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POMONA, or MAINLAND

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Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 49 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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POMONA, or MAINLAND , the 'central' and, largest See also:island of the Ork,neys, See also:Scotland. Pop. (1901), 16,235. It is 25 M. See also:long from N.W. to S.E. and 15 m. broad from E. to W.; See also:area, Igo sq. m.; but where the See also:coast is cut into, on the N. by See also:Kirkwall See also:Bay and on the S. by Scapa Flow, the See also:land is less than 2 M. across. Consequently, the portion of the island to the See also:west of the See also:waist of Pomona is sometimes described as the West Island, and the portion to the See also:East as the East Island. The west coast is almost unbroken, the bays of Birsay and Skaill being the only bays of any importance. The east and See also:south shores, on the other See also:hand, are extensively carved out. Thus on the east See also:side are found Eynhallow See also:Sound, See also:Wood See also:Wick, the bays of Isbister, See also:Firth, Kirkwall, and Inganess and See also:Dee Sound, and on the south Holm Sound, Scapa Bay, Swanbister Bay and Bay of See also:Ireland. The highest points of the See also:watershed from See also:Costa See also:Head to the Scapa See also:shore are Milldoe (734 ft.) to the See also:north-east of Isbister and Wideford See also:Hill (740 ft.) to the west of Kirkwall. There are also a few eminences towards the south-west, See also:Ward Hill (88o ft.) in the See also:parish of Orphir being the highest See also:peak in the island. There are numerous lakes, some of considerable See also:size and most of them abounding with See also:trout. See also:Loch Harray is 41 M. long by from s m. to about 2 M. wide, and Loch Stemless 31 M. long by from s to 24 M. wide.

Lochs Swannay, See also:

Board-See also:house a,nd Hundland are situated in the extreme north, while Loch Kirbister lies near the south coast and Loch Tankerness adjoins See also:Deer Sound. Off the east coast See also:lie the islands of Rousay, Egilshay, Viera, Eynhallow, Gairsay and Shapinshay, and off the south Copinshay and See also:Lamb Holm. The hilly See also:country is mostly moorland, and See also:peat-mosses are met with in some of the See also:low-lying land, but many of the valleys contain fertile See also:soil, and there are productive tracts on the eastern and See also:northern seaboard. Kirkwall, the See also:capital of the Orkneys, and See also:Stromness are the only towns. In Harray, the only parish in the Orkneys not trenched at some point by the See also:sea, Norse customs have survived longer than elsewhere in the See also:group See also:save in North Ronaldshay. In Deerness the most easterly parish in Pomona, were buried 200 See also:Covenanters, taken prisoners at the See also:battle of See also:Bothwell Brig. They were carried to See also:Barbados, to be sold as slaves for the plantations, when the See also:ship foundered in Deer Sound, and all were drowned. In Sandside Bay, in the same parish, the See also:fleet of See also:Malcolm Canmore was defeated by that of Jarl Thorfinn; and at Summersdale, towards the northern See also:base of the hills of Orphir, See also:Sir See also:James See also:Sinclair, See also:governor of Kirkwall, vanquished See also:Lord Sinclair and 500 See also:Caithness men in 1529. The antiquities of Pomona are of See also:great See also:interest. The examples of Pictish remains include broths or See also:round towers, chambered mounds, or buildings of See also:stone covered in with See also:earth, and weems, or underground dwellings afterwards roofed in. At Saverock, on the west wing of Kirkwall Bay, a See also:good specimen of an earth-house will be found, and at Quanterness, 1 m. to the west of it, a chambered See also:mound, containing seven rooms with beehive See also:roofs. Farther west and 5 M. by road north-east of Stromness, and within a mile of the stone circles of Stenness, stands the great See also:barrow or chambered mound of Maeshowe.

The See also:

tumulus has the See also:form of a blunted See also:cone, is 36 ft. high, 300 ft. in circumference and 92 ft. in See also:diameter, and at a distance of 90 ft. from its base is encircled by a See also:moat 40 ft. wide and from 4 ft. to 8 ft. deep. The ground-See also:plan shows that it was entered from the west by a passage, 54 ft. long, from 2 ft. to 3 ft. wide and from 2z ft. to 43 ft. high, which led to a central apartment about 15 it. square, the walls of which ended in a beehive roof, the See also:spring of which began at a height of 13 ft. from the See also:floor. This See also:room and the passage are built of undressed blocks and slabs of See also:sand-stone. About the See also:middle of each side of the chamber, at a height of 3 ft. from the floor, there is an entrance to a small See also:cell, 3 ft. high, 41 ft. wide and from 52 ft. to 7 ft. long. Mr James See also:Farrer explored the mound in 1861, and discovered on the walls and certain stones See also:rude drawings of crosses, a winged See also:dragon, and a See also:serpent curled round a See also:pole, besides a variety of Runic See also:inscriptions. One of these inscriptions stated that the tumulus had been rifled by Norse pilgrims (possibly crusaders) on their way to See also:Jerusalem under Jarl Rognvald in the 12th See also:century. There can be little doubt but that it was a sepulchral chamber. See also:Joseph See also:Anderson ascribes it to the Stone See also:Age (that is, to the Picts), and James See also:Fergusson to Norsemen of the loth century. The most interesting of all those links with a remote past are the stone circles forming the See also:Ring of Brogar and the Ring of Stenness, often inaccurately described as the Stones of Stenness. The Ring of Brogar is situated to the north-west and the Ring of Stenness to the south-east of the See also:Bridge of Brogar, as the narrow See also:causeway of stone slabs is called which separates Loch Harray from Loch Stenness. The See also:district lies some 41 M. north-east of Stromness. The Ring of Brogar, once known as the See also:Temple of the See also:Sun, stands on a raised circular See also:platform of See also:turf, 340 ft. in diameter, surrounded by a moat about 6 ft. deep, which in turn is invested by a grassy rampart.

The ring originally comprised 6o stones, set up at intervals of 17 ft. Only 13 are now erect. Ten, still entire, lie prostrate, while the stumps of 13 others can yet be recognized. The height of the stones varies from 9 ft. to 14 ft. The Ring of Stenness—the Temple of the See also:

Moon of See also:local tradition—is of similar construction to the larger circle, except that its round platform is only 104 ft. in diameter. The stones are believed to have numbered 12, varying in height from 15 it. to 17 ft. but only two remain up-right. In the middle of the ring may be seen the relic of what was probably the sacrificial See also:altar. The Stone of See also:Odin, the great monolith, .pierced by a hole at a height of 5 ft. from the ground, which figures so prominently in See also:Scott's Pirate, stood 150 yds. to the north of the Ring of Stenness. The stones of both rings are of the native Old Red See also:Sandstone.

End of Article: POMONA, or MAINLAND

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