Orkney

Coordinates: 59°00′N 3°00′W / 59.000°N 3.000°W / 59.000; -3.000

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

(Redirected from

Orkney Islands

)

Archipelago, county and council area in northern Scotland

This article is about the Scottish islands. For other uses, see Orkney (disambiguation).

"Orcadia" redirects here. For other uses, see Orcadia (disambiguation).

Orkney

Scottish Gaelic name	Arcaibh
Scots name	Orkney
Old Norse name	Orkneyjar
Meaning of name	"Ork" possibly originally from a Pictish tribal name meaning 'young pig'.[1]
Flag Coat of arms
Location
Orkney Orkney shown within Scotland
Coordinates	59°00′N 3°00′W / 59.000°N 3.000°W / 59.000; -3.000
Physical geography
Island group	Northern Isles
Area	990 km2 (380 sq mi)
Highest elevation	Ward Hill 481 m (1,578 ft)
Administration
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Country	Scotland
Council area	Orkney Islands Council
Demographics
Population	22,540 (2021)
Population density	23/km2 (59/sq mi)
Largest settlement	Kirkwall

Orkney (

Old Norse: Orkneyjar; Norn: Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands (archaically "The Orkneys"^[2]), is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north of the coast of Caithness and has about 70 islands, of which 20 are inhabited.^[3][4][5] The largest island, the Mainland, has an area of 523 square kilometres (202 sq mi), making it the sixth-largest Scottish island and the tenth-largest island in the British Isles.^[6] Orkney's largest settlement, and also its administrative centre, is Kirkwall.^[7]

Orkney is one of the 32

historic county. The local council is Orkney Islands Council, one of only three councils in Scotland with a majority of elected members who are independents.^{[Notes 1]}

The islands have been inhabited for at least 8,500 years, originally occupied by

Kingdom of Norway in 875 and settled by the Norsemen. In 1472, the Parliament of Scotland absorbed the Earldom of Orkney into the Kingdom of Scotland, following failure to pay a dowry promised to James III of Scotland by the family of his bride, Margaret of Denmark.^[10]

In addition to the Mainland, most of the remaining islands are divided into two groups: the North Isles and the South Isles. The local climate is relatively mild and the soils are extremely fertile; most of the land is farmed, and agriculture is the most important sector of the economy. The significant wind and marine energy resources are of growing importance; the amount of electricity that Orkney generates annually from renewable energy sources exceeds its demand. Daytime temperatures generally range between 7 °C (45 °F) in winter and 16 °C (61 °F) in summer.

The local people are known as Orcadians; they speak a distinctive dialect of the Scots language and have a rich body of folklore. Orkney contains some of the oldest and best-preserved Neolithic sites in Europe; the "Heart of Neolithic Orkney" is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. Orkney also has an abundance of marine and avian wildlife.

Etymology

Pytheas of Massalia visited Britain – probably sometime between 322 and 285 BC – and described it as triangular in shape, with a northern tip called Orcas.^[11] This may have referred to

Byzantine John Tzetzes in his work Chiliades called the islands Orcades.^[15]

Etymologists usually interpret the element orc- as a

prepositional case ending. Some earlier sources alternatively hypothesise that Orkney comes from the Latin orca, whale.^[19][20] The Anglo-Saxon monk Bede refers to the islands as Orcades insulae in Ecclesiastical History of the English People.^[21]

Norwegian settlers arriving from the late ninth century reinterpreted orc as the Old Norse orkn "seal" and added eyjar "islands" to the end,^[22] so the name became Orkneyjar "Seal Islands". The plural suffix -jar was later removed in English leaving the modern name Orkney. According to the Historia Norwegiæ, Orkney was named after an earl called Orkan.^[23]

The Norse knew Mainland, Orkney as Megenland "Mainland" or as Hrossey "Horse Island".^[24] The island is sometimes referred to as Pomona (or Pomonia), a name that stems from a 16th-century mistranslation by George Buchanan, which has rarely been used locally.^[25][26]

