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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Up-Helly-Aa
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A festivity held on the last Tuesday of January at *Lerwick, in the Shetlands. Originally a fire festival signalling the end of Yule, the north European pagan festivity which became absorbed in *Christmas, it was adapted in 1889 to emphasize the islands' *Viking past; in that year, for the first time, the object to be burnt was a Viking *longship. Surrounded by 'guizers' clad in Viking costume and carrying blazing torches, the wheeled ship moves in procession to the centre of the town, where the torches are tossed into it to start an almighty blaze and a long night of revelry.
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