Her Orcadian Voice? Sounds of the Noughties... the seventeen noughties.

I just love this letter which I found in the Balfour Papers recently. 

The phonetic spelling of the words give a glimpse of the sound of this Orcadian woman's voice from way back in 1704.

 

Here is a transcription of the document - see if you can figure out what is being said. It was pretty tricky for me in places, especially with no punctuation too: 

[Address:]

ffor 

John Covintrie

off Enhallow

[----?]

[Letter:]

Hoy 21 Febru 1704

Sir

My husband heth diseyred me

to show you that he is verie

ill of a trembling and a shek

ing somtyms hot and somtyms

cold which we judge to be a fit

of the agew which occasions

him that he canott trevell

without heserd of his lieiff

he diseyres yow to mek his

excuse to tanernes and show

him that so soon as ever

this fitt is over he shal com

over to the menland and send yow

and him word this is all at

present from your wiell wisher

Ann Grahame

[Words side on:]

he diseyrs yell send him two pund

of resins and if ye heff aniething good

agenst vomiting he thanks yow for your

eiy water but his eys continues sor yet

And here is my translation for you:

[Address:]

For

John Covingtrie

of Eynhallow

[----?]

[Letter:]

Hoy 21 February 1704

Sir

My husband has desired me

to show you that he is very 

ill of a trembling and a shak-

ing sometimes hot and sometimes

cold which we judge to be a fit

of the ague which occasions 

him so that he cannot travel

without hazard to his life.

He desires you to make his

excuses to Tankerness and show

him that as soon as ever

this fit is over, he shall come

over to the mainland and send you

and him word. This is all 

present, from your well wisher

Ann Grahame

[Words side on:]

He desires you to send him two pounds

of raisins and if you have anything good

against vomiting. He thanks you for your

eye water but his eyes continue to be sore yet. 

Unfortunately we don't know who Ann Grahame was, what her husband's name was or whether he survived this nasty sounding illness.   "Tankerness" we believe to be the Laird of Tankerness whose surname was Baikie. Let us know if you have any suggestions or corrections for the transcription. 

Letter reference D2/47/5 

20 Days of Orkney Trees #17

'Amid shouts and yells in the darkness of Christmas Eve, the youths and men dragged north or south, as Fate decided, the 'Yule Log'

George Mackay Brown, Under Brinkie's Brae

Although we have kept insisting that 'Orkney Has Trees' during this advent, it has become increasingly clear that, for a large number of years, the trees in Orkney were very few and far between and mainly cultivated in sheltered gardens or around big estates.


This is why the Stromness Christmas Eve tradition of a tug-of-war with the Yule Tree so exasperated the town council and those residents who had trees in their garden.


The Yule tree, or Yule log competition is similar to Kirkwall's Christmas and New Year Ba' games. Both involve a sweaty, wrestle through their respective streets with each town divided into two teams. In Kirkwall, Uppies compete with Doonies for control of the ba', whereas Stromnessians are divided into Northenders and Southenders. The two games have also necessitated the barricading of local businesses and co-operation from local authorities.


The best history of the game that we could find was in John Robertson's Uppies and Doonies which suggests that the game may have began before the late 1890s. The earliest mention Robertson found of the game was in 1907. Presumably, it was this report in the edition of The Orcadian dated 28th December 1907 (As you can see below, Stromness once also had their own Ba' games.):

A tree was chosen each year and chains or ropes were attached to either end to enable players to grab on. What could be the problem with this piece of light-hearted, community-binding fun? The answer is limited resources. As previously discussed, trees did not have much chance of making it to maturity in Orkney if they were not protected and encouraged which meant that many of the trees used in the yule-tied tug-of-war belonged to people.


Most of the trees were apparently stolen from gardens and Robertson tells of minister James Craigie, sitting up most of the night with his precious tree in order to keep it safe. He failed. Town youths manage to slip in anyway and cut the tree down. Rev. Craigie was very cross.


Eventually, in January 1933, the town council decided that enough was enough and that too much damage was being done to private properties. A restriction was placed upon the pinching of trees.

Orkney Archive Ref: S1/6 dated 9th January 1933



In 1935, this printed notice was displayed in the town:

Courtesy of Stromness Museum

These restrictions did dampen enthusiasm somewhat and the Orcadian of the 30th of December 1937 reported that 'A requisition was made for Yule Tree and we understand a tree was obtained in a legal enough manner, but any attempt to pull it through the street surely fizzled out, for none made its appearance so far as we know.'

Attempts were made during the next decade or so to resurrect this Christmas tradition but, along with the Stromness ba' game, it eventually fell into obscurity.


