Wedding Day: July 28, 2007
In Duns. Berwickshire, The Borders, Scotland.
Duns is Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, with narrower streets. It is also Oz, or the Shire, except with everything made of stone, solid and made to last. If “the Imagination became flesh and dwelt among us,” it would be at Duns. Yet the town radiates good sense, careful management, and tradition. But not stuffy! The Scots may be frugal and industrious, but they are peerless when it comes to having fun. As with other peoples who have been subject to cultural and political repression at the hands of more powerful neighbors, the Scots cling to their dances, music, speech patterns, and festivals as acts of defiant self-definition. To observe this in action is a major attraction for tourists; to be invited and accepted into it as a participant is an honor beyond measure.
After a blessing ceremony at the Scottish Episcopal Church the Bride and Groom led the entire congregation in a procession down the street to the groom’s family home, where a garden reception was held. A piper led us, the sound echoing far down the hill and throughout the town.
Procession Poem
A piper is playing,
A procession is following
Caitlin and Michael
Down the Duns Road.
Between the tall meadows,
Sheep at their grazing,
Stone walls and slate roofs
Yield to the sound,
Welcome their passage
Into the future,
Surrounded by Scotland,
Embraced by the sky.
Sacred their walking
In the procession,
Begun in the future
On the bones of the past.
Follow the piper,
Never an ending,
Crossing the Borders,
Join with it now.
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