Northern Isles
Encyclopedia
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
) of island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
s off the north coast of mainland Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The climate is cool and temperate and much influenced by the surrounding seas. There are two main island groups: Shetland and Orkney. There are a total of 26 inhabited islands with landscapes of the fertile agricultural islands of Orkney contrasting with the more rugged Shetland islands to the north, where the economy is more dependent on fishing and the oil wealth of the surrounding seas. Both have a developing renewable energy
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
industry. They also share a common Pictish
Picts
The Picts were a group of Late Iron Age and Early Mediaeval people living in what is now eastern and northern Scotland. There is an association with the distribution of brochs, place names beginning 'Pit-', for instance Pitlochry, and Pictish stones. They are recorded from before the Roman conquest...
and Norse
Norse activity in the British Isles
Norse activity in the British Isles occurred during the Early Mediaeval period, when members of the Norse populations of Scandinavia traveled to the British Isles for trade, raiding and settlement...
history and both were absorbed into the Kingdom of Scotland
Kingdom of Scotland
The Kingdom of Scotland was a Sovereign state in North-West Europe that existed from 843 until 1707. It occupied the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shared a land border to the south with the Kingdom of England...
in the 15th century and then became part of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in the modern era. The islands played a significant naval role during the world war
World war
A world war is a war affecting the majority of the world's most powerful and populous nations. World wars span multiple countries on multiple continents, with battles fought in multiple theaters....
s of the 20th century.
Tourism is important to both archipelagos, with their distinctive prehistoric ruins playing a key part in their attraction, and there are regular ferry and air connections with mainland Scotland. The Scandinavian influence remains strong, especially in relation to local folklore and both island chains have strong, though distinct local cultures. The names of the islands are dominated by the Norse heritage, although some may retain pre-Celt
Celt
The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
ic elements.
Geography
Stroma, Scotland
Stroma is an island off the northern coast of the Scottish mainland. It is the more southerly of the two islands in the Pentland Firth between the Orkney Islands and Caithness. It is administratively part of Caithness , while its neighbour Swona, to the north, is part of the Orkney Islands...
, which lies between mainland Scotland and Orkney is part of Caithness
Caithness
Caithness is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic local government area of Scotland. The name was used also for the earldom of Caithness and the Caithness constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . Boundaries are not identical in all contexts, but the Caithness area is...
, and so falls under Highland
Highland (council area)
Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole. It shares borders with the council areas of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute. Their councils, and those of Angus and...
council area for local government purposes, not Orkney. It is however clearly one of the "northern isles" of Scotland. Fair Isle
Fair Isle
Fair Isle is an island in northern Scotland, lying around halfway between mainland Shetland and the Orkney islands. It is famous for its bird observatory and a traditional style of knitting.-Geography:...
and Foula
Foula
Foula in the Shetland Islands of Scotland is one of Great Britain’s most remote permanently inhabited islands. Owned since the turn of the 20th century by the Holbourn family, the island was the location for the film The Edge of the World...
are outliers of Shetland, but would normally be considered as part of Shetland and thus the Northern Isles. Similarly, Sule Skerry
Sule Skerry
Sule Skerry is a remote skerry in the North Atlantic off the north coast of Scotland.-Geography:Sule Skerry lies 60 kilometres west of the Orkney Mainland at . Sule Skerry's sole neighbour, Sule Stack, lies 10km to the southwest. The remote islands of Rona and Sula Sgeir lie approximately 80km...
and Sule Stack
Sule Stack
Sule Stack or Stack Skerry is an extremely remote island or stack in the North Atlantic off the north coast of Scotland. It is formed of Lewisian gneiss.Sule Stack lies 66 kilometres west of the Orkney mainland at...
although distant from the main group are part of Orkney and technically amongst the Northern Isles. However the other small islands that lie off the north coast of Scotland are in Highland and thus not usually considered to be part of the Northern Isles.
Orkney is situated 16 kilometres (10 mi) north of the coast of mainland Scotland, from which it is separated by the waters of the Pentland Firth
Pentland Firth
The Pentland Firth , which is actually more of a strait than a firth, separates the Orkney Islands from Caithness in the north of Scotland.-Etymology:...
.
The largest island, known as the "Mainland" has an area of 523.25 square kilometres (202 sq mi) making it the sixth largest Scottish island. The total population in 2001 was 19,245 and the largest town is Kirkwall
Kirkwall
Kirkwall is the biggest town and capital of Orkney, off the coast of northern mainland Scotland. The town is first mentioned in Orkneyinga saga in the year 1046 when it is recorded as the residence of Rögnvald Brusason the Earl of Orkney, who was killed by his uncle Thorfinn the Mighty...
. Shetland is around 170 kilometres (105.6 mi) north of mainland Scotland, covers an area of 1468 square kilometre and has a coastline 2702 kilometres (1,678.9 mi) long. Lerwick
Lerwick
Lerwick is the capital and main port of the Shetland Islands, Scotland, located more than 100 miles off the north coast of mainland Scotland on the east coast of the Shetland Mainland...
, the capital and largest settlement, has a population of around 7,500 and about half of the archipelago's total population of 22,000 people live within 16 kilometres (10 mi) of the town. Orkney has 20 inhabited islands and Shetland a total of 16.
Geology
The superficial rock of Orkney is almost entirely Old Red SandstoneOld Red Sandstone
The Old Red Sandstone is a British rock formation of considerable importance to early paleontology. For convenience the short version of the term, 'ORS' is often used in literature on the subject.-Sedimentology:...
, mostly of Middle Devonian
Devonian
The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...
age. As in the neighbouring mainland county of Caithness, this sandstone rests upon the metamorphic
Metamorphic rock
Metamorphic rock is the transformation of an existing rock type, the protolith, in a process called metamorphism, which means "change in form". The protolith is subjected to heat and pressure causing profound physical and/or chemical change...
rocks of the Moine
Moine Supergroup
The Moine Supergroup is a sequence of Neoproterozoic metamorphic rocks that form the dominant outcrop of the Scottish Highlands between the Moine Thrust Belt to the northwest and the Great Glen Fault to the southeast. The sequence is metasedimentary in nature and was metamorphosed and deformed in a...
series, as may be seen on the Orkney Mainland, where a narrow strip of the older rock is exposed between Stromness
Stromness
Stromness is the second-biggest town in Orkney, Scotland. It is in the south-west of Mainland Orkney. It is also a parish, with the town of Stromness as its capital.-Etymology:...
and Inganess, and again on the small island of Graemsay
Graemsay
Graemsay is an island in the western approaches to Scapa Flow, in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. The island has two lighthouses.-Geography and geology:...
.
Middle Devonian basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
ic volcanic rock
Volcanic rock
Volcanic rock is a rock formed from magma erupted from a volcano. In other words, it is an igneous rock of volcanic origin...
s are found on western Hoy
Hoy
Hoy is an island in Orkney, Scotland. With an area of it is the second largest in the archipelago after the Mainland. It is connected by a causeway called The Ayre to South Walls...
, on Deerness in eastern Mainland and on Shapinsay
Shapinsay
Shapinsay is one of the Orkney Islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. There is one village on the island, Balfour, from which roll-on/roll-off car ferries sail to Kirkwall on the Orkney Mainland...
. Correlation between the Hoy volcanics and the other two exposures has been proposed, but differences in chemistry means this remains uncertain. Lamprophyre
Lamprophyre
Lamprophyres are uncommon, small volume ultrapotassic igneous rocks primarily occurring as dikes, lopoliths, laccoliths, stocks and small intrusions...
dykes
Dike (geology)
A dike or dyke in geology is a type of sheet intrusion referring to any geologic body that cuts discordantly across* planar wall rock structures, such as bedding or foliation...
of Late Permian
Permian
The PermianThe term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Sir R. I. Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named his "Permian...
age are found throughout Orkney. Glacial striation and the presence of chalk
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
and flint
Flint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
erratics
Glacial erratic
A glacial erratic is a piece of rock that differs from the size and type of rock native to the area in which it rests. "Erratics" take their name from the Latin word errare, and are carried by glacial ice, often over distances of hundreds of kilometres...
that originated from the bed of the North Sea demonstrate the influence of ice action on the geomorphology
Geomorphology
Geomorphology is the scientific study of landforms and the processes that shape them...
of the islands. Boulder clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
is also abundant and moraine
Moraine
A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past glacial maximum. This debris may have been plucked off a valley floor as a glacier advanced or it may have...
s cover substantial areas.
