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Title: Orkney and Shetland
Author: John George Flett Moodie Heddle and T. Mainland
Release Date: February 15, 2020 [eBook #61416]
Language: English
Produced by: F E H, MWS, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ORKNEY AND SHETLAND ***
Transcriber’s Note
Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=).
Changes that have been made are listed at the end of the book.
[Illustration: PHYSICAL MAP OF SHETLAND]
[Illustration: PHYSICAL MAP OF ORKNEY]
Parishes in Shetland:
1 _Unst_
2 _Fetlar_
3 _Yell_
4 _Northmavine_
5 _Delting_
6 _Walls_
7 _Sandsting_
8 _Nesting_
9 _Tingwall_
10 _Lerwick_
11 _Bressay_
12 _Dunrossness_
Parishes in Orkney:
1 _Papa Westray_
1b. _Westray & Papa Westray_
2 _Cross & Burness_
3 _Lady_
4 _Stronsay_
5 _Rowsay & Egilshay_
6 _Evie & Rendall_
7 _Harray & Birsay_
8 _Sandwick_
9 _Stromness_
10 _Firth_
11 _Orphir_
12 _Kirkwall & St. Ola_
13 _Shapinshay_
14 _Deerness & St. Andrews_
15 _Holm_
16 _Hoy & Graemsay_
17 _Walls & Flotta_
18 _South Ronaldshay_
19 _Stenness_
20 _Eday & Pharay_
_The Cambridge University Press_ _Copyright. George Philip & Son
L{td.}_
Cambridge County Geographies Scotland
General Editor: W. Murison, M.A.
ORKNEY AND SHETLAND
Cambridge University Press
London: Fetter Lane, E.C.4
C. F. Clay, Manager
[Illustration]
Bombay, Calcutta and Madras: Macmillan and Co., Ltd.
Toronto: J. M. Dent & Sons, Ltd.
Tokyo: Maruzen-Kabushiki-Kaisha
Cambridge County Geographies
ORKNEY AND SHETLAND
by
J. G. F. MOODIE HEDDLE
and
T. MAINLAND, F.E.I.S.
Headmaster, Bressay Public School
With Maps, Diagrams, and Illustrations
Cambridge
At the University Press
1920
Printed in Great Britain
by Turnbull & Spears, Edinburgh
CONTENTS
ORKNEY
PAGE
1. County and Shire 1
2. General Characteristics and Natural Conditions 2
3. Size. Situation. Boundaries 5
4. Streams and Lakes 8
5. Geology and Soil 10
6. Natural History 14
7. The Coast 26
8. Weather and Climate 30
9. The People—Race, Language, Population 35
10. Agriculture 37
11. Industries and Manufactures 39
12. Fisheries and Fishing Station 41
13. History of the County 43
14. Antiquities 59
15. Architecture—(_a_) Ecclesiastical 68
16. Architecture—(_b_) Castellated 74
17. Architecture—(_c_) Municipal and Domestic 79
18. Communications, Past and Present 83
19. Administration and Divisions 85
20. The Roll of Honour 86
21. The Chief Towns and Villages of Orkney 96
ILLUSTRATIONS
ORKNEY
PAGE
Rackwick, Hoy 3
The Home Fleet in Scapa Flow 7
Loch of Kirbuster, in Orphir 9
Berry Head, Hoy 12
The Great Auk 18
Crannie in which last Great Auk lived 19
The Old Man of Hoy 27
Old Melsetter House, in Walls 32
Harvesting at Stenness 38
Orkney Yawl Boats 40
Kirkwall 46
St Magnus’s Cathedral, Kirkwall, from South-East 51
Tankerness House and St Magnus’s Cathedral 54
Ground Plan of Broch of Lingrow, near Kirkwall 60
Stone Circle of Stenness 62
Maeshowe, Section and Ground Plan 63
Incised Dragon, from Maeshowe 66
Norse Brooch, found in Sandwick 67
Silver Ornaments, found in Sandwick 67
St Magnus’s Cathedral, view from N. Transept
looking towards Choir 69
St Magnus’s Church, Egilsay 71
Ground Plan of St Magnus’s Cathedral, Kirkwall 72
Apse of ancient Round Church, in Orphir 73
Noltland Castle, Westray (15th century) 75
The Staircase, Noltland Castle 76
The Earl’s Palace at Kirkwall (_c._ A.D. 1600) 78
Town Hall, Kirkwall 80
Balfour Castle, Shapinsay 81
Tankerness House, Kirkwall 82
John Rae 88
David Vedder 89
Sir Robert Strange, the Engraver 92
Malcolm Laing 94
Stromness, Orkney, about the year 1825 97
MAPS
Orographical Maps of Orkney and Shetland _Front Cover_
Geological Maps of Orkney and Shetland _Back Cover_
The illustrations on pp. 3, 7, 9, 12, 27, 38, 46, 54, 62, 80, 81 are
reproduced from photographs by Mr T. Kent, Kirkwall; that on p. 32
from a photograph by the Author; that on p. 40 by permission of Messrs
J. Spence & Son, St Margaret’s Hope; those on pp. 60 and 72 are from
Tudor’s _Orkney and Shetland_, by permission of Edward Stanford,
Ltd., that on p. 69 by kind permission of Messrs William Peace & Son,
Kirkwall; that on p. 71 from a photograph by Valentine & Sons, Ltd.,
that on p. 82 by kind permission of Dr Thomas Ross; and that on p. 88
by arrangement with Elliott & Fry, Ltd.
CONTENTS
SHETLAND
PAGE
1. County and Shire. Name and Administration
of Shetland 103
2. General Characteristics 104
3. Size. Position. Boundaries 106
4. Surface and General Features 107
5. Geology and Soil 109
6. Natural History 111
7. Round the Coast—(_a_) Along the East from
Fair Isle to Unst 116
8. Round the Coast—(_b_) Along the West from
Fethaland to Fitful Head 124
9. Climate 127
10. People—Race, Language, Population 133
11. Agriculture and other Industries 134
12. Fishing 139
13. Shipping and Trade 143
14. History 145
15. Antiquities 147
16. Architecture 153
17. Communications 156
18. Roll of Honour 157
19. The Chief Towns and Villages of Shetland 161
ILLUSTRATIONS
SHETLAND
PAGE
Crofter’s Cottage 104
Kittiwakes. Noss Isle 112
Shag on Nest. Noss Isle 113
Sumburgh Head and Lighthouse 117
Bressay Lighthouse and Foghorn 118
Cliff Scenery, Noss. Bressay 119
Mavis Grind, looking south 121
Muckle Flugga Lighthouse 123
The Kame, Foula 126
Wind Roses, showing the prevailing winds at
Sumburgh Head 129
Graph showing average Rainfall and Temperature 130
Sunrise at Midsummer, 2.30 a.m. 132
Single-Stilted Shetland Plough 136
Carding and Spinning 137
“Leading” Home the Peats 138
Dutch Fishing Fleet in Lerwick Harbour 140
Steam Drifters and Fish Market, Lerwick 141
Shoal of Whales 143
A Busy Day at Victoria Pier, Lerwick 144
Broch of Mousa 147
Ground Plan, Broch of Mousa 148
Sectional Elevation, Broch of Mousa 149
Gold Armlet (Norse) from Isle of Oxna 150
Bressay Stone. Obverse and Reverse 151
Sandstone Slab with Ogham Inscription from
Cunningsburgh 151
Lunnasting Stone 152
Burra Stone 152
Scalloway Castle 153
Muness Castle, Unst 154
Town Hall, Lerwick (Midnight, June) 155
Arthur Anderson 158
Anderson Institute, Lerwick 159
Lerwick, North and South 162
Scalloway 163
Diagrams 164
The illustrations on pp. 104, 112, 113, 118, 119, 162, are from
photographs by Mr J. D. Ratter, Lerwick; those on pp. 117, 121, 123,
126, 132, 138, 140, 141, 143, 144, 147, 153, 154, 155, 159, 163, by
Mr R. H. Ramsay, Lerwick; that on p. 137 by Valentine & Sons, Ltd.,
those on pp. 148, 149, 152, are from Tudor’s _Orkney and Shetland_ by
permission of Edward Stanford, Ltd., and that on p. 158 by permission
of Mr J. Nicolson of Glenmount, Lerwick.
ORKNEY
By J. G. F. MOODIE HEDDLE
PREFACE
I WISH to thank Captain Malcolm Laing of Crook for the photograph from
Sir Henry Raeburn’s portrait of Malcolm Laing, the historian; Andrew
Wylie, Esquire, Provost of Stromness, for the portraits of Dr Rae
and David Vedder; and J. A. Harvie-Brown, Esquire, Dunipace House,
Stirlingshire, for the photograph of the Great Auk’s resting-place.
J. G. F. M. H.
ORKNEY
1. County and Shire
The word _shire_ is of Old English origin, and meant charge,
administration. The Norman Conquest introduced an alternative
designation, the word _county_—through Old French from Latin
_comitatus_, which in mediaeval documents stands for shire. _County_
denotes the district under a count, the king’s _comes_, the equivalent
of the older English term _earl_. This system of local administration
entered Scotland as part of the Anglo-Norman influence that strongly
affected our country after 1100.
The exceptional character of the historical nexus between the Orkney
Islands and Scotland, makes it somewhat difficult to fix definitely
the date at which Orkney can be fairly said to have first constituted
a Scottish county. For a period of about one hundred and fifty years
after the conditional and, to all intent, temporary cession of the
Islands to Scotland in the year 1468, Scottish and Norse law overlapped
each other to a large extent in Orkney. And although during that period
the Scottish Crown both invested earls, and appointed sheriffs of
Orkney, yet so long as Norse law subsisted in the Islands, as it did
largely in practice and absolutely in theory until the year 1612, it
is hardly possible to consider Orkney a Scottish county. The relation
of the Islands towards Scotland during this confused period of fiscal
evolution bears more resemblance to that of the Isle of Man towards
England at the present day. When, however, in the year 1612 an Act of
the Scottish Privy Council applied the general law of Scotland to the
Islands, although the proceeding was in defiance of the conditions of
their cession, Orkney may be held to have at last entered into the full
comity of Scottish civil life, and may thenceforth, without impropriety
or cavil, be considered and spoken of as the County or Shire of Orkney.
The Latin name _Orcades_ implies the islands adjacent to Cape Orcas,
a promontory first mentioned by Diodorus Siculus about 57 B.C. as one
of the northern extremities of Britain, and commonly held to be Dunnet
Head.
The Norse name was _Orkneyar_, of which our _Orkney_ is a curtailment.
The name _orc_ appears to have been applied by both Celtic and Teutonic
races to some half-mythical sea-monster, which according to Ariosto, in
_Orlando Furioso_, devoured men and women; but the suggested connection
between this animal and the name of the county appears a little
far-fetched, although the large number of whales in the surrounding
waters is quoted to support it.
2. General Characteristics and Natural Conditions
[Illustration: Rackwick, Hoy]
Orkney occupies the somewhat anomalous position of being a wholly
insular shire whose economic interests are overwhelmingly
agricultural. Most of the islands are flat or low; and in several, such
as Shapinsay, Stronsay, Sanday, and South Ronaldshay, the proportion
of cultivated land exceeds 70 per cent. of their total areas. In the
Mainland, however, there are large stretches of hill and moorland,
while in Hoy and Walls the natural conditions of by far the greater
portion of the island closely approximate to those of the Scottish
Highlands. Rousay is the only other island which is to a large extent
hilly; but Westray and Eday have some hills, and Burray, Flotta, and
several other islands considerable stretches of low-lying moor. The
general rise of the land is from N.E. to S.W. A height of 334 feet is
attained at the Ward Hill at the south end of Eday, 880 feet at the
Ward Hill of Orphir, in the S.W. of the Mainland, 1420 at Cuilags, 1564
at Ward Hill, and 1309 at Knap of Trowieglen, the three highest points
in Hoy and in the whole group. Exceptionally fine views are obtained
from Wideford Hill (741 feet), near Kirkwall, and from the Ward Hill in
Hoy, the varied panoramas of islands, sounds, and lakes perhaps gaining
in grace of outline more than they lose in richness of detail from the
woodless character of the country.
Taken in detail, and viewed from the low ground, however, the general
aspect of much of the country is bleak, and only redeemed from
baldness by the widely-spread evidence of a vigorous cultivation. Yet
for reasons of a somewhat complex texture, involving meteorological
conditions, historical and archaeological considerations, and a touch
of all-round individuality, the Islands rarely fail to cast a spell
upon the visitor. One might quote many distinguished writers to vouch
for this fact, but an Orcadian poet has depicted the telling features
of his native land, both physical and psychic, with unerring accuracy
and skill.
Land of the whirlpool, torrent, foam,
Where oceans meet in maddening shock;
The beetling cliff, the shelving holm,
The dark, insidious rock;
Land of the bleak, the treeless moor,
The sterile mountain, seared and riven;
The shapeless cairn, the ruined tower,
Scathed by the bolts of heaven;
The yawning gulf, the treacherous sand;
I love thee still, my native land!
Land of the dark, the Runic rhyme,
The mystic ring, the cavern hoar,
The Scandinavian seer, sublime
In legendary lore;
Land of a thousand sea-kings’ graves—
Those tameless spirits of the past,
Fierce as their subject Arctic waves,
Or hyperborean blast;
Though polar billows round thee foam,
I love thee!—thou wert once my home.
With glowing heart and island lyre,
Ah! would some native bard arise
To sing, with all a poet’s fire,
Thy stern sublimities—
The roaring flood, the rushing stream,
The promontory wild and bare,
The pyramid where sea-birds scream
Aloft in middle air,
The Druid temple on the heath,
Old even beyond tradition’s breath.
If we allow a little for the softer side of the picture, a side perhaps
best typified by the fine old buildings of the little island capital,
and the spell of the lightful midsummer night, which is no night, the
lines of Vedder form a fair compendium of the natural conditions and
general characteristics of the Islands to-day, although much of the
“bleak and treeless moor” of the poet’s youth has long since been
converted into smiling fields of corn.
3. Size. Situation. Boundaries
The Orkney Islands extend between the parallels 58° 41´ and 59° 24´ of
north latitude, and 2° 22´ and 3° 26´ of west longitude. They measure
56 miles from north-east to south-west, and 29 miles from east to west,
and cover 240,476 acres or 375.5 square miles, exclusive of fresh water
lochs. The group is bounded by the North Sea and the Pentland Firth
on the south, the Atlantic on the west, Sumburgh Roost on the north,
and the North Sea on the east. Our measurements take no account of the
distant Sule Skerry, an islet of 35 acres lying 32½ miles north-west
of Hoy Head, and inhabited only by lightkeepers and innumerable birds.
The archipelago is naturally divided into three sections: the Mainland
in the centre, the South Isles including all islands to the south, and
the North Isles all to the north, of the Mainland. The Mainland—the
Norse _Meginland_, or _Hrossey_, _i.e._ Horse Island—covers 190 square
miles, and is 25 miles long from north-west to south-east, and 15 miles
broad from east to west. It is divided into two unequal portions, the
East Mainland and the West Mainland, by an isthmus less than two miles
across, which connects Kirkwall Bay on its north sea-board with Scapa
Flow, a large and picturesque inland sea, now well known as a naval
base, which lies between its south coasts and the encircling South
Isles. The name Pomona, stamped on the Mainland by George Buchanan’s
misapprehension of a Latin text, is never applied to the island by
Orcadians; and here be it also said that Hoy and Walls, the largest of
the South Isles and the second in size of the whole group (13½ miles
long by about 5½ miles broad, and covering 36,674 acres), although one
island geographically, is colloquially two. The principal of the other
South Isles are South Ronaldshay, 13,080 acres; Burray, 2682 acres;
Flotta, 2661 acres; Graemsay, 1151 acres; and Fara, 840 acres. Scapa
Flow is connected with the Pentland Firth to the south by Hoxa Sound,
with the Atlantic to the west by Hoy Sound, and with the North Sea to
the east by Holm Sound. The largest of the North Isles are Sanday,
16,498 acres; Westray, 13,096 acres; Rousay, 11,937 acres; Stronsay,
9839 acres; Eday, 7371 acres; Shapinsay, 7171 acres; Papa Westray,
2403 acres; North Ronaldshay, 2386 acres; and Egilsay, 1636 acres.
This section of the archipelago is itself divided into two portions
by the waterway formed by the Stronsay and Westray Firths, which
runs from south-east to north-west through the islands, and offers
an alternative to the Pentland Firth or Sumburgh Roost passages for
vessels passing between the North Sea and the Atlantic.
[Illustration: The Home Fleet in Scapa Flow]
The whole archipelago includes some 67 islands, besides a score or
more of islets, but only 30 are inhabited, and four or five of these
are occupied solely by lighthouse attendants and their families. Small
uninhabited islands, many of which are used as pasturage, are known as
“holms.” The largest uninhabited island is the Calf of Eday, of 590
acres, but some 10 of the inhabited islands are of less area than this.
4. Streams and Lakes
The streams of Orkney are, of course, mere burns of a few miles in
length, draining the high ground, and save for the cheap motive power
which they offer to farmers and millers, of interest only to anglers.
Nowhere in Orkney are trees so much missed as along the burnsides, and
for that reason the Burn of Berriedale, a branch of the larger Rackwick
Burn, in Hoy, whose steep banks are covered with poplar, birch, hazel,
and mountain ash, is a sort of Mecca to the aesthetic Orcadian. The
broad estuary of the Loch of Stenness, which disembogues into the Bay
of Ireland, though of trifling length, is the nearest approach to a
river that the Islands can present. It is known as the _Bush_.
[Illustration: Loch of Kirbuster, in Orphir]
From a spectacular point of view the many lakes of Orkney go far to
compensate the county for the absence of rivers. So many are they
that it is hardly possible to get out of sight of salt or fresh water
in the Islands. The great twin lochs of Harray and Stenness, at once
joined and separated by the Bridge of Brogar, give a strong dash of
picturesqueness to the whole central part of the West Mainland; and
still more beautiful are the secluded and hill-surrounded Heldale Water
and Hoglinns Water in Walls. Other lochs are Boardhouse, Swannay,
Hundland, Isbister, Skaill, Banks, Sabiston, Clumly and Bosquoy in the
West Mainland; Kirbuster in Orphir, Tankerness in the East Mainland;
Muckle Water, Peerie (_i.e._ little) Water, and Wasbister in Rousay;
St Tredwell Loch in Papa Westray; Saintear and Swartmill in Westray;
Muckle Water in Stronsay; and Bea, Longmay, and North Loch in Sanday.
The total area of Orkney lakes is about 20,000 acres. In most of them
fishing is free, in others permission to fish is readily obtainable.
The Loch Stenness trout is, according to Gunther, a distinct species,
but this is a vexed question among the learned in such matters. Heldale
Water contains Norwegian char in addition to trout.
5. Geology and Soil
The geological formation of the Orkney Islands is, in its main
features, of a very simple nature. If we except a comparatively small
strip of land running northwestward from Stromness to Inganess in the
West Mainland, and a still smaller patch in the neighbouring island
of Graemsay, practically the whole county is underlain by the Old Red
Sandstone formation. The two small areas above-mentioned—practically
one, save for the intervening sea—are occupied by older crystalline
rocks, consisting of fine-grained granite, and micaceous schist at
times running into foliated granite, the whole traversed by veins of
pink felsite. These formations are flanked on either side by a narrow
band of conglomerate of the Middle Old Red Sandstone period, composed
of the rounded pebbles of the underlying schist and granite. Of the
Old Red Sandstone two divisions are found in the Islands—the Middle or
Orcadian, and the Upper Old Red Sandstone. There are also in various
parts but especially in Hoy and Deerness, local outcrops of volcanic
material. Orkney thus constitutes practically a continuation of the
north-eastern Highlands of Scotland, and, as in Caithness, flagstone is
by far the most widely distributed rock.
The Orcadian or Middle Old Red Sandstone is known to be a fresh water
deposit, laid down by a large system of lakes which once extended
over the north-eastern Highlands as far south as Inverness and Banff,
and the same species of fossil fishes are found in the grey and black
flagstones near Stromness as in the red sandstones on the south
coasts of the Moray Firth. Leaving out of account the small area of
crystalline rocks near Stromness, which are of age long anterior to
any of the Old Red Sandstone deposits, the West Mainland parishes
of Stromness, Sandwick, and Birsay contain the oldest rocks within
the county, the Stromness flagstones with the fishes embedded in
them being coeval with the Achanarras beds of Caithness. Next in
point of age, come the flagstones of the East Mainland and the North
Isles, corresponding in date and fossil remains to what are known to
geologists as the Thurso Beds of Caithness. Following these in order
of antiquity come the yellow and red sandstones and the dark red
clays or marls which occur in the northern part of South Ronaldshay,
and in Deerness, Shapinsay, and Eday. These are known as the John O’
Groats Beds, from their occurrence in that part of Caithness also,
where indeed they were first exhaustively investigated. These three
members of the Middle or Orcadian Old Red Sandstone are supposed to
have a combined thickness of not less than 7000 feet, though this
pile of sediment represents only the upper half of the formation, the
lower beds of Caithness apparently not being represented north of the
Pentland Firth.
[Illustration: Berry Head, Hoy]
After the Middle Old Red Sandstone had stood for many ages as dry land,
the eroding action of the atmosphere, rain, and streams gradually
eliminated all inequalities and produced a nearly level surface, upon
which by degrees a new lake was formed, occupying a large part of
Orkney and Caithness. In this lake sand accumulated, which now forms
the highest hills of Orkney. The yellow sandstones of the Hoy and
Walls hills are deposits of this lake, and belong to the Upper Old
Red Sandstone, which is not represented in the other islands of the
archipelago, but reappears at Dunnet Head on the south side of the
Pentland Firth.
