Orcadian Sketch-Book

Walter Traill Dennison (1852-1894) was a farmer and folklorist. He was a native of the Orkney island of Sanday, in Scotland, where he collected folk tales and other antiquities. He was brought up at North Myre and later was tenant in the farm of Brough.

Traill Dennison published the folk stories, many in the local Orcadian dialect, in 1880 under the title The Orcadian Sketch-Book.

'This book came about because my niece (born and bred in Orkney) began to read a tattered copy of Walter Traill Dennison's book my grandad had annotated and after a few sentences said, 'To hell with this - this is too difficult'. I hope WTD will not mind the inadequate translations which I offer int he hope that it will make the text more accessible to a younger generation, and, perhaps persuade them to delve further into their culture. I have tried to present it as close to the original text as possible and preserve the format and style to the era in which it belongs.' From the Foreword by Eddie Sinclair.