The History of the Orkney Islands: in which is comprehended an account of their present as well as their ancient state ... With plates, etc

Front matter

I I .,1.1. .1.. .1 by .\CmislAlWSsr?EaMilniTgltlFe'b'180i. Xpa////////// rf/ < /. ' ///y ////./, fi //rr/ //./ />///,■ /'Z/.z//r//./ A/a/^/fiz/i ///tXzuJC///, ( ///z^ Eng 'Ay RssccttXih I/ream ij J Spottirntoodr Ej-g- THE HISTORY of the ORKNEY ISLANDS: IN which is comprehended an ACCOUNT OF THEIR PRESENT AS well as THEIR ANCIENT STATE; TOGETHER WITH » THE ADVANTAGES THEY POSSESS FOR SEVERAL BRANCHES OF INDUSTRY, AND THE MEANS BY WHICH THEY MAY BE IMPROVED. ILLUSTRATED With an ACCURATE and EXTENSIVE MAP of the WHOLE ISLANDS, AND With PLATES os some of the most INTERESTING OBJECTS they contain. By the Rev. GEORGE BARRY, D. D. Minister of Shapinshay. EDINBURGH: Printed for the Author by D. Willison, Craig's Close, and Sold by ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH; AND LONGMAN HURST REES & ORME, LONDON. 1805.

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LOIB BUIBAS. MY LORD, Your connexion with the Islands that form the subject of the following History, the interest which you have in their being improved, and the means which you "possess for accomplishing that improvement, are reasons which would have been sufficient to have induced me to dedicate this Work to you ; but to these should be added some others, one of which is to express the gratitude I feel for the obligations you have laid me under, and another the convic tion I have that a work written on a local subject, and by an obscure person, will greatly need that patronage which it will naturally receive from being ushered into notice under the sanction of your respectable name and character. I have the Honour to be, MY LORD, Your most obedient faithful humble Servant, GEORGE BARRY.

SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. A Eyre, James, Esq. Elder, Captain, of the Excise Revenue Cutter Armadale, Lord, 2 copies Abercromby, Sir Geo. of Birkenbog, Bart. Anderson, The Rev. John Anderson, Robert, Esq. Edinburgh B Buccleugh, His Grace the Duke of, 2 copies Balcarras, The Earl of Erflcine, Mr James, Kirkwall F Forbes, Sir William, of Pitsligo, Bart, Ferguson, WilHam, E(sq. of Raith Ferguson, Robert, Esq. younger of do Ferguson, Brig. -Gen. R. Craufurd Finlay, James, Esq. Fraser, Alexander, Esq. G Balcarras, The Countess of Balcarras, The Countess Dowager of Balfour, David, Esq. W. S. Edinburgh Balfour, John, Esq. Curzon-Street, London Balfour, Captain William Blackest, John E. Esq. Newcastle . Bell, Thomas, Esq. Balfour, William, Esq. os Elwick, Orkney Brunton, Robert, Esq. Leith Brougham, Henry, Esq..

Book I

, A View of the Islands, considered as a whole, combined with a Geographical Description of each .... - - § CHAP. I. Some Observations that regard the Islands in general - ih, CHAP. II. A Geographical Description of the Islands - - [- - 17

Book II

An Account of the Earliest Inhabitants, with whatever is most remarkable in their Manners, Customs, and Institutions ; of the Transactions and Character of those People that conquered, and mingled with, or succeeded them,— and a Description of some remaining Monuments of both these people ; of the changes the Islands underwent in subsequent Ages under different Sovereigns and different Rulers ; and the Influence these seem evidently to have had in retarding their Improvement 66 Chap. VI CONTENTS. CHAP. I. The time they were probably first discovered, the Origin os their Name, their First Inhabitants, and the Mode of Government that, if not at first, at least at a very early Period, seems to have prevailed - - p. 66 CHAP. II. Of the Manners and Customs of the Picts 83 CHAP. III. Of the Arrival of the Scandinavians, and their Transactions in these Islands ' 103 CHAP. IV.

