or Orcades, a group of islands in the North Sea, which, with the sister group of the Zetlands, form one of the counties of Scotland. They are separated from Caithness by the Pentland Firth, a strait of about 8 miles in breadth, and are situated between the parallels Orkney Islands.
58° 44' and 59° 24' N. Lat., and between 2° 24' and 3° 20' W. Long. In number they amount to sixty-seven, of which twenty-seven are inhabited, and the others, known by the name of holms, are employed principally as grazing grounds for sheep and black cattle. The islands are divided into two groups, called—in reference to Pomona, the principal island—the North and South Isles. The following are the names of the inhabited islands, with their population, according to the census taken in 1851:
| SOUTH ISLES | Pop. | NORTH ISLES | Pop. | |-------------|------|-------------|------| | South Ronaldshay | 2458 | Sandey | 2004 | | Walls and Hoy | 1553 | Westrey and Papa Westrey | 2459 | | Floatey and Farye | 441 | Stronsay and Papa Stronsay | 1211 | | Barrey | 559 | Roseay and Enabhalloch | 961 | | Gremsey | 226 | Shapinsay | 899 | | Swaney and the Skerries | 57 | Edey and Pharey | 1016 | | Copinsay | 11 | North Ronaldshay | 526 | | Haney | 5 | Eaglesay | 192 | | Cavey | 24 | Weir | 62 | | Lambholm | 13 | Gairsay | 41 |
5389 | 9371
Pomona, or the Mainland, has a population of 16,695; and thus the whole number of inhabitants amounts to 31,455. The number in 1831 was 28,847.
In the absence of an accurate survey it is impossible to give anything like a correct estimate of the extent of the country. We have heard the number of square acres fixed at 150,000, and we have heard that number doubled. The very irregular form of the islands, penetrated by arms of the sea in all directions, easily accounts for this diversity of opinion.
The general appearance of the islands is bleak, and upon the whole uninteresting. The want of wood, and the tracts of waste uncultivated land, though these are diminishing in number and extent, present a somewhat forbidding aspect.
Orkney is divided into twenty-two parishes, forming three presbyteries and one synod. There are also fourteen Free Church congregations, thirteen congregations in connection with the United Presbyterian Church, and three Independent congregations, in Orkney. Together with Zetland, these islands constitute one sherrifdom, or stewartry, under the jurisdiction of a sheriff-depute and two substitutes, whose courts are held at Kirkwall and Lerwick. Till the passing of the Reform Bill, Orkney alone had the privilege of returning a member to Parliament—the landholders of Zetland, owing to the want of a separate valuation of their estates, having no vote in the election. In 1857 the parliamentary constituency amounted to 617; and of these there were 422 voters belonging to Orkney, and 195 to Zetland. Of the land-tax payable for the county, two-thirds are levied from Orkney, and one-third from the northern division of the stewartry.
We shall now proceed to notice the principal islands, and to point out the most remarkable objects in them.
The most southerly is South Ronaldshay, containing 24 square miles, and a population that has increased during the last twenty years by 200, chiefly employed in agriculture, and the cod, herring, and lobster fisheries. There are two excellent harbours in this island—Widewall Bay on the west, and St Margaret's Hope on the north. The antiquities of the island are—several Picts' houses, three or four monumental stones of large size, and the Howe of Hoxa, an ancient stronghold.
