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Orkney

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Geography of Great
Britain

                  Orkney
                 Location
     Image:ScotlandOrkneyIslands.png
                 Geography
   Area           Ranked 16th
    -Total        990 km²
    -% Water       ?
   Admin HQ       Kirkwall
   ISO 3166-2     GB-ORK
   ONS code       00RA
               Demographics
   Population     Ranked 32nd
    -Total (2005) 19,590
    - Density     20 / km²
                 Politics
          Orkney Islands Council
   http://www.orkney.gov.uk/
   Control        Independent
   MPs
                    * Alistair Carmichael

   MSPs
                    * Jim Wallace

                 Scotland

   Orkney consists of about 20 inhabited islands plus 50 others, some
   quite small, and is 16 km (approximately 10 miles) north of Caithness
   in northern mainland Scotland. The largest island in the group is known
   as the Mainland and has an area of 202 square miles, making it the
   sixth largest Scottish island and the ninth largest island surrounding
   Great Britain.

   Orkney is administered by the Orkney Islands Council, one of the 32
   council areas of Scotland. The administrative capital, Kirkwall, is on
   a relatively narrow strip of land joining West Mainland [ ]and East
   Mainland [ ]. Home to the St Magnus' Cathedral, it has about 8,500
   inhabitants and a large port. The only other burgh is Stromness in West
   Mainland, with a population of about 2,000. The third largest
   settlement (c. 550) is St Margaret's Hope, on South Ronaldsay.

   Orkney is also a constituency of the Scottish Parliament, a Lieutenancy
   area, and a former county.

Islands

   Stromness in 2006.
   Enlarge
   Stromness in 2006.

   The largest island in Orkney is known as the "Mainland". An older name
   for it is Hrossey (Horse-island). Other islands can be classified as
   north or south of the Mainland. The islands north of the Mainland are
   known collectively as the North Isles, those to the south as the South
   Isles. The remote Sule Skerry and Sule Stack lie around 60 km west of
   the archipelago, but form part of the council area.

The North Isles

   Flag of Orkney (unofficial).
   Enlarge
   Flag of Orkney (unofficial).

   The northern group of islands is the most extensive and consists of a
   large number of moderately sized islands, linked to the Mainland by
   ferries. Most of the islands described as " holms" are very small.
     * Auskerry
     * Calf of Eday
     * Damsay
     * Eday, Egilsay, Eynhallow
     * Faray
     * Gairsay
     * Helliar Holm, Holm of Faray, Holm of Huip, Holm of Papay, Holm of
       Scockness
     * Kili Holm
     * Linga Holm
     * Muckle Green Holm
     * North Ronaldsay
     * Papa Stronsay, Papa Westray
     * Rousay, Rusk Holm
     * Sanday, Shapinsay, Stronsay, Sweyn Holm
     * Westray, Wyre

The South Isles

   The southern group of islands surrounds Scapa Flow. Hoy is the highest
   of the Orkney Isles, while South Ronaldsay, Burray and Lamb Holm are
   linked to the Mainland by the Churchill Barriers. The Pentland Skerries
   lie further south, close to the Scottish mainland.
     * Burray
     * Calf of Flotta, Cava, Copinsay, Corn Holm
     * Fara, Flotta
     * Glims Holm, Graemsay
     * Hoy, Hunda
     * Lamb Holm
     * Rysa Little
     * South Ronaldsay, Switha, Swona

Geography

   Orkney Islands Aerial photomap
   Enlarge
   Orkney Islands Aerial photomap

   The Pentland Firth is a seaway which separates Orkney from the mainland
   of Scotland. The firth is 11 km wide between Brough Ness on the island
   of South Ronaldsay and Duncansby Head in Caithness.

   Orkney lies between 58° 41' and 59° 24' North, and 2° 22' and 3° 26'
   West, measures 80 km from northeast to southwest and 47 km from east to
   west, and covers 973 km². Except for some sharply rising sandstone
   hills and rugged cliffs on the west of the larger ones, the islands are
   mainly lowlying.

   The hilliest island is Hoy; the highest point in Orkney, Ward Hill, is
   to be found there. The only other islands containing heights of any
   importance are the Mainland, with (another) Ward Hill (268 m) and
   Wideford Hill, and Rousay. Nearly all of the islands possess lochs
   (lakes), and The Loch of Harray and The Loch of Stenness on the
   Mainland attain noteworthy proportions. The rivers are merely streams
   draining the high land. Excepting on the west fronts of the Mainland,
   Hoy and Rousay, the coastline of the islands is deeply indented, and
   the islands themselves are divided from each other by straits generally
   called "sounds" or "firths", though off the north-east of Hoy the
   designation "Bring Deeps" is used, south of the Mainland is Scapa Flow
   and to the south-west of Eday is found the Fall of Warness.