The geology of Shetland is quite different. It is extremely complex, with numerous faults and fold axes. These islands are the northern outpost of the Caledonian orogeny
Caledonian orogeny
The Caledonian orogeny is a mountain building era recorded in the northern parts of the British Isles, the Scandinavian Mountains, Svalbard, eastern Greenland and parts of north-central Europe. The Caledonian orogeny encompasses events that occurred from the Ordovician to Early Devonian, roughly...
and there are outcrops of Lewisian
Lewisian complex
The Lewisian complex or Lewisian Gneiss is a suite of Precambrian metamorphic rocks that outcrop in the northwestern part of Scotland, forming part of the Hebridean Terrane. These rocks are of Archaean and Paleoproterozoic age, ranging from 3.0–1.7 Ga. They form the basement on which the...
, Dalriadan and Moine metamorphic rocks with similar histories to their equivalents on the Scottish mainland. There are also small Old Red Sandstone deposits and granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
intrusions. The most distinctive feature is the ultrabasic ophiolite, peridotite
Peridotite
A peridotite is a dense, coarse-grained igneous rock, consisting mostly of the minerals olivine and pyroxene. Peridotite is ultramafic, as the rock contains less than 45% silica. It is high in magnesium, reflecting the high proportions of magnesium-rich olivine, with appreciable iron...
and gabbro
Gabbro
Gabbro refers to a large group of dark, coarse-grained, intrusive mafic igneous rocks chemically equivalent to basalt. The rocks are plutonic, formed when molten magma is trapped beneath the Earth's surface and cools into a crystalline mass....
on Unst
Unst
Unst is one of the North Isles of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. It is the northernmost of the inhabited British Isles and is the third largest island in Shetland after the Mainland and Yell. It has an area of .Unst is largely grassland, with coastal cliffs...
and Fetlar
Fetlar
Fetlar is one of the North Isles of Shetland, Scotland, with a population of 86 at the time of the 2001 census. Its main settlement is Houbie on the south coast, home to the Fetlar Interpretive Centre...
, which are remnants of the Iapetus Ocean
Iapetus Ocean
The Iapetus Ocean was an ocean that existed in the Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic eras of the geologic timescale . The Iapetus Ocean was situated in the southern hemisphere, between the paleocontinents of Laurentia, Baltica and Avalonia...
floor. Much of Shetland's economy depends on the oil-bearing sediments in the surrounding seas.
Geological evidence shows that at around 6100 BC a tsunami
Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
caused by the Storegga Slide
Storegga Slide
The three Storegga Slides are considered to be amongst the largest known landslides. They occurred under water, at the edge of Norway's continental shelf , in the Norwegian Sea, 100 km north-west of the Møre coast, causing a very large tsunami in the North Atlantic Ocean...
s hit the Northern Isles, (as well as much of the east coast of Scotland), and may have created a wave of up to 25 metres (82 ft) high in the voes
Firth
Firth is the word in the Lowland Scots language and in English used to denote various coastal waters in Scotland and England. In mainland Scotland it is used to describe a large sea bay, or even a strait. In the Northern Isles it more usually refers to a smaller inlet...
of Shetland where modern populations are highest.
Climate
The Northern Isles have a cool, temperate climate that is remarkably mild and steady for such a northerly latitudeLatitude
In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...
, due to the influence of the surrounding seas and the Gulf Stream
Gulf Stream
The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension towards Europe, the North Atlantic Drift, is a powerful, warm, and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates at the tip of Florida, and follows the eastern coastlines of the United States and Newfoundland before crossing the Atlantic Ocean...
. In Shetland average peak temperatures are 5 °C (41 °F) in February and 15 °C (59 °F) in August and temperatures over 21 °C (69.8 °F) are rare. The frost-free period may be as little as 3 months.
The average annual rainfall is 982 millimetres (38.7 in) in Orkney and 1168 millimetres (46 in) in Shetland. Winds are a key feature of the climate and even in summer there are almost constant breezes. In winter, there are frequent strong winds, with an average of 52 hours of gales being recorded annually in Orkney. Burradale wind farm on Shetland, which operates with five Vestas
Vestas
Vestas Wind Systems A/S is a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines. It is the largest in the world, but due to very rapid growth of its competitors, its market share decreased from 28% in 2007 to 12.5% in 2009...
V47 660 kW turbines, achieved a world record of 57.9% capacity
Capacity factor
The net capacity factor or load factor of a power plant is the ratio of the actual output of a power plant over a period of time and its potential output if it had operated at full nameplate capacity the entire time...
over the course of 2005 due to the persistent strong winds.
Snowfall is usually confined to the period November to February and seldom lies on the ground for more than a day. Less rain falls from April to August although no month receives less than an average of 50 mm (2 in). Annual bright sunshine averages 1082 hours in Shetland and overcast days are common.
To tourists, one of the fascinations of the islands is their "nightless" summers. On the longest day
Midsummer
Midsummer may simply refer to the period of time centered upon the summer solstice, but more often refers to specific European celebrations that accompany the actual solstice, or that take place on a day between June 21 and June 24, and the preceding evening. The exact dates vary between different...
in Shetland there are over 19 hours of daylight and complete darkness is unknown. This long twilight is known in the Northern Isles as the "simmer dim". Winter nights are correspondingly long with less than six hours of daylight at midwinter
Winter solstice
Winter solstice may refer to:* Winter solstice, astronomical event* Winter Solstice , former band* Winter Solstice: North , seasonal songs* Winter Solstice , 2005 American film...
. At this time of year the aurora borealis can occasionally be seen on the northern horizon during moderate auroral activity.
Prehistory
There are numerous important prehistoric remains in Orkney, especially from the NeolithicNeolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
period, four of which form the Heart of Neolithic Orkney
Heart of Neolithic Orkney
Heart of Neolithic Orkney refers to a group of Neolithic monuments found on the Mainland, one of the islands of Orkney, Scotland. The name was adopted by UNESCO when it proclaimed these sites as a World Heritage Site in 1999....
UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
that was inscribed in 1999: Skara Brae
Skara Brae
Skara Brae is a large stone-built Neolithic settlement, located on the Bay of Skaill on the west coast of Mainland, Orkney, Scotland. It consists of ten clustered houses, and was occupied from roughly 3180 BCE–2500 BCE...
; Maes Howe; the Stones of Stenness
Stones of Stenness
The Standing Stones of Stenness is a Neolithic monument on the mainland of Orkney, Scotland. Various traditions associated with the stones survived into the modern era and they form part of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site...
; and Ring of Brodgar
Ring of Brodgar
The Ring of Brodgar is a Neolithic henge and stone circle on the Mainland, the largest island in Orkney, Scotland...
. The Knap of Howar
Knap of Howar
At Knap of Howar on the island of Papa Westray in Orkney, Scotland, a Neolithic farmstead may be the oldest preserved stone house in northern Europe...