To the north-west of South Ronaldshay lies Hoy, in many respects the most interesting of all the smaller islands. It contains the Ward or Wart Hill, rising to the height of almost 1600 feet, the loftiest mountain in Orkney; the towering precipices of Rorey and Rackwick; washed by the fury of the Western Ocean; the huge isolated rock called the Old Man of Hoy; the Meadow of the Kaim; the beautiful vale of Berrydale, through which flows a stream whose banks are fringed with birches, creeping juniper, and willows; and the "Dwarfie Stone,"—objects which will repay a lengthened visit. Forming part of the island of Hoy, but constituting a different parish, is Walls, or Waas, distinguished chiefly for its excellent harbour, Long Hope, which is partially defended by a small battery and a couple of martello towers. Burray, situated to the north of South Ronaldshay, and separated from it by a channel of a mile in breadth, has an area of only 3 square miles, but produces grain, green crops, and good pasture, and has moreover a valuable rabbit-warren. Further north is the largest island of the group, Pomona, or Mainland, extending to 30 miles in length, and containing upwards of 200 square miles. The towns of Kirkwall and Stromness are in this island. (See articles Kirkwall and Stromness.) Excepting Kirkwall, Stennis on the Mainland has the greatest claims on the attention of the traveller and the antiquary. Here are the "Stones of Stennis," two collections of what at one time must have been upright pillars, forming a circle and a semicircle. Many of these stones are now overthrown; but the circle, when complete, seems to have been formed of sixty pillars, of which thirteen still remain erect and perfect; ten more are prostrate, though unbroken, and the fragments of thirty others are still visible. The stones vary from 10 to 16 feet in height, and from 2½ to 5 feet in breadth. The entire circle is surrounded by a trench about 20 feet in width, and the diameter of the included space cannot be less than 300 feet. There have been many conjectures as to the purpose of these erections; and it is by no means certain by whom they were raised. One opinion is that they are of Druidical, and another that they are of Scandinavian origin. A not improbable conjecture is, that the circle was dedicated to the sun, and the semicircle to the moon, the frequent objects of Scandinavian worship. Of these stones the most interesting was one which stood near to, but did not form part of the circle. It was perforated by a small hole, through which the heads of children were passed in order to secure them against palsy in after-life; and through that hole also lovers' hands were joined in token that the vows there made should be faithfully kept. These contracts were deemed peculiarly binding, and the promise of Odin was regarded by an Orkney man as of too solemn a nature to be trifled with. The malice or stupidity of a stranger, who rented a neighbouring farm, induced him in 1814 to overthrow and break to pieces this curious relic of ancient times. In front of the circle lies a large horizontal stone, conjectured to have been used for sacrificial purposes; and it has been thought that it was on this altar that Einar, Earl of Orkney, son of Ronald, about the year 893, or, according to other accounts, 930, stretched Halfdan, the son of Harold the Fair-haired, King of Norway, and tearing out his lungs, presented the reeking gift to his god.
In the adjoining parish of Sandwick, the grandeur of the rocks must attract the notice of the visitor; and one huge archway, formed by the restless fury of the waves, called the Hollow Row, or Hole of Row, is specially deserving of attention.
Robert Stewart, Earl of Orkney, had a palace in Birsey, the next parish on the N.W., the ruins of which still remain. Brand, who visited the country in 1700, says—
"The palace is two stories high; the upper hath been prettily decored, the ceiling being all painted, and that for the most part with schemes, holding forth Scripture histories,—as Noah's flood, Christ's riding to Jerusalem,—and the Scripture is set down beside the figure. It was inhabited within these twenty years, but is now fast decaying."
For some conjectures as to the origin of this name, see the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, vol. i., p. 16. About forty years ago, the writer of this article saw the palace. All the decorations, the roof, and a great part of the walls, were then gone; and the clergyman of the parish informed him that the ruins had long been regarded as a common quarry, whence any intending builder drew materials for the erection of his house. It was over the gateway of this building that the inscription was placed, which, owing to a grammatical error, was seized on as affording evidence of the treasonable designs of the family on the trial of Patrick Earl Robert's son: "Dominus Robertus Stuartus, filius Jacobi quinti rex Scotorum, hoc opus instruxit." The two islands of Shapinshey and Rousay, each containing from 10 to 12 square miles, lie to the N. of the Mainland. The former is flat; in the latter the highest hills, save those of Hoy, are found. In Shapinshey, great improvements in various ways have lately been effected, and the resident proprietor has erected a stately mansion-house, the largest in the county. Rousay presents to the antiquary for his investigation, tumuli, Picts' houses, standing stones, and a number of ancient graves. Planting has recently and to some extent, and not without a very considerable measure of success, been attempted in the island.
