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Westray Angels

The surname "Angel" has unique roots on Westray. In the 1730s a Russian ship was wrecked off the coast. The only survivor was a young boy who was not able even to say his name. The sternpost of the wrecked ship had the word "Archangel" on it and the boy was named Archie Angel. He grew up on Westray, married a local girl, Jane Draver (Drever), and had at least two sons. The surname Angel was found on Westray until the early 1900s.

The story of Archie Angel has been memorialised in the poem "The Wreck of the Archangel" contained in the book by the same name, by the renowned Orkney poet George MacKay Brown (1921-1996).