Neolithic farmstead situated on the island of Papa Westray
Papa Westray
Papa Westray, also known as Papay, is one of the Orkney Islands in Scotland, with a population of 65 at the time of the 2001 Census, now increased to 70 people...
is probably the oldest preserved house in northern Europe. This structure was inhabited for 900 years from 3700 BC but was evidently built on the site of an even older settlement. Shetland is also extremely rich in physical remains of the prehistoric eras and there are over 5,000 archaeological sites all told. Funzie Girt is a remarkable Neolithic dividing wall that ran for 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) across the island of Fetlar, although the Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
has provided the most outstanding archaeology on Shetland. Numerous broch
Broch
A broch is an Iron Age drystone hollow-walled structure of a type found only in Scotland. Brochs include some of the most sophisticated examples of drystone architecture ever created, and belong to the classification "complex Atlantic Roundhouse" devised by Scottish archaeologists in the 1980s....
s were erected at that time of which the Broch of Mousa is the finest preserved example of these round towers. In 2011 the collective site, "The Crucible of Iron Age Shetland
The Crucible of Iron Age Shetland
The Crucible of Iron Age Shetland is a combination of three sites in Shetland that have applied to be on the United Kingdom "Tentative List" of possible nominations for the UNESCO World Heritage Programme list of sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of humankind...
" including Broch of Mousa, Old Scatness
Old Scatness
Old Scatness is an archeological site in the South Mainland of Shetland, near Sumburgh Airport consisting of mediaeval, Viking, Pictish, and Bronze Age remains. It has been a settlement for thousands of years, each new generation adding buildings, and leveling off old ones...
and Jarlshof
Jarlshof
Jarlshof is the best known prehistoric archaeological site in Shetland, Scotland. It lies near the southern tip of the Shetland Mainland and has been described as "one of the most remarkable archaeological sites ever excavated in the British Isles"...
joined the UK's "Tentative List" of World Heritage Sites.
Pictish times
The culture that built the brochs is unknown, but by the late Iron Age the Northern Isles were part of the PictishPicts
The Picts were a group of Late Iron Age and Early Mediaeval people living in what is now eastern and northern Scotland. There is an association with the distribution of brochs, place names beginning 'Pit-', for instance Pitlochry, and Pictish stones. They are recorded from before the Roman conquest...
kingdom. The main archaeological relics from these times are symbol stones. One of the best examples is located on the Brough of Birsay
Brough of Birsay
- Lighthouse :An unmanned lighthouse on the Brough was built in 1925 by David A Stevenson.-References:...
; it shows three warriors with spears and sword scabbards combined with traditional Pictish symbols. The St Ninian's Isle
St Ninian's Isle
St Ninian's Isle is a small island connected by the largest active tombolo in the UK to the south-western coast of the Mainland, Shetland, in Scotland. The tombolo, known locally as an ayre, from the Old Norse for 'gravel bank', is 500 metres long. Except at extremely high tides, the sand is above...
Treasure was discovered in 1958. The silver bowls, jewellery and other pieces are believed to date from approximately 800 AD. O'Dell (1959) stated that "the treasure is the best survival of Scottish silver metalwork from the period" and that "the brooches show a variety of typical Pictish forms, with both animal-head and lobed geometrical forms of terminal".
Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
probably arrived in Orkney in the 6th century and organised church authority emerged in the 8th century. The Buckquoy spindle-whorl
Buckquoy spindle-whorl
The Buckquoy spindle-whorl is a famous spindle-whorl dating from the Early Middle Ages, probably the 8th century, excavated in 1970 in Buckquoy, Birsay, Orkney, Scotland. Made of sandy limestone, it is about 36 mm in diameter and 10 mm thick...
found at a Pictish site on Birsay
Birsay
Birsay is a parish in the north west corner of The Mainland of Orkney, Scotland. Almost all the land in the parish is devoted to agriculture: chiefly grassland used to rear beef cattle...
is an Ogham
Ogham
Ogham is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to write the Old Irish language, and occasionally the Brythonic language. Ogham is sometimes called the "Celtic Tree Alphabet", based on a High Medieval Bríatharogam tradition ascribing names of trees to the individual letters.There are roughly...
–inscribed artefact whose interpretation has caused controversy although it is now generally considered to be of both Irish and Christian in origin.
Norse era
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
invasions of the Scottish seaboard commenced and with them came the arrival of a new culture and language for the Northern Isles, the fate of the existing indigenous population being uncertain. According to the Orkneyinga Saga
Orkneyinga saga
The Orkneyinga saga is a historical narrative of the history of the Orkney Islands, from their capture by the Norwegian king in the ninth century onwards until about 1200...
, Vikings then made the islands the headquarters of pirate expeditions carried out against Norway and the coasts of mainland Scotland. In response, Norwegian king Harald Hårfagre
Harald I of Norway
Harald Fairhair or Harald Finehair , , son of Halfdan the Black, was the first king of Norway.-Background:Little is known of the historical Harald...
("Harald Fair Hair") annexed the Northern Isles in 875 and Rognvald Eysteinsson received Orkney and Shetland from Harald as an earldom
Earl of Orkney
The Earl of Orkney was originally a Norse jarl ruling Orkney, Shetland and parts of Caithness and Sutherland. The Earls were periodically subject to the kings of Norway for the Northern Isles, and later also to the kings of Alba for those parts of their territory in mainland Scotland . The Earl's...
as reparation for the death of his son in battle in Scotland. (Some scholars believe that this story is apocryphal and based on the later voyages of Magnus Barelegs
Magnus III of Norway
Magnus Barefoot or Magnus III Olafsson was King of Norway from 1093 until 1103 and King of Mann and the Isles from 1099 until 1103.-Background:...
.)
The islands were fully Christianised by Olav Tryggvasson
Olaf I of Norway
Olaf Tryggvason was King of Norway from 995 to 1000. He was the son of Tryggvi Olafsson, king of Viken , and, according to later sagas, the great-grandson of Harald Fairhair, first King of Norway.Olaf played an important part in the often forcible, on pain of torture or death, conversion of the...
in 995 when he stopped at South Walls
South Walls
South Walls is an inhabited island adjacent to Hoy in Orkney, Scotland. The name is a corruption of "Sooth Was", which means the "southern voes" - as with Kirkwall, it was assumed that it was a mispronunciation of "walls"....
on his way from Ireland to Norway. The King summoned the jarl
Earl
An earl is a member of the nobility. The title is Anglo-Saxon, akin to the Scandinavian form jarl, and meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. In Scandinavia, it became obsolete in the Middle Ages and was replaced with duke...
Sigurd the Stout and said "I order you and all your subjects to be baptised. If you refuse, I'll have you killed on the spot and I swear I will ravage every island with fire and steel." Unsurprisingly, Sigurd agreed and the islands became Christian at a stroke, receiving their own bishop
Bishop of Orkney
The Bishop of Orkney was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Orkney, one of thirteen medieval bishoprics within the territory of modern Scotland. It included both Orkney and Shetland. It was based for almost all of its history at St...
in the early 11th century.
Scots rule
Jon Haraldsson
Jon Haraldsson was Earl of Orkney between 1206 and 1231.Jon Haraldsson and his brother David were the sons of Harald Maddadsson with his second wife Hvarflod, daughter of Earl Máel Coluim of Moray. Jon and David were joint Earls of Orkney after the death of their father...
who was murdered in Thurso
Thurso
-Facilities:Offices of the Highland Council are located in the town, as is the main campus of North Highland College, formerly Thurso College. This is one of several partner colleges which constitute the UHI Millennium Institute, and offers several certificate, diploma and degree courses from...
in 1231, was the last of an unbroken line of Norse jarls, and thereafter the earls were Scots noblemen of the houses of Angus
Earl of Angus
The Mormaer or Earl of Angus was the ruler of the medieval Scottish province of Angus. The title, in the Peerage of Scotland, is currently held by the Duke of Hamilton.-Mormaers:...
and St. Clair
Henry I Sinclair, Earl of Orkney
Henry I Sinclair, Earl of Orkney and feudal baron of Roslin was a Scottish nobleman. He is sometimes identified by another spelling of his surname, St. Clair. He was the grandfather of William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness, the builder of Rosslyn Chapel...
. In 1468 Shetland was pledged
Pledge (law)
A pledge is a bailment or deposit of personal property to a creditor to secure repayment for some debt or engagement, The term is also used to denote the property which constitutes the security....
by Christian I
Christian I of Denmark
Christian I was a Danish monarch, king of Denmark , Norway and Sweden , under the Kalmar Union. In Sweden his short tenure as monarch was preceded by regents, Jöns Bengtsson Oxenstierna and Erik Axelsson Tott and succeeded by regent Kettil Karlsson Vasa...
