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Kirkwall (company)
Kirkwall (, , or ; ) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. First mentioned in the ''Orkneyinga saga'', it is today the location of the headquarters of the Orkney Islands Council and a transport hub with ferries to many locations. It is the centre of the St Magnus International Festival and is also a popular stopping off point for cruise ships. St Magnus Cathedral stands at the heart of the town. Etymology The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name meaning "church bay", the settlement having been established by the Norsemen in the 11th century. As late as 1525 the name is recorded as Kirkevaag. This became in time "Kirkwaa" and then eventually Kirkwall - but how the second syllable came to be spelled "wall" is not certain. MacBain quotes F. W. L. Thomas: "How, I ask, could ''vágr'' come to be represented by wall? Whence came the ''ll''? Was it that Scottish immigrants finding the sound of ''vá'' represented it in writing by 'wall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scottish National Dictionary Association
The Scottish National Dictionary Association (SNDA) was founded in 1929 to foster and encourage the Scots language, in particular by producing a standard dictionary of modern Scots. This primary aim was fulfilled in 1976 with the completion of the 10-volume Scottish National Dictionary (SND), covering the language from 1700 to 1976. Material for SND is drawn from a wide variety of written and oral sources of Lowland Scots from Shetland to Ulster. SND was produced under the editorial direction of William Grant (from 1929 to 1946), and of David Murison (from 1946 to 1976). After the Scottish National Dictionary was completed, with its Supplement, in 1976. The Association went on to produce the Concise Scots Dictionary (1985) under the leadership of Mairi Robinson. In 1986 Iseabail Macleod became editorial director, and the SNDA went on to produce a wide range of smaller Scots dictionaries, including the Scots Thesaurus (1990). The Association also established an ongoing Word Colle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Burgh
A royal burgh ( ) was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished by law in 1975, the term is still used by many former royal burghs. Most royal burghs were either created by Scottish monarchy, the Crown, or upgraded from another status, such as burgh of barony. As discrete classes of burgh emerged, the royal burghs—originally distinctive because they were on royal lands—acquired a monopoly of foreign trade. An important document for each burgh was its burgh charter, creating the burgh or confirming the rights of the burgh as laid down (perhaps orally) by a previous monarch. Each royal burgh (with the exception of four 'inactive burghs') was represented in the Parliament of Scotland and could appoint bailies with wide powers in civil and criminal justice.George S Pryde, ''The Burghs of Scotland: A Critical List'', Oxford, 1965. The four inactive burghs were Auchtermuchty, Earlsferry, Falkland and Newburgh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rennibister Earth House
Rennibister Earth House is an Iron Age underground structure known as a souterrain. It is located on the Mainland of Orkney, in Scotland. The monument was discovered in 1926 when a threshing machine caused the roof to collapse. During excavation, the skeletal remains of six adults and twelve children were uncovered. Historic Environment Scotland established the site as a scheduled monument in 1928. Description The earth house is located in a farmyard near the southeastern shore of the Bay o' Firth, on the Mainland of Orkney, in Scotland. Access to the underground monument is by ladder to a hatch in the roof. The souterrain has an entrance passage which is long with a drop of around to the floor of the chamber. The chamber is hexagonal in shape and measures , and is in width. The walls were built with a combination of slabs laid on edge and rough masonry. The corbelled roof is supported by four stone pillars.The walls are lined with five small alcoves. History The Iron Age m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iron Age
The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progressing to protohistory (before written history). In this usage, it is preceded by the Stone Age (subdivided into the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic) and Bronze Age. These concepts originated for describing Iron Age Europe and the ancient Near East. In the archaeology of the Americas, a five-period system is conventionally used instead; indigenous cultures there did not develop an iron economy in the pre-Columbian era, though some did work copper and bronze. Indigenous metalworking arrived in Australia with European contact. Although meteoric iron has been used for millennia in many regions, the beginning of the Iron Age is defined locally around the world by archaeological convention when the production of Smelting, smelted iron (espe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern Isles
The Northern Isles (; ; ) are a chain (or archipelago) of Island, islands of Scotland, located off the north coast of the Scottish mainland. The climate is cool and temperate and highly influenced by the surrounding seas. There are two main island groups: Shetland and Orkney. There are a total of 36 inhabited islands, with the fertile agricultural islands of Orkney contrasting with the more rugged Shetland islands to the north, where the economy is more dependent on fishing and the oil wealth of the surrounding seas. Both archipelagos have a developing renewable energy industry. They share a common Picts, Pictish and Norse activity in the British Isles, Norse history, and were part of the Kingdom of Norway (872–1397), Kingdom of Norway before being absorbed into the Kingdom of Scotland in the 15th century. The islands played a significant naval role during the World war, world wars of the 20th century. Tourism is important to both archipelagos, with their distinctive prehisto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Souterrain
