Damsay is an islet in the Orkney archipelago in Scotland. It is approximately in extent and rises to only above sea level. It is situated in the Bay of Firth north of the Orkney Mainland near Finstown. Nearby is the smaller islet of Holm of Grimbister.HistoryIt is now uninhabited, but at one time a Norse hall stood there, and it was the scene of the killing of Earl Erlend Haraldsson by Earls Rögnvald Kali Kolsson and Harald Maddadsson in 1154. Erlend celebrated after returning to the islet for Christmas and retired to his ship the worse for drink on the night of 21 December. Despite being warned of an attack by Sweyn Asleifsson and the presence of a full moon his men were taken by surprise by the attack by his co-rulers and Erlend was killed.Later a small nunnery was built on the islet leading to a legend that no frogs or toads (or possibly rats and mice) could live there. It is also said that unmarried woman who became pregnant would go there to pray at an abandoned shrine to St Mary.Jo Ben's 1529 Descriptions of Orkney says of Damsay:Here there are no hills, and it is the most pleasant of all, and is called Tempe. The church in this island is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, to which many pregnant women make visits in style. No frogs, toads, or other noxious terrestrial animals whatever are ever found here. The women here are sterile, and if they do become pregnant never bring forth with life. It is related that sometimes the haughty are carried away for the space of one hour, but truly afterwards restored. The distance of this island from Kirkwall is two miles.