Why Are Designer Engagement Rings Locked Away?

By Adrian Jones


Help to protect those Celtic Wedding Bands

In Orkney, designer engagement rings and Celtic wedding bands are normally securely locked away behind barricades during the entire Seasonal time frame. Why are we taking this stance, you might ask? Well, we do not want our designer engagement rings as well as other fine jewellery goods like Celtic Wedding bands, falling prey to a very intense sporting fixture that takes place today.

A short while ago on an Orkney jewellery website we blogged concerning the annual mass football game referred to as Ba' (ball) which is played in Kirkwall, starting off just opposite St. Magnus Cathedral. Usually the game is played out on Christmas Day and New Year's Day, but this year the sport will be fought on Boxing Day and January 2nd. It means that men and boys who take part in the Ball game will spend Christmas Day with their members of the family for a change. The rules say the game mustn't be performed on a Sunday.

We say 'fought' the Ball as it is often an extremely fought for game using hundreds of participants who take over the streets in the centre of Kirkwall. There's two main sides: the Uppies along with the Doonies; the names considered to be taken from Old Norse since the contest may have been played way back to Viking times. Joining a team all depends where you were born, or where in Orkney you landed when you first visited. The names of the teams are reduced adaptations on the Norse phrases Up the Gates or Down the Gates.

Designer Engagement Rings Under Lock and Key

To be victorious, the team will need to score a goal by getting the cork and leather ball to its selected goal, which varies. The Uppies will need to take theirs away from the coast however, the Doonies have got a water goal inside the sea or harbour basin. In the past the Doonies were required to truck the Ball, or move it up the mast of a sailing vessel.

We have a Men's and a Boy's Ball game played out on each day. It can take numerous hours to arrive to their goals. Women would once take an active part during the games but it really was back on Christmas Day 1945 since there was last a Women's Ball game.

Mass football games formerly were played all-around Scotland, however right now only the Kirkwall Ba' together with a couple of others are played. The Norse played a style of mass football, took it to France,. Later the Normans took it with them to England where it was often played at carnivals. Football could quite possibly have found its way to Scotland from France where it had been called La Soule.

But fear not, our designer engagement rings, Celtic wedding bands and other items of first-class jewellery are carefully under lock and key and the windows and entrance-ways are barricaded in the town against property damage caused by the enthusiasm of the competitive crowds. This is simply not a tranquil time of the year in Kirkwall!




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