Day 8: Orkney Islands

Today we hit our first of many island tours. In doing my research I found that these particular islands are full of beauty and interesting historical information - which you could, probably, say about every island in Scotland I suppose.

We took off early, as usual and headed straight to John o'Groats and boarded a ferry to the Orkney Islands, just a mere 6 miles away.  We had about 5 minutes in John o'Groats to snap some photos of this nothing town, literally, it's probably not even a town, but just a ferry stop. John o'Groats is s the traditionally acknowledged extreme northern point of mainland Scotland. 

As with everything in Scotland, there's history as to why it's where it is and why it's called what it is. This tiny village takes its name from Jan de Groot who was a Dutchman who managed the ferry from the Scottish mainland to Orkney, which had been acquired from Norway by King James IV.  Local legend has that the "o' Groats" refers to John's charge of one groat for use of his ferry, but it actually derives from the Dutch de groot, meaning "the large". People from John o' Groats are known as "Groaters". I didn't see one person in this tiny, tiny village, but I'm sure they're there. 

Once on the other side at South Ronaldsay, we were greeted by another coach and river who would give us the scoop of the island. I really don't remember the guys name, but he was born and raised on the island and had all the history down pat.

The bus tour took us over the 4 Churchill Barriers and overlook Scapa Flow. What are those you ask? Well, I'm glad you did.

The Scapa Flow is a body of water sheltered by the islands. Its sheltered waters have been used for years by travelers and by boats during war times.

As we drove through the we crossed what are called the Churchill Barriers. The Churchill Barriers are a series of four causeways in Orkney, Scotland, with a total length of 1.5 miles. They link the Mainland in the north to the two smaller islands

The barriers were built in the 1940s primarily as naval defenses to protect the anchorage at Scapa Flow. 

The other big thing about Scapa Flow and this part of Scotland is it's part it played in WWI. You remember WWI from school? And all the studying about it, and yet, I didn't remember a single bit of this from school. Which isn't too surprising. WWI doesn't get much attention since it's bigger brother WWII seemed to be all that we studied. AND, as with everything, each part of the world has it's own story of how the wars played out for them. 

Directly from Wikipedia: 

The scuttling of the German fleet took place at the Royal Navy's base at Scapa Flow, in Scotland, after WWI. The High Seas Fleet was interned there under the terms of the Armistice whilst negotiations took place over the fate of the ships. Fearing that all of the ships would be seized and divided amongst the allied powers, the German commander, Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, decided to scuttle the fleet.

The scuttling was carried out on 21 June 1919. Intervening British guard ships were able to beach a number of the ships, but 52 of the 74 interned vessels sank. Many of the wrecks were salvaged over the next two decades and were towed away for scrapping. Those that remain are popular diving sites.

There were several ships that you could still see in the water. It's used for sea life now and a ton of divers love to visit the sunken ships. 

Our first stop was the Ring of Brodgar. It's a henge, like stonehenge, but not as elaborate and not as well maintained. They aren't really sure what this ring was used for. There's a lot of speculation, as with stonehenge. It was cold and windy, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to walk this ring and really check it out. 

This photo is from the Internet. I wanted to show just what the ring looks like as reference. Photo creds go to whomever took this fantastic photo. 

Our next stop was to the Orkney Brewery. It's a small micro-brewery that puts out some fantastic beer. We had lunch, a tasting and a tour. Big shock, but they don't create beer any different than we do here in the good ol' USA. 

Our lunch was these 4 little tea sandwiches and soup accompanied by a tasting of three of their beers. 

After the brewery, stuffed and happy, we headed off to Scara Brae and Skaille House. 

Skara Bra is a stone-built Neolithic settlement.  Consisting of eight clustered houses, it was occupied from roughly 3180 BC to about 2500 BC. Europe's most complete Neolithic village. They're still slightly buried and have been excavated. There was one "hut" that they set up as if it were done by these neolithic settlers. The rest of the site is viewed from above. I find these types of things VERY interesting and curious about how people lived 5000 years ago. Then I marvel at the fact that people were ever around 5000 years ago!

The house on this property is called Skaille house. The name Skaill derives from the Old Norse word for "hall". The names of all the surrounding farms are also derived from that language, and it is presumed that the lands have been permanently settled for over a thousand years.

After the execution of Patrick Stewart, 2nd Earl of Orkney for treason in 1615, the lands were given to the Bishop of Orkney. In 1620, Bishop George Graham constructed a simple manor house, the first part of what is now Skaill House. His son became the laird of the estate, and the property was from that time passed down to succeeding lairds.

The house was nothing fancy. Still, it's always fun to walk through the past. 

After all that we were dropped off for some free time in the small town, Kirkwall. While in Kirkwall we got to witness a tradition for, I think all of Scotland, but for sure this small community takes it seriously, that just had me in stitches. It's called "The Blackening". 

The Blackening is a wedding tradition that takes place days/weeks prior to the wedding. Think Bachelor and Bachelorette party on sterioids. 

Basically the bride AND groom are "captured" by their friends and family, covered in food of some sort or other preferable "adhesive substances - in this case, these poor lads were covered in beer, molasses, flour, etc. They stunk to high heaven too. Anyhow, they are then paraded publicly for all to see. 

Their driven around in the back of a truck, accompanied by the clattering and banging of pots and pans by the "captors". The only rule that I could understand is the poor lad had to be messy and uncomfortable and as many people as possible witness this. 

This community ends up tying their victim to the market post in front of the cathedral in town. And by "tying" I mean completely tying them to make it as difficult as possible to get free. Once freed, they have to sprint/run back to the starting point.

There were two blackenings going on this particular day. The two crossed paths at one point and a beer free for all took place. It was absolutely hilarious. 

I got curious as to how this custom came about. Wikipedia solved my curiosity for me: 

Blackenings occur predominantly in rural areas of north-east Scotland, the Highlands and the Northern Isles. The origins of the custom are obscure, however researcher, Dr. Sheila Young of the Elphinstone Institute, University of Aberdeen has shown that the blackening has evolved from an earlier Scottish ritual called the feet-washing. There is uncertainty surrounding just when it began, but it probably started as a solemn washing ritual for both men and women on the eve of their wedding and included a blackening of the feet and legs by the early 19th century. A little later, it had developed into a kind of a game, with the legs and feet being alternately blackened and scrubbed clean, and then by the end of the 19th century early 20th century escape, capture, tar and feathering, and pillorying had become part of the ritual. In order for this to happen the ritual had to move out of doors. The move out of doors appears to have coincided with a change in wedding practices, with more people marrying in the summer months. A ritual, which began as a washing ceremony, developed into a dirtying ceremony. It is probable then, that a change in the form of the ritual led to a change in name. The blackening's roots are Scottish, though a similar practice, called a doing, is to be found in Northern Ireland.

Kirkwall was a nice quaint little town. The cathedral had head stones and burial plots in it from the 1600's. That always blows my  mind. 

My favorite part of Kirkwall was the ice cream that Billie and Sherrie found. Orkney fudge ice cream...oh good Lord was that ever good. 

The rest of the day was spent getting back to Thurso for dinner. 

A little about Thurso, this town really does roll up the carpets early. All the shops were closed by 4:30/5pm. We couldn't so any shopping. Booo...

Tomorrow we leave Thurso and head to Isle of Skye. I cannot wait to see this lovely area. I can't imaging Scotland being any more beautiful, but if it is going to be it'll be on Isle of Skye...or so I've been told.