The Flickr Earloforkney Image Generatr

Between the hollowed out voiceless Bell Tower and disregarded opening of The Reliquary where birds now nest in the church erected upon Egil’s island, Egilsay, Egilsey and even Eagleshay where Saint Magnus Erlendsson an Earl of Orkney was martyred.

The island has been recognised under several names and the church here has been venerated as the site of the martyrdom of Saint Magnus. The legend of Saint Magnus Erlendsson an Earl of Orkney born in 1080 and died on 16 April 1117 has been passed down to us even if some believed it more and less. Please see the quote below for those that found a proof to substantiate the legend into history, the vita that is the living even holy writings of a hagiography.

© PHH Sykes 2024
[email protected]


“The island is largely farmland and is known for St Magnus Church, dedicated or re-dedicated to Saint Magnus, who was killed on the island in 1117 by an axe blow to the head. For hundreds of years the story of St. Magnus, part of the Orkneyinga saga, was considered just a legend until a skull with a large crack in it, such as it had been stricken by an axe, was found in the walls of St. Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall.”

Egilsay Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egilsay

Between the hollowed out voiceless Bell Tower and disregarded opening of The Reliquary where birds now nest in the church erected upon Egil’s island, Egilsay, Egilsey and even Eagleshay where Saint Magnus Erlendsson an Earl of Orkney was martyred.

The island has been recognised under several names and the church here has been venerated as the site of the martyrdom of Saint Magnus. The legend of Saint Magnus Erlendsson an Earl of Orkney born in 1080 and died on 16 April 1117 has been passed down to us even if some believed it more and less. Please see the quote below for those that found a proof to substantiate the legend into history, the vita that is the living even holy writings of a hagiography.

© PHH Sykes 2024
[email protected]


“The island is largely farmland and is known for St Magnus Church, dedicated or re-dedicated to Saint Magnus, who was killed on the island in 1117 by an axe blow to the head. For hundreds of years the story of St. Magnus, part of the Orkneyinga saga, was considered just a legend until a skull with a large crack in it, such as it had been stricken by an axe, was found in the walls of St. Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall.”

Egilsay Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egilsay

Between the hollowed out voiceless Bell Tower and disregarded opening of The Reliquary where birds now nest in the church erected upon Egil’s island, Egilsay, Egilsey and even Eagleshay where Saint Magnus Erlendsson an Earl of Orkney was martyred.

The island has been recognised under several names and the church here has been venerated as the site of the martyrdom of Saint Magnus. The legend of Saint Magnus Erlendsson an Earl of Orkney born in 1080 and died on 16 April 1117 has been passed down to us even if some believed it more and less. Please see the quote below for those that found a proof to substantiate the legend into history, the vita that is the living even holy writings of a hagiography.

© PHH Sykes 2024
[email protected]


“The island is largely farmland and is known for St Magnus Church, dedicated or re-dedicated to Saint Magnus, who was killed on the island in 1117 by an axe blow to the head. For hundreds of years the story of St. Magnus, part of the Orkneyinga saga, was considered just a legend until a skull with a large crack in it, such as it had been stricken by an axe, was found in the walls of St. Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall.”

Egilsay Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egilsay

The island has been recognised under several names and the church here has been venerated as the site of the martyrdom of Saint Magnus. The legend of Saint Magnus Erlendsson an Earl of Orkney born in 1080 and died on 16 April 1117 has been passed down to us even if some believed it more and less. Please see the quote below for those that found a proof to substantiate the legend into history, the vita that is the living even holy writings of a hagiography.

© PHH Sykes 2024
[email protected]


“The island is largely farmland and is known for St Magnus Church, dedicated or re-dedicated to Saint Magnus, who was killed on the island in 1117 by an axe blow to the head. For hundreds of years the story of St. Magnus, part of the Orkneyinga saga, was considered just a legend until a skull with a large crack in it, such as it had been stricken by an axe, was found in the walls of St. Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall.”

Egilsay Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egilsay

The island has been recognised under several names and the church here has been venerated as the site of the martyrdom of Saint Magnus. The legend of Saint Magnus Erlendsson an Earl of Orkney born in 1080 and died on 16 April 1117 has been passed down to us even if some believed it more and less. Please see the quote below for those that found a proof to substantiate the legend into history, the vita that is the living even holy writings of a hagiography.

© PHH Sykes 2024
[email protected]


“The island is largely farmland and is known for St Magnus Church, dedicated or re-dedicated to Saint Magnus, who was killed on the island in 1117 by an axe blow to the head. For hundreds of years the story of St. Magnus, part of the Orkneyinga saga, was considered just a legend until a skull with a large crack in it, such as it had been stricken by an axe, was found in the walls of St. Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall.”

Egilsay Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egilsay

Dr. Oliver Peter St. John, 9th Earl of Orkney, officiated at the wedding of his nephew under sunny skies at the top of the steps leading into one of the many gardens at Markham House Bed and Breakfast, 1853 Connie Road, Sooke, British Columbia, Canada. As a titled gentleman, the earl is permitted -- much as a captain at sea -- to perform marriages.