Flagstone is a material that yields readily to the influence of the
weather, and the subsoil formed is a rubble consisting of loose
fragments of rock embedded in a brown clay formed by the softer
and more weathered portion of the underlying rock. This gives a
well-drained soil, and as the flagstones always contain lime, potash,
and phosphates, and are frequently mixed with sand, the resultant soil
may be generally described as a clayey loam of moderate fertility. Soil
of this character covers a large part of the flagstone formation of
Orkney, especially where the land is of moderate elevation, and surface
accumulations of boulder-clay, or alluvium are at a minimum. At higher
elevations on the other hand the character of the flagstone soils is
frequently modified by the presence of peat. The soils of the sandstone
formation, which occur in parts of South Ronaldshay and Hoy, and to a
larger extent in Burray and Eday, are of inferior fertility, partly on
account of their more porous nature. In Burray and Eday a large portion
of the sandstone districts are in consequence left uncultivated, and
utilised only as rough pasture. The same is true of the soils of the
Upper Old Red Sandstone formation, which covers by far the larger
portion of the parishes of Hoy and Walls, but most of this land is, in
any case, above the altitude to which cultivation is usually carried in
Orkney.
Of “drifts,” or loose surface deposits, the boulder-clay is the only
one that materially affects the agricultural quality of the soils of
the Islands as a whole. The boulder-clay of Orkney, which on account
of the particular direction—northwestwards over the Islands from the
North Sea—taken by the ice at the period when the archipelago was
subjected to glaciation, contains a considerable additional quantity
of lime in the form of shells scraped up from the bed of the ocean,
overlies the rock formations in the lower grounds over a large portion
of the county. This deposit, which varies in thickness from less than a
foot up to forty feet or more, has been calculated to occupy at least
one-third of the area of the Islands, and it provides the most fertile
soil that the county contains, particularly where the land has been
improved by long cultivation and artificial drainage.
6. Natural History
The outstanding features of Orcadian zoology are naturally the very
restricted number of land mammals as compared with that of the
neighbouring mainland of Scotland, the relatively large number of
cetaceans in the surrounding waters, and, above all, the richness
of the avifauna, particularly in sea-birds, and autumn and winter
visitants from more northerly climes.
Although the bones and antlers of the red deer have been found among
the matter excavated from the sites of brochs and Picts’ houses,
and their shed horns at times turn up among the peat-mosses of the
Mainland, that king of British Cervidæ was unknown to Orkney during
historic times until about the year 1860, when two young hinds and a
young stag were introduced into Walls. There they throve perfectly, and
had increased to thirteen or fourteen by 1870-72, when the proprietor
of the island found it necessary to kill them off, on account of the
damage which they were doing to crops. Tusks of the wild boar have been
found at Skaill in the West Mainland, but the wolf, fox, badger, and in
fact practically all of the larger land mammals known to Britain during
historic times, or still found there to-day, have been totally unknown
in Orkney during the same period. The otter is a notable exception,
as it is very abundant in most of the islands, the great extent of
sea-board giving it special facilities for concealment and avoidance of
capture. An Orcadian proprietor who died a few years ago has recorded
that in his young days he often had as many as thirty otter skins in
his possession at one time.
The common hare appears to have been introduced into Orkney by a Mr
Moodie of Melsetter, early in the eighteenth century, but both that
attempt at acclimatisation and one by Malcolm Laing, the historian, in
1818, proved comparative failures. Better success, however, attended
the efforts of Mr Samuel Laing and Mr Baikie of Tankerness about 1830,
and at the present day, hares are found in the Mainland, Rousay, Eday,
Shapinsay, Hoy, and South Ronaldshay. The white hare occurred in Hoy
at an early date, as recorded by Jo Ben, a resident in Orkney, in his
_Descriptio Insularum Orchadiarum_, in 1529:—“Albi lepores hic sunt, et
capiuntur canibus.” It died out, however, and has only recently been
reintroduced. The rabbit is common throughout the Islands. Of other
and less desirable rodents, the black rat was once general in South
Ronaldshay, and probably still occurs there. The brown rats, common
in most parts of Orkney, have been known at times to forsake certain
islands altogether, taking to the sea in a body in search of a new
home. The field mouse, and the house mouse are universal. The common
field vole is plentiful in most of the islands, and there is a doubtful
record of the water vole from Hoy. _Microtus orcadensis_, or the Orkney
vole discovered in 1904, is a highly interesting species peculiar to
Orkney and certain parts of Shetland. The common shrew has been found
in Walls and Orphir, and the water shrew in Walls. Bats are rare in
Orkney, but occurrences of _vesperugo pipistrellus_ have been recorded
from Walls, Sanday, and Kirkwall, of _vespertilio murinus_ from Walls;
while there is an interesting but doubtful record of a specimen of
_vesperugo noctula_ having been captured in South Ronaldshay.
Appearances of the walrus in Orkney waters have been recorded from
Eday, Hoy Sound, and Walls at various dates from 1825 to 1864; and
Orkney seals include _phoca vitulina_, which breeds on several islands
and skerries, _phoca groenlandica_, and the grey seal. The occurrence
of the hooded seal is doubtful. Among Cetacea, the Greenland and sperm
whales are rare visitors, the hump-backed whale, still rarer; but the
common rorquall, Sibbald’s rorquall, the lesser rorquall, the beaked
whale, the grampus, the common porpoise, and the white-sided dolphin
are all fairly common. The bottlenose is, however, _the_ Orkney whale,
occurring at times in schools of 500 in number. The bottlenosed dolphin
and the white-beaked dolphin are also on record.
The ornithology of Orkney comprises about 235 species, and owing to the
special physical characteristics of the Islands bird-life forms a more
conspicuous feature of landscape and sea than it does perhaps anywhere
else in the British Islands. In a district where travel is more usual
on sea than on land, and where the lakes, the fields, the hills, and
the moors are unshrouded by woods, not only are aquatic birds a more
constant object of the view than in districts otherwise conditioned,
but the commoner land birds also are more frequently and readily
observed.
[Illustration: The Great Auk
(_Alea Impennis_)]
[Illustration: Crannie in which last Great Auk lived]
Of the Falconidæ 17 species have been killed or observed in the
Islands, being practically all of this family known to Britain, except
the orange-legged falcon and the bee hawk. The golden eagle and the
white-tailed eagle, however, both of which formerly bred in Hoy, are
now only occasional visitants. The peregrine falcon is still fairly
common, and in old days the King’s falconer procured them from the
Islands for sporting purposes. Of the Strigidæ, the long-eared owl,
the short-eared owl, the snowy owl, the tawny owl, Tengmalm’s owl, and
the eagle owl have all been observed; but recorded occurrences of the
barn owl and the little owl are of doubtful authenticity. Of the order
Anseres, of which some 32 species have been observed in the Islands,
the rarest locally are perhaps the greylag goose, the pink-footed
goose, the Canada goose, the gadwall, the shoveller, the Garganey teal,
the king eider, the harlequin duck, the common scoter, the surf scoter,
Bewick’s swan, and the goosander. The common eider duck is plentiful.
Regular winter visitants, but not unknown at other seasons, are the
long-tailed duck, the velvet scoter, and the smew. Other visitants
are the bernacle goose, the brent goose, the white-fronted goose, and
the hooper, the last two in particular being common frequenters of
the larger lochs, such as Stenness, Harray, and Boardhouse at this
season. Of some 18 species of the Laridæ found in Orkney, the rarest
are perhaps the Iceland gull, the glaucous gull, the common skua, the
pomatorhine skua, and Richardson’s skua, the last-named, however,
breeding in Walls. Of the Colymbidæ, the red-throated diver breeds in
Walls, while the black-throated and great northern divers are winter
visitants, both suspected to have occasionally stayed to breed. Of the
Alcidae, the razor-bill, common guillemot, black guillemot, puffin, and
little auk are usual. In the crevice of a cliff in Papa Westray lived
the last Orkney great auk, _alca impennis_, shot in 1813, and now in
the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, an interesting specimen
of a bird probably now everywhere extinct. Of the Scolopacidae about
22 species are on record. Yarrell is perhaps in error when he mentions
the avocet as having been found in the Islands, but the red-necked
phalarope was first recorded as a British species from Stronsay in
1769. The gray phalarope is rare. The woodcock comes in winter, and
has bred in Rousay. The common snipe is plentiful, and the jack snipe
and double snipe come in autumn. The little stint, purple sandpiper,
sanderling, knot, ruff, bartailed godwit, black-tailed godwit, spotted
redshank, and the greenshank are all found, but some of these are rare.
Of the Charadriidae, the golden, grey, and ringed plovers, the lapwing,
dotterel, and turnstone are common, while the eastern golden plover
has been found. Of the order Tubinares, the stormy petrel and the Manx
shearwater breed, and the fulmar petrel has become a common visitant
of recent years. The Rallidae are represented by the land-rail,
water-rail, spotted crake, moor-hen, and common coot, and the Gruidae
by the common and demoiselle cranes. The common heron alone is usual
among the Herodii, although the bittern, little bittern, white stork,
spoonbill, and glossy ibis have all been found. Of the Podicipitidae,
the Sclavonian, great-crested, eared, and little grebes are known,
the last-named, however, being the only nester. Of the Pelicanidae,
the solan goose breeds on the distant Stack, near Sule Skerry, and
the shag and cormorant are common. Of the Columbidae the rock-dove
is common, the ring-dove occasionally breeds in plantations, and the
stock-dove and turtle-dove are seen at times. Of the order Passeres,
the usual nesters include the song-thrush, blackbird, redbreast, wren,
pied wagtail, rock pipit, linnet, twite, greenfinch, yellow bunting,
skylark, and common starling, the last a bird perhaps more frequent in
the Islands than anywhere else. Scarcer breeders are the missel-thrush,
stonechat, ring-ouzel, golden-crested wren, sedge warbler, grey
wagtail, yellow wagtail, hedge-sparrow, meadow pipit, pied flycatcher,
swallow, sand-martin, chaffinch, lesser redpole, and reed bunting.
Common winter visitants are the redwing, fieldfare, and snow bunting,
while rarer or only occasional comers are the dipper, redstart,
blackcap, chiffchaff, fire-crested wren, willow wren, great titmouse,
blue titmouse, common creeper, grey-headed wagtail, tree pipit, great
grey shrike, red-backed shrike. waxwing, spotted flycatcher, rose
pastor, goldfinch, brambling, mealy redpole, common bullfinch, common
crossbill, and wood lark. Orkney Corvidae include the grey crow, the
rook, the jackdaw (South Ronaldshay only), and the raven as breeding
species, while the magpie and nutcracker are rare visitants. Of the
Picidae, the great spotted woodpecker is an irregular autumn and winter
visitant, while the lesser spotted woodpecker, the green woodpecker,
and the wryneck are seen at times. Of the order Coccyges, the cuckoo
is fairly common, while the roller, hoopoe, and common kingfisher have
been found. Of the order Macrochires the common swift and the common
nightjar are occasionally seen.
Of game and other sport-yielding birds, the red grouse breeds in the
Mainland, Rousay, Eday, Hoy, Walls, Flotta and Fara. Grouse disease
is unknown in Orkney, and the birds of Walls and Rousay are the
heaviest in Scotland. Various attempts to acclimatise the black grouse,
partridge, red-legged partridge, and pheasant have all practically
failed. The ptarmigan bred in Hoy until 1831. Pallas’s sand grouse at
times visit the Islands in considerable numbers, and are surmised to
have bred in several islands. The quail comes in much the same way, if
in fewer numbers, and has nested, though rarely.
The plant-life of the Islands, however interesting to the
scientifically-equipped botanist, presents no such happy hunting-ground
to the unsophisticated lover of wild nature as does their bird-life.
The practical non-existence of woods conspires with the cool summer
and high winds of the country to restrict both the number and the
distribution of its flora. Ferns in particular are of circumscribed
distribution, a loss to the beauty of the country-side only less
conspicuous than that caused by the absence of woods; while several
other popular and showy plants, such as the wild rose, the foxglove,
gorse, and broom are of only too limited a range. Some 20 species
or varieties of ferns are known or reported, of which _ophioglossum
vulgatum, var. ambiguum_, was for years unknown out of the Islands.
_Zannichellia polycarpa_, a pond-weed, was for some time known as a
British plant only from the Loch of Kirbuster in Orphir; and _Carex
fulva_, a sedge, was at one period peculiar to the same parish. More
interesting, however, is the recent discovery by Mr Magnus Spence, who
has lately published the first complete _Flora orcadensis_, of a plant
which Mr C. E. Moss, D. Sc., of Cambridge, considers to be either a
new variety of the dainty _Primula scotica_, or _Primula stricta_, a
species hitherto unknown to the flora of the British Isles. The common
variety of _Primula scotica_ is fairly abundant in many of the islands.
Hoy is the most interesting of the islands from a botanical point of
view, as it contains a variety of plants unknown to the others. Perhaps
the most interesting of these is _Loiseleuria procumbens_, the trailing
azalea, which makes a beautiful show in its season on several spots
among the higher hills. This island also contains in several of its
more sheltered glens practically the only indigenous trees that Orkney
can boast of, consisting of somewhat stunted specimens of hazel, birch,
mountain ash, quaking poplar, and honeysuckle. Before the days of the
Baltic timber trade the dying Orcadian must have been gravely concerned
over the disposition of the family porridge-stick, or “pot-tree,” as it
was locally styled. Even to-day, with some plantations around certain
mansion-houses, it is doubtful whether all the trees in the county,
indigenous and introduced, would cover a sixty-acre field. We subjoin a
list of a few of the rarer Orkney plants, with some of their localities.
Thalictrum Alpinum Hills of Hoy, Orphir, Rousay.
Thalictrum Dunense Links, in Walls, Deerness,
Sanday.
Ranunculus Sceleratus Stromness.
Nasturtium Palustre North Ronaldshay.
Sisymbrium Thalianum Kirkwall, Hoy.
Sisymbrium Officinale Hoy.
Draba Incana Hoy Hill; Fitty Hill, Westray.
Silene Acaulis Hoy Hill; Fitty Hill, Westray.
Spergularia Marginata The Ayre, Walls; Vaval,
Westray.
Geranium Robertianum Carness, St Ola.
Fragaria Vesca Rousay.
Rubus Fissus Hoy.
Dryas Ocopetala Hoy Hill; Kame of Hoy.
Rosa Glauca, _var._ crepiniana Stromness.
Circæa Alpina Hoy, Orphir, Evie.
Sedum Acre Links, Hoxa, S. Ronaldshay.
Saxifraga Oppositifolia Hoy Hills.
Saxifraga Stellaris Rackwick, Hoy; Kame of Hoy.
Pimpinella Saxifraga St Ola.
Sium Erectum Holm, Sanday.
Hedera Helix Berriedale, Hoy; Berstane,
St Ola.
Cornus Suecica Kame of Hoy.
Gallium Mollugo, _var._ Bakeri Deerness, Westray.
Hieracium Orcadense Cliffs in Hoy.
Hieracium Scoticum Cliffs in Orphir.
Hieracium Strictum Pegal Bay, Walls.
Hieracium Auratum Cliffs, Pegal Bay, etc.
Lobellia Dortmanna Walls, Rousay.
Jasione Montana Eday, N. Ronaldshay.
Arctostophylos Uva-Ursi Hills, Hoy and Walls.
Pyrola Rotundifolia Hoy, Rousay.
Vaccinium Vitis-Idæa Walls, Hoy, Orphir, Rousay.
Vaccinium Uliginosum Walls, Hoy, Birsay.
Gentiana Baltica North Ronaldshay, Birsay.
Ajuga Pyramidalis Berriedale and Rackwick, Hoy.
Myosotis Palustris Orphir, St Andrews.
Oxyria Reniformis Hoy.
Myrica Gale Birsay.
Salix Nigricans Orphir.
Juniperus Nana Hoy.
Typha Latifolia Loch of Aikerness, Evie.
Sparganium Affine Mainland, Hoy, Rousay.
Ruppia Spiralis Loch of Stenness.
Ruppia Rostellata, _var._ Nana Oyce of Firth.
Goodyera Repens Stromness, Harray.
Scirpus Tabernæmontani St Ola, Holm.
Blysmus Rufus Orphir, St Andrews, Westray.
Carex Muricata Firth.
The total number of plants found in the Islands, not counting
varieties, is about 560, a number slightly in excess of that of
Shetland and slightly fewer than that of Caithness, to the floras of
which counties that of Orkney closely assimilates.
7. The Coast
In a district where, despite the general existence of good roads,
the shortest cut to church, post office, smithy, or mill is often by
crossing a sound or skirting the shore in a yawl, the coastline spells
something more than a mere alternation of cliffs and sandy beaches,
diversified by the occasional appearance of a lighthouse or a harbour.
Such things of course the shores of Orkney exhibit in no common
measure, but to show how far they are from exhausting the coastal
features of Orcadian life and scenery, it is only necessary to say that
of twenty-one civil parishes in the county all but one (Harray) possess
miles of sea-board, and that of the centres of population, only some
two or three hamlets are inland. No spot in the Mainland is above five
miles from the coast, no point in any other island more than three
miles.
The general configuration of the coasts may be best studied on the
map, but as not every inlet of the sea forms a good natural anchorage,
we here indicate some that do so. Others, and some of these the most
important, are mentioned in the final section. Widewall Bay on the
W. side of South Ronaldshay, Panhope in Flotta, and Echnaloch on the
N.W. of Burray are, after the far-famed Longhope in Walls, the best
anchorages in the South Isles. The Bay of Ireland, known to mariners
as Cairston Roads, is on the south coast of Mainland, a little to the
eastward of Stromness. Inganess Bay and Deer Sound are in the N.E. of
Mainland; Veantrow Bay on the N. side of Shapinsay; St Catherine’s Bay,
Mill Bay, and Holland Bay in Stronsay; and Otterswick in Sanday. There
are deepwater piers—as indispensable adjuncts of traffic in Orkney as
railway stations are elsewhere—at Longhope, St Margaret’s Hope, and
Burray in the South Isles; at Stromness, Swanbister Bay, Scapa Bay,
and Holm on the S. coast of Mainland; at Kirkwall and Finstown on the
N. coast of Mainland; and in Shapinsay, Stronsay, Eday, Rousay, Sanday
Westray, Egilsay, and North Ronaldshay in the North Isles.
[Illustration: The Old Man of Hoy
(The tallest “Stack” in British Isles, 450 ft. high)]
Lying as they do athwart a main trade route from the ports of northern
and western Europe to America and the western ports of Britain, the
rock-girded and wind-swept shores of Orkney are especially well
lighted. Indeed it is probable that from the summit of the Ward Hill of
Hoy on a clear night more lighthouses can be discerned than from any
other point in Britain. Stromness is an important centre of operations
for the Scottish Lighthouse Board, lying half-way between the east and
west coasts of Scotland, and having the many lighthouses of Shetland to
the north.
The coasts and sounds of Orkney are studded with innumerable skerries
and sunken reefs. Few of these call for any special notice, but the
reader should know that in a few cases—Auskerry, the larger Pentland
Skerry, Sule Skerry—the name skerry is locally applied to soil-covered
islets of considerable area. There are no raised beaches in Orkney,
all oceanological and geological data going to show that the islands
were once united, and the coastline in consequence at a lower level
than it occupies to-day. Traces of submerged forests are to be found at
Widewall Bay, in South Ronaldshay, and a few other localities. Coast
erosion in the Islands is too slight a factor to have any practical
significance.
Apart from the fine natural harbours, the outstanding physical feature
of the Orkney coasts is the gigantic cliff scenery of the Atlantic
sea-board, particularly that of Hoy and Walls, which both for loftiness
and splendour of colouring stands unrivalled in Britain.
For a distance of about two miles from the Kaim of Hoy southwards to
the Sow the average height of the cliffs is above 1000 feet, the huge
rampant culminating about midway between these two points in St John’s
Head, also called Braeborough, which attains a height of 1140 feet.
About a mile southward of the Sow stands the famous Old Man of Hoy (450
feet), tallest of British “stacks”—
A giant that hath warred with heaven,
Whose ruined scalp seems thunder-riven.
Of many other fine cliffs in this island we have space to mention only
the Berry, in Walls, a sheer precipice of 600 feet in height, which
forms, so to speak, one of the jaws of the Pentland Firth, the other
jaw being Dunnet Head on the Caithness side. For beauty of colouring
and indeed of outline, the Berry excels any cliff in this wonderful
coastline, which the late Dr Guthrie described as, after Niagara and
the Alps, the most sublime sight in the world. There is much fine rock
scenery elsewhere in the Islands, particularly in the West Mainland,
Rousay, Eday, and South Ronaldshay.
The tideways in many of the sounds which separate the various islands
are remarkable for their turbulence and velocity, a speed of 8 knots an
hour being reached in Hoy Sound, and 12 knots in the Pentland Firth.
In the Pentland Firth also are two whirlpools, the Wells of Swona and
the Swelkie of Stroma, the latter as famous in fable as the by no means
more formidable Maelström. The total coastline of the Islands extends
to between 500 and 600 miles.
8. Weather and Climate
Insular climates are almost invariably milder than those of continents,
or even those of the inland regions of large islands, in the same
latitudes, and the climate of Orkney is no exception to this rule.
Like so many other things Orcadian, the climate is conditioned by
the proximity of the sea, and in this case by a sea whose waters are
considerably warmer than their latitude might lead one to suspect.
