Orcadians
Encyclopedia
Orcadians, who reside primarily in Orkney, are the descendants of Iron Age
Picts
, Norwegian Vikings and Scots
. Because Orkney is a trading hub Orcadians are found all over the world.
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...
Picts
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...
, Norwegian Vikings and Scots
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
. Because Orkney is a trading hub Orcadians are found all over the world.
- Jim BaikieJim BaikieJim Baikie is a British comics artist, who is best known for his work with Alan Moore on Skizz.-Biography:Baikie began his career illustrating Valentine for Fleetway. Over the next twenty years, he built a solid reputation working for TV comics such as Look-in, including adaptations of The Monkees...
British comics artist, who is best known for his work with Alan Moore on Skizz. - William Balfour BaikieWilliam Balfour BaikieWilliam Balfour Baikie was a Scottish explorer, naturalist and philologist.-Biography:Baikie was born at Kirkwall, Orkney, eldest son of Captain John Baikie, R.N. He studied medicine at Edinburgh, and, on obtaining his M.D. degree, joined the Royal Navy in 1848...
(1825–1864), explorer and naturalist - George Mackay BrownGeorge Mackay BrownGeorge Mackay Brown , was a Scottish poet, author and dramatist, whose work has a distinctly Orcadian character...
(1921–1996), poet, author, playwright - Mary BruntonMary BruntonMary Brunton was a Scottish novelist.-Life:Mary was the daughter of Colonel Thomas Balfour of Elwick, a British Army officer and Frances Ligonier, daughter of Colonel Francis Ligonier and sister of the second earl of Ligonier. She was born on 1 November 1778 on Burray in the Orkney Islands...
(1778–1818), author of Self-Control, Discipline and other novels - Stanley CursiterStanley CursiterStanley Cursiter, CBE was a Scottish artist who played an important role in introducing Post-Impressionism and Futurism to Scotland.- Biography :...
(1887–1976), artist - William Towrie CuttWilliam Towrie CuttWilliam Towrie Cutt was an Orcadian author.His titles include:William Towrie Cutt was an Orcadian author.His titles include:...
(1898–1981), author - Walter Traill DennisonWalter Traill DennisonWalter Traill Dennison was a farmer and folklorist. He was a native of the Orkney island of Sanday, in Scotland, United Kingdom, where he collected local folk tales. He published these, many in the local Orcadian dialect, in 1880 under the title The Orcadian Sketch-Book...
(1826–1894), Orcadian folklorist - Kris DreverKris DreverKris Drever is a Scottish contemporary folk musician and songwriter, who came to prominence in 2006 with the release of his debut solo album, Black Water...
, folk singer and guitarist - Magnus ErlendssonMagnus Erlendsson, Earl of OrkneySaint Magnus, Earl Magnus Erlendsson of Orkney, sometimes known as Magnus the Martyr, was the first Earl of Orkney to bear that name, and ruled from 1108 to about 1115...
(Saint Magnus) (c.1070-c.1117), Earl of Orkney c.1105-1117 - Matthew Forster HeddleMatthew Forster HeddleMatthew Forster Heddle , Scottish mineralogist, was born at Hoy in Orkney.After receiving his early education at Edinburgh Academy, he entered as a medical student at the university in that city, and subsequently studied chemistry and mineralogy at Klausthal and Freiburg...
(1828–1897), mineralogist, author of The Mineralogy of Scotland - Malcolm LaingMalcolm LaingMalcolm Laing was a Scottish historian born to Robert Laing and Barbara Blaw at the paternal estate of Strynzia in Orkney, Scotland...
(1762–1818), author of the History of Scotland from the Union of the Crowns to the Union of the Kingdoms - Samuel LaingSamuel Laing (travel writer)Samuel Laing from Papdale in Orkney was a Scottish travel writer. He travelled in Scandinavia and northern Germany and published descriptions of these countries....
(1780–1868), author of A Residence in Norway, and translator of the Heimskringla, the Icelandic chronicle of the kings of Norway - Samuel LaingSamuel Laing (science writer)Samuel Laing, , was a British railway administrator, politician, and influential writer on science and religion during the Victorian era.He was born at Edinburgh on the 12th of December 1810...
(1812–1897), chairman of the London, Brighton & South Coast railway, and introducer of the system of "parliamentary" trains with fares of one penny a mile. - Kristin LinklaterKristin LinklaterKristin Linklater is a Scottish vocal coach, dialect coach, acting teacher, actor, theatre director, and author. She is currently Head of Acting in the Theatre Arts Division of Columbia University.-Biography:...
, born 1946, voice teacher, actor, director and author - Magnus LinklaterMagnus LinklaterMagnus Linklater is a Scottish journalist and former newspaper editor.-Life:Linklater was born in Orkney, and is the son of Scottish writer Eric Linklater. He was brought up in Easter Ross, attending the local school at Nigg before moving to high school in Dunbar, East Lothian, and then on to Eton...
(b.1942), journalist, son of Eric Linklater - John D Mackay (b.1909), headmaster and Orkney patriot
- Murdoch McKenzieMurdoch McKenzieMurdoch Mackenzie, FRS was a hydrographer and cartographer.Born in Orkney and employed by the Royal Navy, he became the first person to accurately chart the coastline around North Ronaldsay where many vessels had come to grief. His work led to the construction of a lighthouse at Dennis Head...
