Cava is an uninhabited island in the

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

archipelago in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It is in extent and rises to

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. The literal meaning of the name is ''calf island'', a terminology often used to designate a small island near to a larger one. Cava is unusual in that it includes a small peninsula joined to the main body of the island by a narrow

isthmus An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...

, which is in turn called ''Calf of Cava''. It is situated in the

Scapa Flow Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and Hoy. Its sheltered waters have played an impor ...

just offshore from the much larger island of

Hoy Hoy may refer to: People Given name * Hoy Menear (died 2023), American politician * Hoy Phallin (born 1995), Cambodian footballer * Hoy Wong (1920–2009), American bartender Surname * Hoy (surname), a Scottish and Irish surname * H� ...

. Nearby are the islets of Rysa Little and Fara and the

skerry A skerry ( ) is a small rocky island, or islet, usually too small for human habitation. It may simply be a rocky reef. A skerry can also be called a low stack (geology), sea stack. A skerry may have vegetative life such as moss and small, ...

Barrel of Butter. To the south of Cava, between Fara and Rysa Little lies

Gutter Sound Gutter Sound is a sound in the Orkney archipelago, Scotland, part of Scapa Flow. It lies to the west of the main harbour between the internal islands of Cava and Fara, and the large outer island of Hoy. Gutter Sound was one of the sites of ...

, the scene of the mass-

scuttling Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull, typically by its crew opening holes in its hull. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel ...

of the interned German Imperial

High Seas Fleet The High Seas Fleet () was the battle fleet of the German Empire, German Imperial German Navy, Imperial Navy and saw action during the First World War. In February 1907, the Home Fleet () was renamed the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Alfred von Tirpi ...

in 1919. The island’s name is used as a house name at

Stromness Primary School Stromness Primary School is a primary school in Stromness, Orkney. The school has around 125 students. History On June 21, 1919, students from both the primary and higher schools were taken to witness the scuttling of the German fleet at Scapa ...

, the other houses being Switha, Rysa, and Fara. In the eighteenth century a notorious Orkney pirate,

John Gow John Gow (c. 1698–11 June 1725) was a pirate whose short career was immortalised by Charles Johnson in the 1725 work ''The History and Lives of All the Most Notorious Pirates and Their Crews''. Little is known of his life, except from an ac ...

, raided Hall of Clestrain, in

Orphir Orphir (pronounced , or )Pedersen, Roy (January 1992) ''Orkneyjar ok Katanes'' (map, Inverness, Nevis Print) is a parish and settlement on Mainland, Orkney, Scotland. It is approximately southwest of Kirkwall, and comprises a seaboard tract ...

and abducted two servant girls. Reports vary as to their treatment, with one claiming that they were put ashore on Cava "so loaded with presents that they soon afterwards got husbands." Gow's ship ''Revenge'' then ran ashore on the Calf of Eday, leading to his capture.Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 388 However, in common with a number of the smaller South Isles of Orkney, Cava lost its resident population during the course of the twentieth century. By the 1980s there were just two residents. There is no longer a habitable building on the island. There are no good anchorages in the vicinity.

In media

In the

webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on the internet, such as on a website or a mobile app. While many webcomics are published exclusively online, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or ...

'' Crossed: Wish You Were Here'', Cava is a refuge for survivors of an apocalyptic event.

References

External links

Northern Lighthouse Board
Calves (islands) Uninhabited islands of Orkney {{UK-lighthouse-stub

In media

See also

References

External links