Maiden Stack

Reaching 7.6 metres (25 ft) above sea level[3] the stack is the highest of several in the area and also known locally as Muckle Fru.

[4] It is so called because of the tiny house at its top, which is said to have been built in the 14th century by Lord Þorvald Þoresson, in order to imprison his daughter.

There is a perpendicular rock that stands in the sea, a little out from the island of Papa, very difficult to access, on which are the remains of a house, said to have been built by a gentleman of property, when about to leave the country, with a view to secure his daughter, who was in love with one inferior to her station.

[7] In a third version offered by Haswell-Smith, the father's aim was to prevent her from meeting men in general but when she was released she was found to be pregnant.

[5] A more detailed version of this story is recorded by Hibbert: Historic Environment Scotland's on-line Canmore database adds that notwithstanding the "romantic" 1798 version of the tale that "the site may have been utilised for the segregation of lepers", nearby Brei Holm having had a leper colony in the 18th century.