Folklore says that St Ninians Day is the day that the first eating apples are ready. Now there are cultivars that are ready earlier and my lovely Falstaff apples are really good but another week or two will improve them even more.
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| 4th Century Manuscript at Edinburgh University Library |
Ninian was the son of a Cumbrian chief who travelled to Rome after becoming a Christian. In 394AD Ninian was made a bishop by Pope Siricius. But he didn't forget his fellow Britons who didn't know the gospel and decided to return home.
He built a stone church at Whithorn - now in Dumfries and Galloway region of Scotland which became know as the White House which he dedicated to St Martin of Tours. This is thought to be the oldest Christian foundation in Scotland dating from 397.
Sometime in the early 2,000s we had a holiday around some of the Scottish coast and spent several days at Garlieston not far from Whithorn and visited the remains of the Priory and museum. I wish I had photos but either I didn't have a camera or lost a whole photo album from those years in one of the house moves.
Many of our apples become windfalls whilst we were away. I didn't know about St Ninian
ReplyDeleteShame about the apples, hope they are still a bit usable
DeleteThat is a fascinating church, St. Ninian was an early saint for England. English apples are a rare item in Lidl, I do miss my apple trees and apple juice.
ReplyDeleteAldi do really well for British apples, nearly all year round now
DeleteWe have a school and church here called St Ninian s Primary and they also have the Whithorn base for young people with additional needs. Catriona
ReplyDeleteThat's good to read about a connection
DeleteApples are a fruit that it feels easy to take for granted, we’re hoping to plant a couple of apple trees next year, the biggest we can afford because at our age we don’t want to wait years for fruit 😀
ReplyDeleteAlison in Devon x
I can recommend the Minarette trees for not taking up much room and soon fruiting and Falstaff variety for delicious flavour.
DeleteMy apple trees produced almost no apples.
ReplyDeleteI will look for Minarette trees as they sound like a great option.
Susan
The weather was just right for fruit setting here this year. Next year could be different!
DeleteWhat a fascinating piece of history about Ninian and Whithorn, and such a shame you lost those photos, but it's lovely that you can still share that memory of your visit so vividly!
ReplyDeleteI might not have had a camera for a while is more likely the reason for no photos
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