Caithness : Edge of the World

Caithness/ Katanes - the Ness (promontory) of the Cat People

Gallaibh/Gollach - the Land of the Strangers/ Outsiders

"Caithness is a stage for Giants. Set on the plateau of her flagstone floor she has her audience in the great stalls of the rest of Scotland to the South with the Northern and Western Isles hanging from the balcony of history, related and interested spectators as the epic play-opera of the Province of the Cat is acted out. Our script for this great production is chiselled from the very rocks beneath our feet and woven from the cold clean air we breathe and written in the blood of the countless people who have added to our story. The huge cathedral sky above tells the world that the characters who inhabit these enacted fables are indeed giants for only giants can impress on the audience of the rest of the world the need for truth. On this stage only giants can be seen"

(George Gunn; "The Province of the Cat")

 Caithness has always been, both literally and figuratively, an area on the edge of Scottish life; something of an interloper, neither Gaelic, Scots, nor Norse. Even its geography and topography stubbornly refuses to blend with the rest of the mainland Highlands: almost immediately on crossing the border into the county, jagged mountains and outcrops soften and diffuse into a vast, tundra-like landscape, dotted throughout the central Flow Country by lochans teeming with unique flora and fauna. The autumnal shades of dun-yellows, greens, and rust-browns contrast starkly against the seemingly-endless expanses of open sky, which can vary from brilliant azure blue to the angriest of slate greys: the land always echoing  the ever-changing climate.

As one ventures further and further North, the flatlands eventually arrive at what could appear to be the Edge of the World : sandstone cliffs,  distinctively layered in jutting horizontal slabs:

Thurso, looking out towards Dunnet Head; the most northerly point in the UK Mainland

Holborn Head to the left, the first sight to greet travellers from the Northern Isles landing at Scrabster

One of many sheltered Geos (Goes) dotted around the coast : a natural harbour for both humans and birds

These cliffs (like the ones pictured above at Duncansby Head) provide a haven for nesting seabirds : diving birds such as Guillemots, Cormorants, Gannets and Shags inhabit the lower layers, gulls such as Fulmars and Kittiwakes take up the ledges further up, whilst the soft, sandy earth at the top provides ideal burrowing material for Puffins.( http://caithnessbirds.co.uk)

The promontory of Caithness is hemmed in by the sea on two coastlines; to the East and the North. The East coast- next stop Norway -  looks out on to the North Sea, whilst the North is guarded by the gateway to the Atlantic Ocean, the Pentland Firth- a body of water with some of the strongest currents on Earth.