James Mackenzie

“Between Weathers” – Ron McMillan, Sandstone Press, £11.99
ISBN 978-1-905207-20-6

SUBTITLED “Travels in 21st Century Shetland”, this is no conventional guidebook nor statistical account. As the author states, his “goals are entirely non-specific”, his “uncomplicated goal is to travel wherever the notion takes [him], to explore as many islands as is practicable and encounter as many Shetlanders as [he crosses] paths with.” For Ron McMillan is a seasoned traveller with “a need for exploration”.

The allure of the Shetland archipelago is for him its remoteness from European consciousness, contrasted with its richness of natural beauty, history, archaeology, its economic success, and its “vein of independence”. His curiosity means that people are important to him. In that respect, this travelogue is in the same mould as one of Paul Theroux, although his style is unique, self-deprecating, humorous and sometimes conversational: “I maintain a phizog so vacant I might as well be watching the Queen’s Speech on Christmas Day,” he writes of an encounter with a drunk Norwegian in Lerwick’s Thule Bar.

Such a statement also hints of the author’s social and political persuasions. He provides, in an eloquent early passage, a concise account of the Thatcherite death of Scotland’s manufacturing industry, and the consequent social decline. He concludes: “It is no wonder that large areas of Scottish (and British) towns reek so badly of depression.” The Lerwick he finds is, by contrast, vibrant.

He chooses to visit in late September for over a month, rather than in full summer, so not surprisingly he experiences extremes of weather, which he describes poetically; the storms he encounters only bring out the stunning landscapes and seascapes to full effect. Although he is interested in people, it is their relationship to the environment that he finds inspirational.

Not that the Shetland inhabitants he meets are by any means island born and bred. His first human encounter, on the MV Hrossey, crossing from Aberdeen in a Force 8 gale, is a visiting engineer whose tales of maggots in fish processing machinery can have done nothing to alleviate his incipient seasickness. His second is with a Czech incomer to the islands who works for the local tourist office. He meets Mormons, oil industry workers, twitchers, as well as a whole gallery of native Shetlanders and settlers, either by chance or by design.

Ron McMillan’s historical research has, contrary to what one might expect from his colloquial style, been profound. He has encompassed geological time, archaeological revelations, recorded history, oral tradition, and modern trends, by seeking out – apart from his own literary enquiries - everyone from the archivist to a retired teacher, from a multi-tasking weatherman (what! A man?!) on Fair Isle to a retired Antarctic whaler.

In his travels, he manages to visit several islands: Papa Stour, Fair Isle, Whalsay, Yell, Unst and Foula. He does not flinch from revealing his honest impressions of the differences of culture he finds in them. Particularly poignant is his description of the unhappy intra-island feuds in Papa Stour, a hint of which he perceives in an introductory telephone call to his host there.

Fair Isle, buoyed up by the ownership of the Scottish National Trust and its famous bird observatory, is contrasted with Foula, whose inhabitants had, voluntarily, to build their own airstrip to improve their connection to the mainland of Shetland.

In Whalsay he perceptively notices the physical separation of the harbour from the actual township of Symbister. His curiosity about this aberration from the norm leads him to a member of the local history group, who explains one example of the ruling class’s gross exploitation and arrogance in Shetland’s history, a theme to which he returns often.

The sea – never more than three miles from anywhere on land – is vividly brought to life. Even when he is consumed by “stomach-clenching wretchedness and unrelenting nausea” on his boat trip from West Burrafirth to Fair Isle, “ the journey is so spell-binding that not for a second…do I wish that I was anywhere else.” A trip to Eshaness includes visiting the Grind of the Navir (Gate of the Sea Borer), where consequences of the elemental fury of the Atlantic Ocean are dramatically revealed.

Two – non-human - characters crop up continually in the book. One is, inevitably, the weather – wind, rain, and intermittent sunshine – hence the title of the book: and - perhaps the “Ultima” of the “Ultima Thule” espied by the Roman Agricola - the island of Foula, which is temptingly always on the author’s horizon until near the end. He powerfully describes the extreme nature of the island, with its 300 metre high cliffs, and soon finds out that physical and psychological tenacity are essential to survival here. He also finds a touching example of eccentricity.

In an epilogue, the author returns to experience the January fire festival of Up Helly Aa. He is quick to point out anomalies here, for example the celebration of life by invoking the spirits of warriors: “Vikings as a force of virtue, enemies of evil embracing a selfless campaign for the freedom of others? This is historical revisionism gone mad. Whatever happened to good old rape, pillage and mass slaughter?” He wryly notices that being an ex-Jarl was a more momentous occasion for one man than his wedding day or birth of his children. However, his nervousness at being cold-shouldered because of being an outsider and a writer is dispelled in a hall as he dances with “a grandmotherly figure”. To her query, “Dis du feel unwelcome?” he has to answer in the negative.

There is little to find fault with in this book – apart from one or two minor editorial errors and oversights. One is almost led to believe that Ron McMillan’s own personality might guarantee that he would feel welcome in Shetland (or anywhere else). Nevertheless “Between Weathers” is a well written, entertaining and informative book that will tempt readers to visit if they haven’t already. Those who have, and those who reside in Shetland, will find much to enjoy - and learn besides.

For more information visit: www.myspace.com/betweenweathers?