Until 2017! Read here about the very popular return of the Stromness Yule Log which attracted over 200 participants and huge crowds: https://www.northlinkferries.co.uk/orkney-blog/the-stromness-yule-log-pull/




Information taken from:


Uppies and Doonies by John Robertson
Stromness, A History by Bryce Wilson
History of Stromness 1900-1972 by James Troup
Editions of the Orcadian as mentioned.

We Only Do It Because We Care...

We have blogged before about our passive - aggressive relationships with certain TV shows. Sometimes one nit picks because one loves a person so very much and it pains us that they are not reaching their potential.


We wrote a snippy complaint about Autumnwatch calling Orkney 'The Orkneys' because we are pedantic but also because we love BBC's 'The Watches' so very much. It is the only thing that has ever annoyed us about that wonderful show.


We were unreasonably delighted by the first series of Bake Off, and we almost lost our minds when Who Do You Think You Are called (another show we had previously chastised), but we ADORE Spring/Autumn/WinterWatch. Thus, there was another very hysterical afternoon after we were contacted by one of the show's producers to provide copies of audio tapes of Orkney naturalist and expert on Hen Harriers, Eddie Balfour.


The relevant program aired on Wednesday but can still be watched on iplayer here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b61crx

For more information on Eddie, see this obituary which appeared in a 1974 copy of The Orcadian:

 

 

The Harsh World of 1960's adverts

Wow, these adverts from a 1967 Orcadian are just not holding back are they? I had to wipe imaginary spittle from my face after reading the second one...

VE Day Celebrations in Orkney and the UK

Notice from The Scotsman newspaper, dated 8th May 1945
(OA Ref: D23/30/7)

Photographs from The Scotsman newspaper, dated 9th May 1945 

(OA Ref: D23/30/7)

On the island of Eday:

 "The day was observed by many as a holiday. Flags were flown. On both afternoons, 8th & 9th, it poured incessantly with rain and, except where necessary, most people kept indoors. A service of thanksgiving was held in the Church of Scotland at 6pm on the evening of the 8th. Many people were kept from attending by the inclemency of the weather." 

(The Orkney Herald newspaper, 15th May 1945)

In Kirkwall: 

"The VE Day thanksgiving service, in which the three Church of Scotland congregations in the town and the Congregational Church united, planned to be held in St Magnus Cathedral was changed at the last minute to the Paterson Church owing to the breakdown of the cathedral organ. Upwards of a thousand people attended the service" 

(The Orkney Herald newspaper, 15th May 1945)

Photograph of Edinburgh from The Scotsman newspaper, dated 9th May 1945 

(OA Ref: D23/30/7)

In Stromness:

"Stromness was a town of flags and down-pouring rain on the official VE Day, the eighth of May, and the combination was not at all harmonious. What promised to be a day of delirious joy and excitement went off like a damp squib. True, there was the excitement of the Prime Minister's radio speech in the afternoon, and the ringing of the church bells expressed the deep thankfulness in all our hearts. In the evening the heavy rain took off and allowed the people to go to the united service in the North Church, but even then a shroud of dampness hung over Stromness and there was no sunshine or fragment of blue sky to gladden this first day in the new era of peace. In spite of atrocious weather there were many celebrations in the evening. At most of the military camps, and in the Town Hall, dancing and merry-making went on all night, and NAAFI beer flowed in profusion. On the following day the weather was almost similar, except in the evening which was fine and sunny. The flags still flew and the beer still flowed and the rain continued to fall" 

(The Orkney Herald newspaper, 15th May 1945)

The last few days of the war from an unknown newspaper. (OA Ref: D23/30/7)

In Longhope: 

"On Tuesday of last week flags were flying all around the district, and at 3pm the vessels in the bay all began blowing their whistles and hoisting their bunting, which made a pretty sight. The flags were kept up all day on Wednesday, two days holiday being observed by all workpeople. A service was held on Tuesday evening in the Parish Church." 

(The Orkney Herald newspaper, 15th May 1945)

Last All Clear 

"Mr Churchill's broadcast on VE Day was brief - disappointingly short for those who had waited for it. The finish of the Premier's broadcast was heralded by the sounding of ship's whistles at Kirkwall Harbour and the prolonged 'All Clear' shrilling of one of the privately operated Burgh air raid sirens" 

(The Orcadian newspaper, May 1945)

In Evie:

Victory in Europe was celebrated here with quiet enthusiasm. Following the announcement by the Prime Minister on Tuesday that the war in Europe was over the church bells were rung, and flags appeared everywhere. On Wednesday a thanksgiving service was held in the Central Church at noon: it was largely attended and most impressive. Dr Campbell occupied the pulpit and gave an excellent address.

(Orkney Herald newspaper, 15 May 1945)

Click on the label "Orkney at War" below to see more wartime blog posts.