, in his capacity as King of Norway, as security against the payment of the dowry
Dowry
A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage. It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both...
of his daughter Margaret, betrothed to James III of Scotland
James III of Scotland
James III was King of Scots from 1460 to 1488. James was an unpopular and ineffective monarch owing to an unwillingness to administer justice fairly, a policy of pursuing alliance with the Kingdom of England, and a disastrous relationship with nearly all his extended family.His reputation as the...
. As the money was never paid, the connection with the crown of Scotland has become perpetual. In 1470 William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness
William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness
William Sinclair , 1st Earl of Caithness , 3rd Earl of Orkney , Baron of Roslin was a Scottish nobleman and the builder of Rosslyn Chapel, in Midlothian....
ceded his title to James III and the following year the Northern Isles were directly annexed to Scotland.
Early British era
From the early 15th century on the Shetlanders sold their goods through the Hanseatic LeagueHanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...
of German merchantmen. This trade with the North German towns lasted until the 1707 Act of Union when high salt duties prohibited the German merchants from trading with Shetland. Shetland then went into an economic depression as the Scottish and local traders were not as skilled in trading with salted fish. However, some local merchant-lairds took up where the German merchants had left off, and fitted out their own ships to export fish from Shetland to the Continent. For the independent farmer/fishermen of Shetland this had negative consequences, as they now had to fish for these merchant-lairds.
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
: some 3,000 served during the Napoleonic wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
from 1800 to 1815 and press gangs
Impressment
Impressment, colloquially, "the Press", was the act of taking men into a navy by force and without notice. It was used by the Royal Navy, beginning in 1664 and during the 18th and early 19th centuries, in wartime, as a means of crewing warships, although legal sanction for the practice goes back to...
were rife. During this period 120 men were taken from Fetlar alone and only 20 of them returned home. By the late 19th century 90% of all Shetland was owned by just 32 people, and between 1861 and 1881 more than 8,000 Shetlanders emigrated. With the passing of the Crofters' Act
Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886
The Crofters' Holdings Act, 1886 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which created legal definitions of crofting parish and crofter, granted security of tenure to crofters and produced the first Crofters Commission, a land court which ruled on disputes between landlords and crofters...
in 1886 the Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
prime minister William Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
emancipated crofters from the rule of the landlords. The Act enabled those who had effectively been landowners' serfs to become owner-occupiers of their own small farms.
The Orcadian experience was somewhat different. An influx of Scottish entrepreneurs helped to create a diverse and independent community that included farmers, fishermen and merchants that called themselves comunitatis Orcadie and who proved themselves increasing able to defend their rights against their feudal overlords. In the 17th century, Orcadians formed the overwhelming majority of employees of the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The harsh climate of Orkney and the Orcadian reputation for sobriety and their boat handling skills made them ideal candidates for the rigours of the Canadian north. During this period, burning kelp
Kelp
Kelps are large seaweeds belonging to the brown algae in the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera....
briefly became a mainstay of the islands' economy. For example on Shapinsay
Shapinsay
Shapinsay is one of the Orkney Islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. There is one village on the island, Balfour, from which roll-on/roll-off car ferries sail to Kirkwall on the Orkney Mainland...
over 3048 tonnes (3,000 LT) of burned seaweed were produced per annum to make soda ash, bringing in £20,000 to the local economy. Agricultural improvements beginning in the 17th century resulted in the enclosure of the commons and ultimately in the Victoria era the emergence of large and well-managed farms using a five-shift rotation system and producing high quality beef cattle. There is little evidence of an Orcadian fishing fleet until the 19th century but it grew rapidly and 700 boats were involved by the 1840s with Stronsay
Stronsay
Stronsay is an island in Orkney, off the north coast of Scotland. The main village is Whitehall, home to a heritage centre. It is in size, and at its highest point....
and then later Stromness
Stromness
Stromness is the second-biggest town in Orkney, Scotland. It is in the south-west of Mainland Orkney. It is also a parish, with the town of Stromness as its capital.-Etymology:...
becoming leading centres of development. Many Orcadian seamen became involved in whaling
Whaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...
in Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
waters during the 19th century, although the boats were generally based elsewhere in Britain.
World Wars
Orkney was the site of a navy base at Scapa FlowScapa Flow
right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...
, which played a major role in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. After the Armistice
Armistice
An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...
in 1918, the German High Seas Fleet was transferred in its entirety to Scapa Flow while a decision was to be made on its future; however, the German sailors opened their sea-cocks and scuttled all the ships
Scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow
The scuttling of the German fleet took place at the Royal Navy's base at Scapa Flow, in Scotland, after the end of the First World War. The High Seas Fleet had been interned there under the terms of the Armistice whilst negotiations took place over the fate of the ships...
. During World War I the 10th Cruiser Squadron was stationed at Swarbacks Minn in Shetland and during a single year from March 1917 more than 4,500 ships sailed from Lerwick as part of an escorted convey system. In total, Shetland lost more than 500 men, a higher proportion than any other part of Britain, and there were waves of emigration in the 1920s and 1930s.
One month into World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Royal Navy battleship HMS Royal Oak was sunk by a German U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
in Scapa Flow. As a result barriers
Churchill Barriers
The Churchill Barriers are a series of four causeways in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, with a total length of 1.5 miles . They link the Orkney Mainland in the north to the island of South Ronaldsay via Burray and the two smaller islands of Lamb Holm and Glimps Holm.The barriers were built in the...
were built to close most of the access channels; these had the additional advantage of creating causeways enabling travellers to go from island to island by road instead of being obliged to rely on ferries. The causeways were constructed by Italian prisoners of war, who also constructed the ornate Italian Chapel
Italian Chapel
The Italian Chapel is a highly ornate Catholic chapel on Lamb Holm in Orkney, Scotland. It was built by Italian prisoners of war during World War II, who were housed on the previously uninhabited island while they constructed the Churchill Barriers to the east of Scapa Flow. Only the concrete...
. The Scapa Flow base was run down after the war, eventually closing in 1957.
During World War II a Norwegian naval unit nicknamed the "Shetland Bus
Shetland bus
The Shetland Bus was the nickname of a clandestine special operations group that made a permanent link between Shetland, Scotland, and German-occupied Norway from 1941 until the German occupation ended on 8 May 1945. From mid-1942 the official name of the group was "Norwegian Naval Independent Unit"...
" was established by the Special Operations Executive
Special Operations Executive
The Special Operations Executive was a World War II organisation of the United Kingdom. It was officially formed by Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton on 22 July 1940, to conduct guerrilla warfare against the Axis powers and to instruct and aid local...
in the autumn of 1940 with a base first at Lunna
Lunna House
Lunna House is a 17th-century laird's house on Lunna Ness in the Shetland Islands. Lunna House is noted for having "the best historic designed landscape in Shetland"...
and later in Scalloway
Scalloway
Scalloway is the largest settlement on the North Atlantic coast of Mainland, Shetland with a population of approximately 812, at the 2001 census...
to conduct operations around the coast of Norway. About 30 fishing vessels used by Norwegian refugees were gathered and the Shetland Bus conducted covert operations, carrying intelligence agents, refugees, instructors for the resistance, and military supplies. It made over 200 trips across the sea with Leif Larsen
Leif Larsen
Leif Andreas Larsen DSO, DSC, CGM, DSM and Bar , popularly known as ShetlandsLarsen, was a Norwegian sailor and the most highly decorated allied naval officer of World War II...
, the most highly decorated allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
naval officer of the war, making 52 of them.
The problem of a declining population was significant in the post-war years, although in the last decades of the 20th century there was a recovery and life in the islands focused on growing prosperity and the emergence of a relatively classless society.