Of the Transaction's in the Islands, till they became subject to the Crown of Seotland - - - i52: t 1 CHAP. V. Of some Monuments of Antiquity that are ascribed to the Scandinavians, or, at least, referred to the Period when they possessed these Islands - - 205 CHAP. VI. Of the Islands after they became subject to another Sovereign 5 the many changes that they underwent ; and the Influence which these seem manifestly to have had, in retarding their Improvement - - - . 232 ■

Book III

The Present State of these Islands, their favourable Situation and Circumstances, and the Advantages that might be derived from them 261 CHAP. I. Their Natural History - . - - ... . Sect. I. — Mineralogy ...... 262 II — Botany - - - r - - - 266 III— Zoology - - - - - - - 286 Chap. CONTENTS. vii CHAP. II. The Inhabitants of the Islands - - . . . P- 326 Sect. I. — The Population - . . ... md. II. — Manners and Customs - - - . . 331 CHAP. III. Industry - . . . . . 344 Sect. I. — Agriculture - . ' . . . ,4? II. — Manufactures - _ -,68 III. — Commerce - - I _ _ 382 IV. — Fisheries - . _ . ,g.

Appendix

- . 393 No. I. — Diploma, or Deduction, concerning the Genealogies of the Ancient Counts of Orkney, from their first Oration to the F-Æeenth Century : Drawn up from the *<*& authentic Records, by Thomas, Bishop of Orkney, witb tne assistance os his Clergy and others, in consequence os an Order from Eric, King of Denmark, to investigate the Right os "William Sinclair to the Earldom - 395 H. — Dean Gule's Translation of the foregoing Deduction of the Orkney Counts, transcribed from the Original Copy bound in with Dr Bennet's Book of Battles, a MS. originally belonging to the Family of Roslin, the Second Page being subscribed by William Sinclare of Roslin, at whose desire the Dean fays this Translation was made. It afterwards fell into the hands of Dr George Mackenzie, who, in the beginning of the Third Volume of his Lives, mentions it at large, giving us also an Extract from the first part of the following Translation.

The late Mr James Mackenzie had the MS. from Hildin, Dr George's Nephew ; which he again gave to the Lord Sinclare, who promised to lodge it in the Advocate's Library, Edinburgh - 404 III. — From Sir James Balfour's Catalogue of the Scotish Nobility, MS in the Advocates Library, Edinburgh. He was Lord Lyon King at Arms in the beginning of King Charles the First's Reign - 415 IV. — Earls of the Orkneys - 420 V. — Table of the Ancient Counts of Orkney, according to the Genealogical Series above stated, also of the line of these Counts down to this * day. CONTENTS. viii day. A succession so long continued, and so well vouched, that no Family in any Nation can boast -of the like : Having for its foundation these concurring authorities ; first, those followed by the Little Parliament of this Country, in their Genealogical Series before mentioned ; secondly, those followed in the Orcades of Torfæus, and Orkneyinga Saga ; and lastly, the authority of that great Antiquary, Sir James Balfour, King at Arms, in his Catalogue of the Scots Nobility - - - - p. 422 No.VL — Exemplum Contractus Matrimonialis inter Serenissimum Scotiæ Regem Jacobum Tertium et Sereniffimam Principem Margaretham Potentissimi Principis Christiani Primi Daniæ Norvegiæ et Sveciæ Regis Filiam.

E Torfæi Hist, extractum ... 424 VII. — Descriptio Insularum Orchadiarum, per me Jo. Ben, ibidem Colentem, in anno 1529 - - - - 433 Of the Hustandry used by the Orchadians. In the end of the above MS., but plainly of a later date, and by another hand - 447 VIII. — A Short Relation of the most Considerable Things in Orknay, by Mr MatK-w Mackaile, Ap^hecary at Aberdeen.— MS. Adv. Lib. Edin. 448 Account of the Current of the >j„s about the Orcades, by Mr Mat- Mackaile, communicated by him to ca.. Robert Murray, President of the Royal Society, and published by him - - 454 IX.— The Acts of Bailiary for executing of Justice though the County of Orkney ----- 4S6 X.— From the Orcades of Thormodus Torfæus - . 47g The Lord's Prayer, in Norn or Norse, as spoken formerly by the Natives of Orkney, from Dr Percy's Preface to Mallet's Northern Antiquities - - . _ . 4g2 The Lord's Prayer, in Norse, as spoken by some People in Fula, one of the Shetland Isles, from Mr Low's Tour, MS. 1774 - ibid.

