Faray (

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

: ''Færey'') is a small

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

in Orkney,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, lying between

Eday Eday (, sco, Aidee) is one of the islands of Orkney, which are located to the north of the Scottish mainland. One of the North Isles, Eday is about from the Orkney Mainland. With an area of , it is the ninth-largest island of the archipelago. ...

and

Westray Westray (, sco, Westree) is one of the Orkney Islands in Scotland, with a usual resident population of just under 600 people. Its main village is Pierowall, with a heritage centre, the 15th-century Lady Kirk church and pedestrian ferry servi ...

. Previously inhabited, the low-lying island is now a successful grey seal breeding colony.

Geography

Faray and Holm of Faray are formed of a ridge of Old Red Sandstone which extends southwards from Weather Ness at the southern tip of the island of

and almost connects Westray to

. The two islands are separated by the Lavey Sound.

History

Faray was known as Pharay (or North Pharay to distinguish it from South Pharay, now called Fara). Both names are derived from the Old Norse 'faerey', "sheep island". The only man-made relic of note is a chambered cairn beside Lavey Sound. Faray had a population of eighty-two in 1861, falling to fifty-eight by 1891. By the late 1930s there were eight families living on the island. They had crofts and supplemented their income by lobster fishing.

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

led to many departures. By 1947 the last islander had left Faray and, apart from occasional summer occupation, the island was deserted. A road still runs up the central spine of the island serving the scattered empty houses. Hamar Farmhouse (south and east sides), Faray - geograph

Hamar Farmhouse (south and east sides), Faray - geograph

In December 1908 the ''Hope'', a fishing vessel from

Peterhead Peterhead (; gd, Ceann Phàdraig, sco, Peterheid ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is Aberdeenshire's biggest settlement (the city of Aberdeen itself not being a part of the district), with a population of 18,537 at the 2011 Census. ...

, ran aground on the Holm of Faray during a storm. The 'Five Men of Faray' braved the storm to row across the Lavey Sound and rescue the crew stranded on the rocks. They were rewarded with a trip to the Scottish mainland to meet Edward VII at Balmoral, where they each received a medal, together with "a good pipe and some tobacco".

Conservation

The island is now populated by sheep, seabirds, and grey seals. Faray and neighbouring Holm of Faray are designated a

Special Area of Conservation A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and a ...

for a well-established

grey seal The grey seal (''Halichoerus grypus'') is found on both shores of the North Atlantic Ocean. In Latin Halichoerus grypus means "hook-nosed sea pig". It is a large seal of the family Phocidae, which are commonly referred to as "true seals" or " ...

(''Halichoerus grypus'') breeding colony. The islands support the second-largest breeding colony in the UK, contributing around 9% of the annual UK pup production.

Footnotes

External links

{{coord, 59, 12, 51, N, 2, 49, 23, W, region:GB_type:isle, display=title Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Orkney Uninhabited islands of Orkney