St. Andrew’s Day is celebrated in Scotland on November 30th. He’s the patron saint of Scotland (and Russia and Greece too). The Scottish flag is actually the cross of St. Andrew. The legend is that he went to Greece to spread Christianity and was crucified on a cross in the shape of an X.

It seems that nowadays, St. Andrew’s Day is celebrated more by Scottish people abroad, than in Scotland. They eat Scottish foods, sing Scottish songs and dance Scottish dances!

Here’s a Scottish song in honor of St. Andrew’s Day…

Aboot the Merry-Matanzie
(Scottish)

Here we gae roon the jing-a-ring,
The jing-a-ring, the jing-a-ring;
Here we gae roon the jing-a-ring,
Aboot the merry-matanzie.

Twice aboot, an than we fa,
Than we fa, than we fa,
Twice aboot, an than we fa,
Aboot the merry-matanzie.

Guess y wha the guidman is,
The guidman is, the guidman is;
Guess ye wha the guidman is,
Aboot the merry-matanzie.

Honey is sweet, an so is he,
So is he, so is he;
Honey is sweet, and so is he,
Aboot the merry-matanzie.

He’s merried wi a gay gowd ring,
A gay gowd ring, a gay gowd ring;
He’s merried wi a gay gowd ring,
Aboot the merry-matanzie.

A gay gowd ring’s a cankerous thing,
A cankerous thing, a cankerous thing;
A gay gowd ring’s a cankerous thing,
Aboot the merry-matanzie.

Noo they’re merried, we’ll wish them joy,
Wish them joy, wish them joy,
Noo they’re merried, we’ll wish them joy,
Aboot the merry-matanzie.

Faither an mither they maun obey,
Maun obey, maun obey,
Faither an mither they maun obey,
Aboot the merry-matanzie.

Loving ilk ither like sister an brither,
Sister an brither, sister and brither;
Lovin ilk ither like sister an brither,
Aboot the merry-matanzie.

We pray the couple tae kiss thegither,
Kiss thegither, kiss thegither;
We pray the couple tae kiss thegither,
Aboot the merry-matanzie.

fa = fall
merry-matanzie = espression in girls’ singing game
maun = must

Come visit the Mama Lisa’s World U.K. Page for some children’s songs from Scotland.

Happy St. Andrew’s Day!

-Lisa