Orkneyology Podcast Show Notes

Orkneyology Podcast - Ower wi' the moon, Orkneyology.com, Tom and Rhonda Muir, Orkney Islands, Scotland

Season 1 Ep. 1:
"Ower wi' the moon"
~ Mulled wine and introductions ~

Tom and Rhonda Muir of Scotland's Orkney Islands - the Orkneyology Podcast

In this first episode of the Orkneyology Podcast (with the encouragement of some steaming mulled wine for Rhonda's sake) we introduce ourselves:

Tom Muir - Orcadian traditional storyteller, historian, author and publisher; and Rhonda Muir - an American expat who moved to the Orkney Islands to marry the love of her life (yes, Tom), writer, roamer in the wilderness of Orkney and publisher.

We tell the story of our delighted surprise in finding each other from across the Atlantic later in life, and how we eventually came to build a life together in Scotland's Orkney Islands.

We talk a bit about our website, Orkneyology.com, which explores Orkney life, travel, history, stories and archaeology. And we reveal a little about our plans for the Orkneyology Podcast, where we will be chatting with some fascinating folk in Orkney and elsewhere.

Mentioned in the this episode:

Rhonda's Moving to Orkney ebook

You can also listen on Youtube, with a few photos for context.

Check the platform where you normally listen to podcasts if you like. We're on Spotify and a few others, and we're working on adding more.

Season 1 Ep. 2:
"The Magic of Stories"
~ Orkney and Beyond ~

Full moon and storytelling on the Orkneyology Podcast

Well, it's a full moon again and time for another cozy moonlit blether coming to you from the Orkney Islands.

This month, we talk about:

the difficulties of childhood dyslexia (before there was a name for it)
beloved childhood storybooks that help overcome traumatic school years
stumbling into storytelling and overcoming fear (terror, really) of public speaking
how the Orkney Storytelling Festival first began
warm reminiscenses involving some of the amazing storytellers and other people that Tom met through international storytelling opportuities (Lawrence Tulloch from Shetland, Bob Pegg, Donald Smith, David Campbell, Hjörleifur Helgi Stefánsson, Joseph Naytowhow, Stanley Robertson, Duncan Williamson ... and many more beloved friends)
advice for newer storytellers
Tom tells a local Orkney story that took place in a mound site he once dug as an archaeologist!

Other places to listen:

You can also listen on Youtube, with a few photos for context.

Check the platform where you normally listen to podcasts if you like. We're on Spotify and a few others, and we're working on adding more.

Drop by on the next full moon ...

We'll be having a blether with award-winning Scottish bothy ballad singer, Scott Gardiner.

Season 1 Ep. 3:
"A Blether with Bothy Ballad Singer Scott Gardiner"
~ Scottish bothy ballads; traditional music; the Orkney Folk Festival and more! ~

Traditional bothy ballad singer Scott Gardiner talks with Tom and Rhonda Muir on the Orkneyology Podcast

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
the culture and lifestyle that created the bothy ballads
a bit about the bothy system in the Orkney Islands
reminisce about "Bothy Nichts", an old Scottish bothy songs television show
reminiscences aboyt 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!

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!

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

Drop by on the NEXT full moon ...

Tom will tell us a bit about unique aspects of Scottish coastal culture and the coastal stories of Scotland. And he'll tell a few tales from his upcoming book with History Press, Scottish Folk Tales of Coast and Sea, coming out in April 2024.

Other ways to listen:

You can also listen on Youtube, with a few photos for context.

Check the platform where you normally listen to podcasts if you like. We're on Spotify and a few others, and we're working on adding more.

Season 1 Ep. 4:
" Scottish Folk Tales of Coast and Sea "
~ When we pose the burning question, "Are you a bookworm or a bookdragon?" ~

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 wax lyrical about:

life lessons embedded in all good stories
Orkney and Shetland: Vikings at a cultural crossroads
tips for storytellers and other creatives on finding old folktales, and how to make them your own
respecting the tales, and keeping the meaning true
the devil as trickster
Travellers' stories and Tom's memories of "the tinklers"
of mermaids and selkies
stories of the perils of the sea
Rhonda's favorite movie, "I know Where I'm Going"
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.

