Calf of Eday

Calf of Eday

Scots name	Cauf o Aidee [1]
Old Norse name	Kalfr
Grey Head, the northern tip of the Calf. Sea caves, and the beginning of an arch can be seen in the cliff.
Location
Calf of Eday Calf of Eday shown within the Orkney Islands
OS grid reference	HY580393
Coordinates	59°14′N2°44′W / 59.23°N 02.73°W / 59.23; -02.73
Physical geography
Island group	Orkney
Area	243 hectares (0.94 sq mi)
Area rank	98  [2]
Highest elevation	The Graand 54 metres (177 ft)
Administration
Council area	Orkney Islands
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Demographics
Population	0 [3]
References	[4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

The Calf of Eday (Scots : Cauf o Aidee; Old Norse : Kalfr ^[7] ) is an uninhabited island in Orkney, Scotland, lying north east of Eday. It is known for its wildlife and its prehistoric ruins.

History

There is a Neolithic chambered cairn in the southwest overlooking Calf Sound, which separates the island from Eday. Rectangular in shape, the cairn was excavated in 1936–37 and contains a small chamber with two compartments and a larger one with four stalls that has a separate entrance and was probably added at a later date. ^[9] Two similar structures have been identified nearby along with various other ancient ruins. ^[6]

From the 17th to the 19th centuries, the Calf of Eday was home to a salt works, ^[10] the remains of which can still be seen to the north of cairns. ^[6]

The pirate John Gow and his men successfully raided the Hall of Clestrain on 10 February 1725, but when they attempted to attack Carrick House on Eday, they ran aground on the Calf of Eday, where they were captured. ^{[11] [12]}

Etymology

Johan Blaeu's 1654 map of Orkney and Shetland. Note that the "Calf of Heth Øy" has been transposed from its true position north east of Eday to the west.

The Norse gave animal names to some islands, especially to small islands alongside a larger one, other examples being the Calf of Man and the Horse of Copinsay. The islands name in Norse times was thus Kalfr. ^[7] "Eday" is a name derived from the Old Norse eið and means "isthmus island". ^{[13] [14]}

In the 17th century Eday was also known as "Heth Øy" and the Calf's name is recorded by Blaeu as "Calf of Heth Øy". ^[15]

Wildlife

The dominant vegetation on the island is dry dwarf-shrub heath dominated by heather (Calluna vulgaris), with smaller areas of wet heath, semi-improved grassland and coastal grassland. The Calf of Eday supports 32 species of breeding birds and is designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA) for its importance as a nesting area. Gulls and cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) nest in the dry heath and grassland areas, whilst fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis), kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) and auks nest on the cliffs. ^[16] The island has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports breeding seabirds. ^[17]

See also

• Calf of Flotta

Notes

1. "Map of Scotland in Scots - Guide and gazetteer" (PDF).
2. Area and population ranks: there are c. 300 islands over 20 ha in extent. 93 permanently inhabited islands were listed in the 2011 census and 101 such islands in 2022.
3. National Records of Scotland (15 August 2013). "Appendix 2: Population and households on Scotland's Inhabited Islands" (PDF). Statistical Bulletin: 2011 Census: First Results on Population and Household Estimates for Scotland Release 1C (Part Two) (PDF) (Report). SG/2013/126. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
4. Haswell-Smith (2004) pp. 390-91
5. Orkney Placenames Archived 30 August 2000 at the Wayback Machine Orkneyjar.
6. Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 5 Orkney (Northern Isles) (Map). Ordnance Survey. 2008. ISBN   9780319228111.
7. Anderson (1873) p. 176
8. Pedersen, Roy (January 1992) Orkneyjar ok Katanes (map, Inverness, Nevis Print)
9. Noble (2006) pp. 116–17
10. Stewart, Walter (mid-1640s) "New Choreographic Description of the Orkneys" in Irvine (2006) p. 24
11. "Overview of John Gow". Gazetteer for Scotland . Retrieved 15 April 2007.
12. "John Gow - The Orkney Pirate". Orkneyjar, the heritage of the Orkney Islands. Archived from the original on 4 February 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2007.
13. Haswell-Smith p. 386
14. Waugh (2010) p. 550
15. Blaeu, Johan (mid-1654) "Orcadum and Shetlandiæ" in Irvine (2006) p. 33
16. "Calf of Eday SPA Description". Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Archived from the original on 23 February 2006. Retrieved 11 November 2007.
17. "Calf of Eday". BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2024. Retrieved 30 August 2024.

References

• Anderson, Joseph (ed.) (1873) The Orkneyinga Saga . Translated by Jón A. Hjaltalin & Gilbert Goudie. Edinburgh. Edmonston and Douglas. The Internet Archive. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
• Haswell-Smith, Hamish (2004). The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh: Canongate. ISBN   978-1-84195-454-7.
• Irvine, James M. (ed.) (2006) The Orkneys and Schetland in Blaeu's Atlas Novus of 1654. Ashtead. James M. Irvine. ISBN   0-9544571-2-9
• Noble, Gordon (2006) Neolithic Scotland: Timber, Stone, Earth and Fire. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN   0-7486-2338-8
• Waugh, Doreen, "On eið-names in Orkney and other North Atlantic islands" in Sheehan, John and Ó Corráin, Donnchadh (2010) The Viking Age: Ireland and the West. Proceedings of the Fifteenth Viking Congress. Dublin. Four Courts Press. ISBN   978-1-84682-101-1

59°14′N2°44′W / 59.233°N 2.733°W / 59.233; -2.733