On this full moon night, Tom speaks with one of our authors, Ian Scott - otherwise known as Ian o' Antabreck - lifelong resident of Orkney's most northerly island, North Ronaldsay. Ian has recently gathered together for publication his first decade of A Letter from North Ronaldsay, which he's written for The Orcadian newspaper for over thirty years. Tom and Rhonda have very proudly produced this first volume of Ian's Letters through our Orkneyology Press, which is now available for purchase through our website.

We hope you enjoy this blether among friends.

Join us to find out ...

• About North Ronaldsay toonships ... and what's a toonship anyway?
• Hogmanay traditions; North Ron as compared to Sanday (and other Orkney) traditions, where half of Tom's folk come from; where was the whisky, and what finally stopped the auld Hogmanay traditions?
• On home brew
• Old milling and brewing practices, which Ian observed in his miller-father's life and work
• The old and new North Ronaldsay standing stone Hogmanay traditions, and what's it all got to do with the full moon?
• The reluctant uptake of the Gregorian calendar in Orkney
• Cold evenings in warm places: visiting and playing games with folk in the mill ... and other warm places
• Orkney schooldays in earlier times: What was it like boarding in the hostel for school in Kirkwall Grammar School (and a year in Holm) as a bairn the old days, when they only returned home on rare occasions? Powdered milk, snowball fights, freezing "digs" and unmarried teachers.
• And what about those hair-raising postboat rides before the ferries and planes were available?
• Crops and old-style thrashing
• What it was like studying at Gray's School of Art, Aberdeen
• Orkney's thriving arts community
• Ian's paintings and sculptures, including his favorite sculpture: the Longhope Lifeboat Memorial
• Ian's lobster fishing days
• The North Ronaldsay praam, how it came about and why it's such a good boat design for Orkney sea conditions
• Ian's artistic study trips in Shetland, Iceland and Faroes
• About sculpting and Ian's most well-known public works, including the Longhope Lifeboat Memorial, the statue of Arctic explorer John Rae in Stromness, the George Mackay Brown busts and the Stanley Cursitor portrait, all of which can be seen in Orkney.
• Sylvia Wishart, Ola Gorie and other Orkney artists
• The story of North Ronaldsay's Old Memorial Hall

Mentioned:

A Letter from North Ronaldsay - buy it direct from the publishers, Orkneyology Press (if you'd like to purchase the book in the way that best rewards the author and publishers) :https://rebrand.ly/2e9qpuf

Ian Scott's author page on Orkneyology: https://www.orkneyology.com/ian-scott-orkneyology-press.html

Don't Tell Bab! - Annie Harcus (Annie Rousay)

The Longhope Lifeboat Memorial - https://hoyorkney.com/attractions/hoy-history/lifeboat

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