New Territories International Festival of Live Art

Not all the festivals in Scotland take place during the summer months.

Glasgow's annual dip into the avant garde is back. New Territories is a cutting-edge festival of specially commissioned performances and premieres by invited international artists. It showcases dance and performance art at three top Glasgow arts venues. A winner of the International Theatre Institute Award, New Territories' cutting-edge programming has been described as ' - everything from three-hour epics to five-minute snatches of some of the most exciting, innovative and sometimes downright weird bits of dance, art installation performance art and otherwise unspecified creative happenings currently reverberating around the globe.'

This is a festival that has always subverted boundaries between different genres and experimented with hybrid media. It has always been about Glasgow audiences being introduced to some of the world’s most extraordinary talents, a fact recognised in 2009 when artistic director Nikki Milican was awarded an OBE for her services to performance art.

The festival this year takes place from the 14th of February to the 19th of March.

HIstory of the haggis

Haggis is a very old Scottish dish, which combines meats, spices and oatmeal to create a very rich, unusual, but none the less delicious feast. It is a dish containing sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally simmered in the animal's stomach for approximately three hours. Most modern commercial haggis is prepared in a casing rather than an actual stomach.

Haggis is a kind of sausage, or savoury pudding cooked in a casing of sheep's intestine, as many sausages are. As the 2001 English edition of the Larousse Gastronomique puts it, "Although its description is not immediately appealing, haggis has an excellent nutty texture and delicious savoury flavour". Nowadays, there are even vegetarian versions made from the finest Scottish produce.

The haggis is a traditional Scottish dish memorialised as the national dish of Scotland by Robert Burns' poem Address to a Haggis in 1787. Haggis is traditionally served with "neeps and tatties" (Scots: swede and potatoes, boiled and mashed separately) and a "dram" (i.e. a glass of Scotch whisky), especially as the main course of a Burns supper. However it is also often eaten with other accompaniments.

Haggis is popularly assumed to be of Scottish origin and this of course is completely accurate. Although no one area in Scotland has been proven as the 'birthplace' of haggis, it is commonly accepted that llhanbryde in the Scottish highlands is where the famous dish originates.

In the absence of hard facts as to haggis' origins, popular folklore has provided more fanciful theories. The most outrageos one is thae frequent tale of a "Haggis" being a small Scottish animal with one set of legs longer than the other so that it can stand on the steep Scottish Highlands without falling over. According to one poll, 33% of American visitors to Scotland believe haggis to be an animal!

History of tartan

In our last post we told you about the history of the kilt, so now we have decided to do the same with tartan itself.

Tartan has without doubt become one of the most important symbols of Scotland and Scottish Heritage and with the Scots National identity probably greater than at any time in recent centuries, the potency of Tartan as a symbol cannot be understated. However, it has also created a great deal of romantic fabrication, controversy and speculation into its origins, name, history and usage as a Clan or Family form of identification.

Tartan is a woven material, generally of wool, having stripes of different colours and varying in breadth. The arrangement of colours is alike in warp and weft and when woven, has the appearance of being a number of squares intersected by stripes which cross each other.

The Celts for many thousands of years are known to have woven chequered or striped cloth and a few of these ancient samples have been found across Europe and Scandinavia. It is believed that the introduction of this form of weaving came to the West of Northern Britain with the Iron age Celtic Scoti (Scots) from Ireland in the 5 – 6th c. BC.

The word Tartan we use today has also caused speculation and confusion as one camp says it comes from the Irish word - tarsna - crosswise and/or the Scottish Gaelic tarsuinn – across. The Gaelic word for Tartan has always been – breachdan - the most accepted probability for the name comes from the French tiretaine which was a wool/linen mixture. In the 1600s it referred to a kind of cloth rather than the pattern in which the cloth was woven.

Until the middle of the nineteenth century, the highland tartans were associated with regions or districts, rather than by any specific clan. This was due to the fact that tartan designs were produced by local weavers for local tastes and would tend to make use of the natural dyes available in that area.it was not until this period that specific tartans became associated with Scottish clans or Scottish families, or simply institutions who are (or wish to be seen as) associated in some way with a Scottish heritage.

St Andrew's Day

St Andrew's Day is the feast day of Saint Andrew and is celebrated on 30 November.

Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, and St. Andrew's Day is Scotland's official national day. Although most commonly associated with Scotland, Saint Andrew is also the patron saint of Greece, Romania and Russia.

In Germany, the feast day is celebrated as Andreasnacht ("St. Andrew's Night"), in Austria with the custom of Andreasgebet ("St. Andrew's Prayer"), and in Poland as Andrzejki ("Andrews").

This year, we are in for a treat. The Homecoming Scotland Finale Celebrations is the biggest ever programme of events co-ordinated to mark St Andrew’s Day. The spectacular programme has more than 40 events taking place across the country. With Scotland’s music providing the soundtrack, this is one party you simply can’t miss.

From the Highlands to Haddington, Dundee to Dumfries and many locations in between, there’s plenty of opportunity to join the celebrations and do something for St Andrew’s Day this Homecoming year. The festivities are delivered by event organisers and local authorities across the country who have developed exciting new events to mark the end of what has been a truly celebratory year for Scotland.

Events include, amongst other, torchlight processions, firework displays and a series of unique musical gatherings blending some of the finest musicians born in, and influenced by Scotland and its rich musical heritage, including Deacon Blue, Lloyd Cole, Eddie Reader, Midge Ure and Teenage Fanclub.

Come and join the celebrations!

By the way, do you know the origin of the Scottish flag? According to legend, in 832 A.D. King Óengus II (or King Angus) led the Picts and Scots in battle against the Angles, King Angus and his men were surrounded and he prayed for deliverance. During the night Saint Andrew, who was martyred on a saltire cross, appeared to Angus and assured him of victory. On the following morning a white saltire against the background of a blue sky appeared to both sides. The Picts and Scots were heartened by this, but the Angles lost confidence and were defeated. This saltire design has been the Scottish flag ever since.

The Thistle: Symbol of Scotland

Alongside tartan, the thistle is perhaps the most identifiable symbol of all things Scottish.

The thistle was adopted as the Emblem of Scotland during the rein of Alexander III (1249 - 1286). Legend has it that an Army of King Haakon of Norway, intent on conquering the Scots, landed at the Coast of Largs at night to surprise the sleeping Scottish Clansmen. In order to move more stealthily under the cover of darkness, the Norsemen removed their footewear.

But something else was hiding under the cover of darkness. One of Haakon's men unfortunately stood on one of these spiny little defenders and shrieked out in pain, alerting the Clansmen of the advancing Norsemen. Needless to say, the Scots won the day.

Sadly, there is no historical evidence to back up the tale and, in fact, there's even confusion as to the type of thistle that we see represented everywhere. There are many species of thistle and the spear thistle, stemless thistle, cotton thistle, Our Lady's thistle, musk thistle and melancholy thistle have all been suggested as possible candidates.

Whatever its origins, the thistle has been an important Scottish symbol for more than 500 years. Perhaps its first recognisable use was on silver coins issued in 1470 during the reign of James III and from the early 16th century, it was incorporated into the Royal Arms of Scotland. Scotland's premier Order of Chivalry, established in 1687, is The Most Ancient and Noble Order of the Thistle and its members wear a collar chain whose links are made of golden thistles. The Knights and Ladies of the Thistle also wear a breast star which bears the thistle emblem and a motto which is regularly associated with it, Nemo Me Impune Lacessit - 'no-one provokes me with impunity'.

The Enchanted Forest

The Enchanted Forest is yet another evidence of all the magic Scotland has got to offer. It has been enthralling and amazing visitors to Perthshire since 2002 and has become the nation's premier sound and light experience. This outdoor event, taking place at the eerie Faskally Wood, offers a magical autumn experience for all ages.

Attracting around 20,000 visitors every year, the event offers visitors a unique opportunity to experience the outdoors, at night and with spectacular imagery. Using the forest as a natural backdrop, you will experience a lighting show that is, quite simply, out of this world.

This year, the theme is 'Scottish Myths and legends', and the event brings Scotland's history to life with faeries, witches, kelpies and bogey men, not to mention stunning water features, lighting displays and fabulous pyrotechnics. Meet Tam O Shanter and his horse, play with the faeries in an interactive wood, or look deep into Robert the Bruce's cave.

This year, The Enchanted Forest will take place between 16th October and 1st November. A show you just don't want to miss!!