Usage of the plural “Orkneys” dates from the 18th century or earlier and was used by for example Sir Walter Scott. From the mid-19th century onwards this plural form has fallen out of use in the local area although it is still commonly found in publications located furth of Scotland.^{[27][Notes 3]}

History

Main article: History of Orkney

Prehistory

Main article: Prehistoric Orkney

A charred

Standing Stones of Stenness, the Maeshowe passage grave, the Ring of Brodgar and other standing stones. Many of the Neolithic settlements were abandoned around 2500 BC, possibly due to changes in the climate.^[33][34][35]

In September 2021, archaeologists announced the discovery of two polished stone balls in a 5500-year-old Neolithic burial tomb in Sanday. According to Dr Hugo Anderson, the second object was as the "size of a cricket ball, perfectly spherical and beautifully finished".^[36][37][38]

During the Bronze Age, fewer large stone structures were built (although the great ceremonial circles continued in use^[39]) as metalworking was slowly introduced to Britain from Europe over a lengthy period.^[40][41] There are relatively few Orcadian sites dating from this era although there is the impressive Plumcake Mound^[42] near the Ring of Brodgar and various island sites such as Tofts Ness on Sanday and the remains of two houses on Holm of Faray.^[43][44]

Iron Age

Excavations at

Broch of Burroughston^[46] and Broch of Gurness. The nature and origin of these buildings is a subject of debate. Other structures from this period include underground storehouses and aisled roundhouses, the latter usually in association with earlier broch sites.^[47][48]

During the Roman invasion of Britain the "King of Orkney" was one of 11 British leaders who is said to have submitted to the Emperor Claudius in AD 43 at Camulodunum (modern Colchester).^{[49][Notes 4]} After the Agricolan fleet had come and gone, possibly anchoring at Shapinsay, direct Roman influence seems to have been limited to trade rather than conquest.^[52]

Seeck appended to his edition of the Notitia Dignitatum.^[53] The list names six provinces in Roman Britannia: the sixth is the dubious "Orcades provincia", the possible existence of which recent researches re-evaluate.^[54]

By the late Iron Age, Orkney was part of the

enslavement and genocide.^[57] It has been suggested that an assault by forces from Fortriu in 681 in which Orkney was "annihilated" may have led to a weakening of the local power base and helped the Norse come to prominence.^[58]

Norwegian rule

Main article: Earldom of Orkney

Harald Fairhair (on the right, with fair hair) took control of Orkney in 875. He is shown here inheriting his kingdom from his father Halfdan the Black, in an illustration from the Flateyjarbók

.

Both Orkney and

Magnus Barelegs and some scholars believe it to be apocryphal).^[59] Rognvald Eysteinsson received Orkney and Shetland from Harald as an earldom as reparation for the death of his son in battle in Scotland, and then passed the earldom on to his brother Sigurd the Mighty.^[60]

However, Sigurd's line barely survived him and it was

Thorfinn Skull-splitter and during this time the deposed Norwegian King Eric Bloodaxe often used Orkney as a raiding base before being killed in 954. Thorfinn's death and presumed burial at the broch of Hoxa, on South Ronaldsay, led to a long period of dynastic strife.^[63][64]

King Olaf Tryggvason of Norway, who forcibly Christianised Orkney.^[65] Painting by Peter Nicolai Arbo

.

Initially a pagan culture, detailed information about the turn to the Christian religion in the islands of Scotland during the Norse era is elusive.

Olaf Tryggvasson in 995 when he stopped at South Walls on his way from Ireland to Norway. The King summoned the jarl Sigurd the Stout^{[Notes 7]} 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,^[65] receiving their own bishop in the early 11th century.^{[Notes 8][Notes 9]}

Thorfinn the Mighty was a son of Sigurd and a grandson of King Malcolm II of Scotland (Máel Coluim mac Cináeda). Along with Sigurd's other sons he ruled Orkney during the first half of the 11th century and extended his authority over a small maritime empire stretching from Dublin to Shetland. Thorfinn died around 1065 and his sons Paul and Erlend succeeded him, fighting at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066.^[71] Paul and Erlend quarreled as adults and this dispute carried on to the next generation. The martyrdom of Magnus Erlendsson, who was killed in April 1116 by his cousin Haakon Paulsson, resulted in the building of St Magnus Cathedral, still today a dominating feature of Kirkwall.^{[Notes 10][Notes 11]}

