St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall is magnificent. It’s origins are in Viking times, when Orkney was ruled by Viking Earls. It’s the best preserved medieval cathedral in Scotland with massive Norman pillars built by the masons of Durham Cathedral.

Towering above the Kirkwall landscape, St. Magnus Cathedral, with its distinctive sandstone hues, is one of Orkney’s most significant landmarks. Parts of this impressive building have stood for more than 850 years and its attractive appearance owes much to the polychromatic effect of the alternating stonework, comprising red sandstone quarried from Head of Holland, north of Kirkwall, and yellow sandstone which is believed to have been quarried on Eday, one of Orkney’s northern isles.

http://www.stmagnus.org

Memento Mori – “Remember Death.” How could I forget death, as I walk around St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall on Orkney. I’m surrounded by stunning 17th Century gravestones.

Here’s a double ladder that two men last went up in Kirkwall in 1722, yet only one man ever came down it. Explain.

It’s a steep climb up the tower of St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall. The gravestones are so perfectly preserved, even those from the 17th Century, that it’s possible to see the last breath carved on the headstone.

It’s time for a trip to the Mainland. No, not the mainland of Scotland, the Mainland of Orkney. Mainland is an hour and a half away by ferry and this morning, braving the seas, it’s the Earl Thorfinn. There are three Earl Thorfinns. There’s Thorfinn Turf-Einarsson, Earl of Orkney, better known as Thorfinn Skullsplitter who was the son of Einar. There’s Thorfinn Sigurdsson, another Earl of Orkney known as Thorfinn the Mighty and then there’s MV Earl Thorfinn, a ferry in the Orkney Ferries fleet.

A quick trip down the road to see Mr Pig today where Molly has produced 10 piglets, or nine and a half if you count Weezy properly. Here’s an extract from Malcolm’s blog:

Steenyha’ Pigs
Final tally. . . ten live piglets. Eight were bonny and got straight down to feeding. One was small and needed some help to get started. Then there was Weezy who damn nearly drowned on his way out, had a rattly chest and wouldn’t suckle. Sal gave him a big warm cuddle and put some sweetened milk down his throat with a syringe. Then we shoved him back in with his siblings and ten minutes later he was getting stuck in. Mother Nature knows best.

Piglets all coming on fine. Feeding well and starting to get used to going under the heat lamp when Molly gets up to eat. Weezy has settled in with the rest and is no cause for concern now.

I love the emotion that comes with keeping pigs. They are magnificent beasts, and so human, so it’s all the more entertaining when I realise that ‘freezer packs’ are available:

Orders being taken now for pork. Whole, half, quarter pigs and freezer packs available. Call Malcolm on 01857 677577 for info and prices.

Pedigree British Saddleback and Saddleback/Tamworth cross pigs from the beautiful, remote Orkney island of Westray

Visiting Westray is like stepping back in time.

It’s time for me to make a quick trip to town to shop and to catch up on the news. I say quick, it’s an hour-long round-trip by bicycle. I say town, Pierowall’s a tiny village with a couple of shops. It’s an opportunity to catch up on all the Island gossip: The shop in Skelwick is for sale; A couple of houses are being built; Some new folks have moved to the Island; and Hume Sweet Hume no longer sells alcohol Off Licence.

Why is Westray so much like stepping back in time? Well, visit the shop and see that now the delivery schedule has changed yesterday’s newspapers have just arrived. Today is all about yesterday’s news.

…but reality is worth a thousand pictures.

Crossing the sea from Orkney Mainland to Westray feels like coming home.

The King’s Cup

The King, he kept a keep-sake,
A silver drinking cup,
And only on great occasions would
He take the goblet up.

A maiden he loved truly,
The goblet to him gave,
Before she went so cruelly
Into an early grave.

He treasured it and held it
So tight in shaking hands.
He loved it more than anything
In all his Kingdom’s lands.

But Death with the King had spoken,
His time on earth was spent,
Left but a few short hours before
Heaven, or punishment.

He took the cup and left
Those high white palace walls,
The echoes of his footsteps’ tread
No more to grace their halls.

He walked down to the seashore,
The goblet in his hand,
And gazed at the blue waves breaking
On the fine bright silver sand

One lingering look he gave it,
Before he lifted up,
And far over the sea threw,
His maiden’s silver cup.

The dial-hand moved full circle,
His time came to an end.
Death came, not a fearsome foe,
But a long-lost loyal friend.