   The very names of the islands indicate their nature: the terminal "a"
   or "ay" represents the Norse ey, meaning "island". The islets are
   usually styled "holms" and the isolated rocks "skerries".

   The tidal currents, or races, or "roost" (as some of them are called
   locally, from the Icelandic) off many of the isles run with enormous
   velocity, and whirlpools are of frequent occurrence, and strong enough
   at times to prove a source of danger to small craft.

   The charm of Orkney does not lie in their ordinary physical features,
   so much as in beautiful atmospheric effects, extraordinary examples of
   light and shade, and rich coloration of cliff and sea.

   The islands are notable for the absence of trees, which is partly
   accounted for by the amount of wind (although the climate in general is
   temperate). The formation of peat is evidence that this was not always
   the case, and deliberate deforestation is believed to have taken place
   at some stage prior to the Neolithic, the use of stone in settlements
   such as Skara Brae being evidence of the lack of availability of timber
   for building.

   Most of the land is still taken up by farms, and agriculture is by far
   the most important sector of the economy, with fishing also being a
   major occupation. Orkney exports beef, cheese, whisky, beer, fish and
   seafood.

Geology

   The Old Man of Hoy.
   Enlarge
   The Old Man of Hoy.

   All the islands of this group are built up entirely of Old Red
   Sandstone. As in the neighbouring mainland county of Caithness, these
   rocks rest upon the metamorphic rocks of the eastern schists, as may be
   seen on Mainland, where a narrow strip is exposed between Stromness and
   Inganess, and again in the small island of Graemsay; they are
   represented by grey gneiss and granite.

   The upper division of the Old Red Sandstone is found only on Hoy, where
   it forms the Old Man of Hoy and neighbouring cliffs on the northwest
   coast. The Old Man of Hoy presents a characteristic section, for it
   exhibits a thick pile of massive, current-bedded red sandstones resting
   upon a thin bed of amygdaloidal porphyrite near the foot of the
   pinnacle. This, in its turn, lies unconformably upon steeply inclined
   flagstones. This bed of volcanic rock may be followed northward in the
   cliffs, and it may be noticed that it thickens considerably in that
   direction.

   The Lower Old Red Sandstone is represented by well-bedded flagstones
   over most of the islands; in the south of the Mainland these are
   faulted against an overlying series of massive red sandstones, but a
   gradual passage from the flagstones to the sandstones may be followed
   from Westray southeastwards into Eday. A strong synclinal fold
   traverses Eday and Shapinsay, the axis being North and South. Near
   Haco's Ness in Shapinsay there is a small exposure of amygdaloidal
   diabase, which is (of course) older than that on Hoy.

   Many indications of ice action are found on these islands; striated
   surfaces are to be seen on the cliffs in Eday and Westray, in Kirkwall
   Bay and on Stennie Hill in Eday; boulder clay, with marine shells, and
   with many boulders of rocks foreign to the islands ( chalk, oolitic
   limestone, flint, etc), which must have been brought up from the region
   of Moray Firth, rests upon the old strata in many places. Local
   moraines are found in some of the valleys in Mainland and Hoy.

Climate

   The climate is remarkably temperate and steady for such a northerly
   latitude. The average temperature for the year is 8 °C (46 °F), for
   winter 4 °C (39 °F) and for summer 12 °C (54 °F). The winter months are
   January, February and March, the last being the coldest. Spring never
   begins before April, and it is the middle of June before the warmth
   grows comfortable. September is frequently the finest month, and at the
   end of October or the beginning of November the "peedie" (or little)
   summer or milder weather may occur.

   The average annual rainfall varies from 850 mm (33 in.) to 940 mm (37
   in.). Fogs occur during summer and early autumn, and furious gales may
   be expected four or five times in the year.

   To tourists, one of the fascinations of the islands is their nightless
   summers. On the longest day, the sun rises at 03:00 and sets at 21:25 —
   and darkness is unknown, it being possible to read at midnight. Winter,
   however, is long. On the shortest day the sun rises at 09:10 and sets
   at 15:17.

   The soil generally is a sandy loam or a strong but friable clay, and
   very fertile. Large quantities of seaweed as well as lime and marl are
   available for manure.

