Olrig is a parish in Caithness, Scotland. The main settlement in the parish is Castletown. [1] Prior to the 19th century, the parish was sub-divided into ten townlands[ citation needed ] or "fermlands". Townland boundaries were mostly disregarded and lost during the agricultural improvements in the 19th century, but many townland names remain identifiable with farmstead names ending with Mains.[ citation needed ]
The name Olrig (or Olrick) is thought to signify “the son of Erick,” from one of the Norwegian chieftains prominent in the locale following the invasion of Caithness by the King of Norway at the beginning of the ninth century. The Danes invaded Olrig at a distant period, landing at the bay of Murkle but were defeated by the inhabitants in a conflict on a height called, from the slain, Morthill, which is the origin of the name Murkle. [2]
There are numerous Pictish houses in the parish, and a nunnery is said to have been located on the lands of Murkle, its site perhaps being marked by a small burn called Closters, a corruption of the word cloisters. At the top of the hill of Olrick are the remains of an ancient watchtower, and it is believed that a church called St. Coomb's Kirk once stood near the eastern boundary of the parish. Its name is derived from its probable dedication to St. Columba. This church is supposed to have been the church of the united parishes of Olrig and Dunnet. [3]
There is a tradition that the kirk and the adjoining manse disappeared overnight when they were suddenly overwhelmed by a sandstorm, [4] but “there is no trace of any structure in an area of consolidated sand dunes.” [5]
Members of Clan Sinclair became associated with Olrig in the mid-seventeenth century. They were as follows: [6]
Various legends and folk tales are associated with the parish. Versions of these two tales appear in James Traill Calder's History of Caithness 1887 (pages 55 to 61, as republished 1973 by Stansfield, Fortrose). The hillock and well of Sysa figure in both. According to Calder, the well dried up as a result of 19th century agricultural improvements. The hillock is still there, on the south side of Olrig Hill (grid reference ND169647 ).
The words of Dorrad, in the first tale, are re-quoted from The Raven Banner (page 19) by Ian Cassells, Thurso, circa 1995.
At the time of Clontarf, the 1014 battle near Dublin, Caithness was ruled as a part of the Norwegian earldom of Orkney. At Clontarf Earl Sigurd the Stout of Orkney made a bid to become High King of Ireland, in battle with Brian Boru, the established High King. Both Brian and Sigurd died in the battle. Sigurd's bid had been invited by Sigtrygg Silkbeard, the Norse King of Dublin. Sigtrygg survived and prospered.
The battle was fought on Good Friday and, in legend, on the same Good Friday, a Norse poet called Daraddus or Dorrad had a vision, an apparition of the Valkyries, twelve in all, on horseback at Sysa. They seemed to ride into the hillock.
Daraddus himself approached the hillock and found an opening in its side. When he peered inside he saw the Valkyries were weaving a cloth and singing. Daraddus recorded what he heard and saw:
When the bloody cloth was woven the Valkyries tore it into twelve pieces. Each took a piece and remounted her horse. Then the twelve rode furiously away, six to the north and six to the south.
Again at Sysa, one sunny tranquil day in the leafy month of June, a cowboy called Peter Water stopped to drink and linger at the well, while on his way home to Windy Ha. He rested and slept till near sunset, when he was awakened by a touch on his shoulder. A young lady was beside him, dressed in green, her eyes blue and her hair in golden ringlets. Peter was bashful and felt himself blushing.
"I have come to make a man of you" the lady said. Peter mistook her meaning and demurred. She laughed and continued with her offer: "I will put you in the way of rising in the world and making your fortune" she said, and she asked Peter to choose between a book and a pipe.
Both were magical. In the book Peter saw the status and fortunes of a popular preacher. In the pipe he saw those of a popular musician. He was attracted by both but, though he had never fingered a pipe before, the pipe is what he chose. He found he could play the pipe immediately, and play it well. One condition was attached to the lady's gift: that he swear by the well to return in moonlight on the same evening seven years hence. Peter promised that if alive he would do so.
