Quote Originally Posted by Andrewson View Post
Thanks for that Todd. I have been sporting my clan tartan all day today (Forsyth 8yd tank) but I got caught out by a question from a friend - "So why is St Andrew the patron saint of Scotland?" Came back to do some hurried research and found those pages useful.

It is interesting that the links between Scotland and the Saint are so tenuous (not that I'd describe the town of St Andrews as anything but substantial). But then Russia does not seem to have any better claim. At least St Andrew appears to have visited Greece, and maybe Romania. Has anybody got a good explanation why this particular saint was adopted by Scotland?
See this paragraph in the above link:

One legend says that a man who later became St. Regulus (or Rule) carried the bones of St. Andrew to Scotland. His ship was wrecked on the Fife coast, and the spot at which the ship landed became the site of the town of St. Andrews. A cathedral was built there which was started in 1160 and took 158 years to build (the ruins can still be seen today) and the town became an important site of Christian pilgrimage.
St. Andrew was also adopted as patron of the Scots because of this legend:

Again there are different legends surrounding the use of the Saltire as Scotland's flag. Some people say that Angus dreamt one night that St. Andrew appeared to him and promised him a great victory. Angus was about to fight a battle with another king from the North of England, and this dream made him believe that the Scots would win. On the day of the battle a white cross appeared in the sky and Angus did win - this is why the flag of Scotland is sky blue with a white cross. The battle was at a place called Athelstaneford in the year 831.
And that's the rest of the story...

T.