Damsay

A small flat-lying island in the Bay of Firth (Orkney), Damsay lies 2 miles (3 km) east of Finstown and 4 miles (6.5 km) northwest of Kirkwall. The island rises to 11m (36 feet) and has three small lochans close to its northern coast. Damsay is mentioned in the Orkneyinga Saga as the place where Erlend Haraldsson, joint Earl of Orkney, was killed in 1154. He had spent Christmas drinking with his men, sleeping in their ships, but his rival Earls Rognvald Kali Kolsson and Harald Maddadsson crept aboard and murdered Erlend and his men. The similarly-sized island of Holm of Grimbister lies a quarter-mile (0.5 km) to the southwest.

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