On this full moon night, Tom and Rhonda discuss some of the main rituals and customs necessary to safeguard important life events, from pregnancy through birth and baptisms, and onward to concerns and superstitions around courtship. Tom will tell us a few stories related to these customs and give a bit of history to help folk understand the very sensible reasons for these early Orkney practices.

Join us to find out ...

• Why you should avoid insulting a witch when you're about to go sailing (which has nothing to do with our topic, but is interesting and perhaps valuable information nonetheless)
• Natural signs of an upcoming birth; precautions taken to avoid trouble during the precarious time of pregnancy and the earlierst months of life; how to avoid attracting the evil eye; keeping the trows from kidnapping mother or child
• All about the howdie wife - an important and respected woman who takes folk into the world and helps them out of it
• The Orkney meaning of "wifie"
• The story of the bairn of Langalour
• Different strengths of home brew, their names and when to drink them
• Christening stories
• Why Orcadians never let the hearthfire die
• Divining customs for discerning the identity of one's future spouse
• Why one of the Stones of Stenness has holes in it
• Tales from the Odin Stone, and the unbreakable Odin Oath (with a handy escape clause)
• The pathetic story of Pirate Gow and the Odin Oath

Mentioned in this episode: The story of the Hudson's Bay Company man who was a woman: https://www.orkneyology.com/isobel-gunn.html

In Part 2 of Orkney Customs: Hatch, Match, Dispatch Tom will tell us more about "match" customs - courtship and marriage - and also Orkney death customs. See you on the next full moon!

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Tonight, Tom and Rhonda Muir of Scotland's Orkney Islands have a moonlight visitor - our very dear friend, author, researcher and storyteller Dr Erin Farley of Dundee. Those who love stories and Scotland will find much of interest, among these:

• Erin's abiding passion for worms: giant worms causing creation and destruction, the The Muckle Mester Stoorworm; Jörmungandr the world serpent, Ragnarök ... and a bonus: a charm against the worm in your tooth (toothache)!
• Looking at the landscape from a seafaring position
• Researching and preserving oral history in Scotland
• Stories of the old lighthouse keepers, including our mutual friend, Lawrence Tulloch of Shetland
• The Grey (bearded) Lady; and deep storytelling
• Sir Walter Scott in Orkney
• Acedemic writing as energy vampire vs. stories of the people
• Dundee roots: slavery; sufferagettes; carving out a place through poetry; William McGonagall; and stories around the Tay Bridge disaster
• Storytelling and the pressure to achieve; the rewards of taking things slowly
• A telling of the story of Jockie Barefoot from Erin's book, Angus Folktales - a tragic Angus tale of an evil lanlord
• The Twins of Edzel as performed by Tania Allan - A BSL interpretation of a Scottish folklore tale. Inspired by ‘Angus Folk Tales’ by Erin Farley. The Twins of Edzell is the story of a dedicated mother of deaf twin brothers and the hearing world that is unable to accept them. Filmed on location at Balvaird Castle, Perthshire. https://sfdh.org.uk/project/the-twins-of-edzell/

So come thee wiz, pour yourself a dram and settle in for a good old-fashioned blether among friends.

Orkneyology website: https://www.orkneyology.com

Podcast theme music courtesy of Fionn McArthur.

"Ower wi' the moon" artwork created by Jenny Steer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tonight Tom and Rhonda Muir have a moonlit blether from their home in Scotland's Orkney Islands inspired by the publication of Tom's latest collection of folk tales: Scottish Folk Tales of Coast and Sea.

We muse about life lessons embedded in all good stories, look at some differences in stories originating from inland areas as compared to tales told by those whose lives are constantly endangered and controlled by the sea, how Orkney differs from Shetland and how folktales in this area of the world were influenced by the Vikings. And Tom tells a really fun story from the book at the end!

So pull up a chair, pour yourself a dram and settle in for a good, old-fashioned blether among friends.

Be sure to drop by on the NEXT full moon, when we'll be having a blether with Scottish storyteller, researcher and author of Angus Folk Tales, Dr Erin Farley of Dundee.

Show notes: https://www.orkneyology.com/orkneyology-podcast.html

Podcast theme music courtesy of Fionn McArthur.

"Ower wi' the moon" artwork created by Jenny Steer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.