Talk:Mainland, Orkney

The Mainland or Mainland?
The correct name of this island is "The Mainland" please do not remove the "The". I have moved this page to make the title consistent with the names of the other islands in the group ie, Orkney. Skatehorn 13:57 CET
 * Why then do the OS among others not use the 'The'?--JBellis 10:51, 25 June 2006 (UTC)
 * Surely the "correct" name is simply "Mainland"?Abtract 21:58, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

I have checked this with The Orcadian and with the Orkney Islands Council and it is clear that both positions are "correct" as follows. The official name of the island is "Mainland" without a The; however it is always preceeded by a the in speech thus "I am going to the Mainland". This is by no means unique as for instance "I am going to the Isle of Wight". I believe it is clear therefore: the article should be entitled "Mainland, Orkney" but preceeded by a "the" (lower case) when used in a sentence. Sadly I don't know how to implement the name change. Abtract 13:27, 12 September 2006 (UTC)
 * This article needs to be re-named to Mainland, Orkney. There are many placenames which when in use in the English language are preceeded by the lower case 'the' but this doesn't mean that the wiki article should be 'The xxx', e.g. the US, the UK, the USSR, the Seychelles etc. The is some debate on the Netherlands talk page but see Naming conventions for clarification . --JBellis 10:33, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Agreed. Ben MacDui (Talk) 14:10, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

Pomona
"The island is sometimes called Pomona, or Mainland Pomona, however this name has never been used by Orcadians, and in fact stems from a seventeenth century cartographical error". I have in front of me a copy of John of Fordun's (d. c.1384) Chronicle of the Scottish Nation, in Chapter XI of Book II he describes the Orkneys and clearly states: "the Main island, called Pomona, or Orcadia" and then goes on to name the rest of the islands. Brendandh 19:40, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

=Buchanan= "Pomona (or Pomonia), a name that stems from a 16th-century mistranslation by George Buchanan"; from what to what? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Roryharrow (talk • contribs) 20:00, 24 February 2023 (UTC)

Requested move

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of the . Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section. 

move the page from The Mainland, Orkney to Mainland, Orkney, per the discussion below. Dekimasu よ! 08:01, 26 July 2007 (UTC) See top of page. Mainland, Orkney already exists as a re-direct--JBellis 17:55, 21 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Support per nomination. —  AjaxSmack     07:15, 24 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Support per nomination. Ben MacDui (Talk) 07:31, 24 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Support move to Mainland, Orkney. Finavon 08:32, 24 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Comment If, however, it is usually called "the Mainland", we should also; compare The Hague. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 16:19, 24 July 2007 (UTC)
 * support long overdue. Abtract 05:59, 25 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Support, good idea, consistent with other placenames. Warofdreams talk 03:25, 26 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Concur, per article naming conventions. —  SMcCandlish  &#91;talk&#93; &#91;cont&#93; ‹(-¿-)› 23:17, 25 July 2007 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the . Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Satellite image


I propose to remove this image from the article because it is poor quality: Comments?--JBellis 20:58, 10 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Coastline outline NE of Stromness is seriously wrong. The two lochs of Stenness and Harray (especially the latter) should not be shown as seawater.  The Ring of Brodgar is virtually underwater here.
 * Many place names are barely readable
 * the perspective of the image is not from directly above the island. It is taken from a location south of the island making the northern part a lot smaller in proportion to the rest.


 * I have to agree it is not an image of the highest quality. However, is there a candidate for replacement? Ben MacDui (Talk) 08:07, 11 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Here are some alternatives:



Whilst showing less detail they are at least more accurate. They give an initial impression of the island. Anyone wanting more detail can lookup the external mapping links.--JBellis 10:29, 11 August 2007 (UTC)

I added the latter to the Infobox, which has a space for these little chaps. Completely agree that the gif image is unhelpful and should either be removed or replaced with the png map above. Ben MacDui (Talk) 12:03, 11 August 2007 (UTC)

I agree about removal of the satellite image - it's very diffcult to read, and spoils a good article ahpook (talk) 17:52, 15 March 2010 (UTC)


 * Why is the Norwegian Sea to the west of the islands, I always thought that Orkney and Shetland formed the south west boundary of it.--MacRusgail (talk) 18:25, 15 March 2010 (UTC)
 * The definition provided at Norwegian Sea suggests it lies to the north and west, although arguably further north of Orkney than appears on this map.. Ben   Mac  Dui  19:19, 16 March 2010 (UTC)
 * The appearance of 'Norwegian Sea' on the map is indeed wholly misleading - can this image be replaced with one without the offending term? I'd do it myself if knew how. cheers Geopersona (talk) 17:12, 5 February 2011 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 22:52, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Mainland, Orkney. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070928004209/http://www.orkney.gov.uk/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=4215&tt=orkneyv2 to http://www.orkney.gov.uk/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=4215&tt=orkneyv2

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 17:11, 30 May 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 4 external links on Mainland, Orkney. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20170311014235/http://www.snh.gov.uk/protecting-scotlands-nature/protected-areas/national-designations/nsa/ to http://www.snh.gov.uk/protecting-scotlands-nature/protected-areas/national-designations/nsa/
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080311111909/http://www.orcadian.co.uk/weather/annualsunsets.htm to http://www.orcadian.co.uk/weather/annualsunsets.htm
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070819000232/http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=261472005 to http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=261472005
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070322101425/http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/O/OR/ORKNEY_ISLANDS.htm to http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/O/OR/ORKNEY_ISLANDS.htm

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 10:37, 13 January 2018 (UTC)