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ORKNEY ISLANDS

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Originally appearing in Volume V20, Page 281 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ORKNEY ISLANDS , a See also:group of islands, forming a See also:county, off the See also:north See also:coast of See also:Scotland. The islands are separated from the mainland by the Pentland See also:Firth, which is 64 m. wide between See also:Brough Ness in the See also:island of See also:South Ronaldshay and Duncansbay See also:Head in See also:Caithness-See also:shire. The group is commonly estimated to consist of 67 islands, of which 30 are inhabited (though in the See also:case of four of them the See also:population comprises only the See also:light-See also:house attendants), but the number may be increased to as many as go by including rocky iislets more usually counted with the islands of which they probably once formed See also:part. The Orkneys See also:lie between 58° 41' and 59° 24' N., and 2° 22' and 3° 26' W., measure 50 M. from N.E. to S.W. and 29 M. from E. to W., and See also:cover 240,476 acres or 375.5 sq. m. Excepting on the See also:west coasts of the larger islands, which See also:present rugged cliff scenery remarkable both for beauty and for colouring, the group lies somewhat See also:low and is of See also:bleak aspect, owing to the See also:absence of trees. The highest hills are found in See also:Hoy. The only other islands containing heights of any importance are See also:Pomona, with See also:Ward See also:Hill (88o ft.), and Wideford (74o ft.) and Rousay. Nearly all of the islands possess lakes, and See also:Loch Harray and Loch Stenness in Pomona attain noteworthy proportions. The See also:rivers are merely streams draining the high See also:land. Excepting on the west fronts of Pomona, Hoy and Rousay, the coast-See also:line of the islands is deeply indented, and the islands themselves are divided from each other by straits generally called sounds or firths, though off the north-See also:east of Hoy the designation Bring Deeps is used, south of Pomona is Scapa Flow and to the south-west of Eday is found the Fall of Warness. The very names of the islands indicate their nature, for the terminal a or ay is the Norse ey, meaning " island," which is scarcely disguised even in the words Pomona and Hoy. The islets are usually styled helms and the isolated rocks skerries.

The tidal currents, or races, or roost (as some of them are called locally, from the Icelandic) off many of the isles run with enormous velocity, and whirlpools are of frequent occurrence, and strong enough at times to prove a source of danger to small See also:

craft. The See also:charm of the Orkneys does not lie in their See also:ordinary See also:physical features, so much as in beautiful atmospheric effects, extraordinary examples of light and shade, and See also:rich coloration of cliff and See also:sea. See also:Geology.—All the islands of this group are built up entirely of Old Red See also:Sandstone. As in the neighbouring mainland of Caithness, these rocks See also:rest upon the metamorphic rocks of the eastern See also:schists, as may be seen on Pomona, where a narrow See also:strip is exposed between See also:Stromness and Inganess, and again in the small island of Graemsay; they are represented by See also:grey See also:gneiss and See also:granite. The upper See also:division of the Old Red Sandstone is found only in Hoy, where it forms the Old See also:Man and neighbouring cliffs on the N.W. coast. The Old Man presents a characteristic See also:section, for it exhibits a thick See also:pile of massive, current-bedded red sandstones, resting, near the See also:foot of the See also:pinnacle, upon a thin See also:bed of amygdaloidal porphyrite, which in its turn lies unconformably upon steeply inclined flagstones. This bed of volcanic See also:rock may be followed northward in the cliffs, and it may be noticed that it thickens considerably in that direction. The See also:Lower Old Red Sandstone is represented by well-bedded flagstones over most of the islands; in the south of Pomona these are faulted against an overlying See also:series of massive red sandstones, but a See also:gradual passage from the flagstones to the sandstones may be followed from Westray S.E. into Eday. A strong synclinal See also:fold traverses Eday and Shapinsay, the See also:axis being N. and S. Near Haco's Ness in Shapinsay there is a small exposure of amygdaloidal See also:diabase which is of course older than that in Hoy. Many indications of See also:ice See also:action are found in these islands; striated surfaces are to be seen on the cliffs in Eday and Westray, in See also:Kirkwall See also:Bay and on Stennie Hill in Eday; See also:boulder See also:clay, with marine shells, and with many boulders of rocks See also:foreign to the islands (See also:chalk, oolitic See also:limestone, See also:flint, &c.), which must have been brought up from the region of See also:Moray Firth, rests upon the old strata in many places. See also:Local moraines are found in some of the valleys in Pomona and Hoy.

