(Irish) Country Roads, Take Me Home

Piper in St Andrews

If any of you are like me, you enjoy not so much watching television, but advancing through as many channels as possible without ever watching ten seconds of any of them.  As soon as I pick up a remote control, I look for the international "+" sign and start clicking.  Last nite, it happened.  As I perused the Indian, French, Egyptian, Italian, and Spanish news stations (just to name a few) and reluctantly passed over the Bollywood offerings, I happened upon Ireland West TV Music.  And to make the pudding that much sweeter, the show was an infomercial on Irish country music.


I sat riveted for the better part of an hour, listening to Nathan Carter alternate between Vince Gill hits and the ballads of Buck Owens (this show is very similar to the Midwest Country Show, which airs on RFD television).   His website contains testaments from The Possum (George Jones, who really does resemble that marsupial) and Gene Watson, so he must be good.  The hosts made the sales pitch ("a once in a lifetime offer....) but they seemed to be more excited about "Gentleman" Jim Reeves and music that was available at a "low, low price".  Throw in a ShamWow and I am sold.  Don't look so sad, I know this part of the blog is over.  But, I wrote this bit for the good times...

View of Market Street, St Andrews

The weather forecast for the day is "buckets of rain" with 20mph winds in Edinburgh and periods of snow later this afternoon in the more northerly sections of Scotland. Rather than take pictures of the rain, I thought I would give you a bit of history of St Andrews town and provide a snapshot view of some local attractions.


Just who was St Andrew?  Well, for starters he was one of the twelve original apostles and the brother of Simon Peter.  He was also crucified on an "X" shaped cross, or Saltire.  The history of St Andrew is firmly linked through myth to the Picts.  An enigmatic group of people, the name given to them more than likely is of Roman origin, from the Latin "to paint," as the Picts adorned themselves with various tattoos or dyes.  We do not know what they called themselves; we do know, though, that they were a Celtic people occupying northern areas of what is now termed Scotland.  In 735, the Picts - under the leadership of Aengus McFergus - and the Northumbrians were on the verge of war.  Legend asserts that in a dream the evening before the battle, McFergus saw St Andrew bearing his Saltire.  The next morning, the Picts glimpsed a cloud-shaped cross against a brilliant blue sky.  The Picts defeated the Northumbrians, the white Saltire on a blue background was adopted as the flag, and St Andrew became the patron Saint of Scotland.  Around the world, St Andrew's Day is celebrated on November 30.


The town itself is quite old and an important seat of political, religious, and academic history.  It is also home to a little-known putt-putt course called the Royal & Ancient.  Apologies to golf fans...

The next British Open champion

View of the bakery

Around the town, there are many shops, pubs, and restaurants.  One of my personal favorites is Fisher & Donaldson, a bakery that specializes in all types of tasty treats.  Of course, the fudge donut is a must have: topped with caramel frosting and filled with custard, this low-carb, low-fat goody is a healthy addition to any diet! Yum.  

Some cheeky seagull got to this first!

While studying in Scotland, I played in a Scottish/bluegrass/gospel/country band called No Strings Attached.  We always received a lot of requests, but played anyway.  One of our favorite gigs (really about the only venue that would book us) was Aikman's Bar.  Actually it was the Cellar Bar, which seems ironic now...(boys, we hit the bottom).  As long as our repertoire included "Country Roads" and "Folsom Prison Blues," the crowd went home reasonably happy.

Grand Ole Opry