Bonfire night
November 4, 2007 | Leave a Comment |
Yesterday evening was Bonfire Night. Wikipedia says about Bonfire Night:
Guy Fawkes Night (also known as Bonfire Night) is an annual celebration on the evening of November 5th. It celebrates the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot of the 5th of November 1605 in which a number of Roman Catholic conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament.
It is primarily marked in the United Kingdom, but also in former British colonies including New Zealand, parts of Canada, and parts of the British Caribbean. Bonfire Night was also common in Australia until the 1980’s, but it was held on the Queen’s Birthday long weekend in June.
Festivities are centered around the use of fireworks and the lighting of bonfires.
It’s not surprising that Mr. Fawkes foul plans lead to an unpleasant end of his life. After the event, Fawkes was tortured over the next few days, after the King granted special permission to do so. The torture should be gentle at first, and then more severe. For three or four days Fawkes said nothing, let alone divulge the names of his co-conspirators. Only when he found out that they had proclaimed themselves by appearing in arms did he succumb. Fawkes and a number of others implicated in the conspiracy were tried. After being found guilty, they were hanged, drawn, and quartered…
Bonfire Night was for us a great and spectacular firework at Dunvegan Castle. At 19:30 - a little later than planned - a piper announced the commencement of the event and a fire, depicting an old Viking ship, left of the castle was lit. Shortly after that the fireworks started… absolutely stunning.
I tried to capture some of it with the digital camera. The fact that Dunvegan Castle was lit with a beautiful orange / brown glow, added to the atmosphere. The weather cooperated as well. There was only a little drizzle just prior to the fireworks but this stopped when the event went into full swing. Lovely evening!
Duncelt
September 29, 2007 | Leave a Comment |
Yesterday evening was the closing show of the Duncelt festival in Dunvegan. It was a light show depicting a local legend about a piper being brought into the world of the faeries where he has to perform a number of challenges.
The show was impressive and was performed largely on a stage set in the waters of Loch Duvegan, by a group of people called “te POOKa”. The audience was more or less directly involved as the majority of the performers made their entrance through the group of spectators standing at the car park: faeries, goblins, a scary looking chap with a hood, the piper, a dancer with a hoop…
The show and the music were really nice although the storyline was a bit hard to follow at times, as the actors appeared not to wear microphones. But alas… the drift of the story was clear and the great weather, the surroundings, the music and the mystical characters did in fact create a special atmosphere for me. The show ended with impressive fireworks when the piper had completed all his challenges.
We went over to the Early Bird Enterprises booth and enjoyed one of their lovely venison burgers. A great evening!
Festival
September 18, 2007 | Leave a Comment |
Today we went over to Dunvegan to buy some groceries. One of the local shops - The Fruit and Nut Place - also sells tickets for the Duncelt Festival. We bought two tickets for the Finale on the evening of the 28th of September. The Duncelt Festival is organized by the Dunvegan Community Trust and has run through the summer months with a closing event on coming Friday. From the festival’s website:
“Alban Elued” (Light on the Water) will open with a dramatic fire and light show, set on the atmospheric waters of Loch Dunvegan. The spectacle will depict the local legend of the MacCrimmon pipers journeying to Faerie-world and returning with their famed and enchanting piobaireachd music. Come and witness ‘te POOKa’s breathtaking and extraordinary performance on the Loch. A mythical and magical parade will bear the light, festival characters and music back to the village where revellers can join in an open-air street ceilidh of unprecedented size. Renowned local bands, the Peatbog Faeries (“Scotlands leading exponant of Celtic Fusion”), Injuns and Skerryvore will then provide the foot-stomping soundtrack to the rest of what will be an unforgettable night! This is a rare opportunity to see the Peatbog Faeries and Injuns play in their home town of Dunvegan - don’t miss it!
Well, we’re both looking forward to that!
As a bonus, we received a package from a friend of Claire in Holland (Monique). Monique lives in Zaandam and the package contained all special Zaandam products: dropjes (a Dutch sweet), mayonaise, mustard and ketchup. Especially the dropjes were spot on. It’s been quite a while since we had those! Thanks very much Monique!
Farmers market
September 13, 2007 | Leave a Comment |
Today we went to Portree for our weekly shopping (supermarket), a visit to the optician and to take a peek at the Farmer’s market, a place where you can buy local produce: veggies, meat, bread etc.
Well, to be honest the market was a bit of a disappointment. There were only three booths - one selling plants, one selling vegetables and one selling pastries and bread. On the other hand, the weather was horrible with steady rain and fierce winds. Also, the tourist season is coming to an end. There are way less camper vans and foreign cars on the island now, so the majority of local producers must have decided that these conditions were not good for business. And right they were… it was very quiet in Portree.
Skye Highland Games
August 8, 2007 | Leave a Comment |
Today we visited the Skye Highland Games in Portree. The weather was lovely - all dry, sunshine and temperatures of about 20C. The games are held on a place called “The Lump”, which is located left of the hospital of Portree. The area is basically a natural amphitheater, where audience can gather around a large circular field where all the action takes place. The arena is surrounded by a path, which allows you to walk around the field and look at things from different angles. Close to the entrance several booths were selling chips and drinks.
When we arrived there was some rope pulling going on, some big guys were putting the stone and to the left there was a Highland dancing contest. Also towards the back there was some long jumping.
We walked about the arena and to me the Highland dancing looked extremely strenuous. The ladies were dancing around two swords laid down in a “+” shape, all to the tunes of bagpipe. The objective of the dance appeared to be not to touch the swords and place the feet in the quadrants created by the swords.
On several sides of The Lump you have magnificent views over Portree and its little harbor. After doing one round we decided to head back and focus on our more day-to-day tasks (going to the Co-Op). As we were directed to a car park near the Harbro shop we also had a bit of a walk ahead.
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