Christmas 2021

Well, Christmas has come and gone once again. Among the many thoughtful gifts that I received during our Christmas celebration with my in-laws, my sister-in-law scored a pristine, antique copy of The Orkneyinga Saga. It's a 1981 facsimile of the 1873 edition by Edmonston and Douglas - the same one to which I've linked several times previously. About half of this edition is an extensive introduction that covers such topics as early Christianity in the Northern Isles, the various dynasties that ruled Orkney between 872 and 1469, and such. I told my sister-in-law that she'd hit a home run. Apparently that home run involved purchasing from an actual specialty book shop in the United Kingdom, and the customs slip on the packaging took my brother-in-law by surprise.

Christmas also involved two five hour road trips - normally, that would be a couple of three hour road trips, but road conditions significantly altered the normal experience (and route) of my round trip from our home to Lady Jaye's family compound. I like to fill these road trips with podcasts, and I wanted to share three selections from Dan Snow's History Hit that I enjoyed during my longer-than-usual drive:

The Origins of Scotland

The Sinking and Recovery of Germany's Battle Fleet in Scapa Flow with Ian Murray Taylor

From the Punjab to the Western Front

The first of the three is pretty self-explanatory. Longtime readers of this blog will know that Scapa Flow is Orkney's large natural anchorage, and they may also remember that in 1919, the German High Seas Fleet was scuttled in the Flow while diplomats were negotiating the Treaty of Versailles. I was aware that some of the ships had been salvaged, but the podcast linked above goes into really fascinating detail about the specifics of that effort. The third podcast doesn't deal specifically with Scotland, but I took some interest due to my ongoing research on the First World War. I've been a beneficiary of the wealth of documentation that's made its way into publicly accessible channels in recent years, so learning of the records that were (somewhat) recently discovered in a basement museum on Lahore brought a satisfied grin to my face.

Nationalizing Northlink? Not So Fast!

When I was yet in Scotland (and even thereafter), I wrote extensively about Scottish ferries, particularly those serving Orkney and Shetland. This week, Around Orkney featured an interview with a representative from the Rail, Maritime, and Transport (RMT) union, which is advocating for the nationalization of the Northern Isles ferry services that serve Orkney and Shetland. I have to be honest: the idea that anyone would actually suggest this sort of boggles my mind.

To the members of my American audience who may be reading this (and who may not be familiar with the term), "nationalization" means that the government takes over a private enterprise and runs it. So, for example, Social Security is a nationalized pension program. It denotes the running of a service or production effort as a function of the government.

The Scottish Government, which has been held by the Scottish National Party (SNP) for many years (see also: prior discussion of the SNP), has come under frequent criticism by Orkney and Shetland for treating the Northern Isles as an afterthought. This sentiment mirrors that in other areas of Scotland. To vastly oversimplify matters: the bulk of the SNP's voters reside in the "Central Belt" between Glasgow and Edinburgh, and those areas get budgetary priority from the SNP. As I've noted previously, the SNP has consolidated things like police control centers (about which I've posted before, and which continue). Rural Scots have regularly expressed their worries that this consolidation, which eliminates local knowledge and institutional memory, would result in diminished service. That contingency seems to be playing out through incidents such as the mistaken dispatch of an air ambulance to Shetland when it was supposed to have gone to Orkney. The trend continues in other sectors, such as Highlands and Islands Airports investigating the possibility of introducing "centralised surveillance" (which I think means consolidation).

The BBC also reported this week that despite the controversies about subsidies for the Northern Isles ferries connecting Orkney and Shetland with Scrabster and Aberdeen; and the inter-island ferries connecting the various Orcadian and Shetlandic islands; the Scottish ferry services have enjoyed a doubling of their overall subsidies in the last decade. So, it sounds as if more money is being thrown at ferries, but that money isn't getting to Orkney or Shetland.

Basically, when you add all of this up, nationalizing the Northern Isles ferry services sounds like a fantastic way to get a ferry service that takes passengers straight from the Firth of Clyde, up through the Minch, through the Pentland Firth, and on down past Aberdeen and into the Firth of Forth, and back again. But, what do I know?

Separated by a Common Language: Orcadian Dialect Edition, Part 5

In years past, I've posted not once, but twice, the words from the entire season(s) of BBC Radio Orkney's Orcadian dialect word game, Whassigo. I'm at it again, despite a shorter season during the 2016/'17 season (owing in part to some staffing disruptions at Castle Street during the Spring of 2017, the April 2017 episode seems to have been lost to history). I'm once again late in posting them, having originally intended to do so in April or May of this year; however, as I've been rather busy this year, and I got to it earlier than I did in 2016, so I'm not apologizing!

