Year of the Tiger
Good evening,
Happy news to begin: it is the Chinese spring festival, or new year, ushering in the Year of the Tiger. Radio Scotland’s request show Get it On just played two hours worth of songs reflecting the 12 animals of the zodiac from Rat Trap by the Boomtown Rats, to Dog Days by Florence and the Machine. They were struggling for songs about oxen. I suggested In the Bleak midwinter with its “ox and ass and camel which adore.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was not chosen. Anyway, a very happy new year if you are celebrating this week.
Less happy news now. Because of a number of cases of Covid affecting members of St Salvator’s Chapel Choir, we are not able to hold the choral service of Evensong tomorrow in St Salvator’s Chapel. This is disappointing of course, and choir and worshippers will miss the lovely music that was planned. But we hope to have the choir back for services on Sunday, and at the first opportunity at Evensong we will bless the candles for the Candlemas semester, even if we won’t be meeting for worship tomorrow, on Candlemas Day. Instead, here is the peerless Kate Rusby singing Candlemas Eve, a song for this evening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_aspQi3j58
Down with the rosemary and bay,
Down with the mistletoe,
Instead of holly, now up-raise
The greener box, to show
The greener box, to show.
[Chorus:]
Thus times do shift, thus times do shift,
Each thing its time doth hold,
New things succeed, new things succeed,
As former things grow old.
The holly hitherto did sway,
Let box now domineer,
Until the dancing Easter day,
On Easter’s eve appear,
On Easter’s eve appear.
[Chorus]
The youthful box which now hath grace,
Your houses to renew,
Grown old, surrender must its place,
Unto the freshened yew,
Unto the freshened yew.
[Chorus]
When yew is out, then birch comes in
And many the flowers beside,
Both of a fresh and fragrant kin,
To honour Whitsuntide,
To honour Whitsuntide.
Times do shift indeed. Let us hope that in this year of the tiger, the times shift from our pandemic losses to being together in community and delight.
Yours,
Donald.