'Be A Womanly Woman Under All Circumstances.'

Today, in 1920, the 19th amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, guaranteeing suffrage for women, hoorah!

6 years later, on the 18th of August 1926, an announcement appeared in the Orkney Herald for  the release of 'Women: An Inquiry', an essay exploring gender differences by Willa Muir, wife of  Orcadian poet Edwin Muir. Hoorah!

Willa Muir in 1967 - negative no. L818/2

On the 18th of August 2012, the archive staff found this terrifying piece in the 1905 Orcadian entitled '2s Every Girl Should Learn'

Thank goodness the female archive staff were not living in 1905, for we can admit to very few of these attributes. We do respect old age, (as an archive we revere it), and we sweep away some of the cobwebs and we of course read only the best of books (Does Games of Thrones count?) and steer away from trashy literature (Does Game of Thrones count?)

But we are not taking active exercise for anyone.

This Is Very Pleasing

That is all.

Document Ref: D38/2537/45

Orkney Olympics

We have prepared another display! It is, of course, in honour of the Olympics and contains many photos and documents of sporting prowess from rugged and/or lithe Orcadians.

The poster includes images of runners in the 2012 Torch parade which went through Orkney last month, Tom Wards, an Orcadian wrestler who competed at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, boxer Toby Cliff and a very brave man about to dive into the basin at Kirkwall harbour for a swimming gala.

We have censored this image with an iced bun as his swimming costume leaves little to the imagination. You'll have to come in and see the display if you want to ...errr... see the display.

We very much enjoyed the opening ceremony last night but were saddened by the lack of clootie dumplings, half time raffle and old men in boiler suits saying "aye aye min!" Blatant discrimination against Orkney.

Soap Wars!

Before the National Television Awards began, they looked like this...

I love the snippyness of the one above...

...and the ridiculous pomposity above. This soap is so fancy, it has it's own coat of arms! Where would this soap pageantry have ended had it not been checked? Dove bars with epaulets on the ends of them? Boxes of Daz cruising around on segues?

Information taken from an edition of The Orcadian newspaper dated 14th May 1892.

I KNEW it!

"Pure" you say? Increases Muscular Strength? Gives Physical Endurance and Staying Power?

Quick friends; to the microfilm readers to search for proof that wine raises IQ levels and makes you a groovier dancer permanently, not just post-quaff!

 There could also be evidence that cakes are not 'fattening' and 'artery clogging' but 'invigorating to the digestive tract' and 'advisable to eat in large quantities.'

Get to it!

Hello, You Fool, I Love You!

This morning, a strange yellow light was detected over the town of Kirkwall. The light had a definite warming quality to it and was all-pervading; penetrating every window, cracks around front doors and the gaps between curtains.

Citizens were alarmed until one of the older folk chuckled wisely and said 'It's chist the sun! Do you no mind the sun?' Ah... the sun, welcome back old friend, we have missed you. We're a bit annoyed at your tardyness, if we're honest, but better late than never I suppose.

Here are some things from our collection which remind us of you. Wait... don't go... come back! We didn't mean to scare you!

A Rousay Picnic, c.1950.

Magnus Spence's notebook on Sun Worship in Orkney D32/3/20

Stromness Swimming Club, 1958

Kirkwall Swimming Gala in the basin.

The Sun newspaper's ridiculous take on Margaret Tait making Blue Black Permanent.





Don't You Sometimes Wish That Shops Still Looked Like This?

Interior of D. M. Wright, Chemist, Albert Street, Kirkwall.

As above.

Interior of Flett and Sons, Bridge Street, Kirkwall.

But I am glad that they no longer look like this:

Eeeewwwwwww...

G. Graham's, Bridge Street, Kirkwall.

All photos by Tom Kent.

Oh Andy!

(To the tune of Barry Manilow's 'Mandy)

We'll remember all our life,
rain it came down cold as ice,
a shadow of a man,
a face through our tv
crying in the court
the game goes into

advantage and another set,
happy roger makes another play
looking in your eyes
we see a champion
we never realised
how happy you made us!

Oh Andy!
Well you came and you gave it your best shot
but they sent you away,
Oh Andy!
and you cried, and Kim cried, and Judy cried, and we all cried.... Oh Andy!

Above is the archive item which we had intended to post on Monday to celebrate Andy Murray's victory at Wimbledon, sob! It is only appearing today as it has taken this long for us to be able to look at it without weeping. Damn you rain!You ruin everything!