Some "Words of the fame Language, translated into English from the same MS. - 4g, A Ballad, in the same Language, taken from the Mouth of an Old Man in the same Island, during the same Tour, the subject of which is a contest between a King of Norway and an Earl of Orkney, who had married the King's Daughter, in her Father's absence, and without his consent. — MS. penes me _ 4g4 XL— Respite in savour of Edward Sinclare and others, for the Slaughter of the Earl of Cathnefs. From the Original Parchment - 491 THE t'litili-lit-il l.y \ Cm THE HISTORY OF THE ORKNEY ISLANDS.

Introduction

. JLn order that a more distinct and comprehensive view of these Iflands may be given, it is intended to look back to early times ; and, by means of those feeble and scattered rays of light, furnished occasionally by ancient writers, to point out who were their first inhabitants ; from what country it is probable they came ; to what form of government they were subject ; and what were their manners, their customs, their religion and laws, till, towards the end of the ninth, or beginning of the tenth century, they be came incorporated in the mass of their Scandinavian invaders. The Scandinavians had about that time acquired, on their native lakes and shores, a high degree of renown, both on account of their military prowess, and of the colonies which they had sent out, not only into Ork ney and Shetland, but also into the northern coasts of Britain, the Feroes, Iceland, and the Western Ifles.

Into whatever country they came, or whatever was their intention, to invade, to plunder, to conquer, or to pro cure settlements, they displayed the same military spirit which they had done at home ; and, in Iceland, they added to this virtue a wisdom, which, among a barbarous people, has seldom been equalled, and never surpassed, in forming themselves into a regular republic, the laws and constitution of A which

INTRODUCTION.

. which have been the admiration of the learned, and are as well authenti cated as those of any state in ancient times. That branch of the Scandinavians who conquered the first inhabitants of the Orkney Iflands, and settled among them, shewed in their conduct the same intrepid spirit, the fame love of glory and contempt of death, and all the other prominent and distinctive features, that marked the character of the colonies as well as that of the parent state. This will appear evident from the details that shall be given in delineating their character, as dis played in their military transactions and civil institutions ; in their manners, their customs, their religious ceremonies and superstitions, several monuments of which they have left behind them. From about the middle of the fifteenth century, when the Iflands ceased to acknowledge a foreign master, and were ceded to the Scotisti Crown (to which, on account of their vicinity, they should have always belonged), we shall naturally be led to consider the change in their condition which this new connexion produced.

Here, instead of the improvement that might have been expected, we are compelled, however reluctantly, to re gret the unhappy influence which the character, combined with the number and rapid succession of those whom their new Sovereign appointed as grantees, farmers, and rulers, appears but too evidently to have had, in re pressing the genius of the people, damping the ardour of their spirit, and checking their industry in the arts of life. . After having thus taken a pretty extensive view of the Iflands from the time they were first inhabited ; stated facts, with the causes that led to them, and the consequences which they produced ; drawn with fidelity the por traits of the principal actors ; and traced the various changes which they have undergone, to that period when they were granted irredeemably to a ii.bject who soon afterwards fold them ; our attention will be directed to their present state.

In this part of the plan, which we regard as of chief importance, the utmost pains shall be taken to state facts fairly, and pkee them in the clearr est and most interesting point of view. In order that nothing of import mce may be omitted, we shall give a {ketch of their natural history, together with some account of their population, and the manners and customs, character

INTRODUCTION.

. 3 character and industry of the people, by whom they are at present inhabited. As agriculture constitutes not only the first and most necessary, but the noblest of all the arts, it shall be, under this last division, treated of at con siderable length, along with a brief account of their fisheries, their com merce, their manufactures, and particularly that of kelp, which for a long time past has been justly considered as their staple commodity. In the exe cution of this part of our subject, many practices will meet our approba tion ; some will merit censure ; errors and defects shall be candidly pointed out, and ascribed to what appears to be their true causes ; and such improvements suggested, as may, it is apprehended, contribute in some degree to the advantage of the empire at large, as well as to the internal prosperity of the Iflands themselves.

