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Kirkwall
Kirkwall (, , or ; ) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. First mentioned in the ''Orkneyinga saga'', it is today the location of the headquarters of the Orkney Islands Council and a transport hub with ferries to many locations. It is the centre of the St Magnus Festival, St Magnus International Festival and is also a popular stopping off point for cruise ships. St Magnus Cathedral stands at the heart of the town. Etymology The name Kirkwall comes from the Old Norse, Norse name meaning "church bay", the settlement having been established by the Norsemen in the 11th century. As late as 1525 the name is recorded as Kirkevaag. This became in time "Kirkwaa" and then eventually Kirkwall - but how the second syllable came to be spelled "wall" is not certain. MacBain quotes F. W. L. Thomas: "How, I ask, could ''vágr'' come to be represented by wall? Whence came the ''ll''? Was it that Scottish immigrants finding the sound of ''vá'' repre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated.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, Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north of Caithness and has about 70 islands, of which 20 are inhabited.Haswell-Smith (2004) pp. 336–403. The largest island, the Mainland, Orkney, Mainland, has an area of , making it the List of islands of Scotland, sixth-largest Scottish island and the List of islands of the British Isles, tenth-largest island in the British Isles. Orkney's largest settlement, and also its administrative centre, is Kirkwall. Orkney is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland, council areas of Scotland, as well as a Orkney (Scottish Parliament constituency), constituency of the Scottish Parliament, a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area, and an counties of Scotland, historic county. The local council is Orkney I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
St Magnus Cathedral
St Magnus Cathedral dominates the skyline of Kirkwall, the main town of Orkney, a group of islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. Originally Roman Catholic, it is the oldest cathedral in Scotland and the most northerly cathedral in the United Kingdom – a fine example of Romanesque architecture built when the islands were ruled by the Norse Earls of Orkney. The building is owned by Orkney Islands Council as successor of the burgh of Kirkwall as a result of an act of King James III of Scotland following Orkney's annexation by the Scottish Crown in 1468. Construction began in 1137 and it was added to over the next 300 years. The first bishop of Orkney was William the Old and it was for Bishop William that the nearby Bishop's Palace was built. Before the Scottish Reformation, the cathedral was presided over by the Bishop of Orkney. Today, it is a parish church of the Church of Scotland (with a presbyterian system of Church governance). As of 2024, the congregation o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parliamentary Burgh Of Kirkwall
Kirkwall was a Parliamentary Burgh that represented Kirkwall, Orkney in two successive District of Burghs, Tain and Wick. It tended to be affected by the same influential landowners who controlled the Orkney and Shetland seat, although as it was one of a number of mainland Burghs, this influence was not always decisive for choosing the MP Formation Before Union, Kirkwall returned one Burgh commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland. The Act of Union in 1708 meant a reduction in Scotland's representation in Parliament. Kirkwall was combined into a district of Burghs with the Highland burghs of Dingwall, Dornoch, Tain and Wick to form the Tain Burghs together sending one MP to the House of Commons. Under this arrangement the councilmen of Kirkwall would elect a Commissioner who would go to where the election was held, which rotated between the Burghs, and would cast their votes with other commissioners. Influence From the Act of Union to 1766 it was under the influence of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern Isles
The Northern Isles (; ; ) are a chain (or archipelago) of Island, islands of Scotland, located off the north coast of the Scottish mainland. The climate is cool and temperate and highly influenced by the surrounding seas. There are two main island groups: Shetland and Orkney. There are a total of 36 inhabited islands, with the fertile agricultural islands of Orkney contrasting with the more rugged Shetland islands to the north, where the economy is more dependent on fishing and the oil wealth of the surrounding seas. Both archipelagos have a developing renewable energy industry. They share a common Picts, Pictish and Norse activity in the British Isles, Norse history, and were part of the Kingdom of Norway (872–1397), Kingdom of Norway before being absorbed into the Kingdom of Scotland in the 15th century. The islands played a significant naval role during the World war, world wars of the 20th century. Tourism is important to both archipelagos, with their distinctive prehisto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orkney Islands Council
The Orkney Islands Council, is the local authority for the Orkney Islands, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It was established in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and was largely unaffected by the Scottish local government changes of 1996. It provides services in the areas of environmental health, roads, social work, community development, organisational development, economic development, building standards, trading standards, housing, waste, education, burial grounds, port and harbours and others. The council collects Council Tax. The council is also the harbour authority for Orkney and its marine services division manages the operation of the islands' 29 piers and harbours. History Orkney had been administered by Commissioners of Supply from 1667 and then by Orkney County Council from 1890 to 1975. The county council was abolished in 1975 and replaced by the Orkney Islands Council, which also took over the functions previously exercised by Orkney's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Earl Of Orkney
