Talk:Mainland, Orkney

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Contents 1 The Mainland or Mainland? 2 Pomona 3 Requested move 4 Satellite image

[edit] The Mainland or Mainland?

The correct name of this island is "The Mainland" please do not remove the "The". I have moved this page to make the title consistent with the names of the other islands in the group ie <island name>, Orkney. Skatehorn 13:57 CET

Why then do the OS among others not use the 'The'?--JBellis 10:51, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

Surely the "correct" name is simply "Mainland"?Abtract 21:58, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

I have checked this with The Orcadian and with the Orkney Islands Council and it is clear that both positions are "correct" as follows. The official name of the island is "Mainland" without a The; however it is always preceeded by a the in speech thus "I am going to the Mainland". This is by no means unique as for instance "I am going to the Isle of Wight". I believe it is clear therefore: the article should be entitled "Mainland, Orkney" but preceeded by a "the" (lower case) when used in a sentence. Sadly I don't know how to implement the name change. Abtract 13:27, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

This article needs to be re-named to Mainland, Orkney. There are many placenames which when in use in the English language are preceeded by the lower case 'the' but this doesn't mean that the wiki article should be 'The xxx', e.g. the US, the UK, the USSR, the Seychelles etc. The is some debate on the Netherlands talk page but see Wikipedia:Naming conventions#Avoid the definite article ("the") and the indefinite article ("a"/"an") at the beginning of the page name for clarification . --JBellis 10:33, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

Agreed. Ben MacDui (Talk) 14:10, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Pomona

"The island is sometimes called Pomona, or Mainland Pomona, however this name has never been used by Orcadians, and in fact stems from a seventeenth century cartographical error". I have in front of me a copy of John of Fordun's (d. c.1384) Chronicle of the Scottish Nation, in Chapter XI of Book II he describes the Orkneys and clearly states: "the Main island, called Pomona, or Orcadia" and then goes on to name the rest of the islands. Brendandh 19:40, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Requested move

[edit] Satellite image

I propose to remove this image from the article because it is poor quality:

• Coastline outline NE of Stromness is seriously wrong. The two lochs of Stenness and Harray (especially the latter) should not be shown as seawater. The Ring of Brodgar is virtually underwater here.
• Many place names are barely readable
• the perspective of the image is not from directly above the island. It is taken from a location south of the island making the northern part a lot smaller in proportion to the rest.

Comments?--JBellis 20:58, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

I have to agree it is not an image of the highest quality. However, is there a candidate for replacement? Ben MacDui (Talk) 08:07, 11 August 2007 (UTC)

Here are some alternatives:

Whilst showing less detail they are at least more accurate. They give an initial impression of the island. Anyone wanting more detail can lookup the external mapping links.--JBellis 10:29, 11 August 2007 (UTC)

I added the latter to the Infobox, which has a space for these little chaps. Completely agree that the gif image is unhelpful and should either be removed or replaced with the png map above. Ben MacDui (Talk) 12:03, 11 August 2007 (UTC)