Lord Orkney received the hereditary title following the death in February 1996, of the Eighth Earl of Orkney, his distant cousin, Cecil O'Bryen Fitzmaurice. Unlike his cousin who it is believed only visited Orkney once, Lord St. John (pronounced: sin-jun) states he wants a closer relationship with these northern Scottish islands and the people living there. Professor St. John, from Winnipeg, Manitoba, is hoping to purchase land in the Orkney Islands to help make this all possible.

The Earl is married to author, historian and publisher, Barbara Huck, now the Countess of Orkney, and has three daughters and a son, as well as three stepdaughters and a stepson. Peter states: "Barbara and I have been to Orkney and loved it.We visited in the fall of 1990 and were very sorry we could only spend one week there. During our visit, the people of Orkney went out of their way to assist us and make us feel at home."

The son of British parents -- the late Col. Frederick Oliver St. John and Elizabeth St. John -- the earl was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada and educated in England. He returned to Canada to do a B.A. at the University of British Columbia, before heading once more for England to do his master's degree at the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. at the University of London. After lecturing in England for a year he obtained tenure at the University of Manitoba in the political studies' department and taught there for 34 years until retiring in December, 2000.

Professor St. John lectured at the University of Victoria for four months in 2002 on his favourite subject: Air Terrorism. The erudite professor has published a book on the subject and is often called as an expert regarding these matters. He has recently appeared on several well-known television programs in both North America and the UK.

The Earl also holds the title Baron of Dechmont while his son, Oliver, is now Viscount of Kirkwall. All three hereditary titles were created in 1696 and have never been held by an Orcadian. There are no castles nor lands inherited with the title but Professor St. John said there were a few old robes -- which unfortunately rotted in his cousin's garage in England -- and a couple of coronets. Lord Orkney will be the last to take his seat in the House of Lords if the government sticks to its promise to scrap the powers of hereditary peers.

N.B. St. John is pronounced: Sin-jun

View from the Cathedral front

Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnus_Erlendsson,_Earl_of_Orkney

of Orkney wife of Thomas John Hamilton Fitzmaurice Earl of Orkney, Buckingham & Berkshire 1st October 1852.
Property they had an interest in: Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. The Commissioners were William Joseph Jarrett,; William Loxham Farrer, both of 66 Lincolns Inn Fields; John James Joseph Sudlow of Bedford Row, Middlesex. Others mentioned: Edward Marjoribanks; Sir Edmund Antrobus.

Charlotte Isabella Irby born 1780, the daughter of George Irby, 3rd Baron Boston and Rachel Ives Drake. She married Thomas John Hamilton Fitzmaurice, 5th Earl of Orkney, son of John Hamilton Fitzmaurice, Viscount Kirkwall and Hon. Anna Maria de Blaquiere, on 14 March 1826.
The 1851 census shows them living at Taplow Court, Taplow, Buckinghamshire.

Sometimes known as Married Women’s Deeds or Acknowledgement of Deeds by Married Women. A Document to record that a Wife was of full age, competent to understand, had been examined apart from her husband and voluntarily consented to the sale of Land and Property. The main intention was to ensure that a wife could not claim the right of Dower from the purchaser after her husband’s death. Single women and Widows had the right to own properties in their own right so were not covered by this 1833 Act.

The Declaration: Sometimes this first declaration could be signed by someone other than an Attorney and Commissioner (Gentleman, Farmer etc.) who knew the woman. Normally it was signed by an Attorney who was a Commissioner of the Court of Common pleas. Then signed by a second Commissioner who declared he had no knowledge or interest in the transaction and as far as he was aware neither did the first Commissioner. Sometimes the document would also be signed by another Commissioner (for Oaths) or by a Judge in his Chambers.

A second document, the Certificate, gave the names of the two Commissioners, wife and husband. A précis of the Indenture connected to the sale was given, naming all who were named in the indenture.

of Orkney wife of Thomas John Hamilton Fitzmaurice Earl of Orkney, Buckingham & Berkshire 1st October 1852.
Property they had an interest in: Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. The Commissioners were William Joseph Jarrett,; William Loxham Farrer, both of 66 Lincolns Inn Fields; John James Joseph Sudlow of Bedford Row, Middlesex. Others mentioned: Edward Marjoribanks; Sir Edmund Antrobus.

Charlotte Isabella Irby born 1780, the daughter of George Irby, 3rd Baron Boston and Rachel Ives Drake. She married Thomas John Hamilton Fitzmaurice, 5th Earl of Orkney, son of John Hamilton Fitzmaurice, Viscount Kirkwall and Hon. Anna Maria de Blaquiere, on 14 March 1826.
The 1851 census shows them living at Taplow Court, Taplow, Buckinghamshire.

Sometimes known as Married Women’s Deeds or Acknowledgement of Deeds by Married Women. A Document to record that a Wife was of full age, competent to understand, had been examined apart from her husband and voluntarily consented to the sale of Land and Property. The main intention was to ensure that a wife could not claim the right of Dower from the purchaser after her husband’s death. Single women and Widows had the right to own properties in their own right so were not covered by this 1833 Act.