Drop by on the NEXT full moon ...

We'll be having a blether with Scottish storyteller, researcher, author of Angus Folk Tales and our dear friend, Dr Erin Farley of Dundee.

Other ways to listen:

You can also listen on Youtube, with a few photos for context.

Check the platform where you normally listen to podcasts if you like. We're on Spotify and a few others, and we're working on adding more.

Season 1 Ep. 5:
"Angus Folk Tales and Big Big Big Worms!"
~ Join us to find out why Erin loves giant worms of destruction ~

Dr Erin Farley of Dundee, Scotland, author of Angus Folktales speaks to Tom and Rhonda Muir on the Orkneyology Podcast

Tonight, Tom and Rhonda talk with a favorite moonlight visitor - our very dear friend, author, researcher and storyteller Dr Erin Farley of Dundee.

Those who love stories and Scotland will find much to chew on in tonight's visit, among these:

Erin's strange and abiding passion for worms: especially 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 landlord
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.

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

Drop by on the NEXT full moon ...

When, truthfully, we don't yet know who we'll be talking with, as Tom's been under the weather for a while. But that it will be someone interesting you can be sure!

Other ways to listen:

You can also listen on Youtube, with a few photos for context.

Check the platform where you normally listen to podcasts if you like. We're on Spotify and a few others, and we're working on adding more.

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Season 1 Ep. 6, part 1:
"Hatch, match and dispatch"
~ Old Orkney customs around pregnancy, birth, courtship, marriage and death ~

|Tom and Rhonda Muir of Orkneyology.com and Orkneyology Press, Orkney Islands, Scotland

On this moonlit 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 Orkney stories related to these customs and give a bit of history to help folk understand the very sensible reasons for these early Orkney folk 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)
Nature 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 (although 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, Isobel Gunn
And Stromness' Brinkie's Brae

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

Drop by on the NEXT full moon ...

Tom speaks with one of our authors, Ian Scott - otherwise known as Ian o' Antabreck - lifelong resident of Orkney's most northerly island, North Ronaldsay.

We'll see you by the light of the next full moon.

Other ways to listen:

We regret that we are unable to offer the Orkneyology Podcast on Apple. In spite of arduous efforts and several failed attempts to receive help, we are sent in endless circles. If anyone would like to contact Apple and request the podcast ... well, maybe that would work?

Meanwhile, the podcast IS available on:

Orkneyology.com, Spotify, Youtube, Youtube Music, Acast, Amazon Music, Deezer, Jiosaavn, Samsung, Podverse, Audible, Curiocaster, RSS Feed, Steno.fm and probably others we know nothing about.

Please spread the word!

Season 1 Ep. 7:
"A Letter from North Ronaldsay"
~ A blether with Ian o' Antabreck - memories, the old days, life and art in Orkney ~

On this full moon night, Tom speaks with one of our authors, Ian Scott - otherwise known as Ian o' Antabreck - lifelong resident of Orkney's most northerly island, North Ronaldsay.

Ian has recently gathered together for publication his first decade of A Letter from North Ronaldsay, which he's written for The Orcadian newspaper for over thirty years. Tom and Rhonda have very proudly produced this first volume of Ian's Letters through our Orkneyology Press, which is now available for purchase through our website.

We hope you enjoy this blether among friends.

Join us to find out ...

About North Ronaldsay toonships ... and what's a toonship anyway?
Hogmanay traditions; North Ron as compared to Sanday (and other Orkney) traditions, where half of Tom's folk come from; where was the whisky, and what finally stopped the auld Hogmanay traditions?
On home brewing
Old milling and brewing practices, which Ian observed in his miller-father's life and work
The old and new North Ronaldsay standing stone Hogmanay traditions, and what's it all got to do with the full moon?
The reluctant uptake of the Gregorian calendar in Orkney
Cold evenings in warm places: visiting and playing games with folk in the mill ... and other warm places
Schooldays: What was it like boarding in the hostel for Kirkwall Grammar School (and a year in Holm) as a bairn the old days - when the bairns only came home on rare occasions? Powdered milk, snowball fights, freezing "digs" and oh, those unmarried teachers.
And what about those hair-raising postboat rides before ferries and planes were available?
Crops and old-style thrashing
What it was like studying at Gray's School of Art, Aberdeen
Orkney's thriving arts community
Ian's paintings and sculptures, including his favorite sculpture: the Longhope Lifeboat Memorial
Ian's lobster fishing days
The North Ronaldsay praam, how it came about and why it's such a good boat design for Orkney sea conditions
Ian's artistic study trips in Shetland, Iceland and Faroes
About sculpting and Ian's well-known public works, including the Longhope Lifeboat Memorial, the statue of Arctic explorer John Rae in Stromness, the George Mackay Brown busts and the Stanley Cursitor portrait, all of which can be seen in Orkney.
Sylvia Wishart, Ola Gorie and other Orkney artists
The story of North Ronaldsay's Old Memorial Hall

