Aye, ye read that richt… Orkney your topical island as the draw for aw the ither peedie islands of the world tae show aff their sporting skills.
All of which boils down to the Scottish archipelago off the northernmost bit of the British mainland playing host to the world games of small islands.
That they micht spik funny tae yer English-speaking or Atlantic drawl or Antipodean ear.
Or ither places where the language of Shakespeare has taken hold is yer problem.
Because the Orcadians willnae be changing their dialect which is derived from Ancient Norse for abody.
The best wedding gift
On account of the islanders being Norwegians for nearly 600 years before they were annexed by Scotland along with their sister islands in Shetland further to the north in 1472.
Because the Vikings hadn’t stumped up a dowry payment for Margaret of Denmark promised to James III of Scotland by the family of his bride Margaret of Denmark.
And you’ll learn that here but so much more if you take a dander up to Orkney, ten miles off the northern coast of Caithness.
As Daughterie and her young man did only recently.
While her globetrotting Da is still to, another example of how we all know foreign shores so much better than our own.
Fun and Games
Now 24 countries are participating with more than 2,000 competitors in the NatWest Island Games in Kirkwall.
On Mainland, one of 20 inhabitable islands in the 70 that form Orkney.
Now this is the 20th iteration of the gathering which started on the Isle of Man back in 1985.
Many of the activities you would associate with the bigger international Games are on the programme.
And naturally because we’re dealing with islands here watersports are particularly keenly contested.
Water of life
The Island Games are of course in miniature to the more celebrated global events.
But they pride themselves on their own individuality.
And despite being only 40 years old the actual islands have been around for thousands of years.
A traditional symbol of the games was started in 1991 when Aland in Finland asked all teams to bring some water from their islands.
They mixed it in a fountain and in all subsequent games water from the previous fountain has added samples of water.
From each island competing in the new games.
All creating a symbol of “mixing together”.
God’s own island
All of which preamble is our attempt at getting you to visit Orkney, your topical island.
And take in its many charms, culinary, cultural and historical.
The Neolithic village of Skara Brae lies near the white beach of the Bay of Skaill.
Uncovered by a storm in 1850, the site presents a remarkable picture of life in Orkney around 5,000 years ago.
Orkney has had its fair share of visitors, and remember that this is a nature-lover’s idyll with puffins a particular favourite.
More surprising might be that it was home to Italian POWs in the Second World War who left their mark.
In The Italian Chapel made out of two Nissen huts.
And transformed into a beautiful house of God by Domenico Chiocchetti and his colleagues.
Worth a prayer you would think for the competitors this week.