Northern Isles: Orkney

By Mary Jo

After the fun of the RNA conference, it was time for the tourist part of this trip, which meant flying to the far north of the UK: Orkney and even farther north, Shetland. Fellow Wench Pat Rice and I flew to Orkney from Manchester with our husbands The Mayhem Consultant (mine) and The IT Guy (Pat's.)

The islands have been settled for at least 8500 years, first by various Neolithic groups, then by Norsemen in the 9th century CE. The Norwegian king pledged Orkney and Shetland as a temporary dowry for his daughter, Margaret of Denmark, but he never reclaimed it by paying the agreed upon dowry so the Scottish Parliament annexed the islands in 1472 and they've been part of Scotland ever since. (Map courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.)

Both island groups differ from the rest of Scotland because their roots are Norse, not Gaelic, and for centuries they spoke the now extinct Norn language. Gaelic became an overlay after the Scottish annexation, and later still, English. But even today, there is a local dialect with roots in Norn. One of the first things our wonderful guide, Lorna Brown, said was that she would speak to us in standard English, which isn't the way she spoke at home.

We spent three days in Orkney with Lorna and had fabulous sunny and mild weather. By the end, I was ready to move there. <G> Though I'm sure I'd feel differently in the very short days and long nights of a far northern winter!

 

I expected Orkney to be rugged, but in fact it's mostly rolling green hills covered with farms. The soil is very fertile and there are lots and lots of cows, both dairy and beef. As a farm girl myself, I mentioned to Lorna that the cows were very sleek and contented. She said that the "coos" weren't just happy but downright smug. <G>

Orkney has masses of history from the Iron Age on. Skara Brae is the most complete Iron Age village in northern Europe and was discovered when a ferocious storm blew the sand of one of the house on the sea shore property of a Victorian laird.

There are various standing stones--here's a picture of me by one of the Standing Stones of Stenness. Not far away is the Ring of Brodgar, and in between major excavations are taking place at a site called the Ness of Brodgar.  Fascinating, and for ten pounds you can choose a meter square that will be excavated soon, and if anything interesting is found there, they'll email you a picture of it. <G>

In more recent history, the huge natural harbor of Scapa Flow was the site of the infamous sinking of the battleship Royal Oak after an attack by a German submarine on October 14th, 1939. The shock and horror on an attack that took over 800 lives and opened the gates of war was similar to the effect of Pearl Harbor in the United States.

In order to block some of the entrances to Scapa Flow to prevent more submarine attacks, the Churchill Barriers were built. These were four causeways that blocked submarines; now they are roads connecting several of the islands. Italian prisoners of war were brought in to do the work, and they settled in and among other things, used two Quonset huts to create a beautifully decorated Catholic Chapel.  Here's Pat standing in front of the church, and a shot of the interior.

 

Modern Orkney is a treasure trove of artists and craftsfolk. To mention just two: Leila Thomson and her daughter are both artists who work from nature. Leila's tapestries are superb and awe and way out of the range of most people, but she sells prints of her work that are pretty wonderful and much more affordable.

And Leila has a sister, Sheila Fleet, who makes stunning jewelry. She bought an adjacent decommissioned church and turned it into a marvelous shop and gallery, and also a fabulous café. Not to be missed if you visit Orkney!

I could go on and on. I haven't even touched on St. Magnus Cathedral, which was started in the 12th century, has an amazing history, and is owned by the people of Orkney rather than a particular church.

It's time to wrap this up, but I wonder. Have you been to Orkney? Has anything in the blog made you want to visit it? If so, I highly recommend the  !

Mary Jo, born tourist 

 

Comments

[Maryellen Webber]

Your descriptions and photos of Orkney were wonderful. I would love to visit there! I had no idea that the Germans sunk a British battleship which was similar to the attack on Pearl Harbor. There is so much history there! Thanks so much Mary Jo for sharing your trip to Orkney.

[Binnie Syril Braunstein]

Wonderful post, Mary Jo. Are the standing stones considered part of a henge? The image of the tapestry (or print?) with the flying birds was lovely. I can see why you were captivated. And your description of the jewelry certainly whetted my appetite. I'd love to visit Orkney.

[Mary T]

Thanks for the tour Mary Jo. I knew of Orkney, but didn't know much about it. Wish I was still able to travel. But since I cannot, I'm so thankful for posts like this one.

