Author: Max Fletcher

The Kirks and Kirkyards of Rousay, Egilshay and Veira – Part 4

by

Tommy Gibson

One of the reasons for the evictions was that the people on Eynhallow believed that the water was poisonous through the daytime but at night the water was all right to drink. Water beetles locally known as ‘clocks’ could not live in the wells in Eynhallow. (The problem being, that there was a midden above the well). Some of the Eynhallow folk were buried in the Westside Kirkyard, although Evie was the preferred Kirkyard by many of the families, although there are not any headstones erected to them. When a death occurred on Eynhallow, the body was placed in a boat and towed across to either Rousay or Evie. The people were very superstitious and would not travel in a small boat with a body. This must have been awkward in the wintertime if gales were imminent and a swell on.

Below the Lodge is the most suitable place on Eynhallow to launch a boat but swell comes around even there and hampers boat work. Eynhallow is one of the most interesting of all the Orkney Islands. The lodge, a wooden building, built about 1860 was added on later by Thomas Middlemore, Westness House. This building, I believe, was built in case a shipwreck took place on Eynhallow. There was supposed to be provisions in the building, this would have been shelter in case of survivors. I was in the lodge a year or two back and it is a most interesting building in its own right. The furniture is now antique, but nothing fancy. Orkney Islands Council now owns the Island.

In the mid 1980’s Charlie Wilkinson who resided at Breck built a small Roman Catholic Church in what was an implement shed. Outside there is no indication that the shed contains a Chapel, but inside it is lovely. It seats around 20. The windows on the south end looks across at St. Magnus Church in Egilshay.

The Egilshay Kirk was built on a prominent part of the Island, but not the highest point. This would make it one of the oldest and most famous places of worship in Scotland. Some authorities consider to have been built before the advent of the Norsemen in 876. The present building was probably built around 1115. Its construction is unique to Orkney, with a tower built to a height of 63 feet. Local tradition says that the tower was once struck by lightning and this knocked it down by 20 feet. It was closed for worship about 1805 due to the state of repair of the roof. Some of the timbers were in a bad state of decay with no money to repair the roof. The slates from the roof were removed and taken down to the point of Vaardy where it was to go on the Store House, but this was never done. Many years later the roof was transported to the other side of the island to Meaness and put on one of the buildings, and is probably still there. The best of the timbers (couples) were cut into fencing stabs and used at Vaardy.

This unique Kirk is still a strong construction and is looked after by Historic Scotland. It is not known when the kirkyard dyke was built. The construction of the dyke is old but I suspect that it was built at a later date. If the stone in the wall was built over 800 years ago, the walls would not be as straight or in as good a condition as it is today without major repair or having been completely rebuilt at a later date. When the Kirkyard was built, the masons did not build a gate for access. To gain entry to the kirkyard was by stone steps built into the wall. Coffins were lifted and mourners had to climb over the wall. This practice must have been superstition about a body once in the kirkyard, it was in for evermore. There was no escape from the kirkyard through a gate.

The 74 headstones in the kirkyard, which is 33 yards north and south by 41 yards east and west, are only at the east and south sides of the Kirk. This being the only burial ground, I believe this is the second or third time round. There must be untold hundreds of people buried here. The population of Egilshay in the 1841 census was 194. In earlier years in 1790 the population was 210, and in 1961 the population was down to 54. There are some graves inside the building but over the years the inscriptions have disappeared. The late Ernest Alexander of Kirbust, told me that my great-great-great-grandfather James Grieve, born in Egilshay in 1776, is buried in the Southeast corner of the Kirk. He was a navy pensioner. A stone is laid alongside but again no inscription; this may be his wife Elizabeth Davie. I often wonder why he was buried inside the Kirk? Who knows?? There is also a vertical stone laid near the door, but the inscription is not readable. The Laird of Egilshay, Robert Baikie MD, HEICS, of Tankerness died on the 5th August 1890 aged 98, and his wife Helen Elizabeth Davidson, who died on the 11th of January 1888 aged 72, are both buried under the small roofed section on the East end. That is five bodies we know of, but who knows how many more are buried inside?

Mounted on the organ screen in the presbytery of St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall are a collection of panels depicting the events surrounding the martyrdom of St Magnus. The two above portray ‘Divided Loyalties’ and ‘Magnus setting sail for Egilsay’, whilst those below show ‘Magnus’s Betrayal’, and lastly his Martyrdom. The panels, painted by fifteen children from the Isle of Arran, were presented to the people of Orkney on June 10th 1980 as a tribute to the St Magnus Festival.

Magnus Erlendson, arguably the most famous of all the Norsemen who came across to this country, was murdered in Egilshay at Easter 1116. Many books have been written about this episode in history. In 1937 a memorial was built in his memory. This was financed by the London Church St. Magnus the Martyr. About a quarter of a mile to the south east of the church was a grassy mound. It was, says Egilshay tradition, the spot where St. Magnus was killed. A victim of the treachery of his cousin Haakon. Magnus, who was trying to escape, was running towards the shore to what now is Howan and the Knows to hide. Howan, the Lairds house, on the east shore, was first recorded in 1657. Hugh Robertson of Kirbust, who died in 1939 aged 92 was recorded saying that his father David who lived to be 95, died 1899, remembers that a large flat stone was sunk into the mound and mothers forbade their children to play there because on that mound blood had been shed. Since those days, however, the mound had been ploughed over and the stone removed. After that the mound had not been regarded with the awe as previously.

The Memorial was unveiled on the 7th of September 1938 by the Rev. G. Arthur Fryer M.A. BSc. from St. Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall. The address was given by the Rev. H.F. Fynes-Clinton, Rector of the Church of St. Magnus the Martyr, by London Bridge. The Kirkwall town Band led the praise. Scripture reading was by Mr. David Turner, Lay Preacher, from Egilshay.