Peter was soon a popular and prosperous musician, growing in fame and fortune throughout the next seven years. He was true to his word and returned to the well of Sysa in the moonlight on the same evening, seven years hence. Peter has never been seen since, but still his pipe is sometimes heard in Olrig. (The skeptics, however, attribute the sound to the wind playing though the radio masts on top of the hill.)
In Norse mythology, a valkyrie is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become einherjar. When the einherjar are not preparing for the events of Ragnarök, the valkyries bear them mead. Valkyries also appear as lovers of heroes and other mortals, where they are sometimes described as the daughters of royalty, sometimes accompanied by ravens and sometimes connected to swans or horses.
In Norse mythology, Reginn is a son of Hreiðmarr and the foster father of Sigurd. His brothers are Fafnir and Ótr.
In Norse mythology, Sigmund is a hero whose story is told in the Völsunga saga. He and his sister, Signý, are the children of Völsung and his wife Hljod. Sigmund is best known as the father of Sigurð the dragon-slayer, though Sigurð's tale has almost no connections to the Völsung cycle except that he was a dragonslayer.
The Battle of Clontarf took place on 23 April 1014 at Clontarf, near Dublin, on the east coast of Ireland. It pitted an army led by Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, against a Norse-Irish alliance comprising the forces of Sigtrygg Silkbeard, King of Dublin; Máel Mórda mac Murchada, King of Leinster; and a Viking army from abroad led by Sigurd of Orkney and Brodir of Mann. It lasted from sunrise to sunset, and ended in a rout of the Viking and Leinster armies.
Thurso is a town and former burgh on the north coast of the Highland council area of Scotland. Situated in the historical County of Caithness, it is the northernmost town on the island of Great Britain.
Caithness is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland.
The Earl of Orkney was originally a Norse jarl ruling the archipelagos of Orkney and Shetland. Originally founded by Norse invaders, the status of the rulers of the Norðreyjar as 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.
Thorfinn Torf-Einarsson also known as Thorfinn Skull-splitter was a 10th-century Earl of Orkney. He appears in the Orkneyinga saga and briefly in St Olaf's Saga, as incorporated into the Heimskringla. These stories were first written down in Iceland in the early 13th century and much of the information they contain is "hard to corroborate".
Darraðarljóð is a skaldic poem in Old Norse found in chapter 157 of Njáls saga. The song, which is seen in a vision by a man named Dorrud, the song consists of 11 stanzas, and within it twelve valkyries weave and choose who is to be slain at the Battle of Clontarf. Their loom uses human entrails as warp and woof, swords as treadles, an arrow as the batten and men's heads as weights. Of the twelve valkyries weaving, six of their names are given: Hildr, Hjörþrimul, Sanngriðr, Svipul, Guðr, and Göndul. Stanza 9 of the song reads:
Sigurd Hlodvirsson, popularly known as Sigurd the Stout from the Old Norse Sigurðr digri, was an Earl of Orkney. The main sources for his life are the Norse Sagas, which were first written down some two centuries or more after his death. These engaging stories must therefore be treated with caution rather than as reliable historical documents.
Bróðir and Óspak of Man were two Danish brothers who were active in the Isle of Man and Ireland in the 11th century. They are mentioned in the 12th century Irish Cogadh Gaedhil re Gallaibh and the 13th century Icelandic Njal's Saga as key leaders who fought on opposite sides in the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. The latter account names Bróðir as the killer of Brian Boru, the High King of Ireland. Both Boru and Bróðir died in the battle, although accounts differ as to who killed whom. Óspak fought on the side of Boru, was injured, and lost his two sons in the battle.
Sigtrygg II Silkbeard Olafsson was a Hiberno-Norse king of Dublin of the Uí Ímair dynasty. He was caught up in the abortive Leinster revolt of 999–1000, after which he was forced to submit to the King of Munster, Brian Boru. His family also conducted a double marriage alliance with Boru, although he later realigned himself with the main leaders of the Leinster revolt of 1012–1014. He has a prominent role in the 12th-century Irish Cogadh Gaedhil re Gallaibh and the 13th century Icelandic Njal's Saga, as the main Norse leader at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014.
