A Few Easter Traditions In Scotland

Some Easter traditions or customs observed in Scotland.

Easter Eggs


The custom of giving eggs at the time of the Spring Equinox was known to the early Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Gauls and many other people. This ancient fertility symbol was adapted by early Christianity in connection with the miracle of the Resurrection and the Feast of Eggs became attached to the celebration of Easter. In Scotland eggs were also used in the Beltane rites ( 1 May ), and like bannocks, were rolled downhill in imitation of the movement of the sun. In Christian times, the rolling of the egg is supposed to represent the rolling away of the the stone from the tomb of the risen Christ.

The practice of coloring the eggs is also ancient. The Persians dyed theirs red, and still use colored eggs representing the flowers of the field. In Scotland, country bairns used to gather Whin* blossoms  and other growing things with which to dye their eggs. Commercial Easter Eggs seem to dominate now-a-days but it is far more fun for bairns, of all ages, to make the real thing! Eggs are traditionally given out on Easter Sunday and lets revive the practice of rolling your Pasch (Scots for Easter ) Egg. (see http://www.electricscotland.com/culture/features/food/easter_eggs.htm)

*Whin Blossoms

Hot Cross Buns

There was a festival for "Eastre", a Saxon goddess of fertility, in pre-Christian times which was integrated into the Christian calendar. The date is moveable, because the calculation is based on phases of the Moon. In Scotland, to this day, "hot cross buns" are baked, containing spices and fruit and with a white pastry cross. (See .  http://www.rampantscotland.com/features/festivals.htm )

A hot cross bun is a spiced sweet bun made with currants or raisins, marked with a cross on the top, and traditionally eaten on Good Friday in the UK. The buns mark the end of Lent and different parts of the hot cross bun have a certain meaning, including the cross representing the crucifixion of Jesus, and the spices inside signifying the spices used to embalm him at his burial.

http://foodnessgracious.com/2013/03/traditional-hot-cross-buns/

English folklore includes many superstitions surrounding hot cross buns. One of them says that buns baked and served on Good Friday will not spoil or grow moldy during the subsequent year. Another encourages keeping such a bun for medicinal purposes. A piece of it given to someone ill is said to help them recover. If taken on a sea voyage, hot cross buns are said to protect against shipwreck. If hung in the kitchen, they are said to protect against fires and ensure that all breads turn out perfectly. The hanging bun is replaced each year. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_cross_bun)

An old rhyme sung by children:

"Hot cross buns!
Hot cross buns!
one a penny, two a penny,
Hot cross buns!

If you have no daughters,
give them to your sons.
One a penny two a penny,
Hot cross buns!"

Easter Bunny

Rabbits, due to their fecund nature, have always been a symbol of fertility. The Easter bunny (rabbit) however may actually be an Easter hare. The hare was allegedly a companion of the ancient Moon goddess and of Eostre.

Strangely the bunny as an Easter symbol seems to have it's origins in Germany, where it was first mentioned in German writings in the 16th Century. The first edible Easter bunnies appeared in Germany during the early 1800s, they were made of pastry and sugar.

In the UK children believe that if they are good the "Easter Bunny " will leave (chocolate) eggs for them.

(See https://mystrawberryfieldsforever.wordpress.com/2012/04/09/the-easter-bunny/)

www.dailymail.co.uk

www.ohbiteit.com

Deep-Fried Eggs

Deep-fried chocolate Easter eggs are sold around Easter time in Scottish fish and chips shops. The idea was invented in a northeastern Scottish takeaway as a sequel to the extremely popular deep fried Mars Bar.

 

 

 

Wishing Everyone a Happy and Blessed Easter!

Sunday Breakfast at the Campbells

Heya everyone happy Easter this week! 

This last week we've been doing lots of finding to try and get SOMEONE to teach.

Just been knocking a lot of doors sadly not very many interesting experiences happened that are crazy or funny in regards to finding this week.

We did find a couple of people that we set up appointments with this week, 2 of which are today.

Names are Lee and Kevin and we're hopefully going to see a guy named Wayne later in the week. Hopefully they go well. 😊

We were at Chris' house teaching him and his kids when a guy was peering into the back window of the house looking for something or someone. I told Chris looks like a person is looking for him and Chris goes to talk to him and comes back and says that he was just a junkie trying to sell a cheap radio to get money for drugs.

