Used all over Orkney and elsewhere in Scotland, the word ‘skaill’ has Viking origins:
- skáli – a shelter or dwelling
- skáli (Norse) – usually applied to a shed or a hut for temporary use
- skaill – to empty, spill, shed, disperse, scatter, applied to birds, to scatter with their bills
- skail – a thin shallow vessel, resembling a saucer, made of tin or wood, for skimming the cream off milk
…’of skaill’ suggests safety, warmth, and an idea of plenty – both a protecting umbrella and a wide scattering of comfort and care.
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