The warm surface drift of the North Atlantic is of itself sufficient
to explain the relatively mild winter of Orkney, and the presence of
the widest portion of the North Sea on the eastern side of the Islands
has also a modifying influence. It must also be borne in mind that in
cool climates rain brings heat. Our westerly and south-westerly winds,
passing over sun-bathed seas, collect in their courses the vapour of
warmer climates, and when this vapour, coming into contact with the
cooler air of more northerly latitudes, is again condensed into water,
a certain amount of the heat thus collected is set free, and raises the
temperature of the air, of the rain itself, and of the land on which it
falls.
TABULAR STATEMENT OF ORKNEY WEATHER.
Mean Mean Mean
Temperature. Hours Sunshine. Rainfall.
Years 1871-1905. 1880-1907. 1841-1907.
January 39.0° 29.7 3.72´´
February 38.5 55.5 3.05
March 39.3 101.1 2.82
April 42.4 154.1 1.99
May 46.4 178.5 1.81
June 51.3 160.9 1.97
July 54.2 141.3 2.57
August 54.0 121.8 3.01
September 51.5 108.8 3.09
October 46.4 75.5 4.43
November 42.4 36.5 3.97
December 39.9 20.8 4.21
---- ------ -----
Mean 45.4 Total 1184.5 Total 36.65
It will thus be seen that the mean annual temperature of Orkney
is 45.4°, which compares with 46.3° at Aberdeen and at Alnwick in
Northumberland, and with 49.4° at Kew Observatory. The total range of
temperature is only about 16°, as against 20° at Thurso, just across
the Pentland Firth, 22° at Leith, and 25° at London. In this respect
the Islands resemble the S.W. coast of England and the W. coast of
Ireland. The lowest temperature recorded in Orkney in the eighty-seven
years during which meteorological observations have been made was
8°, which occurred on 18th January 1881, the highest was 76°, on 16th
July 1876. The temperature of the ocean varies only about 13° during
the year, from 41.6° in February, to 54.5° in August. The mean annual
rainfall of about 37 inches compares with over 80 inches in many parts
of the West Highlands, and with 23 inches at Cromarty, the driest
station in Scotland. The wettest months are October, November, and
December, during which the Islands receive from one-third to one-half
of their annual rainfall, the driest months are April, May, and June,
which together receive only one-eighth of the total fall. Thus Orkney
is practically never troubled with excessive rainfall, and serious
droughts are equally unknown. The mean annual sunshine of 1185 hours
compares favourably with 1164 hours at Edinburgh. London enjoys 1260
hours, Hastings 1780. Orkney’s brightest month is May, with an average
of 178 hours of sunshine, the gloomiest is December with 20.6 hours.
[Illustration: Old Melsetter House, in Walls
(In a specially mild winter climate)]
Apart from the fact that Orkney enjoys the mildest winter of any
Scottish county, the chief difference between the weather of the
archipelago and that of Scotland in general is perhaps the greater
prevalence of high winds in the Islands, which owing to the general
lowness of the land receive the full force of the North Atlantic
gales, and which moreover lie in the most common track of the Atlantic
cyclones, a circumstance which leads to great variability of wind and
weather. Orkney has record of only one hurricane, on 17th November,
1893, with a velocity of 96 miles. Several winter gales of over 80
miles have been recorded, and one summer gale of 75 miles in the year
1890. During the fifteen years 1890-1904, 300 gales were recorded in
Orkney, practically the same as at Fleetwood in Lancashire, while
Alnwick experienced only 157, and Valentia on the west coast of Ireland
only 130. Atlantic cyclones are the dominating factor in Orkney weather
during the greater portion of the year, producing gales of greater or
smaller magnitude, and being almost invariably accompanied by rain,
with sudden changes both in the direction and the force of the wind.
In the spring season, however, anticyclones frequently cause spells
of dry, cold weather, with fairly steady winds from the eastward or
northward.
Winter in Orkney is in general a steady series of high winds, heavy
rains, and ever varying storms, with much less frequent falls of snow,
and fewer severe or continuous frosts than elsewhere in Scotland. Under
the shelter of garden walls we have seen strawberry plants in blossom
at Christmas and roses in January, while chance primroses may be found
in sheltered nooks in any month of the year. The spring is cold and
late, but the prevailing winds from N.W., N.E., or E. have not the
piercing coldness so often felt in the spring winds along the east
coast of Scotland. The summer is short, but remarkable for rapidity of
growth. Fogs are fairly common during summer and early autumn, and come
on and disperse with exceptional suddenness. Thunder in Orkney occurs
mostly in winter, during high winds and continuous falls of rain or
snow. The heaviest rains and the most prevalent and strongest winds are
from the S.W. and S.E.
MEANS OF OBSERVATION IN ORKNEY FOR THIRTY-THREE YEARS—1873-1905
Rainy Snowy Days on Thunder Clear
days. days. which storms. sky. Overcast. Gales.
Hail fell.
219 31 14 6 31 156 79
9. The People—Race, Language, Population
It is unsafe to dogmatise on the early races of Orkney; but from the
undoubted community in blood, speech, and culture with other northern
counties of Scotland during the Celtic period, we may fairly conjecture
that the Islands must have similarly shared in whatever pre-Celtic
population—Iberian or other—these regions as a whole possessed.
Into the vexed question whether any remnant of Celtic population
survived the Norse settlement of the Islands in the ninth century we
cannot enter here. It is certain that for centuries after that era
Norse speech, law, and custom were as universal and supreme in Orkney
as ever Anglo-Saxon speech and institutions were in Kent or Norfolk.
The place-names of the Islands are, save for a late Scottish and
English element, entirely Norse.
The Scottish immigration into Orkney, which commenced about 1230,
came for centuries almost exclusively from the Lowlands—the Lothians,
Fife, Forfarshire, and those parts of Stirlingshire, Perthshire,
Aberdeenshire, Banffshire, and Moray which lie outside the “Highland
Line,” being the chief areas drawn from. A later and much slighter
strain of immigration from Caithness, Sutherland, and Ross, which
affected the South Isles more especially, was itself quite as much of
Norse as of Celtic ancestry. The people of Orkney must therefore be
put down as in the main an amalgam of Norse and Lowland Scots.
There never was any very rigid line of division between these two races
in the Islands. So much is it the case that, while the Norse were
being Scotticised in speech and custom, the incomers were at the same
time being Orcadianised in sentiment, that the opprobrious epithet of
“Ferry-loupers,” hurled by native Orcadians at successive generations
of Scots intruders, is itself of Scottish origin. The _genius loci_ was
a very potent spirit, and the Scoto-Orcadian was often prouder of being
an Orcadian than of being a Scot.
The humblest Orcadians have for centuries past spoken English more
correctly and naturally than was at all common among the Scottish lower
orders before the advent of board school education, a circumstance
largely due to the fact that a great portion of the population
exchanged Norse speech for Scots about the period—the later sixteenth
and early seventeenth centuries—when educated Scots were themselves
adopting English. Add to this the constant presence of passing English
vessels and the presence of Cromwell’s soldiers. At the same time a
modified Scots dialect is commonly spoken by the less educated classes,
but even in this the admixture of pure English is pronounced. A few
Norse words, mostly nouns, survive imbedded in the local speech,
whether English or Scots. Norse speech lingered in Harray until about
1750.
The population of Orkney, which numbered 24,445 in the year 1801,
increased almost uninterruptedly to a maximum of 32,395 in 1861. Every
subsequent census, except that of 1881, has shown a decrease, and the
9.8 per cent. rate of intercensal decline recorded in 1911 was the
heaviest revealed by the census of that year for any Scottish county.
The population in that year was 25,897, being 69 to the square mile.
Under modern conditions Orkneymen have resumed the roving instincts
of their Norse ancestors, and the variety of capacities under which
the sons and daughters of the Islands live in the far corners of the
earth is astonishing. The ostensible local causes of this movement
are in reality of secondary importance. The real causes are improved
education, improved communications, and the grit to take advantage of
them. Can any Scottish or English county show the equivalent of _The
Orkney and Shetland American_, a little newspaper published for years
in Chicago? “A Shields Shetlander,” too, is a current descriptive tag
which might well be supplemented by “A Leith Orcadian.”
10. Agriculture
Farming is the very life of Orkney, giving full or partial employment
to no less than 6400 of the population. The great era of agriculture
in the Islands followed, and was partly the consequence of the failure
of the local kelp industry in the second quarter of the nineteenth
century. The area under crop and permanent pasture rose from about
30,000 acres in 1855 to 86,949 acres in 1870. It is now 107,941 acres,
while in addition at least 52,941 acres of heath and mountain land are
utilised for grazing. The chief crops are oats, 33,153 acres; turnips,
13,877 acres; and hay, 9425 acres. Stock rearing is the cornerstone of
Orcadian farming.
[Illustration: Harvesting at Stenness]
Short-horns and polled Angus are the favoured breeds of cattle,
and many thousand head from the Islands pass through the Aberdeen
auction marts every year. The finest of the beef—and prime Orkney
beef is second to none—finally reaches Smithfield. Cheviots and
Cheviot-Leicester crosses are the common sheep, the small native breed,
of Norwegian origin, being now confined to North Ronaldshay. The old
Orkney horse, itself probably a hybrid of half Norwegian and half
Scottish extraction, has for several generations past been crossed
with Clydesdale blood, and the resultant is a small-sized but very
sturdy and serviceable animal. Oxen are still used to a small extent
as draught animals. The export of eggs and poultry is a great and
growing Orcadian industry, the annual output from the Islands being at
least £60,000 in value, a larger figure be it noted than the purely
agricultural rental of the county. The fattening of geese for the
Christmas market is a special feature of Orkney poultry-farming, the
birds being largely brought from Shetland at the end of harvest and
put on the stubble. The open winter is a valuable consideration to
poultry-keepers in the Islands, increasing the amount of natural food
which the birds are able to pick up, and extending the period of laying.
Large quantities of sea-weed are available as manure in practically
every part of the Islands, and marl in some localities. The chief
disadvantages under which agriculture labours in Orkney are distance
from the markets, and occasional damage to grain crops from sea-gust.
Agricultural co-operative societies, however, which have obtained a
firm footing in the Islands, are doing a great deal to counter-act the
effects of the first-mentioned drawback.
11. Industries and Manufactures
The manufacture of kelp was introduced into the Islands in 1722, and
by 1826 the annual export amounted to 3500 tons, valued at £24,500.
The abolition of the duty on barilla, which is largely used in the
manufacture of glass, destroyed this industry for a time; but since
about 1880 there has been a considerable revival in the North Isles,
the yearly export having again reached about 1500 tons. Orkney kelp is
considered of the finest quality.
[Illustration: Orkney Yawl Boats]
The making of linen yarn and cloth, introduced in 1747, was
successfully carried on for many years, and flax was locally grown.
This industry received a severe check during the Great War (1793-1815),
and gradually disappeared.
The manufacture of straw-plait for bonnets and hats was begun about
1800, and fifteen years later the yearly export was valued at
£20,000, from 6000 to 7000 women being employed in the industry. The
material used was at first split ripened wheat straw; later, however,
unripened, unsplit, boiled and bleached rye-straw was substituted.
The reduction of the import duty on straw-plait finally destroyed this
interesting home industry, of which Kirkwall and Stromness were the
chief centres.
The present-day industries of Orkney are unimportant. No minerals are
worked in the county, although flagstone is quarried at Clestrain
in Orphir, and red sandstone of fine quality at Fersness in Eday.
The numerous sailing boats used in the Islands are mostly of home
construction, the broad-beamed, shallow-draught, and comparatively
light Orkney yawl being a type specially designed to suit local
conditions of weather and tide. The making of the well-known Orkney
straw-backed chairs is restricted by a very limited demand, and the
specimens made for sale are somewhat more elaborate than those used
in the cottages. A small quantity of home-spun tweed is made in the
Islands, and a certain amount of rough knitting—stockings, mittens, and
other articles used by the seafaring classes—is done in some districts.
Fish-curing is carried on at Kirkwall, and to a small extent, as a home
industry, in country districts. There are distilleries at Stromness,
Scapa, and Highland Park, near Kirkwall, the output at the last-named
being large, and in high esteem among whisky-blenders.
12. Fisheries and Fishing Station
Of recent years Whitehall in Stronsay has become one of the great
centres of the summer herring fishing, with an annual catch of from
80,000 to 90,000 crans, a total exceeded in Scotland only at the ports
of Lerwick, Fraserburgh and Peterhead. As at many other places where
this great industry is carried on, however, the boats, the capital,
and the personnel come almost entirely from outside. There are smaller
stations of this fishery at Kirkwall, Sanday, Stromness, Holm, and
Burray, at the last-named of which alone the boats and crews are local.
The white fishing is carried on in a desultory fashion in Orkney waters
by some 350 fishermen, who use small locally-made yawls, but the annual
catch is not important compared with that of other fishery districts.
Haddocks, cod, and saithe are the commonest fish. Saithe simply swarm,
but are caught chiefly for household consumption. Some 250 other men
who style themselves “crofter-fishermen” in the census returns, are in
reality small farmers who do an occasional day’s fishing, mainly for
the pot. Lobster fishing is the one branch of the industry which the
“crofter-fishermen” do follow with any persistence, and lobsters and
other shell-fish, mainly whelks, to the value of from £6000 to £7000,
are exported from the Islands annually. The whelks are gathered mainly
by women. There are 338 fishing boats in Orkney, of an aggregate burden
of 2154 tons, and of a value, including fishing gear, of £16,095.
Sea-trout are plentiful along much of the Orkney coast, especially
near estuaries; but although surreptitious netting is intermittently
done by unauthorised persons, this fishing is not, as with proper
care it might be, on any sound commercial footing. Sea-trout run to
a large size in the Islands, fish of from 8 to 10 lbs. being not
uncommon. Walls, Hoy, the Bay of Ireland, Holm, and Rousay are the best
localities. The net season is from 24th February to 10th September, the
rod season from the same opening date to 31st October.
Longhope and the Bay of Firth were of old famous for oysters, and at
the latter place a praiseworthy effort was recently made to restore the
fishery.
13. History of the County
Our knowledge of the Orkney Islands before the Norse settlement in
the latter part of the ninth century is of a slight and fragmentary
character. In particular, what Latin writers say gives no sure
information, the references in poets like Juvenal and Claudian being
manifestly for literary ornament.
The earliest writer of British race to throw any light on the Islands
is Adamnan, who mentions that in the sixth century Cormac, a cleric of
Iona, with certain companions, visited the Orkneys, and adds that the
contemporary Pictish ruler of the Islands was a hostage in the hands
of Brude Mac Meilcon, King of the Northern Picts. Whatever degree of
power this Pictish king may have exercised over the Islands, we learn
from the _Annals of Ulster_ that in the year 580 they were invaded by
Aidan, King of the Dalriadic Scots, and as the next mention of the
Orkneys in the native chronicles is the record of their devastation
by the Pictish King Brude Mac Bile in the year 682, it is perhaps a
fair inference that Dalriadic influence had predominated there during
the intervening century. That the Islands were christianised about
this period by clerics of the Columban or Irish Church, is a point too
firmly established by archaeological, topographical, and other data to
require any insistence on here. Many pre-Norse church dedications to St
Columba, St Ninian, and other Celtic saints, tell their own story.
Little is known of the state of the Islands during two centuries
preceding the date of the Norse settlement _c._ 872 A.D., but from
that era until the year 1222 Orkney possesses in the _Orkneyinga Saga_
a record of the highest value. The _Saga_ states that the Islands
were settled by the Norsemen in the days of Harald the Fair-haired
(Harfagri), but had previously been a base for Vikings. Harald Harfagri
had about the year 870 made himself sole King of Norway, and in so
doing had incurred the odium of a large section of the Odallers, or
landowners, many of whom in consequence emigrated to Iceland, Shetland,
Orkney, the Hebrides, and the coasts of Ireland. The settlers in
Orkney, Shetland, and the Western Islands took to piracy, and so
inflicted the coasts of old Norway, that in 872 Harald followed up the
fugitives, conquered all the islands of the Scottish seas, and placed
his partisan Rognvald, Earl of Moeri, as hereditary Jarl over Orkney
and Shetland. This nobleman, however, preferring to live in Norway,
gifted his western jarldom to his brother Sigurd, who is commonly
considered the first, as he proved one of the greatest, of the long
line of Orcadian Jarls. Sigurd speedily spread his power over northern
Scotland as far south as Moray, and from his time until the close of
the thirteenth century the Orkney Jarls had the controlling hand in
Caithness, Sutherland, and Easter Ross. Jarl Sigurd died in 875, and
was ultimately succeeded by the scarcely less strenuous Torf-Einar,
a son of Jarl Rognvald, and a half-brother of Hrolf (Rollo), the
conqueror of Normandy. Einar got his _sobriquet_ of “Torf” from the
fact of his having learned in Scotland, and taught the islanders,
the practice of cutting turf for fuel. He was succeeded by three
sons, of whom the two elder, Arnkell and Erlend, fell in the battle
of Stanesmoor in England, in 950. The third, Thorfinn Hausacliuf
(Skull-Splitter), proved as good as his name, and well maintained the
doughty reputation of a family which later, in a collateral line,
produced William the Conqueror.
[Illustration: Kirkwall]
Let us pause here, however, to outline the polity and state of society
which had now become established in the Islands. The Orkney Jarls were
not autocratic rulers. The Odallers, assembled at the _Thing_, made
the laws, on the advice or with the concurrence of the Jarls, but
these laws were superimposed on a body of old Norse oral laws which
the settlers had brought with them from over-sea. The land law taking
no account of primogeniture, the sons of an Odaller succeeded equally
to his estate, and a daughter could claim half the share of a son. The
eldest son, however, could claim possession of the Bu (English _by_,
as in Whitby), or chief dwelling. An Odaller could not divest himself
of his odal heritage, except for debt, or in security for a debt, and
in such a case a right of redemption lay for all time, not only with
his nearest heir, direct or collateral, but on refusal of nearer heirs
to avail themselves of it, with any descendant whatsoever. Under such
a system free men without landed interest actual or prospective were
few, and the odal-born formed the bulk of the population. Some of the
wealthier Odallers, however, possessed a limited number of thralls, and
thraldom was hereditary. Land tax, or _scat_, was paid by the Odallers
to the Jarl, and by the Jarl to the King, but in both cases the payment
was a fiscal imposition rather than a feudal exaction, the Crown of
Norway recognising the obligation of defending the Islands against
outside foes in final resort. Apart from this, the overlordship of the
mother-country was so slight that in the European diplomacy of the
times the Jarls were treated as sovereign princes.
Thorfinn Hausacliuf died _c._ 963; and the rule of his five sons,
Havard, Hlodver, Ljot, Skuli, and Arnfinn is noticeable for the first
of those family feuds which form so marked a feature of the history of
the Jarls. Skuli took the title of Earl of Caithness from the King of
Scots, and fared against Ljot with a host provided by the King and the
Scots Earl Macbeth. Ljot defeated him in the Dales of Caithness, Skuli
being slain. Earl Macbeth with a second host, was in turn defeated by
Ljot at Skidmoor (Skitton) in Caithness, and here Ljot fell. His other
brothers having already disappeared in domestic strife, Hlodver was
now left sole. He married Edna, an Irish princess, and their only son
Sigurd Hlodverson, the Stout, is one of the most famous characters of
the _Saga_. Succeeding his father in 980, Sigurd held Caithness by
main force against the Scots. A Scots maormor, Finnleik, the father of
the celebrated Macbeth, having challenged him to a pitched battle at
Skidmoor by a fixed day, Sigurd took counsel of his mother, for she, as
the _Saga_ says, “knew many things,” that is, by witchcraft. Edna made
her son a banner “woven with mighty spells,” which would bring victory
to those before whom it was borne, but death to the bearer. Armed with
this uncanny device, Sigurd defeated his challenger at Skidmoor, with
the loss of three standard-bearers. An incident of wider consequence,
however, befell Sigurd in the year 995. Olaf Tryggvi’s son, King of
Norway, came on the Jarl aboard ship in a small bay in the South Isles.
The King had the superior force, and, a recent convert himself, he
there and then forced christianity upon the reluctant Jarl, and laid
him under an obligation to impose the faith upon the people of Orkney.
The _Saga_ adds, “then all the Orkneys became christian,” and so indeed
the Islands henceforth remained. Sigurd himself, however, reverted
to the old gods, and in the year 1014, he joined the great Norse
expedition against Brian, King of Ireland, which led to the battle of
Clontarf. In that famous fight the Skidmoor banner again did service,
but the spell was broken. “Hrafn the Red,” called out the Jarl after
two standard-bearers had fallen, and an Icelander who knew its fatal
secret had declined to touch it, “bear thou the banner.” “Bear thine
own devil thyself,” rejoined Hrafn. Then the Earl said, “’Tis fittest
that the beggar should bear the bag,” at the same time taking the
banner from the staff and placing it under his cloak. A little after,
the Earl was pierced through with a spear.
Most famous of all the Jarls in the eyes of the Norse was Thorfinn the
Great, Sigurd’s son by a second marriage with a daughter of Malcolm
II, King of Scots. Sigurd, however, was at first succeeded in Orkney
by Brusi, Somerled, and Einar, sons of an earlier marriage, while
Thorfinn, a boy of five, who had been fostered by the Scots King, was
invested by his grandfather in the Earldom of Caithness and Sutherland.
