Regency Destinations: Orkney Islands by Steamboat

By | | ,

LEITH TO THE ORKNEY ISLANDS BY STEAM BOAT In summer a steam boat sails at stated periods for these islands so that the tourist may very easily gra tify his curiosity by visiting them or the distance from the northern parts of Caithness across the Pent land Firth renders a land journey not very difficult These islands consist of a group of between sixty and seventy of which twenty seven are so considerable as to be peopled The total population was in 1831 28,000 souls The Orkneys were known to the Ro mans by the name of Orcades and it is doubtful whe ther these or the Zetland Isles were the Ultima Thule of that people With the exception of the island of Hoy they are low and rather flat islands clothed with heath and green verdure but almost destitute of trees The coasts are covered with profusion of sea weed which is burnt and made into kelp The moors contain abundance of grouse and other game Sheep black cattle and small horses are the principal stock but there are several extensive grain farms also Of late good roads have been formed through some of the is lands Antiquarians are agreed that the original in habitants of Orkney were of Pictish or Scandinavian origin and traces of the Norse tongue and customs are still to be found among them They had their
early kings one of whom Bladus Balus or Belus is mentioned by Holinshed They were subjected under the dominion of the Ro mans by Agricola Afterwards a powerful aristocracy swayed the different islands and under these daring leaders the mainland was often attacked and laid waste They in their turn were conquered by the Norwegian kings and about the 10th century Christianity was introduced by the king of Norway In later times the St Clairs were Earls of Orkney and afterwards Bothwell the paramour of Queen Mary The de scription of the inhabitants as given by Wallace in 1693 is said to be still as applicable to the present race The people here are generally civil saga cious circumspect and proudly inclined Generally they are sober and temperate but withal much given to hospitality and feasting very civil and liberal in their entertaining of strangers and much inclined to think badly of those that are peevishly or niggardly disposed The people are generally personable and comely The women are lovely and of a beautiful countenance The gentry and those that are of any quality both men and women love to go fine and be in the fashion Pomona or the Mainland is the central and by far the largest island It is divided into two halves which are joined by a narrow isthmus Kirkwall is the capital of the islands and here the steam boat lands It is situated near the shore and upon the narrow isthmus already mentioned It con sists of one street of a mile in length very narrow and without side pavements It is of great antiquity having been originally founded by the Danes Here
the principal gentry reside and the whole population is nearly 4000 including the parish St Magnus Cathedral is a venerable structure built of red sand stone in the usual form of a cross and extending up wards of 230 feet in length with a steeple 140 feet high The roof is finely arched and the whole is in good preservation Besides the Cathedral there are the ruins of the Bishop's Palace and of two castles one built by Patrick Stewart Earl of Orkney the other by the first Earl St Clair A few miles west of Kirkwall in the parish of Sten nis is a singular circle of druidical stones consisting of large rude blocks fixed in the soil A mound of earth ninety feet in diameter is raised up around the whole Another similar circle is situated about a mile to the westward Both are supposed to have been druidical altars on which human sacrifices may have been offered Stromness About four miles south of these circles is the town of Stromness which has risen up in little more than a century to be a considerable place con taining nearly 3000 inhabitants The harbour is good and is a great resort of vessels both outward and home ward bound It contains one main street about a mile long some good houses and one or two excellent inns Hoy a neighbouring island is contiguous and may be easily visited in a boat Here the land is higher and more mountainous than in any other of the Orkney islands and the scenery is wild and picturesque The Old Man of Hoy is an isolated rock supported on cir cles worn out of the solid stone and is a conspicuous object from the main land At the Kame of Hoy there is a huge rock which exhibits the outlines of features
which fancy has appropriated to Sir Walter Scott There is here also a very distinct echo thus alluded to by the late John Malcolm a poet whose elegant taste and gentle manners rendered him the purest gem of these islands of his home and of his fondest sympa thies The circling hills all black and wild Are o er its slumbers darkly piled Save on one side where far below The everlasting waters flow And round the precipices vast Dance to the music of the blast Birsay Parish north of Stromness is the most fer tile spot of the Orkneys Here are the ruins of a pa lace which must at one time have been of considerable dimensions It was partly rebuilt and improved by Earl Robert Stewart The geological character of the Orkney Islands partakes of that of the adjoining mainland of Caithness Old red sandstone predominates with gneiss and the micaceous schists Fossil fishes have been found in considerable abundance in the sandstone Patches of new red sandstone are found overlying the older rocks in Pomona Water fowl resort in great abundance and variety to these islands and the botanical objects especially the marine algæ are interesting Anderson, J. (1837). Anderson’s tourist’s guide through Scotland. United Kingdom: John Anderson, jun..

The maiden voyage of a steam vessel to the Orkney Islands was in August 1826. This archipelago off the northern coast of Scotland consists of around 70 islands, with the Mainland as the largest and home to Stromness. A year later, a start up launched Orkney into the straw bonnet trade, and although the trade only lasted for fifty years, the plaits were said to be tighter than Italian weaves and at its peak employed thousands of women in Orkney ((https://www.aboutorkney.com/2020/04/30/first-steamship-in-stromness/)).

 

We have a more extensive post about steamships here: Regency Travel: Steam Packets

Discover more from Regency Reader

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.