See also:

Climate and See also:Industries.—The climate is remarkably temperate and equable for so northerly a See also:latitude. The See also:average temperature for the See also:year is 46° F., for See also:winter 39° F. and for summer 54° 3' F. The winter months are See also:January, See also:February and See also:March, the last being the coldest. See also:Spring never begins till See also:April, and it is the See also:middle of See also:June before the See also:heat grows genial. See also:September is frequently the finest See also:month, and at the end of See also:October or beginning of See also:November occurs the peerie (or little) summer, the counterpart of the St See also:Martin's summer of more southerly climes. The average See also:annual rainfall varies from 33.4 in. to 37 in. Fogs occur during summer and See also:early autumn, and furious See also:gales may be expected four or five times in the year, when the See also:crash of the See also:Atlantic waves is audible for 20 M. To tourists one of the fascinations of the islands is their nightless summers." On the longest See also:day the See also:sun rises at 3 o'See also:clock A.M. and sets at 9.25 P.M.; and darkness is unknown, it being possible to read at midnight. Winter, however, is See also:long and depressing. On the shortest day the sun rises at 9.10 A.M. and sets at 3.17 P.M. The See also:soil generally is a sandy See also:loam or a strong but friable clay, and very fertile. Large quantities of seaweed as well as See also:lime and See also:marl are available for manure.

Until the middle of the 19th See also:

century the methods of See also:agriculture were of a See also:primitive See also:character, but since then they .have been entirely transformed, and Orcadian farming is now not below the average See also:standard of the Scottish lowlands. The crofters' houses have been rebuilt of See also:stone and lime, and are See also:superior to those in most parts of the See also:Highlands. The holdings run fairly small, the average being between 30 and 40 acres. Practically the only See also:grain crops that are cultivated are oats (which greatly predominate) and See also:barley, while the favoured See also:root crops are turnips (much the most extensively grown) and potatoes. Not See also:half of the See also:area has been brought under cultivation, and the acreage under See also:wood is insignificant. The raising of live stock is rigorously pursued. Shorthorns and polled See also:Angus are the commonest breeds of See also:cattle; the See also:sheep are mostly Cheviots and a Cheviot-See also:Leicester See also:cross, but the native sheep are still reared in considerable See also:numbers in Hoy and South Ronaldshay; pigs are also kept on several of the islands, and the horses—as a See also:rule See also:hardy, active and small, though larger than the famous See also:Shetland ponies—are very numerous, but mainly employed in connexion with agricultural See also:work. The woollen See also:trade once promised to reach considerable dimensions, but towards the end of the 18th century was superseded by the See also:linen (for which See also:flax came to be largely grown); and when this in turn collapsed before the products of the See also:mills of See also:Dundee, See also:Dunfermline and See also:Glasgow, See also:straw-plaiting was taken up, though only to be killed in due See also:time by the competition of the south. The See also:kelp See also:industry, formerly of at least See also:minor importance, has ceased. Sandstone is quarried on several islands, and distilleries are found in Pomona (near Kirkwall and Stromness). But apart from agriculture the See also:principal industry is fishing. For several centuries the Dutch practically monopolized the See also:herring See also:fishery, but when their supremacy was destroyed by the See also:salt See also:duty, the Orcadians failed to seize the opportunity thus presented, and See also:George See also:Barry (d.

1805) says that in his day the See also:

fisheries were almost totally neglected. The industry, however, has now been organized, and over 2000 persons are employed in the various branches of it. The See also:great catches are herring, See also:cod and See also:ling, but lobsters and crabs are also exported in large quantities. There is a See also:regular communication by steamer between Stromness and Kirkwall, and See also:Thurso, See also:Wick, See also:Aberdeen and See also:Leith, and also between Kirkwall and See also:Lerwick and other points of the Shetlands. Population and See also:Administration.—In 1891 the population numbered 30,453, and in 1901 it was 28,699, or 67 persons to the sq. m. In 1901 there were 70 persons who spoke Gaelic and 'See also:English, but none who spoke Gaelic only. Orkney unites with Shetland to send one member to See also:parliament, and Kirkwall, the county See also:town and the only royal See also:burgh, is one of the Wick See also:district See also:groups of See also:parliamentary burghs. There is a See also:combination poorhouse at Kirkwall, where there are also two hospitals. Orkney forms a sheriffdom with Shetland and Caithness, and a See also:resident See also:sheriff-substitute sits at Kirkwall. The county is under the school-See also:board See also:jurisdiction, but at Kirkwall and Stromness there are public See also:schools giving secondary See also:education. The Inhabited Islands.—Premising that they are more or less scattered, and that several lie on the same See also:plane, the following See also:list gives the See also:majority of the inhabited islands from south to north, the number within brackets indicating the population. See also:Sale Skerry (3) and the Pentland Skerries (8) lie at the eastern entrance of the See also:Portland Firth; Swona (23), 11 M. from the mainland, belongs to Caithness and is situated in the See also:parish of Canisbay; South Ronald-shay (1991) is the best cultivated and most fertile of the See also:southern isles of the group.

On Hoxa Head, to the west of the large See also:

village of St See also:Margaret's See also:Hope, is a broth, or See also:round See also:tower, and the island contains, besides, examples of Picts' houses and See also:standing stones. Hoy (q.v.; 1216) is the southernmost of the larger islands. Flotta (372), east of Hoy, was the See also:home for a long time of the Scandinavian compiler of the Codex Flotticensis, which furnished Thormodr Torfaeus (1636-1719), the Icelandic See also:antiquary, with many of the facts for his See also:History of See also:Norway, more particularly with reference to the Norse occupation of Orkney. Pharay (59) also lies E. of Hoy. Burray (677) is famous for the broch from which the island takes its name (Borgarey, Norse, " island of the broch "). The tower stands on the north-western See also:shore, is 15 ft. high, has walls from 15 to 20 ft. thick, built of layers of See also:flat stones without See also:cement or See also:mortar, and an interior See also:diameter of 40 ft. It is entered from the east by a passage, on each See also:side of which there is a small chamber constructed within the thickness of the See also:wall. Similar See also:chambers occur on the west, north and south sides, accessible only from the interior. Adjoining the southern chamber is the inside See also:stair conducting to the See also:top of the broth; of this stair some twenty steps remain. Between Hoy and Pomona are Hunda (8), Cava (17), and Graemsay (195), which has excellent soil and is mostly under cultivation. The isle is surrounded by shoals, and high-level and low-level lighthouses have been erected, the one at the north-west and the other at the north-east corner. The cliffs of Copinshay (to) are a favourite haunt of sea-birds, which are captured by the cragsmen for their feathers and eggs.

Half a mile to the N.E. is the great rock which, from a fancied resemblance to a See also:

horse rearing its head from the sea, is called the Horse of Copinshay. Pomona (q.v.; 16,235) is the principalisland. and as such is known also as Mainland. Shapinshay (765) was the birthplace of See also:William See also:Irving, See also:father of See also:Washington Irving. It possesses several examples of Pictish and Scandinavian antiquities, such as the " See also:Odin stone " and the broch of Burrowstone. See also:Balfour See also:Castle, a See also:mansion in the Scottish Baronial See also:style built in 1848, is situated near the south-western extremity of the island. The island takes its name from Hjalpand, a Norse See also:viking. Gairsay (33) was the See also:residence of Sweyn Asleifson, the rover, celebrated in the Orkneyinga See also:Saga for his exploits as a trencherman and his feats in See also:battle. Stronsay (1159) is a busy station of the herring fishery, and is also largely under cultivation. At See also:Lamb Head, its south-easterly point, is a broch and Pictish See also:pier, and about 2 M. farther north, on Odin Bay, is a round See also:pit in the rocks called the Vat of Kirbuster. The well of Kildinguie was once resorted to as a specific for leprosy. Papa Stronsay (16) commemorates in its name, as others of both the Orkneys and Shetlands do, the labours of the See also:Celtic papae, or missionaries, who preached the See also:Christian See also:gospel before the arrival of the Northmen. The adjacent Veira or See also:Wire has a population of 6o.

