by Fiona Grahame Images by Martin Laird

WINTER traditions in the Northern Isles bring many visitors to the islands when most tourists would prefer to holiday in warmer climes. Shetland has its Up Helly A Festivals which owe their origins to the Victorians’ love of the Vikings. Orkney, of course, has a much older winter tradition which engulfs the main town of Kirkwall (actually a city) on both Christmas Day and New Years Day. I am referring to The Ba.

The Ba is a mass game of ‘football’ played in the streets of Kirkwall. In its present form it goes back to about the 1850s but it can trace its roots much further back than that. There are two teams, or more accurately, sides. These are the Uppies and the Doonies. At one time membership of a side depended on which part of the town you were born in. Today men – for it is a men’s game - also come in from outside the town to take part. It has been known for some visitors to have a go too.