Politics
Due to their history, the islands have a Norse, rather than a Gaelic flavour, and have historic links with the FaroesFaroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
, Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. The similarities of both geography and history are matched by some elements of the current political process. Both Orkney and Shetland are represented in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
as part of the Orkney and Shetland
Orkney and Shetland (UK Parliament constituency)
Orkney and Shetland is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
constituency
United Kingdom constituencies
In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...
, which elects one Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP), the current incumbent being Alistair Carmichael
Alistair Carmichael
Alexander Morrison "Alistair" Carmichael is a Liberal Democrat politician. He has been the Member of Parliament for the Scottish seat of Orkney and Shetland since the 2001 general election.-Early life:...
. Both are also within the Highlands and Islands electoral region
Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions
Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions were first used in 1999, in the first general election of the Scottish Parliament , created by the Scotland Act 1998....
for the Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
.
However there are also two separate constituencies that elect one Member of the Scottish Parliament
Member of the Scottish Parliament
Member of the Scottish Parliament is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.-Methods of Election:MSPs are elected in one of two ways:...
each for Orkney and Shetland by the first past the post
Plurality voting system
The plurality voting system is a single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member constituencies...
system. Orkney and Shetland also have separate local Councils which are dominated by independents
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
, that is they are not members of a political party.
The Orkney Movement, a political party that supported devolution for Orkney from the rest of Scotland, contested the 1987 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1987
The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...
as the Orkney and Shetland Movement
Orkney and Shetland Movement
The Orkney and Shetland Movement was an electoral coalition formed for the 1987 general election. The pro-devolution Orkney Movement and Shetland Movement agreed on selecting John Goodlad, the secretary of the Shetland Fishermen's Association, as a joint candidate for the Orkney and Shetland...
(a coalition of the Orkney movement and its equivalent for Shetland). Their candidate, John Goodlad, came 4th with 3,095 votes, 14.5% of those cast, but the experiment has not been repeated.
Transport
Thurso
-Facilities:Offices of the Highland Council are located in the town, as is the main campus of North Highland College, formerly Thurso College. This is one of several partner colleges which constitute the UHI Millennium Institute, and offers several certificate, diploma and degree courses from...
to Stromness and Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
to Lerwick, both operated by Northlink Ferries
Northlink Ferries
NorthLink Ferries operates daily ferry services between mainland Scotland and the northern archipelagos of Orkney and Shetland. NorthLink Ferries is a wholly owned subsidiary of David MacBrayne Ltd, whose sole shareholder is the Scottish Government.-History:...
. Inter-island ferry services are operated by Orkney Ferries
Orkney Ferries
Orkney Ferries is a company operating inter-island ferry services in Orkney, to the north of mainland Scotland.-History:The company is owned by the Orkney Islands Council and was established in 1960 as the Orkney Islands Shipping Company....
and SIC Ferries
SIC Ferries
Shetland Islands Council Ferries is a company operating inter-island ferry services in Shetland, a subarctic archipelago off the northeast coast of Scotland.-Services:Services of the SIC Ferries are....
, which are operated by the respective local authorities and Northlink also run a Lerwick to Kirkwall service. The archipelago is exposed to wind and tide, and there are numerous sites of wrecked ships. Lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
s are sited as an aid to navigation at various locations.
The main airport in Orkney is at Kirkwall
Kirkwall Airport
Kirkwall Airport is the main airport serving the Orkney Islands in Scotland. It is located southeast of Kirkwall and is owned by Highlands and Islands Airports Limited...
, operated by Highland and Islands Airports
Highlands and Islands Airports Limited
Highlands and Islands Airports Limited is the company that owns and operates 10 airports in the Scottish Highlands, the Northern Isles and the Western Isles...
. Loganair
Loganair
Loganair is a Scottish airline with its registered office on the grounds of Glasgow International Airport and in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. Loganair operates scheduled services under a Flybe franchise in mainland Scotland and to Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles. In addition it operates...
, a franchise of Flybe
Flybe
Flybe Group PLC is a British low-cost regional airline headquartered at the Jack Walker House at Exeter International Airport in Devon, England...
, provides services to the Scottish mainland (Aberdeen
Aberdeen Airport
Aberdeen Airport is an international airport, located at Dyce, a suburb of Aberdeen, Scotland, approximately northwest of Aberdeen city centre. 2.76 million passengers used Aberdeen Airport in 2010, a reduction of 7.4% compared with 2009, making it the 15th busiest airport in the UK...
, Edinburgh
Edinburgh Airport
Edinburgh Airport is located at Turnhouse in the City of Edinburgh, Scotland, and was the busiest airport in Scotland in 2010, handling just under 8.6 million passengers in that year. It was also the sixth busiest airport in the UK by passengers and the fifth busiest by aircraft movements...
, Glasgow-International
Glasgow International Airport
Glasgow International Airport is an international airport in Scotland, located west of Glasgow city centre, near the towns of Paisley and Renfrew in Renfrewshire...
and Inverness
Inverness Airport
Inverness Airport is an international airport situated at Dalcross, north east of the city of Inverness in Highland, Scotland. The airport is the main gateway for travellers to the north of Scotland with a wide range of scheduled services throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland, and limited...
), as well as to Sumburgh Airport
Sumburgh Airport
-Other tenants:*Maritime and Coastguard Agency *Bristow Helicopters*Bond Helicopters -Incidents and accidents:...
in Shetland. Similar services fly from Sumburgh to the Scottish mainland.
Inter-Island flights are available from Kirkwall to several Orkney islands and from the Shetland Mainland to most of the inhabited islands including those from Tingwall Airport
Tingwall Airport
Tingwall Airport , also known as Lerwick/Tingwall Airport, is located in the Tingwall valley, near the village of Gott, northwest of Lerwick on the mainland island of the Shetland, Scotland....
. There are frequent charter flights from Aberdeen to Scatsta near Sullom Voe
Sullom Voe Terminal
The Sullom Voe Terminal is an oil and liquefied gas terminal at Sullom Voe in the Shetland Islands of Scotland. It handles production from oilfields in the North Sea and East Shetland Basin...
, which are used to transport oilfield workers and this small terminal has the fifth largest number of international passengers in Scotland. The scheduled air service between Westray
Westray Airport
Westray Airport is an airport located at Aikerness, on Westray in the Orkney Islands, Scotland. It is best known for being one of the two airports joined by the shortest scheduled flight in the world, a leg of Loganair's inter-island service, to Papa Westray Airport...
and Papa Westray
Papa Westray Airport
-External links:*...
is reputedly the shortest in the world at two minutes duration.
Economics
The very different geologies of the two archipelagos have resulted in dissimilar local economies. In Shetland, the main revenue producers in Shetland are agriculture, aquacultureAquaculture
Aquaculture, also known as aquafarming, is the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants. Aquaculture involves cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the...
, fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
, renewable energy
Renewable energy in Scotland
The production of renewable energy in Scotland is an issue that has come to the fore in technical, economic, and political terms during the opening years of the 21st century. The natural resource base for renewables is extraordinary by European, and even global standards...
, the petroleum industry
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
(offshore crude oil and natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
production), the creative industries and tourism. Oil and gas was first landed at Sullom Voe
Sullom Voe
Sullom Voe is an inlet between North Mainland and Northmavine on Shetland in Scotland. It is a location of the Sullom Voe oil terminal. The word Voe is from the Old Norse vagr and denotes a small bay or narrow creek...
in 1978, and it has subsequently become one of the largest oil terminals in Europe. Taxes from the oil have increased public sector spending in Shetland on social welfare, art, sport, environmental measures and financial development. Three quarters of the islands' work force is employed in the service sector and Shetland Islands Council
Shetland Islands Council
The Shetland Islands Council is the local authority for Shetland. It was established by the Local Government Act 1973 and is the successor to the former Lerwick Town Council and Zetland County Council...
alone accounted for 27.9% of output in 2003. Fishing remains central to the islands' economy today, with the total catch being 75767 tonne in 2009, valued at over £73.2 million.
