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10 Aug 2007 Magnus the Martyr of Orkney Category: Religion and Philosophy Driving around the lovely wee isle of Rousey ( O.N:-Hrolfsay - Rolf's Isle ) I had stopped near Westness to walk as there was no-one about and only one car had accompanied me off the ferry and that had long disappeared. The binnoculars scanned for diving gannets and yes, there they were at the tide race between Rousay and the Holy Island of Eynhallow. Two buildings only there - the cottage, which is now a research station for fulmers and the ruined monastery. I could see someone on a bicycle cycling away from the cottage over bumpy ground carrying a rucsac. Driving further on I passed numerous neolithic tombs and chambered cairns, all intact, one covered over by Historic Scotland to preserve it. near Westness. Then I could see brochs and felt that the high number of such places on Rousay gave it the name 'Egypt of the North'. I passed Westness where the Viking Sweyn Aseifsson caught Earl Paul Haakonssen in 1135 and made him 'disappear'. The body was never found. Then around the isle to stop off at Marion's Wee Shop; the only one. There you could buy anything, including tomatoes, fresh vegetables, milk, the weekly Orcadian newspaper, pot plants. In fact I was to return home the following day so did my shopping there for the week. Just after Marion's shop I could see the Holy Isle of Egilsay ( O.N:-Egil's Isle, or Gaelic/Old Norse:- Eaglesey - Church Isle ). The binnoculars scanned the exposed, treeless isle which is only 3 miles by 1.5 miles. The only real big building there was St Magnus' Church with its round tower and roofless nave. Tomstones scattered around the south side. The church was rebuilt after Magnus was murdered there and the present church only dates from the second quarter of the 12th century but like all such churches, contains all the stones from the original. To the right, about a couple of hundred yards away is the memorial stone showing where Earl Magnus Erlendsen was murdered by his cousin as he was jeolous of Magnus. When Magnus realised he had been tricked he knelt down. His cousin's Standard Bearer refused to kill the Earl so his Cook, Lifolf agreed. `Magnus asked him to do it swiftly, with one mighty blow to the skull, which he did. It was 16th April 1116 ( some records show this as 1117 ). Anyway, it was Easter. Magnus' mother Thora pleaded for her son's body and it was taken to nearby Christ Church, Birsay. Many reported strange lights appearing around the church at night-time and many miracles were attributed to Magnus. The wee church of Christ Church is a relatively new building but with many stones and inscriptions from that time. It is now just a Church of Scotland Parish Church but is also a 'thin place' because of its history and the many pilgrims who go to pray there today. Earl Rognvald became the new Earl on Orkney and on 13th December 1137, the Feast Day of Sancta Lucia he layed the foundation stone of the now St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, in honour of Magnus, who was later canonised. Like the building of the still new Parliament House opposite the Palace of the Holy Rood in Edinburgh, Earl Rognvald ran out of money due to rising costs etc. He told farmers and local residents that they needed to provide money for the cathedral building fund as the Earls had now changed Udal (Norse) Law. They did provide the money and the cathedral was built. However, the canny contributors challenged the assumption of the law change and declared that Udal Law is still the Law. Actually, when Orkney, Shetland and northern Scotland was reverted to Scotland, Scots Law incorporated Udal Law. So, today, the Cathedral Church of St Magnus belongs to the people of Orkney - not to the national Church, nor to any denomination. In 1929 the Church of Scotland laid claim to the Cathedral but this was refused by the Local Authority, although they do hold services there and have a Parish Minister at the Cathedral Church. The RC Church hold Masses there whilst their own church undergoes restoration and a priest of St Olaf's Scottish Episcopal Church in Kirkwall, is due to become Assistant "Minister" at the Cathedral Church. The presbyterians of course, have not held on to the Order of Bishops, Priests and Deacons since the Scottish Reformation and all their clergy are just Deacons - or 'Ministers' as they are termed. So, amusingly a priest of my Church is taken down a peg to again become a Deacon, or Assistant Minister of the Kirk, not that there is any shame in that at all; it is just a new experience. The Cathedral Church had another priest there some time ago so the new appointment, by permission nof the Bishop of Aberdeen & Orkney, is a replacement and a help to the very busy Minister of the Cathedral Church. The medieval Cathedral Church is steeped in prayer, history and worship. It is narrow and the central aisle leading to the Chancel is only just wide enough for one person really - not easy for an Episcopal Procession of Crucifer, Acolytes, clergy and Choir to process along! They have a magnificent organ which was being played whilst I was there. The building is maintained by