Mentioned in this episode:

If you'd like to purchase A Letter from North Ronaldsay in the way that best rewards the author and publishers, buy it direct from Orkneyology Press. Thank you.
Ian Scott's author page on Orkneyology
Don't Tell Bab! - by Annie Harcus (Annie Rousay)
Island Saga - Mary Scott
Window on North Ronaldsay - Peter Tulloch
The Longhope Lifeboat Memorial

Other ways to listen:

We regret that we are as yet unable to offer the Orkneyology Podcast on Apple, in spite of arduous efforts. If anyone would like to contact Apple and request the podcast ... well, maybe that would work?

Meanwhile, the podcast IS available on:

Orkneyology.com, Spotify, Youtube, Youtube Music, Acast, Amazon Music, Deezer, Jiosaavn, Samsung, Podverse, Audible, Curiocaster, RSS Feed, Steno.fm and probably others we know nothing about.

Please spread the word!

Drop by on the NEXT full moon ...

When Tom and Rhonda will be back with part 2 of "Hatch, Match, Dispatch". Tom will tell us more about the "match" customs - courtship and marriage - and also Orkney death customs.

We'll see you then.

Season 1 Ep. 8:
"Orkney Customs ~ Hatch, Match, Dispatch"
part 2
~ Orkney marriage and death customs ~

Join Tom and Rhonda as we continue our discussion around old Orkney customs and traditions. This time you'll hear some quite surprising and amusing details of marriage and death customs in Orkney.

A few things you'll find out in this Ower wi' the Moon podcast:

Signs and dangers around the Orkney wedding celebration: good luck, bad luck and how to evade the trowies
The costs of speerin' night, when the prospective groom asks the bride's father for her hand; warning: don't show up empty handed!
The exact nuances of arranging the marriage banns in Orkney and its surrounding legalities
About the Westray "dons" of the Spanish Armada, and what allegedly happened if they married "outside" the dons
What did the moon, the tide and the "airt" of the wind have to do with the fortunes of an Orkney marriage?
Old-style wedding invitations ... and drams (naturally)
All about the Orkney foot-washing ritual, and the general hilarity that ensued
Withershins - "going against the sun"
The dangers of bodily bits as relating to curses; and what's this got to do with the king's poop?
A wedding story from Noltland Castle in the island of Westray
How to make your hogboon part of the wedding celebration, and why it's important to do so!
The wedding walk - much longer than a walk down the aisle; hijinks along the way; and the importance of wiping out your tracks
The origins of pre-wedding blackenings in Orkney
The mesterhousel, the hansel wife, the bride's cog and other Orkney wedding celebration rituals
Orkney wedding games, bog cotton (Loki's oo) stockings and feminine divination mysteries
Baking. brewing, eating, drinking and dancing! Different kinds of Orkney cogs
Curses, ill omens and selkie abductions: dangers to watch out for during weddings
The tragic story of Henry Graham and his love
Orkney death customs, traditions and beliefs
Omens of death: rainbows, ravens and angels' music
Wailing vardens and ganfers in Orkney
The story of the Bokie Hound of the Balfours
Forebodings of death in dreams
The leekwak, touching the corpse and of ladies losing their senses
The danger of grieving too much
Supernatural Orkney death customs: good luck and bad, and getting the biggest blessing
What did you do with a drowned sailor?
The posh end of the cemetery
Unbaptized infant stories
... and many more interesting Orkney traditions.