A new Kirk was built in Egilshay, 35 ft by 22ft with two arched windows at either side of the pulpit. Three windows each on the north and south walls, and a small window for the vestry. The door was on the south wall nearest the road. The Rev. David Webster opened the Kirk on the 18th of February 1885, with a large crowd in attendance. The manse was then erected in 1893.The first minister was The Rev. John Hendrie, former missionary in India and Trinidad. This Kirk was affiliated to the Paterson Kirk in Kirkwall and to the U.P. in Rousay. Ministers and Missionaries continued to live and work in Egilshay till the late 1930’s, Mr. Turner being the last. Of all the Kirks, I think that the Kirk in Egilshay was the nicest with the pulpit on the west end. A small vestry at the door, and a half-timbered ceiling. There is also a small War Memorial in the kirkyard for James Bews, Menis, who was killed in 1916, aged 20, and James Mainland of Weyland, who was killed on HMS Dasher, in the Clyde on 27.3.1944 aged 22.

St. Mary’s Kirk, Wyre, (some say it is St. Peters, or Peterkirk), nestles in a valley near the Bu, a warm tranquil area with a lot of wild birds. Close by is Cubbie Roo’s Castle. The building is the smallest of the old Kirks. Well built with strong walls, small windows, but the inside was plastered with a white lime to reflect the light. It is not known when the Wyre Kirk closed down but I suspect that it was about the same time as the St. Magnus in Egilshay. It was in a ruinous state in 1845.

In the early 1930’s Cubbie Roo’s Castle [pictured above] and the interior of the Kirk was cleared of stones and Earth, clay, etc. The men dug down deep and came on some graves in which one was a large skeleton. This may have been Cubbie Roo or Kolbein Hruga. Cubbie Roo was supposed to have stood seven feet tall. All the bones and many artefacts etc from the Kirk and the castle was thrown in a small quarry close by. It is also known that most of the castle was taken down and the stones were used in the building of farm steadings nearby. No one knows what the castle looked like when it was in its splendour. The circumference may be known, but not the height. Very little of the castle remains. It is a pity that all that information is lost. Today when any site is excavated, every detail however small is recorded. 70 years ago very little was kept, if anything.

In 1790 the population of Wyre was 65, but in 1821 it went up to 80. In 1961 the population was down to 47, and now it is 15, which is too small for Wyre. In the old Kirkyard there are 48 headstones. A flat elevated tomb, (three in the Wasbister yard) was supposed to have appeared overnight. No one knows how or when it was built. Another interesting story is about a woman, Margaret Halcro, who “died” at Cavit. She was dressed in a shift and was laid out in the Kirk. The family tried to remove a ring from her finger, but failed. The undertaker also failed, so he took a knife to cut the finger. The first cut the woman woke up. (She may have been in a coma). The undertaker got a fright; the woman walked home to Cavit, and gave her family a bigger fright. She recovered. She left Wyre, got married, and her son built the “Kirk abune the Hill”, Birsay. The Kirkyard filled up and a small area was built on the South side. The first interment was in 1966.

The Rousay War Memorial was unveiled on Sunday 3rd July 1921. The Service was in the U.P. Kirk; this was taken by The Rev. Pirie assisted by Mr. Shepherd from Egilshay. This was the largest ever congregation in the U.P. Kirk. Inside it was standing room only and a lot of people stood outside the door unable to get in. A total of 18 families in the parish were bereaved, and with a lot more men wounded, this was a very, very, sad occasion, which affected most of the parish. For WW2 three more names were added to the list, John S. Gibson, who was killed in France, Hullion; Thomas Walls, Store Cottage, Rousay, who died on the Burma Railway; James S. Mainland, Weyland, Egilshay, who was killed when his ship, HMS Dasher blew up on the Clyde.

Through the week all the ministers were good friends but on Sunday would not talk to each other. Each went about his duties on a Sunday, ignoring his colleagues.

Conclusion. The three main kirks in Rousay and the ones in Egilshay and Wyre are no longer in use. Some of the people don’t care, but a lot do. It is quite sad sight to see four good buildings go into a state of disrepair then to a ruin. These buildings used to be the heart of a community. Baptisement, christening, weddings and funerals were all linked to the Kirk. They were filled every week with four preachers giving their all. The wintertime Kirk Socials and Soirees filled the buildings with music. Teaching of music. Good music. All long gone, all in the past…..

© Tommy Gibson, Brinola, Rousay. 1996

The Kirks and Kirkyards of Rousay, Egilshay and Veira – Part 3

by

Tommy Gibson

A new kirkyard for Sourin and Frotoft was needed by the end of WW1. A site in the Brinian, at the Old Established Kirk was found. This was an area of about one and a half acres. Only about a half acre section was first used. This was to the east of the main gate. The first interment was in 1919. In the early sixties most of the ground was still old grass and heather, so some of the Kirk members ploughed and reseeded the rest of the ground. The ground to the west of the gate is now in use.

In the Brinian the two Kirks were the United Presbyterian and the Old (Established) Kirk. The Old Kirk was built around 1815. It is not known if that if a Church was already there but I suspect no. This Kirk was a well built building and even yet it stands as square today as the day it was built. The roof looks as good as new but I suspect in poor condition. There has been 3 doors into the building, one on the west end another on the east end but this one has been built up. There is an Oak lintel above this door, 18 inches wide, 4 inches deep, and 10 feet long. The third is through the porch. A small fireplace was next to the pulpit on the right side but there is no evidence of a chimney. There is a chimney on the west end but no fireplace. I wonder how these fires worked. There was also a fireplace in the middle of the building with a cast iron flue pipe.

Over the years I suspect that changes and improvements took place in this building. Originally there was a flagstone floor and this was later wooden. There is also four air vents on the main walls. They were covered by small ornate wooden boxes in the inside. Only three remain. Four large wooden beams brace the walls near the roof, and a very large beam still remains that was the bottom of the balcony. There were five rows of seats up there with a stairway to the left of the door. Six windows filled the place with light. Four on the south side and one each end, both high up. The pulpit had a large back but the actual pulpit itself was of a standard size. The last time the inside of the Kirk was painted, the walls and all the timber were painted pink, fortunately the roof was white. A small porch is situated on the lower side of the Kirk. A small window and a fireplace completes this small room.