The Declaration: Sometimes this first declaration could be signed by someone other than an Attorney and Commissioner (Gentleman, Farmer etc.) who knew the woman. Normally it was signed by an Attorney who was a Commissioner of the Court of Common pleas. Then signed by a second Commissioner who declared he had no knowledge or interest in the transaction and as far as he was aware neither did the first Commissioner. Sometimes the document would also be signed by another Commissioner (for Oaths) or by a Judge in his Chambers.

A second document, the Certificate, gave the names of the two Commissioners, wife and husband. A précis of the Indenture connected to the sale was given, naming all who were named in the indenture.

Built by Andrew Crawford in 1607 for Earl Patrick Stewart - Earl of Orkney and Lord of Shetland

Some of the curtain wall masonry can be seen in this photo, below the hummock to the right.

At what date the gatehouse, drawbridge, keep and curtain walls were built, we don't know, but the castle was certainly not strong enough to protect the bishop from attack by Harald Maddadson, the Norse Earl of Orkney, when he came-a-calling in 1201.

The incumbent at the time was Bishop John, who earned the ire of the earl by refusing to collect Peter's Pence, a tax of one tenth part of the income of every freeman. This tax was encouraged by the papacy, and had a strong history in the Scandinavian world.

Presumably Jarl Harald was used to getting a share of the tax!

While his predecessor Bishop Aindréas had allowed the tax, Bishop John stood up for the complaints of the peasantry - which was very noble of him, but, as it turned out, somewhat foolhardy! Harald's response was to have the bishop mutilated, by cutting out his tongue and eyes, the act apparently being perpetrated here in Scrabster Castle!

Bishop John certainly survived the attack, although Earl Harald and the people of the earldom suffered the consequences, as Pope Innocent III and King William of Scotland are said to have brought down their wrath on the province.

After Bishop John suddenly lost the sight in both eyes, his successor, Bishop Adam of Melrose, decided to move inland to Halkirk, presumably thinking he would be safer there. Perhaps also in the interests of his own safety, he became a prodigious collector of tithes - which as events were to prove, is somewhat ironic!

On 11th of September 1222, Adam was met at his residence in Halkirk, by a group of farmers (probably supported in absentia by Jon Haraldsson. the new Earl of Orkney, who was also having to pay the tithe), who demanded that the issue of what they considered to be unfair taxation, be settled in a fair manner. Adam refused, and a brawl ensued, in which one of Adam’s chaplains was killed, and the bishop himself stoned, and wounded with an axe. Chased inside his manor, he was trapped as the mob set the building on fire, burning Adam and his attendants alive (traditionally be was boiled to death, but this would seem less likely!)

We are now getting amongst the Orkney Islands proper, with Hoy to our left and South Ronaldsay (seen here) to our right - or should that be larboard and starboard!

South Ronaldsay is joined to the other islands to its north by the famous Churchill Barriers - a series of four causeways that were built in the 1940s to protect the naval anchorage at Scapa Flow. Initially redundant ships were sunk in the channels to stop German U-boats entering the harbour and later the causeways were built.

At the north-west extremity of South Ronaldsay is Hoxa Head, which we will see in a minute. Hoxa Head is a large oval hill and at the other end of the hill to the headland is a place called The Howe of Hoxa, where there is a very ruined broch that is said to be the burial place of Thorfinn "Skullsplitter", who died about 963.

(To my mind somewhat unfortunately, the surname Skullsplitter seems to have mostly died out! I could certainly find no sign of it in local phone directory. It has however been revived as the name of an Orcadian beer!)

Thorfinn Torf-Einarsson as his mother would have known him, was a 10th-century Earl of Orkney and one of those wonderful characters from the Norse and Orkneyinga sagas - a rich heritage tapped into by Tolkein.

Thorfinn had two other brothers who fell fighting in England. One was the equally wonderfully named Eric Bloodaxe. Mr Bloodaxe's widow Gunnhildr fled to Norway with her children, except for a daughter Ragnhild, who she married to Thorfinn Skullsplitter's son Arfinn. Thorfinn had a total of five sons and two daughters.

Some time after Thorfinns death in c.962, Ragnhild Eriksdotter, had her husband Arnfinn Thorfinnsson, murdered at Murkle in Caithness and then married his brother Havard, who then ruled as earl for a time.

Not content with this new arrangement Ragnhild then conspired with her nephew (the son of one of Thorfinn's two daughters), Einar Kliningr, who subsequently killed Havard at the battle of Havarðsteiger near Stenness.

Einar and Ragnhild then fell out and the latter persuaded Einar Harðkjotr (the son of Thorfinn's other daughter) to attack and kill his cousin Einar Kliningr in turn.

Ragnhild's ambitions were still not assuaged and this "female spider" then colluded with Ljot Thorfinnson who, after she married him, had the second Einar killed. Having now married three of Thorfinn's sons in succession no more is told of Ragnhild and Ljot became earl and an "excellent leader" (but presumably slept with a loaded battle-axe under his pillow!).

nb members of the Sinclair family testified against the Knights Templar in a 1309 trial