But neither their ancient nor their present state can be understood accurately, unless a previous description be given of the whole iflands that com pose the group. Their surface, and general appearance, their temperature, soil and climate, must be stated, and the advantages of their situation accurately pointed out ; the excellence of their harbours, capable at all times of receiving ships almost in any number, and of any size, together with the figure, dimensions, the relative situation and the productions of each, the improvements of which they are respectively susceptible, and the objects of curiosity which they contain, must all be exhibited in such a conspicuous point of light, that whoever attends to these particulars, may find no difficulty in thoroughly comprehending the subsequent part of the work.

If the history of these iflands be thus considered, it will appear to be both important and extensive, and will naturally divide itself into three books. Book I. will contain, besides a general view of all the iflands that com pose the cluster, a ssiort geographical description of each, comprehending its respective productions, its figure, extent, and relative situation, its har bours, and such other objects as seem best calculated to gratify a laudable curiosity, or to serve the more important purposes of conveying useful in formation. A 2 Boof

INTRODUCTION.

. 4 Book II. will comprise an account of the earliest inhabitants ; whatever is most remarkable in their manners, customs, and institutions ; the transac tions and character of those people that conquered and mingled with, or succeeded them ; a description of some remaining monuments of both these races of people ; of the changes of the iflands in subsequent ages, under different rulers, and of the influence these seem evidently to have had in retarding their improvement. Book III. will exhibit the present state of these iflands with respect to their mineral, vegetable and animal productions ; their population, language, manners, customs ; and the different species of industry that prevail at this time. Agriculture, in particular, on account of its importance, will occu py a considerable portion of this book ; to which will naturally succeed, the consideration of manufactures, fissieries and commerce : the causes of their low state at present will be considered, and the means that might be employed for improving them to such a degree as could not fail to ameliorate the condition of the people, and at the fame time contribute to the advantage of the State. BOOK THE ORKNEY ISLANDS. 5

Book I

A VIEW OP THE ISLANDS, CONSIDERED AS A WHOLE, COMBINED WITH A GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF EACH. CHAR I.. SOME OBSERVATIONS THAT REGARD THE ISLANDS IN GENERAL. The islands that compose the group, known to the ancients by the name of Orcades, and styled by the moderns Orkney, are situated in the Northern Ocean, between the coast of Caithness and Shetland, from the former of w hich they are distant only about four, and from the latter nearly twenty leagues. From observations that have been taken with sufficient skill and accuracy, the latitude of Kirkwall, the centre, has been found to be fifty-nine degrees and nine minutes norths and the longitude two degrees and thirty minutes west, from the meridian of Greenwich. Their form, as may easily be conceived, is, from the force of the ocean, and the rapidity of the tides, extremely irregular ; and, from this circumstance, the dimensions of some of them are ascertained with no small difficulty.

Of those that are inhabited, some are so small as not to exceed a mile in length ; whereas the Mainland, or principal island, extends to nearly thirty. They are separated from one another by portions of water, denominated sounds, friths, or ferries, some oi which are only a mile broad, and others more than five. Though thus closely connected together, ssie whole of them are of considerable extent ; for, from the south-west to the north-east, the points farthest removed from each other, the distance is not less than seventy miles, and they are upwards of forty in the other direction. Compared with the sterile wilds in some of the sister iflands to the north, ■er even with the lofty hills and bleak marssiy plains to the south of them, thev Book I. they gain so much, that their appearance is pleasantly inviting and favour able.

To the eye, their surface presents mucli variety. Great Britain itself is in a great measure level towards the east coast, through its whole extent, from the North-Foreland Head in Kent, to Dun canfbay in Caithness, and rises gradually as it advances toward the west, till it swells at last into a ridge of hills or mountains, which Providence in its kindness seems to have erected as a bulwark against the fury of the Atlantic waves. The fame conformation, though comparatively on a very small scale indeed, is observable in the Orkney Iflands. Many, to their fad experience, too well know how low their eastern coasts, especially toward the north, are ; for this circumstance, more than any other, has caused many fatal ssiipwrecks. Toward the west coast, on the other hand, from the one extremity of the islands to the other, the land is so elevated as, with a few interruptions, to form itself into a range of hills, not high indeed, but much more so than what are generally met with in the interior of the country.

