Mid-December I noticed that businesses along Albert Street were being boarded up. Massive 2″ x 6″ beams were being bolted across many of the windows and doorways in the centre of town. Why was my hairdresser’s salon under siege? Were the Vikings coming? Did I need to buy a chainmail vest? Fashion a broadsword out of my car’s bumper? Not quite.
A year ago I mentioned that The Ba’ had been scheduled for the first time since COVID, then promptly cancelled due to Omicron. The Ba’ is a series of events that takes place on Christmas Day & New Year’s Day. On each of those days there are two Ba’s: the Boys in the morning and the Men in the afternoon.
The Ba’ is a scrum where dozens of men from Kirkwall and surrounding area (the teams are Uppies, and Doonies, and it has something to do with where you were born, or who you are related to, or how you first arrived in Kirkwall, or something. Beats me.) try to move a ball (the ba’) either up past one of the churches, or down to the harbour. It can last hours. And this shit matters. Check out the newspaper photos of the two teams arriving. These are local farmers, business men, lorry drivers, neighbours, etc in their 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s out to play a game for an afternoon. No wonder the Scots of long ago scared the bejeezus out of opposing English armies, as they came into battle.
And, it seems, The Ba’ can include damage to property – well, with 100+ men pushing and shoving up and down the road, that makes sense. So the local council boards up windows and doorways along the route. These planks are bolted into the cement. Bolted. The above picture on the left is two shops on the high street, and the one on the right is people’s homes. Yep, for the month of December, people in Orkney have to duck under a barrier to enter and leave their houses.
It seems The Ba’ doesn’t make it to my house; but it comes close. Scout & I will be checking out the New Year’s Ba’ – more to come – stay tuned!
