“Everything dissolves into moonlight, and the moonlight is enchantment made visible. And O! what moon-silvered phrases drop, in shivering ecstasy, from the lips of fairies and mortals! “
Midsummer Madness 1948
Sleepless in Shetland: A 19thC Visit
‘To bed, but not to sleep; they have a clock tower with musical chimes in Lerwick, and it does not afford you time to fall asleep between its quarter hour rehearsals.’
“If anywhere there exists an ecclesiastical building bearing the marks of neglect and decay, it certainly is this.” A 19thC Visit to Orkney
“The Cathedral of St Magnus is the chief object of interest, architecturally considered, in the whole northern archipelago.”
Orkney’s Music Pioneers: Robert Milne
Robert Milne of East Road Kirkwall was one man who kept traditional music alive in Orkney in the first half of the 20th century.
Snow Covered Orkney of March 1946
East Road, Clay Loan and School Place were very popular for sledging down.
Valentine’s Day: Pigs Tails & Old Boots
“Verily these were the days”
A Stromness Hogmanay of 1945
The whisky famine had been mourned far and wide between Christmas and the New Year. Soon after midnight however, a surprising number of bottles made an appearance
Christmas Past: Christmas Day 1914
“Christmas Day in Stromness was observed as a public holiday, all places of business being closed. The public bars were not open at any time of the day, as they used to be.”
Christmas Past: The Christmas Eve Stromness Yule Log Contest of 1946
In 1946 The Stromness Yule Log contest was brought back as an event for the town.
Christmas Past: The Stromness Ba of 1913
“At 10am The Boy’s Ba’ was thrown up and after a severe struggle, was carried to the South End”