The Orkney Library and Archive staff all watched the game at my mum's house. She is still scrubbing the tear stains and sticky Murray mints out of the carpet and one member of staff has yet to uncurl himself from the foetal position and crawl home.

Deposit D1/204 is a book of minutes, accounts and subscriptions for Harray Tennis Club from 1932 to 1952.

The club had meetings every Monday and Thursday and members paid a subscription of 2 and 6 if they used their own raquet, 4 shillings if they didn't.

They held fund-raising dances and expenses included lime, tennis balls and a lawn mower.

Never Mind 50 Shades of Grey...

Check out this home-grown Orkney filth! The terms of our Disclosure Scotland contract probably forbid us to directly type this vile and sinful poem, so here is a scan taken from David Hubert Balfour's book entitled To The Unborn:

Steamy stuff, I'm sure you'll agree. The archive staff have attached a fan to the spine of the book after one member of staff fell into a swoon of horror upon discovering it and several customers have been threatening to sue the library after suffering heart attacks, seizures and/or strokes.

Look at this! :

Uggggggghhhhhh!!!

David, the last Balfour laird, was described as a 'charming, convivial, utterly irresponsible man-about-town*' who was married and divorced four times. Reminds me a little of another Balfour cad...

*Who Was Who In Orkney, W. S. Hewison

Going... going...scone!

There has just been a booksale at Orkney Auction Mart and our assistant archivist has made her usual visit both to obtain new stock for the Archive and, more importantly, to wink at farmers over a mince roll in the cafe.

The bidding process is quite stressful and so she is always rolled and tied into an old duvet beforehand to soak up all the sweat and we tuck several twixes beneath the twine so that she can keep up her strength. This means that some chocolate always gets onto her David Dickinson-esque pin-striped suit but there's usually a bit of fake tan on there already. There is always quite a lot of competition over the best stuff and A.A. had to punch three other bidders to the ground, but we ended up with three boxes of haul.

 These include Stromness Shopping Week programmes, an admiralty map and this brilliant 1952 book of recipes which was made to raise money for the St Andrews Church repair fund:

Mmmmmmmmm oatmeal buns...

Recipes include those for various cakes, mmmmmm... cakes..., a fruity filling for pies, mmmmmm...pies..., Magic macaroons,Treacles Scones, Creamed Potatoes and Lemonade. It also contains a little rhyme telling how to brew the perfect cup of tea:

That Cup Of Tea.

Be sure to heat the earthen pot

And have your water boiling hot.

Put in a teaspoonful per cup

That each of you intend to sup.

Allow to stand for minutes four,

Then off the leaves be sure to pour.

When serving put the milk in first,

Add sugar and allay your thirst.

With this delightful, fragrant brew

You'll be refreshed and live anew.

There are also some useful household hints at the back as well as a pressed plant:

There is no indication as to the contributors of the recipes. Can anybody enlighten us?

Alice, Margaret and Their Rivers

The St Magnus Festival has drawn to a close once more and, yet again, some fabulously talented performers have thrilled, moved and delighted both Orkney dwellers and visitors alike.

The poet Alice Oswald performed her work in both Stromness and Kirkwall and amazed audiences by reciting lengthy selections from several of her collections FROM MEMORY. With one foot tapping in time with her poetry's rythymn, back-lit by the stained glass sunlight of King Street Halls, she seemed, as a fellow audience member put it, 'a force of nature'.

On Monday, she shared a couple of excerpts from Dart, her T.S. Eliot Prize-winning 2002 poem which follows the River Dart from its source - Cranmere Pool on Dartmoor - to the sea.

This reminded me of Margaret Tait's film Orquil Burn which followed a body of water from the sea in search of its source. When writing about its making, Tait said:

"Strange, strange people asked me why I went from sea to source and not from source to sea. 'Why not' they said, so so puzzled, not the more obvious the more logical direction of source to sea. It was a voyage of discovery. Exploration. They wanted me to know beforehand where it started, what it all is. A river is known in its busy part. You follow it up. Those puzzled people think you know it all, so you can start with the Source, the cause, and demonstrate the issue. All already known." D97/32

Diary of Orquil Burn production, D97/11/2

Transcript of Orquil Burn commentary D97/12/1

Leaflet for Orquil Burn D97/12/1

Still from Orquil Burn - Scottish Screen Archive.



Havin' a yarn...

We are an award-winning archive, yes, (see below) but we are not afraid to admit our weaknesses which are as follows:

We are too fond of Tunnocks teacakes. We shut them in drawers and put Orkney Library bags over them but they call to us still.

