A TOUR THROUGH ORKNEY AND SCHETLAND By GEOEGE low A TOUR THROUGH THE ISLANDS OF Orkney and Schetlan CONTAINING HINTS RELATIVE TO THEIR ANCIENT MODERN AND NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTED IN 1774 By GEORGE LOW AUTHOR OF “fauna OBCADENSIS” WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM DRAWINGS BY THE AUTHOR AND WITH AN INTRODUCTION By JOSEPH ANDERSON EDITOR OF THE “ ORKNEYINGA SAGA," ETC., ETC. KIRKWALL W I L L I A M P E A C E & SON MDCCCLXXIX 1' 'Tn ce !-t 'fUH'H'P \‘i> £j7^7-r^'j 'Z.oBA. 8 (q^ Wm. PkaCK it Sou, PniNTKHS, Kihkwall. PEEFACE. The existence in MS. of a Tour in Orkney and Shetland in 1774j by Kev. George Low, has long been known to all interested in the literarj^ history of the isles. Pennant, Gough, and Hibbert have severally acknowledged their obligations to its author, while freely availing themselves of his original sketches or descriptions of the scenery, antiquities and natural history of a region abounding in interest and novelty, but far removed from the ordinary track of the literary traveller. Yet though the work of Mr Low has been thus well known, and constantly refeiTed to for more than a century by almost all the writers on topics connected with Orkney and Shetland, it has never been made accessible to the public in the form in which it was originally prepared for publication by the author himself Through the kindness of the late David Laing, LL.D., of the Signet Library, Edinburgh, to whom the MS. belongs, the publishers have now been enabled to supply this lonof-felt want in Orcadian literature. The manu- script has been printed without alteration or abridgment. Vlll PEEFACE. and the drawings carefully reproduced by Mr J, T. Reid, the talented author of “Art Eambles in Shetland,” &c. A notice of Mr Low, with an account of his writings, has been prepared as an Introduction to the Tour by Mr Joseph Anderson, Editor of the Orkneyinga Saga. The proof sheets were carefully revised by Mr Laing, who took a special interest in the work. Having spared no effort to produce this long-neglected work in a manner worthy of its merits, the publishers are not without hope that it may be possessed of a wider than a merely local interest, on account of its delineations of the habits and modes of life of a people isolated from the general community no less by historical association than by geographical position. Kirkwall, 2Jiih January 1879. CONTEITTS. PAGE Introduction, . xiii . ^ . A Tour thro’ Orkney and Schetland, in 1774, ... 1 Gr^msay, ........ 1 Hoy, ........ 2 Waes, ........ 9 Stroma, ........ 15 SWITHA, ........ 18 Flotta, ........ 18 Calf of Flotta, ....... 20 Barrel of Butter, ...... 22 South Ronaldsha, . 22, 38 SWONA, ........ 28 Burra, ........ 39 Hunda, ........ 43 Glimsholm, ....... 44 Laaibholm, ....... 44 COPINSHA, ........ 45 General Observations on the South Isles, . .49 Holm, ........ 50 Deerness, ........ 52 St. Andrews, ....... 57 Kirkwal, ........ 59 Voyage to Schetland, ...... 64 Lerwick, ........ 65 Scalloway, ....... 75 Trondra, ........ 76 Tingwal, ........ 77 Whiteness, ....... 78 WiSDALE, ........ 79 Aithsting and Sandsting, . .80 Kirkholm, etc., ....... 85 X CONTENTS. CULSWICK, ETC., 87 Vaila, 90 Waes, etc., 93 Foula, ........ 9.5 The Earl of Orkney and the King of Norway’s Dahorter : A Ballad in Old Norse, 108 Sandness, . 119, 125 Papa Stour, 122 Vejiantrie, 127 Muckle Koe, 129 South Belting, 130 The Islands of Yellsound, 131 Northmaven, 132 Belting, . 145 YELt, 147 Unst, 150 Fetlar, 164, 174 Lunasting, 171 Nesting, . 171 Whalsay, . 176 Back to Lerwick, 178 Gulberwick and Quarf, . 179 CONINGSBURG, 180 Mousa, 181 Bunrossness, etc., 184 Bressay, . 189 Noss, 191 Inhabitants, 193 Fair Lsle, . 195 SlIAPINSUA, 196 197 North Lsles of Orkney, . Appendix, ........ 199 Extract from a Process Contained in a Session Register anent Washing Biseased People and Telling Out’ Biseases, 201 Instructions given to Ransalmen, .... 204 Respite in Favour of Edward Sinclair and others for THE 208 Slaughter of the Earl of Caithness, . Index, . t . 211 LIST OF ILLUSTEATIOE'S. PAGE The West Prospect of the Palace op Kirkwall,* . Frontisinece Perspective View of the Standing Stones of Stainhouse, Orkney, xxiii Perspective View of the Kirk of Kirkwall and the Houses Adjacent, . .toface xlv South View of the Earl’s Palace, Birsay, Orkney, . li Map of Orkney, . .toface 1 DRA^VINGS OF Plants, . .21 Views and Plan of Standing Stones, . .26 Sketch of a Stone with Footmarks, . .27 Sketches showing Tidal Currents, . 32, 33 Views of the Old Church of Heerness, . .54 Sketch of Coffin-shaped Stone, . .55 Plan of a Schetland Corn Mill, . .74 Sketches of a Stone Axe or “Thunderbolt,” and Knife, . 83, 84 Plan, Section and View of the Burgh of Culswick, . 