To the E. of Rousay is the beautiful islet of Eagleshey, the favourite summer residence of the ancient jarls, and at a later period, of the bishops of Orkney. It was here that St Magnus, the tutelar saint of the islands, was basely murdered by his cousin Hacon in 1110. On the highest part of the island stands the ancient chapel dedicated to St Magnus. Beyond these, to the N.E., lie Stronsay, where there is an extensive fishing station, and Eday, that can boast of a burgh of barony. Still farther N. lie Sandey on the E., and Westrey on the W. The former, because of its productivity, has been called the granary of Orkney; it is a flat, low-lying island; and, till the erection of a lighthouse on the point of Start in 1806, proved fatal to many a vessel. Westrey is, with the exception of Sandey, the largest of the North Isles. In it are the remains of the strong castle of Noltland, begun by Thomas Tulloch, Bishop of Orkney, between 1422 and 1448, and whose initials, T. T., are to be seen on the pillar that supports the great staircase. The castle was never completed; and a traveller, who describes it under the date of 1529, says—"Est excellentissima arx, sive castellum, sed nondum tamen adhuc completa." In consequence of sand blowing, a number of graves, containing, among bones, the remains of various weapons, have been uncovered. These places of sepulture are generally formed of five stones, four standing on their edges and resting on the fifth. Separated from Westrey by a firth of a mile in breadth, is the small island of Papa Westrey, with its beautiful fresh-water loch, in the midst of which is a small island, on which a chapel dedicated to St Tredwall stood. The most northerly of the islands is North Ronaldshey, containing an area of from four to six square miles. It was on a reef near this island that the "Sueha" of Gottenburg, an Indianman, valued at half a million sterling, was wrecked in 1740; and here too, four years afterwards, another Indianman, "The Crown Prince of Denmark," with thirty chests of treasure, was cast away.
The geology of the islands, though not presenting much variety, is interesting, and worthy of attention from the vast numbers of ichthyolites to be found. There is a central nucleus or backbone of granite or gray gneiss, extending for about six miles, around which, or diverging from which, runs an immense development of the Devonian formation, or lower Old Red Sandstone. As is almost invariably the case, the sandstone is found disrupted and distorted by the upheaved trap, and the picturesque grandeur of the iron-bound coast is much owing to the washing away of the softer and interposed materials, leaving the more conservative whin dykes (greenstone, basalt, porphyry, &c.) pierced and perforated and hollowed out into a thousand fantastic but not the less magnificent shapes. The Asteroles, that gives the title to one of his best known works, was found by Mr Hugh Miller in the immediate neighbourhood of Stromness.
The Orkney flora is known to consist of 545 species, and there can be little doubt that additions will be made to this number as more careful examinations are made. The only Orkney plant new to the British flora is the Chara aspera, first seen by the Rev. Charles Clouston, minister of Sandwick. Considerable attention, and not without results, has lately been paid to the algae and fucoid plants.
The Fauna Orcadensis of Low enumerates—of quadrupeds, 11 genera; of birds, 34 genera; of reptiles, 2 genera; and of fishes, 33 genera.
The following remarks on the climate of Orkney, by the Rev. Charles Clouston, contain matter at once new and interesting, and we allow his observations to speak for themselves, merely adding, in a sentence, that an Orkney summer has many and peculiar charms—the length of day, the duration of twilight, the rapid vegetation, and above all, the stillness of the sleeping ocean on a calm evening, compensate in no small degree for the absence of other beauties.
The following table gives the mean monthly and annual temperature of Orkney, deduced from observations made twice a-day for thirty-one years; the first six at the manse of Stromness, about half a mile from the sea, and not 100 feet above its level, and the remaining twenty-five at that of Sandwick, 2 miles from the sea, and 100 feet above its level; also the mean monthly and annual state of the barometer for nineteen years at the manse of Sandwick; and the mean monthly and annual quantity of rain that fell at the same place for the last seventeen years:
| Months | Thermometer | Barometer | Hygrometer | |--------------|-------------|-----------|------------| | January | 38°35 | 29°565 | 4°26 | | February | 38°18 | 29°682 | 3°18 | | March | 40°36 | 29°815 | 2°55 | | April | 43°45 | 29°829 | 1°78 | | May | 47°82 | 29°880 | 1°57 | | June | 52°76 | 29°838 | 2°15 | | July | 55°20 | 29°802 | 2°32 | | August | 55°03 | 29°785 | 2°89 | | September | 52°47 | 29°851 | 2°71 | | October | 47°57 | 29°710 | 4°71 | | November | 42°73 | 29°697 | 4°62 | | December | 41°10 | 29°690 | 4°33 | | Annual | 46°26 | 29°762 | 3°66 |
Strangers naturally form a very wrong and unfavourable opinion of the climate of Orkney, and its peculiarities are only beginning to be understood by even the best informed of its own inhabitants. From these observations it has been ascertained, that the mean annual temperature of Orkney is not only equal to that of the north and middle of Scotland, but even that of the southern border; for, on comparing the Orkney table of temperature for the last thirty-one years, with one for twenty years kept by that accurate observer Dr Dunbar of Applegarth, Dumfriesshire, we find the mean temperature of Orkney to be 46°26, and that of Applegarth 46°24—the difference being in favour of Orkney, but so minute, that they may be considered equal. While, however, this station in Dumfries is between 4° and 5° colder than Orkney in December and January, its temperature gradually rises, till in July, which is the warmest month in both places, it is above 3° warmer than Orkney. The mildness of the Orkney winter is indeed so great, that the mean temperature of December, January, and February there, is higher than that of several parts of England.
