Andrew was a disciple of Jesus and the brother of Simon Peter.
They were fishermen working beside the sea when Jesus summoned
them to follow him and become "fishers of men." Although less
prominent than his brother, Andrew is present at the miracle of
the bread and the speech on the Mount of Olives. In all accounts
he was one of the first, as a follower of John the Baptist, to be
"called" as a disciple.
According to later traditions, Andrew became a missionary to Asia Minor, Macedonia, and southern Russia. In 70 AD he was martyred in Patras, Greece. Having many converts, he was feared by the Roman governor who had him crucified on an X-shaped cross.
St. Andrew's bones were entombed, and around 300 years later were moved by Emperor Constantine (the Great) to his new capital Constantinople. Legend suggests that a Greek Monk (others describe him as an Irish assistant of St. Columba) called St. Rule (or St. Regulus) was warned in a dream that St. Andrews remains were to be moved. He was directed by an angel to take those of the remains that he could to the "ends of the earth" for safekeeping. St. Rule dutifully followed these directions, removing a tooth, an arm bone, a kneecap and some fingers from St. Andrew's tomb and transporting these as far away as he could. That place was Scotland and it is here that the association is believed to have begun.
It was here that St. Rule was shipwrecked with his precious cargo. St. Rule is said to have come ashore at a Pictish settlement on the East Coast of Scotland which later became St. Andrews.
Another version is that Acca, the Bishop of Hexham, who was a collector of relics, brought the relics of St. Andrew to St. Andrews in 733. There seems to have been a religious centre at St. Andrews at that time, either founded by St. Rule in the 6th century or by a Pictish King, Ungus, who reigned from 731 - 761.
Whichever tale is true, the relics were placed in a specially constructed chapel. The Cathedral of St. Andrews replaced this chapel in 1160, and St. Andrews became the religious capital of Scotland and a great centre for Medieval pilgrims who came to view the relics.
There are other legends of how St. Andrew and his remains became associated with Scotland, but there is little evidence for any of these, including the legend of St. Rule. The names still exist in Scotland, including St. Rules Tower, which remains today amongst the ruins of St. Andrews Cathedral. It is not known what happened to the relics of St. Andrew which were stored in St. Andrews Cathedral, although it is most likely that these were destroyed during the Scottish Reformation.
He was the patron saint of Greece, Russia and Scotland. St. Andrew is also invoked by fishermen and against gout and a stiff neck.