[Shirley Martz]

Scotland is a place dear to my heart. But have not been to Orkney so want to thank you for the wee tour. Lovely tidbits and photos!

[Sue McCormick]

I add my thanks for this tour of Orkney. I knew it existed, but I had NO idea of it's history. I seems to be a wonderful place.!

[Barbara Monajem (@BarbaraMonajem)]

Yes, yes, I would love to go to the Orkneys and have wanted to ever since my sister went there and told me about it. Thanks for the tour!

[Mary Jo Putney]

You're welcome, Maryellen! I was also amazed by the many rich layers of history.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Yes, henges. Here's a link to the Ring of Brodgar: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of_Brodgar

You'd have LOVED the jewelry!!!

[Mary Jo Putney]

Mary T, I've very happy to oblige. In a few weeks I'll be doing blog on Shetland as well.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Shirley, by all means put Orkney on your bucket list!!! It was really wonderful.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Sue McCormick--wonderful indeed, and SO MUCH HISTORY! I couldn't begin to do justice to it.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Barbara, my sister also went there and raved about it and made me want to go--but she was mostly interested in the Neolithic ruins and didn't even mention my favorite things!

[Annette N]

Yes Ma'am, your pictures and descriptions have made me want to go to Orkney or Shetland, or any part of Scotland.

Thank you.

[Kareni]

Thanks for the introduction to Orkney, Mary Jo. It looks like a wonderful place for a summer visit.

[Jane]

I haven't been to Orkney, but I would dearly love to go there, as well as to the Shetland Island, since I am a knitter. But I recently read a murder mystery set on Orkney, which describes the church the Italian prisoners built. I would really recommend this book: Shadows of Death (a Dorothy Martin mystery) by Jeanne M. Dams.

[Mary Jo Putney]

You're very welcome, Annette. Any part of Scotland is indeed wonderful! The Hebrides Islands to the west are also beautiful and individual.

[Mary Jo Putney]

It is, Kareni, though we were really lucky with the sunny weather. Winters would get long and dark.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Jane, I'm glad someone has used the church in a story! It's terrific material, though I can't use it for my historicals, of course.

Okay, I looked the book up, and I want it! Thank you.

[Alissa]

Such a fascinating post, Mary Jo! Sounds like a perfect setting for a romance. 😊

[Karen W]

I thoroughly enjoyed "going along for the ride" when you and Pat were sharing pictures during your holiday, but it's better to have it in a coherent narrative! Fascinating place. I've heard about them and even watched shows - might have been the same murder mystery come to think of it - but it's fascinating to realize its strong Norse connection. My Dad's part of the UK was heavily invaded by Vikings over the centuries and he claims that's where the shocking blue eyes on his side of the family comes from, but while we like to think of the blonde blue eyes as English and the red hair and blue eyes as Scottish, in reality I think a lot of it's Viking from all those invaders who made themselves at home all those millennia ago.
I love the Italian Quonset hut Catholic Church! And the tapestries!!! Something I've always wanted to learn to do but probably never will but oh it's so gorgeous!! Sigh...
Thanks for letting us tag along on your trip! :-D

[Mary Jo Putney]

How interesting that you should mention that, Alissa.... *G*

[Mary Jo Putney]

Karen W, the Vikings, the Anglo-Saxons, and the Germanic tribes are related and that gene pool does run to blue eyes, blonds, and redheads. The Celts also have the blue eyes and red hair. but more dark hair as well. I think--I'm no geneticist!

[Teresa Broderick]

What a wonderful post!! Everything in it made me want to visit Orkney. I love history and visiting historical locations is my favorite hobby. Thanks for all the information you gave us here.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Teresa, by all mean go! I'm sure you'd love it. We did; I hope to go back some day.

[Beth Anne Miller]

Thank you for this-- brought back memories of my brief but fun visit to Orkney in 2005. We visited Skara Brae, the Ring of Brodgar, and the Stones of Stenness. I bought jewelry made by Sheila Fleet. In a vain attempt to see puffins, we drove all the way east, through Kirkwall and out to the coast ("if you hit Norway, you went too far"). While we didn't see any puffins, we did find that the cliff had eroded in such a way as to form "steps" all the way down to the sea, so of course we climbed down. Really cool place. I would love to someday return and dive the Scapa Flow, where there are a lot of sunken naval vessels.

-Beth

[Deb Stover]

What an amazing journey! I am jealous.