Lerwick Up Helly Aa

[dB]

The bigger problem with allowing women into it now i fear is the prospect of having to invent new rules to limit numbers again.

 

 

Sorry if I'm missing something here but what is the obsession with rule-tinkering and limiting numbers...???

 

Surely if there are X numbers of squads with Y as their maximum number (which can be different for each squad) UHA will have a maximum number of participants, or am I being too simplistic...???

 

If women are to be allowed to guise (which I have no argument with) then surely they will have to do the same as fiddlebox carriers who come of age.....wait until someone drops out of their squad.

 

That said, the music and singing by the Jarl's squad was fantastic - it was well through the night before I saw them.

 

Well done to all concerned.

 

I accept that the Jarl should have the right to have whatever number he chooses in his squad but simple logistics will dictate how many is practical. Anyway, what does it matter...?? After all the Jarl's squad is one squad, it makes little difference if there's 50, 60, 70 or 80 in it.

[moorit]

I agree with you dB regarding women coming into squads and total numbers. I heard one squad did have a woman in it this year. I assume she got into that squad the same way a man would have, and after all there is no rule barring women from being in squads.

[Njugle]

The bigger problem with allowing women into it now i fear is the prospect of having to invent new rules to limit numbers again.

 

 

Sorry if I'm missing something here but what is the obsession with rule-tinkering and limiting numbers...???

 

Surely if there are X numbers of squads with Y as their maximum number (which can be different for each squad) UHA will have a maximum number of participants, or am I being too simplistic...???

 

Just a tad of an over-reaction there dB, i fail to see any "obsession" in what i was querying. You have the answer, well done you.

You may note, i'm from a country area with some squads entirely composed of women, and support the idea 100%.

As i have been selectively quoted, i'll re-iterate and elaborate. I have been told by several UHA participants that some of the 'notorious' rules were changed last year, for the better, regarding the requirement to live in Lerwick for 4 years(?) or serve time as a fiddle-box carrier. Allegedly anyone can now fill a vacancy in any squad, upon invitation.

[madcow]

My wife went to the Gibertson Park and was told NO STILLETOES!!

She had to go back to her friends house to try and find some shoes but to no avail.

She then spent the night in her bare feet at the hall.

 

Funnily enough the floor was covered with plywood and a protective covering anyway!!

 

When she left in the early hours she collected her shoes from the cloackroom and left.

 

She was met by a drunk hostess at the door who gave her a tirade of abuse about wearing stilletoes in the hall!!

Her language and demeanor were appalling and it ruined my wifes night there.

 

The hostess would not believe her or her friends that they of course had abbided by the rules.

 

neddless to say she or her friends will not be returning to the Gilbertson park to get that kind of abuse again!!

 

I have been going to this hall for years and I would like to point out that it is not the hostesses who decide that the floor should be covered. It is the council as it is a gym hall, not a dance hall, and so the floor needs to be protected from heels, bottle tops and anything else that might damage it.

 

As far as the "no stilletos" bit goes - that has been printed on the tickets for years and this year the hostesses made it even clearer by printing "strictly flat or wedge heels only" on the ticket. Maybe your wife should have read this.

 

The hostesses spent all night getting "tirades of abuse" from guests who failed to read their tickets, or thought they could get away with it, and that they had the right to wear their bonny high shoes. Also there was a number of guests who came in wearing flat shoes and had their high heels hid in their handbags, so the hostesses spent all night getting hassle from guests when asked to change their shoes back again.

 

Once again, this was not the hostesses rule and I'm sure they'd be more than happy not to have to spend 11 hours watching people's feet to make sure they're not damaging the floor. If the hall is damaged they won't be allowed the use of it again. So what happens then to all the people who do obey the rules and are there for a good night?

[trumptonriots]

I have been told by several UHA participants that some of the 'notorious' rules were changed last year, for the better, regarding the requirement to live in Lerwick for 4 years(?) or serve time as a fiddle-box carrier. Allegedly anyone can now fill a vacancy in any squad, upon invitation.

