Eday (, ) is one of the islands of Orkney, which are located to the north of the Scottish mainland. One of the North Isles, Eday is about from the Orkney Mainland. With an area of , it is the ninth-largest island of the archipelago. The bedrock of the island is Old Red Sandstone, which is exposed along the sea-cliffs.
There are various well-preserved Neolithic tombs, as well as evidence of Bronze Age settlement and the remains of a Norse-era castle. During the period of Scottish rule the substantial property of Carrick House was developed at Calfsound, which became a burgh for a short period. During the British era many agricultural improvements were introduced, although there has been a substantial decline in the population since the mid-nineteenth century. In the twenty-first century the Eday Partnership has had success in promoting the island's economy. Local placenames reflect the diverse linguistic heritage and the landscapes of the island and its surrounding seas attract abundant wildlife.
Etymology
thumb|upright|[[Joan Blaeu|Johan Blaeu's 1654 map of Orkney and Shetland. Note that the "Calf of Heth Øy" has been transposed from its true position north east of Eday to the west.]]
"Eday" is a name derived from the Old Norse eið and means "isthmus island". This is a name specifically associated with economic activity used only where the isthmus has been a "route for the movement of goods and/or boats from one coast to another".
There are numerous other eið names in the islands of the North Atlantic and those in Orkney include Hoxa (Haugeið) on South Ronaldsay, Aith (found on Walls, Stronsay and the west Mainland) and Scapa in St Ola which is derived from the Norse Skálpeið. Bay of Doomy, near the central isthmus on Eday, may also have a name derived from dómr-eið, meaning "isthmus of the courthouse", indicating it could have been an important meeting place during the Norse period of Scottish history.
In common with elsewhere in the Orkney islands, place names are generally a mixture of Norse, Scots and English influences. Any Pictish names that existed before the arrival of Scandinavian settlers on Eday appear to have been obliterated. The common suffix -quoy is from the Old Norse kví-ló and signifies an enclosure in a marshy area. Skaill on the east coast is from the Norse skáli and suggests an important farm on good fertile land that was associated with several smaller tunships. The Bay of London also has Norse origins, lund-inn meaning "woodland", although this is no longer an apt description for this largely treeless landscape. The name "geo", which occurs frequently around the rocky coast, is from the Norse gjá and means a narrow and deep cleft in the face of a cliff.
Geography and geology
left|thumb|Looking from Vinquoy Hill towards [[Westray]]
Eday is long from north to south but only just over 500 metres wide at the narrow neck of land between the Sands of Doomy and Bay of London The centre of the island is largely moorland covered with heather, and cultivation is confined to the coasts.
The highest points are Flaughton Hill at the island's centre, Fersness Hill at West Side, Vinquoy Hill to the north and Ward Hill to the south, which reaches .
The largest body of water is the sea southeast of Vinquoy Hill. Loch of Doomy lies on the western side of the narrow "waist" and the smaller Loch Carrick on the north coast. In places it is up to thick, and is largely composed of yellow and red sandstones with intervening grey flagstones and marls. The rock is easily quarried and some of the yellow sandstones from Fersness were used in the construction of St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall. The Devonian sequence is deformed into a major fold, the north–south trending Eday Syncline, with the youngest part of the sequence, the Upper Eday Sandstone outcropping in the north of the island from Bay of Cusby to Red Head. The oldest part of the sequence, the Rousay Flagstones are found on the eastern side of the island at Bight of Milldale and from Kirk Taing to War Ness, and to the west from Sealskerry Bay to Fersness. Veness is formed of Upper Eday Sandstone downfaulted against the flagstones.
History
thumb|left|Entrance to Vinquoy [[chambered cairn]]
Prehistory
The very limited archaeological record provides scant evidence of Mesolithic life in Orkney, but the later assemblage of houses and monumental Neolithic structures in the archipelago is without parallel in the United Kingdom.
Vinquoy chambered cairn, located in a commanding position overlooking the Calf Sound, is in diameter and high. The narrow entrance passage of this Maeshowe-type tomb leads to a central chamber with four side-cells. Other sites of interest on Eday include the Stone of Setter standing stone that dominates the col north of Mill Loch, and which at high is one of the tallest monoliths in Orkney. There are two more chambered cairns at Braeside and Huntersquoy
thumb|The [[lichen-covered Stone of Setter, which is said to resemble a giant hand.]]
Although there are several Bronze Age sites on the island, they provide less dramatic remains. At Warness in the south west there is a burnt mound from this period and there are the ruins of two houses of a similar age on Holm of Faray near the Point of Dogs Bones. The Fold of Setter is an Bronze Age enclosure located to the north of Mill Loch. There is the site of a large Iron Age roundhouse containing a saddle quern at Linkataing in north west Eday. Latterly, Orkney was settled by the Picts although the archaeological evidence is sparse.
Norse colonisation
It is not known "when and how the Vikings conquered and occupied the Isles", and although Norse contacts with Scotland certainly predate the first written records in the 8th century, their nature and frequency are unknown. The place name evidence of a Norse presence on Eday is conclusive and very little is known about the specifics of life on the island at this time. The Norse-era ruins of the Castle of Stackel Brae, which dates from the 12th or 13th century, lie under a green mound to the east of the Bay of Greentoft. The castle may have been the most important building on Eday at this time.
Scottish rule
In 1468 Orkney became part of the Kingdom of Scotland and an influx of Scottish entrepreneurs helped to create a diverse and independent community that included farmers, fishermen and merchants that called themselves comunitatis Orcadie and who proved themselves increasingly able to defend their rights against their feudal overlords. Nonetheless, the actions of the aristocracy continue to provide much of the information known about affairs on Eday at the time. In 1561, during the Reformation, Edward Sinclair was granted the feu of Eday by Adam Bothwell, Bishop of Orkney. These were turbulent times—Sinclair's duties included to defend the reforming Bishop "against whatsoever invaders"—and later that year he was one of the ringleaders of an anti-Catholic riot in Kirkwall.|group="Note"
thumb|left| Carrick House, Calfsound, with Carrick Loch beyond and [[Sanday, Orkney|Sanday in the distance]]
His son William took over the running of the Eday estate in due course, but it became burdened with debt. In 1601 when Edward was "an auld decrepit man ... aged 100 or thereby" William attempted to sell the family interest to George Sinclair the Earl of Caithness.