The manse for this Kirk is at the Glebe, and had the largest membership when it was built. A few years later it was the smallest. One of the Ministers was the Rev. James Gardener. He came to Rousay in 1844 and did his pastoral duties for 42 years. He died in on the 28th March 1885 aged 82. It seems to me that the ministers liked Rousay. They did long years of service to the public. The Rev. McLellan 37 years, Ritchie 21 years, Rose 23 years. Long Service indeed. This Kirk was closed in the late 1920’s.

A story concerning Rev. Gardener; At the school of Rousay, on 19th April 1853, the session met and constituted. (This was most probably the Westside School). The Moderator was the Rev James Gardener and Messers Reid and Kirkness, Elders. Barbara Louttit (from Blackhammer), appeared and stated that she had given birth to a child….. to William Wood residing at Walliwall near Kirkwall was the father and that he had left the country. The moderator was asked to write to …..?….. in Kirkwall on the subject and report at the next meeting. Barbara Louttit was admonished and dismissed for the present. The meeting was closed with prayer. At the church in Rousay, 30th April 1854, the session met again. A letter from a Dr. Logie from Kirkwall was read and stated that W. Wood had indeed left the country. Barbara was in attendance and was questioned about the father of her child. She again was admonished and dismissed for present. A third meeting was called on the 6th of May 1855. Barbara Louttit craved baptism for her child. Being interrogated she again solemnly declared that William Wood was the father of the child. Again she was rebuked and seriously admonished before the session for the act of fornication, and informed her that she was absolved and was admitted back to the church privileges. This must have been a trying time for the girl. Over two years of meetings and rebukes, public scandal on top of this. She paid dearly for her son. Her son William Louttit married my grandfather’s sister, Margaret Gibson, and they had three of a family. They had a son William who took poorly when he was 6 and his father and a neighbour took a boat from Westness to Evie for medicine from a Doctor. They were both drowned half way across. William died from appendicitis at Broland in 1896 when he was 14.

I do not know when the services stopped in the Established Church. They may have gone on longer than 1929, when the Union came. In the Sixties many Kirks were sold all over the Country. Meetings were held in Rousay to see about the possibility of selling the Old Kirk. Some of the members of the Old Kirk were still alive then and were horrified about the prospect of selling the Kirk. The old aligns was still there and most of them would have rather die then sell of the Kirk. It still remains an empty building.

Rousay United Secession Church. (The U.P.) This was an offshoot of the Kirkwall congregation. Some Rousay people were members of Mr. Paterson’s congregation and moved for a church in 1833. A congregation was formed and a church was built in 1834 free of debt. A commemorated token to mark this event was struck. A manse was built immediately thereafter. Four years passed before they got a minister, The Rev. John McLellan who was ordained in 1837. He then ministered to the wants and needs of the congregation for 37 years. McLellan was a powerful preacher and, with revivalist influence strong throughout Orkney, he quickly built up a membership to 170, with an average Sunday attendance of 250. He died in 1874. After a short vacancy Mr. Alexander Allardice was called and settled, but after a brief ministry he was removed by death. He held the position for 6 years. The last minister was the Rev. Alexander Pirie who was called in 1883. He retired in 1914. The church had undergone several alterations and was now a serviceable building. This Church was finally closed in 1995. Six years later the windows on the south side of the Kirk were blown out. It is now in a sad state of repair.

The manse, slightly more an ordinary house, having been damaged by lightning, was replaced by a new commodious house. This being the present manse. This was in 1883 built at a cost of £900. The contract was awarded to Alexander Gibson, Vacquoy who had built the Wasbister School and schoolhouse. Most of the money came from the presbytery in Kirkwall. This manse later became the residence of the Rousay Doctors and was renamed Brinian House. Up to about 1964 the doctor used one of the rooms in the house as a surgery and dispensary. No facilities for a waiting room, the patents had to wait in the kitchen. A wooden building was erected to the west side of the house for a surgery and waiting rooms. This lasted till 1999 when a new modern surgery was built separately from the house. In the early sixties this church became the only regular working church in Rousay. After the union in 1929 Rev. Robert R. Davidson was the minister of the United Churches. A well-liked and respected minister who was formerly a medical missionary in Africa, he was in the Cold Coast, which was later Ghana. He lived in the West Manse at the Glebe. I remember he had a wireless aerial between the chimneys of the manse – a two-storey house. This needed regular inspection; the Rev. Davidson would go up to the roof and walk between the chimneys unaided. We all thought that he had nerves of steel. He left Rousay in 1952 to retire in Holm where he died in 1963 aged 79. His housekeeper was a Miss Morrison, who came from Stronsay. The Rev. Beattie was the next minister. He was an ex. RAF padre. He married while in office in Rousay and left about 1961.

Westness House was situated near the farmhouse and was built over the burn. It was quite a modern house of its day. It straddled the burn, and the water washed household wastes away. John Traill of Westness was a Jacobite and after the battle of Culloden Moor, the government of the day punished them. On Friday the 24th of June 1746, one Ben Moody, of Melsetter, sailed from Kirkwall to Westness and set about plundering the House. He ordered the servants to empty the house of the furniture, and then he took a few choice items, loaded this on to the boat then ordered them to set the rest on fire. Next he turned the guns on the house and raised it to the ground. John Traill decided to rebuild the house on the side of the hill above the original site. This was a spot where the ladies of the house went up and sat in the sun. A house was built before 1750 along with a Chapel. Over the years Westness House has been added on to and renovated possibly a lot of times. The Chapel was Episcopalian, and was at the bottom of the garden.

