Gift Guide: Gifts with an Orkney story

We’ve compiled this festive guide to a few of our brilliant food, drink and creative businesses who offer online shopping for lovely Orkney focused products, all wrapped up in particularly great local stories.

It’s just a selection, mind, so don’t forget to linger for a look at all of the wonderful Orkney goods and gifts you can order online for Christmas.

Stockan’s Oatcakes are Orkney in triangular form, as iconic as the Old Man of Hoy adorning their packaging. Get two packets straight from the source in Stromness, presented in special *golden tin, helpfully shaped precisely like an oatcake.

As traditional as they come and incredibly versatile, you can spend your festive period trying new ways to combine your oatcakes with leftovers, or your Christmas chocolates, all while admiring your lovely tin. Just remember and buy more oatcakes to keep it stocked up. *Note – the tin’s not real gold, but the contents are priceless in terms of Orkney provenance.

And, if special tins aren’t your thing, Stockan’s can post you a standard cardboard box containing a mix of oatcakes, including their Orkney beremeal, cheese, and thin (or thick) varieties. You can also order a mixed box of their mini oatcakes, so you really have no excuse not to incorporate some wholegrain into your festive feasting.

If you’re looking to raise a festive glass to high seas villainy with an Orkney twist this Christmas, then set sail for the island of Lamb Holm and the haven of J Gow Rum.

Inspired by the exploits of John Gow, Orkney’s very own pirate – historical, not present day – the distillery produces a range of award-winning spirits, including one called Revenge, a pure pot still Scottish rum aged for three years in bourbon and virgin oak casks.

Revenge was the name of John Gow’s ship, though it started out life as the much less intimidating sounding merchant vessel, the Caroline. Gow was its second mate during a long voyage in November of 1724 and, apparently unhappy about the conditions on board, he instigated a mutiny. Gow took command, added a few more cannons, renamed the ship Revenge, and launched a new career as a pirate. He didn’t last long, though he’d be delighted to know he’d inspired a range of Orkney rums.

Unlike a pirate, you’ll be expected to pay for whatever you order from J Gow Rum and to behave yourself over Christmas.

We’re knitwear experts here in Orkney but it’s not all about big jumpers for the fisherman or fisherwoman in your life. We do those too, but you’ll find particularly stylish ways of staying warm at Hume Sweet Hume, a knitwear design business started by sisters, Lizza and Jenna Hume in 1997.

With a workshop in Westray and a popular town centre shop in Kirkwall, Hume Sweet Hume is a magnet for anyone looking for the best in contemporary Orcadian knitwear. It’s all made in Westray using the highest quality yarns, chosen for their softness and sustainability.

In addition to cosy must-haves like hats, scarves, snoods, wrist warmers and jumpers – all ideal Christmas gifts in themselves – Hume Sweet Hume create a fabulous range of ponchos that are much loved locally. These are nothing like the one Clint Eastwood wore in those spaghetti westerns, with the Hume sisters’ eye for design and practicality offering a modern Orcadian spin on this versatile wardrobe staple. Get one and stay warm, confident in the knowledge you look amazing.

We’re famous for lots of things in Orkney, but our big skies are particularly legendary and a constant inspiration for our creative community. Doing them artistic justice is no mean feat, but the *Harray Potter has done a splendid job in capturing the energy of our ever-changing cloud vistas in a collection of beautiful but practical ceramics.

The Pentland Sky range includes mugs, bowls, spoon rests, coffee cups and vases. As gorgeous as it all is to look at, pottery founder Andrew Appleby and his son, Nicky, want you to use and enjoy everything they create. You’re also free to take your mug of coffee outside to look at sky and think of Orkney. It can all sell out quickly though, unsurprisingly, but thankfully the Applebys produce several other collections of ceramics inspired by Orkney’s history and environment.

*Not the Hogwarts one, but a magical pottery based in the Orkney parish of Harray.

A bag of flour for Christmas? What kind of a gift is that? Ah, but this is no ordinary flour. This is beremeal, a flour created by milling an ancient form of barley, called bere. And it’s only produced here in Orkney, stoneground in the world’s last working bere mill – Birsay’s Barony Mill.

The mill was built in 1873 and hasn’t changed much since then. Still water powered, and still using locally grown bere barley, the mill is now run by the Birsay Heritage Trust. You can visit in the summer months, but over the winter the mill goes into full beremeal production.

If all that provenance isn’t enough to convince you of how special a bag of beremeal is, then consider what a versatile an ingredient it is. Folk in Orkney have used beremeal for generations, in everything from traditional bere bannocks to biscuits, scones and bread. The mill offers bags of its beremeal online in various quantities, with its 1.5kg bag a best seller. And, if you’re new to this iconic Orcadian heritage ingredient, their website has a recipe page. You’ll never look at a bag of flour the same way again.

