Orkney Archive Advent Calendar - Ba' Humbug!

The account book shown above belonged to Patrick Graeme of Graemshall and the entry for 26th December 1781 reads: ' By given for a prize to be played for at the football on Christmas Day'.

This presumably refers to the Holm ba' game which no is no longer played. John Robertson's book Uppies and Doonies describes it thus:

'The sides were the East and West ends of the village and the throw-up took place at the Post Office, the Youth's ba' starting at noon and the men's ba' two hours later. The goals were St Mary's loch at the West End and the old Grain Store at the East end... that there should be a water goal is in the true tradition of the game.

The contests were rough and punishing, and one of my informants who had been present nearly sixty years before, said "they tore the very claes aff yer back".'

Orkney Archive reference: D5/11/7 (this is a closed collection but applications, in writing, can be made via the archives department for consideration of the owners of the collection..)

X Marks the Spot

For all of you who are champing at the bit to find out the answer to last week's puzzle, the answer is Graemeshall in Holm. Can you believe it? No? Here then is the proof, a small newspaper cutting pasted into Peace's Almanac on the back of the sketch.

Both the article and the sketch were pasted into Peace's Almanac next to an article about Graemeshall. They were found by one of our more eagle-eyed customers.

There are many interesting stories and articles in Peace's Almanac about Orkney and Orcadians alongside the facts, figures and trade directories, and they are always worth a look. Next time you visit the Orkney Room pull up a comfy leather armchair and enjoy some of these intriguing stories.

Dispatches From The Summer Assistant #2: Sutherland Graeme Newscuttings

We regularly receive new accessions. These are items which form a new collection or can be added to an existing collection. There are various ways in which these can be given, including as a gift or on loan.

One recent accession which I am currently listing is an addition to our Sutherland Graeme collection (D5). Most of the new accession (D5/52) relates to Patrick Neale Sutherland Graeme, however it also contains items relating to other members of that family and their Graemeshall estate in Holm.

The accession includes various items including a sealed Commission in favour of Patrick Neale Sutherland, Esquire, L.B.E. Lord Lieutenant of the County of Orkney (D5/52/1), log books of the H.M.S. Topaze by A.M. Sutherland Graeme (his father) and family newscuttings books.

These newscuttings are a great source of information about the family, key figures in the communities of Holm and Harpenden. Searches relating to particular people (whether ancestors or well known local figures) tend to start with the identification of key dates such as births and marriages, and achievements, usually academic or work related. Finding out about their lifestyle and hobbies can be rather problematic because people may not have written about their leisure time. These scrapbooks contain a wealth of information relating to the family’s interests. They show that Patrick Neale Sutherland Graeme was a keen churchgoer, was involved in Toc H. and was a talented sportsman (playing cricket and football for the Cambridge Malvern Club). They also show his wife’s interest in amateur theatre and concerts.