---
title: "Orkney Part 9"
type: "post"
post_id: "286"
slug: "st-magnus-way-finstown-to-orphir"
canonical: "https://eskerhazy.ca/?p=286"
markdown_url: "https://eskerhazy.ca/?easypress_markdown_post=286&easypress_markdown_format=md"
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txt_url: "https://eskerhazy.ca/?easypress_markdown_post=286&easypress_markdown_format=txt"
published: "2026-10-02T15:43:45+00:00"
modified: "2026-10-02T15:43:45+00:00"
author: "admin"
categories:
  - "Le peregrinazioni di Lis"
tags:
  - "Orphir Round Church"
  - "St Magnus Way"
site_name: "eskerhazy"
publisher: ""
language: "en-US"
generator: "easyPress Markdown"
generator_version: "1.0.6"
---
St. Magnus Way: Finstown to Orphir
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*In which Lis traverses a high moor and sings a song*

The signage at the beginning of the trail was somewhat misleading…

![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000018479-771x1024.jpg)![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000018481-1024x771.jpg)The trail soon started to climb up the hill beside Finstown, and it was glorious moor filled with heather and peat cuttings.

![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000018483-1024x771.jpg)At the top of the first climb was Cuween Hill – famous for its neolithic cairn containing dog skulls.

![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000018485-1024x771.jpg)There’s something lovely about the desolate moors, walking from one way-post to the next. And don’t be fooled – it’s filled with life: birds and small mammals, bees and other insects love these places.

As I was walking, I remembered a song I haven’t sung in years, and it’s a good pilgrim song. I’ve also been missing my church choir, so I sat by a softly burbling stream and sang:

*I want Jesus to walk with me;
I want Jesus to walk with me;
all along my pilgrim journey,
Lord, I want Jesus to walk with me.*

*In my trials, Lord, walk with me;
in my trials, Lord, walk with me;
when my heart is almost breaking,
Lord, I want Jesus to walk with me.*

*When I’m in trouble, Lord, walk with me;
when I’m in trouble, Lord, walk with me;
when my head is bowed in sorrow,
Lord, I want Jesus to walk with me.*

I recorded it for the choir, but it’s not in a format that I can insert here.

As you can see, the mist and grey accompanied me off and on.

![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000018499-1024x771.jpg)But I saw some Highland Coos for the first time since arriving on Orkney.

![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000018505-1024x771.jpg)Seriously, I love the moorland. Maybe because it reminds me of the tundra.

![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000018512-1024x771.jpg)And still the ubiquitous stoat traps.

![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000018515-1024x771.jpg)Once past Orphir, I came across a tree-lined path, and then some blackberry bushes filled with fruit – in the nick of time because my energy was seriously flagging.

![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000018520-771x1024.jpg)And I made my way to the Earls Bu and Orphir Round Church – a 12th century church, likely modeled after the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (by Earl Haakon who had recently returned from pilgrimage to Jerusalem – presumably to make up for murdering his cousin Magnus.)

![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000018530-1-1024x771.jpg)![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000018533-1024x771.jpg)At this point, the day’s walk was done, but Margaret suggested I walk back to the house (about 5 km), since that is the first part of the final stage of the pilgrimage, which I would be doing the following day. I didn’t realise that the bed and breakfast was so close to the walking route!

![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000018540.jpg)I stopped at a small art studio/gallery on the way back and met this lovely feline friend. The artist at this studio has a piece in the Barony Mill art exhibit which I had seen a few days earlier. <https://www.toumalart.co.uk/>

![](https://eskerhazy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1000018542-1024x771.jpg)Almost home – with the beginning of the final stage tacked onto today’s walk, it was around 20 km.