Also mentioned in this episode:

You can find audio of the three stories mentioned in this episode in Tom's archive of Tales for Troubled Times. Or just search in the searchbar on every page for: Lady Odivere; Scota Bess; and The Long Wedding.

And if you'd like to encourage us, you can buy us a coffee (or a dram) on our Ko-fi page.

We hope you enjoy the podcast.

Other ways to listen:

Meanwhile, the podcast IS available on:

Orkneyology.com, Spotify, Youtube, Youtube Music, Acast, Amazon Music, Deezer, Jiosaavn, Samsung, Podverse, Audible, Curiocaster, RSS Feed, Steno.fm and probably others we know nothing about.

Please spread the word!

Drop by on the NEXT full moon ...

When we'll have a good blether with our friend, Ailsa Dixon, a young and fabulous storyteller of Orcadian descent.

We'll see you on the next full moon!

Season 1 Ep. 9:
"Scottish Storytelling Past, Present & Future"

~ A blether with a young storyteller and great grandneice of George Mackay Brown, Ailsa Dixon ~

On this full-moonlit night we had a visit from a young Scottish-Dutch storytelling friend, who is also a great grandneice of Orkney's beloved poet, George Mackay Brown. We hope you enjoy this blether with stories.

In this episode you'll hear about:

Ailsa's experience of learning about her heritage from Tom
Orkney stories and their histories
letting folk stories continue to grow in our own time
encouraging new storytellers
the delights of spontaneity in storytelling
a wee tale from Aberdeenshire - Fittie's Portion
"young" storytellers, and how not to be defined by age or other labels
Ailsa's School of Storycraft for kids
telling stories about things you care about; defeating apathy and reconnecting emotionally
local history storytelling
stories about kindness; "heart stories"
Ailsa tells her heart story, Kate Crackernuts, which is not - as is commonly misunderstood - an English tale, but was collected in the Orkney Islands
finding earlier versions of folktales
Gaelic waulking songs
... and a bonus story, which Ailsa first heard from her granddad, Fraser Dixon: The Story of Tam Bichan - from Dingieshowe, Orkney

Contact Ailsa Dixon

Other ways to listen:

Meanwhile, the podcast IS available on:

Orkneyology.com, Spotify, Youtube, Youtube Music, Acast, Amazon Music, Deezer, Jiosaavn, Samsung, Podverse, Audible, Curiocaster, RSS Feed, Steno.fm and probably others we know nothing about.

Please spread the word!

Drop by on the NEXT full moon ...

When we'll have a good blether with our friend, Hjörleifur Helgi Stefánsson, Icelandic storyteller, musician, innkeeper, farmer, builder/carpenter, cook, guide and singer of traditional Icelandic Rímur, who will tell us about the dreadful necro pants and raising the dead!

See you by the light of the moon.

Season 1 Ep. 10:
"A Halloween Visit with Hjörleifur Helgi Stefánsson"

~ A moonlit blether with traditional Icelandic storyteller and author of Icelandic Folk Tales ~

Hjörleifur Helgi Stefánsson, Rhonda Muir and Tom Muir at the Cape Clear Storytelling Festival, Ireland, courtesy of Liz Weir

Hjörleifur, Rhonda and Tom at Cape Clear Storytelling Festival, courtesy of Liz Weir, storyteller

No Picts were harmed during the making of this podcast.

This full moon October night, we're having a visit with Hjörleifur Helgi Stefánsson: Icelander, author of Icelandic Folk Tales, fabulous traditional storyteller ... and Tom Muir's pet Viking.

A peedie warning: Not surprisingly, some of the conversation is a bit dark for the very sensitive, or bairns. See topics below and proceed informed.

