And now across the border

chirp54
Nov 21, 2024
5 min read

We left our lovely Airbnb and hopped an Uber to the train station where we killed a couple of hours in the Duke of York pub. We were catching an LNER train and hoped that the website was accurate when it said that refreshments would be served. Hurrah, it was, and it was wonderful. I had a coronation chick pea wrap which is a take on coronation chicken, a dish made with curry powder and herbs in a mayonnaise sauce. It was said to be one of Queen Elizabeth II's favorite dishes. Bruce had bangers and mash, another typical British dish of sausages and mashed potatoes. It was a fairly long train ride. We passed wonderful ruin near Berwick which I was unable to identify

and arrived at Glasgow Queen Street Station. A taxi took us to our cat sit in the Dalmarnock area of Glasgow. Our host, Fergus, greeted us at the entrance to the block of flats. His flat is on the 5th floor, but at least there's an elevator. Well, there is one but it's out of order, so Fergus and Bruce lugged our bags up five flights of stairs. He and his wife, Bethany, showed us around and let us know that they were leaving at 3:00am so would not be making dinner. We met the cats, learned our way around the flat and set off for something to eat and some groceries. We passed McDonald's and KFC and set off for a restaurant called "The Bistro." We walked through some not-terribly attractive neighborhoods and finally found it down a dark street. We walked in, asked for a table and were told that there were already 5 tables there, so it would be a wee bit of a wait for food. We asked "How wee?" and were told it would probably about 30 minutes. Bruce didn't think it was promising, so we headed back to KFC. I don't think I've eaten at KFC since I worked at the Boarshead Theatre in Lansing, Michigan 35 years ago. It was exactly as I remembered it: salty and greasy, but we were hungry and it was food. We went back to the flat and visited with Fergus and Bethany until they headed to bed.

The next morning I unpacked as much as I could. Our hosts hadn't set aside any drawer or closet space, so I just piled the clothes I thought we might need on top of our suitcases. I did a quick load of laundry then we headed into Glasgow to explore. Glasgow Cathedral was our first destination.

It was a bit of a walk but we arrived to see that not only was it part of our "this is covered in scaffolding tour", but also the "sorry, we're closed tour".

At least it was only temporary. We walked past the church up to the Necropolis, a Victorian garden cemetery. This is where all the wealthy and powerful of Glasgow were interred. It's quite a climb up the hill along the winding paths.

There are some truly massive, magnificent memorials and mausoleums there.

We wandered around there for a while then made our way down the hill toward the cathedral but were still too early. It was quite cold, so we visited the St. Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art. I assumed that the museum would be dedicated to St. Mungo, but it was a museum of all the religions that exist in Glasgow and, I would guess, the world because the first piece on display was that of a Chilkat blanket.

Old testament figures in stained glass:

It was hard to photograph a lot of the pieces because they were behind glass. There were some wonderful works of art in the museum. Here are some of my favorites.

A Nigerian Ancestral Screen:

The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara:

A Dancing Skeleton from the Day of the Dead celebration:

Ganesha:

At last it was time for the cathedral to open again so we made our way back and joined the queue to enter.

Glasgow Cathedral is the oldest cathedral in mainland Scotland and the oldest building in Glasgow. Parts of it date back to the 6th century. It is dedicated to St. Mungo, aka St. Kentigern. Mungo was a missionary in the Kingdom of Strathclyde in the late sixth century and the founder and patron saint of the city. His history is fascinating and worth perusing the pages of Wikipedia. He is said to have performed four miracles and these are pictured on the city crest. Children are taught about his miracles with this rhyme:

Here is the bird that never flew

Here is the tree that never grew

Here is the bell that never rang

Here is the fish that never swam

The Bird: Mungo restored life to a robin that had been killed by some of his classmates.
The Tree: Mungo had been left in charge of a fire in Saint Serf's monastery. He fell asleep and the fire went out. Taking a hazel branch, he restarted the fire.
The Bell: the bell is thought to have been brought by Mungo from Rome. It was said to have been used in services and to mourn the dead.
The Fish: refers to the story about Queen Languoreth of Strathclyde who was suspected of infidelity by her husband. King Riderch demanded to see her ring, which he claimed she had given to her lover. In reality the King had thrown it into the River Clyde. Faced with execution she appealed for help to Mungo, who ordered a messenger to catch a fish in the river. On opening the fish, the ring was miraculously found inside, which allowed the Queen to clear her name.

I mention all this because Mungo is still a very important figure in the life of the city.

This illustration shows how the cathedral looked before the reformation.

It was once painted in white and bright colors, but these were deemed sacrilegious by the Puritans and removed. The windows are quite lovely, though not necessarily old.

There is a pulpitum (a large wooden screen) which used to separate the wealthy worshippers from the those of the lower classes. The wealthy side is magnificent.