Community / Cullivoe jarl ready to show off ‘crazy’ suit idea as festival fires up
CULLIVOE guizer jarl Stephen Saunders is about to step into a four-day whirlwind.
The Yell fire festival gets underway at 10am this morning and will not let up until the weekend is done.
The Cullivoe jarl’s squad will descend on the Burravoe school and hall first thing, proudly displaying suits that have “never been done before”.
Saunders explained that his suits came from a “crazy idea” that he had months ago, with no idea if it would even be possible for a jarl’s squad.
For the kilt-loving jarl, it involves all the male members of the squad stepping out in two-piece herringbone kilted outfits – while the women wear one-piece frocks of a similar design.
Saunders spoke to Shetland News on Wednesday afternoon as the squad prepared for the mounting madness with a family supper at the Cullivoe Hall.
“Tonight is about easing us in to it,” he said.
“The next thing we know it will be Sunday!”
Saunders is Sigurd den Rause Utheim for the weekend, a created saga just for himself from friends of the family in Norway.
It fits the crofter well – Sigurd refers to someone who watches over their flock, either family or animals, while “den Rause” is said to mean “big-hearted” and Utheim relates to farming.
There’s a farming theme throughout, with his galley named Hrútr – the old Norse word for ram.
And a ram’s head sits at the centre of the squad’s shields, as well as at the heart of their helmets.
Saunders will be joined by wife Mhairi and 17-year-old daughter Jodie in among his 15-strong squad, with a familial thread throughout.
His three brothers Darren, Matthew and Ben will be by his side, along with dad John – who Stephen says most folk will know as a “formidable referee”.
Sigurd den Rause Utheim and his squad have a busy day head, starting with a visit to the Burravoe School and then on to the hall.
“A lot of community come together in there, so it’s a good chance to chat with the locals and show off wir regalia,” he said.
“Burravoe hall plays a big part in Up Helly Aa.”
Afterwards it is on to Mid Yell, where they will make various visits to local folk for “a bit of a fun and a dram”, and to the Mid Yell Junior High School and nursery too.
“The bairns do a few acts for us, and that’s always fantastic,” Saunders said.“The teachers and bairns put a lot of time and effort in to that, so we’re looking forward to it.”
Then it’s on to the Isleshaven care centre, before a stop off at a location most Up Helly Aa’s will not have – a visit to the “rum room”.
Saunders was involved in setting up the drinking hole in the winter of 1999 as somewhere for folk to go for a dram, and admitted that it has “grown arms and legs” since then.
In his own words, the itinerary should simply say at this point: “Festivities continue”.
The guizer jarl paid tribute to his “great squad of boys, lasses and women,” who he says have put in a “huge commitment” and “a lot of time over the winter” to make the suit.
“We’ve done a lot of socialising, shall we say,” he added.
Explaining his idea for the suit, Saunders called it a “crazy idea I had months ago”.
“I’ve been wearing kilts to weddings for years, I enjoy the look of it,” he said.
“It’s something I was really keen to do. It’s something that’s never been done before, certainly not in Yell anyway.
“There was a lot of headscratching and wondering whether it would actually work.”
Seamstress Norma Anderson – who had never made a kilt before – was given the tricky task of kitting out a squad of guizers in them.
“She’s made it come to fruition,” the guizer jarl said.
“She’s done a superb job to put it together. We got wir photos on Sunday in Cullivoe, and to see the whole squad wearing the outfit made me really, really proud.”
The Cullivoe squad also carry swords around with them, as well as helmets which have been 3D printed by Joe Drever in Orkney.
These will be proudly displayed with the ram’s head on the front, and the Cullivoe raven embossed on the back.
And fittingly for the weekend Saunders and his squad are planning, their squad song relates to recuperating after a big weekend – Recover by Irish singer Marty Mone.
“It’s really about being on the piss,” Saunders laughed.
Cullivoe Up Helly Aa starts at 10am this morning at the Burravoe school, with the Cullivoe school and hall hosting squads on Friday night.
A hop variety concert will be held in the Cullivoe Hall from 7.30pm on Saturday, followed by the hop dance.
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