every where the Balanus cinereus velut è senis laminis striatis compositus ipso vertice altera testa bisida rhomboide occluso There is such abundance almost every where of Shell-fish but especially Cockles that the whole Country is serv'd no other way with Lime but by those Shells burn'd which makes a very fair Lime and does very well in Plaister though I doubt whether it be so proper for Building as stone Lime is As to the Crustaceous Fishes as Lobsters Crabs c. they are in as great abundance here as any where Here is plenty of tame and wild Fowl they reckon they have 8 or 9 different sorts of wild Geese and of gray Plover Moorfowl Wild-Duck Swans Teal Whaps or Curlew c. there is no place better stor'd They have likewise many Foists and Lyers both Sea Fowls very fat and delicious Sometime the Stock-Owl and Bittern have been seen in this Country Eagle and Earns as they call them and Gledes or Kites are here in great plenty and very hurtful to their young Store Yea they have been found to seize upon young Children and carry them a good way of and there is yet a Man alive one John Hay living now in Sanda who was thus carried away by an Eagle while a young Child in swadling cloaths his Mother having left him on the Grass till she went a little way to carry somewhat to her Nest but was so speedily by the blessing of God prevented that no harm was done to him There is a Law in this Country that if any kill any of these Earns or Eagles he is to have a Hen out of every house in the Parish in which it is killed Hawks and Falcons have their Nests in several places of these Islands as in the Noup Swendal and Rapnes in Westra at Highberry and Aith-head in Waes at Braebrake Furcarsdale and Rathwick in Hoy at Halcro Greehead and Hocksa in South-Ronalsha at Bellibrake and Quendal in Rousa at Rousumhead and Lambhead in Stronsa in the calf of Eda at Gatnip Gultack Mulehead in Dierness Copinsha Blackcraig of Stromnes Yeskrabie Birsa Marwick and Costahead in the Mainland The King's Falconer comes every Year and takes the young who has Twenty Pound Sterling in Salary and a Hen or Dog out of every House in the Country except some places that are Privileg'd There are several Mines of Tinn Lead and perhaps of other Metals especially in the Mainland South-Ronalsha Hoy Stronsa Sanda but are neglected or not improved through Poverty or Carelessness A great deal of Marle is found especially in the Mainland of which the Husbandman makes good use for mannor In many places are Quarries of excellent free or sand Stone and Slate Not far from Birsa at Buckquoy and Swinna are to be found some Veins of Marble and Alabaster On the shore sometimes is to be found Sperma Ceti Ambergreese Watersponges and a great many Cuttle-bones or Os Sepiae Sometimes they catch Exotick Fowls driven in by the Wind in time of a Storm as one some time ago that had along Beak a large tuft on the Head in fashion of a Crown with speckled Feathers very pleasant to see which I believe was the Upupa and two or three Years ago in Sanda there was a very beautiful Bird driven in there alive they afterwards shot it and I had it sent me 't was something like a Woodpecker but of extraordinary lively Colours especially a light Blue and a Green And I have seen the Albardeola or Shovelaer driven in there Some Years since the Day being exceeding Stormy there were found before a Gentleman's Door in Kirkwal some little distance from the Sea seven or eight Quiths a Fish something less than a Whiting half alive as if they had been but newly taken it 's like the violent Wind they swimming on the top of the Water had heav'd them out of the Sea and when the strength of the blast was gone they had fall'n on that place But how violently the Wind blows here and how great is the force of the Sea breach may appear from this That at Cantick-head and Osnua-head in Waes there are by the violence of the Sea and Winds large Stones thrown up from the bottom a great way above the Rock some so large That some Men can hardly move them This Country being divided in to small Islands it cannot be expected there should be in it any Rivers yet there is every where a great many Rivulets or Bourns as they call them well replenish'd with Trouts both small and great some of them like to young Salmon There is a large Loch or Lake in the Mainland call'd the Loch of Stennis but unfruitful Besides that there are in every Island some small Lochs but they serve for no other use but to afford Water to their Mills and Cattle There be also some Lochs that have some remarkable properties as Saint Tredwell's Loch in Papa-Westra which they say is Medicinal but for what I know not There is another Loch in Shapinsha of which it is said that if any wash their feet in it they will strike out in Blisters The Loch of Swanna in the Mainland will have in some parts a thick scum of a Copper Colour upon it which makes some think there is some Mine under it This Country is most commodious for Navigation there being every where excellent Bays and Ports for Shipping the most remarkable of which I have given an account of in the last Chapter CHAP. III. Of the Ancient Monuments and Curiosities of this Country An Account of the Dwarfie Stone in Hoy. Of the Obelisks