the Orkney Islands Council - very canny of the Church of Scotland. There are strong links with Nidaros Cathedral, Trondheim, which was Orkney's Cathedral in the past, and with other Norwegian churches, notably where Magnus and his family came from in Norway. A statue of St Olaf, the gift of Nidaros, is in the Choir. The remains of both St Magnus and St Rognvald are sited beneath stone pillars in the SE Chancel. When the bones of St Magnus were excavated the skull bore the signs of a cleft in the skull, where Lifolf struck the fatal blow. The box containing his bones is now in the Orkney Museum. The remains were re-interred. I then recalled awaiting the ferry to Rousay and seeing a Transit Van on the Houton pier with the inscription "Lifolf, Plumber" on its side!! So some things change; others don't. However, the Scottish Episcopal Church Calendar celebrates Magnus the Martyr on 16th April each year, on the day he knelt down on Egilsey and was murdered by Lifolf. The magnificent Cathedral Church which bears his name is also a testimony to him so, as Archbishop Tutu would say, 'Love is stronger than hate", and that's true, for sure. Graeme 10:43 - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

07 Aug 2007 The Viking Sweyn Åsleifsson of Gairsay Category: Religion and Philosophy Sailing this summer to the Isle of Gairsay in Orkney on a clear blue sky was a wonderful experience. I watched the gannets diving into the sea offshore - they had obviously spotted fish near the surface. The sea was a dark blue / grey with lots of 'white horses' and different from my own Hebridean sea which is bright blue and green over white sand. Here on the NE coast of Scotland the colours are more muted, unlike the west coast vibrant colourings. Gairsay ( Garek's Isle ) is so small, with a conical shape. Here the Viking Olaf Rolson lived. One of his sons who inherited the farm at Langskailli ( Long Hall ) was Sweyn Åsleifson. After the Spring sowing he would then go 'Cruising' with his sons and colleagues, plundering the West Coast isles and even as far south as England and Eire. He would return with spoils in time to harvest his crops and then return to sea on his Winter Cruise. On one such trip when he went to sack Baile-a-Cliath (Dublin ) the Irish Celts awaited him and had dug a deep ditch into which he fell and was killed. His sons continued to farm Gairsay and one son, Olaf, married Frida, the daughter of Bishop Bjarni. She was the grand-daughter of Kolbein Hruga of the neighbouring small isle of Wyre. So, the sons settled down, probably due to age and marriage and became wealthy farmers, no doubt partly due to the booty hidden away by Sweyn. It all sounds like a Kirk Douglas film - but that film was based on the reality taken from the Orkneyinga Saga. Today the outlines of the Langskali can still be seen on Millburn Bay. The Viking community around the year 1000 AD was a flourishing one in Orkney. On the Brough of Birsay Historic Scotland have maintained and renovated another Viking farm with its out-buildings which can be seen clearly. The wealth on Orkney continues in the farming community. Nowadays Orkney farmers raise cattle for the markets both on Mainland Orkey and across the Pentland Firth in Scotland. Looking at the Viking farm sites one is struck by how sensible they were in where they sited their farms with a long sloping field right down to the shore so that they could haul up their Viking Longships. The Norse Vikings held both Orkney, Shetland, Caithness and Sutherland ( 'Sudrland' to them - South Land ) the Outer and Inner Hebrides, right down to the Isle of Man off England. They held these lands for many hundreds of years and their heritage remains, even in everyday language ,place-names and personal names. The Isle of Man is a Diocese of the Church of England nowadays, called the Diocese of Soder and Man, ( Sudrmans eyrer - south men's lands ). In Viking times it was part of the Diocese of Trondheim in northern Norway. Until the reign of the new King of Norway, the late King Haakon sailed annually into Leith on his 'official' visit' to his former realm. This tradition had gone on since Viking times. In reality King Haakon came for the fishing and was a guest of HM the Queen in Scotland ( as she is constitutionally known in Scotland ) and Her late Majesty Elizabeth the Queen Mother at Balmoral and at the Castle of Mey. Graeme, August 2007. 16:22 - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

