Orkneyology Podcast

On this full moon night, Tom and Rhonda discuss some of the main rituals and customs necessary to safeguard important life events, from pregnancy through birth and baptisms, and onward to concerns and superstitions around courtship. Tom will tell us a few stories related to these customs and give a bit of history to help folk understand the very sensible reasons for these early Orkney practices. J...

Tonight, Tom and Rhonda Muir of Scotland's Orkney Islands have a moonlight visitor - our very dear friend, author, researcher and storyteller Dr Erin Farley of Dundee. Those who love stories and Scotland will find much of interest, among these:    Erin's abiding passion for worms: giant worms causing creation and destruction, the The Muckle Mester Stoorworm; Jörmungandr the world se...

Tonight Tom and Rhonda Muir have a moonlit blether from their home in Scotland's Orkney Islands inspired by the publication of Tom's latest collection of folk tales: Scottish Folk Tales of Coast and Sea. We muse about life lessons embedded in all good stories, look at some differences in stories originating from inland areas as compared to tales told by those whose lives are constantly endangered...

Tonight we have a moonlit chat with our very dear friend, Scott Gardiner. Tom and Scott have a lovely, wandering blether across the bothy ballad and traditional Scottish song scene, touching on the history of this unique music and how it stands today. They talk about the culture and lifestyle that created the bothy ballads, a bit about the bothy system in the Orkney Islands and reminisce about "Bo...

Well, it's a full moon again and time for another moonlit blether coming to you from the Orkney Islands. This month, Tom and Rhonda Muir talk about: the difficulties of childhood dyslexia (before there was a name for it) beloved childhood storybooks that helped Tom overcome traumatic school years how Tom stumbled into storytelling and overcame fear (terror, really) of public speaking how the Orkne...

In Orkney, we used to have an expression: "I'll be ower wi' the moon ," meaning, " I will come and visit you when the moon is full, to light my way. " In this first episode of the Orkneyology Podcast (with the encouragement of some steaming mulled wine for Rhonda's sake) we introduce ourselves: Tom Muir - Orcadian traditional storyteller, historian, author and publisher; and Rhonda Muir - an Ameri...