By contrast, fishing has declined in Orkney since the 19th century and the impact of the oil industry has been much less significant. However, the soil of Orkney is generally very fertile and most of the land is taken up by farms, agriculture being by far the most important sector of the economy and providing employment for a quarter of the workforce. More than 90% of agricultural land is used for grazing for sheep and cattle, with cereal production utilising about 4% (4200 hectares (10,378.4 acre)), although woodland occupies only 134 hectares (331.1 acre).
Orkney and Shetland have significant wind
Wind power in Scotland
Wind power in Scotland is the country's fastest growing renewable energy technology, with 2574 MW of installed capacity as of April 2011. The Robin Rigg Wind Farm is a 180 MW development completed in April 2010, which is Scotland's first offshore wind farm, sited on a sandbank in the Solway...
and marine energy resources, and renewable energy
Renewable energy in Scotland
The production of renewable energy in Scotland is an issue that has come to the fore in technical, economic, and political terms during the opening years of the 21st century. The natural resource base for renewables is extraordinary by European, and even global standards...
has recently come into prominence. The European Marine Energy Centre
European Marine Energy Centre
The European Marine Energy Centre is a research centre focusing on wave and tidal power development based in the Orkney Islands, UK. It claims to provide developers with the opportunity to test full-scale grid-connected prototype devices in unrivalled wave and tidal conditions...
is a Scottish Government-backed research facility that has installed a wave testing system at Billia Croo on the Orkney Mainland and a tidal power testing station on the island of Eday
Eday
Eday is one of the Orkney Islands, which are located to the north of the Scottish mainland in the United Kingdom. Eday is located in the North Isles of Orkney, and is about north of the main island of Orkney Mainland...
. This has been described as "the first of its kind in the world set up to provide developers of wave and tidal energy devices with a purpose-built performance testing facility."
Culture
The Northern Isles have a rich folklore. For example, there are many Orcadian tales concerning trows, a form of trollTroll
A troll is a supernatural being in Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore. In origin, the term troll was a generally negative synonym for a jötunn , a being in Norse mythology...
that draws on the islands' Scandinavian connections. Local customs in the past included marriage ceremonies at the Odin Stone that forms part of the Stones of Stenness.
The best known literary figures from modern Orkney are the poet Edwin Muir
Edwin Muir
Edwin Muir was an Orcadian poet, novelist and translator born on a farm in Deerness on the Orkney Islands. He was remembered for his deeply felt and vivid poetry in plain language with few stylistic preoccupations....
, the poet and novelist George Mackay Brown
George Mackay Brown
George Mackay Brown , was a Scottish poet, author and dramatist, whose work has a distinctly Orcadian character...
and the novelist Eric Linklater
Eric Linklater
Eric Robert Russell Linklater was a British writer, known for more than 20 novels, as well as short stories, travel writing and autobiography, and military history.-Life:...
.
Shetland has a strong tradition of local music. The Forty Fiddlers
The Forty Fiddlers
The Forty Fiddlers, or Da Forty Fiddlers, was a group of Shetland musicians. The group was formed by Dr. Tom Anderson MBE in the late 1950s when he realised that there was a danger of the traditional style of Shetland fiddle music dying out....
was formed in the 1950s to promote the traditional fiddle style, which is a vibrant part of local culture today. Notable exponents of Shetland folk music include Aly Bain
Aly Bain
Aly Bain MBE is a Shetland fiddler who learned his instrument from the old-time master Tom Anderson. Bain is now considered one of the finest fiddlers in the Scottish tradition. In the early days of his career he formed part of the band The Humblebums with two other ‘unknowns’ Gerry Rafferty and...
and the late Tom Anderson
Tom Anderson (fiddler)
Dr. Tom Anderson MBE, was a renowned Shetland fiddler and teacher. He was affectionately known to his peers as "Muckle Tammie" .Dr...
and Peerie Willie Johnson
Peerie Willie Johnson
"Peerie" Willie Johnson was a Scottish folk guitarist and bassist...
. Thomas Fraser
Thomas Fraser (singer)
Thomas Fraser was a fisherman and Country and Western and Rhythm and Blues musician from the Shetland Isles.Fraser was born in on the isle of Burra. He never released any recordings while he was alive, choosing to play his cover versions of American folk, country and western and rhythm and blues...
was a country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
ian who never released a commercial recording during his life, but whose work has become popular more than 20 years after his untimely death in 1978.
Island names
The etymology of the island namesScottish island names
The modern names of Scottish islands stem from two main influences. There are a large number of names that derive from the Scottish Gaelic language in the Hebrides and Firth of Clyde. In the Northern Isles most place names have a Norse origin...
is dominated by Norse influence. There follows a listing of the derivation of all the inhabited islands in the Northern Isles.
Shetland
The oldest version of the modern name Shetland is Hetlandensis recorded in 1190 becoming Hetland in 1431 after various intermediate transformations. This then became Hjaltland in the 16th century. As Shetlandic NornNorn language
Norn is an extinct North Germanic language that was spoken in Shetland and Orkney, off the north coast of mainland Scotland, and in Caithness. After the islands were pledged to Scotland by Norway in the 15th century, it was gradually replaced by Scots and on the mainland by Scottish...
was gradually replaced by Scots
Scots language
Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster . It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language variety spoken in most of the western Highlands and in the Hebrides.Since there are no universally accepted...
Hjaltland became . When use of the letter yogh
Yogh
The letter yogh , was used in Middle English and Older Scots, representing y and various velar phonemes. It was derived from the Old English form of the letter g.In Middle English writing, tailed z came to be indistinguishable from yogh....
was discontinued, it was often replaced by the similar-looking letter z
Z
Z is the twenty-sixth and final letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.-Name and pronunciation:In most dialects of English, the letter's name is zed , reflecting its derivation from the Greek zeta but in American English, its name is zee , deriving from a late 17th century English dialectal...
, hence Zetland, the mispronounced form used to describe the pre-1975 county council. However the earlier name is Innse Chat - the island of the cats (or the cat tribe) as referred to in early Irish literature and it is just possible that this forms part of the Norse name. The Cat tribe also occupied parts of the northern Scottish mainland - hence the name of Caithness
Caithness
Caithness is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic local government area of Scotland. The name was used also for the earldom of Caithness and the Caithness constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . Boundaries are not identical in all contexts, but the Caithness area is...
via the Norse Katanes ("headland of the cat"), and the Gaelic name for Sutherland
Sutherland
Sutherland is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic administrative county of Scotland. It is now within the Highland local government area. In Gaelic the area is referred to according to its traditional areas: Dùthaich 'IcAoidh , Asainte , and Cataibh...
, Cataibh, meaning "among the Cats".
The location of "Thule
Thule
Thule Greek: Θούλη, Thoulē), also spelled Thula, Thila, or Thyïlea, is, in classical European literature and maps, a region in the far north. Though often considered to be an island in antiquity, modern interpretations of what was meant by Thule often identify it as Norway. Other interpretations...