This arrangement may be pleasant or favourable to animal life; but it is far from being favourable to vegetation, as the luxuriance of the common crops depends on the temperature of three or four months in summer while they are in the ground, and not at all on that of the rest of the year. This equability of temperature injurious as it is to the growth of common annual crops, is doubly so to such perennials as trees, as there is neither such extreme heat in summer as to mature the wood of the young branches, which are therefore killed in winter; nor such extreme cold in winter as to lay vegetation completely asleep. Evergreens are particularly sickly in Orkney. The sea-spray in winter, which frequently loads the air, and falls and crystallizes upon their leaves, renders them much more liable to be killed than other kinds of trees, some of which grow under shelter to the height of 20 or 30 feet.
The difference between the mean temperature of February, which is the coldest month (38°18'), and that of July, which is the warmest (55°20'), is only about 17°; and during all the period of observation, the mean temperature of any month never fell so low as the freezing point, except in February 1838 and February 1855, when it was respectively 31°31' and 31°46'; and it never rose so high as 60°, except in 1852, when it was 61°36'.
In Britain generally, and particularly in the inland parts, the greatest heat occurs about the middle of July, and the greatest cold about the middle of January; and the months equidistant from these are most nearly of equal temperature, as February and December. In Orkney, however, February is the coldest month, though only 6°17 colder than January; and August is just the same decimal of a degree colder than July. In the course of these thirty-one years, January has been colder than February sixteen years, and August has been hotter than July twelve years; so that January and February may be considered equally cold, and July and August equally warm, and the months equidistant from them on each side will be found to correspond most nearly in temperature, as March and December, and again, June and September. These facts are undoubted; and meteorologists agree in ascribing this retardation of the period of extreme heat and cold to the influence of the surrounding ocean, which is neither so quickly heated in summer, nor cooled in winter, as the surface of the land.
During these thirty-one years the thermometer was once observed as low as 14°2 on 16th March 1845, and once as high as 75° on 5th June 1846, but this was without the aid of registering thermometers, which have only been used for about two years.
The mean state of the barometer for the last nineteen years is 29-762 inches; or, when corrected to 32° and sea-level, to enable us to compare it with other places, 29-839 inches. This does not differ materially from its mean height in other parts of Scotland; the mean of about fifty places published by the Scottish Meteorological Society, being for 1856, 29-869 inches, and for 1857, 29-894 inches; the mean of both being 29-881 inches, while the mean of Orkney was, for 1856, 29-839 inches, and for 1857, 29-881 inches; the mean of both being 29-839 inches, or a minute decimal of -008 above the other districts. So far as yet ascertained, therefore, they may be considered equal.
The barometer generally attains its greatest height in May, and gradually descends on each side, the only exception being September, when it takes a step upward, probably indicating the period of the Orkney "peerie summer." The gradual descent from the maximum height becomes prominent only in a long series of observations. The same tendency may be perceived in the tables published in the New Statistical Account of Sandwich and of St Andrews, though the descent is not so regular, and in the latter the greatest height is in June. On the 24th January 1840 the mercury was as low as 27-69 inches, and on 1st February 1841, as high as 31-76 inches; giving a range during these nineteen years of 4-07 inches.