These hills, the highest of which does not exceed twelve hundred feet, do not always run in the longest direction of the iflands, but frequently stretch across them ; and while their sides that face the Western Ocean are bold and steep in the ex treme, ssieir opposite ones, for ssie most part, ssielve away into plains of con siderable extent, with a gentle declivity. The ssiores in this quarter are in many places bounded by rocks awfully majestic. In some places they remain entire : in others they have yielded to the force of the billows and the ravages of time, and are consequently ssiattered into a thousand different ssiapes, altogether forming a scene highly interesting. To the philosopher, such a scene presents an opportunity of contemplating the different strata, and even sometimes of discovering some of those valuable minerals, which have been for ages hidden in the bosom of the earth, and would have been so for ever, had not the ocean brought ssiem to light.

If his soul be alive to the awful impressions of the sublime, he will be lost in astonissiment in contemplating the tremendous power of the billows, that on one hand of him have formed pillars of an immense size, and thrown arches of a magnitude so vast, as to mock the boldest and most Chap. I. THE ORKNEY ISLANDS. 7 most successful attempts of human art, and, on the other, dug in the solid rock, caverns so dark and unfathomable, as cannot fail to strike the most un daunted heart with terror. But however grand and sublime, or interesting, such objects may be, to either the intellect or the fancy, we must not bestow on them such a degree of attention, as to neglect taking notice of thole hills that lye behind them. Toward the south-west, where they are highest, with no great stretch of imagination they may be considered as a continuation of those in Strathnaver.

As they advance along the ocean towards the north, they gradually diminish in point of size, till they sink as it were down into a plain, when they approach the northern extremity. This circumstance alone, though we had no other, might furnissi some ground to conclude that these iflands had, in some remote age, been joined with, and made a part of the continent of Great Britain. Several others concur to corroborate the fame opinion. Separated from Caithness by a rapid frith of about 12 miles broad, in which several little iflands are scattered, the ssiores on both sides, if examined accurately, will be found to contain many points of resemblance. If, on the one side, the land be high, it is also often so on the other ; the soil is sometimes the fame on the opposite sides ; the nature of the rocks*, and even their direction, and the angle they form with the horizon, are likewise similar : and the two high heads of Berey in Waas, and Dunnet in Caithness, which may be considered as the jaws of the Pentland Frith, have been observed to contain in them strata of evident similarity.

Should these and such like appearances be considered as having a tendency to prove their former junction wissi the continent, there are not wanting others to show, that probably in some remote period the Orkney Iflands were united together, and formed one continued tract of land. Besides the argu ments already adduced to prove their former connexion, with the continent, ssie different iflands exhibit on their opposite ssiores. so many qualities in com mon, as can scarcely escape the most careless observer.. To the eye, the land on each side of the water has the fame appearance, whether wet or dry, high or low, green or heathy ; the plants, whether marine or terrestrial, are very often of ssie fame kind, as are also the clay, sand, shells and stones ; and wherever they stretch out towards each other, and ssie distance between them Book 1 HISTORY OF 8 them is ssiort, the water is frequendy so extremely ssiallow, as to render the sailing between them, even for boats and small craft, attended with danger.

If we attend to these circumstances, and allow them their due weight, even if we took no notice of others of the fame nature that might be mentioned, we ssiall be led to conclude, that what are now so many iflands, different in size, in figure, and in place, were once united to the continent and to one another. Neither are agents wanting, in nature, to produce this effect, which at first sight might seem to be extraordinary. The waters of the ocean, either acting by themselves in a gradual, flow, and imperceptible manner, or that element, in conjunction with fire hid in the bowels of the earth, generating between them air, and steam, or vapour, are abundantly sufficient for that purpose. Such agents have produced similar effects in many other instances. To the fame causes, single or united, we ought perhaps to ascribe ssie existence of most of the iflands that are to be found.