On attaining manhood, however, Thorfinn made good his claim to a share
of Orkney also, and after many vicissitudes of fighting and friendship
with his half-brothers, and with Jarl Rognvald I, Brusi’s son, was
finally left sole ruler there. He extended his power far and wide over
northern Scotland, controlled the Hebrides, and ruled certain parts of
Ireland. He even invaded England in the absence of King Hardicanute,
and, according to the _Saga_, defeated in two pitched battles the
forces that opposed him. In later life Thorfinn visited Rome, and he
built a minster, known as Christchurch, in Birsay, the first seat
of the Bishopric of Orkney. He died in 1064. Thorfinn’s sons Paul
and Erlend succeeded, and two years later shared the defeat of their
suzerain King Harald Sigurdson (Hardradi) at Stamford Bridge. Returning
home by grace of Harold Godwinson, the Jarls ruled in peace for some
years. As their sons grew up, however, Hakon, Paul’s son, quarrelled
with his cousins Erling and Magnus (the future saint), Erlend’s sons,
and matters grew so unquiet that in 1098 King Magnus Barelegs sent
the two Jarls prisoners to Norway, and placed his own son Sigurd over
the Jarldom. On the death of King Magnus in 1106, Sigurd returned to
Norway to share the vacant throne with his brothers, and the overlords
restored Hakon, Paul’s son, and Magnus, Erlend’s son, to the Jarldom.
Quarrels were renewed, with the final result that in the year 1116
Magnus was murdered in the island of Egilsey, where the cousins had
met to discuss their differences, by the followers of Jarl Hakon,
Hakon himself more than consenting. The fame of St Magnus soon spread
over the whole Scandinavian world, and at an early date a church was
dedicated to him even in London. Jarl Hakon, after the manner of
the times, made an expiatory journey to Rome and the Holy Land, and
thereafter ruled Orkney with great acceptance until his death in 1126.
He was succeeded by his son Paul. While in Orkney in 1098, however,
King Magnus Barelegs had married Gunnhilda, a daughter of Jarl Erlend,
to a Norwegian gentleman named Kol. To their son Kali, Sigurd King of
Norway now granted a half share of the Islands, with the title of Jarl,
and from a fancied resemblance to Jarl Rognvald I, insisted on changing
his name to Rognvald. The royal grant being strenuously opposed by Jarl
Paul, Rognvald vowed that if he succeeded in making good his claim,
he would erect a stone minster at Kirkwall, and dedicate it to his
sainted uncle, Jarl Magnus. After many vicissitudes by sea and land,
Rognvald finally proved successful, and how he fulfilled his vow the
Cathedral Church of St Magnus still shows. St Rognvald—for in 1192 he
too was canonised—was at once the most genial and the most accomplished
of the Jarls, and one of the great characters of the _Orkney Saga_. He
made a famous voyage to Palestine (1152-1155), fighting, love-making,
and poetising by the way. Incidental to his great struggle for power
with St Rognvald, Jarl Paul had in 1137 been seized by the famous
viking Swein Asleifson and carried off to Athole, where he was
placed in the hands of Maddad, Earl of Athole, who had married his
half-sister Margaret. The whole affair is shrouded by mystery, but
Countess Margaret appears to have intrigued both with her brother and
with Jarl Rognvald to have her son Harald, a boy of three, conjoined
with Rognvald in the Jarldom. In the sequel Jarl Paul mysteriously
disappears, murdered, according to one account, at the instigation
of the Countess; and in 1139 Jarl Rognvald accepted the young Harald
Maddadson as his partner. With occasional intervals of friction this
somewhat oddly assorted pair ruled together until 1159, when the
checkered career of the genial and many-sided St Rognvald was closed
by his assassination in a personal quarrel in Caithness. Thereafter
Harald ruled the Islands alone until his death in 1206. A powerful and
overbearing man, he quarrelled with John, Bishop of Caithness, blinded
the prelate and caused his tongue to be cut out; barbarities which
brought King William the Lyon to the borders of Caithness with an army
(1202). Harald bought off the King, and on the whole maintained his own
in Caithness, although all the circumstances of the times show that a
now feudalised Scotland is becoming increasingly able to reassert its
authority in these northern parts. Harald got into difficulties with
his Norwegian suzerain, King Sverrir, who deprived him of Shetland,
which was not again conjoined with Orkney until two centuries later.
Harald was succeeded by two sons, David and John, the former of whom
died in 1214. Jarl John, like his father, came into conflict with the
Church and with Scotland. Adam, Bishop of Caithness, successor to the
mutilated Bishop John, having proved too exacting in the collection of
Church dues, the laity appealed to the Jarl, who, however, declined to
intervene. Whereupon the outraged laymen burnt the Bishop in a house
into which they had thrust him. King Alexander II, came with an army,
and not only heavily fined the Jarl, but also had the hands and feet
hewn off eighty men who had been present at the Bishop’s death. Jarl
John was slain in a brawl at Thurso in 1231, and, as he left no son,
the line of the Norse Jarls of Orkney ended.
[Illustration: St Magnus’ Cathedral, Kirkwall, from South-East]
[Illustration: Tankerness House and St Magnus’ Cathedral]
King Alexander II of Scotland granted the Earldom of Caithness, now
finally disjoined from Sutherland, to Magnus, second son of Gilbride
Earl of Angus, whose wife was a daughter or sister of the late Jarl,
and Magnus was also recognised as Earl of Orkney by the King of Norway.
The old Jarls had been Norse nobles who held the northern shires of
Scotland more or less in defiance of the Scottish Crown, the future
Earls of Orkney are great Scottish nobles holding a fief of the Crown
of Norway. In consequence, an influx of Scots into the Islands now
commenced, which, accelerated by their cession to Scotland in 1468,
in the end was the means of transforming the Orcadians into a British
community. The history of this Scoto-Norse period is obscure, the
Icelandic records largely failing us, but the law of primogeniture
being now tacitly applied to the succession, Earl Magnus was followed
by two Earls of the name of Gilbride, and the second Gilbride by
another Magnus. The latter is mentioned in the _Saga_ of King Hakon
Hakonson, of Largs fame, as having accompanied the King on that
expedition, after which the monarch came back to Orkney with his
storm-shattered fleet, and died in the Bishop’s palace at Kirkwall on
15th December, 1263. By the treaty of Perth in 1266 Hakon’s successor,
Magnus the Seventh, ceded to the Scottish Crown all the islands of the
Scottish seas, except the Orkneys and Shetland, for an annual payment
of 100 merks, to be paid into the hands of the Bishop of Orkney,
within the church of St Magnus. Earl Magnus died in 1273, and was
successively followed by his sons Magnus and John, the latter of whom,
as Earl of Caithness, swore fealty to Edward I of England in 1297. In
1320, however, John’s son and successor Magnus subscribed, as Earl of
Caithness and Orkney, the letter to the Pope in which the Scottish
nobles asserted the independence of Scotland. This Magnus was the last
of the Angus line of Earls, and was succeeded in 1321 by Malise, Earl
of Stratherne, who is supposed to have married his daughter. Malise
fell at Halidon Hill in 1333, and his son of the same name succeeded
to the three Earldoms of Stratherne, Caithness, and Orkney. Malise II
died _c._ 1350, leaving only daughters, and after an unsettled period
of conflicting claims to the succession, Hakon King of Norway in 1379
finally invested Henry St. Clair of Roslin, grandson of Earl Malise I,
and son-in-law of Malise II, not only in the Earldom of Orkney, but
in the Lordship of Shetland also. Earl Henry made himself practically
independent of Norway, and built a castle at Kirkwall in defiance
of the Norwegian Crown. He was succeeded in 1400 by his son Henry,
whose active and interesting career as Lord High Admiral belongs to
the history of Scotland. The Earls of the Sinclair family lived with
considerable state, styling themselves Princes of Orkney, and their
rule was on the whole popular and fortunate; but little of outside
interest took place in the Islands at this period. Scottish customs,
however, and traces of Scottish feudal law were slowly encroaching on
the old Norse system. Earl Henry II’s son William was the last Earl
of Orkney under Scandinavian rule. By the Union of Calmar in 1397
the suzerainty of the Islands had already passed, with the crown of
Norway, to the Kings of Denmark. In the years 1460-61 a series of
raids were—not for the first time—made on Orkney by sea-rovers from
the Hebrides, and Christian I, King of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway,
failing to obtain redress from the Scottish Crown for this and other
grievances, demanded the long arrears of the annual tribute payable by
Scotland in respect of the Hebrides, in terms of the treaty of 1266.
Charles VIII of France having been called in as arbitrator, a somewhat
ugly contretemps was happily adjusted by the marriage of Christian’s
daughter Margaret to the young King James III of Scotland, and by the
terms of the marriage-contract the Danish monarch not only relinquished
the quit-rent for the Hebrides, but agreed to pay down a dowry of
60,000 florins. As Christian was able to find only 2000 florins of
this money at the time, the Orkneys and Shetland were given in pawn
to the Scottish Crown until the balance should be paid, the agreement
expressly stipulating for the maintenance of Norse law in the Islands
meantime. This happened in 1468, and a few years later King James
negotiated the surrender by Earl William St Clair of all his rights in
the Islands; whereupon by Act of the Scottish Parliament the Earldom of
Orkney and Lordship of Shetland were in 1471 annexed to the Scottish
Crown, “nocht to be gevin away in time to cum to na persain or persains
excep alenarily to ane of ye Kingis sonis of lauchful bed,” a proviso
which went by the board.
The long and painful story of Scottish oppression in Orkney and
Shetland has a literature of its own, and can only be briefly referred
to here. The Scottish Crown from the first treated the _scats_, in
origin and essence a public tax, as a sort of personal perquisite of
the King, or part of the Royal patrimonium, and farmed them out, along
with the Earldom lands, to one needy favourite or importunate creditor
after another, Orkney at the same time being now made liable to all
Scottish taxation. Many of these grantees received the jurisdiction
of Sheriff, a circumstance which led to the accelerated encroachment
of Scottish feudal law on the old Norse legal system. Mere treaty
stipulation proved a frail protection to the oppressed Odallers, when
the only appeal against strained laws and unjust exactions lay to the
Scottish Crown itself, which had installed the oppressors, and whose
ministers and judges knew and cared nothing about Odal law. Twice
indeed, first in 1503, and again in 1567, the Scottish Parliament
expressly recognised the obligation to maintain Norse law, pious or
perfunctory opinions which had no practical effect. The two most
notorious, because the most powerful, of these Scottish oppressors of
Orkney and Shetland were Lord Robert Stewart, whose half-sister, Queen
Mary, in 1564 granted him the Sheriffship of both groups, together
with all the Crown rights and possessions therein, and Lord Robert’s
son Patrick. In 1581 Lord Robert was further created Earl of Orkney
by his nephew King James VI, and Patrick succeeded him in 1591. Rents
and scats being payable to a large extent in kind, by tampering with
the old Norse weights and measures, these two harpies in a few years
actually increased their revenues from the Earldom one-half. Owing to
the unceasing complaints of all classes of the community Earl Patrick
was finally imprisoned, and in 1615 executed for high treason. As it
had now become apparent that the holders of the Earldom rights had all
along simply utilised the local courts and forms of legal procedure for
their private advantage, by an Act of the “Lordis of Secret Council,”
of date 22nd March, 1611, all foreign (_i.e._ Norse) laws theretofore
in use in Orkney and Shetland were discharged, and all magistrates
in those islands were enjoined to use only “the proper laws of this
kingdom.” Although this Act was of doubtful validity on more grounds
than one, yet it has held good; and apart from the maintenance of
Norse law in its integrity, an ideal which the conditions of the times
rendered unattainable, the change was probably the best thing that
could have happened for the Islands.
Although the fact had only a transient bearing on the history of the
Islands, we must not fail to record that Queen Mary, on her marriage
with Bothwell, in 1567, created him Duke of Orkney. After the Queen’s
defeat at Carberry, Bothwell fled to the Islands, to be repulsed from
Kirkwall Castle by the governor. Thence he proceeded northwards to play
the pirate in Shetland, and finally to find imprisonment and death in
Scandinavia. In the year 1633 the Earldom lands and rights were granted
by the Crown to the Earls of Morton, one of whom sold them in 1766 to
Sir Lawrence Dundas, with whose descendants, now represented by the
Marquis of Zetland, they still remain.
Montrose on his way to invade Scotland in 1650, first landed in Orkney,
and the major part of the force with which he met his final defeat
at Carbisdale was recruited in the Islands. Under the Commonwealth
Cromwell maintained a garrison at Kirkwall, and the Islanders are said
to have picked up improved methods of gardening and other domestic
amenities from the Ironsides. In the following century the vexed
question of Stewart _versus_ Guelph brought Orkney its own share of
commotion, but the details are, from an historical point of view, of
purely local interest.
Of vastly wider import has been the latest appearance of the islands
in the arena of history. In that great contest, the sound and fury of
which has barely subsided as we write, the Royal Navy found in Scapa
Flow an ideal base for the conduct of its widely-spreading operations.
And if, as many skilful observers appear to hold, successful strategy
at sea proved the slowly-working but inevitably certain cause of the
final defeat of the foe, it is not too much to say that for four
eventful years the little Archipelago, whose “rough island story” we
have here told in outline, stood forth as the pivot of the world’s
history and of its fate.
The dramatic death of the great Earl Kitchener in Orcadian waters,
in June 1916, further riveted the attention of the modern world on a
region which to its own sons has never ceased to be the haunted home of
Harald the Fair-haired, Olaf Tryggvi’s son, and other sea-kings of old.
14. Antiquities
The Orkney Islands offer an especially fertile field to the
archaeologist. The sites of a least 70 brochs have been located in the
group, as against 75 in Shetland, 79 in Caithness, 60 in Sutherland,
and some 70 in the northern Hebrides. These districts constitute the
main area of the brochs, which rapidly decrease in number as one
proceeds southwards, Forfarshire offering but two specimens, and
Perthshire, Stirlingshire, and Berwickshire one each.
[Illustration: Ground Plan of Broch of Lingrow, near Kirkwall]
“The typical form of the broch,” says Dr Anderson, “is that of a
hollow circular tower of dry-built masonry, about 60 feet in diameter
and about 50 feet high. Its wall, which is about 15 feet thick, is
carried up solid for about 8 feet, except where two or three oblong
chambers, with rudely-vaulted roofs, are constructed in its thickness.
Above the height of about 8 feet, the wall is carried up with a hollow
space of about 3 feet wide between its exterior and interior shell.
This hollow space at about the height of a man, is crossed
horizontally by a roof of slabs, the upper surfaces of which form
the floor of the space above. This is repeated at every 5 or 6 feet
of its farther height. These spaces thus form horizontal galleries,
separated from each other vertically by the slabs of their floors and
roofs. The galleries run completely round the tower, except that they
are crossed by the stair, so that each gallery opens in front of the
steps, and its farther end is closed by the back of the staircase on
the same level.
“The only opening in the outside of the tower is the main entrance,
a narrow, tunnel-like passage 15 feet long, 5 to 6 feet in height,
and rarely more than 3 feet in width, leading straight through
the wall on the ground level, and often flanked on either side by
guard-chambers opening into it. This gives access to the central area
or courtyard of the tower, round the inner circumference of which, in
different positions, are placed the entrances to the chambers on the
ground-floor, and to the staircase leading to the galleries above. In
its external aspect, the tower is a truncated cone of solid masonry,
unpierced by any opening save the narrow doorway; while the central
court presents the aspect of a circular well 30 feet in diameter
bounded by a perpendicular wall 50 feet high, and presenting at
intervals on the ground floor several low and narrow doorways, giving
access to the chambers and stair, and above these ranges of small
window-like openings rising perpendicularly over each other to admit
light and air to the galleries.”
[Illustration: Stone Circle of Stenness]
[Illustration: Maeshowe, Section and Ground Plan]
In some respects the most interesting broch site in Orkney is that
at Lingrow, about two miles S.S.E. of Kirkwall. Contiguous to this
building lies a perfect labyrinth of building of secondary occupation.
A coin of Vespasian and two of Antoninus were found at Lingrow when
the site was excavated in 1870. Another interesting specimen is that
at Hoxa in South Ronaldshay. The little that remains of this building
is situated on the west side of a small bight which opens northwards
on Scapa Flow, and on the east side of the bight stands the site
of a second broch. The two brochs together command both the bight
itself and a narrow isthmus of land which connects it with Widewall
Bay to the southward. Defence of the land passage between the two
areas of water was obviously a prime motive of construction in this
case. Other interesting specimens of brochs are at Okstro in Birsay,
at Burgar in Evie, and at Burrian in North Ronaldshay; but many of the
Orkney sites remain as yet unexcavated, or only tentatively explored.
Stone hand-mills (querns), stone whorls and bone combs, both used in
woollen weaving, stone lamps, imitated from Roman models, hair combs,
and fragments of pottery are some of the articles found in the Orkney
brochs, none of which now show more than a few feet of their original
height.
A consideration of the geographical position of the main area of their
distribution leaves one with little doubt that they were erected as the
best and most economical means that a scanty and scattered population
could devise to check continuous piratical incursions, probably
directed from Scandinavia and the coastal regions of north-western
Europe; but the exact era of their erection is a question that still
awaits definite solution. One may safely conjecture, however, that they
were gradually destroyed by the incursions which they were built to
withstand.
Other primitive dwellings, of somewhat wider distribution in Orkney
than the brochs, are the “Picts’ houses,” either in the form of
chambered mounds, such as the widely-known Maeshowe, or of underground
chambers of the type commonly known as weems. Maeshowe (the Maidens’
Mound) is situated in the parish of Stenness, near the high road
from Kirkwall to Stromness, and its external appearance is that of a
truncated cone 92 feet in diameter, 36 feet high, and about 100 yards
in circumference at the base. The central chamber is reached by a
straight passage 54 feet long, from 2 feet 4 inches to 3 feet 4 inches
wide, and from 2 feet 4 inches to 4 feet 8 inches high. The chamber is
15 feet square on the floor, and 13 feet high, the roof being formed
by the stones, at the height of 6 feet from the floor, gradually
overlapping. The four angles of the chamber are supported by heavy
stone buttresses from 8 to 10 feet high, and about 3 feet square at the
base. Off the main chamber on the three sides other than that which
contains the entrance, are subsidiary cells, the entrances to which
are at a height of 3 feet from the floor. The walls of the central
chamber are scored with Norse runes some of which tell that the place,
which was known to the Norsemen as _Orkahaug_, or the Muckle Mound,
was broken into by the Jorsala-farers, or pilgrims who accompanied St
Rognvald to Jerusalem (Norse, _Jorsalaheim_) in 1152. Other stones
show pictorial designs, several being of fine workmanship. Nothing
is known of the date or origin of Maeshowe, which from its elaborate
design and peculiarities of detail constitutes a thing unique among
the antiquities of Britain. Among weems, or eirde houses, as they are
sometimes called, which are irregularly-shaped chambers excavated below
the ordinary level of the ground, perhaps the finest Orcadian example
is that at Saveroch, near Kirkwall.
[Illustration: Incised Dragon, from Maeshowe]
At a distance of about a mile and a half west and south-west of
Maeshowe is the remarkable series of megalithic monuments collectively
known as the Standing Stones of Stenness. The “Ring of Brogar” is the
largest and most complete; thirteen of its stones are still standing,
while the stumps of thirteen more are still _in situ_, and ten are
lying prostrate. The highest stone stands about 14 feet above ground,
and the total number of stones is calculated to have originally been
sixty. This circle has a diameter of 366 feet, and encloses 2½ acres.
Of the “Ring of Stenness” proper, which has a diameter of 104 feet,
only two stones remain erect, but one of these is 17 feet 4 inches
high, while another lying prostrate measures 19 feet × 5 feet × 1 ft. 8
inches, and has been calculated to weigh 10.71 tons.
[Illustration: Norse Brooch, found in Sandwick, Orkney]
In a valley in Hoy, between the Ward Hill and the precipitous ridge
known as the Dwarfie Hammers, lies the celebrated Dwarfie Stone, most
puzzling perhaps of all the antiquities of the Islands. This is a huge
block of sandstone measuring about 28 feet in length, and varying
in breadth from 11 to 14½ feet. Its height falls from 6½ feet at the
southern to 2 feet at the northern end. On the west side of the stone
is an entrance giving access to two couches or berths, the southern and
larger of which has a stone pillow. When first mentioned in writing
by Jo Ben in his _Descriptio Insularum Orchadiarum_, in 1529, the
Dwarfie Stone was as great a puzzle as it is to-day, and no suggested
explanation of its origin or _raison d’être_ appears to carry much
probability.
[Illustration: Silver Ornaments, found in Sandwick, Orkney]
Important discoveries of antique jewelry, coins, and other articles of
the precious metals have been made in Orkney from time to time. Perhaps
the greatest find was that made at the Bay of Skaill, in the parish of
Sandwick, in March 1858, which consisted of 16 lbs. weight of silver
articles, including heavy mantle brooches, torques, bars of silver,
and coins, some of the last being Cufic, of the Samanian and Abbasside
Kalifs, dating from 887 to 945 A.D., and others Anglo-Saxon.
15. Architecture—(_a_) Ecclesiastical
The cathedral church of St Magnus at Kirkwall, founded by St Rognvald
in 1137 in memory of his uncle, is, except that of Glasgow, the
only mediaeval cathedral in Scotland that remains complete in all
its parts, and, in the words of the Danish historian Worsae, it
constitutes incontestably the finest monument of their dominion that
the Scandinavians have left in Scotland.
