Post by LLady on Apr 7, 2006 3:57:33 GMT 10
admin said:
They don't celebrate it the same here in Australia but they do have a few gatherings in the month of April, Bundanoon a few hours to the south of Sydney in an area called the Southern Highlands have a good few days each April. It's a lovely wee village and the scots heritage is very strong there.www.highlandsnsw.com.au/brigadoon/adayin.html
The other one that attracts a lot of scots to in April is the Celtic Festival at Glen Innes also in NSW. Its in an area called the New England Tablelands you'd think they could have called it New Scotland eh but is a very interesting town too.
Glen Innes'unique Standing Stones
The Australian Standing Stones in Glen Innes in the New England Tablelands of New South Wales are unique - one of the first to be built in the World for more than 3500 years.
Glen Innes, settled largely by Scots in 1838, was chosen for the site of the Stones by the Celtic Council of Australia as an official national monument to honour all Celtic peoples who helped to pioneer Australia.
The Standing Stones draw visitors from across Australia and overseas, and are the centre of the annual Australian Celtic Festival held in the first weekend in May.
Building of the megalithic array in Centennial Park on the edge of Glen Innes - each granite stone averages 17 tonnes - resulted from a remarkable voluntary effort by a group of public-spirited citizens.
The inspiration came from the Stones of Callanish on the Isle of Lewis off Scotland's west coast. Stone circles were built by the ancient Celts as calendars and later developed religious significance.
The main feature of the Australian Standing Stones is a circle of 24 stones, representing the 24 hours of the day.
Outside the circle, four "cardinal" stones mark true north, east, south and west. These four stones, with a single stone just inside the circle, form the Southern Cross -symbolising the link between the old and new worlds.
Another formation represents the Ionic cross, symbol of the early Christian Church and still used on Roman Catholic churches today. Other stones mark the summer and winter solstices, the longest and shortest days of the year.
Of three stones in the centre of the array:
The northern stone, the Gaelic Stone, represents the Gaelic-speaking Celts from Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man;
The southern most stone , the Brythonic Stone, represents the Brythonic-speaking Celts of Wales, Cornwall and Brittany;
The gold-coloured middle stone, the Australian Stone, represents all Australians.
Outside this array, there are distinctive stones:
The Gorsedd Stone, for the Cornish and the Welsh, and the Ogham Stone for the Irish.
The Ogham Stone has an inscription carved in Ogham, the oldest writing known to have been used by the Celts. It translates in Gaelic as GLEANN MAQI AONGUSA, the Glen of the Sons of Angus, or, more simply, "Glen Innes."
When viewed from above the arrangement of the Australian Standing Stones also incorporates a Celtic Cross and the Southern Cross. The former indicates that the monument was erected in Christian times, the latter symbolises the heritage link between the old Celtic civilisation and the new.
The Australian Celtic Festival, a major event on the national calendar, traditionally begins at the Standing Stones with the skirl of pipes from a lone piper at dawn. Highlights include a street parade featuring national groups and clans, sheep dog trials, pipe bands, Celtic dancers, concerts and the Kirking of the Tartan. Glen Innes has also been awarded the title of Honoured Celtic City by the Celtic Council of Australia. It is also the sister `city` of Pitlochry, Scotland.
The Monument was officially opened by the Governor of New South Wales, Admiral Peter Sinclair, on the 1st of February, 1992. As Australia's National Monument to the Celts, it attracts visitors from far and wide, both from within Australia and from overseas.
POPULATION: Glen Innes 6000
ALTITUDE: 1062 metres
RAINFALL AVERAGE: 750 mm to 850 mm annually
TEMPERATURE: Summer min. 13°C - max.35°C, Winter min. 9°C - max. 12°C
INDUSTRIES: Wool, sheep, cattle, agriculture, sapphires, tourism
HISTORY: Scot Archibald Boyd, from Selkirkshire, was the district's first settler. He was guided by bearded stockmen William Chandler & John Duval. The town was gazetted in 1852.
www.australiancelticfestival.com/
How interesting!