Auld Letters: Archived 18/03/2004

Hi, I'm Sakina. I'm 12 and I live in Central Scotland and I am a Scottish Asian. I live with my mum, step dad, brother and wee sis. My mum and dad split up when I was 2. After my mum srplit up she met my step dad and he was soon living with us. When I was 6 my mum and step dad had my wee sis. I find my mum and dad splittin gup quite hard,as my das's side of the family are Muslims like me and my mum, sister, brother and step dad aren;t. My 14-year-old brother used to be a Muslim but as he got older he ahs chosen his own path and what he wants to believe in. I still do all the Muslim things like I've just fininshed Ramadan, which is fasting from sunrise to sunset for 40 days. I find this difficulat as no one does it in my house and none of my friends are Muslims, Also at school everyone is eating around me. Although I don't see much of my dad and his family just now I feel this is a very important part of me.

After school I go to highland dancing and I compete at weekends. I've been dancing since I was 3. I also go to athletics and play the tenor horn in my school band

Life in Orkney

We are a bunch o Orkney bairns we are going ta tell you aboot wur peedie community and wur local activities. We will also tell you aboot urban and rural areas o Orkney and sum o the history and grande landscapes aboot Orkney. Orkney has bonnie countryside and big hills, especially the Ward Hill on the island o Hoy. There is also a lot o flat land which is good for growing crops such as silage and barley. There are lots of farms in Orkney with coos and sheep. We go to a school kalled Kirkwall Grammar School and most o us are very happy wae the school. All o us have good social lives and a nice place to live in as it is safe to walk doon the street as there is no crime happenin around you.

Orkney has world famous whisky from the highland park and also Orkney has other famous produce such as cheese and fudge. Orkney has intersting history as it used to be pillaged by the Vikings and it has lots of stone aged monumentd such as Skara Brae and Maes Howe etc. It also has a norse cathedral which is named after the Viking St Magnus. It was very important in world wars as it held the British navy in Scapa Flow. It still has shipwrecks. It also has four barries to link the islands and it was used to stop enemy ships fae getting in and it has an Itralian chapel which Italian prisoners of war built to remind themselves o home. Orkney has a pretty good night life as Orkney has such clubs as Fusion which is one of the best nightclubs in the north o Scotland. Orkney has a few traditions such as the Ba, County show and the dounby show. The ba is where people who live north and south o where the ba is thrown up (St Magnus cathedral) cimpete against each other. The ba is a heavy ball made out o leather and cork. The rules o the ba are doonies hab=ve to get it to the basin and the uppies have to get it to the wall. The county show is an agricultural show as well as the Dounby show where thousands of Orkney prople visit the show. Orkney has a few of their own celebrities such as Cameron Stout the winner o Big Bither, a famous poet called George Mackay Brown, a singer called Ruby Rendell and our famous band Hadhirgaan. Orkney is home to a lot of beautiful scenery and wildlife such as our birds like a Bonxie, Whaup, Hen Harrier and Puffins.

We hope you have enjoyed hearin aboot Orkney and us. Bye noo.

Ali, Ewan, Stacy, Bush, Andrew

Life in Orkney

There is a peedie island off the north o Scotland called Orkney whcih is full of wonderful Orcadians. Orkney is really easy to get about because it is such a peedie place. The people of Orkney are very friendly and you always see a happy face wherever you go. Kirkwall is a very beautiful toen and its buildings are as nice as the toen. Wherever you go there is a beautiful view of the sea and hills. Always in Orkney there is a healthy town where there isn't a lot of pollution or crime which is always good. Orrkney is a small place where you can travel from one plave of the mainland to the other in about one hour.

There is a lot of historic sights like maze how, mine how, tomb of eagles and St Magnus Catherdral All of these date back to the stone age. Orkney has a great deal of culture. Orkney has its own football team, rugby team, athletics squad, a motocross club and golfing club. Not long ago we got a new bowling alley. One thing that is very important to Orkney is its language, Orcadian Scots. Another thing that is very important is Orkney's music with a lot of Orcadian bands and musicians. What we think is a great tradition and part of our culture is the ba, a game played every Christmas and New Year. A game with 2 sides but one winner. The rules are - push the ball to your end of the street where the winner is decided.

In Orkney there is a lot of produce such as beef, fish, cheese, fudge and whisky. Orkney beef is farmed from Orkney cattle and farms. All round Orkney there is fish farms where Orkney fish are fed and killed for us to eat. The cheese is made at the creamery at the end o Hatston which is a big industrial site in Kirkwall. Whisky is probably the biggest business in Orkney, made in a huge Industrial park where tourists can go and have afew samples.

We hope you have enjoyed reading a peedie bit aboot wur wee island, and hope you will come and see it for yourself.

Morgan, Graham and Taylor.