Flying the flag

EAST Lothian is delighted to be staging The Saltire 2012, celebrating its fame as the home of the Scottish Flag.

With a nine-day festival of music, culture and heritage running from 24 November until 2 December, there’s a whole range of great activities and events to enjoy.

Both local people and visitors are being encouraged to share in events that build upon the previous three successful years of The Saltire festival and to step inside the history of Scotland’s flag.

Events started yesterday with a foodies paradise at Haddington Farmers’ Market. Today there is a celebration of the flag at its home in Athelstaneford, ridings and a ceremonial raising of the flag in Haddington. And there is much more still to come.

On St Andrew’s Day itself, Friday, 30 November, you can enjoy a great day out at the races at The Saltire 2012 Raceday at Musselburgh, and in the evening the Saltire Ceilidh Dinner merges music from Cruthnie with a three-course meal by the Waterloo Bistro at the Corn Exchange in Haddington.

Another great musical event, on Saturday December 1, sees renowned singer and songwriter, Barbara Dickson, returning to her roots in an enchanting evening of the finest Scottish music at St Mary’s Parish Church, Haddington.

Across East Lothian’s top restaurants and bars throughout the week, there will be a host of “Feast ’n’ Folk” events featuring the very best of Scottish food, drink and music.

The finale event is again at St Mary’s on Sunday, 2 December when the Scottish Music and Literature Ceremony will be held – a celebration of the best in music and verse that Scotland and East Lothian has to offer. There will be contributions from Barbara Dickson, pictured, Fiona and Kirsty Johnson, Caitlin Bruce, Alan Gay and Colin Will - to name just a few!

There are many theories about how it was that St Andrew came to be Scotland’s patron saint. The most familiar version is that, in 832AD, an army of Pictish Scots was facing a Northumbrian army close to Athelstaneford. The Scottish King, Angus MacFergus, was being pursued by a larger force of Angles and Saxons under Athelstan. King Angus prayed to St Andrew for deliverance and was rewarded with the saltire of St Andrew – the diagonal white cross upon which he had been martyred – as clouds against the clear blue sky. On seeing this, he swore that if the Scots beat the English in the battle, then St Andrew would forever be the patron saint of Scotland. The Scots won and the Saltire became Scotland’s flag.

Find out more and celebrate our national flag at its home in East Lothian. For further information on the programme and ticketing, visit the website www.visiteastlothian.org/thesaltire2012