05 May 2007 The Visitor ( term used for a soul-mate who is offocial visitor to a religious house ). Category: Religion and Philosophy I had arisen early to watch two otters frolicking in the still waters of Loch Awe. A heron stood motionless watching them with utter distaste. The otters eventually tired and disappeared under water leaving 'Frank' the heron motionless, neck outstretched watching for prey. Suddenly he darted and was back with a fish as quick as lightening. He then flew off languidly down the lochside. I went indoors for breakfast and then left Ardenaiseig House and motored quietly to Connel. There was no-one on the roads and I approached Connel Bridge and then spotted a hitch-hiker thumbing for a lift. Nowadays one is ill-advised to give hitch-hikers a lift but he was adorned in boots, shorts, anorak and a rucsac emblazoned with both the French Tricolour; surprising in itself as few French come to Scotland, and the ancient Christian symbol of the fish so intrigued, I stopped and offered him a lift. For a Frenchman he spoke good English. He said he was a Religious and his name was Brother Andrew of the Ecumenical Community at Taizé, Cluny. I said that was my middle name also. Andrew said he was trying to find Ardchatten Priory; a house I knew well so I said I'd drive him there. We chatted and I told him about Ardchatten, occupied since the Reformation by the Campbell-Preston family. During the 1745 Rebellion the family decided to support the English although the Episcopalian Highlanders supported the RC Bonnie Prince Charlie as Pretender to the Throne of Scots. In recent times Lady Campbell-Preston was Lady in Waiting to the Queen in Scotland, Elizabeth I ( or, as they call her in England, Elizabeth II ). I told him that after it became a priory of the Order of Vallis Caulium from France, the then Prior had regular visits from from a nun of the convent across Loch Etive. She would row across the loch to visit the Prior. Indeed, she often stayed. They were having a relationship! Now the Abbot of Pluscarden Abbey, upon hearing a rumour, came unexpectantly on a visit of inspection. The Prior just had time to secrete his lady-love under stone in his cell where there was a central heating vault just big enough to secrete a person temporarily. The Abbot said he would stay in the Prior's cell and stayed there a number of days! It is not known what happened to the visiting nun and rumour has it that she may still be there in the vault! We laughed. By this time it began to drizzle or, as we say here, it was a 'haar'. We stopped off near Ardchatten in the glen at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit for morning prayer. Interestingly there is a ship's bell hanging near the pulpit. As we lifted the latch of the church door we heard the rain, now heavy. We motored the short distance to the Priory House of Ardchatten but spotted a figure in dark oilskins leap from the drystone wall by the lochside and run quickly into the courtyard of Ardchatten to where the back door is. I stopped and suggested he do the same: enter via the courtyard rear door. He ran off waving and shouted 'Adieu!' " Bon Chance Andrew." I drove back to Oban where I caught the Caledonian-MacBrayne steamer for the Isle of Coll in the Hebrides where I was to sketch wildlife and do some reading. When I returned and disembarked at Oban Pier I walked across the road to McTavish's Kitchen for a spot of lunch and there spotted Bro Andrew pouring over an Ordnance Survey map and making notes. He greeted me warmly and said he had received a most generous welcome and was offered accommodation there to complete his history notes about the house and priory. 'Oh, and there was no-one ahead of me when I went into the house. I was the first visitor there that week!' "But we both saw the person running into the back doorway of the courtyard." 'Yes, but I was shown around and saw every room and outhouse.' I looked blank. Bro Andrew said, 'but remember the story of the black habited visitor who would come regularly from the lochside to visit the Prior!' We both hooted. Later I reflected on this and determined to tell the story to the Seanchie ( Gaelic for story-teller) of Argyll, Sir Fitzroy Maclean of Strachur. Ian Fleming based his idea of 007 on Sir Fitzroy following his exploits during the War, particularly in the Balkans. Sir Fitzroy took the story seriously and said he was not surprised as the area surrounding the Priory House and lochside has long been known as a Thin Place due to the unresolved tragedy that had taken place there. Photos of both the Priory House of Ardchatten and Ardenaiseig House are in my 'pics' ( page 5 ) which you can view. 9:00 - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

17 Jun 2007 'THIN PLACES': some personal experiences Category: Religion and Philosophy I had often pondered about these, even from childhood. As an adult I am now aware what they are. Inheriting the Celtic gift of a 'third sense' or, as I would say, an acute awareness of my own unconscious relating to special places, the following are places where one can connect with the Holy Spirit. Here are some I have experienced: 1. South side field of Rake Hey Covert, Williston, Wirral, England. 2. St Ninian's Islet, Shetland with remains of a monk's cell and where treasure of Church plate was found. The plate was buried as Viking raiders in the long boats were spotted. Had a strong urge to go there at low tide. Over a thousand years of prayer gave the place a holy presence. Found myself checking the horizon, then laughed - Icelanders are friendly nowadays! 