Volume 118 Issue 5 May 2020

NEXT GATHERING Members of Caledonian & St. Andrew’s Society will gather on May 3rd at 2:00pm using the electronic meeting application Zoom, due to the current health crisis and prohibitions on large gatherings of people.

The password-protected link is https://us04web.zoom.us/j/713418301?pwd=K1ZUQnBOSE53YURUYjE4SW4ySjkxQT09

For people without a camera on their computer, it is possible to join the gathering by phone by calling one of the toll free numbers: 888-788-0099 or 877-853-5247, and then entering the meeting ID 713 418 301 and the password 004905.

If you arrive early and the host has not yet opened the site, simply stay and wait until it opens.

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Facebook

The Caledonians have a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/seattlecaledonians/?ref=bookmarks

Diana Smith frequently posts interesting articles and notices, so check back often.

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Sunshine Report

Bonnie reports that Carolyn Harris just lost her mother, who was almost 101. She was living in Pennsylvania, and due to the restrictions for COVID-19, Carolyn and her sister are dealing with this situation long distance.

Cards may be sent to Carolyn and Art (Henderson) at 13126 234th Ct. NE, Redmond, WA 98053-5640. Bonnie reminds people that she does not have e-mail, so please call her when you have information about Caledonians who are ill or passed away. Her phone is 425-806-3734.

Membership

A number of members of this organization have let their membership lapse. If you wish to continue receiving The Heather Bell and notifications about gatherings and other events, please send your check to

Treasurer Caledonian & St. Andrew’s Society of Seattle PO Box 27278 Seattle WA 98165-1778

Calendar of Seattle Area Scottish Events

May

3 Caledonian & St. Andrews Society Gathering to be held on Zoom. 2:00pm. See links in info for the next gathering on the left. This is one week earlier than the usual May gathering because Mother’s Day is on the 2nd Sunday.

16-17 Victoria Highland Games & Celtic Festival postponed until later in the summer, date TBD.

June

6 Bellingham Scottish Gathering postponed until fall, date TBD

14 Caledonian & St. Andrews Society Gathering – information about location (on Zoom or at Haller Lake UMC) TBD closer to that time.

27 Tacoma Highland Games cancelled. See info below about two Virtual Events online.

July

11-12 Skagit Valley Highland Games – cancelled

25-26 Seattle Scottish Highland Games – cancelled ________________________________________

Recap of the April Caledonian Gathering

A number of Caledonians joined the gathering using the electronic application Zoom on Sunday, April 19. After a slow start because the host forgot her Zoom password, 12 persons were able to participate, either by video conferencing or phone, for a very enjoyable experience. Judith Cummings provided entertainment from her home by singing several Gaelic songs and playing her harp. She led a group sing-a-long for “By Yon Bonnie Banks”. Afterward, people stayed online to chat and catch up with each other.

Jim Van Zee captured the following screen shots:

Judith Cummings provided entertainment.

Those attending could see each other from their own homes during the gathering. We were pleased that Diana Smith could join the gathering from her home in Connecticut. Two persons did not have

cameras on their computers and joined by telephone, although one supplemented her phone visit by also clicking on the computer link so she could see everyone even though they could not see her. It was an interesting experience, and we were glad to be able to check in with each other as well as enjoy Judith’s music.

To maintain contact during this stay-home period, we will meet again in two weeks on May 3rd, our usual gathering date, at 2:00pm. See the link information on page 1, so you can join as well! _____________________________________________

Caledonians Helping Others While there are many instances of Caledonians checking in with each other and providing assistance, a particular volunteer activity has risen among those who sew. Face masks are a necessity for health workers at hospitals, but they have been in short supply with the pressure of so many people hospitalized with COVID-19. Nurses providing care to those hospitalized for other reasons and not infected with the coronavirus turned to the sewing community to create cloth face masks that can be washed and reused.

Three Caledonians rose to the challenge, helping produce hundreds of cloth face masks to be donated for use in hospitals and shared with neighbors and friends as the need for face coverings spread to the public. Thanks to Shelley Butchart, Kathy Bowie, and Ruth McFadden for sharing their sewing skills.

Interesting Website

Rampant Scotland is a useful website for anyone looking for links to all things Scottish, whether you are looking for accommodations or information about clans, castles, history,

genealogy, tartans, or tourism. Check it out at http://www.rampantscotland.com/.

Articles and Topics About

Scotland and Things Scottish

From The Scotsman Newspaper

Famous Healing Waters of St. Bernard’s Well

There was a time when the curative contents of St Bernard’s Well enjoyed a status that extended far beyond its home on the bonnie banks of the Water of Leith, with the mock-Roman temple deemed worthy of inclusion in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

The well, so the story goes, was rediscovered in 1760 by a trio of George Heriot’s schoolboys who were out fishing around what is now the Dene walkway between Stockbridge and the Dean Village.