Unusually, from c. 1100 onwards the Norse jarls owed allegiance both to Norway for Orkney and to the Scottish crown through their holdings as

Haakon IV of Norway confirmed as Earl of Orkney in 1236.^[76]

In 1290, the death of the child princess Margaret, Maid of Norway in Orkney, en route to mainland Scotland, created a disputed succession that led to the Wars of Scottish Independence.^{[77][Notes 12]} In 1379 the earldom passed to the Sinclair family, who were also barons of Roslin near Edinburgh.^{[78][Notes 13]}

Evidence of the Viking presence is widespread and includes the settlement at the

runic inscriptions at Maeshowe.^{[Notes 14]}

Absorption by Scotland

In 1468 Orkney was pledged by Christian I, in his capacity as King of Norway, as security against the payment of the dowry of his daughter Margaret, betrothed to James III of Scotland. However, the money was never paid, and Orkney was absorbed by the Kingdom of Scotland in 1472.^{[84] [Notes 15]}

The history of Orkney prior to this time is largely the history of the ruling aristocracy. From then on ordinary people emerge with greater clarity. An influx of Scottish entrepreneurs helped to create a diverse and independent community that included farmers, fishermen and merchants that called themselves comunitas Orcadie and who proved themselves increasingly able to defend their rights against their feudal overlords.^[87][88]

From at least the 16th century, boats from mainland Scotland and the Netherlands dominated the local herring fishery. There is little evidence of an Orcadian fleet until the 19th century, but it grew rapidly, and 700 boats were involved by the 1840s with Stronsay and later Stromness becoming leading centres of development. White fish never became as dominant as in other Scottish ports.^[89]

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.^[90]

In the 17th century, Orcadians formed the overwhelming majority of employees of the

soda ash, bringing in £20,000 to the local economy.^[92] The industry collapsed suddenly in 1830 after the removal of tariffs on imported alkali.^[93]

During the 18th century

British Government until 24 May 1746, over a month after the defeat of the main Jacobite army at Culloden.^[95]

20th century

Orkney was the site of a

German High Seas Fleet was transferred in its entirety to Scapa Flow to await a decision on its future. The German sailors opened the seacocks and scuttled all the ships. Most ships were salvaged, but the remaining wrecks are now a favoured haunt of recreational divers. One month into World War II, a German U-boat sank the Royal Navy battleship HMS Royal Oak in Scapa Flow. As a result, barriers 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.^[96]

The navy base became run down after the war, eventually closing in 1957. The problem of a declining population was significant in the post-war years, though in the last decades of the 20th century there was a recovery and life in Orkney focused on growing prosperity and the emergence of a relatively classless society.[97] Orkney was rated as the best place to live in Scotland in both 2013 and 2014, and in 2019 the best place to live in the UK, according to the Halifax Quality of Life survey.^[98][99]

Overview of population trends

In the modern era, population peaked in the mid 19th century at just over 32,000 and declined for a century thereafter to a low of fewer than 18,000 in the 1970s. Declines were particularly significant in the outlying islands, some of which remain vulnerable to ongoing losses. Although Orkney is in many ways very distinct from the other islands and archipelagos of Scotland these trends are very similar to those experienced elsewhere.

