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Humans have inhabitedOrkney, an archipelago in the north ofScotland, for about 8,800 years: Archeological evidence dates fromMesolithic times.Scandinavian clans dominated the area from the 8th century CE, using the islands as a base for further incursions. In the late 15th century the archipelago became part ofScotland.
As withPrehistoric Scotland generally,hunter gatherers followed the slow retreat ofice ageglaciation. The rapid spread ofNeolithic culture up the western seaways soon brought early farming settlements andMegalithic culture. The prevalent use of the local sandstone, found ready split into convenient building slabs on the shore, preserved numerous structures from this period, including prehistoric villages,brochs,souterrain structures,chambered cairns andstanding stones.
The oldest stone house still standing in northern Europe (occupied from3500 BC to3100 BC) is atKnap of Howar on the island ofPapa Westray, with walls intact to a low eaves height, and stone furniture looking very usable. Finely made and decoratedUnstan ware pottery links the inhabitants tochambered cairn tombs nearby. AtSkara Brae on theMainland, passageways connect similar houses into a village, dating from about3000 BC to2500 BC. Pottery found here is of thegrooved ware style which was found at theStanding Stones of Stenness, close to the exceptionalMaeshowepassage grave typechambered cairn of about the same period.
The nearbyRing of Brodgar circle of standing stones was one of the first to be analysed by ProfessorAlexander Thom to establish the likely use of standing stones as astronomical observatories. AnotherNeolithic village has been found in the vicinity atBarnhouse Settlement.
The brochs of Orkney occur on several islands. Many of these structures, such asBurroughston Broch onShapinsay, are isolated fortified houses. Others, such as theBroch of Gurness, are surrounded by numerous other dwellings and ancillary structures. In many cases the brochs also are surrounded by elaborate ditch and rampart defences. Both Burroughston Broch[1] and the Broch of Gurness have interesting guard chambers within their thickdrystone walls to monitor the single entrance passages.
The Iron Age brought impressive "Brochs" or round towers, and "weems" or underground houses. Such implements as have survived are primitive, and includequern-stones (for grindinggrain), stone whorls and bone combs used in primitive forms of weaving, and specimens of simple pottery ware. Little is known of the culture and language of the early inhabitants. Only two languages are found in pre-Norse Orkney,Old Gaelic (Old Irish) andLatin.
TheRomans were aware of (and probably circumnavigated) the Orkney Islands, which they called "Orcades", thought to be aBrythonicCeltic name. A "king of the Orcades" was one of the 11 rulers said to have paid tribute toClaudius followinghis invasion of Britain in AD 43. Indeed 4th and 5th century sources include the Islands in aRoman province.[2] Archaeological evidence suggests that the Romans only traded with the inhabitants, perhaps through intermediaries; no signs of clear occupation have been found. But, according to scholars like Montesanti, "Orkney might have been one of those areas that suggest direct administration by Imperial Roman procurators, at least for a very short span of time".
ThePicts regained power until dispossessed by theNorse in the 9th century, with the possible interruption of a short period towards the beginning of the 6th century, whenDál RiataGaels may have established a footing in the islands, followed byCelticmissionaries in about 565. They were followers ofSaint Columba, and their efforts to convert the folk to Christianity seem to have impressed the popular imagination, for the names of several islands include the epithet "Papa" in commemoration of the hermits.[3]
Vikings having made the islands the headquarters of their aggressive expeditions (carried out indifferently against their ownNorway and the coasts and isles of Scotland),Harold Hårfagre ("Fair Hair") subdued the rovers in 875 and annexed both Orkney andShetland to Norway. They remained under the rule of Norwegianearls until 1231, when the line of thejarls became extinct. In that year the earldom of Caithness was granted to Magnus, second son of theEarl 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 from western Norwegian ancestry, as opposed to Shetland, where over half the male lineage is of Norwegian stock.
Somejarls of Orkney:
There is a legend thatHenry Sinclair, 1st Earl of Orkney may have sailed toNewfoundland in 1398, returning in 1400.