and standing Stones in Stennis Of the figur'd Stone Causey near Skeal Of some Urns and Burial Places found in several places An Account of the Finn-men that are sometimes driven in there THere is in Hoy lying betwixt two Hills a Stone call'd the Dwarfie-Stone which is one entire Stone thirty six Foot long eighteen Foot broad nine Foot thick hallow'd within by the Hand of some Mason for the prints of the Irons are to be seen on it to this day with a square hole of about two Foot high for the entry and a Stone proportionable standing before it for a Door Within at one end is a Bed excellently cut out of the Stone with a Pillow wherein two Men may lie together at their full length at the other end is a Couch and in the middle a Hearth for a Fire with a round hole cut out above for the Chimney It stands in a desolate melancholy place more than a Mile from any inhabited House and all the Ground about it nothing but high Heath and Heather It 's thought to have been the residence of some melancholy Hermit See the Figure of it At the West-end of this Stone stands on exceeding high Mountain of a steep ascent call'd the Wart Hill of Hoy near the top of which in the Month of May June and July about Mid-day is seen something that shines and sparkles
of Cathnes over-against this Country or from some Colony of the Picts who first Planted this Country and from some Similitude with the Name whereby they call'd themselves might be so call'd by the Romans As for the English name Orkney it may be derived from some Pictish Prince as Erick or Orkenwald or some other who has been famous in the first Plantation or might have got the name from some remarkable Title which the first Planters the Pights took to themselves for Picts or Pights as Verstegan says in the Teutonick Tongue signifies Fighters and Orkney may come from Ear which signifies Honour and Kyn which signifies on Off-spring as if the name were intended to shew That they were an Off-spring or Generation of Honour This Country lies in the Northern temperate Zone and thirteenth Climate the Longitude being 22 Degrees and 11 Minutes and Latitude 59 Degrees and 2 Minutes the Compass varying eight Degrees so that the length of the longest Day is eighteen Hours and some odd Minutes yet notwithstanding that this Country is so far remov'd to the North the Air is temperate and wholsome agreeing well with those Constitutions that can endure a little Cold. At Midnight it is so clear for a great part of June that one may read a Letter in his Chamber yet it cannot be true what Bleau reports That from the Hill of Hoy a Man may see the Sun at Midnight for it cannot be the true Body of the Sun that is seen but the Image of it refracted through some watry Cloud about the Horizon seeing it must be as far depressed under our Horizon in June as it is elevated above it in December which is by many Degrees for from that Hill the Sun is to be seen in the shortest Day in December above five Hours The Air and Clouds here by the operation of the Sun do sometimes generate several things as some Years since some Fishermen Fishing half a League from Land over-against Copinsha in a fair Day there fell down from the Air a Stone about the bigness of a Foot-ball which fell in the middle of the Boat and sprung a Leake to the great danger of the Lives of the Men that were in it which could be no other than some Substance generated in the Clouds The Stone was like condensed or petrefied Clay and was a long time in the custody of Captain Andrew Dick at that time Steward of this Country and Captain Dick who is yet alive told me he gave it to the late Earl of Glencairn Here the Winters are generally more subject to Rain than Snow nor does the Frost and Snow continue so long here as in other parts of Scotland but the Wind in the mean time will often blow very boisterously and it Rains sometimes not by drops but by spouts of Water as if whole Clouds fell down at once In the Year 1680 in the Month of June after great Thunder there fell flakes of Ice near a foot thick This Country is wholly surrounded with the Sea having Pightland-Firth on the South the Deucaledonian Ocean on the West the Sea that divides it from Zetland on the North and the German Sea on the East Zetland stands North-East and by East from Orkney and from the Start of Sanda in Orkney to Swinburg Head the most Southerly Point in Zetland is about eighteen leagues where there is nothing but Sea all the way save Fair Isle which lies within eight Leagues of Swinburg-Head Pightland-Firth which divides this Country from Cathnes is in breadth from Duncansbay in Cathnes to the nearest point of South-Ronalsha in Orkney about twelve Miles in it are a great many different Tides reckon'd to the number of twenty four which run with such an impetuous force that a Ship under sail is no more able to make way against the Tide than if it were hinder'd by a Remora which I conceive is the reason why some have said they have found the Remora in these Seas In this Firth about two Miles from the Coast of Cathnes lies Stroma a little pleasant Island but because of its vicinity to Cathnes and its being still under the Jurisdiction of the Lords of that Country it is not counted as one of the Isles of Orkney