", first mentioned by Pytheas
Pytheas
Pytheas of Massalia or Massilia , was a Greek geographer and explorer from the Greek colony, Massalia . He made a voyage of exploration to northwestern Europe at about 325 BC. He travelled around and visited a considerable part of Great Britain...
of Massilia when he visited Britain sometime between 322 and 285 BC is not known for certain. When Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
mentioned it in AD 98 it is clear he was referring to Shetland.
| Island | Derivation | Language | Meaning | Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bressay Bressay -Geography and geology:Bressay lies due south of Whalsay, west of Noss, and north of Mousa. At , it is the fifth largest island in Shetland. The population is around 400 people, concentrated in the middle of the west coast, around Glebe, Fullaburn and Maryfield.... |
Breiðøy | Norse | broad island | |
| Bruray Bruray Bruray is one of the three Out Skerries islands of Shetland, and contains Scotland's most easterly settlement.It is separated from Housay by North Mouth and South Mouth.-Infrastructure:... |
Norse | east isle | Norse: bruarøy - bridge island" | |
| East Burra East Burra East Burra is one of the Scalloway Islands, a subgroup of the Shetland Islands in Scotland. It is connected by a bridge to West Burra.With an area of two square miles, it is the eleventh largest of the Shetland Islands.... |
Scots/Norse | east broch Broch A broch is an Iron Age drystone hollow-walled structure of a type found only in Scotland. Brochs include some of the most sophisticated examples of drystone architecture ever created, and belong to the classification "complex Atlantic Roundhouse" devised by Scottish archaeologists in the 1980s.... island |
||
| Fair Isle Fair Isle Fair Isle is an island in northern Scotland, lying around halfway between mainland Shetland and the Orkney islands. It is famous for its bird observatory and a traditional style of knitting.-Geography:... |
Frioarøy | Norse | fair island | Norse: feoerøy - "far-off isle". |
| Fetlar Fetlar Fetlar is one of the North Isles of Shetland, Scotland, with a population of 86 at the time of the 2001 census. Its main settlement is Houbie on the south coast, home to the Fetlar Interpretive Centre... |
Unknown | Pre-Celtic? | Unknown | Norse: fetill - "shoulder-straps" or "fat land". See also Funzie Girt. |
| Foula Foula Foula in the Shetland Islands of Scotland is one of Great Britain’s most remote permanently inhabited islands. Owned since the turn of the 20th century by the Holbourn family, the island was the location for the film The Edge of the World... |
Fugløy | Norse | bird island | |
| Housay Housay Housay, also known as West Isle, is one of the three islands that form the Out Skerries island group, the most easterly part of the Shetland Isles... |
Húsøy | Norse | house isle | |
| Shetland Mainland Shetland Mainland The Mainland is the main island of Shetland, Scotland. The island contains Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick, and is the centre of Shetland's ferry and air connections.... |
Hetlandensis | Norse/ Gaelic | island of the cat people? | Perhaps originally from Gaelic: Innse Chat - see above |
| Muckle Roe Muckle Roe Muckle Roe is an island in Shetland, Scotland, in Saint Magnus Bay, to the west of Mainland, Shetland. It has a population of around 100 people, who mainly croft and live in the south east of the island... |
Rauðey Milkla | Scots/Norse | big red island | |
| Papa Stour Papa Stour Papa Stour is one of the Shetland Islands in Scotland, with a population of under twenty people, some of whom immigrated after an appeal for residents in the 1970s. Located to the west of mainland Shetland and with an area of 828 hectares , Papa Stour is the eighth largest island in Shetland... |
Papøy Stóra | Celtic/Norse | big island of the priests | |
| Trondra Trondra Trondra is one of the Scalloway Islands, a subgroup of the Shetland Islands in Scotland. It shelters the harbour of Scalloway and has an area of .-History:... |
Norse | boar island | Norse: "Prondr's isle" or "Praendir's isle". The first is a personal name, the second a tribal name from the Trondheim Trondheim Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of... area. |
|
| Unst Unst Unst is one of the North Isles of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. It is the northernmost of the inhabited British Isles and is the third largest island in Shetland after the Mainland and Yell. It has an area of .Unst is largely grassland, with coastal cliffs... |
Unknown | Pre-Celtic? | Unknown | Norse: omstr - "corn-stack" or ørn-vist - "home of the eagle" |
| Vaila Vaila Vaila is an island in Shetland, Scotland, lying south of the Westland peninsula of the Shetland Mainland. It has an area of , and is at its highest point.Vaila is home to an organic sheep farm and is also known for its mountain hares.... |
Valøy | Norse | falcon island | Norse: "horse island", "battlefield island" or "round island" |
| West Burra | Scots/Norse | west broch island | ||
| Whalsay Whalsay -Geography:Whalsay, also known as "The Bonnie Isle", is a peat-covered island in the Shetland Islands. It is situated east of the Shetland Mainland and has an area of . The main settlement is Symbister, where the fishing fleet is based. The fleet is composed of both pelagic and demersal vessels... |
Hvalsey | Norse | whale island | |
| Yell | Unknown | Pre-Celtic? | Unknown | Norse: í Ála - "deep furrow" or Jala - "white island" |
Orkney
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
as being triangular in shape, with a northern tip called Orcas. This may have referred to Dunnet Head
Dunnet Head
Dunnet Head is a peninsula in Caithness, on the north coast of Scotland, that includes the most northerly point of the mainland of Great Britain. The point, known as Easter Head, is at , about westnorthwest of John o' Groats and about from Duncansby Head...
, from which Orkney is visible. Writing in the 1st century AD, the Roman geographer Pomponius Mela
Pomponius Mela
Pomponius Mela, who wrote around AD 43, was the earliest Roman geographer. He was born in Tingentera and died c. AD 45.His short work occupies less than one hundred pages of ordinary print. It is laconic in style and deficient in method, but of pure Latinity, and occasionally relieved by pleasing...
called the Orkney islands Orcades, as did Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
in AD 98 "Orc" is usually interpreted as a Pictish tribal name meaning "young pig" or "young boar
Boar
Wild boar, also wild pig, is a species of the pig genus Sus, part of the biological family Suidae. The species includes many subspecies. It is the wild ancestor of the domestic pig, an animal with which it freely hybridises...
". The old Irish Gaelic
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
name for the islands was Insi Orc ("island of the pigs"). The ogham script on the Buckquoy spindle-whorl is also cited as evidence for the pre-Norse existence of Old Irish in Orkney. The Pictish association with Orkney is leant weight by the Norse name for the Pentland Firth
Pentland Firth
The Pentland Firth , which is actually more of a strait than a firth, separates the Orkney Islands from Caithness in the north of Scotland.-Etymology:...
- Pettaland-fjörðr i.e "Pictland Firth.
The Norse retained the earlier root but changed the meaning, providing the only definite example of an adaption of a pre-Norse place name in the Northern Isles. The islands became Orkneyar meaning "seal islands". An alternative name for Orkney is recorded in 1300—Hrossey, meaning "horse isle" and this may also contain a Pictish element of ros meaning "moor" or "plain".
Unlike most of the larger Orkney islands, the derivation of the name "Shapinsay" is not obvious. The final 'ay' is from the Old Norse for island, but the first two syllables are more difficult to interpret. Haswell-Smith (2004) suggests the root may be hjalpandis-øy (helpful island) due to the presence of a good harbour, although anchorages are plentiful in the archipelago. The first written record dates from 1375 in a reference to Scalpandisay, which may suggest a derivation from "judge's island". Another suggestion is "Hyalpandi's island", although no one of that name is known to have been associated with Shapinsay.
