Brough of Birsay

Brough of Birsay

Norse name	Byrgisey
Meaning of name	fort island
Location
Brough of Birsay Brough of Birsay shown within the Orkney Islands
OS grid reference	HY236285
Coordinates	59°08′N 3°20′W / 59.14°N 3.33°W / 59.14; -3.33
Physical geography
Island group	Orkney
Area	16 ha
Highest elevation	46 metres (151 feet)
Administration
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Country	Scotland
Council area	Orkney Islands
Demographics
Population	0
References

The Brough of Birsay is an uninhabited tidal island off the north-west coast of The Mainland of Orkney, Scotland, in the parish of Birsay. It is located around 13 miles north of Stromness and features the remains of Pictish and Norse settlements as well as a modern light house.

The island is accessible on foot at low tide via a largely natural causeway. It is separated from the mainland by a 240-metre (790-foot) stretch of water at high tide: the Sound of Birsay.

The Norse settlement has been partly removed by coastal erosion, and the cliffs are reinforced by concrete rip-rap to prevent further damage.

The Old Norse name for the island was "Byrgisey" which means fort island, and gives the parish its name. Brough, indeed, means fort (for etymology, see broch).

The earliest settlement on the island is thought to have been in the 6th century, perhaps by Christian missionaries. In the 7th and 8th centuries it was a significant Pictish fortress, but by the 9th century the Picts had been displaced by Norsemen.

The Pictish settlement is attested by a small well and an important collection of artifacts (now in the Orkney Museum (formerly known as Tankerness House Museum), Kirkwall and in the Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh). Notable among these are a group of moulds for fine metalworking, showing that bronze brooches and other ornaments were being manufactured on the site in the eighth century. The enclosure round the Norse church overlies a Pictish graveyard, and an important Pictish carved stone was found in pieces in this enclosure during site clearance (also on display in Edinburgh: replica on site). The most interesting Pictish artifact found is a stone slab showing three figures and some additional Pictish symbols. It is not known what the subject of this carving is, but it likely shows Picts as they wished to be perceived. This early eighth century slab shows a striking procession of three Picts dressed in long robes and bearing spears, swords and square shields. Above the figures are parts of four Pictish symbols. Two simple cross-incised slabs, likely grave-markers, were also found in the graveyard, and are probably Pictish or early medieval in date (displayed on site).