But its origins, according to legend, stretch back much further, to the 12th century, and involve St Bernard of Clairvaux, the founder of the Cistercian Order. As part of his preparations for the Second Crusade, St Bernard is said to have set up camp for a spell in a cave near the Water of Leith, where he claimed a local spring possessed curative properties.

In September 1760, the natural spring was covered over by a well house. Contemporary poet James Wilson, who penned his works under the pseudonym Claudero, composed a eulogy for the occasion. The Claudero wrote: “This water so healthful near Edinburgh doth rise; which not only Bath but Moffat outvies; It cleans the intestines and an appetite gives while morbfic matters it quite away drives.'"

A number of years later, in 1788, a wealthy Morningside lawyer, Lord Gardenstone, commissioned the painter Alexander Nasmyth to design a more befitting structure to mark the site of the spring. Gardenstone, an eccentric fellow who is said to have shared his bed chamber with piglets, was an adherent of the well himself.

He envisaged a circular Roman temple based on the 1st century AD Temple of Vesta at Tivoli and dedicated to Hygeia, the goddess of health.

Vandalised and deemed too large for its setting, the original Coadestone statue was replaced more than a century later in 1888 by a new statue of Hygeia cut from Carrara marble by David Watson Steven-son as part of a major renovation paid for by the renowned Edinburgh publisher William Nelson.

Word of St Bernard’s Well spread fast and it was soon compared to the famous sulphur springs at Harrogate in Yorkshire, becoming something of a mecca for the nation’s ill and infirm and indeed anyone who believed in the existence of curative springs.

So great was the well’s popularity that it’s said accommodation was at a premium in nearby Stockbridge during the summer months.

Gardenstone employed a custodian to oversee his well, charging members of the public a penny per glass and half price for children.

St Bernard’s fame was such that it is reported the writers Thomas Carlyle and Mary Shelley were disciples. A fleeting reference of the well can even be found in chapter 19 of Shelley’s legendary magnum opus, in which Victor Frankenstein details the great sights and landmarks of Edinburgh.

Despite the pump room’s inscribed motto, Bibendo Valeris - drink and you will be well - the end for the well as a viable source of drinking water came in 1956 when city health officials discovered it was contaminated and duly locked it up. ________________________________________

Iconic Scottish Locations Featured in Films

Glen Etive and the wider Glen Coe area were used in the 2012 James Bond film Skyfall as the area

for 007’s ancestral home. Bond and his boss, M, hole up at the Bond family estate, Skyfall, as they wait for their rival.

The Hogswarts Express crosses the Glenfinnan Viaduct on its way to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Harry Potter films.

The 14th century Doune Castle was featured in the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Linlithgow Palace was the background for Outlaw King, the story of Robert the Bruce.

The 2015 adaptation of Victor Frankenstein used Dunnottar Castle. It was also the inspiration for the castle in the digital film, Brave.

The Isle of Harris was used to depict lunar-like landscape for the 1968 film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, which was

supposedly on a moon of Jupiter.

The Netflix series, The Crown, was shot at Ardverikie Estate in the Scottish High-lands to depict Balmoral Castle, young Queen Elizabeth’s holiday estate. Balmoral Castle itself was not available to be used in the film.

The opening scene of Trainspotting was shot on Princes Street and featured several well-known Edinburgh landmarks. The street was also seen in T2, a

film set in and around Edinburgh.

A number of films have used Glasgow City Centre in recent years, including scenes in World War Z, Fast & Furious, Under the Skin, and Cloud Atlas.

In the sci-fi thriller, Prometheus, an archaeologist discovers an ancient star map in a cave under the Old Man of Storr.

The village of Culross, a small community in Fife, has become famous in recent years as a location in the Outlander TV series. It also appeared in 2008 in BBC Scotland’s reworking of The Thirty-Nine Steps. Also, bizarrely, it was cast as a Norwegian village in the first Captain America film.

A fellowship founded in Seattle in1902 to foster a love of Scotland, her people, and her heritage. Mailing Address: Caledonian and St. Andrew’s Society of Seattle P.O. Box 27278 Seattle, WA 98165-1778

www.caledonians.com BOARD MEMBERS:

President: Don Moore 1st Vice President: Christian Skoorsmith 2nd Vice President: Rosemary Blakemore Secretary: Ruth McFadden Treasurer: Allan Patten Social Director: Bill McFadden Parliamentarian: Don Moore Trustee: Victoria Johnson Trustee: Phillip Junkins Trustee: Harry McAlister

HEATHER BELL EDITOR: Ruth McFadden 206-364-6025

ruthmcfadden@mindspring.com