London, GB | Formerly of New York, Buenos Aires, Fife, and the Western Cape. | Saoránach d’Éirinn.

Journey to Scotland

Aboard the train from Edinburgh Waverley to London King’s Cross

Perhaps foolish to title this entry ‘Journey to Scotland’ as I’ve already crossed the border into England, and indeed my train has just crawled past the beautiful towers of York Minster. I arrived in Scotland on Saturday and neglected to make the pilgrimage to my alma mater of St Andrews but instead spent all of my time in the elegant confines of Edinburgh. Saturday night beheld a splendid repast, including salmon freshly arrived from Ireland, champagne, and brandy cake. After the glories of an old-rite Mass on Sunday morning there was tea aplenty (and brief chats with Gerald Warner and Fra Freddy) before enjoying tankards of champagne near Queen Street Gardens, followed by an excellent late lunch in one of Auld Reekie’s best Italian restaurants, topped off with hot apple pie and a bit of Bas Laubade armagnac (1946).

On Monday I took a break from eating and called at one of my favourite paintings in the National Gallery on the Mound (Pas Mèche by Jules Bastien-Lepage) before a pub lunch with very good friends. A few pints in the Guildford Arms next to New Register House (home to the Court of the Lord Lyon, for those heraldically inclined) led to the standard student dinner of spag bol in a flat off Morningside Road. Yesterday, however, my old friend Richard Demarco led me on a personal tour of Arthur’s Seat and Salisbury Crags in Holyrood Park. A most remarkable guide, with a flair for the dramatic, Richard adeptly explained the ancient significance of the stunning site and declared it a monument even greater than the Pyramids because, unlike those Egyptian constructs, these crags and hills were made not by man but by God.

One of the false conveniences of the modern internet lifestyle is that global websites often redirect themselves to the local version when one is outside the United States. In Montreal just a few weeks ago, I put in “google.com” and automatically got “google.ca”. Similarly, in Scotland, logging out of YahooMail, one is redirected to “yahoo.co.uk” rather than “yahoo.com” regardless of your actual email address. More curiously, however, while passing through Northumberland, I logged on to “google.com” and was redirected to “google.se — Google Sverige”, the Swedish version of Google. Have the Northmen returned, albeit electronically, to claim back the lands that once were theirs?

I am now off to London. My aforementioned friend Richard Demarco is, for lack of a better phrase, big in the arts world of Scotland; this is so despite his strident opposition to much of the arts establishment. Richard believes that divine veneration must be the animating spirit of great art, and that the current reign of nonsense and malarchy in art stems from its divorce from the reality of the Incarnation. For veneration, then, tonight’s eve of the New Year will be commemorated at Brompton Oratory with a Holy Hour and Benediction starting at 11:00pm. Tomorrow’s feast will be marked by yours truly at Spanish Place, where a Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form will be celebrated.

Arrivederci, then, to 2008, and a very happy and blessed new year to all the denizens of this little corner of the web.

Published at 9:11 am on Wednesday 31 December 2008. Categories: Edinburgh Great Britain Journal Scotland Tags: , .
Comments

As I know many of our gentlemen scribes routinely make the spiritual journey to your little corner of the web, all of us at The Monarchist wish you the happiest and look forward to all of your musings (may there be many) in 2009.

— The Monarchist 31 Dec 2008 10:16 am

Next time, tarry longer! God bless!

— Mark M 31 Dec 2008 11:13 am

Wishing you all the best for a happy and prosperous new year.

When you return, let’s celebrate over a good pint.

God bless!

— Alessandro 31 Dec 2008 11:51 am

Andrew, We will be toasting you this afternoon at one of your old Lexington Avenue hang outs, and I will be showing folks the reproduction of Pas Meche that the National Gallery has on their web site. A Happy and Healthy New Year to you, your family and all who visit your corner of the net.

— Steve M 31 Dec 2008 11:51 am

Article in AM New York today on “Comeback for
Latin Mass. Mentioned St Agnes,OurSavior and now Our Lady of Mt Carmel chuch were Fr John
Ruvo is Pastor up in the Italian section
of the Bronx. What is the difference between a Traditional Latin Mass and “in low voiced Latin Mass”? Do they really whisper? It should be shouted from the rafters.

— Matthew Cusack 31 Dec 2008 12:08 pm

We’ll raise a glass to you tonight, m’lud, and very best for the new year. Regards, blessings, and best wishes from tous les Harrington & la Smith as well.

— Robert Harrington 31 Dec 2008 9:37 pm

But where’s Hogarth?

— Liz Smith 31 Dec 2008 9:40 pm

“Arrivederci” is “See you again” but we’ll never see again the year 2008,alas!

— Sergio 2 Jan 2009 2:39 pm

By all accounts a very splendid trip indeed. Many blessings to you and yours for 2009.

— Capt Stephen Chledowski 3 Jan 2009 12:46 pm
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