Swan's Head

Swan's Head;

broken garden ornament

hollow plastic  12' high

found at Kettletoft on the shore

When goodly, like a ship in her full trim,

A swan so white that you may unto him

Compare all whiteness, but himself to none,

Glilded along, and, as he glided watched,

And with his arch-ed neck this poor fish catched.

John Donne

Porcelain Jug

Porcelain Jug

5" high - found at Stove

with snowdrops planted by Helen Scott

In Spring Helen's garden is still a place of beauty and wonder. First the hundreds of snowdrops appear beneath the trees, closely followed by Smiling Jenny, a tiny pink flower that covers the ground   with all the many clumps of daffodil and bluebell shoots. The trees start to bud, birds return and then gradually the wilderness and neglect take over again and it's a struggle against nettles and thorns to enter the secret recesses... Although if you do there are still one or two flowers that survive from her time...a Tiger Lily... Bachelors Buttons...  and in a tree the Hoodie's sprawling nest of woven twigs, bones, barbed wire, with prehistoric heads peering over the rim.

Insole

Insole

made from Vinyl floor covering

found in John Scott's workshop in the old stables at Stove

cut to fit his boot 

Coronation Tea Tin

Coronation Tea Tin

empty, 6" high

found at Stove in the kitchen

Life Belt

Life belt

from the GRAMPIAN QUEEN  ABERDEEN

( an offshore service & supply vessel )

rope, plastic, reflective tape 28" across

from the sea

Vertebrae of a Basking Shark

Basking Shark Vertebrae

cetorhinus maximus

the largest 12 " high

found at Woo, Sanday

Engraved Hard Hat

Engraved hard hat

contemporary scrimshaw

found at Doun Helzie in 2000

The hard hat is engraved with two crossed tailed seals on the brim and on this side a Fish-Man and two small fishes with a fishing line. On the other side is a weeping mermaid and ONE OF THE KIND in blocked out lettering. There are barnacles starting to grow along the crest of the hat. The engraving may have been done by an oil rig worker out on the North Sea. A great many hard hats were being washed ashore on Sanday around the millennium when North Sea oil was being most avidly extracted.

Quondam-utilia

Array of Once functional Plastic

lobster pot rings & netting

hand plaited rope

child's spade

bicycle seat

syringe

from the sea

Icelandic Vodka Bottle

Icelandic Vodka Bottle

from the sea

Two of these found in the winter of 2000 around the same time, washed up on Doun Helzie, Sanday: suggesting ELDURiS Vodka may have been enjoyed by Icelandic trawler men out on the North Sea.

Remains of Weather Balloon

Remains of a Weather Balloon

plastic, twine, sliver of bamboo

the circular base 9" across

from the sky

Weather balloons are sent up from around the world,  flying in the upper atmosphere - up to 90,000 ft., collecting data with attached instruments.

A Selection of Fishing Floats

A Selection of Fishing Net Floats

polystyrene, plastic

the tallest 9" high

from the sea

( The marbled one is very unusual )

Wash Board

Glassick Wash Board

corrugated glass, pine, 24" high, early C20th

from Hazel Tulloch - Burness

"In those days it was a common sight to see the men dressed in home made yellow Oilskin Trousers and jumpers made of oiled cotton in the shape of shirts drawn in at the waist with a firm Cord "  - Helen Scott's Memories of her Sanday Childhood

Islander's Jewellery Collection

Islander's Jewellery Collection

from Sanday Recycling Centre

Belonging to a Grandmother and  member of the Ladies Life Boat Guild; the collection is very varied with some gold pins set with stones probably passed on through generations. The jewels were found

 all together in an old plastic bag.

Rabbit mask

Rabbit Mask

made by child

cardboard, gesso, gaffa tape

fits small head

from Stove

Wren's Nest

Wren's Nest

the opening 1.5"

 Wrannock or Wirann - Orkney names for the wren

moss, grass stalks,

entirely lined with grey feathers 

far larger than it's own

The nest was found in a tangle of fishing net hanging in the porch of the South Schoolhouse, Sanday; built during warm spring days when the door was left open, it had to then stay like that until the fledglings had flown. The same happened when a wren made it's nest in the folds of Saint Malo's cloak and he couldn't wear it for many weeks.

