St Andrews is full of strange traditions. I suppose when you have a history that stretches back 600 years this is bound to happen. The Kate Kennedy procession is one of these weird traditions that I mentioned already in an earlier post. Well, another one happened this morning and due to where our flat is located Sharon and I couldn't miss it.
It is called the 'May Dip' and involves a frigid early morning splash in the North Sea just below the windows of our living room. Every year on May first hundreds of University students wake up at 4 (some are serious enough to camp out all night!) and make their pilgrimmage to the small beach just below the ruins of St Andrews Castle to plunge into the brisk waters of the ocean just as the first hints of dawn brush the horizon. Why, you might ask? A fair question. And St Andrews students have a very 'logical' explanation.
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5 comments:
To help, let's consult a (cough) reliable source, Wikipedia, which explains why the May Dip is taken so seriously.
"Situated around the town of St Andrews are cobblestone markings denoting where protestant martyrs were burnt at the stake. To students, the most notable of these is the cobblestone initials "PH" located outside the main gate of St Salvators College. These cobblestones denote where Patrick Hamilton was martyred in 1528. According to student tradition, stepping on the "PH" will cause a student to become cursed, with the effect that the offender will fail his or her degree and so students are known to jump over the cobblestones when passing."
The site continues, "The May Dip is a student tradition held annually at dawn on May Day. Students stay awake until dawn, at which time they collectively run into the North Sea. The May Dip is also traditionally the only way of removing the curse inflicted by stepping on the PH cobbles."
I can tell you- this superstition is taken very seriously!
So, this morning at 4:45am Sharon and I woke up to the sounds of hundreds of university students pouring down to the beach and jumping tight-limbed into the surf. It was quite a sight- amusing to be sure- and definitely strange! We had a few friends who had woken up early to participate or watch, so we invited them over for hot tea to warm up. Then, when it was all over Sharon and I looked at each other, commented at how charmingly quirky this place is, shrugged, and went back to bed.
I read (probably Wikipedia again) that upon graduation, students are known to dance on the PH cobbles, figuring the curse can't hurt them any more. Watch for that!
Bill S.
My reference is here - scroll to the bottom.
Bill S.
I suppose I could safely dance on the intitials too, since I'm not officially a student.
I like the Patrick Hamilton initials...and the May Dip appears to be a classic. Patrick Hamilton was a famous St. Andrews Protestant martyr, burned for heresy during the early sixteenth century. It is interesting that this is how the city commemorates him. It's probably a centuries old tradition, dating back to a time when the city (at a time when it had become Protestant) may have felt some kind of guilt for condemning Hamilton.
Does St. Andrews have any similar ceremony attached to the martyrdom of George Wisehart? He was a contemporary of Hamilton's whose initials are bricked into the street in a manner similar to PH's. They are located either outside the Castle or near one of the main streets.
Mark R.
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