Orkney Image Library

Knocking stones? Swona or Stroma maybe, or, going on some of your earlier photos: North Fara? Certainly somewhere that they couldn't be loaded onto a car trailer!

Opposite Rysa Mill?

Quernstones?

Are they the "mortar" end of mortar and pestle - fur chappin' stuff in?

first o' the Cordless blenders..

Dave is right and deserves the bonus point too. They are knocking-stones on Faray. And yes, Sandy, bere ('arctic barley') would be pounded in these 'mortars' with the equivalent of a pestle - a sort of forerunner of mechanised bruising of oats.
It's interesting that this little island's name has so many variants. I nowadays use the 'official' name as on OS maps, though at one time I called it North Fara like you Dave. It's sometimes spelt with a Ph instead of an F and/or with an i and an e in it. I guess it's to do with trying to avoid confusion with Fara in Scapa Flow, sometimes (often?) called South Fara. Maybe I'll look for an excuse to post a photo taken there as well.

Ian, South Fara is usually known and pronounced as 'Faira' in Hoy and Flotta (John Budge might be able to correct or add to this) and North Faray is usually 'Feree' in the North Isles where the 'ee' ending is typical for all the islands. The north and south descriptions weren't in everyday use, but they would be useful once the names were written down. The 1654 Blaeu map of Orkney has both islands as 'Fara'.

Thanks Karl. I have a Guiljelmus Blaeuw map of Orkney & Shetland framed on my staircase, and of course you're quite correct about the identical spelling of the two Faras. And I reckon if the guy could spell his own name he must have been a bit of a whiz at orthography as well as geography.

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