Stuart Christie in the editorial office of Cienfuegos Press, Orkney (1980)

Stuart Christie in the editorial office of Cienfuegos Press, Orkney (1980)

Stuart Christie: '1980, (the Steading) ‘Over the Water’, Sanday, Orkney: the then editorial address of Cienfuegos Press, ‘Black Flag’ and ‘The Free-Winged Eagle’, monthly scourge of Northern Isles’ malfeasors, the Orkney Islands Council, the agents of Hyperborean reaction and all the rest of Satan’s little helpers in the region. This photo was taken soon after the nationwide hoo-ha that followed the publication of our guerrilla warfare manual, ‘Towards A Citizens’ Militia. Anarchist alternatives to NATO and the Warsaw Pact’. Apart from ‘questions being asked in the House’ we were anathematized from the pulpit by the then ‘Wee Free’ minister of Papa Westray who warned his congregation not to subscribe to — or read — ‘The Free-Winged Eagle’ as it was the provenance of the Devil (who had taken up residence and was running a children’s bookshop on Sanday, me!).
* As a matter of historical interest, or next-door neighbour, Davie Matches, was not only the last Norn-speaker on the island, but also the last surviving member of the island’s once thriving ‘Society of the Horseman's Grip and Word’.

Stuart Christie

1980