Site Visits on the Orkneys

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.