The average annual quantity of rain that fell at Sandwich Manse, during the last seventeen years, is 36-66 inches. This is more than 10 inches above Dr Barry's estimate, which had been assumed as correct by others, without actual measurement. The paucity of observations in other places renders it impossible to say at present whether this is above or below the average for Scotland; and, indeed, much would depend on the situation of those places from which that average was struck. It will probably be found equal to the average of the interior of Scotland and England,—below what is stated to fall on the west coast, and above that on the east. If an extensive table now before us is to be relied on, it is about equal to the fall in Applegher, Liverpool, and Swansea, which is 34 inches; Dumfries and Manchester, 30; Langholm, Dover, and Selborne, 37; Aberdeen, 38; while it is decidedly above Edinburgh, which is 26 inches; York, 22, and London, 20; and below Glasgow, which is 40 inches; Ayrshire, 42; Whitehaven, 48; Restwick, 67; and Earthquake, 86. From the reports of the Meteorological Society, published for 1856 and 1857, it appears that the average of all their stations for these two years was 31-78 inches; while the average of Orkney for the same years was only 29-66 inches, which makes Orkney appear particularly dry; but it would be unfair to found such a conclusion on such a limited period of observation. They must rather be considered as exceptional years, being the driest in Orkney during the period of registration, so that the crops were injured by excessive drought, while there was excessive rain in more southerly districts, from which the crops there suffered severely. May has the least rain, as well as the highest barometer; and the preceding months, embracing the previous December, have more rain the more they precede it. Again, the quantity gradually increases in the succeeding months till October, which is decidedly the wettest, only indicating the "peerie summer" in September by a somewhat smaller fall than during the "Lammas speats" in August.
The direction and force of the wind has also been noted every morning and evening for thirty-one years. The W., used to be considered the most prevalent wind in Orkney, but from this it appears not to have been so for the period noted. It blew from the W., S.W., S., and S.E., 6710 days; while, from the opposite four points, it blew little more than half that time, or 3947 days. The W. wind, indeed, prevails more than that from any other cardinal point, but the S.E. prevails above it; for if we take it onal justice with the W., by adding 236 days of E.S.E. which occur given to the E., and 208 days of S.S.E. which occur given to the S., we find 2474 days of S.E. wind against the 2081 days of W., or 393 days in favour of the S.E. There seems to be a group of years when the S.E. is in excess, and then a group when the W. is so. In the first decade it exceeds the W. very little; in the second a great deal; in the third the W. not only seems to prevail, but the restoration of the intermediate points to the S.E. still leaves it in the minority.
The institution of the Scottish Meteorological Society, and the publication of their reports by their able secretary, Dr Stark, promise to illustrate the meteorology of Scotland; from the great number of observers using similar instruments, placed in similar positions, and at the same hours, thus furnishing excellent means of comparison.
In comparing the climate of Orkney with that of Scotland in general, it would, indeed, be absurd to form a decided opinion from the observations of one year; but it would be as absurd to shut our eyes to the light which they afford us, when they corroborate and illustrate our former observations, and throw light on other points not previously observed. The difference in the state of the barometer by these tables is too trifling to deserve notice. Orkney was a little below the average for Scotland in 1847, but it was much above in the previous year. The columns for registering the thermometers prove the equability of the Orkney climate much more clearly than the previous table of temperature by the common thermometer. It may be seen that in one part of Scotland the greatest heat of summer was 25° above that of Orkney, and the greatest cold of winter 21° below it, thus showing a much wider range of temperature; but that is not a fair comparison, as it refers only to a single observation at one place only. June, July, and August are, at an average, 7°6 hotter during the day, and seven months are colder during the night throughout Scotland than in Orkney, while the latter has a smaller daily range of temperature every month, and in June the difference is 10°. By these observations, the temperature of Orkney seems to be about half a degree lower than the other districts; but it was at least equal in 1856. The mean temperature of Orkney for 1857 is proved to be 47° by the entire agreement of the self-registering thermometers—the dry bulb one, and that 12 inches deep in the soil. The temperature of the deepest spring may also be considered a proof of its correctness, and of that of the mean annual temperature formerly stated; for though it is not much influenced by the remarkable mildness of the latter months of the year, yet it is nearly half a degree higher than the mean annual temperature. The hygrometer, which is Mason's, shows 0°3 less evaporation in Orkney than in the other districts. In noticing the deductions calculated from Glaisher's tables, we may pass without remark the minute difference in the "dew point," and in the "elastic force of vapour;" but we cannot thus pass the very unexpected result of this first year's observations, that the humidity of the atmosphere in Orkney is exactly equal to the average of Scotland. These islands have always been characterized as damp. The surrounding water led us readily to believe it. Salt and sugar are so apt to become damp, and steel to rust, that few could anticipate such a result. We were, however, in some measure prepared for it, as, during the latter half of the previous year, when these hygrometric observations were first made, the humidity in Orkney was only 84°-8, while the average for Scotland was 84°-8. The quantity of salt in the atmosphere, from the sea spray, may probably account for the effect of humidity. The number of rainy days in Orkney was 198, giving an average of 16 to each month; while in the average of all the districts it was only 163, giving an average of 14 to each month. That the difference should be on this side might be anticipated from the latitude of Orkney, and the peculiarity of its situation; and we believe that this difference will be rather increased than diminished by a long series of observations; for, in 1856 the number was 212 in Orkney, and only 160 over Scotland, giving 52 more to Orkney. The mean pressure of the wind in Orkney seems to have exceeded that in the other dis- tricts by a decimal of 1°; but as no anemometer has been used, this can only be viewed as an approximation to the truth.