George William Traill was the Laird of the Estate and resided at Westness from 1840 to 1847, an uncle to Frederick Burroughs, who was the laird from 1847 to 1905. It is known that Eliza Burroughs his wife used this Chapel. Over the years it went into a state of disrepair and a green house was constructed at the end of the chapel and the chapel was made into a tool shed. After the break-up of the estate, Walter Grant bought Trumland House for himself and Westness House for his sisters, Mrs. Low and Mrs. Laurie. He removed the greenhouse and had the chapel renovated and also provided the furniture. In 1952 Dr James Firth and family bought Westness House with little or no furniture. Mrs. Grant on hearing that the chapel was being used again returned the furniture, which was a lectern, chairs and the prayer stools etc. Services were usually conducted by the ministers from the Episcopalian church from Kirkwall. This chapel is still occasionally used.

The Westside Kirkyard has a peaceful and pleasant location overlooking Eynhallow. The tide and sea can be very picturesque on a windy day. The church, dedicated to St Mary, was built in the Kirkyard. The building, now roofless, would have been thatched. The west end of the church started to lean out and a buttress was built to stop this. There are a total of 77 headstones upright or laid flat on the ground. There is no evidence of a manse for the minister in the Westside but in Wasbister was a house called the Manse. This was built on the land belonging to the Traills of Westness. The Manse was built c1560 and remained the manse to St. Mary’s till c1746, this was the time the minister was catholic. From c1746 till 1790 it was still a manse, but to the new Scottish dedication of the United Presbyterian. Before 1837 Wasbister was owned by Lord Advocate of Shetland called Lord Zetland (Sir Laurans Dundas C.B.E.) and may have owned the land up to Kirkgate – i.e. the gate to the Kirk lands, so Blackhammer and Kirkgate may have been on Kirk lands. It was then called Lower Blackhammer, and latterly it was reverted back to “The Manse”.

I have also heard that Egilshay folk worshiped there. To get to the Westside they had to sail or pull across to Rousay, and land below the mill. The best way was to walk up by the Sourin burn to the Muckle Water, then making their way down to the Kirk. You must remember that there were no roads of any consequence in those days. When they arrived they would put on their best boots to enter the Kirk. In the wintertime and perhaps even summer, they must have sat through the services very wet. The service would last for up to two and a half hours, then they had to return back to Egilshay. They must have thought it dangerous to sail around to the Westside.

The late George W. Mainland born at Cott in 1898, and writing in 1974: “My mother who was born in 1867, remembers her grandmother Isabella Yorston quite well. She was born at Skaill, Westside. According to her gravestone in the Chapel she died on 25th February l885 aged 95, being a widow of John Mowat from Skuan. This house was on the land of Knarston. My mother used to tell us that she remembered her grandmother’s tales about living at Skaill, and sometimes listening to singing in the Kirk. According to the dates she was about eight years old”. This would have been c1790.

It was the Rev. James Paterson (ordained in Egilshay) who was the last minister for the Westside Kirk. He was ordained in Egilshay c1789. He took a service in Egilshay one week then in Rousay the next. He died on February 2nd 1837. The services were discontinued now. The last interment was in 1917 when Harry Reid was killed in WW1. The Rev Duncan McLaren of Evie officiated in the absence of the Rev. John Dais Logie who was away attending the Assembly. A large number of mourners from Rousay and Longhope attended. The bearers and firing parties were from the O.R.G.A. Territorials; this was on Wednesday May 23rd 1917.

The Kirks and Kirkyards of Rousay, Egilshay and Veira – Part 2

by

Tommy Gibson

At Scockness the Kirkyard was built on the highest point of land on the farm. The dyke built around the yard looks to be a very old construction. It measures 28 yards north and south and by 30 yards east and west. This was closed in the 1930s but the last interment was in 1958. There are a total of 68 headstones, including three that have fallen. The wall around the yard is in good condition but the north wall seems to be a lot older and starting to lean out. There would have been a Kirk there at one time.

This may have been in the 17th century, although, there is no evidence of a foundation for a building but on old maps a Chapel is mentioned, this was to the west of the kirkyard. At Scockness, like the other old Kirkyards the ground inside the dyke is a lot higher than outside. At the east side the ground is about 3 ft higher than the ground on the outside of the Kirkyard. I wonder if it is because of the sheer volume of interments. Even if the kirkyard had only been there since the l7th-century there must have been untold hundreds of interments in the old kirkyards. In Sourin the population for 1841 was 327.

When the last gravedigger for the Scockness kirkyard dug a grave he always had a lot of bones to hide till the funeral was over. The bones were always returned but there was supposed to be a pile of skulls thrown in the lower corner by previous diggers. He would go into Scockness for his dinner but he never washed his hands. It never hurt him; he died in 1938 when he was 98. At the north side of the Kirkyard was the old Tollbooth or prison. This was a square stone building covered with earth and grass. A very small window looked across to Eday, also with a small entrance. If anyone, for any reason, was cast into this prison let’s hope it was in the summer time. The wintertime must have been very cold. This was removed in the early sixties when a new steading was built on the farm.

The Chapel below the Glebe at the shore in Sourin is the smallest of all the Kirkyards, with only 30 headstones. Its size is only 45ft x 36ft. Traditionally it was supposed to have the most interments for its size. Is this the oldest Kirkyard?

The dyke around the yard is in fair condition. The corners of the wall are in need of repair. The last internment was in 1943. At The north side of the yard is a mound with suggestions of a foundation, was this the site of a Kirk or Chapel? In the field above to the south west there is a large foundation. This was even an earlier Kirk, long gone. Again legend has it that a Kirk had been built in front of Knarston, which is nearby. This Kirk again, is long gone. Knarston is a very old farm with records going back to c1400.

Near the Glebe is one of the three Manses. This manse is for the Established Church. This one was built about 1908-9. In 1906 the membership for the Old Kirk was 71, and the minister, the Rev. Alexander Spark received a stipend of £184. This money had a purchasing power of £9542.24p (1996 figures). The average farm worker earned about £16 per year. Purchasing power was £830.