[Illustration: St Magnus’ Cathedral
View from N. Transept looking towards Choir]
The church is a cruciform building, comprising nave and nave aisles,
choir and choir aisles, north and south transepts, with a chapel off
each transept to the east, and a central tower. The interior length
of nave and choir is 217 feet 10 inches, exterior length 234½ feet;
interior width of choir and aisles at the east end 47 feet 5½ inches;
interior width across the transepts 89½ feet; height to vaulting 71
feet; height from floor under central tower to top of weather-cock 133
feet 4 inches. The stones used include two shades of red sandstone,
one lilac, one yellow, and one veiny red and yellow, all brought from
various parts of Orkney. Sir Henry Dryden professes to trace five
distinct styles of architecture in the building, which he dates:
1137-1160, 1160-1200, 1200-1250, 1250-1350, and 1450-1500. All that is
beyond conjecture as to the eras of erection, however, is that after
St Rognvald’s death, in 1159, the building proceeded under the care of
Bishop William the Old, until his death in 1168. Part at least of the
church was consecrated before 1155, and received the remains of St
Magnus, transferred from Christchurch in Birsay. The general impress of
the building is severely Norman.
A conspicuous feature of the church is its great _apparent_ size, an
effect deliberately produced by a skilful adjustment of proportions,
especially by the great relative height, the restricted width, and the
spacing of the piers both in nave and choir. Specially fine features of
the building are the beautiful east window, and the exquisitely carved
doorways in the south transept and west front. These doorways, says Sir
Henry, “are probably the finest examples in Great Britain of the use
of two stones of different colours in patterns.” Unfortunately much of
this beautiful particoloured work is badly weathered.
The church is at present undergoing “restoration” at the hands of
the town council of Kirkwall, who own the fabric, in fulfilment of a
bequest by the late George Hunter Thoms, Sheriff of Orkney.
On the highest point of the little island of Egilshay stands a very
interesting church, which has been the subject of much archaeological
conjecture since its general style appears to combine early Celtic and
Norse elements, while it possesses one of those Irish Round Towers the
only other Scottish examples of which are at Brechin and Abernethy.
Apart from the tower, the church consists of nave and chancel, the nave
measuring 30 feet by 15½ feet, and the chancel, which is vaulted, 15
feet by 9½ feet. The tower is now 48 feet high and unroofed, but is
said to have been lessened by 15 feet many years ago. An old print
shows both church and tower with slate roofs, that of the tower being
the conical cap typical of the Irish Round Towers. The church was used
for service down to the early part of last century.
[Illustration: St Magnus’ Church, Egilshay]
[Illustration: Ground Plan of St Magnus’ Cathedral, Kirkwall]
Dryden’s conjecture that the church of Egilshay was built by Norsemen
after the Irish model shortly after the reconversion of the Islands to
Christianity _c._ 998 A.D., is a view which presents no anomalies
either architectural or historical, when we consider that at that
date many early Celtic churches must have survived in Orkney, and
that, in any case, the close connection between Norse Orkney and the
Scandinavian colonies in Ireland would give Orcadians ready access
to Irish models. The alleged dedication of this church to St Magnus
rests on the late and doubtful authority of Jo Ben (1529), but it was
no doubt popularly associated with the Saint’s name because, as the
_Orkneyinga Saga_ tells, he entered it to pay his devotions on the day
of his murder.
[Illustration: Apse of ancient Round Church, in Orphir]
In the parish of Orphir, contiguous to the present parish church,
stands the only example in Scotland of a circular church, built in
imitation of the church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. All that
remains of this interesting building, however, is the semicircular
chancel, which is 7 feet 2 inches wide and 7 feet 9 inches deep, and
about 9 feet of the circular nave on either side. From the curvature
of the remaining portion, the diameter of the nave must have been from
18 to 19 feet. Dryden conjectures that the side walls of the nave may
have been 15 feet or more in height, and that they were surmounted by
a conical roof. This church was almost to a certainty erected by Jarl
Hakon, the murderer of St Magnus, after his return from his expiatory
pilgrimage to the Holy Land _c._ 1120.
16. Architecture—(_b_) Castellated
The early Norsemen in Orkney built their houses of wood imported
from Norway, with only a slight foundation of stone; and the Norse
theory of defence lay in attacking the foe, preferably on sea. Save,
therefore, for a few buildings erected by Jarl or Bishop, and by one
or two powerful Viking chiefs, stone masonry during the purely Norse
period (870-1231) was practically confined to churches. Even during
the Scoto-Norse (1231-1468) and Scottish periods men of sufficient
power and wealth to erect imposing buildings of stone were still few.
Compared, therefore, with an ordinary Scottish county the castellated
architecture of the Islands is meagre in quantity; but several of the
buildings of this class that remain are of exceptional interest and
beauty.
[Illustration: Noltland Castle, Westray (15th century)]
[Illustration: The Staircase, Noltland Castle]
At the north end of the island of Westray stands Noltland Castle, the
only ancient military structure which Orkney can now show in a state
of comparative preservation. The castle is clearly of two periods,
but the best authorities now reject the once prevalent idea that the
earlier portion could have been erected by Thomas de Tulloch, Bishop
of Orkney from 1418 to 1460. The building is supposed to have been
added to and beautified by a later Bishop, Edward Stewart, yet so
late as 1529 Jo Ben described it as “Arx excellentissima sed nondum
completa.” Adam Bothwell, the first protestant Bishop, feued the castle
to Sir Gilbert Balfour, Master of the Household to Queen Mary, and a
doubtful tradition says that Balfour had orders to prepare the place
as a retreat for the Queen and Bothwell. Finally the place gave refuge
to some officers flying from Montrose’s defeat at Carbisdale, and was
on that account fired and left dismantled by Cromwell’s soldiers. The
great staircase of Noltland is one of the finest in Scotland, excelled
only by those of Fyvie and Glamis Castles. Another special feature
of the castle is the exceptional number of shot-holes, splayed both
outwards and inwards, which give its exterior walls the appearance of
the hull of an old style man-of-war.
The Earl’s Palace at Kirkwall, built by Patrick Stewart, Earl of
Orkney, about 1600, is one of the most beautiful specimens of domestic
architecture in Scotland, and more regal in appearance than anything
north of Stirling and Linlithgow. Fronting west, the building forms
three sides of a square, and is practically entire save for the roof.
On the ground floor is the grand hall, a magnificent apartment about
55 feet long by 20 feet wide, lighted by three splendid oriels, and
a triple window in the gable, divided and subdivided by mullions and
transoms. There are two fireplaces in the room, one being 18 feet
wide. At the landing of the main stair there is a beautifully arched
apartment of about 9 feet long by 7½ feet wide, commonly styled the
chapel, but which may have been a waiting room. “It is a superb
specimen of Scottish seventeenth-century architecture, its oriel
windows and turrets being unsurpassed by anything on the mainland, and
it is so rich in its details, and spacious in its accommodation, that
it is with more than usual regret that one looks on its roofless and
decaying walls.” The palace has not been inhabited since towards the
close of the seventeenth century.
[Illustration: The Earl’s Palace at Kirkwall
(c. 1600 A.D.)]
The Bishop’s Palace at Kirkwall, which stands in close proximity to
the Earl’s Palace and the cathedral, is supposed to have been erected
by Bishop Reid (1540-1558), on the site of an earlier building, in
which King Hakon Hakonson died in 1263. A prominent feature of this
building is its great length, originally about 196 feet, from which
it is supposed that it formed, or was intended to form, one side of
a quadrangle. Above what was originally the main entrance is the
corbelling of a fine ruined oriel. There is a five-storeyed round tower
at the north-west corner of the building, which contains in a niche of
its exterior wall a statuette long erroneously believed to represent
Bishop Reid. The chief apartment of the palace appears to have been
about 26½ feet long by 24 feet wide. Part of the structure is still
occupied.
Overlooking the sea, in the extreme north-west of the Mainland, stand
the ruins of the Palace of Birsay, erected by Robert Stewart, Earl of
Orkney, about 1580, on the site of an old palace of the Norse Jarls.
Less elaborate in design, and in a worse state of preservation than
the building erected by his son, Earl Robert’s palace is sufficiently
commodious and noble of outline to make one marvel at the passionate
taste for fine buildings of a race which required two such imposing
structures in two successive generations. Earl Patrick is said to have
partly reconstructed his father’s building, modelling his alterations
on Holyrood, but the building as it stands more resembles the later
courtyard at Dunottar Castle.
17. Architecture—(_c_) Municipal and Domestic
Kirkwall Municipal Buildings, a handsome three-storeyed structure
in the Scottish style, erected in 1884, forms the one specimen of
municipal architecture in the county that calls for mention. The
buildings include a Council Chamber, a Town Hall, a meeting-room for
the Commissioners of Supply, a post office, and four or five suites
of offices for the burgh officials. The main entrance has a fine
semi-classic door-piece, surmounted by two statues of the ancient
halberdiers of the burgh in full uniform.
[Illustration: Town Hall, Kirkwall]
Down to past the middle of the nineteenth century many Orcadian landed
proprietors possessed town houses at Kirkwall, in which they lived
during the winter. Several of these houses were buildings of some
architectural quality, and an interesting survival is Tankerness House,
in the Main Street, the property of Mr Alfred Baikie of Tankerness.
This building is, with some later additions or conversions, a quaint
conjunction of several old residences which at one time constituted
manses of cathedral dignitaries. The house has, however, been in the
possession of the Baikie family since 1641.
[Illustration: Balfour Castle, Shapinsay]
Balfour Castle in Shapinsay, the residence of Colonel W. E. L. Balfour
of Balfour and Trenabie, is one of the finest specimens of Scottish
Baronial architecture in the north of Scotland. Erected in 1847 from
designs of the late David Bryce, R.S.A., Balfour Castle is effective
as a whole without being conspicuous in detail. The house is surrounded
by fine gardens and plantations.
[Illustration: Tankerness House, Kirkwall]
Melsetter House in Walls, as it existed down to 1898, is an excellent
example of the older Orcadian country houses, few of which now survive.
The older part of the building, as it appears on page 32, dates from
the later seventeenth century. The house was originally a country
residence of the Bishops of Orkney, a fact which may account for its
roughly cruciform construction. The place was twice sacked by Jacobites
in 1746, during the absence of the owner, Captain Benjamin Moodie,
with the Royal army. The gardens and grounds are exceptionally fine
for those northern latitudes.
Two other interesting old Scoto-Orcadian mansions are Skaill House
in Sandwick, and Carrick House in Eday, the latter erected in the
seventeenth century by John, brother of Earl Patrick Stewart, who was
himself created Earl of Carrick by King Charles I. At a later date the
house was the property of James Fea of Clestrain, who in 1725 captured
in the neighbourhood the celebrated pirate John Gow.
In the towns and villages of Orkney and Shetland, where the main
street usually runs parallel to the shore, many of the houses stand
with one gable towards the street and the other closely overlooking
the sea, a feature which gives a distinctly foreign aspect to Lerwick
and Stromness in particular. It is sober fact that in many houses in
Stromness, granted a taste for fish, and a high tide at the appropriate
hour, one can catch one’s breakfast from the gable windows before
getting out of bed.
18. Communications, Past and Present
Before the days of steam communication there were two ferries across
the Pentland Firth to Huna in Caithness, one from Walls and the other
from South Ronaldshay. Edinburgh was the usual objective of Orcadians
using this route, and Shanks’ nag the common means of locomotion,
save for persons of quality, who rode horses. The only other means of
reaching the Scottish capital, the sole place out of the Islands which
old-world Orcadians considered of much account, and a place where all
the well-to-do among them had relations, cronies, and “gude-gangin’
pleas,” was by occasional sailing packets from Kirkwall to Leith.
Steamboat communication between Kirkwall and Leith and Aberdeen was
established about 1832, and nowadays there are two boats a week between
these ports and the Orcadian capital, besides two to Stromness, and
a fortnightly boat to St Margaret’s Hope. There is also a daily
mail-steamer from Stromness, touching at Kirkwall (Scapa) and South
Ronaldshay, to Scrabster in Caithness, thus connecting the Islands
with the Highland Railway at Thurso. Stromness is farther connected
with Liverpool and Manchester by a weekly steamer, and both Kirkwall
and Stromness with Lerwick and Scalloway in Shetland. Kirkwall has
communication with the more important of the North Isles, and Stromness
with the chief of the South Isles (except South Ronaldshay and Burray)
by local steamers sailing several times a week. Motor or horse
conveyances run between Kirkwall and Stromness several times a day.
There are no railways in Orkney.
The first Orkney Road Act was passed in 1857, and under that and
subsequent local Acts, and finally under the Roads and Bridges
(Scotland) Act of 1874, the greater part of the roads in the county
were constructed. The agricultural depression and land legislation
of the “eighties,” by attenuating the incomes of proprietors, tended
somewhat to check this development; but a dozen years or so later
the Congested Districts Board came to the rescue with grants-in-aid,
largely by means of which many miles of new roads were completed. With
very few exceptions, all the islands of any population are now amply
provided with good roads.
19. Administration and Divisions
Orkney forms one Sheriffdom with Caithness and Shetland, and has a
resident Sheriff-Substitute at Kirkwall. There is one Lord-Lieutenant
for Orkney and Shetland, but his deputies and the Commission of the
Peace are appointed separately for each group. In all other matters
of county administration Orkney forms a separate unit, and for the
purposes of the Local Government (Scotland) Act of 1889 the county
is divided into four districts, one comprising the Mainland, one the
North Isles, one the civil parish of South Ronaldshay and Burray, and
the fourth the two parishes of Walls and Flotta and Hoy and Graemsay.
A feature of county administration perhaps peculiar to Orkney is
that each island forms a unit of assessment for the construction
and maintenance of its own roads. The control of piers and harbours
in Orkney is of a somewhat diversified order. The Orkney Piers and
Harbours Commissioners, a body acting under special statutes, control
the piers and harbours at Kirkwall, Scapa, Holm in the Mainland, and
at Stronsay, Sanday, and Westray in the North Isles. Stromness and
St Margaret’s Hope possess their own Harbour or Pier Commissioners,
and the piers at Longhope, Burray, Egilsay, and North Ronaldshay are
managed by the County Council.
Of 21 civil parishes in Orkney, Walls and Flotta, Hoy and Graemsay,
and South Ronaldshay and Burray are in the South Isles; Stromness,
Sandwick, Harray and Birsay, Evie and Rendal, Firth, Stenness, Orphir,
Kirkwall and St Ola, Holm, and St Andrews and Deerness are in the
Mainland; and Shapinsay, Stronsay, Eday, Rousay, Westray, Papa Westray,
Lady, and Cross and Burness are in the North Isles.
Ecclesiastically Orkney forms a Synod of the Church of Scotland,
comprising the three Presbyteries of Kirkwall, Cairston (the old name
of Stromness), and North Isles. There are 27 ecclesiastical parishes.
St Magnus Cathedral is a collegiate church, with ministers of first and
second charge.
The standard of education in the Islands is quite up to the average of
Scotland. There are higher grade schools at Kirkwall and Stromness, and
the ordinary sources of educational revenue are supplemented in various
parts of the county by endowments of considerable value.
Orkney joins with Shetland in returning a representative to Parliament.
20. The Roll of Honour
Of heroes of the sword and men of high ruling capacity Scandinavian
Orkney produced many, who on a wider field of action would assuredly
have left to the world at large names now chiefly known to the special
student of Orcadian history. Apart too from mere men of action,
personalities like St Magnus, St Rognvald, and William the Old, first
Bishop of Orkney, would grace the annals even of a great people. Of
distinguished men of the soldier and statesman type modern Orkney
has, however, produced few, a circumstance no doubt in part due to
the distance of the Islands from the centre of national activity. The
Royalist general James King, Lord Eythin (b. 1589), was a native of
Hoy. Fighting in the Thirty Years’ War, in the service of Gustavus
Adolphus, he attained the rank of major-general, but was recalled to
England in 1640. He received a command in the Civil War under Lord
Newcastle, and in 1643 was created a peer of Scotland. He died in
Sweden in 1652. Perhaps the two most distinguished naval officers whom
Orkney can lay claim to are Commodore James Moodie of Melsetter, who
performed valuable services in the War of the Spanish Succession, and
Admiral Alexander Graeme of Graemeshall, a veteran of the Great War.
[Illustration: John Rae]
Among explorers two Orcadians stand high, John Rae and William Balfour
Baikie, both explorers of the highest scientific type, while Baikie was
in addition a good naturalist and a distinguished philologist. John Rae
the famous Arctic explorer, of the Hall of Clestrain, near Stromness,
entered the service of the Hudson Bay Company, under whose auspices he
in 1846 commanded an expedition which linked up the coastline between
the discoveries of Ross in Boothia and those of Parry at Fury and
Hecla Strait. In 1847 Rae joined the first land expedition in search
of Franklin, and performed important exploration and scientific work.
In 1850 he himself commanded a fresh expedition, which mapped a large
part of the coast of Wollaston Land, and examined to about 100° the
south and east coasts of Victoria Land. For the geographical results
of this expedition, and for his earlier survey work, he in 1852
received the Founders’ gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society.
His final Arctic expedition, organised by the Hudson’s Bay Company in
1853, put the cope-stone to his fame, for on that expedition he at last
succeeded in obtaining definite information regarding the fate of Sir
John Franklin, and in purchasing relics of that hapless explorer and
his party from the Eskimos. He died in London in July 1893, at the age
of eighty, and was at his own request buried in the churchyard of St
Magnus Cathedral at Kirkwall. John Rae was a man of splendid physique
and persevering will, and a consideration of his work as a whole places
him among the greatest of Polar explorers.
[Illustration: David Vedder]
William Balfour Baikie, M.D., was born at Kirkwall in 1825. After
serving for some years as a surgeon in the Navy and at Haslar Hospital,
he obtained the post of surgeon and naturalist to the Niger expedition
of 1854. On the death of the captain of the exploring ship “Pleiad” at
Fernando Po, Baikie succeeded to the command, and this voyage, which
penetrated 250 miles higher up the Niger than had yet been reached, he
described in his _Narrative of an Exploring Voyage up the Niger and
Isadda_. In 1857 Baikie left England on a second expedition. In the
course of five years he opened up the navigation of the Niger, made
roads, established markets, collected vocabularies of various African
dialects, and translated parts of the Bible and Book of Common Prayer
into Hausa. Baikie died at Sierra Leone, while on his way home on
leave, on 17th December, 1864. The loving-care of his fellow-islanders
has erected a fitting and touching memorial to him in that great fane
of the Isles which holds, or ought to hold, the memorials of all
distinguished Orcadians.
Orkney has been the birthplace of many men of high scientific
attainments. Murdoch MacKenzie (d. 1797) was a distinguished
hydrographer, who from 1752 to 1771 performed an enormous amount of
professional work as surveyor to the Admiralty. His _Treatise on
Marine Surveying_ is still esteemed. James Copland, M.D., a native of
Deerness, was one of the leading medical men of his day (1791-1870).
After picking up a knowledge of tropical diseases in West Africa,
and travelling in France and Germany, he settled in London. His once
famous _Dictionary of Practical Medicine_, however, with its 3509
double-column, small-type pages, a book by one man on every branch
of medical science, soon degenerated into one of the curiosities of
literature. Thomas Stewart Traill (1781-1862), son of a parish minister
of Kirkwall, was professor of medical jurisprudence at Edinburgh
University. Himself a man of almost universal learning, he fitly
edited the eighth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Matthew
Forster Heddle, a son of Robert Heddle of Melsetter, was professor
of chemistry at the University of St Andrews, and a mineralogist of
great distinction. His great collection of Scottish minerals, now in
the Royal Scottish Museum at Edinburgh, is one of the finest things of
the kind that any country possesses. To these names we would add those
of the Rev. Charles Clouston, minister of the parish of Sandwick, a
distinguished meteorologist and naturalist, and of Sir Thomas Smith
Clouston, the late distinguished specialist in mental pathology.
[Illustration: Sir Robert Strange, the Engraver]
Sir Robert Strange, highly renowned as an engraver, was a son of David
Strang, Burgh Treasurer of Kirkwall. Strange joined the Jacobites in
1745, engraved the Prince’s portrait and the plate for his bank-notes.
He escaped alive from Culloden and evaded the search for him. Settling
in London, he became the foremost in his art. One of his works is the
engraving of West’s Apotheosis of George III’s children, Octavius and
Alfred.
The most celebrated literary man whom the Islands can lay claim to is
Malcolm Laing (1762-1818), the Scottish constitutional historian and
protagonist in the Ossianic controversy. A friend of Charles James Fox,
and a class-fellow of Lord Brougham, Laing sat in Parliament for the
county in the Whig interest from 1807 to 1812. In 1808 he withdrew from
the literary circles of Edinburgh to his home in the Islands, and here
in 1814 he was visited by Sir Walter Scott. Malcolm Laing’s younger
brother, Samuel, was the author of _Travels in Norway_, _A Tour in
Sweden_, and _Notes of a Traveller_. A greater work, however, was his
translation of the _Heimskringla_, the old Icelandic history of the
early Kings of Norway, by Snorri Sturlason, a performance which had an
important bearing on the hero-worship gospel of Carlyle. High literary
ability appears to run in the blood of the Laings. Samuel Laing’s
son, of the same name, was the author of those popular compendiums of
nineteenth century science and thought, _Human Origins_, and _Modern
Science and Modern Thought_, which are still in wide circulation.
[Illustration: Malcolm Laing
(_From a portrait by Raeburn_)]
David Vedder (1790-1854), an almost self-taught miscellaneous writer,
of large output and considerable excellence, was born in the parish
of Deerness. In 1830 he conducted the _Edinburgh Literary Gazette_,
supported by De Quincey and others. The various works of Vedder, which
include _Orcadian Sketches_, and _Poems, Legendary, Lyrical, and
Descriptive_, have fallen on an undeserved oblivion. Vedder is the
Orcadian poet _par excellence_. Perhaps the once highly popular novels
of the amiable Mary Balfour, or Brunton, _Self-Control_, 1811, and
_Discipline_, 1815, would not now be considered a passport to fame;
but a later member of the family to which she belonged, David Balfour
of Trenabie, has in his _Odal Rights and Feudal Wrongs_ written of
the Scottish oppressions of Orkney in the sixteenth century in such
fine limpid English as makes one regret the purely local interest
of his subject. Walter Traill Dennison, who in his _Orcadian Sketch
Book_ has given his fellow-islanders some light fiction of a high
quality, unfortunately elected to write in the strictly local dialect
of the North Isles of Orkney, using a phonetic spelling which is a
stumbling-block to many readers who are quite at home in ordinary Scots
literature. Traill Dennison, like Vedder, is a humourist, and Orkney
gifted to the outside world a greater humourist than either when she
sent the father of Washington Irving across the sea.