Great Britain herself, the principal one in the world, if not in extent, at least in point of industry, riches, glory and felicity, bears on her southern extremity evident marks of having been once joined to her rival France. Sicily claims the fame kindred with the opposite Italian ssiores ; the Canary and Cape Verd iflands have, it is probable, formerly made a part of Africa ; and that infinite multitude of iflands which lye in the great Pacific Ocean, and which the nobly enterprising spirit of this age and nation has discovered not only to speak the same language, but to have many customs in common, have, it is likely, constituted one continued immense tract of land, which either subterraneous fires, earthquakes, or the ocean, or all of them united, have broken into those fragments that now appear.

Even continents themselves, which from their nature might be supposed more permanent, are not exempted from revolutions. In one quarter, ssie ocean is constantly beating down the land, wearing it away, and changing its appearance so much, that it can hardly be recognized. Sometimes it swallows up extensive tracts of land, and buries in sand spacious harbours, while at other times it has left its ancient bed, and opened up new countries to view. That this capricious element is constantly shifting place, and producing changes on the surface of this earth, cannot admit of a doubt, since, Chap. 1. THE ORKNEY ISLANDS. 9 since, on no other supposition, can we account for the almost infinite num-. her of shells, corals, beds of oysters, fea-fissi entire anc. broken, which are so frequently found in places the most remote from the sea, even in the very bowels of the earth, and on the tops of high mountains.

But to return. The hills composing the ridge that skirts the western coast, as well as those that intersect the main land, and occupy some of the other iflands, are seldom single and detached, but for the most part formed into ridges of some extent, with small intervening valleys ; and their tops, instead of rising high into a conical form, are generally either fiat or rounded. Some few of them are almost entirely covered with verdure ; the bottoms of most of them con sist of corn-fields, interspersed with patches of rich old grafs, excellently fit ted for the feeding of black cattle ; the soil consists of sandy or clayey loam, ; their sides produce an excellent mixture of heath and grafs, for ssieep pasture,. on a thin stratum of peat-moss, while their tops are usually brown, on a bottom of peat-moss, clay, or gravel. : There are spots on some of them de lightfully romantic, where the attention is arrested, and the ear pleased with the murmurs of ssie rills, and the eye feasts on flowers, that rear their heads and ssied their fragrance amidst various kinds of ssirubs.

But what is of much more consequence, Providence, ever bountiful in adding to the comfort of man, has with no sparing hand spread peat-moss over a considerable portion of these iflands. From observations that have been made on this substance, as it occurs in different situations, it has been found to exhibit a very different appearance on elevated ground, from what it does on the plains. In low ground it is more black, more smooth,. and of a much more coaly appearance. On the hills it is more soft and spongy, less disposed to adhere or unite into a mass, and of a much browner colour ; ssie latter kind, when put on the hearth, kindles instantly into a blaze, and is consumed with rapidity ; the former catches the flame more slowly, but burns with more force,, and for a much longer time. If peat moss be a substance composed of matter derived from vegetables, such as those plants that are called musci or mosses, wood, heath, and others of a similar nature, in a certain stage of their putrefaction, this difference, which* is no less striking than general, can be explained on rational principles.

Heat and moisture, it is well known, are two of the most active agents infermen- B tation HISTORY OF Book I. 10 ration ; and ssiey have carried on that process much farther in the peat-moss in low, warm, and moist ground, than in places that are more cold and dry, on account of their superior elevation. This substance, combined with clay or with sand, forms a soil here as rommon as any other, and universally known by the name of Yarpha, or bog soil, whose characteristic is a black colour connected with the power of retaining moisture, which has been supposed to account for the dampness prevalent in the country. As the iflands, however, consist of hill and dale, high and low land, as well as of plains of considerable dimensions, they must, it is evident, in regard to soil, admit of much variety.

Accordingly, in those places that are most elevated, the yarpha soil is most frequent ; in plains, that which is composed of sand more commonly predominates. In ssiort, sand, clay and gravel, together with sandy loam, clayey loam, and gravelly loam, and the yarpha already mentioned, which is evidently composed of sand or clay, in union with a coaly matter derived from decayed vegetables, make up the list of soils combined together in an almost infinite variety of proportions, through ssie different districts of the fame island, or in different iflands. Various, however, as they are, they possess some qualities in common ; for they are almost all of them thin or ssiallow, seldom more ssian one or two feet deep at most, resting on the solid rock, without any intervening strata ; and, with a very few exceptions, they are uncommonly fertile.