(d.1797), hydrographer - Edwin MuirEdwin MuirEdwin 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....
(1887–1959), author and poet - Dr. John RaeJohn Rae (explorer)John Rae was a Scottish doctor who explored Northern Canada, surveyed parts of the Northwest Passage and reported the fate of the Franklin Expedition....
(1813–1893), ArcticArcticThe 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...
explorer - Rognvald Kali Kolsson (Saint Rognvald) (c.1103-1158), Earl of Orkney 1136-1158
- Julyan SinclairJulyan SinclairJulyan Sinclair is an Orcadian television and radio presenter. He won a BAFTA in 2002 for "Best New Television Presenter" for his work on various Scottish Television arts and entertainment programmes.-Television career:...
, television presenter - Thomas Stewart TraillThomas Stewart TraillThomas Stewart Traill was a Scottish physician, chemist, mineralogist, meteorologist, zoologist and scholar of medical jurisprudence.He was the grandfather of the physicist, meteorologist and geologist Robert Traill Omond....
(1781–1862), professor of medical jurisprudenceJurisprudenceJurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...
at Edinburgh University and editor of the 8th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica - Cameron StoutCameron StoutCameron Stout was the winner of Big Brother 4 UK in 2003. He received 1.9 million votes, 500,000 more than runner-up Ray Shah. Cameron is the elder brother of television and radio presenter Julyan Sinclair....
(b.1971) winner of Big BrotherBig Brother (UK series 4)Big Brother 4 in 2003 was the fourth series of Big Brother in the UK, a reality show shown on Channel 4 in which a number of contestants live in an isolated house trying to avoid being evicted by the public with the aim of winning a large cash prize at the end of the run. The series ran from Friday...
in 2003, brother of Julyan SinclairJulyan SinclairJulyan Sinclair is an Orcadian television and radio presenter. He won a BAFTA in 2002 for "Best New Television Presenter" for his work on various Scottish Television arts and entertainment programmes.-Television career:... - William WallsWilliam WallsWilliam Walls was a Scottish lawyer, industrialist and Dean of Guild of Glasgow.The son of John Walls and Elizabeth , he was born in Kirkwall, Orkney, and trained as a lawyer in Edinburgh before founding whale oil merchants and refiners William Walls & Co in 1847, in Glasgow...
(1819–1893), lawyer and industrialist - The Wrigley Sisters Jennifer and Hazel, international folk duo
People associated with Orkney
- Rev. Matthew ArmourMatthew ArmourRev. Matthew Armour was a radical Free Church of Scotland minister on the island of Sanday, Orkney, remembered to this day for supporting the island’s crofters.-References:...
(1820–1903), SandaySanday, OrkneySanday 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...
's radical Free KirkFree Church of Scotland (1843-1900)The Free Church of Scotland is a Scottish denomination which was formed in 1843 by a large withdrawal from the established Church of Scotland in a schism known as the "Disruption of 1843"...
MinisterMinister of religionIn Christian churches, a minister is someone who is authorized by a church or religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance to the community... - Sir Peter Maxwell DaviesPeter Maxwell DaviesSir Peter Maxwell Davies, CBE is an English composer and conductor and is currently Master of the Queen's Music.-Biography:...
(b.1934), composer and Master of the Queen's MusicMaster of the Queen's MusicMaster of the Queen's Music is a post in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The holder of the post originally served the monarch of England.The post is roughly comparable to that of Poet Laureate... - Andrew GreigAndrew GreigAndrew Greig is a Scottish writer. He grew up in Anstruther, Fife. He studied philosophy at the University of Edinburgh and is a former Glasgow University Writing Fellow and Scottish Arts Council Scottish/Canadian Exchange Fellow...
(b.1951), Scottish writer - Jo Grimond (1913–1993), Liberal Party leader and MP for Orkney and Shetland 1950-1983
- David HarveyDavid Harvey (footballer)David Harvey is a former Scottish internationalist professional association footballer. A goalkeeper, Harvey is best known for his successes with Leeds United.-Leeds United:...
(b.1948), footballer - Eric LinklaterEric LinklaterEric 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:...
(1899–1974), novelist, playwright, journalist, essayist and poet - William SichelWilliam SichelWilliam Morley Sichel was born 1 October 1953 in Welford, Northamptonshire, UK where he lived for the first 10 years of his life. He is a science graduate of the University of London . He is now an International ultra distance runner and has the distinction of having won his debut races at...
(b.1951), ultra distance runner - Luke SutherlandLuke SutherlandLuke Sutherland is an English-born Scottish novelist and musician.-Biography:Sutherland was brought up in Orkney and Blairgowrie, Perth and Kinross by his adoptive Scottish parents, who moved to Scotland from Lincolnshire in 1976. He was educated at Glasgow University, where he read English and...
(b.1971), writer of novels Jelly Roll, Sweetmeat and Venus as a Boy - Jim Wallace, Baron Wallace of Tankerness (b.1954), former MP for Orkney and Shetland (1983–2001), MSP for Orkney (1999–2007), Deputy First Minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish Liberal DemocratsScottish Liberal DemocratsThe Scottish Liberal Democrats are one of the three state parties within the federal Liberal Democrats; the others being the Welsh Liberal Democrats and the Liberal Democrats in England...