Orkney has produced scarce a churchman or a lawyer who has
distinguished himself _as such_. The great Robert Reid, founder
of Edinburgh University, was perhaps the most celebrated of her
pre-reformation bishops, while James Atkine, a native of Kirkwall, was
bishop of Moray in the seventeenth century. William Honyman, of the
Honymans of Graemsay, sat on the Scottish bench as Lord Armidale in the
early part of the nineteenth century, but his marrying Lord Braxfield’s
daughter was perhaps his doughtiest feat. The list of Orkney Sheriffs,
however, includes the famous names of Charles Neaves, Adam Gifford,
and William Edmonstone Aytoun. Aytoun kept house at Berstane, near
Kirkwall, and his humourous sketch _The Dreep-daily Burghs_, is
supposed to make covert allusion to the climatic and other amenities
of the group of parliamentary burghs of which the Orcadian capital at
that time formed one. His connection with the Islands also inspired
his poem of _Bothwell_; and contact with the surrounding seas moved the
lively Neaves to verse of nigh as dolorous strain.
21. The Chief Towns and Villages of Orkney
(The figures in brackets after each name give the population in 1911,
and those at the end of each section are references to pages in the
text.)
=Finstown= is a small village in the parish of Firth, the half-way
house between Kirkwall and Stromness. The village has a pier, an inn,
and a monthly cattle fair. (p. 27.)
=Kettletoft=, a small village on a bay of the same name, on the east
side of Sanday, is the business centre of the island, and a minor
herring-fishing station.
[Illustration: Stromness, Orkney, about the year 1825
(From an old print)]
=Kirkwall= (3810), is situated at the northern end of a low isthmus
dividing the Mainland into two, and has a harbour on two sides,
that at Scapa Bay to the south being the port of call for the
daily mail-steamer to Caithness. The harbour of Kirkwall proper,
facing to the north, was designed by Telford, and is the place of
general traffic. The town takes its name, in Norse _Kirkjuvágr_,[1]
churchbay, from the old parish church of St Olaf, supposed to have
been erected by Jarl Rognvald I, _c._ 1040, but it only became the
capital of the Islands after the foundation of the cathedral in
1137, and the consequent transfer of the seat of the Bishopric
from Birsay. Kirkwall received its earliest charter as royal burgh
from James III, in 1486, and was visited by James V, in 1540. Of
several later charters the governing one is that granted by Charles
II, in 1661. The population consists mainly of professional men,
tradesmen, artisans, and labourers, there being no manufactures of
consequence, although fish-curing is prosecuted to some extent, and
there are two distilleries adjacent to the town. The volume of trade
is very considerable, however, as the town shares with Stromness the
position of shopping and shipping centre for a large and comparatively
well-to-do agricultural community. The ancient Grammar School of
Kirkwall, now housed in a spacious modern building and styled the Burgh
School, has given the rudiments of education to many distinguished sons
of town and county. The institution dates at least from Danish times
(1397-1468). Owing to the narrowness of the streets, and the many old
buildings both public and private, the general impression created by
the town is one of quaint antiqueness; while the Oyce, a miniature
inland sea on its north-western outskirts, imparts an additional touch
of picturesque individuality to the place. Two weekly newspapers, _The
Orcadian_ and _The Orkney Herald_, are published at Kirkwall. (pp. 16,
27, 41, 42, 50, 53, 55, 58, 68, 77, 79, 81, 84, 85, 86, 90, 95.)
[1] _Kirkjuvágr_ softened into Kirkwa, and Scots mistook the final
syllable for their own _wa’_ = wall; hence Kirkwall.
=Longhope=, in Walls, although it contains no village, has scattered
along the lower coasts of its splendid bay a Customs House, a good
hotel, two post offices, and a few shops. Two martello towers, one on
each side of the entrance to the bay, attest the importance of the
anchorage at the period of the Great War, when as many as 200 sail
of merchantmen at times lay there awaiting convoy. The bay is now a
coaling station and much appreciated harbour of refuge for steamers,
especially trawlers on their way to and from the northern fishing
grounds. It also constitutes a sort of headquarters for the naval
vessels which now annually visit Scapa Flow for exercise. (pp. 26, 27,
43.)
=Pierowall= is a small village on the bay of the same name, on the east
side of Westray. The bay is a port of shelter for trawlers, and the
village the trading centre for the island.
=St Margaret’s Hope= (400) is a picturesque village situated on a bay
of the same name at the northern extremity of South Ronaldshay. The
bay, named from an early church dedication to St Margaret of Scotland,
was known to the Norse as Ronaldsvaag, and was the rendezvous of King
Hakon’s fleet in the expedition of Largs. The village is after Kirkwall
and Stromness the chief trading centre in Orkney. (pp. 27, 84, 85.)
=St Marys= is a fishing village situated on Holm Sound, 6 miles S.S.E.
of Kirkwall. From here Montrose sailed to Scotland on his final venture
in 1650.
=Stromness= (1653), one of the most picturesquely situated towns in
Scotland, skirts the W. and N.W. sides of a beautiful bay in the S.W.
of the Mainland, which for years was the last port of call for outward
bound Greenland whalers and the vessels of the Hudson’s Bay Company,
and also a touching point both outwards and homewards for the ships
of many Arctic expeditions. As a burgh of barony Stromness dates from
1817, but as a village it had already made history. In the early part
of the eighteenth century the vessels engaged in the American rice
trade having made the safe little bay the depôt for unloading their
cargoes for the various ports of Britain, the growing commerce of
the place attracted the jealousy of Kirkwall. The magistrates of the
Orcadian capital, founding on two obscure Acts of 1690 and 1693, which
appeared to confine the right to such trading to freemen inhabiting
royal burghs, and to such other communities as agreed to pay cess to a
royal burgh, tried to tax the trade of Stromness out of existence. The
people of Stromness, after submitting to these imposts for many years,
between 1743 and 1758 fought their oppressors in the Court of Session
and the House of Lords, both of which tribunals decided that “there
was no sufficient right in the burgh of Kirkwall to assess the village
of Stromness, but that the said village should be quit therefrom, and
free therefrom in all time coming.” As the case was a test one, the
courage shown by this little Orcadian community freed all the villages
of Scotland from the exactions of the royal burghs. Stromness was
visited by Sir Walter Scott in 1814, and by Hugh Miller in 1847, the
latter of whom exhumed from the neighbouring flagstones the specimen
of asterolepis which he deals with in his _Footprints of the Creator_.
Interesting natives or inhabitants of Stromness were John Gow, or
Smith, the original of Scott’s Cleveland in _The Pirate_, a man whose
true history has been told by Defoe; and George Stewart, the “Bounty”
mutineer, of whom Byron writes in his poem _The Island_:
And who is he? the blue-eyed northern child
Of isles more known to men, but scarce less wild,
The fair-haired offspring of the Orcades,
Where roars the Pentland with its whirling seas.
Stromness is a place of considerable trade, and has the advantage over
Kirkwall of direct communication with Liverpool and Manchester. There
is a good museum in the town. (pp. 11, 27, 41, 42, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87.)
=Whitehall= (200), a village on the shores of Papa Sound, near the
northern extremity of the island of Stronsay. (p. 41.)
SHETLAND
By T. MAINLAND
PREFACE
The author begs to acknowledge his indebtedness to Messrs Peach and
Horne (in Tudor’s _Shetland_) for the notes on Geology in Chapter 5;
to Mr John Nicolson author of _Arthur Anderson_, for the Notes and
photograph in Chapter 18; and to Goudie’s _Antiquities_ for historical
information.
1. County and Shire.[2] Name and Administration of Shetland
[2] See p. 1.
_Shetland_ or _Zetland_ is derived from the Norse _Hjaltland_, variant
spellings being _Hieltland_, _Hietland_, _Hetland_. The Norse word is
of doubtful origin.
Like Orkney, Shetland cannot be regarded as strictly a Scottish county
till the seventeenth century. During that century various County Acts
were framed for the better government of the islands. These lasted
till 1747, when heritable jurisdiction was abolished and the judicial
administration of Shetland was assimilated to the general Scottish
system.
Shetland has the same Lord-Lieutenant as Orkney, but separate Deputy
Lieutenants and Justices of the Peace. It shares a Sheriff-Principal
with Orkney and Caithness, but has a Sheriff-Substitute of its own.
The County Council, the Education Authority, Parish Councils, and Town
Council of Lerwick are the administrative bodies. The civil parishes
are: Unst, Fetlar, Yell, Northmavine, Delting, Walls, Sandsting,
Nesting, Tingwall, Lerwick, Bressay, Dunrossness.
In Parliament one member represents both Orkney and Shetland.
Ecclesiastically the parishes are divided into three presbyteries,
Lerwick, Burravoe and Olnafirth, which make up the Synod of Shetland.
2. General Characteristics
The county of Shetland is entirely insular, and its characteristics
are varied. The coastline is generally broken and rugged, and in
many places precipitous; while the larger islands are intersected by
numerous bays and voes stretching far inland, which form safe and
commodious places of anchorage and easy means of communication. No
point in Shetland is more than three miles from the sea. Detached rocks
and stacks, some high above the water and others below the surface,
present a forbidding aspect to the spectator, and increase the dangers
of navigation round the coast.
[Illustration: Crofter’s Cottage]
To be near the sea—their chief source of food—the early settlers made
their homes close to the shore, where also they generally found the
soil better than further inland. Accordingly most of the houses and
crofts are situated along the coast, and in particular at the heads of
voes, where often townships and villages have been formed. One striking
feature is the bold contrast between the green cultivated township and
the dark background of moor or hill, sharply marked off from each other
by the ancient “toon” dykes. Still more noticeable are the large tracts
of permanent pasture, where one may still see the ruins of cottages,
once the homes of crofters who were evicted to make room for sheep.
The principal fuel in the islands is peat, the cutting of which,
carried on for centuries, ever since the time of Torf Einar, who is
said to have taught the natives the use of “turf” for burning, has
denuded the surface, and left it blacker than it otherwise would be.
That, and the practice of “scalping” turf for roofing purposes, have
laid bare great stretches of what might have been fairly good pasture
ground.
The proportion of arable land is very small compared with the whole
land surface of the islands. For this reason Shetland has never figured
as an agricultural county; and other causes may be mentioned, such as
divided attention between the two branches of industry—fishing and
crofting; indifferent soil; variable climate; antiquated methods of
cultivation; and want of markets for agricultural produce.
Being far removed from the centres of commerce, and having few
natural resources in themselves, the islands are almost entirely
lacking in manufactures. Fishing and farming are the chief industrial
pursuits, while the rearing of native sheep, ponies and cattle form
a considerable part of the rural economy. Along with every croft or
holding goes the right of common pasturage in the hills and moors,
called “scattald.” Crofts would be of little value without this common
grazing, which is a remnant of the old Norse odal system of land
tenure, and is peculiar to the islands of Shetland and Orkney. The word
_scattald_ is from _scat_, a payment, akin to _scot_ in “scot and lot.”
3. Size. Position. Boundaries
In size, Shetland ranks fifteenth among the Scottish counties; but in
population only twenty-seventh. The total area (excluding water) is
352,319 acres or 550½ square miles. The group consists of about one
hundred islands, of which twenty-nine are inhabited. The largest is
Mainland, which embraces about three-fourths of the whole land-surface;
and the others, in point of size, are Yell, Unst, Fetlar, Bressay
and Whalsay. Yell measures 17½ miles by 6½, Unst 12 by nearly 6. The
smaller islands include East and West Burra, Muckle Roe, Papa Stour,
Skerries, Fair Isle and Foula; the remainder consisting of islets,
holms, stacks and skerries. From Fair Isle, which lies about mid-way
between Orkney and Shetland, to Sumburgh Head, is 20¼ miles; and from
that point to Flugga in Unst, in a straight line, is 71 miles. From
Sumburgh Head to Fethaland, the most northerly part of the Mainland, is
54 miles; and the greatest breadth, from the Mull of Eswick to Muness,
is about 21 miles.
Including Fair Isle and Foula, the group lies between the parallels of
59° 30´ and 60° 52´ north latitude; and between 0° 43´ and 2° 7´ west
longitude. The general trend of the islands is north-easterly, and
their position in relation to the mainland of Scotland is also in that
direction; Sumburgh Head being 95 miles north-east of Caithness and 164
miles north of Aberdeen.
The North Sea washes the eastern sea-board, and the Atlantic Ocean the
western; sea and ocean join forces between Sumburgh Head and Fair Isle
to form that turbulent tideway called the “Roost.” They also meet north
of Yell and Unst, where the Atlantic sets strongly through Yell Sound
and Blue Mull Sound for six hours during flood tide, and the North Sea,
in its turn, in the opposite direction for the other six hours.
4. Surface and General Features
The surface of the larger islands is hilly, and the general direction
of the ridges is north and south, corresponding to the length of the
islands. The inland parts present an undulating surface of peat bogs
and moorland, dotted here and there with fresh-water lochs, which
accentuate, rather than relieve, the monotony of the landscape. The
hills are round or conical in shape and of moderate height, ranging
from 500 to 900 feet. Unlike the rounded hills of the Lowlands of
Scotland, which are often grassy to the top, most of the Shetland hills
are brown and barren, being covered with heather and moss or short
coarse grass. Neither have they the rugged grandeur of the Highlands,
for the sides are generally smooth and rounded, the result of intense
glaciation.
The highest in the Mainland is Ronas Hill, Northmavine, a great mass of
red granite, rising to a height of 1475 feet, forming the culminating
point of the North Roe tableland, and having the hilly ridge of the
Björgs on its eastern side. A long range of hills extends through the
parish of Delting, from Firth Ness to Olnafirth; and from the south
side of that inlet it extends southward to Russa Ness on the west side
of Weisdale Voe. This is the loftiest range, and the southern ridge
forms a complete barrier between the east and west side of that part
of the Mainland. The highest hill in this chain is Scallafield, 921
feet. Other two parallel ridges lie east of this, the one from the
east side of Weisdale Voe to Dales Voe in Delting; and the other from
near Scalloway in a north-east direction to Collafirth. There are
breaks in these hilly ridges, notably where the county road crosses
over near Sandwater, and again between Olnafirth on the west and Dury
Voe on the east. The other range worthy of note extends from the Wart
of Scousburgh in Dunrossness, with intervening breaks, to the east of
Scalloway, where it divides into two ridges, and stretches onward to
the east and west sides of Dales Voe. Fitful Head in the south, 928
feet; Sandness Hill in the west, 817 feet; the Sneug in Foula, 1372
feet; the Wart of Bressay, 742 feet; and the Noup of Noss, 592 feet,
are conspicuous land-marks round the coast. The island of Yell is
hilly, with parallel ridges running north-east and south-west—highest
point, the Ward of Otterswick. A range of hills extends along the west
side of Unst—highest point, Vallafield, 708 feet. In the extreme north
is Hermaness, 657 feet; while on the opposite side of Burrafirth is the
still higher hill of Saxa Vord, 934 feet.
In the larger islands the land is generally lower on the east side than
on the west; and in many cases the hills are steeper on the west than
on the east. Most of the smaller islands are low-lying and grassy,
forming excellent pasture ground for sheep.
There are many fresh-water lochs in the islands, the largest being
Girlsta Loch in Tingwall, Loch of Cliff in Unst, and Spiggie in
Dunrossness. They are nearly all well stocked with trout, which makes
Shetland attractive to anglers. Shetland has no streams large enough to
be called rivers; but it has burns in plenty, rippling brooks in summer
and brawling torrents of brown peaty water in winter, when the soil is
sodden with rain or snow.
5. Geology and Soil
The geological map shows that metamorphic rocks cover the greater
part of Shetland. These rocks are represented by the clayslates and
schists that extend from Fitful Head to the Mull of Eswick; and by
the gneiss found from Scalloway to Delting, and also on Burra Isle
and Trondra, Whalsay and Skerries, Yell, the west side of Unst and
of Fetlar, the east side of Northmavine, and the north sea-board of
the Sandness-Aithsting peninsula. Associated with the two series
of metamorphic rock are bands of quartzite; while at Fladdabister,
Tingwall, Whiteness, Weisdale, Northmavine and Unst are beds of
limestone.
The geological formation of Unst is interesting. The gneiss on the west
is succeeded by a band of mica, chlorite and graphite schists. Next
come zones of serpentine and gabbro, to be followed by schistose rocks
at Muness. Fetlar shows a similar formation.
Of the igneous rocks we may mention first the intrusive granites
of Northmavine, Muckle Roe, Vementry, Papa Stour, Melby and South
Sandsting. A bed of diorite extends from Ronas Voe to Olnafirth. Part
of Muckle Roe also shows diorite. Syenite occurs round Loch Spiggie
and is traced northward through Oxna and Hildasay to Bixter and Aith.
Lava, tuff, and other volcanic materials appear in various parts of
the islands, as between Stennis and Ockran Head, in Northmavine, Papa
Stour, the Holm of Melby, Vementry and Bressay.
The predominating sedimentary rocks in Shetland belong to the Old Red
Sandstone formation. These are found from Sumburgh Head to Rova Head,
and in Fair Isle, Mousa and Bressay. The fault or boundary line between
them and the metamorphic rocks is clearly traceable at various points
along the east of the Mainland. Foula, Sandness and Papa Stour, on the
west, show remnants of Old Red Sandstone. This formation is believed
to have once covered the whole area now represented by the Shetlands.
To the same geological period the hardened sandstone is considered to
belong, which occurs in the western peninsula, covering most of the
district of Sandness, Walls, Sandsting and Aithsting.
Glacial phenomena—striae, moraines, boulders—are interesting features
in the geology of Shetland. Over Unst, Fetlar, Yell and the north of
Mainland the movement of the ice had been uniformly from east to west.
Over the middle and southern districts, the glaciers had curved in a
north-westerly direction.
The variety of rocks accounts for the variety of soils in the islands.
There are many fertile regions of sandy and loamy soil. Perhaps the
best is the limestone district of Tingwall. Most of the county,
however, is covered with peat moss and peaty soil.
6. Natural History
The mammals of Shetland are comparatively few. There are no deer,
foxes or badgers. Rats and mice are numerous, hedgehogs are fairly
common. Moles and bats are unknown. So, too, are snakes, lizards,
frogs and toads. The weasel is found in many districts, and its near
relative, the ferret, is used for hunting rabbits, which are plentiful
everywhere. Hares were imported some time ago, but have a hard struggle
for existence with so many enemies around. Along the shore may
occasionally be seen the sea-otter, when he comes up on a rock to enjoy
a feast of sea-trout, or to venture inland in search of fresh water. He
must needs be wary, as he is greatly sought after for the sake of his
valuable skin. Another amphibian is the seal, whose habitat is the base
of inaccessible cliffs and out-lying rocks and isles.
[Illustration: Kittiwakes. Noss Isle]
The birds of Shetland may be divided into residents, summer visitors,
and winter visitors. In the great annual migrations which take place
in spring and again in autumn, the islands form a resting-place for
the feathered voyagers, some of whom stay to nest. Sea fowl naturally
predominate. The gull family is the most numerous and includes the
great black-backed gull, the lesser black-back, the herring gull, the
common gull, the black-headed gull and the pretty kittiwake. Shags
(scarfs) and cormorants are abundant all the year round; and in their
season come the guillemots, razorbills, puffins, manx shearwaters
and little auks. The guillemots congregate in thousands on the rocky
ledges of cliffs, where each female lays a solitary egg on the bare
rock. The egg is so formed that, even if disturbed, it will not roll
off the shelf on which it lies. The plumage of the black guillemot or
“tystie” during the winter season is of a mottled-grey colour, and the
bird is difficult to recognise in its changed appearance. Eider ducks
are abundant, and the great northern diver (emmer goose) may often be
seen.
[Illustration: Shag on Nest. Noss Isle]
Colonies of fulmar petrels are spreading all round the coast, while the
stormy petrel comes to nest in the outer islands. The piratical skua
is common; and the great skua, which is strictly protected, is on the
increase in certain localities. Among the shore birds may be mentioned
the noisy terns and oyster-catchers. In the winter come the turnstones,
sandpipers, dunlins and redshanks. Among the divers may be noted the
golden-eye, merganser, and long-tailed duck, while the stock-duck, teal
and widgeon are fairly plentiful.
Wild geese and swans, and flocks of rooks occasionally rest on their
journey, but the rooks, though numerous elsewhere in Britain, do not
take up residence in Shetland longer than they can help. Ravens and
hooded-crows are plentiful. The peregrine falcon, the merlin, the
kestrel and the lordly sea-eagle are among the birds of prey. Of game
birds, the ringed plover, curlew, snipe, golden plover and rock pigeons
are common, while woodcock make their appearance during the migratory
flight in autumn.
Starlings, sparrows and linnets are plentiful; and owing to the
almost entire absence of other songsters, the song of the skylark
is more noticeable. Among summer visitors may be mentioned the
wheat-ear, landrail and peewit, while swallows and martins may be seen
occasionally. Winter visitors include fieldfares, buntings, redwings,
robin redbreasts, blackbirds, thrushes and the smallest of all British
birds, the golden-crested wren. The tiny wren, misnamed the “robin,”
with its cheery song and hide-and-seek ways among the rocks, stays all
the year round, as do also the rock and meadow pipits.