3. Tigh na Cailleachan Dubh, Islivig, Isle of Lewis. ('House of the black women', i.e., convent ). In the Icelandic Sagas written about 1000AD there is mention of a Bishop Aslif or Islif who came to the Hebrides to set up a Seminary for men. That is thought to be nearby, so the convent was established to perhaps serve the Seminary. There is a clear holy atmosphere there where prayers emanated daily around that time. Apart from the cells there is a circle of stones set below a natural pulpit, all looking out to sea. All those prayers; one can still sense them! As Rabbi Lionel Blue says, he prays so fervently sometimes that perhaps even God hears them. 4. NW side of the Scottish Episcopal Church of St Maelrubha at Europaidh, Isle of Lewis. This is the oldest church in use in Scotland and is thought to have been built by Viking Christians. A stone post is at the NW corner where they tethered their Icelandic horses before going in to celebrate the Holy Eucharist. ( See my pics on this site ). Real connection here with the first settlers and of their new-found Christianity and need to feel accepted - they were of course, the first asylum-seekers. 5. Ta Pinu RC Church, Isle of Gozo, Malta. Years of daily prayer emanate from this holy place, set amongst the quiet farmland. Pilgrims, including me, make a point of spending some time there in quietness and reflective prayer. It is a Roman Church basilica and, despite its tourist trade, is still the parish church of the local residents who continue with their Daily Offices and serve the tourists - all are welcome in this strange building with its very foreign RC artistry. Yes, the Holy Spirit permeates this place too. 6. Xlendi Tower, Gozo. Built by the Knights of St John on a high clifftop overlooking the sea it is the pilgrim route for local folk at the weekends who make the trek from the fishing hamlet, to be in quietness and near God as the knights felt they were. 7. Trinity Episcopal Church, Copley Square, Boston, America. This is a city centre refuge for homeless and other folk. 5,000 souls are cared for here on a daily basis. Between services the homeless and depressed come for warmth, quietness, to sleep, pray and be 'fed" spiritually and with food. The worshipping community care for them and pray for and with them. 8. St John's Episcopal house-church, Middlebury, VT, America. Tiny church in a house in this American small town which appears so middle-class and affluent. However, they provide trays of food daily for the homeless who live in their cars! This is a thin place where the Holy Spirit works with the poor and disadvantaged in what is otherwise affluent America. 9. St Mungo's Chapel in Turnbull Hall, University of Glasgow. This is the RC Students' Chaplaincy where a community attend daily. It is like a busy parish church with prayers being said throughout the day in addition to the Daily Offices and the Angelus and Masses, lunches, snacks, quiet rooms, a prayer room, study and computer rooms, lecture and dining room but above all, the Holy Spirit is tangible amongst the friendly congregation and chapel atmosphere. 10. The Nunnery, Isle of Iona, on the way to the Episcopal Church's Bishop's House. Here, standing by the ruins where Columcille's sister set up her Community of Religious, one can still see the variety of wild flowers they planted and the sense of holy and spiritual presence of the Holy Spirit in this quiet, warm spot. 11. St Kevin's Cell Church, Glendalough, Eire. Here, Kevin spent his days in isolation and prayer and the prayerful atmosphere is in the area surrounding his cell. 12. Christ Church Anglican Cathedral, Dublin, Eire, during the Choral Eucharist with such a magnificent choir; one of the finest Anglican Church choirs anywhere. Their Anglican pointings soar the spirit towards God, leaving a great and peaceful impression which permeates the fabric of the buildings. 13. Prayer Chapel,Iona Abbey Church, now a simple Church of Scotland church. It is therefore not the Abbey itself which strikes one at all, but the side chapel by the west door, where prayers are said throughout the day from a prayer list left by passers by. This tiny prayer chapel is the only bit left which carries on the tradition of Columcille and his monks, of daly prayer and praise of God. The Abbey itself now leaves one cold as it is just a meeting hall for tourists. The worshipping congregation of the Abbey does not leave a 'thin place' feeling at all, unfortunately. 14. Holy Cross Scottish Episcopal Church, Portnacrois, Lands of Appin, Argyll. This tiny and beautiful church is historical. A sign by the door says that at the tolling of the church bell so many armed Stewarts may be summoned quickly to defend - ( against the English troops sent to close down and imprison Episcopalians who refused to say prayers for the English monarchs and because they followed the RC Pretender to the Scottish throne, Bonnie Prince Charles Edward Stewart ). Romantic history apart, nearly everyone seems tonbe a Stewart of Appin locally. The atmosphere in the church is one of quiet prayerfulness and peacefulness, the result of hundreds of years of fervent prayer. 15. Greig's home at Troldhaugen, Norway, set on the lochside. Here in his summer housenoverlooking the loch he wrote his Piano Concert No.1. This man was touched by the Holy Spirit to write such a beautiful and inspired piece of pure magical music. Just standing by his piano overlooking the sun-dappled loch brings one closer to God. Yes, a thin place. 10:33 - 5 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove