Orkneyjar - Customs and Traditions of the Orkney Islands

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width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="10" height="40" bgcolor="#FFFFCC"> </td> <td bgcolor="#FFFFCC"><b> <font color="#666633" size="5" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Orcadian Customs and Traditions</font> </b></td> </tr> <tr height="1"> <td height="1" colspan="2" bgcolor="#000000"><img src="/web/20100805081837im_/http://www.orkneyjar.com/blank.gif" width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="15" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <tr>  <td align="center" valign="top"> <p align="left" class="bodytext"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><img src="/web/20100805081837im_/http://www.orkneyjar.com/scribe.jpg" alt="Scribe: Illustration by Sigurd Towrie" width="298" height="281" hspace="15" vspace="10" align="right"/></font><span class="dropcap">L</span>ife in the Orkney islands is, and always has been, steeped in tradition. </p> <p align="left" class="bodytext">These days, some of these customs remain strong while others have become mere shadows of their former selves - if not forgotten altogether. </p> <p align="left" class="bodytext">As with our folklore, the islands' various traditions revolved around the realities and demands of island life - the elements, work, the cyclical pattern of the seasons and the inevitable cycle of life - <a href="childbirth.htm">birth</a>, <a href="weddings/index.html">marriage</a> and <a href="death/index.html">death</a>. </p> <p align="left" class="bodytext">As is always the case, these traditions are dying out rapidly as the old folk, the last guardians, slip away, one by one taking the unwritten wealth with them to the grave. </p> <table width="100%" border="0" class="bodytext"> <tr bgcolor="#CCCC99" align="center"> <td> <b>Annual Festivities</b></td> <td> <b>Misc</b></td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td><a href="calendar/index.html">A Calendar of Orcadian Tradition</a></td> <td><a href="/web/20100805081837/http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/eynhallow/folklore.htm">Eynhallow</a></td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td><a href="yule/index.html">Yule in the Northern Isles </a> </td> <td> <a href="kelpburning.htm">Kelp Burning in Orkney</a></td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td><a href="bagame/index.html">The Kirkwall Ba'</a> </td> <td> <a href="darra.htm">The Battle Poem of the Valkyries</a></td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td><a href="harvest/index.html">Harvest Lore and Customs</a> </td> <td><a href="kingarthur.htm">Orkney and the Arthurian Legends</a></td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td><a href="bonfire.htm">Orkney Bonfire Customs</a> </td> <td><a href="everlastingbattle.htm">The Everlasting Battle</a> </td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td width="50%"><a href="gyronight.htm">Gyro Night - The Night of the Ogress</a> </td> <td><a href="odin.htm">Odin in Orkney Tradition</a> </td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td><a href="festivalofhorse.htm">The Festival of the Horse</a></td> <td><a href="/web/20100805081837/http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/stmagnus/magnus7.htm">The "resting places" of St Magnus's body</a> </td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td width="50%">  </td> <td><a href="westraydons.htm">The Westray Dons and the Spanish Armada </a></td> </tr> </table> <table width="100%" border="0"> <tr bgcolor="#CCCC99" align="center"> <td width="50%" class="bodytext"> <b>Language and Custom</b></td> <td width="50%" class="bodytext"> <b>The Stages of Life</b></td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td valign="top" class="bodytext"> <a href="/web/20100805081837/http://www.orkneyjar.com/orkney/dialect/index.html">Orcadian Dialect </a></td> <td valign="top" class="bodytext"> <a href="childbirth.htm">Customs of Pregnancy and Childbirth</a></td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td valign="top" class="bodytext"> <a href="/web/20100805081837/http://www.orkneyjar.com/placenames/index.html">Orkney Placenames </a></td> <td valign="top" class="bodytext"> <a href="weddings/lovediv.htm">Divining a Future Husband</a></td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td valign="top" class="bodytext"> <a href="nicknames.htm">The District teu-names of Orkney</a></td> <td valign="top" class="bodytext"> <a href="weddings/index.html">Orkney Wedding Customs</a></td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td valign="top" class="bodytext"> <a href="/web/20100805081837/http://www.orkneyjar.com/orkney/norn.htm">The Orkney Norn</a></td> <td valign="top" class="bodytext"> <a href="weddings/cog.htm">The Bride's Cog</a></td> </tr> <tr align="center"> <td valign="top" class="bodytext">  </td> <td valign="top" class="bodytext"> <a href="death/index.html">Rituals of Death and Burial</a></td> </tr> </table> <table width="100%" border="0"> <tr> <td bgcolor="#CCCC99" align="center" class="bodytext"> <b>Charms and Healing</b></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" class="bodytext"><a href="wreestin.htm">The Charm of the "Wreestin' Threed' </a></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" class="bodytext"> <a href="sacredwater/index.html">Sacred Waters and Healing Wells</a></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" class="bodytext"> <a href="dian.htm">Dian-stanes - Thunderstones and other Protective Charms</a></td> </tr> </table> </td>  <td width="150" valign="top"> <table width="150" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" bgcolor="#CCCC99"> <tr align="center" valign="bottom"> <td height="20" valign="middle" bgcolor="#666633" class="tiny"><b><font color="ffff99" size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">See Also </font></b></td> </tr> <tr align="center" valign="bottom"> <td height="1" bgcolor="#000000" class="tiny"><img src="/web/20100805081837im_/http://www.orkneyjar.com/blank.gif" width="1" height="1"/></td> </tr> </table> <table width="150" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" bgcolor="#CCCC99"> <tr align="center" bgcolor="#EADDCC"> <td bgcolor="#CCCC99"><a href="/web/20100805081837/http://www.orkneyjar.com/folklore/index.html" class="menu">Orkney Folklore </a></td> </tr> </table> <hr noshade="noshade" size="1"/> <div align="center"><a href="javascript:history.back()"><img src="/web/20100805081837im_/http://www.orkneyjar.com/back.gif" width="60" height="28" alt="Back a page" border="0"/></a> </div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> <td valign="top" width="8"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td height="20" bgcolor="#cccc99"> </td> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td height="25" align="right" valign="middle"><font color="WHITE" size="1"><script>writeCopyright();</script></font> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </body> </html>

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Orkneyjar - Customs and Traditions of the Orkney Islands