Economy

   The woollen trade once promised to reach considerable dimensions, but
   towards the end of the 18th century was superseded by the linen (for
   which flax came to be largely grown); and when this in turn collapsed
   before the products of the mills of Dundee, Dunfermline and Glasgow,
   straw-plaiting was taken up, though only to be killed in due time by
   the competition of the south. The kelp industry was formerly of at
   least minor importance.

   For several centuries the Dutch practically monopolised the herring
   fishery, but when their supremacy was destroyed by the salt duty, the
   Orcadians failed to seize the opportunity thus presented, and George
   Barry (died 1805) recorded that in his day the fisheries were almost
   totally neglected. The industry, however, revived, concentrating on
   herring, cod and ling, but also catching lobsters and crabs.

   In recent years, the Orkney economy has seen growth in areas other than
   the traditional agriculture, livestock farming, and fishing. These
   include tourism; food and beverage manufacture; jewellery, knitwear,
   and other crafts production; construction; and oil transportation
   through the Flotta oil terminal. Public services also play a
   significant role.

Communications

   Frequent ferry services operate on the following routes:
     * Lerwick to Kirkwall
     * Aberdeen to Kirkwall
     * Scrabster to Stromness
     * John O'Groats to Burwick, South Ronaldsay
     * Gills Bay to St Margaret's Hope

   Most of the larger islands have their own airfield or airstrip.
   Loganair operates regular services to six islands from Kirkwall. The
   shortest scheduled air service in the world, between the islands of
   Westray and Papa Westray, is scheduled at two minutes duration but can
   take less than a minute if the wind is in the right direction.

   There are ideas being discussed to build an undersea tunnel between
   Orkney and the Scottish mainland, at a length of about 9-10 miles
   (15-16 km) or (more likely) one connecting Mainland to Shapinsay.
   (Links: both 2005).

Heritage

   Skara Brae.
   Enlarge
   Skara Brae.

   Located in West Mainland is the 'Heart of Neolithic Orkney', a
   designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. This comprises a group of
   Neolithic monuments which consist of a large chambered tomb ( Maes
   Howe), two ceremonial stone circles (the Standing Stones of Stenness
   and the Ring of Brodgar) and a settlement ( Skara Brae), together with
   a number of unexcavated burial, ceremonial and settlement sites. The
   group constitutes a major prehistoric cultural landscape which gives a
   graphic depiction of life in this remote archipelago in the far north
   of Scotland some 5,000 years ago.

   Viking settlers comprehensively occupied Orkney, and the islands became
   a possession of Norway until being given to Scotland during the 15th
   century as part of a dowry settlement. Evidence of the Viking presence
   is widespread, and includes the settlement at the Brough of Birsay, the
   vast majority of place names, and runic inscriptions at Maeshowe and
   other ancient sites.

History

   Ring of Brodgar.
   Enlarge
   Ring of Brodgar.

   The rapid spread of Neolithic culture up the western seaways brought
   early Megalithic culture and farming settlements such as Knap of Howar
   from 3500 BC and the slightly later village at Skara Brae. Numerous
   chambered cairns include the magnificent Maeshowe passage grave, near
   the Ring of Brodgar and other standing stones.

   The Iron age inhabitants were Picts, evidence of whose occupation still
   exists in "weems" or underground houses, and " brochs" or round towers.

   The Romans were aware of, and probably circumnavigated, the Orkney
   Islands, which they called "Orcades". There is evidence that they
   traded, either directly or indirectly, with the inhabitants. However,
   they made no attempt to occupy the islands.

   If, as seems likely, the Dalriadic Gaels established a footing in the
   islands towards the beginning of the 6th century, their success was
   short-lived, and the Picts regained power and kept it until
   dispossessed by the Norsemen in the 9th century. In the wake of the
   Scots, incursionists followed the Celtic missionaries about 565. They
   were companions of Saint Columba and their efforts to convert the folk
   to Christianity seem to have impressed the popular imagination, for
   several islands bear the epithet "Papa" in commemoration of the
   preachers.