Scottish island populations as a whole grew by 4% to 103,702.^[103]

Historical population Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1801 24,445 —     1811 23,238 −0.51% 1821 26,979 +1.50% 1831 28,847 +0.67% 1841 30,507 +0.56% 1851 31,455 +0.31% 1861 32,395 +0.29% 1881 32,044 −0.05% 1911 25,897 −0.71% 1921 24,111 −0.71% 1931 22,077 −0.88% 1951 21,255 −0.19% 1961 18,747 −1.25% 1971 17,070 −0.93% 1981 18,194 +0.64% 1991 19,644 +0.77% 2001 19,245 −0.20% 2011 21,349 +1.04% Source: [101]

Geography

Orkney is separated from the mainland of Scotland by the Pentland Firth, a ten-kilometre-wide (6 mi) seaway between Brough Ness on the island of South Ronaldsay and Duncansby Head in Caithness.^[104] Orkney lies between 58°41′ and 59°24′ north, and 2°22′ and 3°26′ west, measuring 80 kilometres (50 mi) from northeast to southwest and 47 kilometres (29 mi) from east to west, and covers 975 square kilometres (376 sq mi).^[105][106]

Orkney is separated from the

Shetland Islands, a group further out, by a body of water called the Fair Isle Channel.^[107]

The islands are mainly low-lying except for some sharply rising sandstone hills on Mainland, Rousay and Hoy (where the tallest point in Orkney, Ward Hill, can be found) and rugged cliffs on some western coasts. Nearly all of the islands have lochs, but the watercourses are merely streams draining the high land. The coastlines are indented, and the islands themselves are divided from each other by straits generally called "sounds" or "firths".^{[104][105][108]}

The tidal currents, or "roosts" as some of them are called locally,^[109] off many of the isles are swift, with frequent whirlpools.^{[104][Notes 16]} The islands are notable for the absence of trees, which is partly accounted for by the strong winds.^[111]

Settlements

Highland

class=notpageimage|

The largest settlements in Orkney.

Geology

The superficial rock of Orkney is almost entirely Old Red Sandstone, mostly of Middle Devonian age.^[114] As in the neighbouring mainland county of Caithness, this sandstone rests upon the metamorphic and igneous rocks of the Moine series, as may be seen on the 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.^[104][115]

The Middle Devonian is divided into three main groups. The lower part of the sequence, mostly Eifelian in age, is dominated by lacustrine beds of the lower and upper Stromness Flagstones that were deposited in Lake Orcadie.^[116] The later Rousay flagstone formation is found throughout much of the North and South Isles and East Mainland.^[117]

The Old Man of Hoy is formed from sandstone of the uppermost Eday Group that is up to 800 metres (870 yd) thick in places. It lies unconformably upon steeply inclined flagstones, the interpretation of which is a matter of continuing debate.^[117][118]

The Devonian and older rocks of Orkney are cut by a series of WSW–ENE to N–S trending faults, many of which were active during deposition of the Devonian sequences.^[119] A strong synclinal fold traverses Eday and Shapinsay, the axis trending north-south.

Middle Devonian basaltic volcanic rocks are found on western Hoy, on Deerness in eastern Mainland and on Shapinsay. Correlation between the Hoy volcanics and the other two exposures has been proposed, but differences in chemistry mean this remains uncertain.^[120] Lamprophyre dykes of Late Permian age are found throughout Orkney.^[121]

Glacial striation and the presence of chalk and flint erratics that originated from the bed of the North Sea demonstrate the influence of ice action on the geomorphology of the islands. Boulder clay is also abundant and moraines cover substantial areas.^[122]

Climate

Orkney has a cool temperate climate that is remarkably mild and steady for such a northerly

The average annual rainfall varies from 850 millimetres (33 in) to 940 millimetres (37 in).[124] 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.^[125]

To tourists, one of the fascinations of the islands is their "nightless" summers. On the

The first averages table below is for the largest settlement Kirkwall's weather station, the second is for the Loch of Hundland, a rural location to the northwest of Mainland.

Administration

The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 established a uniform system of county councils in Scotland and realigned the boundaries of many of Scotland's counties. Subsequently, Orkney County Council was created in 1890. Orkney County Council was based at the County Buildings in Watergate in Kirkwall.^[134]

Orkney is now administered by the Orkney Islands Council, a unitary island council created in the Scottish local government re-organization in 1975. In that year Scotland's civil parishes were replaced by Community Council Areas, which had an advisory, rather than an administrative role. Orkney's parishes were replaced by 20 CCAs covering 34 rural settlements.^[135][136] Ten of these CCAs were formed on Mainland, replacing 13 civil parishes and two burgh councils.

