Time Travelling Fridays 3

We meet again for our final advent Time Travelling Friday. Today's voyager through space and time is the recently crowned BBC sports personality of the year, our fave, Andy Murray.

Although we have always been great fans of Andy's slight dourness and unwillingness to pander to the press, many have criticised poor Muzza for his supposed 'moodiness'.

Well, we can exclusively reveal that Andy's world-weariness is due to a twenty year stint spent as a grocer in late 1800s Stromness. He's just really, really tired and sick of his penny sweets getting pinched.

Peace's Almanac 1881 Trade Directory for Stromness.

Next up, Donald Sutherland, who was accused of using his actor looks and lovely voice to 'unfairly seduce' a certain Magnus Flett of Harray into the Lord Seaforth's regiment. Conspiring to 'carry him out of the country contrary to his inclination and without giving him an opportunity for a fair trial.'


Oh Donald!

Orkney Archive reference SC11/5/1778/46

Merry Christmas!!!

Time Travelling Fridays 2 (except on Saturday, as we wuz ill.)

Prepare to be amazed once more, as we unveil more time-travelling celebrities as your special advent treat:



Orkney Archive Sc11/5/1831/134

You may have assumed that Patrick Stewart won the role of Jean Luc-Picard because of his actorly skills but it was actually his experience of travelling through time and space to 1830s Orkney where he worked as a painter.

At one point, Patrick was taken to court over an unpaid bill of £19, 14 shillings and 5 pence. But his lawyer said that the charge was 'libellous' and actually due to a clerk writing a bill down twice by mistake. The firm later folded.

Orkney Archive reference SC11/5/1831/134

We also have completely water-tight and not at all nonsensical proof that John Snow also had a bash at the time-travel malarky and ended up being John Balfour's attorney, receiving bossy letters about bonds, notes of hand and various connected instructions.





Orkney Archive Reference D2/6/5





When a child is born

Rejoice readers, your usual blogger archiver is now the proud mother of a very lovely daughter! We are all cock-a-hoop at this and wish them many hours of undisturbed sleep.

They may now be considering a christening and if so this might be a good time to issue the following warning. John Firth wrote in "Reminiscences of an Orkney Parish" about the dangers of baptising a girl directly before a boy. If this happened "fears were entertained that the girl, on reaching womanhood, would be afflicted with a full flowing whisker, while the other would remain beardless to the end of his days".

Think this is unlikely? Well just take a look at the photograph below. You have been warned!