The Rev. Spark took a dislike to the old Manse, and about 1900 tried to get his congregation to build a new one for him. He took up a building surveyor from Edinburgh to examine the manse, claiming that the walls were damp. The Rev. took buckets of water to dampen the walls, just to make sure. He also wrote to General Burroughs, the laird who owned the parish, demanding the use of a house “worthy of my status, such as Westness House” while the manse was being built. He went to live in Kirkwall while the new manse was being built. The contract was awarded to Samuel Firth, building contractor, Harray, Orkney. The manse was completed in 1909 at a cost of approximately £900. The old manse was probably built about 1747-50: this would have made the building about 160 years old. It is a pity that a date stone from the old manse was not preserved.

John Corsie, who was a servant man at The Glebe, was carting peats to Mrs. Spark, at the Manse. Mrs. Spark said to one of the servant girls to put a cake on a tray and cut a slice and offered it to the hungry John. John, with a mischievous grin took the cake and left the slice! “Ma’am”, the girl shouted to Mrs. Spark, “he took the wrong piece, what will I do”? The Rev Williams was the last minister in the Established Kirk. Unfortunately not much is known about him except that he had a rather arrogant nature. Now the West Manse is the Church and Day Centre, opened on August 27th 1995. Two rooms on the ground floor were made into one, and made a sizeable hall. This is used every Wednesday for the Triangle Club for the old folks and not so old ones, and at weekends used for services and meetings.

In Sourin to the West of the crossroad is the Free Kirk. This was said to be a low narrow thatched building. It was rebuilt around about the late 1840’s. The story was, (I have never seen any records) that the Kirk was lengthened, heightened and widened. The quarrying, masonry and labouring work was done freely by the Sourin folk. The stones came out of a small quarry nearby. The Reids of Wasdale (a farm near the Kirk) were said to be in charge of the joinery, for there was a tremendous amount of work in the roof. The roof trusses were only 18 inches centres. The window frames were a little too short so they scared (scarfed) a new bottom on to the frame of the window. This was still there a few years ago. In fact the top of the window was in a better state than the bottom. While this building was going on, the services were held in the open air. I have heard that this took place at Knarston and also I believe near to the Sourin Kirk.

It was known as the Ritchie Church. The Rev. George Ritchie was born in Glasgow in 1789. He came to Rousay to the Established Church in 1837 remaining in Rousay till his death on the 23rd Oct. 1858. At the disruption in 1843, he was one of six ministers who ‘came out’, in Orkney, bringing the greater part of the new congregation to the new Free Church in Sourin. He was married to Isabella Anderson on the 6th October 1840. They are both buried at Scockness. The Free Kirk was one of the few Organizations that recognized over population in the Isles. It used to help to pay the young folk to go to the colonies. Most of them had nothing and they went to nothing. Many of them made good. The Free Kirk, like others, also benefited from legacies. On the 28th day of June 1892, The Rev. Bonellie received £157 15s 1d from the late Thomas Mainland, a fisherman\farmer of Springfield. This would have been a considerable boost to the funds.

Above right, is Thomas Marwick [seated], with his son-in-law Richard Craigie in New Zealand. Richard married Thomas’s daughter Mary in 1859, but she died in 1862. That same year he then married Mary’s sister Isabella, and they went on to have a family of ten children, four boys and six girls. – [Photo courtesy of Janet Craigie-McConnell, NZ]

Not many records exist of the Sourin Kirk but I would like to mention one elder, Thomas Marwick of Woo. Thomas was born at Scockness in 1796, and married Ann Gibson of Broland in 1820, was a farmer for a short while at Banks, Sourin then Woo. They had 10 of a family; most of them went to New Zealand and Australia. His wife died in 1861 so Thomas went out to New Zealand with his daughters Mary and Isabella in 1857. Thomas was an elder in the Free Kirk and he was given a presentation when he left Rousay. Another elder and presentor was James Leonard of Digro. James was a deeply religious man. After giving evidence to the Crofters Commission against the Laird, General Burroughs, he was evicted from Digro. James went to Kirkwall for a short while then he went to Oban, and was active in the Kirk there. He never returned to Rousay.

In 1873 the School (this is now the Old School) was too small so all the bairns went to the Kirk to be used for a school. There were more than 80 pupils going to the school. In the Old School the classroom was only a small room. It must have been cramped conditions, and then going into a huge room of the Kirk must have been bliss. The Sourin folk were very loyal to their Kirk; nearly every household in Sourin went to the Free Kirk. Only seven families from Sourin went to the U.P. Kirk, and these were mainly families that came into Sourin from Wasbister and Frotoft, this was between 1875 and 1906. It is not known how many went to the Established Kirk. I was told that when Christina Craigie of Fa’doon was “cried in the Kirk” (the Banns) every seat was taken and the balcony was full, they were sitting in the windowsills and even standing in the aisles. There were only two folk in Sourin who were not at this event and the rest of the folk thought they were “queer”.

The other four men elected as Deacons that day in 1899:

Above left is Hugh Craigie, Swandale, with his wife Lizzie. Above right is James Clouston, Tou, with wife Annabella and children Clara & Jim.

On the right in the picture below left is John Gibson, Broland, with Malcolm Leonard, Quoys. Below right is Hugh Craigie, Deithe, with his wife Maggie.

Evenings in the Sourin Kirk were something to behold. Kirk Socials and Soirees were always outstanding successes. The performances would make any opera company of today envious. Not one seat was empty. Organising concerts in the Kirk must have been a massive undertaking. One programme had 28 items. Songs, part songs, duets, selections, quartets, choir singing, were all part of the programme. This was the work of William Grieve of Fa’doon. He was a cousin of James William, and also a gifted musician and teacher. William was also presenter in the Sourin Kirk. His son Robert took over as the presenter in 1934 till he left to go and live Sandwick in November 1960. Robert, a blacksmith, was also a gifted musician and singer. All that family were musical and they “understood” music. I remember the first time I was in the Sourin Kirk in the Broland seat, every house had a seat, the rent of this seat used to be 2/6, (12½ pence per year) at the back wall. We went into the Kirk about 20 past 11, must not be late. At half past 11, the Rev Davidson was led in to the pulpit by an elder. He sat in the pulpit what seemed to me as an eternity then he rose from his seat and there was a prayer. Then a hymn was announced. A huge man stood up in front of the pulpit, this was Robert Grieve, the organ sprang into life, this man started to bellow and sing. I thought this man had gone crazy, making such a noise. I was never so frightened in my short life [I was only 4 years old] and was wishing that the ground would open and swallow me up. Soon the music finished, time for a pandrop (a strong peppermint sweetie). Soon the minister was at the sermon; every now and then a fist was hammered on the pulpit to emphasize a point, which made every one jump. No one sleeps through my sermons!

I can remember on a Sunday in the early 1950’s, the folk leaving the Kirk at 12:30 and walking home. Every one walked to and from the Kirk in those days. They had reached the crossroads and were still coming out of the Kirk. Not many cars in these days, but two cars were usually there. The first one belonged to Rev. Davidson, and the other was from Trumland House, usually driven by David Pirie, the gardener. The Rev. Davidson took his car, a Morris Cowley, to the smithy at Cruannie. “Mr. Grieve,” said the Rev. Davidson, “there is a strange sound coming from my car! Will you walk along side and try to locate the noise.” “Fine hid” said Mr. Grieve. The minister started the car and Robert walked along side, “Can you hear anything, Mr Grieve?” “Lord, I can’t hear a thing,” Robert replied. “Do not take the name of The Lord in vain,” said the minister. To this Robert replied, “Good, I was Not taking His name in vain, I have never taken His name in vain in all me life”.

On the 2nd of February 1952 a violent hurricane hit Britain, and was particularly hard on the North of Scotland. I hope the like never returns again. I remember the morning of the hurricane, the old Hall was destroyed and a lot of damage was done to the school. Stacks and hen houses were also blown down. Thousands of hens were lost and destroyed. All the telephone poles in the parish were either at a list or blown down. By co-incidence a GPO lorry and a gang of men were working in Rousay. The men were staying in the manse, (Burnside) and the lorry was parked in front of the Kirk. Through the night a huge gust of wind shoved the lorry forward about 20 ft. Then a bigger gust blew down the bell tower right where the lorry was first standing. The men were sorry that the lorry had moved. It was (the bell tower) never replaced. The Sourin Kirk was closed in the early 1960’s and is now in a sad state of disrepair. When the Kirk was closed, the Church of Scotland owned it, and then in the 1970’s it was sold privately.

The Kirks and Kirkyards of Rousay, Egilshay and Veira

by

Tommy Gibson

Being a three-island parish it would not have been the easiest to administer to the various religious needs of the people. Long ago, getting parishioners to the various churches on a Sunday morning would have been rather hazardous in bad weather. Boats carrying worshippers from Wyre to Rousay, boats from Egilshay to Rousay, boats to Egilshay from Rousay, also boats to Rendall or Kirkwall and, or Shapinsay. Safety must have been a priority for I have never come across any evidence of any accident concerning the transport of anyone between the islands for church matters.

The small boats went in fairly bad weather and sometimes the passengers sat through a long sermon, soaking wet. The folk walked from Wasbister to Sourin up the Leean, and then they turned off the main road (now the council dump) onto a side road above the Blossan, Digro and Cruannie, down what was called the middle road at Ervadale to the Sourin Kirk. This road was well defined in the 1950’s and even now marks of that road are still there in places. It would have been slightly shorter than going down the Sourin Brae then up the Crossroads. Again this was a long walk in bad weather. Before the U.P. Kirk was built it was not uncommon for island parishioners to take a hazardous journey to Kirkwall for a service. Often in bad weather, they would have to get up before 3 o’clock in the morning to walk over the hill to the shore, sail directly into Kirkwall, or sail to and then walk from Evie or Rendall with no proper roads, over heather or rough ground. I recall a story about a Rousay man who wanted a particular minister to baptise his son. This Minister resided in Kirkwall, so the man took his son and made his way across Evie Sound and walked to the town. On arrival he discovered the minister was in Holm. The man set off to find the minister, was successful, had the son baptised, and returned to Rousay after walking maybe over 60 miles. Another story I heard long ago was about a Craigie man who lived up in the hill in Frotoft. This man was very religious, and wanted to see God. He pondered for a while, looking up at the Heavens wondering how to get up there. It suddenly dawned on him that birds fly to the Heavens. He gathered up feathers for days from dead whitemaa’s (sea gulls). When he thought he had enough, he climbed to the top of the lum, (chimney top) and jumped off; the feathers did no good, when landed he’d broken both his arms. Such was their devotion.

The earliest religious area I have found in Rousay is a mound about a half way down the Leean. The name of this place is Hendi-Midgathy. A translation would be “a steep slope halfway between hill dykes – a Holy-Garth, of some kind”. (Dr. Hugh Marwick’s Rousay Place-Names.) Nothing more is known of this place and nothing there to suggest that anything took place or any evidence that a building was there. The first time I heard this name it was called “The Henni Midgier Brae”, by Willie Inkster, who was born at Swartifield in 1902. There is no evidence of any building, chapel, or church on this site. Previous to 1796 there were no dissenters of any denomination in Orkney. The people were all nominally connected with the Established Church. This was also known as the “Old Kirk.”

The first recorded Minister in the parish was the Rev. Cuthbert Henderson who was in Rousay in 1580, and in 1585 the Rev. Ninian Halcrow A.M.(sic) was the second. In 1590 the third minister, James Tulloch took charge. In 1659 the charge was taken over by the Rev. Thomas Baikie. His charge only lasted for five years. He was buried in St. Magnus churchyard, Kirkwall on the 14th of April 1666, aged 42. This was the same year as the Great Fire of London. There is no record which church he preached in. In 1627 the Rev. James Brand had 400 communicants on the Roll. In 1733 the records show a meeting, all in the Kirk in Egilshay. The Elders were William and Alexander Yorkstone (this may have been Yorstone), John Gibson, George Alexander, John Grieve and Peter Reid, William Mainland was absent. The minister was The Rev. James Jamison. There were several persons guilty of fornication, such as Isobel Lennard relaps (sic) with one Andrew Moss in Avilha (could this be Avilshay?). Ursula Corsie also relaps! The last one being David Craigie in Bigland. Peter Cogle and Marion Yorkstone (any relation?) in Egilshay.

On October the 14th 1733 the Rev. James Jamison called the session in Rousay. William Craigie, William Folstar, John Flaws, Henry Inkster, George and James  Marwick  were  the  elders. Gilbert Brand and Marion Yorkstone, (again?) did not appear as they were appointed. The session did find that William Buchan and Catherine had some time ago confessed their guilt as adulterers. The scandal is not yet removed. The Session considered that they wanted sackcloth for the appearance of adulterers, so it was recommended to William Folstar  to  buy  six  yards  for that purpose. Take the money from the box of the needy to buy same. Elizabeth Traill daughter of deceits (sic) and William Traill of Quendall brought forth a child in uncleanness to servant  John Flaws, of John Robertson of Skaill. Christian Corsay servant to Henry Inkster, Wysbister, had a child, to appear before the session, as soon as she recovered from childbed  sickness. Has anything changed?

Kirk Brae, mentioned in the text below, was sited at the sea-end of the green field middle right in the above photo. Yorville is in the centre, with Breek, Burrian, Brough, Cott and Langstane stretching away. Cotafea is at the top, and Tratland just appears below it and to the right.

In about 1890 the Roll of the three Churches in Rousay was 454. The Established Church 59. Free Church 195 and the U.P. 200. The population of the parish in 1891 was 988. The Established minister always received the highest stipend. As in any old kirkyard wherever, all graves and all Churches face the East, and in some cases the ends of the building was a landmark or a bearing, for sailing ships and boats. The oldest graveyard found was in a field in Frotoft at the Hullion Pier. This was known as Kirk Brae, and was excavated in the mid 1970’s. Seven shallow graves were found, slightly scattered. Over the years the plough had done damage to the area. The date is unknown, but very old. There is no record of any burial place before the existing Kirkyards. In Quandale there are a few burnt mounds, possibly this was for cremation, maybe not. Long ago when dead sailors were found they were always buried on the shore above high water mark where they were found. There are a lot of graves around the coastline. Some of the places are The North Sand, Scockness. Hunber, Faraclett. Gruthin, Wasbister. Below Banks, Sourin. The shore around Quandale, the North shore on the Holm of Scockness and Eynhallow. Most of the sites of these graves have long disappeared.

When the end came to someone in the parish there was usually a neighbour woman in attendance. This woman usually went around the district when help was needed. The undertakers were always local, usually each district had their own. The minister played a large part in the funeral. Visiting the bereaved, arranging the funeral service and the committal. The family usually mourned for long periods, always wore black clothing, they would not visit, or receive visitors, go anywhere except to the Kirk.

Also a certain woman would be in attendance at a birth. If a birth was in Wasbister, a neighbour would say to his wife, “there’s a ship ashore at Shalter the day”. They would never say “a bairn is being born at Shalter the day”. It was supposed to be bad luck to mention a birth taking place and its location in the same sentence.

The old kirkyards in Rousay were filling up or full. In Wasbister the kirkyard known as the Corse Kirk, was full a lot of times over. The size is only 31 yards by 27. There are 42 headstones in the old section; this was for a very small percentage of the population interred here. This included three flat vaults built up to a height of about six inches. I have heard that it was for people who died of a particularly nasty disease and the stones were built on the grave so it would never be disturbed again. I know that one or two stones fell and are hidden by the rabbit warrens in the north end of the yard. The oldest date on a headstone is 1831, but the Kirkyard is a lot older. The stone dykes are of an older construction. In the southwest part of the old kirkyard is a raised area, what maybe a foundation of part of an old Kirk. An old map dated 1881 referred to an old Kirk being in the east end of the yard. There is no evidence of any foundations there. We will probably never know the details. A new section was needed for the graveyard. The middle section of the Wasbister kirkyard was opened about the turn of the 20th century. This was slightly smaller than the old section at 20yds. by 25. The earliest inscription on a headstone in this section is 1904. This again soon filled up. 44 headstones adorned the site but they did not face the east. This broke tradition, and was the first time in Rousay that the graves were laid to the square.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Soon another section was needed. James Munro, mason, Breval, and his son Byng, built a high wall around the newest section. This was just before the Second World War. This was quite a large area with over 700 layers. When the wall was built, steps were built in the gate between the pillars. This was a peculiar tradition in the parish. The Kirkyards at Scockness, Glebe, the Westside, and Wyre have steps built across the gate, which had to be climbed over to get into the cemetery. Whether this was built when the kirkyard was closed or earlier I do not know. The steps into the Wasbister kirkyard were removed soon after it was built. The first interment was in 1942. This was in the northwest corner. It will take several hundred years to fill up. The population in the district now is only about 26. According to the census of 1841 two hundred and ninety persons lived in Wasbister. To date there are 21 headstones in the newest section.

Across from the kirkyard in the loch is a small island called Burrian. Tradition has it that this was man-made. A causeway connecting the island was built across on the westerly side. This is now sunk well below the waterline. The Wasbister loch, as we know it now, was at one time, supposed to be three small lochs, but this was made into one when a dam was built for the grinding mill at Saviskaill. Burrian is now overgrown with bushes and it is very difficult exploring, but there is no evidence of a Kirk or Chapel or any building. The only building is a dyke built around the small island. A word of warning, do not try to wade or find the causeway across, as this is very dangerous. The loch is very muddy in this area.

