House may be hiding more child remains
(From The Orcadian dated December 28, 2001)

The remains of more than one child could have been recovered from the ground underneath an Orkney house, police confirmed this week.

Bones – believed to be around 80 years old – were discovered during renovation work at St Olaf Cottage in the Grimeston Road in Harray earlier this month. They have been sent to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness for analysis which is still being carried out.

Local folklore suggests there could the remains of up to 11 children in the area near the house.

Kirkwall police say they are following several lines of inquiry, including local rumour about one woman who lived at the house around the time of World War One, who was seen to be pregnant many times but only ever had one child.

One Harray resident, who asked not to be named, said: “There have been a lot of rumours locally for a long time about the fact that this woman was seen to be pregnant many times but never brought up any children.

“Communities at that time never said anything. It was kept hush-hush. It was something that was not spoken about, but was subject to local rumour.”

The resident also said communities, even within Orkney, kept very much to themselves and people could spend long periods in isolation.

“Neighbours in the area did not allow their children to go near the woman even when she was quite elderly because of what they had heard in the past.”

According to the speculation the woman never married but did have one surviving son.

“She did have one surviving son. It is believed she had a breech birth and had to call in help to deliver,” the resident said.

Kirkwall Inspector Paul Eddington said as a matter of course they would be interviewing descendants of the woman.

When asked if there were bones from more than one child, the Inspector said they had got to be alert to the possibility.

“There are lots of bones here, and without being too gory, we cannot quite piece them together, but that is for the forensic pathologist to determine.”

The police, following advice from archaeologists, excavated the bones from the area underneath the house. They have no plans to continue their search in the surrounding area.

“We have checked as much as we want to. There will be no further inquiry at the house in that respect,” Inspector Eddington said.

He admitted that they had received a number of phone calls from members of the public relaying the tale.

“That highlights the problem here. Over the years this has developed as a myth and grown arms and legs. We have to establish what has been embroidered and what are the facts and the truth.”

Police say they are not treating the inquiry as a full-blown criminal investigation. A report will be compiled and sent to the procurator fiscal, who will decide if any action should be taken.

It is not anticipated that the police will hear from colleagues in Inverness until the New Year.