The Brough Of Birsay
The Brough Of Birsay
An island rich in British history.
Elizabeth, my colleague and I had set out early… coffee was downed and, toast with some lovely thick cut marmalade, was consumed. We had been driving for about thirty minutes, having timed our departure from the hotel to allow us time to reach this island…… the Brough of Birsay.
The island is tidal and can only be accessed for a couple of hours each day, by walking across the causeway that connects it to the mainland of Orkney.
It was windy so the audio in the video is difficult to understand, so turn up your volume….
We had decided that our tour of Orkney should include some sites that are off the beaten track and the Brough of Birsay fits the bill perfectly. I also wanted one location from which I could essentially talk about the history of the islanders… their entire history from one location.
Many of you have heard me talk about the ‘layer cake of history’…. The Orkney and Shetland Isles are crammed pack full of history and archaeology, but sometimes the times and dates can confuse people because one location will tell the tale of the Iron Age, one will relate to the Jacobites, one the Vikings etc. They’re out of order on the tour.
I like to ( when I can) be able to point out the layers of history…..physically point out the Neolithic, the Iron Age, The Early Scots, The Vikings, the Lords of the Isles etc…. This helps people understand who came first. It’s a simple but effective teaching method and The Brough of Birsay seemed like a good candidate.
And as it turned out, it certainly was. It’s a beautiful location and very rich in history.
Written by Mark Seymour