Jokes aplenty as convener officiates Up-Helly-A’ civic reception
Andrew Hirst
Jokes and celebrations came thick and fast as SIC convener Andrea Manson welcomed dignitaries to the Up-Helly-A’ civic reception.
After the guizers made their triumphant town hall entry, guests from as far afield as Iceland, Norway and the US, gathered to watch the official business.
Amid the usual welcomes and thanks, Ms Manson pleased the crowd with a witty and self-deprecating speech – while the drams flowed freely.
Congratulating the guizers on their “spectacular beards”, the convener joked she had reached the “bad age where my own beard is fairly coming along”.
Looking back at the beginning of Up-Helly-A’, Ms Manson remarked on the old tradition of burning tar barrels “before health and safety took all the fun out of life”.
And turning her attention to the three year hiatus, she noted all that had happened – including the rapid succession of new prime ministers, government ministers, and even a change of monarch.
While electricity prices had doubled in that time, the convener won a cheer with her observation that beer prices had, “remarkably” remained the same.
There were even bigger cheers when she mentioned “England didn’t win a World Cup”.
She noted that the Up-Helly-A’ committee had followed the “good example of the council and let twartree lasses join the ranks”.
“Women asked for what they wanted and brave Vikings gave it to them – and that’s all I’m going to say on the subject.”
Turning her attention to Guizer Jarl Neil Moncrieff, Ms Manson said she had struggled to find embarrassing stories, describing him as an “international man of mystery”.
“He’s either very sensible, clean living, boring and well behaved,” she added.
“Or he has very loyal friends who are not going to tell tales.”
The jarl’s football club, Aberdeen, also came in for some stick, when she quoted a “message of support” from Darvel, the junior team who knocked the Dons out of the Scottish Cup.
“We hope you have a really great day and night and the result last week didn’t dampen your spirits too much,” she said.
There was a genuine message of congratulation, however, from Aberdeen’s chairman Dave Cormack.
Alongside the jokes, Ms Manson also spoke of her love for Up-Helly-A’, which she described as “this most important day in Shetland’s social calendar”.
She said to the jarl: “Standing proudly in the galley, leading the procession of 900 guizers carrying flaming torches, must be one of the high spots of any lifetime.
“We do have the best traditions here.”
Ms Manson said Up-Helly-A’ “commemorates our strong Viking roots and confirms we are all very proud of our Scandinavian origins”.
She offered her thanks to all the hosts and hostesses at the halls, describing them as the “backbone that holds us up and keeps us all from flagging when the dancing songs start to make your feet ache”.
Moving on to her official duties, the convener presented the jarl and his squad with the “freedom of Lerwick” for the next 24 hours.
“Enjoy yourselves – but please can we have Lerwick back in a similar condition tomorrow at dinner time.”
She finished with another traditional toast – this time to Lerwick’s twin town of Måløy in Norway – with a drink of firewater from a silver Viking galley.
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