I'm not sure if this is a constant, but I've now been following the program long enough to have caught the quiz master, Orkney Islands Councillor Harvey Johnston... REUSING WORDS FROM PRIOR SEASONS! (Cue dramatic music.) This included the word "skiggan" (Norse for clear, transparent, bright, and clean) in both February 2015 and April 2016; "skreeo" (from the Old Norse for a shriveled, dessicated person or beast) in December 2016 and in October of 2017; and "rammelgoforth" (a rash and hurried person) in April 2015 and October 2017. Scandalous! A modest proposal: the august Mr. Johnston should consult the 1866 Etymological Glossary of the Shetland & Orkney Dialect to keep things fresh. And now, without further delay... The words!

October 2016

"snoddy" - a thick cake of oatmeal (from Old Norse for a lump of dough)

"misleared" - to be misguided

"planker" - laying out land after the end of the runrig system

"streelka" - a notion

"russey imp" - a cord made from a mare's tail hair

"cowtheist" - Scots word for being friendly

November 2016

"cooter" - the end of a plough that digs into the ground

"frugsy" - untidy or messy

"fimro" - a peedie crab that runs about, related to a Norse word meaning "quick"

"tusky" - Old Norse word for stormy, foul weather

"sarro" - excrement, otherwise unpalatable food

"grunyasie" - ugly, from a Norse word meaning the snout of a pig

"December" 2016

"skreeo" - a shriveled, dessicated person or beast, from the Old Norse

"parago" - wool of a mixture of different colors; a known term among Westray and Sanday knitting circles

"rillagory" - speaking carelessly or gossiping

"oonwandin" - something no one expects, such as the Spanish Inquisition

"charve" - to be headstrong, bold, or audacious, recently commonly used in Rousay, from the Old Norse word "jarfer" (sp?)

"peese" - a line to please or pester

February 2017

"kammo" - a knock on the head

"ongelid" - a strong gale, from Norse "ang" (against)

"kulkie" - the horizon

"simmy" - to wander about aimlessly, wasting time; to "simmy about"

"camsho" - a rude, ill-tempered person

"baileyment" - a state of prosperity or vigor

March 2017

"swarf" - to overturn or capsize

"tivish" - to handle someone in a rough manner

"swarral" - a large, inanimate object ("But not a coo, unless it's dead.")

"klimse" - being so dehydrated you can hardly speak, from a Norse word meaning "to be rendered speechless"

"muller" - a pebbly beach

A Scottish Twist on an American Wedding

Let me start this post by saying that I feel awful for having neglected this blog for the last couple of years. There's plenty of stuff of Scottish interest that could have been posted, and going forward, I hope to pick up the pace. First up: a post about a very special wedding. Ours!

In nine of the more than four hundred posts I've published to this blog, I've mentioned someone named "Lady Jaye". She and I "met" digitally before I left for Scotland, but didn't meet in person until I came home. In 2016, my dear friends at BBC Radio Orkney helped me to propose to her using their Friday request program(me) and a classic Proclaimers song that was featured in the phenomenal 2013 film Sunshine on Leith...


... and she said "Yes!", and we got married in her hometown in August. The crew at Radio Orkney did a follow-up interview with us the morning after the wedding, which ended up being retooled as a BBC Radio Scotland segment and making the BBC News website. In the words of Ron Burgundy, "That escalated quickly!" You can listen to that radio segment here, and check out the article here. Someone at the University of Aberdeen obviously caught wind of it, because we were also congratulated via the University's alumni relations Facebook page.

We're hoping to get to Scotland at some point in the foreseeable future. In the mean time, we're pretty thrilled to have added a bit of Scottish flair to our otherwise American wedding.

Separated by a Common Language: Orcadian Dialect Edition, Part 4

Last year, I posted an entire season worth of Whassigo words from the beloved Orkney evening program(me). Many months late, I'm at it again with the words from the '15/'16 Whassigo season. This time, I kept track of the words as the episodes were released during BBC Radio Orkney's winter season, but I'm extremely late in posting them - as evidenced by the fact that there have already been three installments this season. And so, this latest edition of Separated by a Common Language.

October 2015

"koosed" - to exchange, swap, or barter

"hoolican" - a shaggy, repulsive sheep

"bayow" - a primitive scythe

"nutheran" - humming or singing

"tyno" - rod or wire for drying fish

"tribble" - to touch things with one's fingers; to grope

November 2015

"letto" - an insignificant item of very little value

"karr" - a big, strong man

"millens" - particulate or fine bits of stoor, e.g., in the bottom of a purse or handbag

"scumfaced" - old Scots word meaning disgusted, related to scunnard (scunnered?)

