Great Balls of Fire: A Year of Scottish Festivals
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This is a fun frolic through the strangeness of Scottish traditional festivals. --The Herald
A very funny and surprisingly touching sideways look at modern Scotland and its people. --The Press & Journal
Insightful and humorous. --Evening Times
A very funny and surprisingly touching sideways look at modern Scotland and its people. --The Press & Journal
Insightful and humorous. --Evening Times
Product Description
Old habits die hard in Scotland. During the calendar year, in all corners of the country from Shetland to the Borders, communities are getting up to all sorts of capers in the name of tradition. You'll happen across the strangest activities if you search hard enough. There's far more to Scotland than Burns' Night. Gary Sutherland's brave year of living ceremoniously results in this custom-made guide to Scotland. 'Great Balls of Fire' charts a year of madness, from the ferocious Ba Game in Orkney on New Year's Day to the 300-man brawl between the Uppies and the Doonies in Kirkwall, the Burning of the Clavie in Burghead, the Whuppity Scourie in Lanark, the ancient Kate Kennedy Procession in St Andrews, the burning of the devil in Innerleithen and Langholm Common Riding where the natives nail a fish to a bannock on a stick, to the Burry Man who stalks South Queensferry in August and the hardy swingers of Stonehaven casting their fiery balls into the North Sea. 'Great Balls of Fire' is a hilarious and insightful journey around Scotland's most bizarre and fantastic festivals not be missed.
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Format:Paperback
Gary Sutherland spent a year touring around Scotland visiting all the towns with their own peculiar festivals. He wrote a book about his year. Sadly for him, and also for the readers, his father died just before the year started, an event which casts a long shadow over the book. So we start off finding out about Scottish festivals through the eyes of a recently bereaved storyteller. And given that one of the first festivals takes place in more-or-less his hometown, what we get is a very personal view of the festival. Great if you want to read an autobiography, but not so great if you want to read about Scottish festivals. Later on in the year, the author's wife gives birth to a daughter. Guess what? That overshadows the storytelling about the festivals.
Fundamentally, this book is about 50% too long, as half of it is personal and is not about Scottish festivals. The personal stuff gets in the way to the extent that for one of the festivals (I forget which now) the author completely forgets to tell the reader when the festival takes place. Which is one of the things we really want to know.
Having said all that, some of the festivals themselves are fascinating, and some of the accounts actually do bring the events to life, but I can't help feeling that a simple list of places, dates and links to Wikipedia would be better and more informative.
Fundamentally, this book is about 50% too long, as half of it is personal and is not about Scottish festivals. The personal stuff gets in the way to the extent that for one of the festivals (I forget which now) the author completely forgets to tell the reader when the festival takes place. Which is one of the things we really want to know.
Having said all that, some of the festivals themselves are fascinating, and some of the accounts actually do bring the events to life, but I can't help feeling that a simple list of places, dates and links to Wikipedia would be better and more informative.
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