What an eloquent and interesting piece, Steve Davie. i did enjoy your views on trees. It has made me want to send my two penneth... I have only been to Orkney three times, but i've read and devoured much on my obsession (with the orkney archipelago). i understood that the reason trees didn't grow in abundance was much to do with the seeds being blown away, that they didn't have a chance to take root. Re the wind: I remember being told about a trip to Sanday (where i actually spent a wonderfully calm and sunny day) - and an experience of strong horizontal winds that blew so long and so hard that a blue hire car became white with sea salt after a couple of days - a white out! The sea is always so close on all the straggly-limbed land of Sanday. I do remember seeing a specifically grown copse in a gully somewhere just south of Kirkwall (?), a dense patch, sculpted by the wind as if the trees were deliberately trying to huddle together for survival, planted by someone who had to fight the elements until they grew strong enough to cope on their own (?) - those of you who live on Mainland qualified to add to that one... And as a child, before i was aware of my ancestral connections with Orkney, i loved wide open spaces, particularly unfenced fields (which i first discovered in Elie, Fife, Scotland). I now think Orkney was in my blood!! i feel i 'remembered' my roots - like a dog that pads around in circles to flatten the imaginary grass of its bed! I was bowled over when i first saw the oh-so-wide open panoramas, as far as the eye could see - sea and low rolling treeless hills (no deflection for the wind). Since childhood (and Katie Morag books...) i've also had a fascination for small islands and a sheer delight in proximity to sea with small sandy beaches - i know, who doesn't! :>) Orkney's islands are abundant with such - i have twice stood on gloriously windy and uplifting sandy/sandy-pebbly shores to view the ruins of actual humble homes of my rich (in life) ancestors. Both families of my father's parents lived thus, one on Westray and one on Shapinsay. It's an amazing feeling - to stand and stare at these - to see with my eyes the views that they saw every day, and more than likely took for granted. Aaaah....... Fiona - the Fiona in York, UK - who is in awe of Fiona in Orkney's wonderful photographic capturings of Scottish islands... _________________________________________________________________ Sign-up for a FREE BT Broadband connection today! http://www.msn.co.uk/specials/btbroadband

Dear Fiona: Thanks for your kind comment. Would not it be great to be able to slip back in time a thousand years and island-hop in Orkney on a longship? We could have an evening bonfire from driftwood collected on a deserted west-facing beach, and enjoy the warmth of our huge crackling and dancing blaze, roast a few fish and birds, drink some ale, and watch with the seals that flaming red sunset washed away slowly by a subtle blackness that provides an eery backdrop for frolicking northern lights and a billion glittering stars. I have done this in our north. It surly clears the crud out of one's mind, and fuels the soul. People living in Orkney will laugh.Yep, we're all nuts! But you see, they aren't us. They are still there. I read the old records of my family forefathers, who left young and penniless their tough little Orkney farms and hungry families, fought their way across a treacherous frozen ocean in cork-like wooden boats driven by wind and prayer, and lived and paddled with first nations people here, across a vast mapless and often cruel land where in the winter each breath they drew was a mixture of dry frozen air, snow and ice, and in the summer, a gritty mixture of squirming black flies and mosquitoes, and where a deserved dead sleep could result in a fight for life with a polar bear. I've experienced the encounters with the bears and the bugs and the weather, but within yards of a dependable bushplane and radio. I just now received a painting of our ancient farm in Grimbister which fortunately has the blessing of truly deserving present- day owners. The owners make Grimbister cheese. The farm is on the sea, a mile or two from Finstown west of Kirkwall. Earlier ancestors lived on other islands where in one case thousand year old ruins of a fort occupied by them still exist. The Kirkwall artist, Jane Glue (Shorelines Gallery), was so understanding and incredibly fairminded. Her painting speaks as much by emotion as it does through her magic colours. I met, sortof through this site this summer, a dear older relative living in Stennes. We connect