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Scrabster Castle
Scrabster Castle was a castle, near Burnside, about north and west of Thurso, and south of the village of Scrabster, Highland in Scotland, south of Thurso Bay.Coventry, Martin (1997) ''The Castles of Scotland''. Goblinshead. p.297 It is on an eroding promontory. History Built by the Bishops of Caithness, the castle served as the Bishop's Palace for the bishops of Caithness. Bishop John of Caithness was mutilated by Harald Maddadsson, Mormaer of Caithness, in 1201, after being besieged at the castle, having his tongue and eyes removed for John's refusal to collect Peter's Pence, a tax of 1/10 of the income of every freeman. George Sinclair, 4th Earl of Caithness, seized the castle in 1544. The castle was later a royal castle. The castle was in ruins in the early 18th century. Structure Scrabster Castle was a castle of enclosure, with a keep. There is a pillbox Pillbox may refer to: * Pill organizer, a container for medicine * Pillbox hat, a woman's hat with a flat cr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scrabster
Scrabster ( sco, Scraibster, gd, Sgrabastair/Sgrabstal) is a small settlement on Thurso Bay in Caithness on the north coast of Scotland. It is some from Thurso, from Wick, from Inverness and 271.7 miles (437.2 km) from Edinburgh. Scrabster Harbour is an important port for the Scottish fishing industry. During the Second World War, munitions were ferried to Scapa Flow from Scrabster harbour aboard the 40 ft (12.2 m) pilot cutter ''Mermaid'' (registered in King's Lynn and built in 1908), skippered by Antony Bridges. Transport The Northlink ferry () leaves regularly from Scrabster for Stromness in Orkney. Smyril Line operated a weekly service to the Faroe Islands in the summer months, but this was discontinued in 2008. The nearest railway line is the Far North Line connecting Thurso railway station to Inverness railway station. Notable people * George Bain, who led the revivification of Celtic Art Celtic art is associated with the peoples known as Celts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tongue
The tongue is a muscular organ (anatomy), organ in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for mastication and swallowing as part of the digestive system, digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper surface (dorsum) is covered by taste buds housed in numerous lingual papillae. It is sensitive and kept moist by saliva and is richly supplied with nerves and blood vessels. The tongue also serves as a natural means of oral hygiene, cleaning the teeth. A major function of the tongue is the enabling of speech in humans and animal communication, vocalization in other animals. The human tongue is divided into two parts, an oral cavity, oral part at the front and a pharynx, pharyngeal part at the back. The left and right sides are also separated along most of its length by a vertical section of connective tissue, fibrous tissue (the lingual septum) that results in a groove, the median sulcus, on the tongue's surface. There are two groups of muscle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pillbox (military)
A pillbox is a type of blockhouse, or concrete dug-in guard-post, normally equipped with loopholes through which defenders can fire weapons. It is in effect a trench firing step, hardened to protect against small-arms fire and grenades, and raised to improve the field of fire. The modern concrete pillbox originated on the Western Front of World War I, in the German Army in 1916. Etymology The origin of the term is disputed. It has been widely assumed to be a jocular reference to the perceived similarity of the fortifications to the cylindrical and hexagonal boxes in which medical pills were once sold; also, the first German concrete pillboxes discovered by the Allies in Belgium were so small and light that they were easily tilted or turned upside down by the nearby explosion of even medium (240mm) shells. However, it seems more likely that it originally alluded to pillar boxes, with a comparison being drawn between the loophole on the pillbox and the letter-slot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keep
A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the castle fall to an adversary. The first keeps were made of timber and formed a key part of the motte-and-bailey castles that emerged in Normandy and Anjou during the 10th century; the design spread to England, south Italy and Sicily. As a result of the Norman invasion of 1066, use spread into Wales during the second half of the 11th century and into Ireland in the 1170s. The Anglo-Normans and French rulers began to build stone keeps during the 10th and 11th centuries; these included Norman keeps, with a square or rectangular design, and circular shell keeps. Stone keeps carried considerable political as well as military importance and could take up ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enclosure Castle
An enclosure castle is a fortified residence or stronghold, in which defence is facilitated by walls and towers. Such fortifications were usually composed of wood or stone, but there are later examples built of brick. Features In enclosure castles without great towers or keeps, there would often be other buildings including, warden's houses, barracks, kitchens, stables, and chapels. Enclosure castles were commonly constructed in areas of conflict, particularly border regions, including along the England–Wales border. Some enclosure castles were constructed as newly formed ringworks, or were adapted from extant wooden motte-and-bailey structures. History The first examples in England were constructed shortly after the Norman conquest, as strongholds for the occupiers. Their form developed in the 12th century as the military experience gained by the crusaders was introduced into their home residences. The majority of extant examples were built in the 13th century, though a few ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Sinclair, 4th Earl Of Caithness
George Sinclair (died 1582) was a Scottish nobleman, the 4th Earl of Caithness and chief of the Clan Sinclair, a Scottish clan of the Scottish Highlands. Early life He was the son of John Sinclair, 3rd Earl of Caithness and Elizabeth, daughter of William Sutherland, 5th of Duffus. Earl of Caithness George Sinclair, 4th Earl of Caithness resigned his earldom into the hands of Mary, Queen of Scots who in turn granted a charter to the earl's son and heir, John Sinclair, on 2 October 1545, under the reservation of life-rent and terce. He appears as a member of the Privy Council of Scotland and records of the Council show that for many years prior to 1553, there had been feuding between the Earl of Caithness and the Clan Mackay Clan Mackay ( ; gd, Clann Mhic Aoidh ) is an ancient and once-powerful Scottish Highlands, Highland Scottish clan from the far North of the Scottish Highlands, but with roots in the old Mormaer of Moray, Kingdom of Moray. They supported Robert I .... The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter's Pence