"snellie" - a coot (bird?), e.g., a mark that looks like it was made by a snail

"ill-fossered" - untidy or slovenly

December 2015

"dagsy" - a bow-legged person

"noler" - a snub (Scottish in origin)

"feich" - an old Norse word meaning expression of disgust, particularly at a bad smell

"gramowrie" - a witch's power, old Scots word derived from French

"irpid" - from a Faroese word meaning spiteful or cantankerous

"yam" - an old type of Orkney potato

January 2016

"transeerin" - a serious fall from a horse

"droose" - a Sanday word meaning to rush forth, originally Norwegian

"gamsmyre" - total chaos or pandaemonium

"lowter" - a lump of gutter

"nowtan" - muttering in an ill-tempered manner, growling or grumbling

"pilk" - a small, light-built boy

February 2016

"ab" - a hindrance or impediment

"nivvle" - an old Norse word meaning to grip something hard

"skarps" - a patch of poor, rocky ground

"raam" - someone who is speaking nonsense or rambling incoherently

"koofie" - a shellfish, particularly large breeds of clam

"lovanentie" - an exclamation equivalent to "mercy me", corrupted from the phrase "Lord, defend me"

March 2016

"skelly-wheeter" - an emaciated beast

"toosy" - a state of dishevelment

"slunky" - a word describing a long and lean person

"maelskorn" - a light, unsatisfying meal

"metting" - a single ear of corn; a handful or small amount of anything precious; a tea leaf

"krammy" - heavy, drizzly weather

"koukan" - swallowing greedily, from an old Norse word

"April" 2016

"clivvo" - a steep road with high banks on the side

"skiggan" - from the Norse "skiggar", meaning bright and clean (repeat from February 2015)

"loba" - old, coarse grass on bog land

"drush" - a great number/amount of something

"kony" - strong vegetation, e.g., for making a basket or rope

"haffhand" - a concubine or mistress

I'll try to make sure that the next installment of this particular series gets posted in April of May of 2017, rather than December. Many apologies!

Seeking the Stroma Phone Box

A little over a year ago, I posted Musings on Small Scottish Islands, in which I discussed Stroma and Foula. The other day, I was reading the Wikipedia article about Stroma, and it settled - with reckless abandon - a question I had from last year with respect to where that photo of Stroma's telephone booth was. And I quote:

For many years, the islanders had no means of contacting the mainland in emergencies other than signalling with hand lamps and hoping that someone would see them. A radio telephone was installed in 1935, and in 1953 a telephone cable was laid. A red telephone box was installed in the centre of the island, symbolic of the 6 millionth phone box installation in the UK. It is still there today, though no longer in use.

I looked at that photo I posted and proposed that the phone box was probably located near here. Well, I was right, because if you look at this Wikipedia photo that shows both the phone box and the church, you can see from the shadow that this is the church's steeple, so based on the angle (which suggests that the satellite photo was probably taken in the middle of the afternoon), this little shadow is the phone box. Of course, the photo makes it brutally obvious, particularly when you check out that red shipping container to the north of the church.

It's yet another good lesson, though I'd have preferred a bit more of a challenge... But more on that in a future post.

Island Paradise: Recent Bits and Bobs

About a month ago, I posted the definitions of all of the words from the 2014/'15 season of Whassigo on BBC Radio Orkney. Wednesday marked the 2015/'16 season premier of Whassigo, and I've already started keeping track of the words and their definitions. That potentially saves me the trouble of listening to each episode all over again like I did earlier this year, but I may end up doing that anyway.

As I was listening, I tried to look up one of the words. I didn't have access to my copy of The Orkney Dictionary, but a few months ago I discovered an old book online: An etymological glossary of the Shetland & Orkney dialect; with some derivations of names of places in Shetland. It didn't have the word I was looking for (and I just checked, neither does The Orkney Dictionary), but while I was looking for that book, I also found The Orkneys and Shetland; their past and present state. I'll probably peruse the latter on my Kindle to look for potential passages to use in my book.

So, what else has been going on in Orkney?

The Kirkwall constabulary worked with BBC Radio Orkney to try to reunite a stuffed lioness with its owner, though I'm not sure if the appeal was successful.

On a recent installment of the BBC Radio Orkney Postbag segment, a gentleman writer complained of sexual harassment by rowdy lasses at the pub when he'd elected to wear his kilt. (Skip to 24:24.)

