Feeling neglected by Scotland, some in the Orkney Islands mull rejoining Norway

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Sick of being ignored by far-away politicians, officials on Scotland’s remote Orkney Islands are mulling a drastic solution. They want to rejoin Norway, the Scandinavian country that gave them away as a royal wedding dowry more than 550 years ago. Orkney Islands Council is due to debate options for “alternative models of governance” on Tuesday. Ideas include exploring the “Nordic connections” of the archipelago, which lies about 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of the Scottish mainland. Orkney was under Norwegian and Danish control for centuries until 1472 when the islands were taken by the Scottish crown as part of Margaret of Denmark’s wedding dowry to King James III of Scotland.