Linga Holm, commonly known as Linga, Midgarth and the Holm of Midgarth is an uninhabited
Scottish island extending to approximately situated west of
Stronsay island in the
Orkney
Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...
archipelago. The name "Linga Holm" is derived from the
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...
''Lyngholm''.
History
In common with many other Orkney islands, Linga Holm contains numerous
archaeological
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
remains. These include
Pictish
Pictish is the extinct Brittonic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geographica ...
houses and ancient
cairn
A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ).
Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehi ...
s.
Although it is currently uninhabited, a household of six was recorded in 1841.
[
]
Sheep
In 1973 the Rare Breeds Survival Trust established a refuge population here of the very rare North Ronaldsay sheep
The North Ronaldsay or Orkney is a breed of sheep from North Ronaldsay, the northernmost island of Orkney, off the north coast of Scotland. It belongs to the Northern European short-tailed sheep group of breeds, and has evolved without much cr ...
, and the flock now numbers some 400.''Farmers' Weekly'' news item about sale of Linga Holm in 1999
/ref>
Wildlife
It is thought to be the third largest breeding ground for the Atlantic grey seal in the world, and is an important nesting site for greylag geese
The greylag goose or graylag goose (''Anser anser'') is a species of large goose in the waterfowl family Anatidae and the type species of the genus ''Anser (bird), Anser''. It has mottled and barred grey and white plumage and an orange beak and ...
.
See also
*Fogou
A fogou or fougou (pronounced "foo-goo") is an underground, dry-stone structure found on Iron Age or Romano-British-defended settlement sites in Cornwall. The original purpose of a fogou is uncertain today. Colloquially called , , , giant holts ...
* List of Orkney Islands
References
External links
*
Uninhabited islands of Orkney
{{Orkney-geo-stub