Sat, May 13
By 10 o’clock all our bags are lined up at the cottage door, the kitchen is spic ‘n span, pillows are plumped, beds neatened, final showers taken and it is sadly time to bid our home adieu. Fiona and Maggie have come this way to feed and walk their friend’s cat so we have the chance to say good-bye and to exchange email addresses.
Our first stop is at the Cat Protection Society thrift shop where we lighten our load by several shopping bags worth of donated sweaters, shoes, boots and I buy one final roller bag to hold all the books and brochures plus the Sinclair bowl and the Harray Potter coffee mug. Then we’re off to Dounby a final time. Michael buys their last Dounby Butcher tote bag.
Jen has read about a mid 17th century dovecote, “the doocot”, in Evie, and we drive off to find it in the mist. It’s a lovely site, the mist adding to its mysterious presence. From the website:
Rendall Doocot — Spirit of Orkney
The Rendall Doocot (dovecote) was built in 1648 on the Hall of Rendall estate to house pigeons. Doocots or Dovecotes were built to house Pigeons and the evidence of such structures can be traced back to 3000 BC and the 5th Egyptian Dynasty. Doocot is the Orkney word for Dovecote and the Rendall Doocot in Evie, is built in the Beehive style, the oldest type in Scotland, built in a cone shape with four string courses of stones or slatesprotruding from the outside of the four foot thick walls, as a barrier to rats.
The Romans were noted for their Dovecotes which brought in large amounts of revenue in Florence and Rome, but it was the Normans who introduced them to Britain.
The only sod roof we’ve seen on a new house
At the water’s edge we eat our lunch, gleaned from the kitchen before we left, of crackers, cheese, apples and carrots, then we head into Kirkwall for a couple of errands, ending once more at Judith Glue’s. We share a table with an older Irish couple (love how I still refer to “older” people as if I were younger!) who have gotten off the cruise ship docked in the harbor. Suddenly, as we are sitting there enjoying our cappuchinos, Michael, during a general discussion about farming and their small holding in Ireland, addresses the Irishman, “Do you know American Pharaoh?”
“Eh?” he replies.
“Do you know American Pharaoh?” Michael repeats, louder.
“Eh??” says the man, cupping his ear.
“Do you know American Pharaoh? The Triple Crown winner?” Michael is now leaning way across the table.
“Eh?” says the obviously hard-of-hearing and now baffled Irishman.
“My gelding is his cousin” says Michael with pride. The man smiles wanly and we’re not sure if he ever really understood the question.
As we leave Kirkwall we hear loud music and drums and general carousing and see a wagon go past with several young men laughing and singing and carrying on enthusiastically. We think maybe there is a show about to begin in the main area by St Magnus, but no, it is a “blackening” and soon we see the second wagon, this one with young women equally noisy and exuberant. This link is well worth reading if you don’t know about blackening!
https://www.orkneyjar.com/tradition/weddings/blacken.htm
Late in the afternoon, back in Stromness we check into the Ferry Inn, though it turns out we’re in the annex across the street called the Harbourside. We are a bit dismayed, adequate but not a wonderful place, not after our cottage. We dress up a bit for dinner.
The Ferry Inn The Harbourside
We have made reservations at the Hamnavoe which at this time of year is open only on Fridays and Saturdays. We’ve heard good things about it and we are being taken to dinner by Lynn whose daughter, Kim, gave the meal to her, to us!, as a Mother’s Day present.
Our waitress had studied music with Michael’s friend, Jean Leonard
Our dinners were very good, ending with elaborately plated desserts. https://www.facebook.com/hamnavoerestaurant/ After dinner we stroll around the town, down along the docks and out to the ferry terminal. It’s a beautiful evening and Lynn and I continue our walk up the back streets as the sun goes down while the others return to the inn.