Chris lives in Newtongrange by the way so slowly over time we are increasing the uppness on our drug encounters, haha.

Last night we had an interesting couple of phone calls.

The first one was a phone call from a Sister missionary in the Washington DC temple mission who gave us a referral. Last place I'd expect to get a phone call from!

Well we called up the referral because she wanted us over that night requesting a visit because she was "lonely". She said she was 39 and her name was Kimberly. So I call her up and she's really excited to hear that we called, problem was she sounded a lot younger than she said she was (suspicions start at this point).

She then asked if we were coming over and I had to tell her no not that night because bus travel on Sundays is a nightmare from horrible schedules. I asked her if there was another time we could come around because she said she wanted to talk with a Mormon and talk about Jesus.

Well she said no it had to be that night. I told her again we couldn't and she stopped talking. I hung up and called her again and tried to re-establish why she wanted us over that night and all she'd say was "I'm lonely! I want to talk to somebody. I want to be happy." I basically told her we couldn't come over as nicely as I could. She hung up after that. So yea.... phone call #2 from someone sexually soliciting us on my mission. 😰



On a more uplifting note, the most spiritual moment this week was probably at Stake Conference yesterday. Annette was struggling again because of the problems in her family which cause her sometimes to doubt and she felt like giving up but when she came to SC I knew she was feeling the Spirit strongly because I was the whole time.

She messaged us after telling us how much better she felt and it was an answer to prayers.

Anyhow, all of yous take care and remember the true path to happiness. Jesus Christ and his Infinite Atonement this wonderful Easter Sunday.

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/church-shares-because-he-lives-easter-initiative

https://www.lds.org/church/news/watch-and-share-2016-easter-video-hallelujah?lang=eng

Take care and God bless!

Love yous all,


Elder Tarbet (Wolverine)

MOM'S NOTES:

We received a very welcome surprise of photos on Saturday, March 19, 2016 from our dear friend Anne who met with Elder Tarbet and Elder Roylance and took them to lunch. Thank you Anne for the wonderful surprise, for feeding them and always keeping us up to date with photos! 💞



 
 

 

 

On Sunday, March 20, 2016, we received this picture from Sister Campbell!

 

 Breakfast at the Campbells. Sister Campbell provided them with a wonderful breakfast, porridge, a traditional fry-up, the works. Thank you Sister Campbell. 💐

INFO  ON    NEWTONGRANGE:

Newtongrange is about 3 miles south of Dalkieth.

NEWTON GRANGE,     MIDLOTHIAN ,  SCOTLAND 

"Newtongrange is a former mining village in Midlothian, Scotland. Known in local dialect as Nitten, or Nitten by the Bing, it became Scotland's largest mining village in the 1890s, with the sinking of the Lady Victoria Colliery a shaft over 1600 feet deep. This closed in 1981 but today houses the National Mining Museum, an Anchor Point of ERIH – The European Route of Industrial Heritage." - Wikipedia

www.geograph.org.uk

Newtongrange Cottages
www.tripmondo.com

Lady Victoria  Colliery,  Newtongrange  

www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk

Scottish  Mining  Museum,  Newtongrange
www.midlothianadvertiser.co.uk

 

 

A Little Something For Harry Potter Fans!

Heya everyone. 

So this week has been..... well let's just say kinda would've rather not had the beginning of the week but hey we learn from experience don't we. 

So this week we are sorry to say that Maxine will not be getting baptized as she is no longer investigating. 

Also we weren't able to see Lilly during the week to teach so just been busy finding.

Had a funny (at least looking back now it is) experience where we were early to one of our appointments we set up with a potential while chapping and as we got there to chap around we saw the women leave her home and walk down the street with a friend a good 10 min before our appointment. Didn't really find anyone while out chapping but we still always have a good ole time doing it, haha :)

Monday we got permission for Jack to take us into Edinburgh where we went to one of the Museums which was pretty cool. 

We also got to see the statue of Gray Friar Bobby's dog and went around the cemetery where Gray Friar Bobby is.

 

In the cemetery is actually the grave of Thomas Riddell who J. K. Rowling got inspiration for Tom Riddle in Harry Potter so obviously I got pics of that.

 

Take care of yourselves and God Bless!