Join us for a blether between two storytelling northmen, mildly spooky at times as is suitable for the season, where you'll hear about:

Storytelling traditions old and new in Iceland
"Destination Sagalands" (EU project) - friends made in the Nordic lands, and fun personal stories
Finding a unique voice for stories and storytelling
Hjörleifur 's book, Icelandic Folk Tales
Storytellers like being admired!
Hjörleifur's family stories tradition
Life in an Icelandic turf house
Hjörleifur tells the story, The Merman Laughs (and eating rotten shark!)
The dark details of making of a supernatural slave to steal neighbors' milk from the cow; the primal fear of the people living in turf houses
How to make necropants
Raising the dead
About Icelandic rímur, and samplings of rímur, "sung with gusto" by a man with a golden voice
Iceland and her trolls
A troll folktale
An Orkney ghost story from Tom
A comparison of Orkney and Icelandic tales
Announcing a new book-in-the-making with Hjörleifur and Orkneyology Press!
Hidden People tales

Also mentioned:

Cape Clear festival and my Cape Clear video

Other ways to listen:

The podcast is available on:

Orkneyology.com, Spotify, Youtube, Youtube Music, Acast, Amazon Music, Deezer, Jiosaavn, Samsung, Podverse, Audible, Curiocaster, RSS Feed, Steno.fm and probably others we know nothing about.

We regret that we are as yet unable to offer the Orkneyology Podcast on Apple, in spite of our best efforts. However, you can search manually on Apple: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/65a28c429ba8e30016dff20e

Please subscribe, leave a review and share the podcast!

Drop by on the NEXT full moon ...

When Tom and Rhonda will be visiting with our friends R. Carlos Nakai, the world's premier performer of the Native American flute, and Will Clipman, world percussionist, poet and performing artist.

We'll see you again by the light of the moon!

Season 1 Ep. 11:
"A Musical Gathering of Elders ~ Ceremony, Culture and Old, Old Stories "

~ A moonlit blether with renowned world musicians
R. Carlos Nakai and Will Clipman ~

Orkneyology Podcast with premier Navajo flute player R Carlos Nakai and world percussionist Will Clipman

R. Carlos, Rhonda, Tom and Will

We're bringing you a brilliant conversation on with this full moon night, with visiting friends R. Carlos Nakai, of Navajo and Ute heritage - and the world's premier performer with the Native American flute - and Will Clipman, passionate world percussionist, poet and performing artist.

(Please pardon the scratchy voices and coughing in this epsode. We'd been having a lovely time together roaming around Orkney together with RC and Will and their wives, Pam and Sherry, for several days before we recorded this. Unfortunately, along with the stories, music and breaking bread we also passed around a pretty bad cold.)

We're so pleased to bring you this far-reaching and musical conversation among friends. Join us to hear about these and many other things:

R. Carlos Nakai speaks of ancient tribal history from his early home in Arizona
About ceremony, culture, storytellers and gathering knowledge from the elders
Will's early beginnings with drumming; being born to a musical family in Philidelphia; What's in the "boom boom room"?
The musical marriage of RC's Native flute and Will's passionate percussion
The Native "culture of women" - life creators
RC: Learning how we belong - "Who are you?"; philosophies and stories of all of our clans all over the world
Will finds his Swedish Sámi roots; the Sami Pathfinder and the ceremonial drum
Singing the songs of humanity, and the ancestors' residing in the music
We all have one human story
The magic of music, improvisation and what the listener brings to the music
Anthropologists as listeners
Shapeshifter and the wallaby dance
Working with children: mythic creation, mask-making and storytelling; the power of saying, "Yes!"
A musical treat, and a bit about how RC and Will approach performing together
Singing to the sea; praying to the water
Drumming inside the Dwarfie Stane
Will tells a Sami raven tale, and other stories from RC and Will's Indigenous cultures
The freedom of poetry and making music
Elders in many cultures; the knowledge within us

Website for R. Carlos Nakai
Website for Will Clipman

Other ways to listen:

The podcast is available on:

Orkneyology.com, Spotify, Youtube, Youtube Music, Acast, Amazon Music, Deezer, Jiosaavn, Samsung, Podverse, Audible, Curiocaster, RSS Feed, Steno.fm and probably others we know nothing about.

Please subscribe, leave a review and share the podcast!

Drop by on the NEXT full moon ...

When Tom and Rhonda will have a Christmasy visit with Gerald Dickens, great-great grandson of Charles Dickens. We'll be talking - among other things - about our favorite story ~ A Christmas Carol.

We'll see you again by the light of the moon!

~ Our books ~

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