| Island | Derivation | Language | Meaning | Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auskerry Auskerry Auskerry is a small island in eastern Orkney, Scotland. It lies in the North Sea south of Stronsay and has a lighthouse, completed in 1866.-Description:... |
Østr sker | Norse | east skerry | |
| Burray Burray Burray is one of the Orkney Islands in Scotland. It lies to the east of Scapa Flow and is one of a chain of islands linked by the Churchill Barriers.-Geography and geology:... |
Borgrøy | Norse | broch island | |
| Eday Eday Eday is one of the Orkney Islands, which are located to the north of the Scottish mainland in the United Kingdom. Eday is located in the North Isles of Orkney, and is about north of the main island of Orkney Mainland... |
Eidøy | Norse | isthmus island | |
| Egilsay Egilsay Egilsay is one of the Orkney Islands in Scotland, lying east of Rousay. The island is largely farmland and is known for its corncrakes.-St. Magnus Church:... |
Égillsey | Norse or Gaelic | Egil's island | Possibly from Gaelic eaglais" - church island |
| Flotta Flotta Flotta is a small island in Orkney, Scotland, lying in Scapa Flow. The island is known for its large oil terminal and is linked by Orkney Ferries to Houton on the Orkney Mainland and Lyness and Longhope on Hoy.... |
Flottøy | Norse | flat, grassy isle | |
| Gairsay Gairsay Gairsay is a small island in Orkney, Scotland, located in the parish of Rendall, off the coast, astride one of the approaches to the bays of Firth and Kirkwall... |
Gáreksøy | Norse | Gárekr's isle | |
| Graemsay Graemsay Graemsay is an island in the western approaches to Scapa Flow, in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. The island has two lighthouses.-Geography and geology:... |
Grims-øy | Norse | Grim's island | |
| Hoy Hoy Hoy is an island in Orkney, Scotland. With an area of it is the second largest in the archipelago after the Mainland. It is connected by a causeway called The Ayre to South Walls... |
Háøy | Norse | high island | |
| North Ronaldsay North Ronaldsay North Ronaldsay is the northernmost of the Orkney Islands, Scotland and with an area of is the fourteenth largest.-Geography:North Ronaldsay lies around north of its nearest neighbour, Sanday at . The island is around long along its length and is defined by two large sandy bays; Linklet Bay on... |
Rinansøy | Norse | Uncertain - possibly "Ringa's isle" | |
| Orkney Mainland | Orcades | Various | isle(s) of the young pig | See above |
| Papa Stronsay Papa Stronsay Papa Stronsay is a small island in Orkney, Scotland, lying north east of Stronsay. It is in size, and at its highest point.According to folklore, some of the natives were descended from a female selkie. This was because they had horny skin on their feet and hands, and permanently smelt of... |
Papey Minni | Norse | priest isle of Stronsay | The Norse name is literally "little priest isle" |
| Papa Westray Papa Westray Papa Westray, also known as Papay, is one of the Orkney Islands in Scotland, with a population of 65 at the time of the 2001 Census, now increased to 70 people... |
Papey Meiri | Norse | priest isle of Westray | The Norse name is literally "big priest isle" |
| Rousay Rousay Rousay is a small, hilly island about north of Orkney's Mainland, off the north coast of Scotland, and has been nicknamed "the Egypt of the north", due to its tremendous archaeological diversity and importance.... |
Hrólfsøy | Norse | Hrólfs island | |
| Sanday Sanday, Orkney Sanday is one of the inhabited islands in the Orkney Islands, off the north coast of Scotland. With an area of , it is the third largest of the Orkney Islands. The main centres of population are Lady Village and Kettletoft. Sanday can be reached by Orkney Ferries or plane from Kirkwall on the... |
Sandøy | Norse | sand island | |
| Shapinsay Shapinsay Shapinsay is one of the Orkney Islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. There is one village on the island, Balfour, from which roll-on/roll-off car ferries sail to Kirkwall on the Orkney Mainland... |
Unknown | Possibly "helpful island" | See above | |
| South Ronaldsay South Ronaldsay South Ronaldsay is one of the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland. It is linked to the Orkney Mainland by the Churchill Barriers, running via Burray, Glimps Holm and Lamb Holm.-Geography and geology:... |
Norse | Rognvald's island | ||
| South Walls South Walls South Walls is an inhabited island adjacent to Hoy in Orkney, Scotland. The name is a corruption of "Sooth Was", which means the "southern voes" - as with Kirkwall, it was assumed that it was a mispronunciation of "walls".... |
Sooth Was | Scots/Norse | "southern voes" | "Voe" means fjord Fjord Geologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound of Earth's crust as the ice... . Possibly "south bays". |
| Stronsay Stronsay Stronsay is an island in Orkney, off the north coast of Scotland. The main village is Whitehall, home to a heritage centre. It is in size, and at its highest point.... |
Possibly Strjónsøy | Norse | good fishing and farming island | |
| Westray Westray Westray is one of the Orkney Islands in Scotland, with a population of around 550 people. Its main village is Pierowall, with a heritage centre, the ruined Lady Kirk and ferries to Papa Westray.-Geography and geology:... |
Vestrøy | Norse | western island | |
| Wyre Wyre, Orkney Wyre, also formerly spelt Weir, is one of the Orkney Islands, lying south-east of Rousay. It is and at its highest point. It is one of the smallest inhabited islands in the archipelago.... |
Vigr | Norse | spear-like island |
Uninhabited islands
Stroma, from the Norse Straumøy means "current island"or "island in the tidal stream", a reference to the strong currents in the Pentland Firth. The Norse often gave animal names to islands and these have been transferred into English in for example, the Calf of Flotta
Calf of Flotta
The Calf of Flotta is a small island in Scapa Flow, Orkney. The Calf is next to Flotta, with "Calf" deriving from Old Norse/Norn and meaning a smaller island by a larger one.-Geography and geology:The Calf is made of red sandstone....
and Horse of Copinsay
Horse of Copinsay
The Horse of Copinsay, also known as the Horse, is a rectangular sea stack to the north east of Copinsay in the Orkney Islands.-Name:...
. Brother Isle
Brother Isle
Brother Isle is a small, uninhabited island in Shetland, Scotland. It lies between the islands of Yell and Shetland Mainland. It is in size.- Geography and geology :The island's rock is "undifferentiated moine gneiss and quartzite."- History :...
is an anglicisation of the Norse breiðareøy meaning "broad beach island". The Norse holmr, meaning "a small islet" has become "Holm
Holm (island)
This page is a set index; for other uses of the term, see Holm There are numerous islands containing the word Holm, especially in Scotland. In many cases the name is derived from the Old Norse holmr, meaning "a small and rounded islet"...
" in English and there are numerous examples of this use including Corn Holm
Corn Holm
Corn Holm is a small tidal island in Orkney, near Copinsay to the west. There was once a small chapel here , and it is covered in birdlife.- Geography and geology :Corn Holm is made up of red sandstone....
, Thieves Holm
Thieves Holm
Thieves Holm is a small island in the Orkney Islands.-Geography and geology:Thieves Holm is due north of Mainland, Orkney at the mouth of Kirkwall Bay, between the Mainland and the isle of Shapinsay. It is at the west end of the strait between Mainland and Shapinsay, known as the String. It is...
and Little Holm
Little Holm, Yell Sound
Little Holm is a small island in Yell Sound, in Shetland. It lies between Northmavine and the Isle of Yell. There is a lighthouse here.In 1983, the Royal Navy cleared ordnance from the area, and their bomb disposal team discovered an unrecorded shipwreck nearby. Its identity is still not...
. "Muckle" meaning large or big is one of few Scots
Scots language
Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster . It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language variety spoken in most of the western Highlands and in the Hebrides.Since there are no universally accepted...
words in the island names of the Nordreyar and appears in Muckle Roe
Muckle Roe
Muckle Roe is an island in Shetland, Scotland, in Saint Magnus Bay, to the west of Mainland, Shetland. It has a population of around 100 people, who mainly croft and live in the south east of the island...
and Muckle Flugga
Muckle Flugga
Muckle Flugga is a small rocky island north of Unst in the Shetland Islands, Scotland. It is often described as the northernmost point of the British Isles, but the smaller islet of Out Stack is actually farther north...
in Shetland and Muckle Green Holm
Muckle Green Holm
Muckle Green Holm is an uninhabited island in the North Isles of the Orkney archipelago in Scotland. It is roughly in extent and rises to 28 metres above sea level, the summit having a trig point. The literal meaning of the name is somewhat contradictory. 'Holm' is from the Old Norse holmr,...
and Muckle Skerry
Muckle Skerry
Muckle Skerry is the largest of the Pentland Skerries that lie off the north coast of Scotland. It is home to the Pentland Skerries Lighthouse.Muckle Skerry lies in the Pentland Firth at . It is the westernmost of the skerries...
in Orkney. Many small islets and skerries have Scots or Insular Scots
Insular Scots
Insular Scots comprises varieties of Lowland Scots generally subdivided into:*Shetlandic*OrcadianBoth dialects share much Norn vocabulary, Shetlandic more so, than does any other Scots dialect, perhaps because they both were under strong Scandinavian influence in their recent past.It should not be...
names such as Da Skerries o da Rokness and Da Buddle Stane in Shetland, and Kirk Rocks in Orkney.