Clan Sinclair is a Highland Scottish clan which holds the lands of Caithness, the Orkney Islands, and the Lothians. The chiefs of the clan were the Barons of Roslin and later the Earls of Orkney and Earls of Caithness. The Sinclairs are believed to have come from Normandy to England during the Norman conquest of England, before arriving in Scotland in the 11th century. The Sinclairs supported the Scottish Crown during the Scottish–Norwegian War and the Wars of Scottish Independence. The chiefs were originally Barons of Roslin, Midlothian and William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness and Baron of Roslin founded the famous Rosslyn Chapel in the 15th century. He split the family lands, disinheriting his eldest son from his first marriage, William, who inherited the title of Lord Sinclair, instead giving the lands of Caithness to the second son from his second marriage, William Sinclair, 2nd Earl of Caithness, in 1476, and the lands at Roslin to his eldest son from his second marriage, Sir Oliver Sinclair. In the 16th century the Sinclairs fought against England during the Anglo-Scottish Wars and also feuded with their neighbors the Clan Sutherland. During the Jacobite rising of 1715 the Sinclairs supported the Jacobite cause, but during the Jacobite rising of 1745, while the clan largely had Jacobite sympathies, their chief, the Earl of Caithness, supported the British-Hanoverian Government. The current chief is Malcolm Sinclair, 20th Earl of Caithness.
Harald Maddadsson was Earl of Orkney and Mormaer of Caithness from 1139 until 1206. He was the son of Matad, Mormaer of Atholl, and Margaret, daughter of Earl Haakon Paulsson of Orkney. Of mixed Norse and Gaelic blood, and a descendant of Scots kings, he was a significant figure in northern Scotland, and played a prominent part in Scottish politics of the twelfth century. The Orkneyinga Saga names him one of the three most powerful Earls of Orkney along with Sigurd Eysteinsson and Thorfinn Sigurdsson.
The Mormaer of Caithness was a vassal title mostly held by members of the Norwegian nobility based in Orkney from the Viking Age until 1350. The mormaerdom was held as fief of Scotland and the title was frequently held by the Norse Earls of Orkney, who were thus a vassal of both the King of Norway and the King of Scots. There is no other example in the history of either Norway or of Scotland in which a dynasty of earls owed their allegiance to two different kings.
The raven banner was a flag, possibly totemic in nature, flown by various Viking chieftains and other Scandinavian rulers during the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries. The flag, as depicted in Norse artwork, was roughly triangular, with a rounded outside edge on which there hung a series of tabs or tassels. It bore a resemblance to ornately carved "weather-vanes" used aboard Viking longships.
The Battle of Leckmelm was a Scottish clan battle that took place in 1586, in the Scottish Highlands. It was fought between the Clan Gunn against the Clan Sutherland, Mackays of Aberach and the MacLeods of Assynt.
The Battle of Altimarlach was a Scottish clan battle that took place on 13 July 1680, near Wick, Caithness, Scotland. It was fought in a dispute between Sir John Campbell of Glenorchy and George Sinclair of Keiss over who had the right to the title and lands of the Earl of Caithness. The battle was fought between men of the Clan Campbell and Clan Sinclair. Campbell of Glenorchy won a decisive victory in the battle, but Sinclair of Keiss later turned to the law and was awarded the title of Earl of Caithness.
The Battle of Summerdale was fought on 19 May 1529, and was the last battle to take place on Orkney soil. The battle took place on the boundary of the parishes of Orphir and Stenness in Mainland, Orkney. The battle was fought between the Sinclairs of Orkney and Shetland and the Sinclairs of Caithness, who had the support of James V, King of Scotland.
Donald Mackay, 11th of Strathnaver, was the eleventh chief of the ancient Clan Mackay, a Scottish clan of the Scottish Highlands.
loch durran.
olrig sinclairs.
