I came across this poem
here and in light of the
Ohio Scottish Games this coming weekend I thought now would be a most excellent time to post this.
THE COVENANT BANNER
By An Ayrshire Elder
Blow softly, ye breezes, by mountain and moor,
O'er the graves of the Covenant men,
By the muirland and flood that were red with their blood,
Can ye waft the old watchwords again?
For Scotland and Christ the breezes of old
O'er the wilds of the Westland bore,
From the Lugar and Nith to the Lothian Frith,
And the German Ocean's shore.
And where'er they blew, a prayer was breathed
And a holy psalm was sung,
And hands were clasped and the banner grasped,
When the Covenant watchword rung.
O, the brave true hearts of old,
That bled when the banner perished!
O, for the Faith that was strong in death--
The Faith that our fathers cherished!
The banner might fall, but the spirit lived,
And liveth for evermore,
And Scotland claims as her noblest names,
The Covenant Men of Yore.
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S.D.G.
My wife and I are off to the 31st Annual Ohio Scottish Games this weekend. I look forward to this every year. A little piece of Scotland right here in Ohio for a day. (Its interesting that Ohio and Scotland are virtually the same in population and geographic size.) I'll be back soon...
Isle of Lewis
In the latest issue of Scottish Life there is an article, New Uses for Old Churches. The author delineates the decline of the church in Scotland and what Scotland is now doing with these empty church buildings, many of which are in disrepair. The church buildings are being converted to used book stores, restaurants, recording studios, theatres, etc. In fact, there are so many church buildings available that the Scottish Civil Trust has issued a bulletin, 101 Uses for Redundant Church Buildings. Of course, this is due to the decline in church attendance. The author reports that “barely one Scot in ten attends church regularly, and three in five go rarely or never. Attendances are falling annually 2-3 percent.” The Church of Scotland has determined that they are losing 17,000 a year and in a country of just over five million, well, you do the math. “67% percent of Scots now identify themselves even distantly with any faith whatsoever.” “ These are not good times for organized religion in Europe, but in few places has the decline been more precipitate than in Scotland .”
