Living Heritage Podcast Ep201 Shetland History and Folklore with Dr Andrew Jennings

Lerwick, Scotland. Image via swifant/wikimedia.

Dr Andrew Jennings is based in Lerwick, Shetland's capital. He enjoys everything about life in this beautiful archipelago, from rowing in the local yoal team and taking part in the Fire Festival, to walking the dog and experiencing the wild Shetland weather. Living in Scotland's most northerly islands, with their Nordic cultural inheritance, inspires his research and his teaching. He is the programme leader on the MLitt Viking Studies, Island Studies, Orkney and Shetland Studies and Highlands and Islands Literature.

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Living Heritage is about people who are engaged in the heritage and culture sector, from museum
professionals and archivists, to tradition bearers and craftspeople - all those who keep history alive at the
community level. The show is a partnership between HeritageNL and CHMR Radio.
Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Living Heritage Podcast Ep080 The Haggis Lady

This episode of Living Heritage is all about that controversial Scottish delicacy, haggis, the chieftain of the pudding race. And who better to guide us through the culinary history and folklore of haggis than Newfoundland’s own “Haggis Lady” Jennifer Whitfield? Jennifer was raised in Glasgow, lived there till she was 25, then boarded the second voyage of the QEII and sailed away to the new world. She moved to Newfoundland in 1976. She’s been making haggis since 1981, and has made haggis locally for the Burns Night supper, and ships her haggis across Canada.

In this delicious podcast, we talk about what exactly goes into a haggis, how she got started in the haggis-making business and how she became “The Haggis Lady,” what makes an excellent (or terrible) haggis, the folklore and mythology of the haggis, and her recent activities in mailing haggis to needy pudding lovers across North America.

Listen on the Digital Archive:
http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/singleitem/collection/ich_oral/id/707/rec/1

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zW3P93pBGnjtPqlyIAqk5QkbzIJaCnol/view?usp=sharing

Living Heritage Podcast Ep044 Scottish and English Intangible Cultural Heritage with Suzy Harrison

Suzy Harrison is a second year PhD researcher at Nottingham Trent University, in the United Kingdom, and is funded through the AHRC Midlands3Cities Doctoral Training Programme. Her research analyses current attitudes towards intangible cultural heritage in England, and looks to reveal the challenges which it faces through closer examination of intangible heritage in the East Midlands. Her research is also looking at opportunities to possibly adopt practices at a local or national level which may exist in other countries.

We talk about local traditions, football, ICH politics and Suzy's research on the differences between ICH policy in Scotland and England. It's an ICH gabfest!

 

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The Living Heritage Podcast is about people who are engaged in the heritage and culture sector, from museum professionals and archivists, to tradition bearers and craftspeople - all those who keep history alive at the community level. The show is a partnership between HeritageNL and CHMR Radio. Theme music is Rythme Gitan by Latché Swing.

Tuesday's Folklore Photo: Burning the Clavie

Burning the Clavie is a Scottish fire festival observed on January 11th (the first day of the Julian Calender) at Burghead, a fishing village on the Moray Firth. The clavie is a peat and wood filled herring barrel which is set ablaze and carried on a pole though the village. The fiery procession is led by the Clavie King and his crew of about ten men, traditionally fishermen.

"Clavie King Hopping About the Flames"
Courtesy of: Yewtreenights.blogspot.com 

The burning clavie is paraded though the streets (sometimes on the back of the Clavie King!) and onlookers rush to grab the smoldering pieces, which are believed to bring good luck. The barrel eventually crumbles and the blazing embers are strewn over the summit of Doorie Hill before being shared among the townspeople.

Clergymen in the 18th century condemned this fire festival as "an abominable, heathenish practice" and tried to put a stop to it. This tradition used to be more widespread but now only survives in Burghead in the northeast of Scotland.

Intangible Cultural Heritage in Scotland: the Way Forward

Yesterday, I recieved by post a copy of "Intangible Cultural Heritage in Scotland: the Way Forward", a summary of a report prepared by Alison McCleary, Alistair McCleary, Linda Gunn and David Hill of Napier University, based on research commissioned by Museums Galleries Scotland in partnership with the Scottish Arts Council and the Scotland Committee of the UK National Commission for UNESCO.

The report identifies practical steps to be taken in order to safeguard and promote the richness and diversity of Scotland’s cultural practices and living traditions. It came at a perfect time, as HFNL is working on preparing a booklet entitled "What is Intangible Cultural Heritage?" - a first step in a similar direction.

Click here for the full report(439 KB pdf) or summary report (9,935 KB pdf).

The press release on the launch of the report can be found here.

The report summary, beautifully illustrated, gives an overview of Intangible Cultural Heritage in general, and how it relates to Scotland, as well as sections on collecting and managing ICH data, and safeguarding ICH. It recommends four next steps in conserving ICH in Scotland:

Creating a national inventory,

Collecting details of ICH practices,

Storing ICH data on a customized online wiki format, and

Using the national inventory as a tool for identifying what is under threat, and as a component of education and community development.

The summary also includes two small case studies, one on the "Up-Helly-Aa" festivals in Shetland (shown in the picture above), and one on collecting ICH on the island of Linsmore, on the west coast of Scotland.

Interesting and exciting stuff, with some good recommendations!