 

The rules prior to 2006 festival were that a guizer had to have lived in Lerwick for at least 5 years. A guizer now only has to have lived in Shetland for 5 years.

 

It is true that each squad has a maximum registered number of guizers and it is true that there is a maximum number of squads (numbers presumably have to be limited due to capacity at halls and insurance during the procession). However, very few squads operate at full capacity and I believe there is no longer a waiting list for new squads wishing to form.

 

The door is presumably therefore open to all potential guizers as long as they fulfil the 5 years residency in Shetland rule.

[Mag]

(numbers presumably have to be limited due to capacity at halls and insurance during the procession)

Insurance?? I'm amazed that it's possible to insure the procession. I presumed that in a lovely old-fashioned way every guizer had a du-TY to take responsibility for his own safety.

[madcow]

(numbers presumably have to be limited due to capacity at halls and insurance during the procession)

Insurance?? I'm amazed that it's possible to insure the procession. I presumed that in a lovely old-fashioned way every guizer had a du-TY to take responsibility for his own safety.

 

The halls have to have insurance for the guests in them and each hall has a maximum number. Perhaps that's what was meant here, as I'm not aware of the procession being insured.

[BigMouth]

^^^ I am sure that there would have to be PLI (Public Liability Insurance) on the event

[Strawb]

Yep if you consider how ludicrous some health and safety rules are, I am fairly certain that having the bruks of 1000 men walking with burning torches, within inches of a large crowd of Joe Public, is going to incur a pretty hefty premium!

[Muppet]

There is public liability insurance held for the procession. I believe that was what led to the shortening of the route of the junior procession and they need something like 1 marshall per 6 guizers.

 

I'm also told that it is the insurance who insist that only local media can enter the park as they are familiar with the set up and are unlikely to put them selves in a dangerous position to get a scoop. If Peter Fraser had only explained the situation better, it would have saved a whole lot of grief.

[dB]

The bigger problem with allowing women into it now i fear is the prospect of having to invent new rules to limit numbers again.

 

 

Sorry if I'm missing something here but what is the obsession with rule-tinkering and limiting numbers...???

 

Surely if there are X numbers of squads with Y as their maximum number (which can be different for each squad) UHA will have a maximum number of participants, or am I being too simplistic...???

 

Just a tad of an over-reaction there dB, i fail to see any "obsession" in what i was querying. You have the answer, well done you.

You may note, i'm from a country area with some squads entirely composed of women, and support the idea 100%.

As i have been selectively quoted, i'll re-iterate and elaborate. I have been told by several UHA participants that some of the 'notorious' rules were changed last year, for the better, regarding the requirement to live in Lerwick for 4 years(?) or serve time as a fiddle-box carrier. Allegedly anyone can now fill a vacancy in any squad, upon invitation.

 

 

Apologies Njugle, I wasn't implying that you were in any way obsessed although my reply probably came across like that.

It just seems to me that the numbers issue comes up year after year and the solution is painfully simple.

As a one-time victim of the rules, in a brolly unfair manner, I'm pleased that some sense appears to have prevailed and my wish is for the rules to be left alone.

[Rasmie]

I think it is time that the UHA committee quietly give the nod to allowing people of the female persuasion to fill any vacancies in the current squad system. It would be years if ever before anything like equal numbers would occur, but it would be a Good Thing. Personally I am fed up wearing bra and panties every year.

[trumptonriots]

I'm not aware of any rule book pertaining to Lerwick Up Helly Aa, neither am I aware of any female ever having attempted to make contact with the committee, let alone attempt to take part in the festival. In other words, it isn't a rule that females can't take part....they just don't.

 

Maybe it would take something along the lines of the Yorkshire Ridings campaign that took place a few years back to allow women to participate in the local hunts.

[trout]

Well lets not have a "lady" throwing themselves under a speeding Shetland pony akin to an Emily Davidson Suffragette "Up Helly Aa Womans Right to Take Part" movement ! !

[Njugle]

God no!

 

Under the galley would be much more appropriate!