Guddick = a riddle Step back in time and imagine dark winter nights with generations of young and old gathered around the peat fire, telling tales and “laying up guddicks” to challenge and entertain. These guddicks have been passed down through the generations and are preserved and reproduced here. They will evoke memories and along with over 90 original woodcut images offer a compelling and beautiful insight into Shetland’s past. The wonderful, full colour, woodcut illustrations bring the guddicks to life. The riddles are diverse, informative and often humorous insights into traditional life in Shetland’s past. The book is packed with personal narratives by Shetlanders themselves – many born in the late 1890s – describing a largely self-sufficient way of life in a bygone era. A closer look at riddles and the cultural context in which they originated, gives the reader a unique opportunity to explore in detail a wealth of traditions, from agriculture, animal husbandry and fishing, to spinning, weaving, knitting, basketry and many other crafts. Amy Lightfoot is an ethnographer and artist who has spent a lifetime doing documentary studies of the maritime culture of the North Atlantic, in particular coastal Norway and Shetland. She was born in the United States and has lived on an island in Norway for more than 30 years. Laurie Goodlad was born and brought up in Shetland and works as collections assistant at the Shetland Museum and Archives. Inspired by a personal interest in folk life, she has collected and collated the more than 300 guddicks in this book to save them for posterity.