The original civil parishes were as follows:^[137]

1. Birsay and Harray (united in the 19th century^[138])
2. Cross and Burness (united at an unknown date)
3. Eday
4. Evie and Rendall (united in the 16th century^[139])
5. Firth
6. Holm
7. Hoy & Graemsay
8. Kirkwall & St Ola
9. Lady
10. Orphir
11. Papa Westray
12. Rousay & Egilsay
13. Sandwick
14. Shapinsay
15. South Ronaldsay and Burray (union of ancient parishes of St Mary's, St Peter's, and Burray^[140])
16. St Andrews and Deerness (united at an unknown date)
17. Stenness
18. Stromness
19. Stronsay (union of ancient parishes of Lady, St Nicholas, and Stronsay St Peter's^[141])
20. Walls and Flotta (united at an unknown date^[142])
21. Westray

Demographics

Genetic studies have shown that 25% of the gene pool of Orkney derives from Norwegian ancestors who occupied the islands in the 9th century.^[143]

Islands

The Mainland

The Mainland is the largest island of Orkney. Both of Orkney's

The island is mostly low-lying (especially East Mainland) but with coastal cliffs to the north and west and two sizeable lochs: the

The other islands in the group are classified as north or south of the Mainland. Exceptions are the remote islets of Sule Skerry and Sule Stack, which lie 60 kilometres (37 mi) west of the archipelago, but form part of Orkney for local government purposes. In island names, the suffix "a" or "ay" represents the Norse ey, meaning "island". Those described as "holms" are very small.

The North Isles

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 and by air services. Farming, fishing and tourism are the main sources of income for most of the islands.

The most northerly is North Ronaldsay, which lies 4 kilometres (2 mi) beyond its nearest neighbour, Sanday. To the west is Westray, which has a population of 550. It is connected by ferry and air to Papa Westray, also known as "Papay". Eday is at the centre of the North Isles. The centre of the island is moorland and the island's main industries have been peat extraction and limestone quarrying.

Rousay, Egilsay and Gairsay lie north of the west Mainland across the Eynhallow Sound. Rousay is well known for its ancient monuments, including the Quoyness chambered cairn and Egilsay has the ruins of the only round-towered church in Orkney. Wyre to the south-east contains the site of Cubbie Roo's castle. Stronsay and Papa Stronsay lie much further to the east across the Stronsay Firth. Auskerry is south of Stronsay and has a population of only five. Shapinsay and its Balfour Castle are a short distance north of Kirkwall.

Other small uninhabited islands in the North Isles group include Calf of Eday, Damsay, Eynhallow, Faray, Helliar Holm, Holm of Faray, Holm of Huip, Holm of Papa, Holm of Scockness, Kili Holm, Linga Holm, Muckle Green Holm, Rusk Holm and Sweyn Holm.

The southern group of islands surrounds Scapa Flow. Hoy, to the west, is the second largest of the Orkney Isles and Ward Hill at its northern end is the highest elevation in the archipelago. The Old Man of Hoy is a well-known seastack. Graemsay and Flotta are both linked by ferry to the Mainland and Hoy, and the latter is known for its large oil terminal. South Walls has a 19th-century Martello tower and is connected to Hoy by the Ayre.

Orkney Islands Council consists of 21 members, 18 of whom are independent, that is they do not stand as representatives of a political party. Two councillors are members of the indigenous Orkney Manifesto Group, and the remaining councillor represents the Scottish Greens.^[152][153]

The Orkney Movement, a political party that supported devolution for Orkney from the rest of Scotland, contested the 1987 general election as the Orkney and Shetland Movement (a coalition of the Orkney movement and its equivalent for Shetland). The Scottish National Party chose not to contest the seat to give the movement a "free run". Their candidate, John Goodlad, came 4th with 3,095 votes, 14.5% of those cast, but the experiment has not been repeated.^[154]

In the 2014 Scottish independence referendum 67.2% of voters in Orkney voted no to the question "Should Scotland be an independent country?" This was the highest no vote by percentage in any council area in Scotland.^[155] Turnout for the referendum was at 83.7% in Orkney with 10,004 votes cast in the area against independence by comparison to 4,883 votes for independence.^[156]

In the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum 63.2% of voters in Orkney voted Remain.

