We had a great time with the Petticrew Clan in Edinburgh, Scotland! Check out James’s site for some pics!
I had a chance to treat James to some Thai food about a year ago in L.A.. He treated us to fish and chips, blood pudding, fried candy bars, haggis, hospitality at his home, a chance to spend the night in a castle, a kilt towel, opportunities to speak at a Mosaic Edinburgh event and at Trinity Nazarene in Perth, a tour of the city of Edinburgh, desserts at the café where J.K. Rowling began writing Harry Potter, a tour of Perthshire where we saw a sheep, Highland cows, and the William Wallace monument. We certainly received the better end of that deal!
Some other impressions of Scotland:
Scotland has a rich history. We saw several statues of pastors (Chalmers, Knox, Guthrie) and author Sir Walter Scott (author of Ivanhoe). You can hear bagpipes and you see an occasional kilt. One of the bands in Scotland is called the Red Hot Chili Pipers.
The Scottish tend to appreciate freedom. Of course most of us know the story of Braveheart (William Wallace) who helped gain Scottish freedom in the early 14th century. I was fascinated by the Declaration of Arboeth which was one of the first calls for the right of people to rule themselves. Even now, the nationalists seem to be gaining popularity and moving towards independence from the U.K. without resorting to bloodshed. (I saw graffiti with “End London Rule” in several places. I thought it was cool that it was written in chalk rather than paint. Perhaps the graffiti artist wanted the freedom to change his mind or to avoid defacing the beautiful buildings).
Scotland has interesting names for it’s nightclubs such as my favorite “Filthy McNasty’s.” One pub we saw used to be a church but is now called Frankenstein.
According to the Scots, the Irish are Scots that couldn’t swim. Apparentely, the Scots, Irish, and Welsh are all from Celtic backgrounds whereas the English are Anglo Saxon. My last name “Bryant” is from Celtic origins. Apparently, this is where I get my “thriftiness.”
The city of Edinburg is beautiful! It looks like a fairy tale land with so many old buildings, green trees and grass, and a castle on the top of a hill with the Royal Mile surrounded by the first high rise apartment buildings built about 400 years ago.
We pray for the people of Scotland and those seeking to serve them! This place with a rich history stands at the edge of a great future if those we met have any say in the matter. I liked their phrase “The Best Small Country in the World.”
To here the message I shared at Trinity Nazarene in Perth, click here.
I deny I had anything to do with the friend candy bars, that was a Bryant decision and it was Bryant teeth ( Eric & Debbie)that chomped their way through two of them!
It was great to have you guys here you made a great impression, I was up in Perth today everyone was saying how much they had been challenged by what you said.
Next time we will fit in the Highlands! Let’s hope its soon.
And for those interested here is my favourite line from the Deceleration of Arbroath 1320
” … for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom — for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.”
should have been “fried” candy bars, and I still had nothing to do with them!