Crossword clues for orkney
orkney
- Island group off Scotland
- ___ Islands (Scapa Flow locale)
- Scotland's ___ Islands
- One heading off into New York, location of 1's cathedral
- Archipelago or island around north
- Precious thing, important outlying northern island group
- Ignore wife in labour, longing to be back in Scottish islands
- Scottish island
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
name of a group of islands off the north coast of Scotland, from Old Norse Orkney-jar "Seal Islands," from orkn "seal," probably imitative of its bark. Related: Orkneyman.
Wikipedia
Orkney , also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, United Kingdom, situated off the north coast of Great Britain. Orkney is 16 kilometres (10 mi) north of the coast of Caithness and comprises approximately 70 islands, of which 20 are inhabited. The largest island Mainland is often referred to as "the Mainland". It has an area of , making it the sixth-largest Scottish island and the tenth-largest island in the British Isles. The largest settlement and administrative centre is Kirkwall.
A form of the name dates to the pre-Roman era and the islands have been inhabited for at least 8500 years, originally occupied by Mesolithic and Neolithic tribes and then by the Picts. Orkney was invaded and forcibly annexed by Norway in 875 and settled by the Norse. The Scottish Parliament then re-annexed the earldom to the Scottish Crown in 1472, following the failed payment of a dowry for James III's bride Margaret of Denmark. Orkney contains some of the oldest and best-preserved Neolithic sites in Europe, and the " Heart of Neolithic Orkney" is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Orkney is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, a constituency of the Scottish Parliament, a lieutenancy area, and a former county. The local council is Orkney Islands Council, one of only three Councils in Scotland with a majority of elected members who are independents.
In addition to the Mainland, most of the islands are in two groups, the North and South Isles, all of which have an underlying geological base of Old Red Sandstone. The climate is mild and the soils are extremely fertile, most of the land being farmed. Agriculture is the most important sector of the economy. The significant wind and marine energy resources are of growing importance, and the island generates more than its total yearly electricity demand using renewables. The local people are known as Orcadians and have a distinctive Orcadian dialect of Scots and a rich inheritance of folklore. There is an abundance of marine and avian wildlife.
Orkney is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament ( Holyrood). It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. Also, however, it is one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
The former Deputy First Minister Jim Wallace represented the constituency from 1999 to 2007.
Orkney may refer to:
Scotland
-
Orkney, an archipelago in Scotland, also known as the Orkney Islands
- Mainland, Orkney, the largest island in the Orkney archipelago
- Orkney (Scottish Parliament constituency), the constituency for the Orkney Islands in the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh
- Orkney Islands Council, the local authority for Orkney
Antarctica
- South Orkney Islands, a group of islands in the South Atlantic Ocean.
South Africa
-
Orkney, North West, a mining town in South Africa
- Orkney Snork Nie, a sitcom in Afrikaans set in Orkney, North West Province
Canada
- Orkney, Saskatchewan, a village
- Orkney No. 244, Saskatchewan, a rural municipality
- Orkney, Kentucky
Usage examples of "orkney".
She talked most of the way there out of what seemed a compulsive nervousness, warning me mostly about what not to say to Orkney Swayle, the owner she felt cowed by.
She watched apprehensively as Orkney poured two fingersworth and barely doubled it with tonic.
The waitress asked if she could liberate the modest feast but Orkney said no, he would do it later, and there it all sat, mouthwateringly out of reach.
Isabella and I exchanged medium hello smiles and Orkney returned to the subject of American forebears.
She looked guilty as much as flustered, and walked with small jerky steps between the long-legged Isabella and myself as we joined Orkney in the parade ring, no later than any other owner-trainer group.
I wondered what Orkney would be like in defeat when he was so obnoxious in hope.
I went onto the balcony to see the runners go down to the start, and Orkney arrived breathlessly, moving in front of us without apology, raising his binoculars to see what sins his jockey might already be committing.
Breezy Palm stamping around in the place allotted to the horse that finished fourth, the jockey unbuckling the girths and Orkney scowling.
Isabella and I stood beside Orkney, looking at the sweating, tossing, skittering two-year-old and making consoling and congratulatory remarks, none of which seemed to please.
Money down the drain, sure, but a bottomless pleasure in return such as Orkney would never get to feel.
Orkney needed anything else, and Orkney said yes, another bottle of gin.
Flora a kiss in the air an inch off her cheek and looked vaguely at my sling, finding like Orkney that hands unavailable for shaking left goodbyes half unsaid.
I told Gerard precisely what Orkney Swayle had told me at Martineau Park.
Saturday morning, saying she was on her way to fetch Jack home and wanted to thank me again for my help with Howard and Orkney Swayle.
I reflected, putting down the receiver, to think that I had been at Martineau Park races so long on Tuesday afternoon totally oblivious of the existence of Vernon among the caterers Orkney Swayle so much detested.