On the North-side of this Isle is a part of Pightland-Firth call'd the Swelchie of Stroma and at the West-end of the Isle betwixt it and Mey in Cathnes there is another part of the Firth call'd the Merry Men of Mey both which are very dangerous to Seamen The Sea ebbs and flows here as in other places yet there are some Phaenomena the reason of which cannot so easily be found out as in the Isle of Sanda it flows two hours sooner on the West-side than it does on the East-side and in North Faira which lies betwixt Eda and Westra the Sea ebbs nine hours and flows but three And at Hammoness in Sanda both ebb and flood run one way except at the be ginning of a quick Stream when for two or three hours the flood runs South The Sea here is very turbulent in a Storm and uneasie even to those on Land especially in those places of the Country that lie expos'd to Pightland-Firth and the Western Ocean for when the Storm beats that way the Sea dashes with such violence against the Rocks that a great deal of the Sea is carry'd in some places near a quarter of a mile on the Land and falls like a great shower of Rain on the Ground which is very oft prejudicial to their Corn at certain Seasons The Tides also are very swift and violent by reason of the multitude of the Isles and narrowness of the Passage for when all the rest of the Sea is smooth these Tides carry their Waves and billows high and run with such violence that they cause a contrary motion in the Sea adjoyning to the Land which they call Easter-birth or Wester-birth according to its course yet notwithstanding of the great rapidity of these Tides and Births the Inhabitants daily almost travel from Isle to Isle about their several affairs in their little Cockboats or Yoals as they call them Whatever the Ancients have written of the number of the Islands of Orkney it 's certain there are but twenty six at present inhabited viz. South-Ronalsha Swinna Hoy and Waes Burra Lambholm Flotta Faira Cava Gramsey Pomona or Mainland Copinsha Shapinsha Damsey Inhallo Stronsa Papa-Stronsa Sanda North-Ronalsha Eda Rousa Wyre Gairsa Eglesha North-Faira Westra Papa-Westra The rest of the Islands are call'd Holms and are only used for Pasture all of them being separated from one another by some narrow Streights Most of these Islands names end in a or ey which in the Teutonick signifieth Water to shew that these Isles are pieces of Land surrounded with Water These Islands are of different Natures some Sandy some Marsh some abounding in Heath and Moss and some that have none some of them Mountainous and some Plain Of these some are call'd the
South-Isles and others the North-Isles and that as they stand to the South or North of the greatest Island call'd the Mainland South-Ronalsha is the Southermost of these Islands five Miles long fertile in Corn and abounding with People To the South-East lie the Pightland Skerries dangerous to Seamen but to the North is St. Margarets Hope a very safe Harbour for Ships which has no difficulty in coming to it save a Rock in the middle of the Sound betwixt this Island and Burra call'd Lippa From Burwick in this Isle is the usual Ferry to Duncansbay in Cathnes A little separated from this to the South-West lies Swinna a little Isle and only considerable for a part of Pight land-Firth lying a little to the West of it call'd the Wells of Swinna which are two Whirlpools in the Sea occasion'd as is thought by some Hintus that is in the Earth below that run about with such violence that if any Boat or Ship come within their reach they will whirl it about and about till it be swallow'd up and drown'd They are only dangerous in a great Calm for if there be any Wind and the Boat under Sail there is no danger to go over them If a Boat happen to come near them in a Calm by the force of the Tide driving that way the Boats-men for their preservation throw a Barrel or an Oar or any bulky thing that comes next to hand into the Wells and when it is swallow'd up the Sea remains smooth for a time for any Boat to pass over Beyond this and to the West of South-Ronalsha lies Waes and Hoy thought to be the Dumna of Pliny which are but one Isle about twelve Miles in length full of high Mountains and but thinly inhabited unless in Waes where the Ground is very pleasant and fertile From Snelsetter in Waes is the other Ferry from this Country to Ham in Cathnes Here are several good Harbours as Kirk-hope North-hope Ore-hope and others but not now much frequented tho' North-hope be one of the best Harbours in this Country if not in the whole World and most proper for those that design a Fishing Trade To the North of South-Ronalsha lies Burra a pleasant little Isle fruitful in Corns and abounding in Rabbits Betwixt Burra and the Mainland is Lambholm and to the West towards Hoy-mouth lies Flotta Faira Cava Gramsey all of them fruitful and pleasant Islands tho' they be not large Next to these is the Mainland call'd by the Ancients Pomona or Pomonia about twenty four Miles in length and well inhabited About the middle of this Island to the North stands Kirkwall the only Town in all this Country There are in the Mainland four excellent Harbours for Ships one at Kirkwall both large and safe without any danger by