Egilshay (142) is the island on which St See also:

Magnus was murdered by his See also:cousin Hacco in 1115. It derives its name—See also:Church (See also:ecclesia) Island—from the little church of St Magnus, now in ruins, consisting of a See also:chancel 15 ft. long, and See also:nave 3o ft. long. The See also:building has a round tower at the west end of the nave. The tower resembles similar constructions found beside Irish churches of the 7th and 8th centuries and has walls 3 ft. thick. It is doubtful whether it must be ascribed to the Celtic evangelists or to a much later See also:period—not earlier than the 12th century. On Rousay (627) the See also:cairn of Blotchnie Fiold (811 ft.), the highest point of the island, commands a beautiful survey of the See also:northern isles of the See also:archipelago. At the southern See also:base of the hill stands the See also:fine mansion of Trumbland House. Eday (796) contains several specimens of weems, mounds and standing stones. It affords See also:good pasturage and has sandstone quarries. Carrick village, once a burgh of See also:barony, with salt pans and other manufactures, was named after the See also:earl of Carrick, See also:brother of See also:Patrick See also:Stewart, 2nd earl of Orkney (d. 1614). It was off this island that See also:John See also:Gow, the pirate, was taken in 1725.

Sanday (1727), with an area of 19 sq. m., is one of the largest of the northern isles, and yields excellent crops of potatoes and grain. It has safe harbours, in the north at Otterswick and in the south at Kettletoft. The antiquities include a broch in Elsness. Pharay (47) lies W. of Edey. Westray (1956), one of the seats of the cod fishery, has a good See also:

harbour at Pier-o'-wall. Noltland Castle, in the vicinity, is interesting as having been proposed as the See also:refuge of See also:Queen See also:Mary after her See also:flight from Loch See also:Leven. It See also:dates from the 15th century or even earlier, and was at one time the See also:property of See also:Sir See also:Gilbert Balfour, the See also:Master of Queen Mary's See also:Household. The building, now in ruins, was never completed. On one side of the inner See also:court, to which a finely ornamental See also:doorway gives See also:access, is a large See also:hall with a vaulted See also:ceiling of stone, 20 ft. high. The cliffs and overhanging crags at Noup Head (25o ft.), the most See also:westerly point, are remark-ably picturesque. An isolated portion, divided from the headland by a narrow chasm, is known as the Stack of Noup. See also:Gentleman's See also:Cave, i m. to the south, was so called from the circumstance that it afforded shelter to five of the leading followers of See also:Prince See also:Charles See also:Edward, who See also:lay here during the winter of 1745-1746.

Papa Westray (295) and North Ronaldshay (442) are the most northerly islands of the group. The latter is only reached from Sanday, from which it is separated by a dangerous firth 21 M. wide. The monumental stone with Ogham inscription, which was discovered in the broch of Burrian, must date from the days of the early Christian missionaries. History.—The Orkneys were the Orcades of classical writers, and the word is probably derived from the Norse Orkn, See also:

seal, and ey, island. The See also:original inhabitants were Picts, See also:evidence of whose occupation still exists in numerous weems or under-ground houses, chambered mounds, barrows or See also:burial mounds, brochs or round towers, and stone circles and standing stones. Such implements as have survived are of the rudest description, and include querns or stone handmills for grinding See also:corn, stone worls and See also:bone combs employed in primitive forms of woollen manufacture, and specimens of See also:simple pottery See also:ware. If, as seems likely, the Dalriadic Scots towards the beginning of the 6th century established a footing in the islands, their success was See also:short-lived, and the Picts regained See also:power and kept it until dispossessed by the Norsemen in the 9th century. In the See also:wake of the Scots incursionists followed the Celtic missionaries about 565. They were companions of St See also:Columba and their efforts to convert the folk to See also:Christianity seem to have impressed the popular See also:imagination, for several islands See also:bear the epithet " Papa " in See also:commemoration of the preachers. Norse pirates having made the islands the headquarters of their buccaneering expeditions indifferently against their own Norway and the coasts and isles of Scotland, Harold Haarfager (" See also:Fair See also:Hair ") subdued the rovers in 875 and both the Orkneys and Shetlands to Norway. They remained under the rule of Norse earls until 1231, when the line of the jarls became See also:extinct. In that year the earldom of Caithness was granted to Magnus, second son of the earl of Angus, whom the See also:king of Norway apparently See also:con-firmed in the See also:title.

