Saturday 14 June 2014

Faray is far from Fara


Between Eday and Westray, in Orkney, lies Faray where this rainbow ends. It's not to be confused with Fara, further to the south in Scapa Flow. The differentiation has been made with the names of North Pharay and South Pharay.


In 1861 its 180 acres included the homes of 82 people, but then numbers declined until the last permanent resident left in 1947. Some non-winter residence has occurred which may explain how, on Thursday 9 April 1992, three sisters found themselves unable to reach Mainland to vote in the General Election because of a broken rudder on their boat. According to an account in Hamish Haswell-Smith's The Scottish Islands, they dispatched ballot papers by a pet homing skua. The 'aerial pirate' was obviously on a mission.


The names of the islands derives from the Old Norse for sheep and above is a flock being taken off Faray on the MV Eynhallow. For a full, illustrated website on genealogy, housing and families go to Pharay.

Scottish Islands Explorer - sorts Faray from Fara from afar

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