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.

Tonight we have a moonlit chat with our very dear friend, Scott Gardiner. Tom and Scott have a lovely, wandering blether across the bothy ballad and traditional Scottish song scene, touching on the history of this unique music and how it stands today. They talk about the culture and lifestyle that created the bothy ballads, a bit about the bothy system in the Orkney Islands and reminisce about "Bothy Nichts", an old Scottish bothy songs television show. Tom and Scott speak about the sad passing of many of the great old singers and songwriters they both admire, including recently Orkney's own Billy Jolly. Scott tells of some of the singers who inspired him and he even favors us with a few of his favorite bothy ballad songs, including one of his own!

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

In this episode, we're treated to these traditional songs:

• Guise o' Tough (traditional), 1890s
• Generations of Change, by Matt Armour, 1975
• Princie and Jean, by George Corrigall, 1959
• ... ending with a tongue-in-cheek song that Scott wrote for the Out of Doors Radio Scotland programme!

Drop by again on the NEXT full moon, when Tom will talk about Scottish coastal culture and stories and tell a few tales from his new book with History Press, Scottish Folk Tales of Coast and Sea.

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.