Peter's Pence (or ''Denarii Sancti Petri'' and "Alms of St Peter") are donations or payments made directly to the Holy See of the Catholic Church. The practice began under the Saxons in England and spread through Europe. Both before and after the Norman conquest the practice varied by time and place; initially, it was done as a pious contribution, whereas later it was required by various rulers, and collected, more like a tax. Though formally discontinued in England at the time of the Reformation, a post-Reformation payment of uncertain characteristics is seen in some English manors into the 19th century. In 1871, Pope Pius IX formalized the practice of lay members of the church and "other persons of good will" providing financial support to the Roman See. Modern "Peter's Pence" proceeds are used by the Pope for philanthropic works throughout the world and for administrative costs of the Vatican state. Ancient payment (1031–1555) The term Peter's pence, in its Latin form, first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Human Eyes
The human eye is a sensory organ, part of the sensory nervous system, that reacts to visible light and allows humans to use visual information for various purposes including seeing things, keeping balance, and maintaining circadian rhythm. The eye can be considered as a living optical device. It is approximately spherical in shape, with its outer layers, such as the outermost, white part of the eye (the sclera) and one of its inner layers (the pigmented choroid) keeping the eye essentially light tight except on the eye's optic axis. In order, along the optic axis, the optical components consist of a first lens (the cornea—the clear part of the eye) that accomplishes most of the focussing of light from the outside world; then an aperture (the pupil) in a diaphragm (the iris—the coloured part of the eye) that controls the amount of light entering the interior of the eye; then another lens (the crystalline lens) that accomplishes the remaining focussing of light into ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Earl Of Caithness
Earl of Caithness is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of Scotland, and it has a very complex history. Its first grant, in the modern sense as to have been counted in strict lists of peerages, is now generally held to have taken place in favor of Maol Íosa V, Earl of Strathearn, in 1334, although in the true circumstances of 14th century, this presumably was just a recognition of his hereditary right to the ancient earldom/ mormaership of Caithness. The next year, however, all of his titles were declared forfeit for treason. History Earlier, Caithness had been intermittently held, presumably always as fief of Scotland, by the Norse earls of Orkney, at least since the days of the childhood of Thorfinn Sigurdsson in c.1020, but possibly already several decades before. The modern reconstruction of holders of peerage earldoms do not usually include those of Mormaerdom of Caithness, although there is no essential difference between them and, for example, thos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Highland (council Area)
Highland ( gd, A' Ghàidhealtachd, ; sco, Hieland) is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in the United Kingdom. It was the 7th most populous council area in Scotland at the 2011 census. It shares borders with the council areas of Aberdeenshire, Argyll and Bute, Moray and Perth and Kinross. Their councils, and those of Angus and Stirling, also have areas of the Scottish Highlands within their administrative boundaries. The Highland area covers most of the mainland and inner-Hebridean parts of the historic counties of Inverness-shire and Ross and Cromarty, all of Caithness, Nairnshire and Sutherland and small parts of Argyll and Moray. Despite its name, the area does not cover the entire Scottish Highlands. Name Unlike the other council areas of Scotland, the name ''Highland'' is often not used as a proper noun. The council's website only sometimes refers to the area as being ''Highland'', and other times as being ''the Hig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harald Maddadsson
Harald Maddadsson (Old Norse: ''Haraldr Maddaðarson'', Gaelic: ''Aralt mac Mataid'') (c. 1134 – 1206) was Earl of Orkney and Mormaer of Caithness from 1139 until 1206. He was the son of Matad, Mormaer of Atholl, and Margaret, daughter of Earl Haakon Paulsson of Orkney. Of mixed Norse and Gaelic blood, and a descendant of Scots kings, he was a significant figure in northern Scotland, and played a prominent part in Scottish politics of the twelfth century. The '' Orkneyinga Saga'' names him one of the three most powerful Earls of Orkney along with Sigurd Eysteinsson and Thorfinn Sigurdsson.''Orkneyinga Saga'', c. 112. Background In the early twelfth century, the Earldom of Orkney, although weakened since the time of Earl Thorfinn, remained in control of Caithness and was dominant in Sutherland and parts of the Outer Hebrides. Thus the succession of the earldom was of great interest to the Scots king David I. The marriage of Matad and Margaret is believed to have taken pla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Of Caithness
John of Caithness ( Medieval Gaelic: ''Eoin''; Norse: ''Jon''; Latin: ''Iohannes'') is the second known bishop of Caithness, based then at Halkirk. He witnessed various charters in Scotland between the years 1187 and 1199. Biography Bishop John is best known for his mutilation, carried out at Scrabster Castle by Harald Maddadsson, in which the bishop lost his tongue and eyes. The bishop suffered this fate by refusing to collect Peter's Pence, a tax of 1/10 of the income of every freeman. This tax was encouraged by the Papacy, and had a strong history in the Scandinavian world. His predecessor Aindréas had allowed it, but John stood up for the complaints of the peasantry. John certainly survived the attack, although Earl Harald and the people of the Earldom suffered the consequences, as Pope Innocent III and King William of Scotland brought down their wrath on the province. John's successor Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
