John Rae (explorer)
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John Rae was a Scottish surgeon who explored parts of northern Canada. He was a pioneer explorer of the Northwest Passage.
Rae in 1862
Rae in the 1860s
Plaque commemorating Rae's time in Hamilton, Ontario
Rae's grave at St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall, Orkney
Orkney
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Orkney, also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is sometimes used, but this is erroneous. Part of the Northern Isles a
John Rae (explorer)
…ability to travel long distances with little equipment while living off the land. Rae was born as the sixth of nine children at the Hall of Clestrain in Orkney in the north of Scotland with family ties to Clan MacRae. His father managed up to 300 tenant farmers for a local nobleman, Sir William Honyman, Lord…
Ring of Brodgar, on the island of Mainland, Orkney
Midhowe Broch on the west coast of Rousay
According to the Orkneyinga Saga, Harald Fairhair (on the right, with fair hair) took control of Orkney in 875. He is shown here inheriting his kingdom from his father Halfdan the Black, in an illustration from the Flateyjarbók.
Artist's conception of King Olaf Tryggvason of Norway, who forcibly Christianised Orkney. Painting by Peter Nicolai Arbo.