Holy Island

It’s week 3 of the WIS spring program, and any readers of the daily grind of this blog will probably be happy that I’ve finished summarizing the latest book. As I am a slow reader, apparently I’m a slower paraphraser. It was a good book though. It really helped me understand some multiple perspectives of Scottish culture which directly ties into my SCC work this semester.

But now I can move onto other topics—from the extraordinary to the mundane. I’m not gonna lie to you, they may be pretty mundane. It’s been terribly cold here this past week! We are lucky to get above freezing during daylight and the rain/snow/sleet/hail/mist is mixed with sun and wind on about 20 minute cycles—I am not exaggerating. It’s no winter in the Midwest, but we are definitely looking forward to some warmer weather.

The quiz night this past Wednesday night was not so good. We (Team Faculty) got our asses handed to us. We tied for 3rd, with 2 other teams. Maybe tomorrow we can redeem ourselves; that damn British television category killed us!

Last Friday, about 30 students, most of the faculty, John, Mary, Tim and I went on a house trip. We started in Berwick Upon Tweed, the northern most city in England. Christine Mitchell, a friend of ours and historian, gave us a walking and guided tour of the famous and rather infamous (considering they were never used, cost Queen Elizabeth £130,000 in the 1500’s, her largest expenditure ever, and were not needed because of the merging of the crowns in 1603) military ramparts (fortifications). They were unique and impenetrable because, aside from being made of 8 or so foot of stone (the walls), they had massive amounts of dirt (an additional 10-12 feet or so) behind them, so it made them defendable against cannon fire. Quite impressive to see I must say. It was a beautiful day, and we walked the perimeter of the historic Berwick proper in about 90 minutes. We toured the historic town hall and learned about their jail system as well. The age of some of these places, the brutality of the way they incarcerated and/or punished people and the grandeur of military and royal buildings were all quite astonishing.

From there, we drove further down the eastern coast of England to Holy Island, as it has been called, or Lindisfarne Island. This island is said to be one of the top pilgrimage locations for the religious in Europe. It is one of the original locations of Christianity and its origins to the UK and ultimately a great more places in the west.

St. Aidan and his monks came from the Irish monastery of Iona and with the support of King Oswald (based at nearby Bamburgh) worked as missionaries among the pagan English of Northumbria.

They trained boys as practical missionaries who later went out over much of England to spread the Gospel. They transcribed the Gospels into English, they precious documents are now kept in the British Museum in London.

After the Norman Conquest in 1066, the Bendictine monks of Durham possessed the undecayed body of St.Cuthbert (which was seen as a miracle and a sign of how great he really was, click and read that story!) and saw themselves as the inheritors of the Lindisfarne tradition. Here on the Island they built the second monastery, a small Benedictine house staffed by Durham monks. It remained for some time as a working monastery, but it was finally dissolved by HenryVIII in 1536 when he declared himself to be head of a new Church of England. (Read: steal the money and possessions, as these places tended to have considerable wealth or valuable religious relics). All that remains of the second monastery are ruins. The Island is a center of pilgrimage. Pilgrimages range from those of individuals or small groups to diocesan pilgimages of several thousand people. Several other Christian organisations use the Island as a focal point and recent interest is Celtic Christianity has brought many seekers and enquirers. It is interesting to note, that there were 2 strains of Christianity: Celtic and Roman, and the King at the time, wanted their to be one, and made a choice, he picked Roman (hence, Roman Catholic). Obviously the Church of England’s position would not allow this monastery to remain, hence the current condition. Again, I find it amazing, the so many people live and die and kill for religion, when just one person, a long time ago, decided what “we” all would be.

Aside from the religious and historic significance, the island is reachable by car or bus! It lies close enough to land, so that when it is low tide, a several mile stretch of land appears and can be driven on. It is possible to actually be stranded on (no worries, they have residents, hotels and pubs!) the island. It is the neatest thing! Just I just use the work neat?

Anyway, needless to say, it was an absolutely amazing trip; I'll have pictures on the website soon!