Small South Isles

Greenland Barnacle Geese roost on Switha in the winter

CAVA (ON Kalf-ey, Calf Isle). This small island has a lighthouse on the north end and it was around it that the capital ships of the German High Seas Fleet were moored and scuttled.

There is a record of a murder taking place in 1774, when William Mallich killed Hugh Inksetter after a fight. Pirate Gow is said to have left two Stromness girls on the island after leaving Stromness in 1725. They were said to be “well treated” and to have been put ashore with a pile of presents. Whether they had “unwanted gifts” nine months later is unrecorded.

and much more...