''Souterrain'' (from French ', meaning "subterrain", is a name given by archaeologists to a type of underground structure associated mainly with the European Atlantic Iron Age. These structures appear to have been brought northwards from Gaul during the late Iron Age. Regional names include earth houses, fogous and Pict PICT is a graphics file format introduced on the original Apple Macintosh computer as its standard metafile format. It allows the interchange of graphics (both bitmapped and vector), and some limited text support, between Mac applications, an ...ish houses. The term ''souterrain'' has been used as a distinct term from ''fogou'' meaning 'cave'. In Cornwall the regional name of ''fogou'' (Cornish language, Cornish for 'cave') is applied to souterrain structures. The design of underground structures has been shown to differ among regions; for example, in western Cornwall the design and function of the fogou appears to correlate with a larder use. Etymology T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Historic Scotland
Historic Scotland () was an executive agency of the Scottish Government, executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage and promoting its understanding and enjoyment. Under the terms of a Bill of the Scottish Parliament published on 3 March 2014, Historic Scotland was dissolved and its functions were transferred to Historic Environment Scotland (HES) on 1 October 2015. HES also took over the functions of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Role Historic Scotland was a successor organisation to the Ancient Monuments Division of the Ministry of Works (United Kingdom), Ministry of Works and the Scottish Executive Development Department, Scottish Development Department. It was created as an agency in 1991 and was attached to the Scottish Executive Education Department, which embraces all aspects of the cultural heritage, in May 1999. As part of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parliamentary Burgh Of Kirkwall
Kirkwall was a Parliamentary Burgh that represented Kirkwall, Orkney in two successive District of Burghs, Tain and Wick. It tended to be affected by the same influential landowners who controlled the Orkney and Shetland seat, although as it was one of a number of mainland Burghs, this influence was not always decisive for choosing the MP Formation Before Union, Kirkwall returned one Burgh commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland. The Act of Union in 1708 meant a reduction in Scotland's representation in Parliament. Kirkwall was combined into a district of Burghs with the Highland burghs of Dingwall, Dornoch, Tain and Wick to form the Tain Burghs together sending one MP to the House of Commons. Under this arrangement the councilmen of Kirkwall would elect a Commissioner who would go to where the election was held, which rotated between the Burghs, and would cast their votes with other commissioners. Influence From the Act of Union to 1766 it was under the influence of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British House Of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 members known as members of Parliament (MPs), who are elected to represent constituencies by the first-past-the-post system and hold their seats until Parliament is dissolved. The House of Commons of England began to evolve in the 13th and 14th centuries. In 1707 it became the House of Commons of Great Britain after the political union with Scotland, and from 1801 it also became the House of Commons for Ireland after the political union of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922, the body became the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland after the independence of the Irish Free State. Under the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, the Lords' power to reject legislation was reduced to a delaying power. The gove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern Burghs (other) , a constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, 1832 to 1918
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Northern Burghs may refer to: * Tain Burghs (UK Parliament constituency), a constituency of the Parliament of Great Britain, 1708 to 1801, and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, 1801 to 1832 * Wick Burghs (UK Parliament constituency) Wick Burghs, sometimes known as Northern Burghs, was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1918. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system. A similar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
District Of Burghs
The Act of Union 1707 and pre-Union Scottish legislation provided for 14 Members of Parliament (MPs) from Scotland to be elected from districts of burghs. All the parliamentary burghs (burghs represented in the pre-Union Parliament of Scotland) were assigned to a district, except for Edinburgh which had an MP to itself. The burghs in a district were not necessarily adjacent or even close together. Until 1832, the self-elected Council of each burgh in a district elected a commissioner, who had one vote for the MP. The commissioner from the Returning Burgh (which function rotated amongst the burghs in successive elections) had an additional casting vote if the numbers were equal. Burgh councils had small memberships, with the result that the combined electorate for all 14 constituencies in 1831 was no more than 1,270. The Scottish Reform Act 1832 amended the composition of the districts, and the boundaries of a burgh for parliamentary purposes ceased to be necessarily those of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