   Vikings having made the islands the headquarters of their buccaneering
   expeditions (carried out indifferently against their own Norway and the
   coasts and isles of Scotland), Harold Hårfagre ("Fair Hair") subdued
   the rovers in 875 and annexed both Orkney and Shetland to Norway. The
   martyrdom of Earl Magnus resulted in the building of St Magnus
   Cathedral, Kirkwall. The islands remained under the rule of Norse earls
   until 1231, when the line of the jarls became extinct. In that year,
   the earldom of Caithness was granted to Magnus, second son of the Earl
   of Angus, whom the king of Norway apparently confirmed in the title.
   Recent studies from the field of population genetics reveal a
   significant percentage of Norse ethnic heritage — up to one third of
   the Y chromosomes on the islands are derived from western Norwegian
   sources, as opposed to the Shetlands, where over half the male lineage
   is Norse.

   Some jarls of Orkney:
     * Ragnvald Eysteinsson, 890
     * Turf-Einar, 910
     * Thorfinn Turf-Einarsson, Earl of Orkney, 963

   In 1468, Orkney and Shetland were pledged by Christian I of Denmark and
   Norway for the payment of the dowry of his daughter Margaret, betrothed
   to James III of Scotland, and as the money was never paid, due to the
   fact that Margaret died in the crossing, their connection with the
   crown of Scotland has been perpetual. The town of St. Margaret's Hope
   on South Ronaldsay was named in her memory. In 1471, James bestowed the
   castle and lands of Ravenscraig, in Fife, on William, Earl of Orkney,
   in exchange for all his rights to the earldom of Orkney, which, by an
   Act of the Parliament of Scotland, passed on February 20, 1472, was
   annexed to the Scottish crown.

   In 1564, Lord Robert Stewart, natural son of James V of Scotland, who
   had visited Kirkwall twenty-four years before, was made sheriff of
   Orkney and Shetland, and received possession of the estates of the
   udallers; in 1581, he was created earl of Orkney by James VI of
   Scotland, the charter being ratified ten years later to his son
   Patrick, but in 1615, the earldom was again annexed to the crown.

   The islands were the rendezvous of Montrose's expedition in 1650 which
   culminated in his imprisonment and death. During the Protectorate, they
   were visited by a detachment of Cromwell's troops, who initiated the
   inhabitants into various industrial arts and new methods of
   agriculture.

   In 1707, the islands were granted to the earl of Morton in mortgage,
   redeemable by the Crown on payment of 30,000 pounds, and subject to an
   annual feu-duty of 500 pounds; but in 1766, his estates were sold to
   Sir Lawrence Dundas, ancestor of the Earls of Zetland.

   In early times, both the archbishop of Hamburg and the archbishop of
   York disputed with the Norwegians ecclesiastical jurisdiction over
   Orkney and the right of consecrating bishops; but, ultimately, the
   Norwegian bishops, the first of whom was William the Old (consecrated
   in 1102), continued the canonical succession. The see remained vacant
   from 1580 to 1606, and from 1638 till the Restoration, and, after the
   accession of William III, the episcopacy was finally abolished (1697),
   although many of the clergy refused to conform.

   The toponymy of Orkney is wholly Norse, and the Norse tongue, at last
   extinguished by the constant influx of settlers from Scotland, lingered
   until the end of the 18th century. Readers of Scott's Pirate will
   remember the frank contempt that Magnus Troil expressed for the Scots,
   and his opinions probably reflected the general Norse feeling on the
   subject. When the islands were given as security for the princess's
   dowry, there seems reason to believe that it was intended to redeem the
   pledge, because it was then stipulated that the Norse system of
   government and the law of Saint Olaf should continue to be observed in
   Orkney and Shetland. Thus, the udal succession and mode of land tenure
   (that is, absolute freehold as distinguished from feudal tenure)
   lingered to some extent, and the remaining udallers held their lands
   and passed them on without written title. By the mid 1800s, Orkney was
   firmly under the rule of Scotland, with absentee sheriffs holding
   nominal power. For example, Lord Neaves, the esteemed Scottish jurist,
   held the sheriff position on Orkney from 1845 to 1852.

   During World War I and World War II, the Royal Navy had a major base at
   Scapa Flow. The base was closed in 1956.

   In the Arthurian legend, Orkney is the home to King Lot, Sir Gareth,
   Sir Gaheris, Sir Gawaine and Sir Agravain.

Language

   At the beginning of recorded history the islands were inhabited by the
   Picts, whose language is unknown. Opinions on the nature of Pictish
   vary from its having been a Celtic language, to its not having been
   Indo-European at all. In addition there is archaeological evidence for
   the pre-Norse existence of Old Irish in Orkney, for example the
   Buckquoy spindle-whorl.