In 1468 the Orkneys and Shetlands were pledged by Christian I. of See also:

Denmark for the See also:payment of the See also:dowry of his daughter Margaret, betrothed to See also:James III. of Scotland, and as the See also:money was never paid, their connexion with the See also:crown of Scotland has been perpetual. In 1471 James bestowed the castle and lands of Ravenscraig in See also:Fife on William, earl of Orkney, in See also:exchange for all his rights to the earldom of Orkney, which, by See also:act of parliament •passed on the loth of February of the same year, was annexed to the Scottish crown. In 1564 See also:Lord See also:Robert Stewart, natural son of James V., who had visited Kirkwall twenty-four years before, was made sheriff of the Orkneys and Shetlands, and received See also:possession of the estates of the udallers; in 1581 he was created earl of Orkney by James IV., the See also:charter being ratified ten years later to his son Patrick, but in 1615 the earldom was again annexed to the crown. The islands were the See also:rendezvous of See also:Montrose's expedition in 165o which culminated itt his imprisonment and See also:death. During the See also:Protectorate they were visited by a detachment of See also:Cromwell's troops, who initiated the inhabitants into various See also:industrial arts and new methods of agriculture. In 1707 the islands were granted to the earl of See also:Morton in See also:mortgage, redeemable by the Crown on payment of £30,000, and subject to an annual See also:feu-duty of £500; but in 1766 his estates were sold to Sir See also:Lawrence Dundas, ancestor of the earls of Zetland. In early times both the See also:archbishop of See also:Hamburg and the archbishop of See also:York disputed with the Norwegians ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the Orkneys and the right of consecrating bishops; but ultimately the See also:Norwegian bishops, the first of whom was William the Old, consecrated in 1102, continued the canonical See also:succession. The see remained vacant from 158o to 16o6, and from 1638 till the Restoration, and, after the See also:accession of William III., the See also:episcopacy was finally abolished (1697), although many of the See also:clergy refused to conform. The See also:topography of the Orkneys is wholly Norse, and the Norse See also:tongue, at last extinguished by the See also:constant influx of settlers from Scotland, lingered until the end of the 18th century. Readers of See also:Scott's Pirate will remember the See also:frank contempt which Magnus Troil expressed for the Scots, and his opinions probably accurately reflected the See also:general Norse feeling on the subject. When the islands were given as See also:security for the princess's dowry, there seems See also:reason to believe that it was intended to redeem the See also:pledge, because it was then stipulated that the Norse See also:system of See also:government and the See also:law of St See also:Olaf should continue to be observed in Orkney and Shetland. Thus the See also:udal succession and mode of land See also:tenure (or, that is, See also:absolute See also:freehold as distinguished from feudal tenure) still obtain to some extent, and the remaining udallers hold their lands and pass them on without written title.

Among well-known Orcadians may be mentioned James Atkine (1613-1687), See also:

bishop first of Moray and afterwards of See also:Galloway; Murdoch See also:McKenzie (d. 1797), the hydrographer; See also:Malcolm See also:Laing (1762-1818), author of the History of Scotland from the See also:Union of the Crowns to the Union of the Kingdoms; Mary See also:Brunton (1778-1818), author of Self-See also:Control, Discipline and other novels; See also:Samuel Laing (178o-1868), author of A Residence in Norway, and translator of the Heimskringla, the Icelandic See also:chronicle of the See also:kings of Norway; See also:Thomas Stewart See also:Traill (1781-1862), See also:professor of medical See also:jurisprudence in See also:Edinburgh University and editor of the 8th edition of the See also:Encyclopaedia Britannica; Samuel Laing (1812-1897), chairman of the See also:London, See also:Brighton & South Coast railway, and introducer of the system of " parliamentary " trains with fares of one See also:penny a mile; Dr John See also:Rae (1813-1893), the See also:Arctic explorer; and William Balfour See also:Baikie (1825-1864), the See also:African traveller.

End of Article: ORKNEY ISLANDS

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