Norway Day – 17th May Dinner

Norway Day Dinner 2023

Our Norwegian National Day Dinner will be held on Wednesday, 17th May at the Royal Scots Club, Edinburgh. Details, invitation and menu can be downloaded here.

Syttende mai (17th May) – What’s it all about?

Join us to celebrate the signing of the Constitution – Norges Grunnlov – which formalised the dissolution of union with Denmark, and ensured that the Kingdom of Norway, as a ‘free, independent, indivisible and inalienable Realm’ exist as a democratic state based on the rule of law and human rights.

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In 2014 (the 200th anniversary) we raised a wee dram to the achievement and Scottish descent of that most famous of Eidsvoll signatories, Wilhelm Frimann Koren Christie. WFK Christie (b1778), whose statue stands in the centre of Bergen – the Hansa trading town where his Montrose ancestors settled – was Permanent Secretary to the Assembly during its deliberations on the Constitution. Quick of mind and quiet in his consideration of difficult issues raised in debate, he was lauded for his statesmanlike gravitas and courage.

 

 

Norway Day in Edinburgh

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For those of you joining us for our celebratory Dinner, we look forward to seeing you! And for a day of family fun, don’t forget to join the Parade, starting 12:45 at the top of Cockburn Street – (Further details from NORSA).


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Norwegian-Scottish Friendship Our Association, which meets in Edinburgh, is one of 7 Norwegian-Scottish friends societies in Scotland. There are also societies in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dunfermline, the Highlands, Orkney, and Shetland, as well as the students society, NORSA, in Edinburgh.

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Norway’s tartans Norway enjoys a long tradition of tartan. A tartan ‘mønster’ – not a euphemism for Scotland’s ‘Nessie’ – is a tartan ‘check’ or ‘skotskrutet’. Several Norwegian tartans, both tradtional and contemporary, are registered in the Scottish Register of Tartans, the national repository of tartan designs maintained by the National …

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Bergen refuge for fleeing Scottish Marquis John Graham, 1st Marquis of Montrose (1612-50), Covenanter turned Royalist, was forced to flee Scotland after defeat at the battle of Philiphaugh. Choosing to escape to Norway, he had his men search all the coast and harbours to the north of his Montrose home …

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Syttende Mai i Edinburgh Edinburgh’s Syttende mai parade – the 17th May or Norwegian Constitution Day parade traditionally takes place along the capital’s main thoroughfare, Princes Street. At the boom of Edinburgh Castle’s ‘one o’ clock gun’, the pigeons fly and the parade begins!

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Norwegian Princess – Scottish Queen Margreta Eiriksdatter – ‘The Maid of Norway’, was the daughter of Eric II of Norway and the granddaughter of Alexander III of Scotland. On the death of her Scottish grandfather, the young Norwegian princess inherited the Crown of Scotland and preparations were made for her …