Wildlife Egilsay has severalsmall lochs and marshy areaswhich are good for breedingwaders and ducks in summer.Winter brings large numbers ofwaders to its good tidal feedingspots. These are mainlyTurnstone and Purple Sandpiper.There are also several goodsandy beaches.

Onziebust RSPB Reserve(year round warden, Tel (01856)821395) is being managedspecifically to benefitCorncrakes. Although you areunlikely to see this elusivespecies because of its secretivehabits, Egilsay is well worth avisit in late spring or summer forits wealth of breeding speciessuch as Redshank and Skylarkand to see its rich flora, bothsigns of the relatively uninten-sive nature of the farming.

KILI HOLM (Celtic/ON CilleHolm, Holm of the Cell), off thenorth end may have been the siteof a monastic cell. The possiblepresence of a Celtic church onEgilsay is strengthened by thename. There is a cairn at thehighest point, which may eitherbe a chambered cairn or a pre-historic house, while anothermound with protruding stonesmay also have been a building.The interestingly named Pointof Pitten may be a further echo

of a Celtic place name.

The HOLM OF SCOCKNESS(ON Skogrr Nes,Wooded Point)is another very attractive smallisland, between Egilsay andRousay. Strong tides on eachside increase the sense of isola-tion of this charming holm.Signs of ancient remains minglewith undisturbed wildlife to cre-ate a sense of mystery seeming-ly remote from modern man andhis gadgets.

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EGILSAY (ON Egilsey, Egil'sIsle, or Celtic/Norse Eaglaisey,Church Island) is an arrowhead-shaped island east of Rousaywhich is dominated by the fine12th century St Magnus Kirk(HY466303). Although only5km (3 miles) long by 2km(1.25 miles) wide, the island fig-ures prominently in Orkney his-tory. The present church isthought to be a replacement for amuch earlier one. Egilsay wasimportant as one of the resi-dences of the Bishop who isreferred to as being there several

times in the Orkneyinga Saga.

Its main claim to fame is, ofcourse, the Martyrdom of StMagnus at Easter, in (probably)1117. Acenotaph was erected in1937, on the traditional spotwhere he was killed(HY470300). The St MagnusChurch is thought to have beenerected some time after this,most likely at the instigation of

Bishop William, and on the siteof an earlier church. Built on aprominent rise in the middle ofthe island, the Romanesquechurch dates from the secondquarter of the 12th century.

The unique tower is now 14.9mhigh, but may have once been20m and had a conical roof,while the main flagstone roofwas still in place in 1822.Windows at different levels onthe tower face north, south, eastand west, and the sanctuary overthe barrel-vaulted chancel couldonly be reached from inside thechurch. The tower may derivefrom Irish influence, but moreprobably from NorthernEuropean or Norwegiandesigns. Though it is unique inOrkney now, there were church-es with towers at Skaill inDeerness and in Stenness.

At the south end there is a cham-bered cairn at Hillocks of theGraand (HY474278) whichmay be Maeshowe type, whileon the hill northwest of Howethere is a probable burial mound.The 18th century house ofHowan (HY478292) is built onthe possible site of the Bishop’sresidence, south of Manse Loch.This is also the probable site ofEgilsay’s broch.

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EGILSAY - SITE OF THE MARTYRDOM OF ST MAGNUS

Howan on the east coast is the site of a probable broch

Egilsay from the north with Kili Holm in the foreground

Ruined structure on Kili Holm - a chambered cairn or a monastic cell?

St Magnus cenotaph, erected 1937

Coastal phonebox

NORTH ISLES - EGILSAY

St Magnus Kirk dates from the second quarter of the 12th century

Loch of the Graand, at the south end, is good for waterfowl and waders

Old plan of St Magnus Kirk

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mounds and the enigmaticenclosures at Skirmie Cletton the east side (HY456263)

Wildlife Walking on fromthe castle, The Taing is afavourite place for seals tohaul out. Arctic Tern,waders and Eider nest herein summer, while the Lochof the Taing can be good formigrating waders and water-fowl. There are fine viewsacross to Rousay and downEynhallow Sound from here- a good place to be for asummer sunset.

The Taing is also botanical-ly-rich. A diverse range ofplants can be seen in its vari-ety of habitats which includeexposed shoreline, salt-marsh, fresh water, marshand grassy heath.

In winter Wyre and GairsaySounds are home to largenumbers of Long-tailedDuck, Great Northern Diverand even the occasionalWhite-billed Diver. VelvetScoter and Red-breastedMerganser are also to beseen. Flocks of moultingEider may also be present.

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WYRE (ON Vigr,Spearhead. This spearhead-shaped island is only 3.5km(2.2 miles) long, but it fig-ures strongly in Viking his-tory. The great 12th centurypersonality, Kolbein Hrugalived here. He was marriedto a granddaughter of EarlPaul Thorfinnson and wassaid to be a very overbearingman. He also built a strongcastle in about 1150, the

Cubbie Roo's Castle(HY441262) of today. Itwithstood at least oneremarkable siege in 1231,described in Haakon's Saga.Snaekoll Gunnason and hisfollowers took refuge in thecastle after killing Earl John,son of Harald Maddadsonand the last Norse Earl ofOrkney. The castle resistedall attempts by the Earl’smen to take it.

