Selected quad for the lemma: ground_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
ground_n	earth_n	place_n	water_n	1,539	5	6.1966	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A52112	A late voyage to St. Kilda, the remotest of all the Hebrides, or the Western isles of Scotland with a history of the island, natural moral, and topographical : wherein is an account of their customes religion, fish, fowl, &c. : as also a relation of a late impostor there, pretended to be sent by St. John Baptist / by M. Martin, gent.	Martin, Martin, d. 1719.	1698 (1698)	Wing M847	47,099	181

Kilda will needs call by the Author's Name and were then resolved to give it a Cover of Stone such as is above describ'd There is a celebrated Well issuing out of the Face of a Rock on the North-side of the East Bay called by the Inhabitants and others The Well of Youth but is only accessible by the Inhabitants no Stranger daring to climb the steep Rock the Water of it is received as it falls into the Sea it runs towards the South-East The Taste of the Water of those Wells was so pleasant that for several Weeks after the best Fountains in the adjacent Isles did not relish with me There is a Rivulet runneth close by the Town and another larger beyond Kilder's Well this last serves for washing Linnen which it doth as well without Soap as other Water does with it of this we had Experience which was a Confirmation of what had been reported to us concerning this Water We searched if in the Brinks we could discover any fullers-Fullers-Earth but found none we discovered some Pieces of Iron-Ore in several places of it this Rivulet drops from the Mossy Ground in the top of the Hills The whole Island is one hard Rock form'd into four high Mountains three of which are in the middle all thinly covered with black or brown Earth not above a Foot some places half a foot deep except the top of the Hills where it is above three Foot deep and affords them good Turf the Grass is very short but kindly producing plenty of Milk the number of Sheep commonly maintained in St. Kilda and the two adjacent Isles does not exceed Two thousand and generally they are Speckled some White some Philamort and are of an ordinary size they do not resemble Goats in any thing as Buchanan was informed except in their Horns which are extraordinary large particularly those in the lesser Isles The number of Horses exceeds not Eighteen all of a Red Colour very low and smooth Skinn'd being only employed in carrying their Turf and Corn and at the Anniversary Cavalcade of which hereafter The Cows that are about Ninety Head small and great all of them having their Foreheads White and Black which is discernable at a great distance are of a low stature but fat and sweet Beef the Dogs Cats and all the Sea-Fowls of this Isle are Speckled The Soil is very grateful to the Labourer producing ordinarily Sixteen Eighteen or Twenty Fold sometimes their Grain is only Bear and some Oats the Barley is the largest produced in all the Western Isles they use no Plough but a kind of crooked Spade their Harrows are of Wood as are the Teeth in the front also and all the rest supplied only with long tangles of Sea-ware tied to the Harrow by the small ends the Roots hanging loose behind scatter the clods broken by the Wooden Teeth this they are forced to use for want of Wood. Their Arable Land is very nicely parted into Ten Divisions and these into Subdivisions each Division distinguished by the Name of some Deceased Man or Woman who were Natives of the Place there is one spot called Multa Terra another Multus Agris The chief ingredient in their Composts is Ashes of Turf mixed with Straw with these they mix their Urine which by experience they find to have much of the Vegetable Nitre they do not preserve it in quantities as elsewhere but convey it immediately from the Fountain to the Ashes which by daily practice they find most advantageous they join also the Bones Wings and Entrails of their Sea-Fowls to their Straw they Sow very thick and have a proportionable growth they pluck all their Bear by the Roots in handfuls both for the sake of their Houses which they thatch with it and their Cows which they take in during the Winter the Corn produced by this Compost is perfectly free of any kind of Weeds it produces much Sorrel where the Compost reaches The Coast of St. Kilda and the lesser Isles are plentifully furnished with variety of Fishes as Cod Ling Mackarell Congars Braziers Turbat Graylords Sythes these last two are the same kind only differing in bigness some call them Black Mouths they are large as any Salmon and somewhat longer there are also Laiths Podloes Herring and many more most of these are Fished by the Inhabitants upon the Rock for they have neither Nets nor long Lines Their common Bait is the Lympets or Patellae being par-boil'd they use likewise the Fowl called by them Bowger its Flesh raw which the Fish near the lesser Isles catch greedily sometimes they use the Bowger's flesh and the Lympets Patellae at the same time upon one Hook and this proves successful also In the Month of July a considerable quantity of Mackarell run themselves ashoar but always with a Spring-Tide The Amphibia seen here are the Otters and Seals this latter the Inhabitants reckon very good Meat there is no sort of Trees no not the least Shrub grows here nor ever a Bee seen at any time CHAP. II. Of the inferior Isles and Rocks their Product Solan Geese how Killed A branch of the Officer's Salary Staller-house Pyramids Policy of the Inhabitants An Earthquake A Fountain The taking away or leaving the Eggs in the Nests by the Inhabitants advances or retards the hatching of the Fowls by the space of Eighteen Days sooner or later Our progress to Borera Every Solan Goose catch'd is presently mark'd on the Foot by the Owner Of Eddies Tides Land and Sea-Fowls their description various Properties Seasons for their coming and going away Their Prognosticks of Winds Storms Calms c. Barren Tribe of Solan Geese The Solan Geese's Centinels Fulmar Oyl its properties Eggs their various Properties and Effects LEVINIS a Rock about Fourteen Paces high and Thirty in circumference narrower at the top it stands about half a League to the South-East Bay and is not covered with any kind of Earth or Grass it hath a Spring of Fresh Water issuing out at the side this Rock by an ancient Custom belongs to the Galley's Crew but the above-mentioned allowance disposes them to undervalue it Betwixt the West point of St. Kilda and the Isle Soa is the famous Rock Stackdonn i. e. as much in their Language as a Mischievous Rock for it hath prov'd so to some of their Number who perished in attempting to climb it it is much of the Form and Height of a Steeple there is a very great dexterity and it is reckoned no small gallantry to climb this Rock especially that part of it called the Thumb which is so little that of all the Parts of a Man's Body the Thumb only can lay hold on it and that must be only for the space of one Minute during which time his Feet have no support nor any part of his Body touch the Stone except the Thumb at which Minute he must jump by the help of his Thumb and the Agility of his Body concurring to raise him higher at the