Hello and welcome to Stories of Scotland. I'm Jenny, a free-range snow angel. And I'm Annie, a slightly frosty historian. So Jenny, what beautiful stories of Scottish heritage are we looking at today?

Well, as the winter solstice is upon us, we're going to be looking at some amazing

aspects of culture and nature on the theme of long, cold winter nights in the north,

from spectacular standing stones all the way to wonderful winter wildlife. I feel frostbite just thinking about it.

So, on this incredibly chilly winter evening,

we're going to be talking about the winter solstice

and wonderful yule-tide traditions of Shetland

and the marvellous wonders of the clavichairns.

We've just had our first snow this week in Inverness,

where we proudly record our little podcast,

and on the far distance, you can see the snow-topped Ben-Wivis

glistening in the sunshine right now.

It's ever so lovely.

So snuggle up with a blanket and a wee dram

and join us on an adventure to the far north.

So Jenny, what's the importance of the winter solstice?

Well, the midwinter solstice is the longest night of the year, where the sun rises late and sits low on the horizon before setting and not returning for almost 16 and a half hours.

This year, in Inverness, the winter solstice is marked at the setting of the sun on the 22nd of December at 3.33pm, but down in the borders, it's 3.46pm and up in

Thurzel, at the very north of the mainland, it's 321pm. I never knew you enjoyed speaking

like the talking clock, Jenny. You know, it's, we've been outsourced. The job is not what it used to be.

And if we travel up further north, off the mainland and across the sea, what about Shetland, Jenny?

Ah, of course we can't forget about Shetland now.

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