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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> <html lang="en"> <head><script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/bundle-playback.js?v=HxkREWBo" charset="utf-8"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/wombat.js?v=txqj7nKC" charset="utf-8"></script> <script>window.RufflePlayer=window.RufflePlayer||{};window.RufflePlayer.config={"autoplay":"on","unmuteOverlay":"hidden"};</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/ruffle/ruffle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> __wm.init("https://web.archive.org/web"); __wm.wombat("http://www.paparproject.org.uk/","20110810041544","https://web.archive.org/","web","/_static/", "1312949744"); </script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/banner-styles.css?v=S1zqJCYt" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/iconochive.css?v=3PDvdIFv" />  <title>The Papar Project</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <meta name="Author" content="Philip Graham"> <meta name="description" content="An investigation into sites associated with Celtic priests in the Northern and Western Isles of Scotland."> <meta name="keywords" content="Papar, Papay, Pabbay, Papil, Celtic priests, monastic settlements, Scottish architecture, Scottish archaeology, monks, architecture in Scotland, archaeology in Scotland, archeology, Scottish history, Scottish heritage, Northern Isles of Scotland, ecclesiastical sculpture"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/web/20110810041544cs_/http://www.paparproject.org.uk/Templates/papar.css" type="text/css"> <script src="/web/20110810041544js_/http://www.paparproject.org.uk/Templates/findDOM.js"></script> <script language="JavaScript" type="text/JavaScript">  </script> <script language="JavaScript"> var introduction,download,bibliography,agricultural,orkney,caithness,shetland,hebrides; if (document.images){ imag = new Array(); imag[0] = 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border="0" id="introduction"></a><a href="download.html" onmouseover="toggleImage(download,3),window.status='Download each chapter';return true;" onmouseout="toggleImage(download,2),window.status=''"><img src="/web/20110810041544im_/http://www.paparproject.org.uk/images/download.gif" name="download" alt="Download each chapter" title="Download each chapter" width="188" height="25" border="0" id="download"></a><a href="bibliography.html" onmouseover="toggleImage(bibliography,5),window.status='Bibliography and credits';return true;" onmouseout="toggleImage(bibliography,4),window.status=''"><img src="/web/20110810041544im_/http://www.paparproject.org.uk/images/bibliography.gif" alt="Bibliography and credits" title="Bibliography and credits" name="bibliography" width="188" height="25" border="0" id="bibliography"></a><a href="agricultural.html" onmouseover="toggleImage(agricultural,7),window.status='Agricultural assessment';return true;" onmouseout="toggleImage(agricultural,6),window.status=''"><img src="/web/20110810041544im_/http://www.paparproject.org.uk/images/agricultural.gif" alt="Agricultural assessment" title="Agricultural assessment" name="agricultural" width="188" height="25" border="0" id="agricultural"></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td><a href="orkney.html" onmouseover="toggleImage(orkney,9),window.status='Orkney';return true;" onmouseout="toggleImage(orkney,8),window.status=''"><img src="/web/20110810041544im_/http://www.paparproject.org.uk/images/orkney.gif" name="orkney" alt="Orkney" title="Orkney" width="188" height="25" border="0" id="orkney"></a><a href="caithness.html" onmouseover="toggleImage(caithness,11),window.status='Caithness';return true;" onmouseout="toggleImage(caithness,10),window.status=''"><img src="/web/20110810041544im_/http://www.paparproject.org.uk/images/caithness.gif" name="caithness" alt="Caithness" title="Caithness" width="188" height="25" border="0" id="caithness"></a><a href="shetland.html" onmouseover="toggleImage(shetland,13),window.status='Shetland';return true;" onmouseout="toggleImage(shetland,12),window.status=''"><img src="/web/20110810041544im_/http://www.paparproject.org.uk/images/shetland.gif" name="shetland" alt="Shetland" title="Shetland" width="188" height="25" border="0" id="shetland"></a><a href="hebrides.html" onmouseover="toggleImage(hebrides,15),window.status='Hebrides';return true;" onmouseout="toggleImage(hebrides,14),window.status=''"><img src="/web/20110810041544im_/http://www.paparproject.org.uk/images/hebrides.gif" name="hebrides" alt="Hebrides" title="Hebrides" width="188" height="25" border="0" id="hebrides"></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td background="/web/20110810041544im_/http://www.paparproject.org.uk/images/shadowback.gif"><img src="/web/20110810041544im_/http://www.paparproject.org.uk/images/shadowtop.gif" width="752" height="20"></td> </tr> <tr> <td background="/web/20110810041544im_/http://www.paparproject.org.uk/images/shadowback.gif"><table width="712" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td><p class="bold" align="justify">The Northern and Western Isles are dotted with islands called ‘Papay’ or ‘Pabbay’. What do these strange names mean? This report is the first stage of an attempt to find an answer. </p> <table width="350" border="0" align="left" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td colspan="2"><img src="/web/20110810041544im_/http://www.paparproject.org.uk/images/scotlandsites.gif" alt="Map of Papar names in north and west Scotland" width="340" height="454" border="0" usemap="#Map3Map"> <map name="Map3Map"> <area shape="rect" coords="4,160,127,296" href="hebrides.html" alt="Find out more about sites in the Hebrides"> <area shape="rect" coords="196,7,321,91" href="shetland.html" alt="Find out more about sites in Shetland"> <area shape="poly" coords="192,167,213,163,224,163,234,168,253,175,316,175,314,212,231,209,183,200" href="caithness.html" alt="Find out more about sites in Caithness"> <area shape="poly" coords="268,108,226,107,153,111,150,145,209,156,240,164,255,161" href="orkney.html" alt="Find out more about sites in Orkney"> </map></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="320"><div align="justify"> <p class="smalltext"><br> This map is reproduced from Ordnance Survey material with the permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office © Crown copyright 2005. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. <br> RCAHMS GD03135G0011.2005<br> <br> </p> </div></td> <td width="30"><img src="/web/20110810041544im_/http://www.paparproject.org.uk/images/blank.gif" alt=" " width="30" height="1"></td> </tr> <tr> <td><img src="/web/20110810041544im_/http://www.paparproject.org.uk/images/darkgrey.gif" alt=" " width="320" height="1"></td> <td> </td> </tr> </table> <p class="maintext" align="justify">It focusses on all the places in the Northern Isles of Scotland (Orkney and Shetland) and Caithness which have the name Papay, meaning ‘the island of the priests’ and Papil meaning ‘the settlement of the priests’. By gathering together all the evidence for the history of these places, and of the archaeology round about, especially surviving ecclesiastical sculpture, it is hoped that we will be better able to make some assessment of the association with Celtic priests which the name suggests.</p> <p align="justify"><span class="maintext">What sort of priestly establishment was it from which these places got their name? Were they monastic communities in solitary retreats who were seeking to live their lives dedicated to the service of God in outlying places in the northern seas? Or were they groups of priests who lived more social lives and who were devoted to missionising among the newly-Christian Picts in neighbouring communities? A programme of soil studies which is integral to this project may help to give us clues as to the agriculture of the Iron Age societies who farmed the often fertile Papay islands and Papil places. Then we also have to consider the fact that these place-names were given by the incoming Vikings, and it is </span><span class="caption">their</span><span class="maintext"> comment on the communities which they found in these islands, and whose existence they probably threatened. This raises another significant question for our understanding of the fate of Christianity in the locality; why did the Vikings give the ‘papar’ name to these places if the priestly communities were immediately dispersed?</span></p> <p class="maintext" align="justify">These are some of the questions raised by these enigmatic ‘papar’ names, and this is the first attempt to consider the reality of the topographical location behind the name. The second phase will look at the Hebridean examples and attempt to draw together the evidence from the Northern and Western Isles in a wide-ranging attempt to compare the situation behind the name in both parts of the insular Celtic and Viking world.</p> <p align="justify"><span class="maintext">Read </span><span class="caption"><a href="introduction.html" title="Introduction to The Papar Project">The Papar Project - Inception, Parameters and Purpose</a></span><span class="maintext"> for the complete background to the project.</span></p> </td></tr> <tr> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td><img src="/web/20110810041544im_/http://www.paparproject.org.uk/images/logos.gif" alt=" " width="712" height="50" border="0" usemap="#Map2"> <map name="Map2"> <area shape="rect" coords="1,1,84,48" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110810041544/http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/" target="_blank" alt="Open the RCAHMS website in a new window"> <area shape="rect" coords="112,2,259,48" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110810041544/http://www.carnegie-trust.org/" target="_blank" alt="Open the Carnegie Trust website in a new window"> <area shape="rect" coords="284,2,422,48" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110810041544/http://www.guard.arts.gla.ac.uk/" target="_blank" alt="Open the GUARD website in a new window"> <area shape="rect" coords="450,2,575,48" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110810041544/http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/academic/history/medhist/" target="_blank" alt="Open the University of St Andrews website in a new window"> <area shape="rect" coords="598,2,711,48" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110810041544/http://www.stir.ac.uk/" target="_blank" alt="Open the University of Stirling website in a new window"> </map></td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td background="/web/20110810041544im_/http://www.paparproject.org.uk/images/shadowback2.gif"><img src="/web/20110810041544im_/http://www.paparproject.org.uk/images/shadowbottom.gif" width="752" height="20"></td> </tr> <tr> <td><img src="/web/20110810041544im_/http://www.paparproject.org.uk/images/basebar.gif" width="752" height="25" border="0" usemap="#Map"></td> </tr> </table> <map name="Map"><area shape="rect" coords="12,3,238,19" href="copyright.html" alt="Copyright Papar Project 2005" title="Copyright Papar Project 2005"><area shape="rect" coords="574,3,739,19" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110810041544/mailto:enquiries@paparproject.org.uk?subject=Enquiry from Papar website" alt="Email the Project Team" title="Email the project team"></map> <script type="text/javascript"> var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? 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