Shoals or blind Rocks as they come to it unless they come from the West by Inhallo and Gairsa Another Harbour is at Deirsound which is a great Bay and a very safe Road for Ships having good anchoring ground and capable of sheltering the greatest Navies The third is at Grahamshall toward the East-side of this Isle where there is a convenient Road but the Ship that sails to it from the East would do well to keep betwixt Lambholm and the Mainland for the other way betwixt Lambholm and Burra which appears to them to be only open is very shallow and dangerous even for small Ships The fourth is at Kairston a small Village at the West end of the Mainland where there is a very safe and commodious Harbour well fenc'd against all Winds by two small Holms that stand at the entry To the East of the Mainland lies Copinsha a little Isle but very conspicuous to Seamen as is that Holm to the North-East of it call'd the Horse of Copinsha To the North of the Mainland lie the North-Isles the first of which is Shapinsha about five or six Miles in length and hath a very safe Harbour for Ships at Elwick Of an equal bigness to that toward the South-East lies Stronsa where there is two very good Harbours one at Lingasound fenc'd with Lingaholm the other at Strynie fenc'd with a little pleasant Isle to the North of it call'd Papa-Stronsa Beyond these toward the North at some distance lies Sanda about twelve Miles long but very narrow well inhabited it hath two Roads for Ships one at Kitletoft guarded by a little Holm call'd the Holm of Elsnes the other at Otterswick guarded by the most Northern-Island in all this Country call'd North-Ronalsha which is a little fruitful Isle but both it and Sanda have no Moss Ground but are obliged to bring their Peits and Turfs which is the only Fuel they have thorough this whole Country a great way off from the next adjacent Island Eda This Eda lyeth to the South-East of Sanda thought to be the Ocetis of Ptolemy near five Miles in length full of Moss and Hills but thinly inhabited unless it be about the skirts of it it has a safe Road to the North call'd Calf-sound Three Miles to the West of Kirkwall at the bottom of a large Bay lies a little Island call'd Damsey with a Holm near it as large as it self To the North North-West lies Rousa about six Miles long but very hilly and ill inhabited Betwixt it and the Mainland lies Inhallo and towards Kirkwall lies Wyre and Gairsa small but profitable Islands North from Kirkwall at eight Miles distance is Eglesha near three Miles in length very pleasant and fertile having a safe Road for Ships betwixt it and Wyre In this Isle there is a little handsome Church where it is said that Saint Magnus the Patron of this Country lies Bury'd To the North of Eglesha is Westra seven Miles long pleasant fertile and well inhabited There is in it a convenient Harbour for Ships at Piriwa At the East of it lies Faira call'd for distinction Faira by North and to the North and by East is Papa-Westra a pleasant Isle three Miles in length famous in this Country for Saint Fredwell's Chapel and Lake of which many ridiculous things are reported by the Vulgar All these Islands are indifferently fruitful well stor'd with Fields of Corn and Herds of Cattle and abound with Rabbits and the greatest plenty of Muir-fowl and Plover that there is any where but have no Hares or Partridges The chief products of this Country and which are Exported yearly by the Merchant are Butter Tallow Hides Barley Malt Oatmeal Fish Salted Beef Pork Rabbit-skins Otter-skins white Salt Stuffs Stockings Wool Hams Writing-Pens Downs Feathers c. A South-East and North-West Moon causeth high Water throughout all this Country CHAP. II. Of the Plants growing naturally in Orkney Of those Beans call'd the Molucca Beans thrown in there A Description of a strange Fish taken in Sanda An Account of their Land and Sea-shells Of their Mines Of some exotick Fowls driven in there and some other effects of violent Storms Of their Lakes and Locks I Did not find
is Trenched about of it nothing now remains but the first Floor It is a perfect Square the Wall eight foot thick strongly built and cemented with Lime the breadth or length within Walls not being above ten foot having a large Door and a slit for the Window Of this Cubbirow the Common people report many Idle Fables not fit to be inserted here In the Parish of Hara in the Mainland in a Marle-pit as they were digging Marle for mannor to their ground there was found in the Marle a large piece of a Harts horn as I was credibly inform'd by a Gentleman who got the Horn from these men and had it then by him In the Parish of Evie near the Sea are some small hillocks which frequently in the night time appear all in a Fire and the Church of Evie called St. Nicholas is oft seen full of Light as if Torches or Candles were burning in it all night This amazes the people greatly but possibly it 's nothing else but some thick glutinous Meteor that receives that Light in the night time At the Noup-head in Westra is a Rock surrounded with the Sea call'd Less which the inhabitants of that Isle say has this strange property that if a Man go upon it having any Iron upon him the Sea will instantly swell in such a Tempestuous