St Magnus Cathedral

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St Magnus was not your normal Viking. When the king of Norway led an attack on Anglesey, Magnus refused to get off the ship and fight. Instead, he stayed onboard to sing psalms. This clearly pleased God, because Magnus went on to rule Orkney with his cousin Hâkon, until they fell out and he was axed in the head by his cousin’s cook. 

He was buried in a barren rocky place, which miraculously turned into a grassy field. When further miracles occurred the local bishop, William the Old, told everyone not to be so silly, until he was struck blind. Following the restoration of his sight by praying at the grave of Magnus, William became Magnus’s greatest champion and was instrumental in building the cathedral  in nearby Kirkwall. 

Building began in 1135 under the auspices of Rögnvald Kolsson who himself became a saint after being murdered by an argumentative Scotsman. 

The cathedral is built from red and yellow sandstone and follows the Romanesque style, a smaller version of Durham Cathedral. In fact the stone masons from Durham were said to have travelled to the Orkneys and started much of the building. It would have involved an impressive journey across rough seas in relatively primitive ships, and illustrates early medieval mobility.

St Magnus

St Olaf   

 Templar Stone

An interesting medieval curiosity is this stone memorialising an unknown Knight Templar, piquant but not actually telling us very much. 

Later monuments and stones are much more definite in telling the stories of those they represent. This insouciant fellow clearly comfortable in death is 

JOHN RAE

ARCTIC EXPLORER

IINTREPID DISCOVERER OF THE FATE OF  SIR JOHN FRANKLIN'S LAST EXPEDITION

BORN 1815 DIED 1893 

Even from a distance, some tombs stand out. And what makes this so refreshing is the idealism, certainty, and the unabashed confidence in the Victorian mission. Worth reading and contemplating ‘white guilt.’

The Cathedral also has one of the finest collections of C17th gravestones. Some years ago, it was decided to ‘tidy up’ the graveyard. Bodies were disinterred and reburied en-masse. Their gravestones now line the walls of the Cathedral, their message unremittingly grim. Aware of my own sell-by-date they made for sombre reading. Every stone was etched with skulls, crossbones and sometimes hour glasses. All ended with the same cheerful message:  'Remember Death'

For those unable to squint and decipher, each stone offers a glimpse into the past with a readable translation, one of unremitting gloom.

Grinning and cavorting high above the Prebysterian morbidity, medieval carvings of the Green Man, Sheela-na-gigs and other grotesqueries..

 

And confession time, what I didn't see but read about later, this is the only cathedral in the British Isles with its own dungeon, very handy for witches. One of the first witches tried and executed was Allison Balfour in 1594. Balfour was accused of being hired by Patrick Stewart, 2nd Earl of Orkney, to poison his brother. Patrick Stewart was acquitted, Balfour was executed. 

Addendum

THE LEGEND OF MARWICK’S HOLE

One of the more unique designs of the church involves the use of a dungeon. The dungeon is called Marwick’s Hole. The cathedral did not always have a dungeon. It is thought that the dungeon was added as a prisoner holding cell at some point – possibly around 1540 and was in use into the 18th century. The chamber is found between the south wall of the choir and the south transept chapel and is the only cathedral in the British Isles with a dungeon. Originally the chamber was accessed from an upper chamber where prisoners would be deposited via a chute, although a more humane ladder was added later.

The Dungeon’s most famous inmate tells of a terrible time in history. Janet Forsyth lived in nearby Westray in the 17th century. The story is told of Janet who had a dream that her sweetheart Benjamin would perish at sea. The following day, Benjamin and several other men were set to head out fishing. The day was fine and he scoffed at her claims he would meet his end if he sailed. Ignoring her pleas, the men headed out. Before long a thick fog descended and Benjamin and the men never returned. The people of Westray blamed Janet for the loss of the fishermen and Janet was branded a witch. Janet retreated to live in solitude as her tarnished reputation grew. 

A few years later, a ship was spotted in trouble off Westray’s coastline. As the storm raged, islanders waited for the ship to capsize and break up, hoping to find a windfall of treasures wash ashore.  Janet tried to rally them to go and offer assistance but no one stepped forward. So Janet launched her own small boat into the storm to help the stricken ship. Despite the storm, she managed to get to the ship and guided it safely to the shelter of Pierowall Bay. This act of bravery sealed her fate. No woman could go up against a storm like that and survive? Surely she was a witch! A trial was held in 1629 in Kirkwall. She was found guilty of witchcraft and sentenced to death. As the sentence was read out, she looked out across the gathered crowd. There she saw Benjamin standing in a naval uniform. He had not perished at sea – but had been press-ganged into the navy. On seeing him, she allegedly screamed out “Save me, Ben!” before being dragged from the trial and tossed into the dungeon at Marwick’s Hole. However, when they went to retrieve her from the dungeon the next day for her execution, the dungeon was empty. Local tradition says she was rescued by her love, Benjamin.