Love yous all,

Elder Tarbet (Wolverine)

Pictures from visit to Greyfriars 

 

 

 

 

NOTES FROM MOM:

GREYFRIARS KIRK (Church)

One of Edinburgh's most famous churches, Greyfriars Kirk was built on the site of a Franciscan friary and opened for worship on Christmas Day 1620. Surrounding the church, Greyfriars Kirkyard is one of Edinburgh's most evocative cemeteries, a peaceful green oasis dotted with elaborate monuments. Many famous Edinburgh names are buried here, including the poet Allan Ramsay (1686–1758), architect William Adam (1689–1748) and William Smellie (1740–95), the editor of the first edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

In 1638 the National Covenant was signed in the kirk, rejecting Charles I's attempts to impose episcopacy and a new English prayer book on the Scots, and affirming the independence of the Scottish Church. Many who signed were later executed at the Grassmarket and, in 1679, 1200 Covenanters were held prisoner in terrible conditions in the southwestern corner of the kirkyard. There's a small exhibition inside the church. (Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/scotland/edinburgh/sights/religious/greyfriars-kirk#ixzz42thWTyqr)

Image from Wikipedia

 

GREYFRIARS BOBBY

 The best-known version of the story is that Bobby belonged to John Gray, who worked for the Edinburgh City Police as a  night watchman. When John Gray died he was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard, the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in the Old Town of Edinburgh. Bobby then became know locally, spending the rest of his life sitting on his master's grave.

In 1867 Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Sir William Chambers--who was also a director of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animls--paid for Bobby's license, and gave the dog a collar now in the Museum of Edinburgh.

www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk

Bobby is said to have sat by the grave for 14 years. He died in 1872 and was buried just inside the gate of Greyfriars Kirkyard, not farm from John Gray's grave.

A year later, the English philanthropist Lady Burdett-Coutts was charmed by the story and had a drinking fountain topped with Bobby's statue erected at junction of George IV Bridge and Canlemaker Row (opposite the entrance to the churchyard) to commemorate him!

Several books and films have since been based on Bobby's life, including the novel Greyfriars Bobby (1912) by Eleanor Atkinson and the films Greyfriars Bobby (1961) and The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby (2006). (Read more: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyfriars_Bobby#)

MUSEUM OF EDINBURGH

The Museum of Edinburgh, formerly known as Huntly House Museum, is a museum in Edinburgh, Scotland, housing a collection relating to the town's origins, history and legends. Exhibits include an original copy of the National Covenant signed at Greyfriars Kirk in 1638 and a reconstruction of Field Marshal Earl Haig's headquarters on the Western Front during the Great War, the latter exhibiting items bequeathed to the Museum.
Situated in the late 16th-century Huntly House on the Royal Mile, the museum is maintained by Edinburgh City Council.

www.eyeonedinburgh.net 

http://www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk/getattachment/Venues/Museum-of-Edinburgh/About/The-history-of-the-building/MOESM.pdf.aspx

 THOMAS RIDDELL'S GRAVE

The grave of Thomas Riddell on Greyfriars Kirkyard in Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

"Sacred to the Memory of Thomas Riddell Esq. of Befsborough, in the County of Berwick who died in Edinburgh on the 24.th Novm. 1806, aged 72 years. ALSO of Thomas Riddell Esq. his Son, Captain of the 14.th Regiment, who died at Trinidad in the West Indies on the 12.th Septm. 1802, aged 26 years. AND of Christian Riddell, his Daughter, who died in Edinburgh on the 29.th Oct, 1808, aged 31 years. ALSO Maira Jane Riddell, his daughter dies 5.th Sept. 1819 aged 47."

“JK Rowling has previously said that the tombstone of Thomas Riddell Esquire in the famous Kirkyard may have subconsciously been the inspiration for nasally challenged Voldemort’s true name, since she often took strolls through the spot, which is overlooked by the Elephant House cafe, where she wrote several of the books.”

 

"The nearby gravestone of poet William McGonagall is also said to have offered inspiration for the name of Professor McGonagall, the head of og Gryffindor, while nearby George Heriot's school is claimed to be a template for Hogwarts." (The Edinburgh News,- Read more: 

http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/voldemort-draws-harry-potter-fans-to-greyfriars-1-3067986)

  

GEORGE HERIOT'S SCHOOL, EDINBRUGH

Image from Google