In 2022, as part of the

In July 2023, Orkney Council were investigating proposals to change its status, looking at options that included becoming a British Crown Dependency, a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Norway or just staying in the United Kingdom.^[159]

Economy

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 according to a 2008 report.^[160] More than 90% of agricultural land is used for grazing for sheep and cattle, with cereal production utilising about 4% (4,200 hectares (10,000 acres)) and woodland occupying only 134 hectares (330 acres).^[161]

Fishing has declined in importance, but still employed 345 individuals in 2001, about 3.5% of the islands' economically active population,^{[clarification needed]} the modern industry concentrating on herring, white fish, lobsters, crabs and other shellfish, and salmon fish farming.^{[Notes 17]}

A 2009 report indicated the traditional sectors of the economy export beef, cheese, whisky, beer, fish and other seafood. In recent years there has been growth in other areas including tourism, food and beverage manufacture, jewellery, knitwear, and other crafts production, construction and oil transportation through the Flotta oil terminal.^[162] Retailing accounts for 17.5% of total employment,^[161] and public services also play a significant role, employing a third of the islands' workforce.^[163] There are two Scotch whisky distilleries in Orkney (Scapa distillery and the Highland Park distillery).^[164] With the Deerness Distillery, a third whisky distillery is to be added in the summer of 2023.^[165][166]

In 2007, of the 1,420

A new report, published in September 2020, provided updates about several significant aspects of the economy:[167]

there are around 1,500 businesses on the island. More than 90% have fewer than 10 employees. [Estimates indicate] 11,000 jobs, of which around 5,000 are part-time ... There's not much manufacturing, beyond food and drink processing (think cheese and whisky), and apart from the Flotta oil terminal, it lacks big private employers ... Fisheries off Orkney are only half as important to employment as in Shetland, and farming is roughly twice as important.

The report expressed concern about the loss of business caused by the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic: "blighting business activity, travel and tourism". On 1 February 2021, a new plan (subsequent to previous funding schemes) from the Scottish government was announced. The Island Equivalent Payment Fund was designed to "provide the equivalent of Level 4 support to eligible businesses in Orkney and other island areas".^[168]

Tourism

A report published in February 2020 stated that spending by visitors increased from £49.5 million in 2017 to £67.1 million in 2019, making this a significant sector of the economy.^[169] The primary attractions that encourage tourism include the "Heart of Neolithic Orkney" on the main island, defined as "a group of 5,000-year-old sites that include the preserved village of Skara Brae and the Ring of Brodgar stone circle". The Hoy area's landscape is also attractive to visitors, "with its scattered woodland, steep valleys, high cliffs and the famous Old Man, a withered red sandstone sea stack".^[170] In 2017, 62% of tourists to Orkney visited for its heritage. The UHI Archaeology Institute have led excavations at the Ness of Brodgar, contributing to tourism to the area and driving interest in archaeology.^[171]

During most years, the islands are the home of several international festivals, including the Orkney International Science Festival in September, a folk festival in May, and the St Magnus International Arts Festival in June.^[172]

The volume of visitors arriving on ferries declined substantially in 2020, by 71%, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[173] A news report added that cruise ships also did not arrive and there were "no day trippers and no holiday lets" as of 25 April 2020. Several major events were cancelled: St Magnus Festival, Orkney Folk Festival, Stromness Shopping Week and the Agricultural Shows.^[174]

Power

Orkney has significant wind and marine energy resources, and renewable energy has recently come into prominence. Although Orkney is connected to the mainland, it generates over 100% of its net power from renewables according to a 2015 report.^[175] This comes mainly from wind turbines situated across Orkney.

