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Kelpies!
Because we were weather-delayed flying to Shetland we had a couple of days to fill. Some of that time was spent with a trip to see “The Kelpies”. Kelpies are mythical shape-shifting water horses inhabiting lochs in Scottish folklore. These Kelpies are a pair of monumental steel horse-heads between the Scottish towns of Falkirk and Grangemouth. The sculptures were designed by sculptor Andy Scott and were completed in October 2013. They stand next to the M9 motorway and form the eastern gateway of the Forth and Clyde Canal, which meets the River Carron here. Each head is 30 metres high and weighs 300 tonnes. They are positioned either side of…
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The fires of Up Helly Aa
At the end of January we went to Lerwick in Shetland to see the famous Viking fire festival called “Up Helly Aa”. There are several Up Helly Aa festivals in Shetland, and the Lerwick one is the largest. The festival involves various groups of Shetlanders called squads, and the main squad, the “Jarl Squad”, are dressed as Vikings. Their costumes are all made by them on the island, and are different every year. The festival culminates in a huge torchlit procession and the ritual burning of a replica Viking longship. Everyone else in the procession is in fancy dress, ranging from the sublime to the very ridiculous. On the morning…