The BBC mothership did a feature about the North Ronaldsay sheep. (I got a North Ronaldsay sheepskin for my parents before leaving Orkney in 2013.)

Pretty soon, Orkney will be gearing up for the severe Winter gales. If you're Orcadian and you're reading this, good luck!

Separated by a Common Language: Orcadian Dialect Edition, Part 3

Earlier this year, I posted about Northern Isles evening radio programs. Once BBC Radio Orkney's Winter program season came to a close, I - no joke - went back through the six installments of Whassigo, recorded every word and its definition, and present them now in this latest edition of Separated by a Common Language.

November 2014

dillo - A small area of cultivated ground.

geskafoo - Pleasant in manner; old Norse for "full of pleasantness".

pulty - A short, stout person (or, to be short and stout), from the Norse "bult".

blooro - A passionate argument that could degenerate into a melee.

skafal - A shapely, well-built person (particularly in the face).

stram - A state of excitement.

December 2014

chiggo - A well-built lass.

favillo - An idle, lazy person.

stunky - Slow-witted or stupid; also, a person who is not taking part in festivities.

limiter - A lame animal.

mittle - A serious injury, or to be "seriously mittled".

skint - An admonition to hurry up, from the Norse "skynda", "to hasten".

peltrie - A group of unwanted visitors.

January 2015

sugg - A patch of hard skin on the hand (like a callus).

hingle - A bracket that holds a lamp.

jimp - A bit short, e.g., sparing or economical.

fest - To tether an animal, particularly in a field with a stake.

veeze - To grab something tightly.

skate-rumple - An inhabitant of Deerness.

February 2015

ligny - A calm spot on the sea caused by an oil slick.

sivvet - Birsay word meaning a blow or a smack.

pangse - To walk as if walking through deep snow.

lotherfoo - Peaceful and amiable.

skiggan - Norse for clear, transparent, bright, and clean.

bugget - A large, clumsy person, from the old Norse "bugge".

April 2015

darrowas - Rousay word for a good scolding.

baiver - To be blown about or struggling against the wind (Danish-Norse).

rink - A twist in one's neck.

dabal - A piece of wet land.

griminagerous - Hideous (referring to facial features).

rammelgoforth - A rash and hurried person.

April 2015 #2

simean - Putting on aires or graces.

tud - A Marwick word meaning sudden changes in air pressure resulting from gales

glinted - Lightheaded, flirtatious, frolicksome.

vansome - A Norn word describing someone who is difficult to please and/or deal with.

varless - Awkward or clumsy in gait or movement.

boonie - A farmer.

I'd be really tempted to use flash cards to memorize these and previous Whassigo words if I weren't reasonably sure that most Orcadians wouldn't actually recognize any of these words if they were to hear them in conversation!

Island Paradise: Stoats Reloaded

Two years ago, I wrote about stoats in Orkney. Well, it appears that there are still stoat concerns. You'd think that with all of those cats, the handful of stoats would have no chance.

Island Paradise: The Great Clapshot Debate of 2015

Each Wednesday, Radio Orkney runs a segment called the Postbag in which letters from members of the Orkney community (and once, just once, from me!) are read over the air. I look forward to it every week - last week, I actually got disappointed on Tuesday morning when I realized that I had to wait another day to listen to it.

A couple of years ago, I wrote about clapshot - here and here. Clapshot is delicious... Or is it? Gray 1 told me that it only qualifies as clapshot if the potatoes and turnips have been through a freeze, and the neeps and tatties I tried had not yet been through a freeze. Anyway, what I had was delicious, and if it wasn't clapshot, it was at least close. Well, that very issue came up over the course of several weeks in some Postbag segments earlier this year:

January 28th 2015

February 4th 2015

February 11th 2015

I'm calling it the Great Clapshot Debate of 2015. And the highlight? On February 11th, Radio Orkney presenter Helen Foulis read a letter. And I quote:

"Once you've got your clapshot on the plate, there are a few dos surrounding ways to eat it. First of all, there has to be butter available on the table - real butter, obviously, especially now that we've heard that real butter is actually good for you. First, dig a hole in the top of your pile of clapshot until it resembles a volcano. Then, place a large knob of butter in the crater of the volcano, and add a generous pinch of salt and some black pepper. Then, replace all the clapshot that you've previously excavated fae the clapshot mountain, and smooth over the top so that the butter is contained within the structure. Wait a few minutes, and then dig out a small hole in the side of your clapshot mountain, and allow the molten butter to cascade out like lava flowing from an erupting volcano. Pure bliss."