The

Orkney has one of the highest uptakes of electric vehicles in the UK with more than 2% of the vehicles on the road being electric, as of 2019.[183]

Hydrogen manufacturing

A March 2019 report by the BBC stated that "Orkney creates more clean electricity than its inhabitants need. Even after exporting to the UK national grid, the islands' winds, waves and tides generate about 130% of the electricity its population needs – all of it from clean sources".^[184] A report about sustainable energy in the islands listed two options. A new cable could be laid for exporting of energy to the mainland but another proposal has progressed rapidly since that time: making "excess renewable power into another fuel – such as hydrogen – and then [storing] it".^[185][186]

In May 2020, CNN published more specific information about the hydrogen plan:^[187]

Orkney's success in creating hydrogen using clean energy demonstrates that it can be done at scale. The islands are already using hydrogen to power vehicles, and it will soon be used to heat a local primary school. Now, Orkney is hoping to use hydrogen fuel cells to power a seagoing vessel able to transport both goods and passengers.

Additional specific information about the status of the hydrogen scheme was published in late November 2020 by Orkney Islands Council.^[188] A few weeks earlier, another report indicated that the world's first hydrogen-fueled ferry was to be tested on the Orkney Islands, using "a hydrogen/diesel dual fuel conversion system", developed by a consortium known as the HyDIME project. Initially hydrogen was to power only the auxiliary engine but the plan calls for later using this fuel for the primary engine. The report suggested that "if all goes well, hydrogen ferries could be sailing between Orkney's islands within six months".^[189]

Kirkwall Airport in Orkney was scheduled "to have its heat and power decarbonised through green hydrogen as part of a new project" starting in 2021.^[190] A hydrogen combustion engine system was to be connected to the airport's heating system. The scheme planned to reduce the significant emissions that were created with older technology that heated buildings and water. This was part of the plan formulated by the Scottish government for the Highlands and Islands "to become the world's first net zero aviation region by 2040".^[191]

Hydrogen manufacturing is also planned for Shetland^[192] and will spread to other areas of Scotland that have access to clean electricity. To achieve that goal, the government announced an investment of £100 million in the hydrogen sector "for the £180 million Emerging Energy Technologies Fund".^[193]

Transport

Air

Ferries serve both to link Orkney to the rest of Scotland, and also to link together the various islands of the Orkney archipelago. Ferry services operate between Orkney and the Scottish mainland and Shetland on the following routes:

• Gills Bay to St Margaret's Hope (operated by Pentland Ferries)
• John o' Groats to Burwick on South Ronaldsay (seasonal passenger only service, operated by John o' Groats Ferries)
• Lerwick to Kirkwall (operated by NorthLink Ferries
  )
• Aberdeen to Kirkwall (operated by NorthLink Ferries)
• Scrabster Harbour, Thurso to Stromness
  (operated by NorthLink Ferries)

Inter-island ferry services connect all the inhabited islands to Orkney Mainland and are operated by Orkney Ferries, a company owned by Orkney Islands Council. The isles of Westray, Papa Westray (or Papay), North Ronaldsay, Sanday, Eday, Stronsay, and Shapinsay are served from Kirkwall harbour, while the northern end of Hoy and Graemsay are served from Stromness harbour, the Lyness end of Hoy, as well as Longhope on South Walls, and Flotta are served from Houton on the south of the mainland, and Rousay, Egilsay and Wyre are served from Tingwall, in the Rendall area of the Orkney mainland. As well as this, the MV Golden Mariana connects the village of Pierowall on Westray with Papa Westray - this provides a vital local service for schoolchildren on Papay as well as supplementing existing through sailings from Kirkwall.^[194]

Bus

Local buses around the Orkney Mainland, as well as across the

In 2021, the island's three-vehicle minibus service for disabled people was a target for hackers seeking a £1,000 ransom in cryptocurrency.[198]

Media

Orkney is served by a weekly local newspaper, The Orcadian, published on Thursdays. It is first published in 1854 and part of the Orkney Media Group, formed out of a partnership with a competing newspaper, Orkney Today, in 2007.^[199]

