I wonder how many know that St Andrew had a horrible death in Greece, crucified on a cross like the one on the Scottish flag. He refused an ordinary cross like Jesus because he did not feel worthy to share the same death. So he was tied on with ropes and took 3 days to die.
Scots claim that some of his bones came to Scotland about 732 AD and eventually to St Andrews Cathedral. These were destroyed during the reformation.
However in 1879 another of his bones was sent to us from Amalfi in Italy and in 1969 the Pope gave another one to Cardinal Grey. These now reside in the Metropolitan Cathedral of St Marys in Edinburgh
I think this is (perhaps) a day that means more to expatriate Scots than resident Scots. We spent 2 years in Canada and it was a very big deal out there. All those with Scottish links would get together and become thoroughly maudlin about "the good old homeland". Kilts would be donned with all sorts of wonderful accessories One year the local paper published photos of the local kilted gentlemen, but only from the waist downwards. Readers were invited to guess the identities!
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