Christine Muir

Christine Muir is a Scottish journalist and memoirist. She is best known for Orkney Days (1986), which recounts life on a croft on North Ronaldsay. Muir wrote for Farmers Weekly and later contributed columns to The Scotsman.

Christine Muir was born in Leith. She began writing for Farmers Weekly in 1966. She later wrote columns for The Scotsman. After marrying an islander, she moved from Edinburgh to North Ronaldsay at the age of twenty-one. She lived on the island throughout her married life. She and her husband, Tommy, raised four children and ran a croft.

Muir studied with the Open University, completing three degrees. She later qualified as an associate lecturer. She continued writing throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

Orkney Days (1986) describes twenty-five years in Orkney. The book follows the changing of the seasons. The narrative records the local flora and fauna, including wildflowers, herbs, seals and seabirds. It also describes croft work and cattle and sheep farming. It includes island lore and older traditions. It also notes the modern changes that have altered the community.

In a preface dated July 2025, Muir reflects on sixty-three years of life in North Ronaldsay. He describes his early adjustment to silence, isolation and life in a small community. He records the impact of births and deaths on island life. They also describe oral history, including shipwrecks, smuggling and superstition, and note Old Norse elements in the local language.

He writes that being separated from family at the age of eleven or twelve to attend school was 'the worst aspect'. He also describes the limitations of earlier transport, including a fortnightly ferry and a post boat that arrived three times a week.

He writes that North Ronaldsay changed as more people moved in. He notes the loss of the dialect and local history. Following Tommy's death, Christine Muir returned to Edinburgh, unable to continue living on the croft.

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