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Orkney farm weddings: the ceremony, appointing partners for...

Date 25 June 1969
Track ID 64276
Part 1
Part 2

Track Information

Original Track ID

SA1969.53

Original Tape ID

SA1969.053

Summary

Orkney farm weddings: the ceremony, appointing partners for single people, dancing and food.

Weddings were held in the barn in the old days and the wedding feast, which took weeks to prepare, was held in the house. Men would provide a bottle of whisky and women a chicken. The chickens were plucked and boiled in a big pot for soup. Everyone had to have a partner and the greatest fun was for the single people to learn who their partner was.

The couple was married in the barn, which was cleared out and filled with seats. The ceremony was in a corner and as soon as that was done, the seats were cleared away and the dance began, accompanied by fiddles. The first dance was the bride's reel, which was a Scotch figure-of-eight reel. The fiddler sat on top of the hand-mill and played till six or seven in the morning. Partners had to be taken into the house for tea, possibly involving a walk in the dark. Weddings were held when there was moonlight, if possible. Then followed a feast of beef, pork, chicken, bannocks made with bere [a type of barley] and with flour, oatcakes, cheese and butter. After that there was more dancing, of heavy dances like eightsome reels, quadrilles, lancers, Highland Scottisches, Jackie Tar and Strip the Willow.

Item Location

County - Orkney

Parish - Birsay and Harray

Language

English, Scots

Genre

Information

Collection

SoSS

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good