This castle is one of the old-est and best preserved for itsage in Scotland. The squarecentral keep is 8m across,with the mortared walls 2mthick, and is surrounded by awall, ditch and bank. It islikely to have been a refugeagainst attack, rather than adwelling, which was almostcertainly on the site of thenearby Bu Farm, where theOrcadian author and poet,Edwin Muir (1887-1959)spent part of his childhood.

St Mary's Chapel(HY443262) is next toCubbie Roo's Castle and isalso 12th century. It is a typ-ical Romanesque chapel andwould have served theChristian Norse family at theBu. This chapel may havebeen founded by KolbeinHruga, or his son, Bjarni,who became Bishop in 1188.

Wyre is a fertile little island,which may explain the lackof a chambered cairn orother prehistoric remainsapart from some burnt

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WYRE - SITE OF A NORSE CASTLE AND CHAPEL

The Bu was the boyhood home of the poet, Edwin Muir

Moving a car by “flit boat” before the advent of car ferries Old plan of St Mary’s Chapel

Window interior view

St Mary’s Chapel is just east of Cubbie Roo’s Castle

Window exterior view

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Cubbie Roo’s Castle showing the central keep, walls, ditch and banks

Old plan of Cubbie Roo’s CastleCubbie Roo’s Castle is situated on the highest point on Wyre

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Various other unexcavated struc-tures are visible on Eynhallow,which add to the air of mysteryabout the past. There is a partic-ularly beautiful bay on the northside facing Rousay, RamnaGeo (HY362295). This unin-habited island now belongs toOrkney Islands Council and isone of the most peaceful andatmospheric places to visit inOrkney. Trips are sometimesrun here in the summer.

Folk Tales There are severalfolk tales about the island. Thestalks of corn cut after sunsetwere said to run red with bloodand a horse tethered after sunsetwould get free because ironstakes would jump out of theground after sunset. There isalso a story that rats, cats andmice cannot live on Eynhallow.Many farmers in Rousay andEvie took soil from the island fortheir stack yards to prevent ver-min infesting their corn. It wasalso a common practice to usean Eynhallow stone as thedoorstep in houses.

Eynhallow has long had a repu-tation for being enchanted. It

was said that it was not alwaysvisible to human eyes and coulddisappear suddenly before itcould be reached. The spell canonly be broken by thrusting steelinto the land above the highwater mark. To this day wisevisitors are still advised to takethis precaution.

Wildlife Eynhallow has breed-ing Arctic Terns, Arctic Skuas,Tysties and many Eider Ducks,as well as a few Bonxies. ManyCommon Seals lie up along theskerry facing Rousay. A studyof Fulmars has been going onhere for over 40 years nowwhich has added greatly toknowledge of lifespan, breedingbehaviour and the wanderinghabits of the immature birds,which roam as far as Canadaand Arctic Russia.

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EYNHALLOW (ON EyinHelga, Holy Isle). This smallisland lies between Evie andRousay and very strong tidesflow past both sides, makingaccess difficult. The name ofthis island suggests that theremay have been a Celtic churchhere in early Norse times, pre-dating the present 12th centuryone (HY359288).

There are suggestions that thiswas possibly part of a monasteryduring Norse times and perhapsearlier. Evidence for this comesfrom the Orkneyinga Saga andother sources. The Saga tells ofa Westrayman called Jon Voengkidnapping Olaf, the son ofSweyn Asleifsonand the godson

of Kolbein Hruga, from theisland, where it is suggested hewas being educated by themonks. Arecord from ChronicaMealros of 1175 states that"Laurence, former Abbot inOrkney, has been elected Abbotat Melrose", showing that therewas a monastery somewhere inOrkney at the time.

The character of the buildingscame to light when they wereunroofed after the inhabitantswere evacuated following theoutbreak of an infectious andfatal disease. The 12th centurychurch has a rectangular naveand a square stone porch whichcould have been a tower. It hasinteresting archways, especially

the arch between chancel andnave. The site was in domesticuse from the 16th century whichconfuses the interpretation of theother buildings, but the olderparts to the west may well bepart of a monastery. The archi-tect of Melsetter House on Hoy,William Lethaby, was responsi-ble for clearing and consolidat-ing the site in 1897.

Archaeology There are severalpossible prehistoric settlementsites. At Kyarl (HY364294)there is a cairn with remnants ofstonework, perhaps a heel-shapedhouse, while at Monkerness(HY365292) and Little Kyarl(HY365294) there are founda-tions of two roundhouses.

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EYNHALLOW - ORKNEY’S HOLY ISLE

Eynhallow, Rousay and Westray from Evie

Eynhallow Sound often has dangerous overfalls

Eynhallow Monastery interior

Eynhallow Monastery doorway

The Fulmar study continues

NORTH ISLES - EYNHALLOW

Aerial view of Eynhallow Monastery from the northeastOld plan of Eynhallow Monastery

Sunset down Eynhallow Sound from Aikerness, Evie

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