Courtesy of  USA River Cruises.

The Ring of Brodgar

I had been looking forward to seeing Skara Brae, one of the key reasons for our journey to the far north. It wasn’t to be. We arrived to find the site closed because of gale force winds. I found that hard to believe. Wind for goodness sake. Still, despite my grumblings we settled for a Neolithic alternative, the Ring of Brodgar and its surrounds. There we discovered what a gale force wind meant.

 Brodgar was inland, Skara Brae on the coast, the wind there even fiercer. Brodgar  was bad enough. We were playthings in its grasp. Walking uphill with the wind behind us, cagoules billowed, and we flew up like kites. Taking photographs was even more difficult: feet firmly planted in a vain attempt to gain anchorage we waited for when the wind took breath. In those brief moments, when we weren’t being buffeted like punching bags, ten or more camera phones clicked. 

The Ring of Brodgar is older than the Pyramids and Stonehenge, the neighbouring stones of Stenness even older. A neighbouring  site, the Ness of Brodgar, was once a vast ceremonial centre that attracted people far and wide. Partially excavated it has since been ‘reburied’ in order to preserve it for future archaeologists.

All three sites illustrate how central Orkney was in Neolithic commerce.  At a crossroads of sea routes, the island was a vital point for trade and travel across the North Atlantic. The thousands of artefacts unearthed, artefacts from across northern Europe and further south  add to the evidence of a thriving neolithic civilisation.

 

The Stones of Stenness originally twelve are now down to seven, largely because of a deranged farmer tired of tourists tramping his land. He demolished five of them and was about to blow up another until angry locals prevented him. The so-called Odin stone has now also unfortunately vanished but remains potent in folk lore and myth. For those interested in the Odin Stone and the  doomed love of  a hapless Orkney pirate click here and scroll down.

For just more on Gow in more intimate detail, click here 

From Mordor to Stornoway

Enroute to Stornoway, we sailed past Fingal's Cave,  the Isle of Skye and other, smaller islands. It felt like we were taking the sea route to Mordor. 

Fingal’s Cave

Stornoway is famous for its black pudding and for being an integral part of the late night shipping forecast. It also has a long history of conflict, largely over land. It was occupied by the Vikings who called it Stjórnavágr, its main settlement being built around a natural harbour. 

Stornoway and harbour

In later years it was controlled by Clan  MacNicol, who were later dispossessed by Clan MacLeod who in turn struggled against the greed of other more legal minded Scots egged on by James VI who in 1598 ‘gave’ the island to a trading company, ‘The Fife Adventurers.’ Great name.

His great desire was the ‘de-Gaelicisation’ of the islands, demanding the ‘slauchter, mutilation, fyre-raising or utheris inconveniencies’ if necessary. As far as I can see, the Scots had little to learn from the English when it came to  colonialism. 

Stornoway successfully resisted, and in 1610, James, now King of England and Scotland ‘gave’ the island to the Mackenzie's of Kintail in the hope they’d prove more ruthless. Neil MacLeod was captured and taken to Edinburgh where, without irony, he was accused of fire raising, murder, piracy and theft, and beheaded. A noble would have been beheaded alive. A small mercy or perhaps final humiliation—Neil MacLeod was instead beheaded postmortem, his head put on a spike. The Mackenzies were quite ruthless in dispossessing tenants and ‘clearing’ the land, and the tradition continued when in 1844 Stornoway was bought for £500,000 by another Scotsman, James Matheson. 

The English are sometimes blamed for the Highland Clearances – especially amongst Scottish Nationalists who now like to distance themselves from the great Imperial Adventure—as if they had no part in it but were in fact the victims. James Matheson hadn't been given the message. He made his fortune from the ‘Opium Trade’ and the naked bullying of a then weak China. Having bought Stornoway he proceeded to build Lewes Castle, clearing 500 families off the land by encouraging them to emigrate to Canada. The policy was encouraged further by the Highland potato famine which saw over a third of population of the western Highlands and Isles  ‘move on.’ 

Lewes Castle. Victorian grandeur 

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In 1918, Lord Leverhulme bought the Isles of Lewis and Harris. He had ambitious plans that would have 

revolutionised the lives of those living there. Fisheries, efficient farming, roads, the works. The problem was local crofters wanted no part of it. And they were prepared to fight.  Eventually Lord Leverhulme saw sense and abandoned the great project, though not without one final and generous flourish, returning the land and the castle itself to the people of Stornoway.