Join Tom and Rhonda as we continue our discussion around old Orkney customs and traditions. This time you'll hear some quite surprising and amusing details of marriage and death customs in Orkney.A few things you'll find out in this Ower wi' the Moon podcast:Signs and dangers around the Orkney wedding celebration: good luck, bad luck and how to evade the trowiesThe costs of speerin' night, when the prospective groom asks the bride's father for her hand; warning: don't show up empty handed!The exact nuances of arranging the marriage banns in Orkney and its surrounding legalitiesAbout the Westray "dons" of the Spanish Armada, and what allegedly happened if they married "outside" the donsWhat did the moon, the tide and the "airt" of the wind have to do with the fortunes of an Orkney marriage?Old-style wedding invitations ... and drams (naturally)All about the Orkney foot-washing ritual, and the general hilarity that ensuedWithershins - "going against the sun"The dangers of bodily bits as relating to curses; and what's this got to do with the king's poop?A wedding story from Noltland Castle in the island of WestrayHow to make your hogboon part of the wedding celebration, and why it's important to do so!The wedding walk - much longer than a walk down the aisle; hijinks along the way; and the importance of wiping out your tracksThe origins of pre-wedding blackenings in OrkneyThe mesterhousel, the hansel wife, the bride's cog and other Orkney wedding celebration ritualsOrkney wedding games, bog cotton (Loki's oo) stockings and feminine divination mysteriesBaking. brewing, eating, drinking and dancing!Different kinds of Orkney cogsCurses, ill omens and selkie abductions: dangers to watch out for during weddingsThe tragic story of Henry Graham and his loveOrkney death customs, traditions and beliefsOmens of death: rainbows, ravens and angels' musicWailing vardens and ganfers in OrkneyThe story of the Bokie Hound of the BalfoursForebodings of death in dreamsThe leekwak, touching the corpse and of ladies losing their sensesThe danger of grieving too muchSupernatural Orkney death customs: good luck and bad, and getting the biggest blessingWhat did you do with a drowned sailor?The posh end of the cemeteryUnbaptized infant stories... and many more interesting Orkney traditions.Encourage us in our heritage preservation work on Ko-fi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.