                               

Rocking Horse

Rocking Horse

painted steel, wood, rubber handles  31' across, 1950's

from Sanday Recycling Centre

Pair of Woollen Socks

Pair of Woollen Socks

circa 1980, hand knitted by Helen Scott

from Jean Ovens, Pool Sanday

These socks were given by Helen Scott to her friend Elsie Walls who lived nearby, up the hill from Stove. According to Elsie, Helen knitted large quantities of socks which she stored away in a chest. These ones have never been worn.

Bird Cage

Bird Cage

rust, steel, plastic 22" across

found in the North bedroom at Stove

Andersen's Stories for the Household

Andersen's Stories for the Household

with 290 Illustrations

8" across, mid C19th

found among a pile of disintegrating books

in an outbuilding at Stove 

Published by the Dalziel Brothers, Camden Press, the book contains 138 stories by Hans Christian Andersen including The Bell Deep, What the Moon Saw, The Rose Elf, The Shirt Collar. Most of the illustrations are engravings which have been carefully coloured in with coloured pencils by a child.

Feathers of the Short Eared owl

Feathers of the Short Eared Owl

9"

resident at Stove

found nearby

The short eared owl ( asio flammius ) flies in the daytime, golden in the sunlight

Painted Glass Float

Painted Glass Float

by Willie Thomson known as Willie o' Neven

glass, enamel paint 7" across

from Bill Muir,  Pool,  Sanday

Willie o' Neven was born in 1901 on North Ronaldsay: a friend and contemporary of John Scott of Stove who was also born and raised there. Willie was a fisherman, crofter and Receiver of Wrecks. In his retirement he painted hundreds of schooners and sailing ships on glass fishing floats, as well as bottles, flowerpots and whatever came to hand. These he gave freely away.

Element

Element

steel, copper 9" across

from the sea

Red Flag

Red Flag

hardwood, steel screws, red plastic tarpaulin

the stick 29" long

found on the shore by Quoyness Chambered Cairn

 The flag has been knocked up with found materials and is very sturdy.

danger

revolution

Fruit Juice Fruits

Fruit Juice Fruits

the lemons life-sized

from the sea

Found regularly around the turn of the 21st Century, thrown overboard from fishing trawlers

Cow Skull and Jawbone

Cow Skull

18" long

found in the dunes

The bones were found emerging from the dunes above Doun Helzie,  just along from Stove on the south coast of Sanday: a place once frequently used to bury large animals as the ground is entirely sand and very easily dug.

Jawbone

15" long

Embroidered Silk Bag

Embroidered Silk Bag

Chinoiserie

7" across

from Sanday Recycling Centre

lotus flower decoration on fastening, two inner pockets, one containing a small mirror 

Candle

Candle

7" high

from Sanday Recycling Centre

Large Ball of Rope

Large Ball of Rope, an armful

coarse nylon. loosely twined

5 kilos, 17" across

from Ivan Tulloch,  Rusness Farm

Wool Cones

Wool Cones

unused, waxed cardboard 12" high

found in a Kirkwall warehouse, Orkney Mainland

Yarn was wound onto the cones, mainly for use with knitting machines which became popular in households from the 1950's onwards. The stocking frame knitting machine was invented by William Lee of Calverton in 1589, who died in Paris.

Tangram

Tangram

lacquered wood 5" square

Diset INTERNATIONAL - made in Spain

from Sanday School Fair

Instruction Book

soluciones,  solutions,  losungen,  soluzioni,  losninger,  lusningar,  oplossingen

Saddle

Saddle

used in work on the farm 22"across

wood, string, cloth, padded with horse hair & wood shavings

found in the stables at Stove

" There were no Cars in these days, Bicycles were as scares as the work Horse is today. The gig was a luxury that only the big farmers could afford."  Helen Scott - Memories  ( writing about the early 1900's )