Fantastic. I may actually try to make some clapshot for Lady Jaye one of these days - according to one commentator in the Great Clapshot Debate of 2015, you can accomplish the freezing process by putting the potatoes and turnips into the freezer. Watch this space!

Island Paradise: Highland Park Podcast

Lady Jaye got me a Fire TV Stick for my birthday (and an actual TV prior to my birthday, though that one's more for her than for me), and among other things, I've been using it to listen to audio using the TuneIn Radio app. I decided to plug "Orkney" into the search, and stumbled upon a couple of podcasts, including one about Highland Park. You can check it out here.

The Songs That Remind You: Bruck Program 2014/'15

I recently posted about an episode of BBC Radio Orkney's Bruck Program. During the 2014/'15 season, I heard four songs on Bruck that really jumped out at me. The first was Rock - Paper - Scissors by Katzenjammer.


At some point in the year - I forget when - the lads played Red Eyes by The War on Drugs. The lyrics are sort of incomprehensible, but the music is great, and the video is pretty entertaining without being too ostentatious.


In January, there was a bit of a kerfuffle! The folks at Radio Orkney credit themselves with popularizing the Irish country singer Nathan Carter. Dave and Robbie attempted to play his cover of Bob Dylan's Wagon Wheel, but accidentally played Darius Rucker's cover instead!


You can check out Nathan Carter's version of Wagon Wheel here. At any rate, as I alluded to in a recent post, Dave and Andrew played The Flying Burrito Bros.' cover of The Dark End of the Street in February, during the Vesta Chow Mein episode.


Finally, on the final Bruck Program of the 2014/'15 season, the Robbie and Fionn played Push For The Stride by the British country music singing sisters Ward Thomas.


With the last Bruck Program of the season out of the way, we'll have to wait a few more months before the studio on Castle Street resonates with more great music. I look forward to it!

Island Paradise: The Vesta Chow Mein Shortage of 2015

In February, I was listening to BBC Radio Orkney's Bruck Program.

For the uninitiated, the Bruck Program is a sort of unique Radio Orkney offering that originated as a venue for "swaps and appeals" - e.g., islanders requesting surplus goods, or offering them up for collection or trade. It's the sort of thing that only a remote place like Orkney, which must make the utmost use of its local resources, could come up with. The Bruck Program has grown to include music and interviews about a variety of topics of general interest. I've even been interviewed for it a couple of times! Radio Orkney has a variety of great evening programs during the Winter season (including Whassigo, about which I've written before), and Bruck is their general interest program.

Anyway, on February 9th, BBC Radio Orkney power-hitters Dave and Andrew hosted the program, and Dave began to randomly wax eloquent about Vesta Chow Mein, which he remembered from his younger years and hadn't seen in a great long while. Within minutes, Dave and Andrew received multiple E-mails and phone calls informing them of various vendors throughout Orkney (including William Shearer in Kirkwall!) where Vesta Chow Mein could be obtained. One intrepid listener even showed up with a package of it!

(Dave) Last night's Bruck discussion about Vesta Chow Mein attracted dozens of phonecalls from folk confirming that it was still available and where it was possible to get it. It was something that I remember from when I was peedie and we used to have it as a bit of an exotic treat for tea. The other night I just took a 'gee' to have a Vesta Chow Mein for tea but couldn't find it anywhere so mentioned it on Bruck last night. Lots of Radio Orkney listeners phoned in to point me in the right direction for where it could be found but Neetie Rorie went one better (see pic). Thank you very much to all the folk who phoned in and thanks to Neetie for coming in with my dinner :) Note from BBC lawyer - Other 1970's reconstituted Chinese inspired ready meals may well be available.

I ran a Google Image query for "vesta chow mein", and found some photoshopped goodness: a package of "Vesta Squirrel Curry", pictured above. As I began writing this post, I reached out on Facebook to Gray 1, a fellow BBC Radio Orkney aficionado. I posted the picture to his timeline and asked, "Hungry?", to which he replied: "I prefer Vesta Possum Paella but a free meal is a free meal."

And then, Andrew played a song that will appear in the next edition of The Songs That Remind You!

Island Paradise: Romance Capital of the UK

Orkney has been named "the most romantic place in the United Kingdom" by the romance novel publisher Mills and Boon. That sounds about right to me.

Island Paradise: Holm of Huip for Sale

One of Orkney's islands, the Holm of Huip, is for sale! I heard about it on Radio Orkney on Thursday morning. The Holm of Huip, which is located here, is being sold by Vladi Private Islands with an asking price of around £350,000. If only Lady Jaye and I had about £700,000 to spend to purchase the island, sort it out with water and electricity, and build our dream cottage...