Absence of trees and hedgerows, and the general bareness of the ground,
bring into prominence the different varieties of wild flowers. On the
moors and hillsides grow the crisp heather and heath, with occasional
patches of crowberry, while peeping out among these are the milk-wort,
the butter-wort and bog asphodel, with the downy cotton-grass in damp
places. The pretty yellow tormentil is everywhere among the stunted
grass. The spotted orchis, the yellow buttercup and the lovely grass of
Parnassus are also conspicuous on the grassy uplands. In meadow lands
and marshy places are found the purple orchis, marsh-marigold, marsh
cinquefoil, lady’s smock, ragged robin, and red and yellow rattle,
while in ditches may be seen different varieties of the crow-foot tribe
and scorpion grass (forget-me-nots). On dry banks may be found the
scented thyme, white and yellow bed-straws, and near by, the bird’s
foot trefoil. Daisies, scentless Mayweed and eyebrights are everywhere.
In some corn-lands the red poppy shines forth; while the wild mustard
and radish (runchie) are only too common. Growing in the cliffs are
rose-root, scurvy grass and sea-campions (misnamed sweet-william).
The vernal squill, hawk-weed and sheep’s scabious spangle the green
pasture, and sea-pinks are all round the shore, extending in some
places to the water’s edge. The mountain-ash, the wild rose and the
honeysuckle grow in sheltered nooks.
7. Round the Coast—(_a_) Along the East from Fair Isle to Unst
The extent of coastline is enormous, and only the outstanding features
can be noted here.
Fair Isle, rock-bound, precipitous and lonely, with but one or two
small creeks where vessels may shelter, has two lighthouses, each with
a fog-siren and a group-flashing white light—the Scaddon, visible 16
miles, and the Scroo, visible 23 miles. It was on Fair Isle that _El
Gran Grifon_, one of the Armada ships, was wrecked in 1588.
[Illustration: Sumburgh Head and Lighthouse]
Sumburgh Head, the most southerly point of the Mainland, is also capped
with a lighthouse, perched 300 feet above the swirling eddies of the
Roost. Erected in 1820, it was the first lighthouse on the Shetland
coast. Its group-flashing white light is visible 24 miles in clear
weather. North of Sumburgh Head are Grutness Voe and the Pool of
Virkie, with their low-lying sandy shores; while near by are Sumburgh
House and the ruins of Jarlshoff. From this point northward the coast
is rocky, with moderately low cliffs, which are broken up by the inlets
of Voe and Troswick. The next conspicuous point is the headland of
Noness, crowned by a small, quick-flashing white light, a guide to the
busy fishing centre of Sandwick, and the fine sandy bay of Levenwick,
which lies directly opposite. Passing through Mousa Sound, we have on
the right the low-lying grazing island of Mousa with its famous Pictish
castle, and on the left Sandlodge, near which are disused copper-mines.
Two miles north of Mousa is the low-lying point of Helliness, having at
its base the small harbour of Aithsvoe. From here onwards the coast is
of varying heights, and broken by the exposed creeks of Fladdabister,
Quarff, Gulberwick, Sound and Brei Wick. Bressay lighthouse, which has
a revolving red and white light, visible 16 miles, shows the way to
Bressay Sound and the harbour of Lerwick.
[Illustration: Bressay Lighthouse and Foghorn]
[Illustration: Cliff Scenery, Noss. Bressay]
The shores of Bressay are low-lying on the west and north; but on the
south are the high cliffs of the Ord and Bard, the latter having the
Orkneyman’s Cave and the mural arch of the Giant’s Leg at its base.
On the east side of Noss Isle the cliffs are also high, forming the
favourite breeding-ground of myriads of sea-birds. The diversity of the
coastline, with the sudden transition from an uninteresting shore
to bold, precipitous cliffs, is owing to the dip of the rock-strata.
If the dip is to the sea, there is a more or less gradual slope
_to_ the shore; but if the dip is _from_ the sea, then there is the
towering cliff, facing the waves like a giant wall. A good example of
this is in the island of Noss, which is 592 feet high at the Noup,
and gradually slopes down to near sea-level at the western side. The
general outline of the cliffs, too, depends on the texture of the
rocks. With sandstone, they tower up in regular layers like a wall,
bold and massive, with clear-cut caves and tall stacks. With schistose
and granite rocks, however, the cliffs are more broken and rugged.
Proceeding from the north entrance of Lerwick harbour, we find a light
on Rova Head, with red, white and green sectors, guiding the mariner
to and from this narrow channel. The sea is dotted with a number of
rocks and holms, requiring a skilled pilot to negotiate. Towards the
west open up the fine bays of Dales Voe, Laxfirth, Wadbister Voe and
Catfirth; and off the point of Hawksness is the Unicorn rock, on which
the ship that was chasing the Earl of Bothwell was wrecked (1567).
[Illustration: Mavis Grind, looking south]
Facing the bold promontory of the Mull of Eswick stands the Maiden
Stack; to seaward the Hoo Stack and Sneckan; and extending eastward a
succession of rocks and skerries, which go by the name of the “stepping
stones.” Passing the bay of South Nesting, we approach the “bonnie
isle” of Whalsay, with the fine bay of Dury Voe opposite. Between
Whalsay and the land lie a number of isles, the largest being West
Linga, while from the outer side, islands and rocks stretch in an
easterly direction, the farthest group being called Out Skerries. The
largest of these, Housay, Bruray and Grunay, are inhabited; while on a
small isle, called Bound Skerry, is erected a fine lighthouse, which
shows a bright revolving white light, visible a distance of 18 miles
round. Passing Vidlin Voe and doubling the long promontory of Lunna
Ness, we reach Yell Sound. On the right lies the island of Yell; on
the left the triple openings of Swining Voe, Collafirth and Dales Voe;
and further on Firths Voe and Tofts Voe, with the ferry of Mossbank
between. After Orka Voe, we round Calback Ness and enter the fine bay
of Sullom Voe, extending about eight miles inland. Only a narrow neck
of land separates it from Busta Voe on the west, while a little to the
northwards, at Mavis Grind, the distance between Sullom Voe and the
Atlantic is only a stone’s throw. After Gluss Voe and the pretty bay
of Ollaberry, Collafirth is reached, and then Burravoe, the farthest
roadstead in Yell Sound. Looking back from this point, we view the
whole Sound with its many isles and holms, low-lying, and affording
good pasture for sheep. The largest are Lamba, Brother Isle, Bigga,
and Samphrey. Near Samphrey are the Rumble Rocks, with a beacon to aid
navigation.
Returning to Yell Sound, we find on its north side the two harbours of
Hamnavoe and Burravoe, in Yell. Proceeding north through the Sound, we
pass the bay of Ulsta and the Ness of Sound. From Ladie Voe to Gloup
Holm the coast is bold and rocky, with only one inlet, Whale Firth,
which runs inland till it almost meets Mid Yell Voe. In the extreme
north is Gloup Voe. Blue Mull Sound, which separates Yell from Unst,
has the harbour of Cullivoe near the middle and Linga Island at the
south entrance. On the east coast of Yell are the fine bays of Basta
Voe and Mid Yell Voe, with the island of Hascosay between.
Across Colgrave Sound lies Fetlar, one of the most fertile of the
islands. It is elevated towards the north-east, where Vord Hill rises
521 feet. Hereabout the coast is precipitous and very imposing. The
principal openings are Tresta Wick in the South and Gruting Wick in the
east. Brough Lodge is a calling-place for steamers.
[Illustration: Muckle Flugga Lighthouse
(Most northerly part of the British Isles)]
Unst is the most northerly part of the British Isles. In the south is
the harbour of Uyea, east of which is Muness with Muness Castle. The
principal harbour in Unst is Balta Sound, completely protected by the
islands of Balta and Huney. Further north is Haroldswick, named after
Harold Fairhair of Norway, who landed here on his expedition against
his rebellious subjects. After passing the sandy bay of Norwick and
rounding Holm of Skaw, we reach the northern extremity of Unst. The
heights of Saxa Vord and Hermaness hem in the entrance to Burrafirth.
Rising from a group of rocks, about a mile to seaward, is the Flugga,
with a fine lighthouse, which shows a fixed light, with white and red
sectors. From Hermaness to Blue Mull Sound, the west of Unst is bold
and rocky, with only one inlet of importance, Lunda Wick.
8. Round the Coast—(_b_) Along the West from Fethaland to Fitful Head
A mile or two off the point of Fethaland are the Ramna Stacks, huge
rocks like giant sentinels guarding the northern extremity of the
Mainland. From this point to the isle of Uyea, and onwards to Ronas
Voe, the chief feature of the coast is the high and rugged granite
cliffs, which gradually increase in height till the voe is reached.
This fine natural harbour, lying round the base of Ronas Hill, forms,
with Urafirth on the opposite side, an extensive peninsula to the
westward. The coast line of the peninsula is rugged and much indented,
with wonderful caves and subterranean passages, wrought out by the
action of the sea, the Grind of the Navir and the Holes of Scradda
being the most remarkable. Off the south coast lie the famous Dore
Holm with its natural arch, and the Drongs, resembling a ship under
sail. Hillswick, in Urafirth, is the terminal port of call for steamers
on the west side, and forms a convenient centre for the many fine
trout-fishing lochs in the neighbourhood.
On the east of the extensive bay of St Magnus lies Muckle Roe, with its
sea-face of red granite cliffs. To the south are the smaller grazing
islands of Vementry and Papa Little, with the channel of Swarbacks
Minn between, forming the common entrance to Busta Voe, Olnafirth,
Gonfirth and Aith Voe. Between the last opening and Bixter Voe, on the
opposite side, runs an isthmus which connects Aithsting, Sandness,
Walls and Sandsting with the other part of the Mainland. The northern
side of the peninsula thus formed is pierced by the openings of Clousta
Voe, Unifirth and West Burrafirth, while lying off the north-west
extremity is the fertile island of Papa Stour, with its high cliffs
and beautiful caves, Christie’s Hole being the finest. About three
miles to seaward are the dangerous rocks of Ve Skerries. The coast from
Sandness to Vaila is bold and rocky, the headland of Watsness being
the turning-point on this rugged coast. About eighteen miles to the
south-west lies the lofty island of Foula. The east side of the island
is comparatively low-lying, but the land rises towards the west, where
the cliffs tower 1220 feet above the sea. A dangerous shoal, the Haevdi
Grund, lies to the east of the island, and it was here that the liner
_Oceanic_ was wrecked (1914).
[Illustration: The Kame, Foula]
The island of Vaila lies across the mouth of Vaila Sound, and bounds
the entrance to the extensive bay of Gruting Voe. From Skelda Ness to
Scalloway the distance is about seven miles across an arm of the sea,
which runs north and is broken up into many openings. Taken in order,
these are Skelda Voe, Seli Voe and Sand Voe; Sand Sound, the common
entrance to the voes of Bixter and Tresta; Weisdale Voe; Stromness Voe
with the tidal loch of Strom; and Whiteness Voe. Lying off the entrance
of these two are the islands of Hildasay, Oxna and Papa. Opposite
Scalloway, and forming a shelter to its harbour, is the island of
Trondra. Further south are East and West Burra and Havra, with the long
channel of Cliff Sound on their eastern side. The fertile island of St
Ninian, locally known as St Ringans, is joined to the land by a narrow
isthmus of sand. To the south lies the isle of Colsay opposite the
inlet of Spiggie. The high cliffs of Fitful Head form the termination
of the west, as Sumburgh Head of the east. Between lies the fine sandy
bay of Quendale, with its background of sand dunes and rabbit warrens,
while to the south are the islands of Lady’s Holm, Little Holm and
Horse Island.
9. Climate
As Shetland is entirely insular, and surrounded by ocean currents
considerably warmer than those of other places in the same northern
latitude, the climate is wonderfully equable, extremes of heat and cold
being rare. The prevailing winds come from the south and west, laden
with warm moisture from the Atlantic to temper the atmosphere. Added to
that is the general “drift” of the Atlantic towards the British Isles.
Of this warm current, Shetland gets its share.
When the air becomes laden with moisture, it is lighter than dry air,
and in consequence the barometer is low. Wet and stormy weather usually
follows. When the air is clear and dry, then the barometer is high,
and good weather may be expected. The former is called cyclonic, and
the latter anti-cyclonic types of weather. The atmospheric pressure
varies as the storm moves onward; hence there is usually a falling
barometer till the storm is over, succeeded by a rising barometer. The
cyclone, as the storm is called, has two motions, a circular motion
opposite to the hands of a clock, and a general forward movement as a
whole, usually from some point west to some point east. In winter the
deficiency of atmospheric pressure in the neighbourhood of Iceland
accounts for the procession of westerly gales from the Atlantic during
that season, causing the southerly type of wind to prevail over
Shetland. In summer the area of low pressure is over Central Asia,
which produces a northerly type of wind over the islands, and this
corresponds with the dry season of the year.
Take a typical cyclone moving from the Atlantic, and passing, as
it often does, between Shetland and Iceland. The weather may be
unnaturally warm for the season of the year, the sky becomes overcast,
the wind backs to the south or south-east, and the barometer falls
rapidly. Other premonitory signs may be a halo or “broch” round the sun
or moon; aurora (Merrie Dancers) high overhead; or a heavy swell in the
sea. Wind and rain follow; after a time there may be a sudden lull; the
wind shifts to the west or north; the barometer rises briskly and the
clouds clear away, often with a strong gale of wind.
[Illustration: Wind Roses showing the prevailing winds at Sumburgh Head]
From November to February the prevailing winds are from the south and
west, averaging about 5 days for each month, while October has an
average of 7 days from the north. From March to June, the prevailing
winds are from the north and north-east, which accounts for the cold
spring and late summer, the average being about 4¾ days for each of
these months. July is equally divided between west and north, having
5 days of each; while August has a total of 5 days from the north and
September 6 from the west. The wind-rose shows that for the whole year
the west wind prevails with 17 per cent. while the east has only 4.
January has 7 days of west wind and only 1 of east; June has 6 days
from the north-east, and 4 each from north and north-west. The average
number of days in the year with calm weather is 27, with gales 37.
[Illustration: Graph showing the average Rainfall and Temperature for
each month of the year, from observations taken at Sumburgh Head,
extending over 35 years]
As might be expected from its insular position, the climate of Shetland
is moist, and the annual rainfall is about 37 inches, while the
number of rainy days in the year amounts to 251. This is the record
for Sumburgh Head, extending over a period of thirty-five years; but
of course the rainfall varies considerably in different parts of the
islands. The wet period of the year embraces the months of October,
November, December and January; while the dry period, if it can be
called such, includes May, June and July—May being driest. Heavy falls
of snow are not uncommon; but owing to the sea-breezes and changeable
weather, snow seldom lies for any length of time.
The climate is somewhat cold, the mean temperature for the year being
44.7 degrees, while the mean monthly temperature varies from 38° in
February and March, the coldest months of the year, to 53° in August,
the warmest month. It is found that this mean annual temperature
closely approximates to the temperature of the sea (from a depth of 100
fathoms to the bottom) between the Hebrides and Faroe. Thunderstorms
are not frequent, and heat waves are usually followed by fog, which
is very prevalent in summer and greatly impedes navigation round the
coast. The month of May has an average of 8 days of fog, June 12, July
and August 10 each, while the whole year shows a total of 75 days.
[Illustration: Sunrise at Midsummer, 2.30 a.m.]
Winter in Shetland is dark and stormy; but this is to a certain extent
compensated for by the long days of summer, from the middle of May to
the end of July, when darkness is unknown. That season gives to the
islands the poetic name of the “Land of the Simmer Dim.”
10. People—Race, Language, Population
That Shetland was inhabited from remote times is evident from the
number of primitive stone implements found all over the islands.
The rude hammer and axe; the finely-polished celts and knives; the
stone circles and brochs; the burial mounds, with urns and stone
coffins—all bear mute testimony to successive stages of progress
towards civilisation. Who the earliest inhabitants were it is not easy
to discover; but it is generally agreed that for a number of centuries
the Picts held sway till supplanted by invaders from Norway. Norse
influence began with Viking raids, and then towards the end of the
ninth century assumed the form of conquest. Scandinavian domination
lasted till 1468. During this period the people were Norse to a large
extent in blood and altogether in language, manners and customs; and
although Scottish influence has brought about many changes, yet the
Shetlander still retains many of the Norse characteristics of his
ancestors.
The spoken language is a Scottish dialect with a mixture of Norse
words—many thousands, says Jacob Jacobsen—with accent and pronunication
distinctly Scandinavian. Some of its peculiarities are as follows:
_th_ becomes _d_ or _t_, as _dat eart_ for _that earth_; _qu_ as in
_squander_ is sounded like _wh_; long _o_ is shortened; _oo_ in _good_
is modified (something like French _u_) and written _ü_ as _güd_. This
_ü_ is the shibboleth of the dialect, and is extremely difficult for
any but a Shetlander to pronounce.
Nearly all the place names are of Norse origin. Islands and rocks are
denoted by _uy_, _holm_, _baa_, _skerry_, _drong_, _stack_; openings
along the coast by _voe_, _wick_, _firth_, _ham_, _hoob_, _min_, _gio_,
_gloop_, _helyer_; capes by _noss_, _noop_ or _neep_, _bard_, _mool_,
_ness_, _taing_, _hevda_ or _hevdi_, rocks or cliffs by _clett_,
_hellya_, _berry_, _bakka_, _berg_, _ord_; inland heights by _wart_ or
_ward_, _vord_, _virdick_, _fell_ or _fil_, _hool_, _sneug_, _kame_,
_coll_ or _kool_, _roni_, _björg_; valleys by _wall_ or _vel_, _dal_,
_grave_ or _gref_, _gil_, _boiten_, _koppa_, _sloag_, _quarf_, _wham_;
fresh water by _vatn_, _fors_, _kelda_, _o_, _ljöag_, _brun_; crofts
and townships by _seter_, or _ster_, _bister_, _skolla_, _taft_;
enclosures by _garth_, _gard_, _gord_, _girt_, _gairdie_, _krü_, _bü_,
_toon_, _pund_, _hoga_, _hag_, _quhey_. An isthmus is called _aid_; a
Pictish broch is _burg_ or _burra_. _Peti_ means Picts; _Finni_, Finns;
_Papa_ or _Papil_ an Irish missionary settlement.
A century ago the population was 22,379, and reached its maximum
(31,670) in 1861. After that it gradually decreased, chiefly owing to
emigration, to 27,911 in 1911. The density is about fifty to the square
mile.
11. Agriculture and other Industries
As an agricultural county, Shetland is comparatively poor, and that
for various reasons. Although in certain districts the soil is of good
quality, and produces crops that compare favourably with any Scottish
county, yet much of the land may be classed as indifferent or poor.
Only 4 per cent. of the whole land surface is arable. Permanent pasture
might be 10 per cent. Fourteen per cent. may thus be taken as the
limit of profitable agriculture. The other 86 per cent. is used for
grazing. Shetland is a crofting county, but most of the holdings are
too small to support a family, unless the men have some subsidiary
employment, either as fishermen or sailors. Some 56 per cent. of the
male population are classed as farmers or fishermen, or both combined.
The result of this divided attention is seen in the backward state of
cultivation, up to very recent years. Another important factor was
insecurity of tenure. Before the passing of the Crofters Act in 1886
there was no security, and in many cases where a crofter improved his
holding, he had to pay increased rent for his pains. But matters are
now growing better. The crofter has a fair rent fixed; his tenure is
secure, so long as he conforms to certain legal requirements; and with
increased facilities for placing his produce in the market, he has
every inducement to give of his labour and intelligence to agricultural
work. Up-to-date methods and tools are taking the place of primitive
ways and out-of-date implements; and the Board of Agriculture is
helping to educate people into better methods of agriculture and
dairying. School gardening, now almost universal, is also doing much to
encourage the production and use of garden vegetables.
There are 352,319 acres of land in the islands; and of these, only
15,352 acres are under cultivation; while 35,472 acres are laid down to
permanent grass. The number of holdings in the islands is 3550, giving
an average of 14.3 acres to each holding. Of these, there are 793 under
5 acres; 2021 between 5 and 15 acres; 563 between 15 and 30 acres; 97
between 30 and 50 acres; 40 between 50 and 100 acres; 30 between 100
and 300 acres; and 6 over 300 acres. It will thus be seen that nearly
98 per cent. of the holdings are crofts under 50 acres in extent. Of
the arable land, oats is the principal product, extending to 7291
acres, or nearly one-half; while bere is grown on 1035 acres. Potatoes
take up 2795 acres and turnips the half of that, while ryegrass covers
1067 acres. There are 288,962 acres of hill pasture or “scattald” on
which each crofter has the right to graze a certain number of sheep,
ponies or cattle.
[Illustration: Single-Stilted Shetland Plough]
The native sheep are diminutive in size; but the wool, which is made
into shawls and other articles, is well known for its softness.
Practically every Shetland woman is a knitter; and although this may be
reckoned a subsidiary employment, it is a very important one. Large
quantities of knitted goods are sent out of the islands every year;
and the money obtained for them is a welcome addition to the too often
scanty earnings of the crofter-fishermen. Over 2000 women are engaged
in agriculture, and nearly 3000 in making hosiery.
[Illustration: Carding and Spinning]
Besides the common grazing ground used by crofters, there are large
tracts enclosed as sheep-runs, in which black-faced and other breeds
are raised for the southern markets. The total number of sheep in the
islands in 1912 was 162,090.
