Historians: please comment / correct

[Father Bill]

I stumbled upon this online and would be interested in the comments of our best Scottish historians.

Thoughts? Corrections? Comments? I think there's a bias here, but regardless, how useful is it?

http://www.vikingmartialarts.com/vik...by-tyr-neilsen

[Me cousin Jack]

Well, however it shakes out, I enjoyed reading that.

[Jock Scot]

I lay no claim to be a historian, particularly on the finer points of Norse history in general and Norse/Scottish history in particular. However, I have spent a fair bit of my time in Scotland and quite a fair bit of that time in Sutherland and Caithness, so I think that I am at least able to give my impressions of the piece in question. It is absolutely true the Norse influence is there for all to see, place names and carvings being the obvious examples. Also, Shetland today in particular, is far more Norse than Scottish in general everyday atmosphere and thinking.

I have to confess that I am highly suspicious of articles written by historians with martial arts connections, particularly when distant history is shrouded by the mists of time. Nevertheless, I have to say that the overall impression of the piece is roughly in line with what my impressions of the Norse history are, when connected to Scotland. Whilst the Norsemen were renowned fighting men and rather too much of that is made in the article, I feel , but equally importantly they were skilled navigators and seamen too and peaceful settlement and forms of agriculture of those new areas was a necessity if long term colonisation was to succeed as well and they certainly achieved long term settlements.

Somehow though, I feel the article is written in a somewhat starry eyed way. For example, the Up Helly Aa cellebration as we know it now, is a recent affair in historical terms. I am not sure how far the original(?) ceremony stretches back in history, but as far as I am aware it was introduced sometime in latter part of the 1800's.

Hope these non academic observations help a tad.

[neloon]

I completely agree with Jock.
What he is not confessing is that MacLeod means "son of Ljot".
And ljot is Norse for "the ugly one"

Alan

[Jock Scot]

I completely agree with Jock.
What he is not confessing is that MacLeod means "son of Ljot".
And ljot is Norse for "the ugly one"

Alan

Just what can I say?

[MacKenzie]

An interesting read. Thanks FB.

[neloon]

Since we're speaking about the Scottish islands (well, sort of), and since we're sometimes asked about "where to go" in Scotland, I thought you might like to contemplate air travel around the islands by Loganair, "Scotland's National Airline". Small planes if you like that sort of thing and with a high preponderance of lady pilots. (Well, there's not much room in those cockpits. )
Here's the scheduled flight that goes Kirkwall-Stronsay-Sanday-Kirkwall. I think the safety instructions are "If you think we're going to crash, open the door and jump out".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kA3z1YdJ4o
Takeoff from Kirkwall, the capital of the Orkney. Fairly informal - find a bit of clear runway and go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvbwYBA5f5M
Same lassie doing the shortest commercial flight in the world. Actual flight is about 2 minutes depending on wind speed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdSi_oA38d0
This is why airfields are called airfields. The bumps help the plane to get airborne
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsxXz-cVpWg
'Course you need a bigger plane to go from Glasgow up to Kirkwall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu9QQgrGjZY
Or you could just take a "day trip" from Glasgow out to Barra. If you think it looks cold on Barra, note that the date is 28th December. Barra is the only place in the world where the runway for scheduled flights is ....the beach
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL0-FAJey8E
Here's a wee Twin Otter leaving Benbecula
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6idNBOYS_A

How to "get away from it all"? Of course, it's not cheap!

Alan

[Father Bill]

Love it Alan - thanks. You've done a good bit o' work to put that post together.

Cheers.

[Liam]

I particularly like the clips of the twin otters. Great plane. The sound of the engines at takeoff brought back many memories. I’m still amazed at how short a runway is needed for takeoff.

[Steve Ashton]

I have always wanted to visit the Shetlands so did a little research.

One islands website says that the original celebration was called "Barrelling" or "Tar Barrelling" where groups of youths would haul burning barrels of tar through the streets. The website suggests that this was looked down upon and finally banned around 1880.

The current torch parade which is one of the parts of Up Helly Aa seems to date to 1881 with a larger one for the visit of Duke of Edinburgh in 1882.
It seems that the first galley burning dates to around 1889.

Here is another site - https://www.shetland.org/things/even...ge/up-helly-aa