Northern Isles Evening Programs

I've been listening to BBC Radio Orkney for years. I've recently started listening to selections from BBC Radio Shetland as well.

Most of Radio Orkney's evening programs focus on various genres of music, but for my money (which is to say, they're free), their flagship program is Whassigo. I've written about Whassigo previously, and I've been enjoying this year's editions of the program. Radio Orkney's evening programs aren't over for the year, but if you want to get caught up on Whassigo, you can listen to their shows from October 8th, November 5th, December 3rd, and January 7th. Even sitting at my desk listening on my headset at work, the show always reminds me of sitting and listening in Helgi's, or in my room at the guest house.

Meanwhile, Radio Shetland's closest corollary is the monthly (sort of?) 'Round Shetland Quiz. It's a bit more competitive than Whassigo, and less collegial, but it's sort of quintessentially Shetlandic... I assume? Anyway, their season isn't over, either, and you can listen to their quiz shows from October 22nd, November 5th, November 26th, and January 7th. Unfortunately, Radio Shetland doesn't enable the download link on any of their programs. (If anyone from Radio Shetland is reading this: please enable the download links on some of your programs.)

Enjoy!

Loss of the Cemfjord in the Pentland Firth

The cargo ship Cemfjord has capsized and sunk in the Pentland Firth, between Orkney and Caithness. A Cyprus-flagged ship, the Cemfjord was hauling a consignment of cement to Cheshire when it went missing Friday afternoon. Its bow was spotted by the Hrossey on Saturday afternoon, and several lifeboats and rescue helicopters were dispatched to the area to search for survivors. As I write this, no survivors have been found. BBC Radio Orkney has posted a number of updates, which I've reproduced below (with the original links.

Update #1:

A large sea search operation is underway South East of Orkney after an upturned vessel was sighted in the water. Lifeboats from Longhope, Stromness, Scrabster and Wick as well as the search and rescue helicopter from Sumburgh are combing the area and are being assisted by the Northlink ferry Hrossey. The search appears to be concentrated at the eastern end of the Pentland Firth.

Update #2:

Four lifeboats and the Coastguard helicopter from Sumburgh are still searching the sea at the eastern end of the Pentland Firth after it was reported that an upturned boat had been sighted in the water. The Stromness and Longhope lifeboats as well as those from Wick and Scrabster are in the are searching. The Northlink ferry Hrossey assisted with the search for a time but has now resumed its journey to Aberdeen. The picture shows the search pattern being followed by the Longhope lifeboat.

Update #3:

A cargo ship carrying cement has been reported as missing. The Cypriot registered "Cemfjord" was last seen passing through the Pentland Firth on Friday afternoon but since then the 83 metre ship hasn't been heard from. Four lifeboats from Stromness, Scrabster, Longhope and Wick are currently combing the ship's last know position in the Pentland Firth. The coastguard rescue helicopter from Sumburgh is also involved in the operation. Earlier in the day the Northlink ferry "Hrossey" is understood to have sighted an object in the sea to the east of the Pentland Firth and raised the alarm. The "Cemfjord" carries a crew of nine and was on route to Runcorn in Cheshire.

Update #4:

Pictures taken by passengers aboard the Northlink ferry Hrossey have confirmed that the cargo vessel "Cemfjord" has sunk. A search operation is underway for the crew which is thought to number eight men.

Update #5:

A sea and land search was launched at first light this morning to try and locate the missing crew from the cargo ship "Cemfjord". The bow of the sunken ship was spotted by the Northlink ferry "Hrossey" yesterday while it was on passage to Aberdeen. Longhope, Stromness and Scrabster lifeboats as well as coastguard search teams are involved in the operation. Of the eight crew who are missing - seven are from Poland and one is from the Philippines.

Update #6:

Coastguards say that a vessel which capsized in the Pentland Firth now appears to have sunk. The Cemfjord has been drifting to the eastern approaches to the Firth since it was spotted by a passenger ferry on Saturday. It's believed to have capsized in gale force winds on Friday afternoon.There's been no sign of the vessel's eight crew. The MCA tug Herakles is continuing to standby the submerged ship. Local coastguard teams from Orkney are being transported by helicopter this afternoon to two uninhabited islands in the Pentland Firth. The four lifeboats involved in the search are all returning to their respective bases - though coastguards say they're not yet being officially stood down. A small inflatable tender was found badly damaged yesterday on the shoreline of South Ronaldsay, but there's no confirmation on whether it came form the Cemfjord.

