We are renting a huge farmhouse on the Orkneys for a few
days. Emma and I found this by chance, since by the time we had decided to
change up our end-of-term plans almost everything was booked. We were looking
for something really remote, even for Scottish standards, and since the
mainland of Orkney is not a very large island there aren’t many things
available. Also, the commemoration ceremonies for the Battle of Jutland (World
War I naval battle) are going on this week in Kirkwall, which is the mainland’s
largest town, meaning David Cameron is here along with Germany’s president, and
a whole host of visitors, veterans, and camera crews. When we arrived on Sunday
and disembarked from the ferry, we noticed that about half of the vehicles
unloading in front of us were equipped with some kind of satellite broadcasting
dish on the roof.
Nevertheless, I managed to find this farmhouse, which is one
of four cottages offered for holiday lets by a family that lives in the tiny
“town” of Riff on the mainland. The farmhouse is the largest property, and the
only one they hadn’t yet rented out for the week. It’s much too large for us,
and I think it’s probably much too large for most vacationing families, so I
was able to strike the owner a deal for only a few nights. When we arrived and
saw the house for the first time, Emma and I kept talking about how great it
would have been if our house in St. Andrews were this big, this new, and this
well-furnished. Also, the views from every window of the ocean and the fields
full of sheep and their baby lambs weren’t bad either!
On our first full day, we visited several of the
archaeological sites on Orkney, for which the islands are well-known. While the
British consider these islands to be remote today, they used to be an important
part of the political and economic network of what is now northern Europe. The
people who lived here through the ages left a good bit of evidence on how they
lived and who they were. Our first stop in the morning was Maes Howe, a remnant
of the Neolithic communities who lived on the Orkneys 5,000 years ago. This is
an earth-covered mound, and inside is a long, narrow and perfectly straight
tunnel, about 3 feet tall and 20 feet long, that leads into a stone tomb. Since
it’s small, they only allow in small groups of visitors at a time, accompanied
by a guide from Historic Scotland. We all had to duck-walk our way in slowly
since it was so low and tight, though Leah was able to run right through! Our
guide was excellent, and showed us how they original inhabitants of the area
used the alignment of the midwinter sun to build the tomb in perfect square out
of massive rocks. With a flashlight, he also pointed out various bits of
graffiti left by the Norse inhabitants of Orkney in later centuries (900 AD or
so), and we were all impressed that the graffiti was so similar to the kind of
graffiti one would still find today, but with a Viking theme. Some of the
things etched into the stones included, “Haakon singlehanded bore treasures
from this howe” and “Ingigerd is the most beautiful of women.” I suppose you
might see a bit more crude language used today, but still…the same idea!
We also stopped at some of the ceremonial sites in the area,
most of which feature standing stones. There’s the Stones of Stenness and the
Ring of Brodgar—the latter features 27 standing stones in a large circle and
ringed by a ditch. We joined the tour groups in a quick walk up the mound, and
a quick tour around the stones. Leah wasn’t terribly impressed, so though we
managed to get in a few of the requisite families-members-lined-up-like-stones
shots, she quickly lost altitude. We managed to perk her up with a stop for
lunch at the Orkney Brewery, which is located in an old school house. There was
a large box of wooden toys in the corner for kids, and she happily played here
for quite a while as she waited for her mature cheddar toastie to emerge from
the kitchen. David and I split a massive sharing board of Orkney cheddar,
salmon, oatcakes, and bere bannock, and he had a dark beer. We followed our
lunch up with a huge slice of “dragon cake” which is a dark chocolate cake
soaked in dark beer and topped with a white meringue frosting. We all had small
bites, and Leah managed to finish off the rest of it. As we walked out of the
restaurant, she kept repeating, “I ate all the dragon cake, and now my belly is
huge!”
After lunch, we made it to Skara Brae, which is the most
well-known of the ancient sites in the Orkneys. It’s certainly the oldest, and
the folks that run it keep reminding visitors that it’s older than Stonehenge
and the Pyramids. This is a Neolithic village, comprised of a set of dwellings
built of stone, with midden (compost and rubbish, basically) packed in between
for insulation. Each small home was connected to all the others by a series of
passageways, which meant that the inhabitants could circulate among the
buildings without going outside. The site was buried in sand for centuries, and
discovered in 1850 when a storm blew through the area and exposed it. It’s very
well preserved…the homes still contain their stone beds and dressers and
hearths. However, it’s also very busy! As we arrived, the woman who sold us
tickets alerted us that a tour bus of 55 people was set to arrive in 10
minutes, so we hurried out to the site, then returned later to see the exhibits
in the visitor’s centre.
