Quholm farmhouse, Shapinsay, Orkney Islands - geograph

Quholm () is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

in the northeast of

Shapinsay Shapinsay (, sco, Shapinsee) is one of the Orkney Islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. There is one village on the island, Balfour, from which roll-on/roll-off car ferries sail to Kirkwall on the Orkney Mainland. Balfour Castle, ...

, in the islands of

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

, Scotland. William Irving, the father of

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...

, noted

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

, was born in Quholm. Innsker Beach is situated very close by at the northwest edge of Quholm.Shapinsay Online Guidebook
buyorkney.com. Retrieved 27 November 2007. Slightly to the south along Shapinsay's northwest coast are located the

coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

al ayres of Lairo Water and the

Ouse Ouse may refer to: Places Rivers in England * River Ouse, Yorkshire * River Ouse, Sussex * River Great Ouse, Northamptonshire and East Anglia ** River Little Ouse, a tributary of the River Great Ouse Other places * Ouse, Tasmania, a town in Au ...

situated within

Veantro Bay Veantro Bay is a bay on the northwest coast of Shapinsay in the Orkney Islands, Scotland. At the head of the bay is a large stone, thought to be associated with Viking settlement of Shapinsay, known as the Odin's Stone. It has been suggested th ...

. There are significant archaeological sites not distant from Quholm, including Odin's Stone,

Burroughston Broch Burroughston Broch is an Iron Age broch located on the island of Shapinsay in the Orkney Islands, in Scotland (). The site overlooks the North Sea on the northeast part of Shapinsay. Excavated in the mid 19th century, Burroughston Broch is still ...

Linton Chapel Linton Chapel is a ruined chapel on the east coast of Shapinsay, Orkney (Grid Reference HY5218). The chapel is thought to date as early as the 12th century AD. Slightly to the south is a megalithic monument, Castle Bloody. See also *Mor Stein ...

Castle Bloody Castle Bloody is a prehistoric feature on the island of Shapinsay, Orkney, Scotland. Hogan observes that while the feature is marked as a chambered mound on the UK Ordnance Survey map, the structure is more properly and specifically classified a ...

and

Mor Stein Mor Stein is a neolithic standing stone in the southeastern part of the island of Shapinsay, Orkney Islands, Scotland. Shapinsay is one of the two large inner islands of the Orkney group, and it is situated approximately two miles north of the ...

References

External links

Photograph of Washington Irving birthplace at Quholm
Archaeological sites in Orkney Shapinsay {{Orkney-stub