(Redirected by "Sigurd Towrie" <sigurd@orkneyjar.com>) *********** BEGIN REDIRECTED MESSAGE *********** Although Hogmanay visiting may indeed be less, possibly partly due to changes in attitudes to drinking and driving, one custom which goes from strength to strength is the Ba' in Kirkwall on Xmas and New Year. This game is of course intensely parochial in that folk from such distant parts as Stromness or the West Mainland generally are not interested, although in the past similar games were held in other parts of orkney and indeed more generally in Britain and Europe. Although the authorities have many times tried to crack down on this rather rough and tumble game, they always have failed and hopefully always will fail to curtail the tradition. In fact apart from the players who may number 100-200 there are hundreds of spectators and the whole thing is a huge community social event as well as a serious game. When I started taking photos in 1977 no one had taken any for several years, but now of course cameras and videos abound, so that each game is well covered by imagery. It remains a hard sport to capture in the camera, whether on film of digitally. Action is quick but short interspersed by often long period of seeming inactivity. The game may reach almost any part of the centre of town and woe betide the person or business who fails to erect barricades just because "it is a while since the Ba' wis here". There will be images and reports on the Ba' website after the games at http://www.bagame.com so you all ken what CT will be doing on Christmas and New Year's days after the game! There will be a delay while images are downloaded, selected, processed and placed on the web. Everything is now shot on RAW settings to get best quality, but this does entail more processing. Anyway fir anyone interested in orcadian heritage the Ba' is an important modern part of it, although its origins are undoubtedly ancient. Maybe the tale that it used to be played with some unfortunate whose head a viking removed is apocryphal but no doubt there are gory antecedents. -- Charles Tait Photographic Limited, Kelton, St Ola, Orkney, UK KW15 1TR Tel 01856 873738 Fax 01856 875313 Mobile 07785 220269 All outgoing and incoming mail is checked by Norton Antivirus 2003 email charles.tait@zetnet.co.uk website http://www.charles-tait.co.uk *********** END REDIRECTED MESSAGE ***********