Margaret of Scotland was an asylum seeker of her day. She arrived in this country via England and married Malcolm, King of Scots (Colm Mor). She was cultured and spoke English and Latin. Indeed, she arrived from England with her Confessor in tow. Malcolm was uncultured and had no English and spoke only the Gaelic. Margaret set about trying to restore the RC faith in Scotland, which did not go down well at all, until she endeared herself to the Scots by identifying with the poor and dispossessed and affording a safe haven and free ferry for pilgrims at what we now know as Queensferry. Such pilgrims were guests within the castle at Dunfermline. There is still a ferry there and Margaret had a chapel also within Edinburgh Castle. Today that chapel is used daily for prayer and is cared for by a large group of women on a rota, all called Margaret by name. They pray, keep the chapel clean and provide fresh flowers daily there. For a country which is predominantly Protestant and Presbyterian, this is remarkable. But then, Margaret was remarkable and her faith paid off and influenced others. The ancient Roman faith is still practiced in Scotland. In the Scottish Episcopal Church we have a number of dedications to her, notably near me in Glasgow, St Margaret of Scotland Scottish Episcopal Church, Newlands.
Another busy time as I have just completed all the mounds of documents for our own congregational AGM on Tuesday, 20/11/07 and will take the bus into Glasgow at lunchtime to go to the Diocesan Office, where Christine and Jean have kindly agreed to photocopy packs of papers for the AGM, including a Voting paper and a letter to the congregation inviting comments about the sort of person we seek for a new Rector. They then cannae say we
have'nae asked them! Ha ha.
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