very distinctly back in the mid 1700's. I spoke to her on the phone. Dead spots both ways I assumed were lumps in throats. For they were on my end for sure. She has been studying family history all her life in Orkney, and had hoped someone would pop up to answer questions about her kin who disappeared in the great north west. I sent her my notes. She knew the farm well. Our family trees were both identical back to 1700. Beyond that, we had the benefit of an older report from Orkney, reaching back to our vikings of the Saga. She enjoyed a copy of that report, and she remembered the gentleman who compiled it, from her early childhood years ago. I recall saying to her, "Margaret, this late fall I am going to stand in that place and soak it up, breathe it in and plant it in my heart and brain forever." She said," OOH Stephen, ye dinna' want to just stand there. You'll wan teh walk rright rround it all! Hilda won't mind I'm surre." Bless her big 79-year-old heart! Would it be nice to have that walk with her. Standing or walking, regardless of wind and cold, those crocodile tears on my cheeks won't be a reaction to the weather. Our extended family here, significant now in numbers and firmly established in the modern America, are going to re-attach those ancient researched and proven Orcadian roots, and like a scrub willow tree, we won't get blown away. I am not alone in these thoughts. I'm the last runner in what has been a long relay race, my position owed to others and my task clear. People are counting on a good finish. Thanks, Fiona of York. I understand how incredibly impacting and emotional your trips back there have been. Humble as they were, those homes you describe were yours. And they weren't easy to build and heat. Great stuff, actually, isn't it? Cheers.......Stephen On Wednesday, November 19, 2003, at 05:13 PM, Fiona Pearson wrote: > What an eloquent and interesting piece, Steve Davie. i did enjoy your > views on trees. It has made me want to send my two penneth... > I have only been to Orkney three times, but i've read and devoured > much on my obsession (with the orkney archipelago). i understood that > the reason trees didn't grow in abundance was much to do with the > seeds being blown away, that they didn't have a chance to take root. > Re the wind: I remember being told about a trip to Sanday (where i > actually spent a wonderfully calm and sunny day) - and an experience > of strong horizontal winds that blew so long and so hard that a blue > hire car became white with sea salt after a couple of days - a white > out! The sea is always so close on all the straggly-limbed land of > Sanday. > I do remember seeing a specifically grown copse in a gully somewhere > just south of Kirkwall (?), a dense patch, sculpted by the wind as if > the trees were deliberately trying to huddle together for survival, > planted by someone who had to fight the elements until they grew > strong enough to cope on their own (?) - those of you who live on > Mainland qualified to add to that one... > And as a child, before i was aware of my ancestral connections with > Orkney, i loved wide open spaces, particularly unfenced fields (which > i first discovered in Elie, Fife, Scotland). I now think Orkney was in > my blood!! i feel i 'remembered' my roots - like a dog that pads > around in circles to flatten the imaginary grass of its bed! I was > bowled over when i first saw the oh-so-wide open panoramas, as far as > the eye could see - sea and low rolling treeless hills (no deflection > for the wind). > Since childhood (and Katie Morag books...) i've also had a fascination > for small islands and a sheer delight in proximity to sea with small > sandy beaches - i know, who doesn't! :>) > Orkney's islands are abundant with such - i have twice stood on > gloriously windy and uplifting sandy/sandy-pebbly shores to view the > ruins of actual humble homes of my rich (in life) ancestors. Both > families of my father's parents lived thus, one on Westray and one on > Shapinsay. It's an amazing feeling - to stand and stare at these - to > see with my eyes the views that they saw every day, and more than > likely took for granted. > Aaaah....... > > Fiona - the Fiona in York, UK - who is in awe of Fiona in Orkney's > wonderful photographic capturings of Scottish islands... > > _________________________________________________________________ > Sign-up for a FREE BT Broadband connection today! > http://www.msn.co.uk/specials/btbroadband > > > ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the > word > 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com >