#orkney

St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall.

Dedicated to Earl Magnus Erlendsson who was murdered in 1117 on Egilsay during a power struggle with his cousin. Magnus was later venerated as a saint.

Magnus was first buried right where he was executed on the island of Egilsay in 1117. Earl Haakon denied him a Christian burial.

According to Orkneyinga Saga, the site of Earl Magnus Erlendsson’s murder on Egilsay was initially stony and overgrown. Following his death, a miracle occurred to show he suffered for righteousness, transforming the unholy or barren ground into a lush green field.

Later Thora, Magnus' mother, asked Haakon to allow her there to bury him in a church. Haakon gave his permission and Magnus was then buried at Christchurch at Birsay where where legends has it there were numerous miraculous happenings and healings.William the Old, Bishop of Orkney, warned that it was "h eresy to go about with such tales" and was then struck blind at his church, but subsequently had his sight restored after praying at the grave of Magnus, not long after visiting Norway.

Magnus's nephew, Rögnvald Kali Kolsson, laid claim to the Earldom of Orkney, and was advised by his father Kol to promise the islanders to "build a stone minster at Kirkwall" in memory of his uncle, the Holy Earl, and this became St Magnus Cathedral

During restoration work at the cathedral in 1919 St Magnus's body was discovered in behind some brickwork in a pillar they were re-interred in 1925l- but how did they know it was him? I hear you ask, well when captured he begged to be spared, saying he would leave Orkney and never return, but Haakon refused this, accepting his fate Magnus then begged that he not be beheaded like a common criminal, Haakon's standard-bearer refused to kill him, so Haakon forced his cook, Lifolf, to strike Magnus on the head with an axe. the skull discovered just over 100 years ago was consistent with a blow to the head as the cause of death, consistent with the story recorded over 800 years before.

Of course there are those who doubt that they are his bones, the same goes for those of Robert the Bruce at Dumfermline, and his heart at Selkirk Abbey, it is all to do with what you believe I suppose.

Highland Coo.

Earl's Palace, Birsay, Orkney.

To me the story of the man that was behind the building of this palace showed how ruthles the Stewarts were in Scotland, and like all royal families since, don't really care about the ordinary citizens of this land.

I knew a fair bit about this place before visiting, it was buil around 1606 by by one of Orkney's most notorious rulers, Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Orkney. Robert was illegitimate son of James V and his mistress Euphemia Elphinstone, Robert was the half-brother of Mary Queen of Scots. He made his name through his ruthless and despotic establishment of what became virtually a separate kingdom in the Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland.

By 1570 Bishop Bothwell and many others from Orkney were complaining that Robert’s approach amounted to nothing less than tyranny: in effect his using islanders as slave labour on his construction projects , which included this palace. His chief instrument of oppression, especially in Shetland, was his half brother, Laurence Bruce, who he appointed Sheriff of Shetland. In 1575 Robert was imprisoned in Edinburgh. by the Regent for James VI, James Douglas, Earl of Morton: less because of his behaviour towards the islanders than because it came to light that he had offered Orkney to the King of Denmark, an act that amounted to treason. The following year he was also indicted in Edinburgh. for misuse of power in Orkney and Shetland, but never brought to trial..

Instead, Robert was released, and by 1581 engineered the execution of James Douglas, Earl of Morton by convincing his young half nephew, James VI, that Morton had had a hand in the murder of James’ father, Lord Darnley.

On taking back his seat of power further complaints followed about Robert’s treatment of islanders, but he survived to die peacefully in his bed on 4th February 1593. He was succeeded by his, if anything, even less likeable son, Patrick Stewart, 2nd Earl of Orkney. Robert Stewart left an indelible mark on the Northern Isles, both in terms of his impact as a tyrant, and in stone. The considerable ruins of the Earl’s Palace at Birsay still stand, and the ruins of the Palace he built near the southern tip of Shetland’s Mainland now form part of the incredible Jarlshof complex.

You can’t miss the Earl’s Palace as you approach; it dominates the village this once opulent, now ruined residence is still an impressive sight.

Sigurd Eysteinsson, better known as Sigurd the Mighty, was the second Earl of Orkney and one of the most formidable Viking rulers of the late 9th century. According to Norse tradition, he expanded his influence beyond the Orkney Islands into northern Scotland, where he fought fierce battles against local rulers in his quest for power.

His most famous—and strangest—encounter was with Máel Brigte, a Scottish noble often remembered as "Máel Brigte the Bucktoothed." The Orkneyinga Saga recounts that after arranging a meeting under agreed terms, Sigurd instead arrived with more warriors than promised, leading to a bloody fight in which Máel Brigte was killed. As a trophy of victory, Sigurd severed his opponent's head and strapped it to his saddle.