way that no Boat can come near to take him off and the Sea will not be calm'd till the Iron be thrown away I being there to make an experiment of it offer'd Money to a poor fellow to go upon the Rock with a piece of Iron but he would not do it on any terms Sometimes about this Country are seen these men they call Finn-men In the year 1682 one was seen in his little Boat at the South end of the Isle of Eda most of the people of the Isle flock'd to see him and when they adventur'd to put out a Boat with Men to see if they could apprehend him he presently fled away most swiftly And in the year 1684 another was seen from Westra I must acknowledge it seems a little unaccountable how these Finn-men should come on this coast but they must probably be driven by Storms from home and cannot tell when they are any way at Sea how to make their way home again they have this advantage that be the Seas never so boisterous their Boat being made of Fish Skins are so contrived that he can never sink but is like a Sea-gull swimming on the top of the Water His shirt he has is so fastned to the Boat that no Water can come into his Boat to do him damage except when he pleases to unty it which he never does but to ease nature or when he comes ashore A full account of these Finn-men may be had en L'histoire naturelle moralle des Antilles Chap. 18. One of their Boats which was catched in Orkney was sent from thence to Edinburgh and is to be seen in the Physicians Hall with the Oar and Dart he makes use of for killing Fish There is another of their Boats in the Church of Burra in Orkney CHAP. IV. Some peculiar Customs Manners and Dispositions of the Inhabitants of this Country An Account of a Woman that had a Child in the 63d Year of her Age. An Account of their Diseases and some of their particular Cures A particular Language amongst them Their way of Transporting and Weighing their Corn. Their custom of Sheep-shearing And the way they have to catch Sea-Fowls And an Account of some Remarkable Accidents that have fallen out here THE People here are generally civil sagacious circumspect and piously inclined Though Boethius reports them to be great Drunkards and Maginus says of them quod sunt bibacissimi nunquam tamen inebriantur yet now it is not so for though they use strong Ale and Beer the nature of the Country requiring strong Liquor yet generally they are Sober and Temperate but withal much given to Hospitality and Feasting very civil and liberal in their entertaining of Strangers and much inclined to speak ill of those that are peevishly or niggardly dispos'd Buchanan tells a Story which is still believ'd here and talk'd of as a truth though now there be nothing of it That at Scapa a place about a mile of Kirkwal to the South there was kept a large cup and when any new Bishop landed there they filled it with strong Ale and offer'd it to him to drink and if he happened to drink it of chearfully they promised to themselves a Noble Bishop and many good years in his time In many places the Landlord has his Tenant bound to give him and his followers a liberal Entertainment once a year especially at Christmas at which time the People of this Country are generally inclin'd to Feasting and the Tenant wont fail to have good Victuals and strong Ale which they call Bummock in readiness and will be much offended if the Landlord refuse to make merry with them The People are generally personable and comely Polyd. Virgil says of them Quod statura sunt procera semper sano corpore pariter ac mente quo fit ut multo longissimam degant aetatem etsi piscibus ut plurimum victitant The Women are Lovely and of a Beautiful countenance and very broody and apt for generation one Marjory Bimbister in the Parish of Evie was in the year 1683 brought to bed of a Male child in the sixty third year of her age as may be seen by the following attestation We under subscribers testify and declare that Marjory Bimbister in the Parish of Evie in Orkney was in September 1683. untimeously delivered of a Male child though we have also sure account of her age in our Register of Baptism yet many of the Parish who are of sixty four years and whose age is certainly known report that to their knowledge she is as old as they besides her self remembers that in the year 1631 which was a year of Famine in this Country and from which the common People usually reckon she was keeping Cattle being then a Girl as she thought about nine or ten Years of Age. In the Year 1660 she was marry'd to Adam Hourie to whom about five Years after viz. Anno 1665 she had a Child from which time she was Barren till September 1683 when she was delivered of a male Child at which time it is probably thought both by her Neighbors and nearest Relations that she was at least about Sixty two or Sixty three Years Sic Subscribitur Ja. Grahame Minister  Will. Ballenden  Edward Sinclair Clerk  Will. Halcro By reason of the temperance of their Dyet and wholsomness of the Air the People usually live to a great Age. A Man in the Parish of Ham dyed not many Years since who liv'd upwards of Fourscore Years with one Wife in a marry'd estate There is also a Gentleman yet living in Stronsa who was Begotten of his Father when he was an hundred Years