Apparently, this isn't the first time the Cemfjord has run into trouble. Last July, the vessel ran aground off Denmark, possibly because its Russian captain was drunk at the helm. That captain was replaced, and the eight man crew is believed to have consisted of seven Poles and one Filipino, as noted above. The Cemfjord was a cement carrier, owned and operated by the German company Brise Bereederung, and flagged in Cyprus.

Radio Orkney took a hammering in the comments to Update #4. Many claimed that it was disrespectful and unprofessional to post the photos before confirmation that the family had been notified. Having worked in risk management myself, and having had some exposure to the risk management sector of the energy industry while I was in Aberdeen, I know that companies that have their act together will have a risk management program either in house or through a third party to ensure that measures are in place to ensure that loved ones are contacted as soon as anything happens to a vessel, or oil rig, or what have you. So, I took all of the complaints with a grain of salt. I can also tell you from my own experience on ferries running to and from Orkney that the sea conditions in the Pentland Firth during the Winter months are no joke. This incident serves as a solemn reminder of the Longhope Lifeboat tragedy of 1969, when the Liberian-flagged vessel Irene ran aground and the Longhope Lifeboat based in South Walls (a tidal island/peninsula which is considered part of Hoy) was lost with all hands. As the lifeboats, coast guard, and Royal Air Force personnel continue to manage the crisis, our thoughts and prayers should be with the emergency services and the families of the missing crew.

Scotland's New Alcohol Law is Crazy

I spent over a year of my life in Scotland, and the Scottish Government - of which I've been openly skeptical for a long time - has passed new legislation that's got me pretty frustrated. I heard about it on Friday's edition of Around Orkney, saw their corresponding blurb on their Facebook feed, and then I read about it in more detail on the BBC News website.

When I was in Scotland (back when they still had the same laws on this matter as the rest of the United Kingdom), I was appalled by how draconian both the laws and attitudes toward alcohol and motor vehicles were. I'm all for responsible driving, and I think that drunk driving ("drink driving" in the British vernacular) is an extremely serious issue. However, the British obsession with "health and safety" is disproportionate to the actual risks, and their attitude toward intoxicants and the operation of motor vehicles reflects that. I frequently dealt with people who wouldn't risk a single drink, even on a full stomach, if they intended to drive at any point within the intervening twenty-four hour period. The actual risk of impairment rarely factored into it - it was all about the law.

Now, Scotland has made that law even stricter. The Scottish government has lowered the legal limit for a driver's blood alcohol content. In the rest of the United Kingdom, the legal limit is 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood, and 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100 milliliters of breath. Scotland's limits are now 50 millileters for blood, and 22 micrograms for breath. So, rather than boosting enforcement of the existing draconian laws, they've just made the laws more draconian.

"There was a preconceived idea, perhaps, with people that maybe have a glass of wine while having a meal, the message now is don't drink at all. People that are gonna, perhaps, fall foul of the new legislation is ones that have a drink the night before, and obviously driving then in the morning, so if you have a drink the night before, the message is in the morning, don't be taking the car to work in the morning, just walk to work, or cycle, whatever the case may be, or taxi, so the message is: do not drink and drive."

[...]

"The proposed changes sends a clear message that there is no safe alcohol limit for drivers, so just don't drink and drive. And it reduces that element of, perhaps I can have a glass of wine with a meal on the afternoon of a Sunday, or whatever the case may be, or the night before, just, don't be drinking and driving, that's it, it's just a clear message."
- Police Scotland (Kirkwall) Road Safety Officer Jim Munro

This, my friends, is simply asinine.

One of my best friends, Gus (whom my longtime readers will remember) just happens to be a state trooper in our home state, and one of the state's leading specialists in alcohol and intoxicant identification and apprehension. I gave him a call and posed both of those statements to him, and he immediately dismissed them as ridiculous. He listed off a bunch of statistics, based upon actual science, and pertaining to how quickly the body metabolizes alcohol and how much alcohol must be in a person's system in order to cause impairment. His description was cogent, and although I understood it all, I don't remember the precise details. The bottom line, though, is that he was unequivocal that there was no reasonable expectation that an individual who had one drink with dinner would still be in any way inebriated the next day. My words, not his: PC Munro's statements are absurd, and have as much basis in science as the burning of witches or the conversion of lead into gold.

One of my favorite essays/lectures of all time is Aliens Cause Global Warming, which uses global warming as an object lesson in the use of pseudo-science to justify well-intentioned policy. Reducing drunk driving isn't just well-intentioned, it's important. Whether one is in America or Scotland, that goal is poorly served by misguided laws and hyperbole from public officials.