From observations made at least once a week, and usually more frequently, we find that the mean temperature of the sea for the year is 56°-2° above that of the air and the soil, and nearly 3° above that of our best springs. It is even above the mean temperature of any year yet recorded, and a little above the mean temperature of the sea around the coast of Scotland. This seems one of the strongest proofs that the Gulf Stream reaches the shores of Orkney, or that some stream from a warmer climate, by whatever name it may be called, raises the temperature of the sea beyond what it could be raised by the power of the sun in Orkney, and higher than it raises the air, the soil, or the springs.
The aurora borealis is sometimes very brilliant in Orkney, and frequently gives more or less light during the winter nights. Sun-pillars are occasionally seen about sunset and sunrise in spring. They were first remarked in 1852, when they were particularly fine, and appeared six times at sunset in April alone.
Watery spots are very rare. The writer has only seen one, which lasted over the sea about a mile east of Stromness on 12th September 1839, and the phenomenon caught his attention in Sandwick, 6 miles off, appearing like a dark funnel-shaped cloud, hanging down from other dark clouds.
The Orkney crops of the more hardy kinds of grain, as oats, bere, and barley, are equal to those of other parts of Scotland. Its potatoes are famous in the southern markets for seed, as the Orkney reds, grown in Orkney, are less apt to take the disease when planted in the south than any other variety; but green crop is that in which it particularly excels. The gardeners are scarcely behind those in the south, for the more hardy kinds of vegetables, fruits, and flowers. Apples do not grow well as standards, but thrive pretty well as wall-trees. Pears and cherries grow, but are not very productive. Black currants thrive even better than in the south. Red and white currants and strawberries grow very well, but gooseberries do not always ripen. All the more hardy annuals and perennials met with in the south also adorn the Orkney gardens.
The history of the islands will not detain us long. They seem to have been originally peopled by a Scandinavian tribe; but little certain is known till the year 870, when the Norwegian chiefs who had fled from home because of the victories of Harold the Fair-Haired, arrived there. Harold pursued them six years afterwards, defeated them, and appointed Ronald, Count of Moere, earl of Orkney. He was succeeded, after an interval and some changes, by his son Einar; while another son of his, Rolla, wrested Normandy from Charles the Simple, King of France, and, becoming duke of that province, was the great-great-great-grandfather of William the Conqueror. The descendants of Ronald ruled as jarls for more than four hundred years, when the male line terminated in the person of Magnus, the fifth earl of that name. He died about 1325, leaving one daughter, Matilda, who became the wife of Malise, Earl of Strathern, and had issue Isabell, who married Sir William St Clair, Baron of Rosslyn; and the son of this marriage, Sir Henry, was the first of the Scottish earls of Orkney. His title was admitted by Hacon VI., King of Norway, in 1379. By a treaty entered into before this period between the courts of Norway and Scotland, the former ceded to the latter Man and the Western Islands, for the payment of a certain yearly sum called the "Annual of Norway." This tribute, not having been regularly rendered, soon amounted to a large sum; and after much negotiation on the matter, it was arranged that the arrears of the "Annual" should be held as discharged; that James III. should marry Margaret of Norway; that her dowry should be 60,000 florins; and that Orkney should be impugnated to Scotland for five-sixths of that sum—the islands to be redeemed on payment of the money. This treaty was entered into in 1468. The marriage-portion was never paid; and it has given rise to much controversy whether the claim of Norway to these islands has been ever formally relinquished. This is a question that need not be considered here, as it has been for centuries practically resolved. The earldom remained in the family of St Clair till 1471, when it and the title were merged in, or rather were united to, the crown of Scotland, never again to be alienated except in favour of a lawful son of the king. For almost a century the crown lands were leased to various tenants, till at length, in May 1564, Queen Mary granted a charter to Lord Robert Stuart, her father's son by Dame Euphemia