Rousay Tales

In this final episode we’ll be finding out about some of the creative folk in Rousay. The island has been a creative place for millennia and we hear about the Neolithic makers and their grooved ware pottery and Bronze Age soapstone carvers. Turn the beautiful Westness brooch-pin over in your hands and discover why Rousay played a part in the opening of the Pier Arts Centre. And be sure to keep rhythm with the music of the island. We hope the music of Rousay remains with you after this, our final episode.

Contributors in order of appearance:

Narrator: Prof Ingrid Mainland 2024

James Yorston 1990

Dr Siobhan Cooke-Miller 2024

Helen Firth 1987

Kath Gourlay 1987

Max Fletcher 2023

Adam Harcus 2023

Ceri Biddle 2023

Rob Flett 2023

‘Whaal’s Rost’ Jimmy Craigie n.d.

Eddie Firth 2023

‘Jenny’s Tune’ James Grieve

Ellen Grieve 2023

Athol Grieve 2023

‘Grandad’ Ellen Grieve

Fiddle - Hugh Inkster, Guitar - Tommy Mainland n.d.

This podcast series was created using material from Orkney Library & Archive, Rousay Remembered, University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute and contemporary recordings made with the community of Rousay.

Creative team: Produced by Kolekto (Mark Jenkins & Rebecca Marr) and University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute led by Dan Lee.

New recordings and editing by Mark Jenkins (Kolekto)

New music composed and played by James Watson (Wooden Sole Music)

The project has been funded by Orkney Island Council, Rousay Egilsay and Wyre Development Trust (REWDT), Orkney Archaeology Society (OAS) and North Isles Landscape Partnership Scheme (NILPS).

In this episode we’ll be finding out about the superstitions, folklore and religion in Rousay. Hogboons, trows and fairies come alive in this episode to bring us luck or misfortune. A standing stone walks and a hidden island appears. And remember to make sure it's the dead you are burying.

Contributors in order of appearance:

Narrator: James Grieve 2024

Chris Gee 2024

Ernest Marwick 1966

Tom Sinclair 1966

Edda Mainland n.d.

Mrs Clouston 1989

Dr Sarah Jane Gibbon 2024

Muriel Marwick 2023

Alistair Marwick 2023

Ingrid Grieve 2024

Mrs Wylie 1966

Kath Gourlay 1987

Helen Firth 1987

The Rousay Singers 2022

This podcast series was created using material from Orkney Library & Archive, Rousay Remembered, University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute and contemporary recordings made with the community of Rousay.

Creative team: Produced by Kolekto (Mark Jenkins & Rebecca Marr) and University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute led by Dan Lee.

New recordings and editing by Mark Jenkins (Kolekto)

New music composed and played by James Watson (Wooden Sole Music)

The project has been funded by Orkney Island Council, Rousay Egilsay and Wyre Development Trust (REWDT), Orkney Archaeology Society (OAS) and North Isles Landscape Partnership Scheme (NILPS).

In this episode we’ll be finding out about the houses of the living and the dead. We travel back to Neolithic settlements and meet some of the people involved in digging Rousay's many tombs. Forward through time to brochs, disappearing Norse sites and the only large-scale clearance in Orkney. Visit Trumland and a house with indelible blood stains and call in on Rousay's longest living inhabitant.

Contributors in order of appearance:

Narrator: James Grieve 2024

Dr Sarah Jane Gibbon 2024

James Yorston 1990

Anne Brundle 1990

Martin Carruthers 2024

Dan Lee 2024

Mrs Clouston 1989

Howie Firth c1970s

Willie Thomson c1970s

Kath Gourlay 1987

Helen Firth 1987

Alexina Craigie 1966

Ellen Grieve 2023

Athol Grieve 2023

Ann Marwick 1990

Ernest Marwick n.d.

Edda Mainland n.d.

Mrs Wylie 1966

Chris Gee 2024

This podcast series was created using material from Orkney Library & Archive, Rousay Remembered, University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute and contemporary recordings made with the community of Rousay.

Creative team: Produced by Kolekto (Mark Jenkins & Rebecca Marr) and University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute led by Dan Lee.

New recordings and editing by Mark Jenkins (Kolekto)

New music composed and played by James Watson (Wooden Sole Music)

The project has been funded by Orkney Island Council, Rousay Egilsay and Wyre Development Trust (REWDT), Orkney Archaeology Society (OAS) and North Isles Landscape Partnership Scheme (NILPS).

In this episode we’ll be finding out about travelling, on land, and sea. Walk Rousay's circular road with a well-travelled postman, a well-known artist and the fastest man on the island. Hear about shipwrecks and bounties of tea. Hide from the press gangs and travel the peat tracks before you step aboard the steamer and marvel at the arrival of the ro-ro ferry.

Contributors in order of appearance:

Narrator: Prof Ingrid Mainland 2024

Dr Jennifer Harland 2024

Athol Grieve 2023

Ellen Grieve 2023

Alexina Craigie 1966

Ernest Marwick 1966

Frances Roebuck 2024

Chris Gee 2024

Mrs Wylie 1966

Edda Mainland n.d.

Dan Lee 2024

Kath Gourlay 1987

Helen Firth 1987

James Grieve 2024

Eddie Firth 2023

Tom Sinclair 1966

Alistair Marwick 2023

Muriel Marwick 2023

'Blossom Quarry, Rousay', Ian Hamilton Finlay by kind permission of the estate of Ian Hamilton Finlay.

This podcast series was created using material from Orkney Library & Archive, Rousay Remembered, University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute and contemporary recordings made with the community of Rousay.

Creative team: Produced by Kolekto (Mark Jenkins & Rebecca Marr) and University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute led by Dan Lee.

New recordings and editing by Mark Jenkins (Kolekto)

New music composed and played by James Watson (Wooden Sole Music)

The project has been funded by Orkney Island Council, Rousay Egilsay and Wyre Development Trust (REWDT), Orkney Archaeology Society (OAS) and North Isles Landscape Partnership Scheme (NILPS).

In this episode we’ll be finding out about fishing in Rousay. Discover the diet of Rousay's Vikings, meet some whalers and follow the herring boats. We'll set some creels and drop in on the fish factory and trace the importance of fishing to the islanders past and present.

Contributors in order of appearance:

Narrator: James Grieve 2024

Ernest Marwick 1966

Mrs Wylie 1966

Dr Jennifer Harland 2024

Tom Sinclair 1966

Athol Grieve 2023

Ellen Grieve 2023

Ken Ross 1988-91

Hugh Mainland 1988-91

Angus Findlater 1988-91

Hugh Mainland 2023

This podcast series was created using material from Orkney Library & Archive, Rousay Remembered, University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute and contemporary recordings made with the community of Rousay.

Creative team: Produced by Kolekto (Mark Jenkins & Rebecca Marr) and University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute led by Dan Lee.

New recordings and editing by Mark Jenkins (Kolekto)

New music composed and played by James Watson (Wooden Sole Music)

The project has been funded by Orkney Island Council, Rousay Egilsay and Wyre Development Trust (REWDT), Orkney Archaeology Society (OAS) and North Isles Landscape Partnership Scheme (NILPS).