The native breed of ponies—some of them as low as seven hands—is well
known. In days gone past they served a useful purpose as beasts of
burden; but the coming of roads and wheeled vehicles demanded a larger
and stronger type of animal; and now they are bred chiefly for export,
to be used in coal mines and for other purposes. The picturesque sight
of a long string of these hardy and intelligent little animals, tied
head and tail, each with “kishies” fastened to “clibbers,” and the
whole strapped up with a “maishie,” wending their way homeward with a
load of peats, is now almost a thing of the past, except in districts
where roads are few. Horses, large and small, number 5827.
[Illustration: “Leading” Home the Peats]
The native cow, like the sheep and the pony, is also diminutive; but
under favourable conditions gives a good supply of milk of excellent
quality. There are 15,932 cattle in the islands, of which 6027 are
milch-cows.
Except farming and fishing—with their allied occupations—industries
are few in Shetland. Lerwick has two saw-mills. Freestone is quarried
at the Knab near Lerwick and at the Ord in Bressay. Copper ore of good
quality used to be mined at Sandlodge, and chromate of iron in Unst;
but the low prices for these made working unprofitable, and now only a
small quantity of chromate is raised. Another bygone industry is the
making of kelp from seaweed—once a source of considerable wealth. It
may be revived, as the war (1914) caused a scarcity of potash for use
in farming.
12. Fishing
For centuries it has been the custom—lately, however, to a less
extent—for the crofter-fisherman to fish in the summer and to work on
his farm during the rest of the year. Every voe and creek had its fleet
of small boats engaged in line fishing; but owing to the depredations
of trawlers on the fishing grounds and other adverse circumstances, the
system gradually declined. Line industry has now shrunk to very small
dimensions, and herring fishing has taken its place. At a few creeks
round the coast, small boats still engage in line fishing, while at
Lerwick and Scalloway there is a considerable fleet of boats engaged in
haddock and long-line fishing. Haddocks and halibut are sent in ice to
Aberdeen, while other kinds of fish are salted and dried for export.
Lerwick and Scalloway have also kippering kilns.
[Illustration: Dutch Fishing Fleet in Lerwick Harbour]
From its position and other natural advantages, Lerwick is an ideal
fishing centre, and is now one of the chief fishery ports in Scotland.
The Harbour Trustees have provided pier accommodation, erected a fish
market, and in other ways met the demands of this industry.
[Illustration: Steam Drifters and Fish Market, Lerwick]
Round the harbour and along the shores of Bressay Sound a large number
of curing yards are erected, each with its wooden jetty, at which the
herrings are discharged. There they are taken in hand by a staff of
men and women, who clean and salt them in barrels. They used to be
shipped to the Continent—chiefly to Russia and Germany—through Hamburg
and the Baltic ports of Petrograd, Libau, Riga, Stettin, Konigsberg,
and Dantzig.
The fish-offal is collected from the various fishing stations and taken
to the factories in Bressay, where up-to-date machinery converts the
raw material into articles of commerce, as fish meal for feeding cattle
and pigs; oil for tanning; stearin for soap-making; and manure.
Other fishing ports are Baltasound, Sandwick, Whalsay and Scalloway.
There and at other centres herring fishing is carried on by sailing
boats as well as steam drifters. In other districts deserted curing
yards may be seen—relics of the formerly prosperous fishing stations.
The number of boats of all kinds fishing round the Shetland coast in
1913 was 952, and of these 551 were sailing boats with 2332 native
men and boys. The number of drifters working from Lerwick and other
ports was 380, with 3800 men, mostly Scottish and English fishermen.
In addition, there were 5 drifters and 16 motor-boats owned locally,
with 99 native and 10 non-resident men engaged. The total value of all
these vessels, with their gear, was estimated at £1,045,839. The total
quantity of fish landed amounted to 38,585 tons, valued at £347,894.
This included shell-fish, herring, mackerel, ling, cod, tusk, saithe,
haddock, whiting, halibut, skate, plaice, and dabs. Besides the 6241
persons actually engaged in fishing, this important industry gave
employment to about 4000 other workers—gutters, coopers, carters,
labourers, and sailors.
[Illustration: Shoal of Whales]
Shetland had three whaling stations, Olna Firth, Ronas Voe, and Colla
Firth. The men employed were mostly Norwegians.
13. Shipping and Trade
Long after Shetland was annexed to Scotland, trade and friendly
intercourse continued to be carried on with Norway and other countries
across the North Sea. Dutch and Flemish fishermen also frequented the
islands, and established a considerable trade, exchanging foreign
produce for fish and articles of native manufacture. There was regular
communication with Bergen, Hamburg, Bremen and other Continental ports;
and people from Shetland often travelled to Scotland and England by
way of the Continent. As time went on, more direct communication was
established with Scotland by means of sailing vessels. Trade was
carried on by these till the advent of a steamship in 1836, when the
paddle-boat _Sovereign_ began to ply between Granton and Lerwick once
a fortnight—afterwards once a week—calling at Aberdeen, Wick and
Kirkwall. At the present time four steamers regularly arrive from Leith
or Aberdeen each week during summer. One of these makes a weekly trip
to Scalloway and ports on the west side. Lerwick is the port of call
on the east. In addition to these, another of the North of Scotland
Company’s steamers does the coast-wise trade on the east side and to
the North Isles.
[Illustration: A Busy Day at Victoria Pier, Lerwick]
All goods, mails and passengers to and from Scotland are carried by
this company’s steamers. The imports consist of meal and flour; tea,
sugar and butter; feeding-stuffs for cattle; and the miscellaneous
articles that form the stock-in-trade of the draper, the grocer, the
ironmonger, and the general merchant’s store in town and country. The
exports include eggs, dried and fresh fish, wool, hosiery, sheep,
ponies and cattle, and cured herrings. Timber is brought direct
from Norway. Coal, salt and empty barrels are imported in specially
chartered vessels.
14. History
Little is known for certain of Shetland in early times. If by Thule,
visited and described by Pytheas of Massilia, the ancients meant
Shetland, then the first mention of the islands in our era is when
Tacitus, telling of Agricola’s fleet in 84 A.D. says “Dispecta est et
Thule,” assuming that it was really part of Mainland that the sailors
descried in the dim distance. Irish missionaries christianised the
natives in the sixth and seventh centuries. The nearness of the
islands to Norway naturally led to visits from the Viking raiders and
finally to conquest and settlement by them in the ninth century. The
Norsemen found two races of people—the Peti or Picts, and the Papae,
descendants of the Irish missionaries. Whether these were exterminated
or absorbed by the invaders is disputed; but Christianity disappeared
before Odin, Thor and other Scandinavian deities.
For several centuries after this, the history of Shetland is hardly
separable from the history of Orkney, and that has been already
narrated.[3] Though both groups of islands formed one earldom, Orkney
was the predominant partner. Shetland received scant attention except
as a recruiting ground for fleets or armies. From 1195 to 1379 Shetland
was disjoined from Orkney; and, while the latter came more and more
under Scottish influence, the former remained under Norse. It was
during the period of separation that Norse influence impressed itself
most strongly on Shetland.
[3] See pp. 43 _sqq._
Norse Shetland had its Althing or Parliament, meeting on the holm in
Tingwall Loch under the presidency of the Foud. Each district had its
lesser Thing (as Aithsting, Nesting) and its under-Foud, who selected
Raadmen or Councillors, and was assisted by the Lawmen or Legal
Assessors. The Lawrightman superintended the weights and measures—an
important office, since rents and duties were paid in kind. The
Ranselman was a kind of parish constable.
15. Antiquities
The most conspicuous remains of antiquity in the islands are the
Pictish castles or brochs,[4] of which there are seventy or eighty.
Most of them are in ruins; but the one notable exception is that of
Mousa Castle, the most perfect of its kind in existence. Another broch
is in the loch of Clickimin. Though only a remnant, it conveys a good
idea of the massive structure of these buildings.
[4] See pp. 59 _sqq._
[Illustration: Broch of Mousa]
Standing stones occur in every parish. Other prehistoric relics are
the stone circles, the earth-houses or underground dwellings, and
“pechts knowes.” The last are artificial mounds of burnt stones and
earth. In some of these are found stone coffins or cists, in others
urns containing the ashes of the dead.
[Illustration: Ground Plan, Broch of Mousa]
Implements and weapons of the Stone Age are being continually
unearthed. Some are rough and include hammers, clubs, whorls for
spinning, stones for pounding corn, whetstones, vessels for liquids.
Others are polished, and show a great advance on the rough in
workmanship. These include celts or axes of porphyry or serpentine,
locally known as “thunderbolts” and held in veneration by the finder.
Another polished weapon is the knife, said to be found only in Shetland.
[Illustration: Sectional Elevation, Broch of Mousa]
Gold, silver and bronze ornaments of the Viking Age are occasionally
discovered—one of the most recent and beautiful a bracelet of gold in
the isle of Oxna.
[Illustration: Gold Armlet (Norse) from Isle of Oxna]
Inscribed or sculptured stones are of two kinds—Celtic, and Norse or
runic. Examples of the Celtic are the Bressay Stone, the St Ninian
Stone, the Lunnasting Stone, with Ogham inscriptions, and the richly
sculptured monument found in Burra Isle. These are all indications of
the Christianity of the pre-Norse days. Four runic stones have been
discovered, three in Cunningsburgh and one in Northmavine.
[Illustration: Bressay Stone
(Obverse)]
[Illustration: Bressay Stone
(Reverse)]
[Illustration: Portion of Sandstone Slab with Ogham Inscription from
Cunningsburgh]
[Illustration: Lunnasting Stone Burra Stone]
16. Architecture
Scalloway Castle, and Muness Castle in Unst, are the only two feudal
structures in the islands.
[Illustration: Scalloway Castle]
Scalloway Castle was built by Earl Patrick Stewart in 1600, at a time
when Scalloway was the capital and the only town in Shetland. Over
the gateway was a Latin inscription, adapted from the New Testament
contrast between the house founded on a rock and the house founded on
the sand—
“Patricius Orchadiae et Zetlandiae Comes.
Cujus fundamen saxum est, domus illa manebit;
Labilis, e contra, si sit arena, perit.
A.D. 1600.”
Patrick’s house in Sumburgh had been built on sand and had collapsed, it
is said.
[Illustration: Muness Castle, Unst]
Muness Castle dates from 1598 and belonged to Laurence Bruce of
Caltmalindie, Lord Robert Stewart’s half-brother. He was at one
time Grand Foud of Shetland, but for his oppressive rule he was
brought to trial at Tingwall and deposed from office. As no one
could conscientiously praise him, he did so himself in the following
inscription over the Castle doorway:—
“List ye to knaw this building quha began,
Laurance the Brus he was that worthy man,
Quha earnestlie his ayris and offspring prayis
To help and not to hurt this wark alwayis.
The zeir of God 1598.”
At Sumburgh is the ruin of Jarlshoff, once a residence of Lord Robert
Stewart, and rendered famous in Sir Walter Scott’s novel _The Pirate_.
[Illustration: Town Hall, Lerwick
(Midnight, June)]
The only building of architectural significance in Lerwick is the
Town Hall, a handsome Gothic building, erected in 1882. Its external
decorations include the arms of the town and of the nobles who were
connected with the government of Shetland. The main hall is the chief
centre of interest. Its beautiful stained-glass windows present a
magnificent series of pictures representing the history of the islands
from the time of the Norwegian conquest to James III of Scotland, who
married Margaret of Denmark.
17. Communications
Till the middle of last century Shetland was almost devoid of roads.
All traffic had to go by water, while travelling by land was on foot or
on horseback over moorland tracks. The failure of the potato crop in
1846 and following years caused much distress in the islands; and the
food and money sent by the Board for the Relief of Destitution in the
Highlands enabled labour to be hired for road-making. Between 1849 and
1852 about 120 miles of roads were constructed, joining Lerwick with
Dunrossness on the south, with Scalloway and Walls on the west, and
with Lunna, Mossbank and Hillswick on the north; while a road 17 miles
long was constructed through Yell. Under the Zetland Roads Act (1864)
roads were improved and extended all over the islands. The County
Council now manages all roads and bridges.
The southern terminus of the main road is Grutness, near Sumburgh. From
this point to Lerwick the road skirts the east side of the island, with
branches leading to various districts. From Lerwick the north road
begins by climbing the hill of Fitch. At the bridge of Fitch a branch
diverges to Scalloway; and further on, at Tingwall, is the junction of
another route to the ancient capital. Here the main road bifurcates,
one fork going in a westerly direction through Whiteness, Weisdale,
Aithsting, Walls and Sandness, and terminating at Huxter. The other
fork after passing Girlsta and Sandwater, enters the dreary Lang Kame,
a stretch of five miles without a single habitation, where, says
superstition, the benighted traveller may meet “Da Trows,” the goblins
of Norse mythology. The road then runs by the Loch of Voe to Olnafirth
Kirk. Here it divides—going on the right by Dales Voe to Mossbank, on
the left to the narrow neck between Busta Voe and Sullom Voe and thence
by Mavis Grind past Punds Water. Again it branches, to Ollaberry on the
right and Hillswick on the left. In Yell the chief road runs from Burra
Voe to Cullivoe in the north-east. The trunk road in Unst—the best in
the islands—stretches from Uyeasound to Norwich.
18. Roll of Honour
Although Shetland has produced no names of worldwide celebrity, yet
many sons of the “Old Rock” have risen to distinction both at home and
abroad.
[Illustration: Arthur Anderson]
The first place must be given to Arthur Anderson, (1792-1868), who,
commencing life as a humble fish-worker at Gremista, near Lerwick,
was in 1840 one of the founders of the P. and O. Steamship Company,
and ultimately its chairman. Much of his wealth he spent on Shetland.
He established the first newspaper in the islands—_The Shetland
Journal_; he started the Shetland Fishing Company, which largely
helped to emancipate the crofter-fishermen from their bondage to the
landlords; he introduced Shetland hosiery to the outside world; he was
influential in securing steam communication between the islands and
Scotland; and, not to mention more of his benefactions, he founded
the Anderson Educational Institute, which is now administered by the
Education Authority as a Higher Grade School and Junior Student Centre
for the county. Another benefactor was R. P. Gilbertson, a colonial
merchant, who presented the Gilbertston Park to Lerwick and founded
the Gilbertson Trust for the benefit of Shetlanders.
[Illustration: Anderson Institute, Lerwick]
The islands boast a goodly array of writers, and among these the
Edmonston family stands conspicuous. Dr Arthur Edmonston (1775-1841)
wrote _A View of the Ancient and Present State of the Zetland Islands_;
his brother Laurence (1795-1879) was a distinguished Scandinavian
scholar and the author of many papers on natural history; Laurence’s
son, Thomas, born in 1825, was the discoverer of the Shetland plant
_arenaria Norvegica_, and the author of a _Flora of Shetland_. At the
age of twenty he was elected Professor of Botany and Natural History
in Anderson’s College at Glasgow; but next year he was accidentally
shot dead in Peru, while on a scientific expedition to the Pacific;
Thomas’s brother, Biot (1827-1906) was joint-author with his sister
Mrs Saxby, of _The Home of a Naturalist_. Dr Saxby wrote _The Birds of
Shetland_. Thomas Gifford of Busta, who died in 1760, was the author
of _Historical Description of the Zetland Isles_; Dr Robert Cowie, of
_Shetland: Descriptive and Historical_; Dr Copeland, of _A Dictionary
of Medicine_; Miss Spence, of _Earl Rognvald and his Forebears_, and a
_Memoir of Arthur Laurenson_, a scholar deeply versed in Scandinavian
lore; Gilbert Goudie, of _Antiquities of Shetland_, and other works;
and John Spence, of _Shetland Folk Lore_. Of minor poets and vernacular
writers we may name Basil R. Anderson; Laurence J. Nicolson, “The Bard
of Thule”; George Stewart; T. P. Ollason; and J. B. Laurence.
Of men who have risen to distinction in the Government service, the
best known is Sir Robert G. C. Hamilton (1836-1895), a son of Dr
Hamilton of Bressay. He was at various times Accountant-General of the
Navy, Under-Secretary for Ireland, Governor of Tasmania, and Chairman
of the Board of Customs.
19. The Chief Towns and Villages of Shetland
(The figures in brackets after each name give the population in 1911,
and those at the end of each section are references to pages in the
text.)
=Balta Sound= is a fishing port on the east of Unst. It was formerly a
prosperous centre for herrings. (pp. 123, 142.)
=Hillswick= is a seaport in Northmavine parish in the north-west of
Mainland. Hillswick Voe affords sheltered anchorage for vessels. (pp.
125, 156, 157.)
[Illustration: Lerwick, N. (top)]
[Illustration: Lerwick, S. (bottom)]
=Lerwick= (4664), the capital and the only burgh of the county, and
the most northerly town in Britain, lies on the west side of Bressay
Sound, which forms a safe and commodious harbour. During the Dutch
War, Cromwell built and garrisoned the fort. This may be taken as
the beginning of the town. In 1781 the fort was put into a state of
defence, and named Fort Charlotte in honour of George III’s Queen. It
is now a Coast Guard Station and Royal Naval Reserve Headquarters.
The Old Town, built on the side of a hill facing the harbour, has
one narrow and irregular street running parallel to the shore, with
numerous lanes branching off at right angles. Some of the houses at
the south end of the town are built right into the sea; but elsewhere,
the shore has been reclaimed, and an esplanade and wharves take the
place of the “Lodberries” of former times. Victoria Pier (erected in
1888), Alexandra Wharf with the Fish Market, and the Boat Harbour,
are among the latest harbour improvements. The New Town, which lies
on the landward side of the hill, has wide streets and modern houses,
the Central School being the principal building; while near by is
the Gilbert Bain Hospital. The Docks are situated at the north end
of the town, and here also are boat-building sheds, saw-mills and
barrel factories. Adjoining the Anderson Institute is a Hostel for
country girl-bursars attending the Institute. This handsome building,
the gift of Robert H. Bruce, Esq., of Sumburgh, is the first building
of its kind in Scotland. Lerwick has two weekly newspapers—_The
Shetland Times_ and _The Shetland News_. At Sound, in the vicinity,
is a Government wireless station. (pp. 103, 118, 120, 139, 140,
155.)
[Illustration: Scalloway.]
=Scalloway= (824), an ancient village, was at one time the capital. It
is the chief port of call for steamers on the west, and is a centre for
herring and white fishing. The Castle is the chief object of interest.
(pp. 108, 110, 126, 139, 140, 153, 156.)
=Sandwick=, in Dunrossness, is a busy fishing centre. (pp. 117, 142.)
[Illustration:
Fig. 1. Area of Orkney and of Shetland compared with that of Scotland]
[Illustration:
Fig. 2. Population of Orkney and Shetland compared with that of
Scotland]
[Illustration:
Fig. 3. Comparative density of Population to the square mile
(Each dot represents 10 persons)]
[Illustration: Fig. 4. Proportionate areas of Corn and other
Cultivations]
[Illustration: Fig. 5. Proportionate areas of Chief Cereals]
[Illustration: Fig. 6. Proportionate areas of land—Orkney]
[Illustration: Fig 7. Proportionate areas of land—Shetland]
[Illustration: Fig. 8. Proportionate numbers of Live Stock]
[Illustration: GEOLOGICAL MAP OF SHETLAND]
Parishes in Shetland:
1 _Unst_
2 _Fetlar_
3 _Yell_
4 _Northmavine_
5 _Delting_
6 _Walls_
7 _Sandsting_
8 _Nesting_
9 _Tingwall_
10 _Lerwick_
11 _Bressay_
12 _Dunrossness_
[Illustration: GEOLOGICAL MAP OF ORKNEY]
Parishes in Orkney:
1 _Papa Westray_
1b. _Westray & Papa Westray_
2 _Cross & Burness_
3 _Lady_
4 _Stronsay_
5 _Rowsay & Egilshay_
6 _Evie & Rendall_
7 _Harray & Birsay_
8 _Sandwick_
9 _Stromness_
10 _Firth_
11 _Orphir_
12 _Kirkwall & St. Ola_
13 _Shapinshay_
14 _Deerness & St. Andrews_
15 _Holm_
16 _Hoy & Graemsay_
17 _Walls & Flotta_
18 _South Ronaldshay_
19 _Stenness_
20 _Eday & Pharay_
_The Cambridge University Press_ _Copyright. George Philip & Son
L{td.}_
* * * * * *
Transcriber’s note:
There are a number of variant spellings of place names which have
been left unchanged, for example: Rowsay - Rousay;
Shapinsay - Shapinshay; Egilsay - Egilshay.
Some illustrations have been moved to the nearest paragraph break
therefore they are not exactly linking with the Lists of
Illustrations page numbers. The page numbers in the Lists of
Illustrations refer to the original positions.
In the Latin plant list starting page 24, the ” in the original
book have been replaced with the actual words.
On page 159 the name Gilbertston Park has been left as spelt. It
appears that today the spelling is Gilbertson but as this book was
written around 100 years ago, Gilbertston could have been the spelling
at that time.
Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been retained.
Minor changes have been made to punctuation; other changes that
have been made are listed below.
Page 15: changed ‘seaboard’ to ‘sea-board’.
Page 42: changed ‘does’ to ‘do’- do follow with.
Page 42: changed ‘crofter fishermen’ to ‘crofter-fishermen’.
Page 100: changed ‘acssss’ to ‘assess’- to assess the village of
Stromness.
Page 107: added the word ‘the’- opposite direction for the other six
hours.
Page 116: changed ‘coast-line’ to ‘coastline’.
Page 119: changed ‘coast-line’ to ‘coastline’.
Page 138: changed ‘may’ to ‘way’- wending their way homeward.
Page 161: changed ‘northwest’ to ‘north-west’.
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