   After the Norse occupation the toponymy of Orkney became almost wholly
   West Norse. The Norse language evolved into the local Norn, which
   lingered until the end of the 18th century, when it finally died out.
   Norn became replaced by the Orcadian dialect of Insular Scots. The
   Education Act of 1872 accelerated the weakening of the Orcadian
   dialect, which, since World War II, is being replaced by Scottish
   English.

   However, the distinctive sing-song accent and many dialect words of
   Norse origin continue to be used. The Orcadian dialect lingers in the
   remoter parts of the archipelago. Studies made made by Gregor Lamb and
   others demonstrate the Norse influence on the grammar of Orcadian. The
   Orcadian word most frequently encountered by visitors is "peedie",
   meaning small. Its origin is not Norse, but may well be a borrowing of
   the French "petit".

Orcadians

   An Orcadian is a native of Orkney, a term that reflects a strongly held
   identity with a tradition of understatement.

   Although the annexation of the earldom by Scotland in 1472 took place
   over five centuries ago, most Orcadians regard themselves as Orcadians
   first and Scots second. (Readers of Scott's Pirate will remember the
   frank contempt which Magnus Troil expressed for the Scots.)

   When an Orcadian speaks of "Scotland", they are talking about the land
   to the immediate south of the Pentland Firth. When an Orcadian speaks
   of "the mainland", they mean Mainland, Orkney. They are emphatic that
   tartan, clans, bagpipes and the like are traditions from the Scottish
   Highlands and are not a part of the islands' indigenous culture.

   Native Orcadians refer to the non-native residents of the islands as
   "Ferry Loupers", a term that has been in use for nearly two centuries
   at least . This designation is celebrated in Orkney Trout Fishing
   Association's "Ferryloupers Trophy", demonstrating it to be a
   non-derogatory appellation.

Well-known Orcadians

   In family name aphabetical oder:
     * James Atkine (1613 – 1687), bishop first of Moray and afterwards of
       Galloway
     * William Balfour Baikie (1825 – 1864), traveller in Africa
     * George Mackay Brown (1921 – 1996), poet, author, playwright.
     * Mary Brunton (1778 – 1818), author of Self-Control, Discipline and
       other novels
     * Stanley Cursiter (1887 – 1976), artist
     * Walter Traill Dennison ( 1826 - 1894), Orcadian folklorist
     * Magnus Erlendsson (Saint Magnus) (c1070 – c1117), Earl of Orkney
       c1105 – 1117
     * Matthew Forster Heddle (1828 – 1897), mineralogist, author of The
       Mineralogy of Scotland
     * Malcolm Laing (1762 – 1818), author of the History of Scotland from
       the Union of the Crowns to the Union of the Kingdoms
     * Samuel Laing (1780 – 1868), author of A Residence in Norway, and
       translator of the Heimskringla, the Icelandic chronicle of the
       kings of Norway
     * Samuel Laing (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
     * Eric Linklater (1899 – 1974), novelist, playwright, journalist,
       essayist, and poet
     * Magnus Linklater, journalist, son of Eric Linklater
     * John D Mackay, headmaster and Orkney patriot
     * Murdoch McKenzie (died 1797), the hydrographer
     * Edwin Muir (1887 – 1959), author and poet
     * Dr. John Rae (1813 – 1893), an Arctic explorer
     * Rognvald Kali Kolssson (Saint Rognvald) (c1103 – 1158), Earl of
       Orkney 1136 – 1158
     * Julyan Sinclair, television presenter
     * William Sinclair (1766 – 1818), Chief Factor at the Hudsons Bay
       Company
     * Thomas Stewart Traill (1781 – 1862), professor of medical
       jurisprudence at Edinburgh University and editor of the 8th edition
       of the Encyclopaedia Britannica
     * Cameron Stout winner of Big Brother in 2003, brother of Julyan
       Sinclair
     * Wrigley twins Jennifer and Hazel, international folk duo.

People associated with Orkney

     * Rev. Matthew Armour (1820-1903), Sanday’s radical Free Kirk
       Minister
     * Andrew Greig (born 1951), Scottish writer
     * Jo Grimond (1913-1993), former Liberal Party leader and MP for
       Orkney and Shetland 1950-1983
     * Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, composer
     * Luke Sutherland, writer of novels Jelly Roll, Sweatmeat and Venus
       as a Boy

Constituencies

   Orkney is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the
   United Kingdom as part of the Orkney and Shetland constituency, which
   elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system
   of election.

   In the Scottish Parliament the Orkney constituency elects one Member of
   the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post system. Also,
   Orkney is within the Highlands and Islands electoral region.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orkney"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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