89 Sketch of Tuskfish, called in Orkney, Catfish, . .92 PoULA, BEARING W. BY S., DISTANT TWO MILES, . .115 Sketches of Stone Implements, . .118 Sketch of Stone Carved -with Symbolic Figures, . .121 Plan and Section of Burgh of Burrafirth, . .126 Plan of Pight’s House, . .128 View of Doreholm, . .135 Sketch OF Stone WITH Runic Inscription, . .136 Plan AND View OF “Giant’s Grave,” .... 137 View of Brough of Burraness, . .149 Plan of Snaburgh, in Unst, ...... 152 Plan and View of Circular Stone Monuments, . 156, 157 Plan OF Fortification CALLED Snaburgh OF Fetlar, . .166 Sketches of Crystals, . .168, 169 Plan of Brough of Houbie, . .169 Sketches of Curious Inscriptions, . 172,173 Plan AND Section OF THE Burgh OF Hogsetter, . .177 View of the Burgh of Mousa, with its Stone Rampart, . .182 Sections of Burgh of Mousa, . .183 • It is uncertaiu whether any of the first four drawings are by Mr Low II^TRODUCTIOK » George Low, the author of “A Tour through Orkney and Schetland, in 1774” (now for the first time published), was born at the village of Edzell, in Forfarshire, in the spring of 1747. The register of the parish— of Edzell for that year contains the following entry : “ 1747, March 29 : George Low, lawful sou of John Low, kirk-officer, and Isabel Coupar, his spouse, baptized.” In addition to his duties as kirk-officer, his father was the occupant of a small farm in the neighbourhood of the village. John Low is mentioned as joint-occupant with James Low, in a lease of the farm of Meikle Tullo, in 1096, and again in 1729; and David, the last of a long line of Lows, liferenters and occupants of the same farm, died in 1852 at the age of 78. George Low was an only son. His father died when George was in his thirteenth year, leaving him and two daughters dependent on a widowed mother. The daughters were subsec^uently married to respectable villagers of Edzell named Thomson and Lindsay, the latter of whom was an ingenious self-taught mechanic. Mrs Low, though left in straitened circumstances, contrived to give her only son the benefit of a University . training, first at MaiLschal College, Aberdeen, and then at the College of St Salvador, in St Andrews. He was a student there in 1700, as b XIV LOW’S TOUR. .shown by one of his commonplace books, which is entitled, “ A Cabinet of Curiosities, Collected by G. L., Student of Philosophy in St Andrews, 1706.” This manuscript volume, which passed into the posse.ssion of the late Pro- fessor Thomas S. Traill, is interesting, as it contains among astronomical tables, chemical formulae and notices of chemical phenomena and medical recipes, “a diagram of my own solar microscope, constructed by myself”—which shows the bent of his mind at that period toward philo- sophical speculation and experiment. This fascinating study appears to have taken a strong hold on his ardent temperament, and he continued to prosecute his microscopic researches in after years with an enthusiasm which ulti- mately led to the loss of his eyesight—the natural result of excessive application with the rude instruments at his command. Having been taken to Orkney some time previous to August 1768 by the Rev. James Alison, then minister of Holm, by whom he w^as recommended to a tutorship in the family of Mr Robert Graham of Stromness, Mr Low con- tinued his studies until he was licensed by the Presbytery of Cairston in 1771. He remained as tutor in the family of Mr Graham till 1773, prosecuting his researches in Natural History with an ardour intensified by the consciousness that he was working in fields that were then comparatively unknown. How zealously he laboured may be gathered from the description of his manuscripts containing the I'esults of his micro.scopical researches from 1771 to 1773, whiclv also }>assed into tlie possession of the late Profes.sor Traill, who states in a manuscript note-book that previous to the preparation of his “ Fauna Orcadensis,” and “ Flora INTRODUCTION. XV Orcadensis,” Mr Low had prepared “a considerable work on microscopic objects, illustrated by the most beautiful China ink drawings, which shew him to have been pos- sessed of uncommon skill in that art, as is also proved by his exquisite copies of all the plants figured in the ‘ Flora Lapponica ’ of Linnaeus now in my possession. The microscopical observations became my property more than twenty years ago, and seem evidently to have been intended for publication on the plan of Baker’s ‘Essay on the Microscope.’ The objects are chiefly derived from the animal and vegetable kingdoms. They are accurately de- lineated and shortly described, and the work, like that of Linnaeus, is interspersed with reflections of his personal piety, on the beneflcenco of the Deity.” This manuscript was commenced by Mr Low in 1769. Its title is “ Microscopical Observations by George Low, Student of Divinity.” The earliest drawing with a date is subscribed “Oct. loth, 1772, G. L. del.” and the latest, “G.