Life on the extremes – Orkney Stories
and magical tones, light and colours.
Orkney is
supposed to feed the soul and the subtle magical lights and tones here certainly
lift hearts and minds. From the softest blues and gentlest greens, there is a
pure quality to the light. There are sea bird sanctuaries, many ancient
remains, and the islands sing with their Nordic sagas.
Orkney turns
upon poles of light and has 70 islands, 20 of them inhabited.
Westray,
Eday, Ronaldsay, Sandy, Stronsay, Hoy,...
“A summer
midnight, the north is red with the twin lamps of dawn and sunset.” George Mackay Brown (the Holy Places-
1976)
The boat
trip over on the Northlink ferry was EPIC!, with 60 mile an hour gusts and the
boat lurching. Quite a ride!
We arrived
at Stromness, a characterful stone
built town, where we visited the museum and read of their history and stories -
of the artic explorer John Rae and
his statue here; the Earls of Orkney, the Norwegian settlements; Indian
moccasins, a necklace made of human teeth collected by traveller John Rankin, Orkney
was built on travellers of course.
“From its central location between England and
the Baltic, it became the great port of call for all the ships bound for the
western ocean.“ Dairy Isaac Bennes 1789
- The first
day we travelled over the north coast, where the strong gusts made powerful
waves that crashed on the headlines. We visited the former 15th
century home of Robert Stewart, half brother of Mary Queen of Scots, near the Brough of Birsay. We were surprised, Orkney is richly cultivated and cattle are its biggest export.
On Wednesday
we travelled south across the wild Churchill barriers and stopped to photo the
high waves. Strangely too the Scapa flow
was the base of the British navy during the great wars.
At the very
moving Italian chapel we read of the
Italians held as prisoners of war at Camp 60
in 1942, who built the barriers. They built the tiny chapel to offer hope while
they suffered great hardships, and so ‘there was still a part of them that was free.’ A
place of wonder and of spiritual peace built amid great hardships. Thank you.'
 |
| The Italian chapel |
- At Robertson’s
café at St Margaret’s Hope, we spoke
to a very blonde young lady – Scandinavians were the ‘gift never given back’
she told us. Margaret was the granddaughter of the Scottish King Alexander III,
who was on her way home to be crowned when she fell ill. Sadly this all led to
many years of Wars of Succession. (not
Wars of independence or Secession. Scotland is an older nation than England and 'Britain' is a recent invention.)
(Scotland as
a nation is older than England - 9th century - by several decades. This matters
because after the Maid of Norway
died in 1290 leaving no successor to the Scottish throne, it was not "The
Wars of Independence" that followed, but aggression by Edward I of
England to take over by conquest. At that time Scotland's population
was 30% of Britain's and is now 8%, which shows the suppression of Scotland culturally and economically by London) .)
 |
| Stromness |
- At Kirkwall the Old library has been
refurnished and upstairs in the gallery is displayed the art of Sheila Scott and we notice that many
had been sold. She also has impressive tapestries displayed at the Kirkwall
airport. The shops here sell beautiful delicate jewellery based on Orkney’s
natural landscapes. .(Sheila Fleet, Ortak, Aurora, Hume Sweet
Hume.)
Thursday at Scarra Brae the winds were howling hard
and the seas were full of bright froths. This ancient Neolithic villages is
7,000 years old and is a miracle to behold. As the winds continued to blow, we
took a guided tour of the impressive standing stones of the Brodgar of Ness – incredible to visit
and quite mind blowing. The Orkney standing stones came from the different
tribes of the islands – who brought them here perhaps by water. Did they bring
them as symbols of working together? The stones sit on open land beside water
with extensive panoramas.
 |
| Ring of Brodgar |
This ancient
place is beside the Ness of Brodgar where
they are busy excavating in the summer months, was discovered in 2003. It is
believed that this settlement was an ancient temple that peoples travelled from
far and wide to visit, and is older than Stonehenge.
"What a beautiful, spiritual place,
where many ancient paths travel and stories meet."
Orkney is a rich source of artistry.
The composer Peter Maxwell Davies – ‘The sights and sounds of the islands,
the brightness of mackerel shails, the calling of birds, the strumming and pounding
of the wind and sea came to resonate in his music. It urges that we dance in step together to create peace and
harmony among ourselves and with the natural world of which we are a part .‘
 |
| Scarra Brae |
 |
| Stenness Standing stones |
II The
Orkney islands are fiercely independent and proud of their Nordic stories and
British mythologies and if you are looking for Scottish tartans, Gaelic or clans here, you'll not find them!
Scottish Mythology :
The “Received
opinion” – in studies by ancient history experts on our islands
ignore Scotland with an emphasis on Irish and British mythology. This discovery
at Brodgar has shown that civilization did not start southern Mediterranean, as
has been the 'Received Opinion', and in fact travelled northwards. Ancient Greek
mythology spoke of a ‘a circular temple at Hyperbores” – the Brodgar is well
before Stonehenge. Did the megalith culture spread out from Orkney, or the
Hebrides, and travel by skin boats 5,000 years ago, to Greece and even to Africa? - claims historian Stuart McHardy.
There are more Cuilleachs in Scotland than Ireland, ancient Scottish goddess of restoring life a system of belief based this dual goddess who has mountains named after her - her name meant ‘veiled one’; Ben Nevis, Lochnagar, Ben Wigins and Ben Cruachan. There is the Maes Howes cairn tomb at south of the standing stones,
A Celtic speaking and belief system warrior tribal society lived in Scotland until the 18th century which was "rooted in the landscape and is truly indigenous.'
Woodie Guthrie “Some will rob you
with six guns/ Some will rob you with a fountain pen.”
“Every nation has one central theme
at it score. In Canada it ‘survival’.”
Margaret Atwood. In Scotland it is extremes and travel.
**BOOKS
“Scotland’s future history”, Stuart
McHardy
“If This is your Land, Where are your
Stories” J Edward Chamberlin
“Arts and the Nation”, Alan Riach,
Alexander Moffat, John Purser
Small
personal café
Photos of
stormy seas
Ruins of a
castle
Magical
stones
Indians moccasins
Necklace of
teeth
Ancient
remains and tombs
Empires collapse the distance
separating the west from other places…In the 18th century we may
have needed empires (or the Romans) – but today we have fast travel and fast
internet communications –
Do we need huge centralized empires
anymore? What we do need is independent nation states in larger trading blocks
that co-operate on trade and security. We need a new treaty of union between Scotland and England - the old 1701 treaty is not fit for purpose anymore (if it ever was)