A local BBC radio station,

Orkney is home to the Orkney Library and Archive, based in Kirkwall. The library service provides access to over 145,000 items.^[204] They have a wide range of fiction and non-fiction titles available for loan as well as audiobooks, maps, eBooks, music CDs, and DVDs.^[205] Orkney Library and Archive operates a Mobile Library Service that serves the rural parishes and islands of Orkney. The Mobile Library carries a wide range of books and audiobooks suitable for all ages and is completely free to use.^[206]

Language, literature, and folklore

At the beginning of recorded history, the islands were inhabited by the Picts, whose language was Brythonic.^{[Notes 19]} The Ogham script on the Buckquoy spindle-whorl is cited as evidence for the pre-Norse existence of Old Irish in Orkney.^{[209][Notes 20]}

After the Norse occupation, the

Orkney has a rich folklore, and many of the former tales concern trows, an Orcadian form of troll that draws on the islands' Scandinavian connections.^[216] Local customs in the past included marriage ceremonies at the Odin Stone that formed part of the Stones of Stenness.^[217]

The best known literary figures from modern Orkney are the poet Edwin Muir, the poet and novelist George Mackay Brown, and the novelist Eric Linklater.^[218]

Orcadians

An

Native Orcadians refer to the non-native residents of the islands as "ferry loupers", ("loup" meaning "jump" in the Scots language^[229]) a term that has been in use for nearly two centuries at least.^{[230][Notes 23]}

Natural history

Orkney has an abundance of wildlife, especially of

The North Ronaldsay sheep is an unusual breed of domesticated animal, subsisting largely on a diet of seaweed, since they are confined to the foreshore for most of the year to conserve the limited grazing inland.^[235] The island was also a habitat for the Atlantic walrus until the mid-16th century.^[236]

The Orkney char (Salvelinus inframundus) used to live in Heldale Water on Hoy. It has been considered locally extinct since 1908.^[237][238]

Stoat problem and solution

The introduction of non-native stoats since 2010, a natural predator of the common vole and thus of the Orkney vole,^[239][240] was also harming native bird populations.^[241] NatureScot, Scotland's nature agency, provided these additional specifics:^[242]

The introduction of a ground predator like the stoat to islands such as Orkney, where there are no native ground predators, is very bad news for Orkney's native species. Stoats are accomplished predators and pose a very serious threat to Orkney's wildlife, including: the native Orkney vole, hen harrier, short-eared owl and many ground nesting birds.

In 2018, a stoat eradication project was presented by NatureScot to be applied "across Orkney Mainland, South Ronaldsay, Burray, Glimps Holm, Lamb Holm and Hunda, and the biosecurity activities delivered on the non-linked islands of the archipelago". The Orkney Native Wildlife Project planned to use "humane DOC150 and DOC200 traps".

Not all was going well as of 15 January 2021, according to The Times, which stated that the project "has been hit by alleged sabotage after the destruction and theft of traps that have also killed and injured household pets and other animals" but added that the £6 million programme was supported by most islanders.^[246] Another news item stated that some of the traps had "caught and killed family pets as well as hundreds of other animals".^[247] A subsequent report confirmed that "Police Scotland is investigating a number of incidents involving damage to and the theft of stoat traps in Orkney".^[248]

Protected areas

There are 13 Special Protection Areas and 6 Special Areas of Conservation in Orkney.^[249][250] One of Scotland's 40 national scenic areas, the Hoy and West Mainland National Scenic Area, is also located in the islands.^[251] The seas to the northwest of Orkney are important for sand eels that provides a food source for many species of fish, seabirds, seals, whales and dolphins, and are now protected as Nature Conservation Marine Protected Area (NCMPA) that covers 4,365 km² (1,685 sq mi).^[252][253]

Freedom of the Island

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (July 2021)

Orkney as a whole, since 1887, has been associated specifically with and as a recruiting area of the following military units that have received the Freedom of the Island of Orkney:

• The Seaforth Highlanders, Queens Own Highlanders, The Highlanders Regiment and 4th Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland.
• The Northern Diving Group Royal Navy: 9 July 2021.^[254][255]

See also