Musings on Small Scottish Islands

My daily news intake includes news from Aberdeen, Orkney and Shetland - specifically the BBC's RSS feed, and BBC Radio Orkney's Facebook, and Soundcloud pages. Last week, I saw an article entitled Tidal energy project to be constructed in the Pentland Firth. Having crossed the Pentland Firth on a number of occasions, I was interested to see what was going on.

Orkney has become a prominent research site for marine renewable energy, particularly tidal energy. The new turbines will be constructed just north of the isle of Stroma, which has traditionally been considered part of Caithness. (You could theoretically swim from the Pentalina's pier to Stroma, but with the currents and the coldness of the water, I wouldn't recommend it!) Stroma was abandoned decades ago, and the infrastructure is apparently in a state of slow decay. Having looked at that picture (which is featured in the BBC article and can be viewed here), I think that the picture was probably taken somewhere around here. It's a neat island to pass by on the ferry, and if you the boat gets close enough you might see the Swilkie whirlpool. You can see some of the disused cottages as well. Stroma is the largest of several islands in the Pentland Firth, the others being the Pentland Skerries (the largest of these being Muckle Skerry, which hosts a lighthouse) and Swona, which was abandoned by its inhabitants in the 1970's and hosts a herd of feral cattle.

This sort of reminded me of another picture, and I inadvertantly found it (and I think I may have either seen or even purchased a post card of it at one point): Foula, in Shetland. I've talked about Foula before, as I saw it from Sumburgh head, and then subsequently on the observation deck of the ferry while leaving Shetland. I had wondered if it was the Fair Isle, but subsequently learned that the Fair Isle was south, not west, of the main Shetland islands; and also, just over the horizon. Being that far from the main isles of Shetland, it's one of the most remote points in the United Kingdom. I love that photo, which was taken in the 1960's. It's right here. You can read more about Foula here and here. Unlike Stroma, Swona, or the Pentland Skerries, Foula is still sparsely populated. You can see more pictures of the Foula post office here, here and here.

Since the photos above aren't my own, I'll do the gentlemanly thing and cite them accordingly. Per Geograph, here's the citation for that phone box on Stroma:

Telephone box (disused), Stroma

This telephone box dates from the 1960's when the last of the islanders left for pastures new. The track to the left of the telephone box goes down to the South Harbour.

© Copyright George Brown and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

And from Wikimedia, here's the one for Foula:

"Foula post office" by Dr Julian Paren - geograph. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Foula_post_office.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Foula_post_office.jpg

These are the sorts of islands that one might be forgiven for considering settling on: remote, solitary, and beautiful. That said, they certainly have their drawbacks, among these being extreme isolation, a lack of fresh water, and the kind of wind that must be experienced to be believed.

I may try to post about a few more islands in the coming weeks, be they in Orkney or Shetland. Stay tuned.

One Year Later

This is the one year anniversary of one of the most momentous and fateful weeks of my life.

On Tuesday, the 27th of August 2013, I submitted my dissertation. On Saturday the 31st, I took the surveys Gus and I had filled out in November to the Gordon Highlanders Museum; on the afternoon of Tuesday the 3rd of September, I was back at the Museum, meeting with the curator. That meeting would eventually lead to a mission to document the Orcadian Gordon Highlanders of the First World War.

I spent the next week and a half settling my affairs in Aberdeen, and then on Friday, September 6th, I stowed half of my stuff in a friend's basement and took the rest of it onto a train. The first, far too early leg took me from Aberdeen to Inverness; the second took me to Thurso, at which point I made the ill-advised trek, on foot, from Thurso to Scrabster.

The next day, I went for a bit of a stroll through Stromness, and ended up sitting on a bench and snapping a picture. I just sat there - me, the guy who's always in a rush to be productive. I sat there for at least an hour, drinking the wind and feasting upon the beauty of Hamnavoe, Scapa Flow, Graemsay, Hoy, and the Inner and Outer Holms. I reflected on what I'd done over the course of the preceding year, and the work it had taken to get me to Scotland in the first place.

Early the following week, I got to Bournemouth by sea, ground, and air - with a brief stop in my old stomping grounds to meet up with Pockets. I spent two weeks on a close protection course, and then it was back up to Orkney.

That hour in Stromness was amazing. I can't remember ever being that relaxed. One year later, I find myself reflecting once again on my time in Scotland, and what's happened since. Because, y'know... Holy smokes, I spent over a year in Scotland, three months of which was in Orkney, right? I mean, who pulls that off?