A Blissful Sanctuary in the Orkney Islands

They lie off Scotland’s northern coast like shards of smooth, green pottery--the gently contoured and wind-ruffled Orkney Islands. Almost treeless, they’re covered by thick carpets of pasture browsed by herds of cattle and small, black-faced sheep.

Although the islands are softly sculptured, their shorelines are a mix of sheer, wave-pounded battlements, dramatic sea stacks and gravelly crescent beaches. Squadrons of sea birds circle and squall above colonies of seals playing in the fretful surf.

These 70 islands of green offer blissful sanctuary to those who love Europe but grow weary of traffic and tour bus exhausts. For a lazy week we explored some of the world’s finest neolithic ruins, trained binoculars on puffins and red-breasted mergansers, strolled along traffic-free country lanes, sipped single-malt Scotch whisky and dined on such local favorites as haggis, nettle kail and lobster Hebridean.

About 20,000 people share these islands with 150,000 cattle and sheep, plus a countless army of sea gulls. About a third of the population lives in Kirkwall, for centuries the islands’ capital and commercial center. An additional 1,700 get their mail in Stromness, a sturdy waterfront town.

Both communities are on the largest island, Mainland (not to be confused with the mainland of Scotland, a few miles south). The rest of the people are scattered in villages and on farmlands of Mainland and several other islands. Many smaller fragments of the Orkneys are home only to birds and seals.

Peak Season

The islands are on the same latitude as southeast Alaska, so June through September are the best months to visit. Rain may dampen long summer days, but during late summer and early fall--when sky and sea are cobalt blue and the heather blooms purple--the Orkneys can be stunning.

Orkadians are Scottish in nationality and temperament, but their roots reach back to the Vikings--and beyond. Indeed, “Orkney” is thought to be old Norse for “seal island.” Pre-Viking Stone Age tribes settled here around 4,000 BC.

“But forget your images of people walking around with their knuckles dragging the ground,” says a guide at Skara Brae, one of Europe’s most complete Neolithic ruins. “These were a highly developed people who enjoyed a complex diet of fish, shellfish, pig, venison and birds.” There is evidence that they raised barley and sat around roasting hazel nuts on an open fire.

We visited Skara Brae on a half-day Go-Orkney Major Monuments Tour. It was raining, so we were outfitted with hooded, bright-orange slickers.

We moved across the unearthly landscape of a fractured-slate coastal shelf to explore this neolithic settlement near Stromness. Skara Brae was buried for centuries by windblown sand, so its dry-stone homes have survived practically intact, with slate fire pits, cupboards, beds and indoor cisterns that may have been used to store fresh fish or bait.

Ring of Brogar

Just east is another remarkable neolithic remnant, a Stonehenge-like group of monoliths called the Ring of Brogar. An unknown clan placed 60 huge, irregularly shaped stones exactly six degrees apart to form a perfect circle, which I paced off at 385 steps--give or take a footprint.

More than half the stones are still in place. Brogar isn’t as large as Stonehenge, but it’s more accessible. England’s famous monument on Salisbury Plain is fenced off, but one can mingle with Brogar’s stones, studying runic graffiti and staring in wonder at these 50-foot stones.

Our third stop was a mystical mound tomb called Maes Howe. It’s an elaborate slate underground chamber beneath a farmer’s field, one of many neolithic burial sites on the islands; the tomb’s architects are unknown. Vikings broke into the chamber in the 12th Century, marked up the walls and even bragged in runic inscriptions that “Hakon alone bore the treasure out of this mound.”

The arriving Vikings based their capital in Kirkwall (Norse for Kirkjuvaqr or Church Bay). The town’s Cathedral of St. Magnus, a towering stone Gothic edifice still in use, was begun in 1137 by a Scandinavian earl, Rognvald Kolsson. With twin tows of hand-hewn stone columns and vaulted arch ceilings, it’s one of the best-preserved medieval churches in the British Isles. More than 200 feet long, the cathedral dominates the small town in its shadow.

Although Scots began settling the area after the 12th Century, the Orkney and Shetland islands to the north remained under Norse rule until 1468. Then Scotland’s James III married the daughter of Denmark’s Christian I and received the islands as a dowry.

Tyrannical Ruler

The cathedral became a Protestant church after the Reformation, and Orkney was ruled in the late 16th Century by the tyrannical Protestant Earl Patrick. He enslaved the citizens “without either meat, drink or hire,” and forced them to build his castle-like Earl’s Palace.

Beheaded for treason in 1610, Patrick was “found so ignorant of his religion” that his execution day had to be postponed until he learned to recite the Lord’s Prayer.

His palace and the adjoining Palace of the Bishop of Kirkwall are roofless ruins now, popular lures for visitors.

Equally popular and more contemporary is Kirkwall’s Highland Park Distillery, founded in 1798. An earlier gin mill on this site was run by a smuggler and bootlegger. According to legend, the bootlegger stashed his liquor beneath the pulpit of the cathedral when the tax man came around.

Highland Park is one of the few distilleries in Scotland using peat fires to give its Scotch a distinctive smoky flavor. We followed a guide through the old stone structure, sniffing the dusky aroma of malting barley and peering into the silent blue-red flames of a peat furnace. Then we relaxed in a walnut-paneled tasting room with a dram of single-malt Scotch whisky.

Orkney is a pleasing blend of its yesterdays. Its Viking ancestry is evident in the fair hair of friendly residents. Place names are a musical mix of Scottish and Scandinavian: Loch of Stenness, Scapa Flow, Saviskaill Bay.

Restaurants serve haggis sheep heart, liver and tongue mixed with suet, spices and oatmeal boiled in a sheep’s stomach, lobster Hebridean (Norwegian-style lobster made with Drambuie) and nettle kail (chicken boiled with nettles).

Several cafes offer Orkney seafood and other Scottish fare. An island favorite is Hamnavoe restaurant on Stromness’ main street, with rich dark woods and candlelight typical of an Old World bistro. The menu ranges from traditional Scottish dishes to fresh seafood; entrees are about $12 to $15 (U.S.).

The Creel, in the tiny town of St. Margaret’s Hope, specializes in seafood; prices are around $10. For a cheery, pub-style restaurant, try the Ferry Inn near the ferry slip in Stromness; about $6 to $8 will get you a hearty dinner.

Comfortable Inns

No high-rise hotels mark the Orkney skyline, but several small inns are comfortable with adequate plumbing, and most include breakfast. Ayre Hotel, on Ayre Road overlooking Kirkwall Bay in Kirkwall, has modern rooms with private baths from $35 to $50 a night.

Rooms at the country-style Standing Stones Hotel in the village of Stenness are in the same price range; the inn takes its name from a group of monoliths nearby.

Travelers on a budget can try the West End Hotel on Main Street in Kirkwall, offering bed and breakfast for about $20 a couple. For reservations and a complete lodging and restaurant list, contact the Tourist Information Office, Broad Street, Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland.

Most of the Orkneys’ tourist lures are on Mainland, but many neolithic ruins and the best bird and seal rookeries are on some of the smaller islands.

The Go-Orkney tour company offers a variety of daily excursions from April through October, mostly on Mainland. The half-day tour is 3.50; full-day tours are 6. For details write to Sandlea, Go-Orkney, 6 Old Scapa Road, Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland.

The P&O; auto ferry links Mainland to the Scottish mainland, and assorted ferries serve the other isles. Airlines reach Kirkwall from London and other British cities.

Information: British Tourist Authority, 350 S. Figueroa St., Suite 450, Los Angeles 90071; (213) 628-3525.