Orkneyology
Discover the mystery of Scotland's Orkney Islands. Native storyteller Tom Muir of www.Orkneyology.com shares the secret places of his islands, where ancient tales breath life into stunning land and seascapes. Search the mysterious Neolithic at Skara Brae, the Stones of Stenness, the Ring of Brodgar standing stones. Discover Medieval magnificence in St Magnus Cathedral and Bishop's Palace in Kirkwall. Explore a Viking village on a tidal island in Birsay. Visit sites of vital importance during WWI and WWII at Scapa Flow. Experience life in Orkney, where wildly creative communities thrive, and sustainable energy industries push the boundaries of renewable energy research. Plan your bucket list Scottish islands trip with the only living Orcadian folklorist, storyteller and historian. Tom and his American expat wife will show you what it's like to live and work on a windswept northern isle. Come for a visit or come to stay. Orkney ~ get carried away. Subscribe for more Orkney tales!
Orkneyology
On this full harvest moon (and blood moon eclipse), Orkney Islands folklorist and historian Tom Muir has a blether with an old friend, folklore expert Professor Terry Gunnell of the University of Iceland. Enjoy! Youtube: https://youtu.be/0yxKvTrUedU
Orkneyology: www.orkneyology.com/orkneyology-podcast.html
Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/6P8na1HhGxmD5zBEvHnMCr?si…
1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 4
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Orkneyology
New Orkneyology Ower wi' the Moon podcast! On this full "sturgeon" August moon, Orkney Islands folklorist Tom Muir has a blether with a very old friend and internationally-known archaeologist, Professor Colin Richards. Enjoy!
Orkneyology: www.orkneyology.com/orkneyology-podcast.html
Youtube: https://youtu.be/Fykm4iLipTQ
Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/5olpmuT0CYso7D66mqWIA2?si…
2 months ago | [YT] | 3
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Orkneyology
(Tom Muir, Orkney Islands) Asking someone immersed in folklore to voice a film sometimes pays dividends, as the name the Earl of Chatham rang a bell. I consulted a book of Walter Traill Dennison's folk tales and folklore that I had been involved in publishing back in 1995, and among the items in his private museum was the following entry:
88. Pair of rivlins on lasts. These were universally worn by the Orcadians at one time. One of my specimens is white in honour of Ship Maggie reputed to be a famous witch, who always wore a white rivlin on her left foot, and a black on her right. When the Earl of Chatam [sic], a large whaling vessel, was wrecked on Ayrbae in Sanday, on the morning after the wreck the mate, seeing her white rivlin on the shore, called for his gun to shoot the d—---d hag whom he had seen with her white shoe on the foretop before the vessel struck.
89. Small part of Ship Maggie's staff. The staff was much longer than herself. On her death bed Maggie charged her friends to place the staff in her coffin, but the staff being too long, a part was cut off, and that part was given to me by Maggie's grand-daughter. My specimen has been turned, and is now not half the original thickness. Maggie got her name from her supposed power of bringing ships on shore. Having one night received a present from the tenant of Newark, she said to him "Ye's be well paid ere this time the morn," and before the evening of the next day three ships were wrecked on the sands of Newark.
He also used her story in one of his tales in his 1880 book, The Orcadian Sketch Book. In it he describes a Sanday sailor blaming his ill-fortune on his aunt, also called Maggie, who was versed in the black arts. He saw her sitting on the fore top of the mast the day that his ship was captured by the Spanish. This was during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14). The story, called 'Colloquy of Three Orcadian Sailors in Spanish Prison', was said to be a popular tale, told at weddings by an Orcadian minister. Although before Ship Maggie's time, I think that Dennison embroidered the older story with the persona of Witch Maggie, based on the stories that he already knew. He also recorded the ritual that a witch had to go through, complete with spell (added to by him as a young man), in order to give themselves to the devil and secure the black arts. This was told to him by a 'grand-daughter of a noted witch', quite likely the aforementioned descendant of Ship Maggie that he got the section of staff from.
This is why stories matter. Not only does Sanday have the timbers of HMS Hind/Earl of Chatham, but also the legend of its sinking, with the exact location of where she went aground.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaVeW...
3 months ago | [YT] | 2
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Orkneyology
New Ower wi' the Moon podcast! On this full "buck" moon, Orkney's storyteller Tom Muir talks with Scottish environmental storyteller, poet and artist, Gordon "Creeping Toad" MacLellan. https://youtu.be/pUej4_f14Pg
3 months ago | [YT] | 3
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Orkneyology
EARLY ACCESS for all Ko-fi and Youtube supporters is now available. Hear the extended version of Tom's conversation with Ellen Pesci about her dad, Jim Baikie. The regular podcast is coming on the night of the full moon, May 12th. Ko-fi is here: rebrand.ly/pxv12
5 months ago | [YT] | 2
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Orkneyology
Hester Aspland, with whom we're collaborating in Tom's upcoming book, Tales in the Landscape, has just sent this wee "doodle" to support our Crowdfunder campaign. This is going to be fun! www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/tales-in-the-landscape/
6 months ago | [YT] | 7
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Orkneyology
Come "Ower wi' the Moon" for a good blether on this full (and eclipse!) worm moon. Take a journey with us into the secret history of fairy tales. Among other things, we ponder the question: Is a monster who can tell a story really a monster?
Youtube: https://youtu.be/ca4N0XNQbls
7 months ago | [YT] | 3
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