Cava, Orkney

Infobox Scottish island
latitude=58.88
longitude=-3.17
GridReference=ND326998
celtic name=
norse name= Kálfey
meaning of name= Old Norse meaning 'calf island'.
area=107 ha
area rank= 145
highest elevation= 38 m
Population=0
population rank=
main settlement=
island group= Orkney
local authority=Orkney Islands
references=Haswell-Smith, Hamish. (2004) "The Scottish Islands". Edinburgh. Canongate.] [ [http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/ Ordnance Survey] ] [Anderson, Joseph (Ed.) (1893) "Orkneyinga Saga". Translated by Jón A. Hjaltalin & Gilbert Goudie. Edinburgh. James Thin and Mercat Press (1990 reprint). ISBN 0-901824-25-9] Pedersen, Roy (January 1992) "Orkneyjar ok Katanes" (map, Inverness, Nevis Print)]

Cava is an uninhabited island in the Orkney archipelago in Scotland. It is 107 hectares in extent and rises to 38 metres (125 feet) above sea level. The literal meaning of the name is 'calf island', a terminology often used to designate a small island near to a larger one. Cava is unusual in that it includes a small peninsula joined to the main body of the island by a narrow isthmus, which is in turn called 'Calf of Cava'.

It is situated in the Scapa Flow just offshore from the much larger island of Hoy. Nearby are the islets of Rysa Little and Fara and the skerry Barrel of Butter. To the south of Cava, between Fara and Rysa Little lies Gutter Sound, the scene of the mass-scuttling of the interned German Imperial High Seas Fleet in 1919.

In the eighteenth century a notorious Orkney pirate, John Gow, raided the island and took away three young women. However, in common with a number of the smaller South Isles of Orkney, Cava lost its resident population during the course of the twentieth century. [cite book|last=Wenham| first=Sheena| title=The South Isles| editor="The Orkney Book" by Omand, Donald (ed.) |year=2003| |location=Edinburgh| publisher=Birlinn| pages=208] There is still a habitable building on the island - Cava Lodge. There are no good anchorages in the vicinity.

ee also

* Calf of Eday
* Calf of Man
* Calf of Flotta
* List of Orkney islands

References