Elphinstone, constituting him Earl of Orkney. Afterwards, by her marriage contract with Bothwell, dated May 1567, Mary bound herself to create her husband Duke of Orkney, and to put him in possession of the islands. He appears never to have been infert, or at all events a month after the marriage he fled, and the dukedom was at an end. Earl Robert had no concern with Orkney from 1567 to 1581; but in the latter year he had another grant of the earldom made to him. This was revoked by King James upon his attaining his majority in 1587. Again a further grant was executed in favour of him and his heirs in 1591, which in 1592 was confirmed by Parliament. Earl Robert died in that year, and the earldom was once more resumed by the crown; and once more, in March 1600, Patrick, son of Robert by the Lady Jean Kennedy, got a grant in his favour; and in May of the same year he obtained a grant of the bishopric. Earl Patrick's many crimes brought him to the scaffold in 1615; and after his death the Orkneys were again unalienably annexed to the Crown, and again they were alienated in 1643. This deed was declared null and void in 1669; and once again, in 1707, they were mortgaged to the Morton family, burdened with an annual payment of L500 to the crown. In 1742 this mortgage was declared irredeemable; and Lord Morton, in 1766, sold his right for L60,000 to Sir Lawrence Dundas, in whose family (now Earldom of Zetland) the property still remains.
Of the trade and manufactures of Orkney, it is not easy to give anything like an accurate estimate. In 1853 the number of vessels was 43, and the tonnage 2485. In 1856 there were 48 vessels, and the tonnage amounted to 3039; and this irrespective of a large unregistered flotilla of smaller crafts. The traffic in steam-vessels not entered in the Orkney custom-house is large, and increasing year by year. The tonnage of the coasting trade in 1856 was 27,680 tons imported, and 29,388 exported. The exports consist chiefly of grain, fish, cattle, sheep, butter, hides, &c. Till a recent period, the principal manufacture in the islands was kelp, which at one time brought L12, L16, or even L20 a ton. The greatest quantity ever made in one year was in 1826, when 3500 tons were manufactured, which, on an average, sold at L7 a ton. In 1837 there were 800 tons of drift-weed kelp made, selling at about five guineas a ton, and 300 tons of cut-weed kelp, averaging per ton half as much.
In 1833 there were forty vessels of about thirty tons, each engaged in the cod-fishery, and they caught and cured about 550 tons of fish. In 1857 there were 318 boats of 10 tons or upwards, and the weight of the fish cured had swelled to 16,424 cwts. In addition to this there were 18 larger vessels, whose united produce amounted to 2731 cwts of salted fish. In 1857 there were 380 herring-boats engaged in that trade; and there were cured and packed on shore 14,075 barrels, besides 700 barrels sold while fresh. During the same year, there were 117 lobster-boats. Sandey furnished the greatest number (23), and Shapinshey the smallest (2). It is estimated that the steamers last year carried from Kirkwall 2703 black cattle, and that 586 went by the sailing-vessels. About 800 went from Stromness.
There are two licensed distilleries in Kirkwall; and in 1857 there were made 11,135 gallons of whisky in Kirkwall, and 5385 in Stromness, yielding, at 8s. a gallon, to the revenue a duty of L6608.
In conclusion, we would remark, that the improvements introduced during the last twenty, and especially the last ten years, are most striking. In the Mainland and North Islands more than 4000 acres of waste land are said to have been reclaimed during the last five years. The vast agricultural capabilities of the county are becoming known, and are being rendered available. Draining is extensively resorted to. Roads are being made under the sanction of an act of Parliament. An Orkney man is ceasing to be the amphibious animal his father was. Regard is had to the division of labour. The farmer is contented to plough his fields, leaving it to the fisherman to plough the main. The improvements in progress, and contemplated, will most materially ameliorate and enrich the county.
The lower classes are orderly, industrious, and far from being ill-informed. The upper classes, as a body, are not inferior to their equals in station in any part of Scotland. More frequent intercourse with the mainland of Scotland is rubbing off certain peculiarities; but we rejoice to know that the character which Orkney possesses for kindness, courtesy, and generous attention to strangers, remains unchanged.