We are too good at singing. The customers have complained about our pitch - perfect 10am renditions of 'Nessun Dorma'. When that last high note is hit, the ensuing vibrations shuffle documents out of page order and cause pencils to wobble.

We are too polite and  forgiving of chatter. Masochists must look elsewhere for 'strict librarian/archivist' thrills.

We have too few examples of Orkney knitting patterns in our collection.

The images above are taken from Orkney Archive D1/254 which is a notebook kept from childhood by Helen Nicolson of Brims, Longhope. Helen was born in 1853 and died in 1938. She kept careful note of the knitting patterns she used and even included an example of a pattern tucked inside the front cover.

There are many books on Fair Isle knitting and we have a handful on Shetland patterns, but why no Orkney tomes? We are frequently asked for examples of Orcadian patterns and Helen's book is the only one which we can provide.

Perhaps we should start an appeal?

We are humbled, it's been a journey, We'd like to thank our parents...

We are overjoyed to announce that we've won something! Ok, it's a library award but we're claiming it anyway! And it was awarded by a professor and president so he's got to know what he's talking about.

The Golden Book Stamp Awards were conceived of as a light-hearted way of acknowledging some of the creative and imaginative work being undertaken in Scotland's libraries.  Some people think stamping-books is all librarians do so the use of the date stamp for the awards is intended to challenge some of these perceptions in a humorous way.

Professor Peter Reid, President of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland (CILIPS), said: "It is so important to recognise and acknowledge the excellent and innovative work being done in libraries across Scotland to enrich our wider society.  I am delighted to recognise Orkney Library and Archive with the technology award for its achievement in the use of social media. I am particularly impressed with its Archive blog which brings to life the richness of the archive collection and the crucial role it plays in safeguarding and promoting the Islands cultural heritage.  This award is thoroughly well-deserved".

A Wee Friday Afternoon Quiz

a) What on earth are these animals supposed to be? Sheep? Rabbits? Goats? Llamas? Wolves wearing ram masks?   (D8/E24)

b) What is this woman thinking?                                (L6524-3)

c) What should we have for our tea?

I Didn't Call Him a Liar, Just an Untruthsayer!

Today, we have been looking through the Orphir Church records on behalf of a family history researcher. We didn't find the people we were looking for, but were reminded of how small some of supposed crimes brought to the church elders' attention were and how disproportionate the punishments.

The children of Thomas Inksetter of Buxa were twice hauled up in front of the Church committee for the sin of 'breach of Sabbath'. In May 1728, they were flouting the Lord's day 'in taking a sheep with their dog'; and in October 1732 they were spotted by some neighbours 'carrying a burden in time of Divine worship'.

That's right, not only were they seen CARRYING SOMETHING on the Sabbath, they were carrying it while the Church was in session. The investigation into this incident went on for several weeks, with both children being brought before the elders and either denying all or saying they were too sick to attend. (The classic get-out clause from P.E. lessons to Sabbath Breach chidings.)

At no point does anyone ask why the witnesses to their crime were not at church either...

Later on in the saga, the burden is sensationally  revealed to have been a quantity of butter 'stealth from David Louttit on the same day.'

Catherine Slatter was accused of 'uttering imprecations' against neighbour Elspeth Scott when quarrelling about a piece of grass; this charge was stoutly denied and both women were told to grow up ( or 'exhorted to peace and a better agreement'.)

Three women were charged with the 'sin of uncleanness', (fornication, that old chestnut) in the same Church session. One Margaret Inksetter was accused of carrying the child of a married man, one Margaret Garrioch was pregnant by her boss's son and one Marjory Gorie admitted that she had been 'in her naked bed' in the presence of one James Cloustone but that he had been fully clothed throughout and that there had been 'no carnal dealing.' She may have been lying though as she had his baby several months later.

Couples accused of ante-nuptial fornication could either sit in the 'Publick place of repentance', a sort of 18th century naughty chair, or pay a fine of £4 which, considering that a male domestic servant's yearly wage in the 1790s was not much over £5*, was a considerable price.

The best entry is Peter Garrioch's complaint against the 'abuse' he suffered from William Knarston. According to Peter, William called him 'a Knave and a Lyar before one witness.' William poo-pooed this telling of events, insisting that 'he only called him an untruth-sayer.'

This verbal trickery did not fool the Church elders and William was fined 40 shillings by the Civil magistrate.





* Kirkwall and St. Ola, Statistical Account of Scotland 1791-1799