Storms are just part of life in Orkney, particularly over the winter months, but we’re used to it here and know when to head back to harbour or tie down that garden trampoline. We also understand you can’t fight a storm and it’s best just to relax in the knowledge it’ll pass at some point.

Assuming your roof tiles are intact, and your bin is secured, why not ride out life’s storms with your feet up, enjoying a glass of the Orkney Distillery's powerful, yet smooth, Arkh Angell gin? It’s the Kirkwall distillery’s Navy Strength (that’s 57% ABV) version of their Kirkjuvagr Origin gin. It’s labelled as Storm Strength to reflect its intensity and pay tribute to the proud seafaring heritage of Orkney.

And there’s some nice provenance behind that Arkh Angell name – it was a well-known local fishing boat, while the gin also uses an Orkney grown variety of Norwegian angelica, called Archangelica, brought to the islands centuries ago by sailors. Enjoy responsibly and mind and tie your garden furniture down.

If you see folk walking slowly along an Orkney beach with their heads down, or on their knees poking around a rock pool, chances are they’re searching for groatie buckies. These tiny cowrie shells are much prized locally and thought to bring good fortune for anyone lucky enough to find one. However, they are pretty elusive and beachcombers in the know about the best places to secure one will usually keep their special spots a closely guarded secret.

But a big part of the fun of groatie buckie hunting is just being out in a bonny place, completely absorbed in the moment. It’s a kind of free mindfulness training, with a shell discovery the bonus.

If you’re short on time and patience or just want to celebrate the treasured groatie in precious metal, then Fluke Jewellery has a beautiful range of bracelets, pendants, earrings, necklets and rings that perfectly capture the enduring appeal of these little Orkney icons in silver and gold.

We all love a white Christmas but probably don’t want proper Arctic conditions over the festive season. Dr John Rae wouldn’t have minded though. One of Orkney’s most celebrated sons, the legendary Victorian explorer was made of stern stuff, mapping (amongst other things) over 1,700 miles of the Canadian Arctic coast, much of it on foot. Learning travel and survival skills from indigenous peoples – they called him ‘Aglooka’, or ‘he who takes long strides’ - he discovered the grisly fate of the lost Franklin Expedition of 1845 and pieced together the last elements of the Northwest Passage, linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

He’s not just a historical figure though, with the John Rae Society doing much to keep his legacy alive. They’re currently raising funds to restore Dr Rae’s childhood home at the Hall of Clestrain in Orphir and sustainably develop it into an internationally significant visitor centre celebrating his work, and Arctic exploration.

You can play your part by buying a bottle of Long Strides Arctic Ale, specially created by the Orkney Brewery to help raise awareness of the Society’s efforts, and generate some funds for their cause. Best served lightly chilled!

Remarkable archaeological discoveries abound throughout Orkney’s history but the unearthing of the Burray hoard of Viking treasure in 1889 is one of the highlights. Local man, George Petrie, found the Norse silver stash when cutting peat – imagine his surprise – and it became the second largest Viking hoard ever discovered in Scotland. To answer your question, the largest Viking hoard in Scotland was also found in Orkney, at Skaill, in 1858. But back to Burray.

Weighing in at almost two kilograms of silver, the Burray hoard comprised everything from complete arm rings to pieces of hacksilver – parts of silver cut or bent as forms of money. In all, there were 140 items, dating from around 1000 CE.

Fast forward to present day Burray where local jeweller, Karen Duncan, has created a spectacular collection of brooches, pendants, earrings and cufflinks inspired by the hoard, which was discovered just a short distance from her workshop. Viking dragons feature strongly in the pieces, just as they did in the world of our Norse ancestors.

The cliffs of Marwick Head, the Ring of Brodgar, the Hoy hills, Yesnaby…just some of the best loved Orkney views you’ll find cleverly encapsulated in glass by designer, Carrie Paxton. Carrie, who has a workshop and gallery on the outskirts of Kirkwall, creates her bowls, curves, panels, tiles and lighting pieces by firing clear glass with applied colour, enamels and lustre, with stunning results.

Originally a graphic artist, Carrie became hooked on glass work after undertaking a stained-glass course in her native Edinburgh. She’s got a family connection to Orkney and has lived and worked here since 2016, with her workshop now part of the Creative Orkney trail.

Although Carrie draws inspiration from many sources, Orkney’s landscape and nature remains a key element of her work, so much so that she’s created a specific Orkney collection of pieces, all available online. And while you’re on there looking for a Christmas gift, do take a look at what else inspires Carrie, beyond those classic Orkney scenes - it’s all equally beautiful and impactful.

Give a gift from Orkney this Christmas - shop online by browsing our food, drink, and crafts makers.