Earl of Orkney, historically Jarl of Orkney, is a title of nobility encompassing the archipelagoes of Orkney and Shetland, which comprise the Northern Isles of Scotland. Originally Scandinavian Scotland, founded by Norse invaders, the status of the rulers of the Northern Isles as Norway, Norwegian vassals was formalised in 1195. Although the Old Norse term ''jarl'' is etymologically related to "earl", and the jarls were succeeded by earls in the late 15th century, a Norwegian ''jarl'' is not the same thing. In the Norse context the distinction between jarls and kings did not become significant until the late 11th century and the early jarls would therefore have had considerable independence of action until that time. The position of Jarl of Orkney was eventually the most senior rank in medieval Norway except for the king himself. The jarls were periodically subject to the kings of Kingdom of Alba, Alba for those parts of their territory in what is now mainland Scotland (i.e. C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orkney (Scottish Parliament Constituency)
Orkney is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament ( Holyrood) covering the council area of Orkney. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It is also one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole. Orkney has been held by the Liberal Democrats at all elections since the formation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, with the current MSP being Liam McArthur, who won the seat at the 2007 Scottish Parliament election. The former Deputy First Minister Jim Wallace represented the constituency from 1999 to 2007. Electoral region Orkney is part of the Highlands and Islands electoral region; the other seven constituencies are: Argyll and Bute, Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Inverness and Nairn, Moray, Na h-Eileanan an Iar, S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orkney And Shetland (UK Parliament Constituency)
Orkney and Shetland () is a United Kingdom constituencies, constituency of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election and has been represented by Alistair Carmichael of the Scottish Liberal Democrats since 2001. In the Scottish Parliament, Orkney (Scottish Parliament constituency), Orkney and Shetland (Scottish Parliament constituency), Shetland are separate constituencies. The constituency was historically known as Orkney and Zetland (an alternative name for Shetland). In the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, 65.4% of the constituency's electors voted for Scotland to stay part of the United Kingdom. Creation The British parliamentary constituency was created in 1708 following the Acts of Union, 1707 and replaced the former Parliament of Scotland shire constituency of Orkney and Zetland (Parl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kirkwall (Parliament Of Scotland Constituency)
Kirkwall in Orkney was a royal burgh that returned one commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland and to the Convention of Estates. After the Acts of Union 1707, Kirkwall, Dingwall, Dornoch, Tain and Wick formed the Tain district of burghs, returning one member between them to the House of Commons of Great Britain. List of burgh commissioners * 1669–74: James Moncreiff, merchant-burgess * 1681–82, 1685–86: David Craigie of Over-Sanday * 1689 convention, 1690–?93: George Traill of Quendel * 1698–1702: Sir Alexander Home * 1702–07: Robert Douglas See also * List of constituencies in the Parliament of Scotland at the time of the Union List of constituencies in the Parliament of Scotland at the time of the Union is a list of the constituencies of the Parliament of Scotland (the Estates of Scotland) during the period shortly before the Union between the Kingdom of Scotland and ... References Constituencies of the Parliament of Scotland (to 1707) Const ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orkneyinga Saga
The ''Orkneyinga saga'' (Old Norse: ; ; also called the ''History of the Earls of Orkney'' and ''Jarls' Saga'') is a narrative of the history of the Orkney and Shetland islands and their relationship with other local polities, particularly Norway and Scotland. The saga has "no parallel in the social and literary record of Scotland" and is "the only medieval chronicle to have Orkney as the central place of action". The main focus of the work is the Earl of Orkney, line of ''jarls'' who ruled the Earldom of Orkney, which constituted the ''Norðreyjar'' or Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland and there are frequent references to both archipelagoes throughout. The narrative commences with a brief mythical ancestry tale and then proceeds to outline the Norse take-over of the ''Norðreyjar'' by Harald Fairhair – the take-over is not in doubt although the role of the king is no longer accepted by historians as a likelihood. The saga then outlines, with varying degrees of detail, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
District Of Burghs
The Act of Union 1707 and pre-Union Scottish legislation provided for 14 Members of Parliament (MPs) from Scotland to be elected from districts of burghs. All the parliamentary burghs (burghs represented in the pre-Union Parliament of Scotland) were assigned to a district, except for Edinburgh which had an MP to itself. The burghs in a district were not necessarily adjacent or even close together. Until 1832, the self-elected Council of each burgh in a district elected a commissioner, who had one vote for the MP. The commissioner from the Returning Burgh (which function rotated amongst the burghs in successive elections) had an additional casting vote if the numbers were equal. Burgh councils had small memberships, with the result that the combined electorate for all 14 constituencies in 1831 was no more than 1,270. The Scottish Reform Act 1832 amended the composition of the districts, and the boundaries of a burgh for parliamentary purposes ceased to be necessarily those of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thorfinn The Mighty
Thorfinn Sigurdsson (1009? – 1058?), also known as Thorfinn the Mighty (Old Norse: ''Þorfinnr inn riki''), was an 11th-century Jarl of Orkney. He was the youngest of five sons of Jarl Sigurd Hlodvirsson and the only one resulting from Sigurd's marriage to a daughter of Malcolm II of Scotland. He ruled alone as jarl for about a third of the time that he held the title and jointly with one or more of his brothers or with his nephew Rögnvald Brusason for the remainder. Thorfinn married Ingibiorg Finnsdottir, daughter of Finn Arnesson, Jarl of Halland. Though Thorfinn's year of death is unknown, it is recorded that he died before King Harald's invasion of England in 1066. However, two pieces of circumstantial evidence may well point to a death date of around 1058: firstly, that in that year, King Harald's elder son Magnus Haraldsson (the future King Magnus II) led an expedition to Orkney and the Isles, which is speculated to have been an effort to restore order the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