In 1468 Orkney and Shetland were pledged byChristian I, in his capacity as king of Norway, for the payment of thedowry of his daughter Margaret, betrothed toJames III of Scotland, and as the money was never paid, their connection with the crown of Scotland has been perpetual.[4] In 1471 James bestowed the castle and lands ofRavenscraig inFife on William, earl of Orkney, in exchange for all his rights to the earldom of Orkney, which, by act ofparliament, passed on 20 February 1472, was annexed to the Scottish crown.[5]
The last full-scale battle to take place on Orkney soil—theBattle of Summerdale—was fought in 1529, between the Sinclairs of Orkney and the Sinclairs ofCaithness.[6]
In 1564 LordRobert Stewart, natural son ofJames V of Scotland, who had visited Kirkwall twenty-four years before, was madesheriff of Orkney and Shetland, and received possession of the estates of the udallers; in 1581 he was created earl of Orkney byJames VI, the charter being ratified ten years later to his son Patrick, but after Patrick's execution in 1614 the earldom was again annexed to the crown.[7]
The islands were the rendezvous of theMarquess of Montrose's expedition in 1650 which culminated in his imprisonment and death. Cromwell was last attacked by a foreign conquering force prior to the union of Scotland and England in 1650. Duringthe Protectorate they were visited by a detachment ofOliver Cromwell's troops, who attacked various locations with his English Navy and the Roundhead Army. It is claimed by sympathetic writers that he initiated the inhabitants into various industrial arts and new methods of agriculture.[8]
Re: St Magnus Cathedral..... "During Oliver Cromwell's siege of the cathedral in 1651, the building was damaged and then suffered for a time when it was used by Cromwell's Roundheads as a barracks and stable for their horses."http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/stmagnus/magcath.htmArchived 30 January 2021 at theWayback Machine
In 1707 the islands were granted to theearl 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 theEarls of Zetland.[9]
In early times, both the archbishop ofHamburg and the archbishop ofYork disputed with the Norwegians ecclesiastical jurisdiction over Orkney and the right of consecrating bishops; but ultimately the Norwegian bishops, the first of whom wasWilliam the Old (consecrated in 1102), continued the canonical succession. The see remained vacant from 1580 to 1606, and from 1638 till theRestoration, and, after the accession ofWilliam III, the episcopacy was finally abolished (1697), although many of the clergy refused to conform.[10]
TheReformation took full hold on Orkney, except that whereas Norway became Lutheran, Orkney, like Shetland, became Presbyterian (Church of Scotland), as it was already under Scottish rule.
Thetopography of Orkney is wholly Norse, and the Norse tongue which evolved into the localNorn, at last extinguished by the constant influx of settlers from Scotland, lingered until the end of the 18th century. Readers ofScott'sPirate will remember the frank contempt which Magnus Troil expressed for the Scots, and his opinions probably accurately 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 ofSaint Olaf should continue to be observed in Orkney and Shetland. Thus theudal succession and mode of land tenure (that is, absolutefreehold as distinguished fromfeudal tenure) lingered to some extent, and the remaining udallers held their lands and passed them on without written title.[11]
The islands cluster round the huge deep-water anchorage ofScapa Flow like a protecting hand, and in bothWorld War I andWorld War II, theRoyal Navy had a major base there, enabling them to challenge any attempt by German warships to emerge into the ocean through the Norwegian Sea. After the Armistice in 1918, the German High Seas Fleet was transferred in its entirety to Scapa Flow while a decision was to be made on its future; however, the German sailors opened their sea-cocks andscuttled 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, the Royal Navy battleshipHMS Royal Oak was sunk by a GermanU-boat in Scapa Flow, with the loss of 835 lives.[12] The Germans had found one small opening in the heavily defended bay. As a result, barriers were built, called "the Churchill Barriers," mostly completed by Italian prisoners of war, to close most of the access channels. These had the additional advantage of creating causeways whereby travellers can go from island to island by road instead of being obliged to rely on boats. In the course of the Second World War Italian prisoners of war were kept on Orkney Mainland; they improvised a chapel with elaborate architecture out of corrugated iron and other base materials, which is now a tourist attraction. The Scapa Flow base was closed in 1956.[13]
In the 1960s and 1970s there were reports[14] about the potential foruranium mining betweenStromness andYesnaby.Margaret Thatcher's plans to open such a mine were halted in 1980 after local campaigning, which included production ofThe Yellow Cake Revue by composer and conductorPeter Maxwell Davies,[15] who lived on the neighbouring island ofHoy. The title refers toyellowcake, the powder produced in an early stage of the processing ofuranium ore.
TheScottish independence referendum prompted some Orcadians to look for ways to recast theConstitutional status of Orkney.
In July 2023 the Orkney Council began moves to change its status, considering options such as becoming a British Crown dependency or a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Norway.[1].
In September 2021, archaeologists announced the discovery of two polished stone balls in a 5500 years-oldNeolithic burial tomb inOrkney inSanday. According to Dr Hugo Anderson, the second object was the “size of a cricket ball, perfectly spherical and beautifully finished".[16][17][18]
In the Arthurian legend, Orkney is the home to King Lot, SirGareth, Sir Gaheris, Sir Gawaine, and Sir Agravain.
What James III had acquired from Earl William in return for this compensation was the comital rights in Orkney and Shetland. He already held a wadset of the royal rights; and to ensure his complete control, he referred the matter to parliament. On 20 February 1472 the three estates approved the annexation of Orkney and Shetland to the crown...
History.—The Orkneys were....
