Peace On Earth 1918 - An Archive Advent Calendar #12

Today's archive nods to the 'Spanish' 'Flu pandemic which swept the world during the last years of World War 1. It had reached Orkney by the end of 1918 as this extract from the Stromness Public School Log Book shows:




Click to enlarge and read.

This is perhaps not the most Christmassy of posts, we admit, so here are the betinselled heads of our beloved Orkney Room dwellers:

Gentle George

Elegant Edwin

Surprised Stanley

And angry, angry Eric.

Eric Linklater, Wind On The Moon

It was Orcadian writer Eric Linklater's birth date yesterday. Born in Swansea, South Wales, to an Orcadian father in 1899, Eric Linklater  was educated in Aberdeen and spent much of his adult life in Harray, Orkney.

I was aware of many of his novels for adults such as Whitemaa's Saga, Poet's Pub and Juan in America, but not of his books written for children.

We have several editions of the fantastic The Wind On The Moon so called for the warning given by Major Palfrey to his mischievous daughters Dinah and Dorinda:

There is a wind on the moon... I don't like the look of it at all. If there is an ill wind, and you behave badly, it will blow straight into your heart, and then you will behave badly for a long time to come.

Dinah and Dorindah like the sound of this as their parents do not seem to appreciate any of their good deeds at all and indeed, only seem pleased when the girls 'sit quite still, doing nothing at all, either good or bad.'

First the girls decide to be very, very greedy and eat so much that they need to be rolled down the street to the doctor's surgery by their horrified mother:

For breakfast they ate porridge and cream, fish and bacon and eggs and sausages and tomatoes, toast and marmalade, and rolls and honey. For dinner they ate roast beef and cold lamb, boiled mutton with caper sauce, Scotch broth and clear soup, hare soup and lentil soup, roast chicken with thyme and parsley stuffing, boiled fowl with oatmeal and onion stuffing, roast duck with apple sauce, apple-tart and cherry pie, Yorkshire pudding and plum pudding, trifle and jelly, potatoes and Brussels sprouts and cauliflower and French beans and green peas, and all sorts of cheese. For tea they had scones and pancakes, crumpets and pikelets, muffins and cream buns, plum cake and seed cake and cream cake and chocolate cake, and often some bread and butter as well. And for supper they had stewed fruit and fresh fruit, oranges and bananas and baked apples and half a gallon of milk at the very least.

The girls then turn themselves into kangaroos with the help of their friend Mrs Grimble and get captured by a zoo-keeper. They make friends with all of the animals.

A judge manages to annoy them so they make sure that his home is filled with stinking dead mice, eels and old kippers to force him to 'change his mind'. As you do.

The girls then decide to rescue their father from a dungeon in a far-away castle.

The fantastic illustrations are by Nicolas Bentley.

My two weeks with Marjorie

I saw an owl on the way to work and an oystercatcher on the way home!

Orkney library and archives is a very special place. I have been fortunate enough to spend two weeks here on a cataloguing placement. It’s been just incredible. I’ve been surrounded by the fabulous archive collections of George Mackay Brown, Edwin Muir and the papers of the Highland Park Distillery to name just a few. I’ve seen the search room alive with researchers from all backgrounds being enthused by the both the collections and the friendly and helpful staff.

My commute to work from Stromness to Kirkwall has been the talk of the lively, friendly staff room. Imagine seeing an owl on the way to work. It was a far cry from my usual crush from Archway to Euston on the Northern Line!

As part of a cataloguing placement the archives staff: David and Lucy found me a real treat. I have been cataloguing the personal papers of an incredible woman who was devoted to life on Orkney: Marjorie Linklater (1909-1997).

Born in Edinburgh in 1909, she met Eric Linklater (1899-1974), the well known Scottish novelist in 1932, marrying him the following year, after which they lived at Merkister in the parish of Harray.

In 1947 the couple left Orkney to live in Easter Ross and it was not until 1974, after the death of Eric that Marjorie chose to return to Orkney where she lived at 20 Main Street, Kirkwall, until her death in June 1997. It is from this period that the group of records in the collection originate where she championed campaigns for both the environment and the arts.

She threw herself into a diverse range of activities and was a tireless campaigner on a number of issues. Most significantly, she spear-headed the "No Uranium" campaign (1979-1980), which successfully prevented a proposed plan to mine uranium near Stromness.

She became Secretary of the Stormy Bank Group which lobbied against the dumping of nuclear waste in the seas off Orkney. She was also instrumental in mobilising opposition to expansion of the Dounreay complex in Caithness. 

With Laura Grimond, she was a driving force in the Orkney Heritage Society, and one of the original promoters, and founder chairwoman, of the Pier Arts Centre in Stromness. She was also involved in the St. Magnus Festival in which she inaugurated the Johnsmas Foy.

If all this were not enough. Marjorie’s collection also unearthed some material from Orkney’s famous poet and writer George Mackay Brown. The collection contains three charming notes to Marjorie from George which illustrate a close and touching friendship and their shared passion for the arts. The collection also contains a copy of his poem ‘Uranium’ which he wrote around the time of Marjorie’s active role in the ‘No Uranium’ Campaign.

In the true spirit of Orcadian life, news spread across the island that I was working on the collection and her daughter Kristin visited the archives, saw the collection and was able to relive some memories of her mother’s remarkable life. It added an extra dimension to my cataloguing experience to meet Kristin and talk about her mother.

Twenty boxes have now been added to the catalogue and the public can see them for the first time within the search room of the Orkney Archive. They are catalogued under D90: Marjorie Linklater Papers.

She was truly a remarkable woman and I can’t help reflecting on how Orkney has benefited from her campaigning legacies. I didn’t spend all my time in Orkney in the archives. I had the most amazing day last Sunday in the glorious North Ronaldsay sunshine. Special thanks to Billy Muir for making me so welcome. It seems impossible to imagine that perhaps without her tireless campaigning against nuclear waste dumping and uranium mining these beautiful islands could have been very different.

Huge thanks to everyone at Orkney Library and Archive for making my stay so welcoming. I wish you the very best of luck with the Bookseller’s Library of the Year award which will be announced at an awards ceremony in London on the 14^th May. I’ll be rooting for you. You so deserve to win.

Sharon Messenger is Archives Assistant at the Wellcome Library, London and a graduate student on the Diploma course in Archives and Records Management at University College London.

20 Main Street Kirkwall. Home of Marjorie Linklater 1974-1997. Credit: Sharon Messenger

Marjorie Linklater on Rousay with the Orkney Heritage Society. 25^th August 1979.

Credit: Shearer Photographic Collection. Orkney Library and Archives.

Letter to Marjorie Linklater from George Mackay Brown, dated 16^th January 1979.

Credit: Orkney Library and Archives. D90/1/3

New Aqusition

Yesterday, we received this great donation from Orkney Museum (pictured left).

The 'Island Times' was a newspaper made by the 296 Bty of the 66th (Leeds Rifles) A. A. Regt. R.A. for servicemen on Orkney.

It was launched just before the more professional 'Orkney Blast' which was edited by Eric Linklater and printed on an actual printing press.

The 'Island Times' has a more charming, homemade feel to it with hand lettered headlines and cut-and-paste typewritten articles.

Section headings include: 'Items from the Stations', 'Sport', 'Weddings', 'Gossip', 'Footlights' and 'About Birds.'

We have received two copies of the first issue, dated 24th December 1940, and a copy of the second issue, dated January 1941. We also hold copies of the 'Orkney Blast' on microfilm from January 1941 - November 1944.