30 NOVEMBER 1991, Page 33

Norse, of course

Sir: George Chamier (Letters, 23 Novem- ber) seems even more confused than the drunken Belgian in an Aberdeen bar whom he quotes. Of course the culture of Orkney is not Gaelic but Norse (though the lan- guage of the islanders is English). No one who has read the novels of George Mackay Brown, let alone visited Orkney, could be ignorant of that. But Orkney also acts as a meeting-point for seafarers from around the world (including Belgium); it would hardly he surprising to hear a Russian song sung, far less one from the much closer Hebrides.

Christopher Howse

70 Godolphin Road, London W12