city centre of St Andrews where we went to The Central, a good pub in town known for its burgers.  There, Kenzie had a chicken burger (boring!) and a hot chocolate (what?), while Patti had the classic Scottish ‘Bangers and Mash’.  Yum! 

Unfortunately, it was a typical dreich day today, so we deferred our visits to St Andrews’ most popular sights until another time and stuck to enjoying the fun shops, card stores, and tea rooms of the town.  They did see St Mary’s College and the King James Library, which are two of the University owned buildings/areas that I spend much of my time in. 

St Mary’s College dates back to the 1400’s.  Just a wee bit older than Mazeppa.

We also made our way down to the Old Course and The Royal and Ancient, but will have to return another time to enjoy its full splendour—not in the rain.  They got a glimpse of the North Sea anyway and a taste for the beauty of St Andrews—gray as it may have seemed today.

We finished the day back at the Cottage eating Fudge Donuts and Frog Cakes from Fisher and Donaldson for supper (having only had ‘breakfast’ a few hours previous!) and enjoying the warmth of the kitchen AGA.  A sweet finish to a truly dreich day.  All in all, I think it was a great first day in Scotland, even despite the rain. 

My apologies—I failed to take many photos since they’ve arrived, but I have plenty to pull from in my growing collection.  Any of those above that seem to be taken on sunny days (minus the sunset!) were probably not taken today! : )

Check back in with you tomorrow!

Hamish McHamish

As I jogged down the centre of town this morning at 7:30, I encountered one of my favourite St Andrews residents who was also out for a morning stroll, and I realized that I’ve never introduced you to him. His name is Hamish McHamish, which, as odd as it sounds, is a traditional Scottish name.  He’s not your typical St Andrews resident, as St Andrews has very few homeless residents that I know of, but he’s more famous than probably everyone else here.  Hamish is known for leaving home when young and essentially spending the rest of his life going from house to house and shop to shop asking for handouts and shelter for a night, or even just for a few hours.  Oddly enough, no one really minds because he’s such a sweet and gentle soul, which is a rather remarkable feat.

He even has a book written about him.  That’s right… not by him, but about him.  He has been featured in numerous newspapers, radio shows, and even t.v. shows from outside of St Andrews.  There’s even talk of a statue to be erected in his honour.  Hamish McHamish is legendary here.

On all of the occasions that I’ve crossed paths with him I’ve never once had my camera with me to get a photo of the two of us.  But there are plenty of him on the web, and on his Facebook page… where he has nearly 5,000 friends.

So meet St Andrew’s most famous citizen, Hamish McHamish.

Not a bad looking chap.

Here’s a couple photos of him as well as the cover of his book. 

It’s always a treat to run in to him on the streets, especially on quiet Sunday mornings when no one else is about.  Come visit me and I’ll introduce him to you.

Someday soon I’ll introduce you to two other St Andrews resident well-known in these parts:  Tommy Milne and Star the Wonder Dog.  And yes, they’re as cool as they sound!

Lunch Breaks

The building in the background is The Roundel, a.k.a my office. 

The stones in the foreground make up The Cathedral, a.k.a the office of Catholic clergy from approximately 400-900 years ago. 

The Cathedral now only bears the marks of its long history, and thousands of stories are left untold.  On my lunch breaks I often find myself standing here and wondering just what those stories might be… 

…and what characters they might include. 

What do you see on your lunch breaks?

Spring is Sprung

Spring is sprung,

The grass is riz,

I wonder where the birdies is?

The little bird is on the wing,

But that’s absurd!

The wing is on the bird!  (by Anonymous)

Castle Sands

There are three beaches in St Andrews: East Sands, West Sands, and Castle Sands.  Castle Sands has been closed since I arrived here one and a half years ago, and has just recently reopened.  Supposedly it was closed due to ‘safety’ reasons.  Not sure what was unsafe about it (though I suspect absolutely nothing, since it hasn’t been touched since I’ve arrived), but never mind, it is now back in play. 

All three beaches are different and have their own attractions.  East Sands is the middle size of the three and has the harbour and pier in its view.  West Sands is huge, is the beach scene from Chariots of Fire, and has a beautiful view of the face of St Andrews. 

Castle Sands is, by far, the smallest of the three beaches, and because it is nestled below the rock cliffs atop which the town is built, there is no view of the buildings, other than one—the St Andrews Castle… or what remains of it.     

Since it’s been such a busy season, I haven’t taken the time yet to truly enjoy Castle Sands, but I did grab my camera one morning and spent a few moments before work grabbing a few photos for you all.  The sun was rising over the sea and casting its golden rays directly onto the castle.  Magnificent!

I hope you can disregard the fact that the focus is slightly off in the photo below (thank you) and appreciate instead the beauty of the sea glass found on Castle Sands, as it is on most beaches along the sea coast here.  Jar-fulls of sea glass can be collected on these beaches… and they are!  If you’re interested in St Andrews sea glass, particularly jars of it or jewelry made out of it, check out my friend Rachel’s budding sea glass business, the profits of which are being used to finance a missions trip for her family.

Hope your day there is as sunny and as beautiful as this one was here!

Too Tired To Think of a Title

Just wanted to say ‘hi’… and let you know that I’m still alive.  My apologies.

Needless to say, there’s quite a bit going on here these days.  February is a ‘hold your head above the water’ month for me. 

It’s a good thing I like swimming.

This picture is from last year sometime.  One of the many glorious sunrises  over the North Sea… and out my office window.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.  (By the way, does anyone know what ‘glorious’ means?  I’m trying to write a chapter on it.  If you have any suggestions, I’d be happy to hear them!)

‘And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace’.  (Luke 1:76-79 ESV)

I hope you are all well! 

P.S. – If you don’t hear from me by March 2nd, come find me.  Just follow the sunrise.

Country Roads

Contrary to common opinion, I do not spend my Scottish days traveling and exploring these foreign lands.  Quite the opposite, really.  Like most research students, the majority of my day is spent indoors and immobile, reading and studying, reading and studying.  There are short intermissions here and there for trips to the loo or refilling my water bottle, and sometimes quick walks to the library or tutoring sessions.  Mostly, though, I just sit, and sit, and sit.

I do, however, try to get in a good 4-mile walk every day, for the sake of both exercise and (as we creep toward the winter solstice) my ever decreasing levels of Vitamin D; and since moving to the other edge of town, I’ve discovered the St Andrews countryside just out my back door.  Well, maybe not just out my back door, but no further than half a mile out my back door.  Or front door.  Or side door.  Or whatever.

So, nothing special, but here’s the St Andrews’ countryside that I walk on the weekends.  (I have another route for weekdays, which is almost as magnificent.)  It’s a small taste of home.  There are no gravel roads, but there are hay fields and horses and beautiful autumn colors, and sometimes good looking chaps in their muddy tractors that give me a Scottish farmer’s wave as they pass. 

The beech shrubs are beautiful this time of year.

The sunrise walk…

Once at the top of one of the hills, I overlook all of St Andrews.  In the picture below is the Duke’s Golf Course, above the whole of St Andrews being enveloped in the sunlight of a new day.

Come and take a walk with me!