Below Langskaill, on the shore was the site of St Colm’s Kirk, now completely eroded away by the sea. All I know about this place was that fishermen used to go inside and leave a token, this may have been money, or a trinket for good luck and hopefully for a safe return from the fishing grounds. I have heard that even after the Kirk had gone, small amounts of money were found in that area. This Kirk must have disappeared a few hundred years ago, for the only record I have seen is only on very old maps of Rousay.

WASBISTER

Back row, from left: Maggie Jane Clouston, Shalter; Hugh Sinclair, Vacquoy; Ellen Mary Craigie, Ploverha; John Marwick, Quoys; Maggie Inkster, Furse; James Clouston, Tou; Jean Inkster, Swartafiold; David Flaws, Hammerfield; ?.

Middle row: Mary Jane Pearson, Kirkgate; James Craigie, Turbitail; Bessie Muir, Breckan; Hugh Craigie, Deithe; Maggie Jessie Flaws, Hammerfield; James Marwick, Grain; William Craigie, Ivybank; Robert Inkster, Furse; Annie Craigie, Ivybank;
Arthur Flaws, Hammerfield.

Front row: John Clouston, Shalter; James Sinclair, Blackhammer; Maggie Jessie Muir, Breckan; Liz Moar, Saviskaill; Ethel Inkster, Furse; Annabella Sinclair, Sketquoy; Tony Sinclair, West Side School; Isabella Sinclair, West Side School.

Back row, from left: Minnie Inkster, Furse; Lilly Inkster, Furse; William Flaws, Hammerfield; Hugh Sinclair, Sketquoy; Maggie Jessie Grieve, Whitemeadows;
Rita Craigie, Ivybank.

Middle row: George Craigie, Falquoy; Ethel Inkster, Furse; Annabella Sinclair, Sketquoy; Maggie Jessie Flaws, Hammerfield; Jim Craigie, Falquoy.

Front row: Sidney Marwick, Innister; John Marwick, Innister; Bella Laird, Castlehill; Andrew Laird, Castlehill; Charles Logie, Cubbie Roo.

Back row: Stanley Moar, William Marwick, David Wards, Sinclair Craigie, Thomas Donaldson, Thomas Marwick, James Craigie.

Middle row: Jim Sinclair, Clara Donaldson, Agnes Marwick, Netta Sinclair, Jean Marwick, Kathleen Craigie, Clem Donaldson, Anna Marwick, Robert Marwick.

Front row: William Donaldson, Jim Leslie, Donald Marwick.

Back row: George Sinclair, Sketquoy; David Leslie, Whitemeadows; Evelyn Clouston, Tou; Renee Hourie, Braehead; Phebe Marwick, Innister; Elsie Donaldson, Vacquoy; Edwin Moar, Saviskaill.

Front row: David Marwick, Quoys; Kathy Marwick, Quoys; Edna Clouston, Tou; Nettie Marwick, Innister; Gertie Moar, Saviskaill; John Marwick, Braehead.

FROTOFT

Back row, from left: Annie Craigie, Mount Pleasant; Eliza Shearer, Old Mill, Trumland Farm; Martha Craigie, Mount Pleasant; Cecilia Logie, The Stables, Trumland House; Agnes Johnston, Breek; Mary Ann Sinclair, Newhouse.

Front row: Peter Shearer, Old Mill, Trumland Farm; George Mainland, Cott; William Logie, Gripps; Robert Inkster, Westness Farm; Miss Barbara Norquoy the teacher; David Inkster, Westness Farm.

Back row, from left: Jim Craigie, Corse; Jim Robertson, Trumland Farm; George Mainland, Cott; William Logie, Mount Pleasant; Mary Ann Sinclair, Newhouse; Maggie Robertson, Old Mill; Jeannie Harrold, Rose Cottage; John Mainland, Cott; Robert Mainland, Westness.

Front row: John Logie, Mount Pleasant; Charlie Logie [Lalla], Ivy Cottage; Mary Mainland, Westness; Peggy Sutherland, Viera View; Isie Craigie, Corse; Edda Mainland, Cott; John Mainland, Westness.

Back row, left to right: Davidson Harrold, Rose Cottage; Charles Logie [Lalla]; Agnes Robertson, Banks; Isabella Craigie, Corse; Peggie Sutherland; Jeannie Harrold, Rose Cottage; Bobbie o’ Westness; Lily Low, Hooklet; Marjorie o’ Hullion; Jeems o’ Corse; Louie o’ Corse; John o’ Cott; Edda; John Logie, Mount Pleasant; Mary o’ Westness; Jeannie Louttit, Evie; teacher Sarah Craigie; Jock o’ Westness; Jim Sinclair [o’ the Lodge].

Front row: Hugh Sutherland; James Gibson, Hullion; Emma Mainland [Maggie Jessie Ann], Jim, her twin, behind her; Dave Gibson, Brough; Marie Leonard, Hullion; Kathleen o’ Hullion; Harry Logie; Annie Gibson, Hullion; Maggie Ann Craigie;
Tom Sinclair; Annie Leonard; Alice Logie [Girlie].

Back row, from left: Ann Reid; Mabel Sinclair; Minnie Reid; Anne Johnston; James Smith; Bill Gibson.

Middle row: Mary Yorston; Sarah Smith; Jim Yorston; ? Hume; Hugh Marwick; Jim Marwick; Bill Craigie.

Front row: Bill Smith; John Gibson, Hullion; ? Hume; John Marwick; John Yorston; Lilla Yorston; Lilly Sinclair.

Back row: Jim Marwick, Breek; John Marwick; John Craigie, Corse; Bill Smith.

Middle row: Sarah Smith; Mary Yorston; Mary Sinclair, Newhouse; Ann Reid, Tratland; Minnie Reid, Tratland.

Front row: John Gibson, Hullion; Fred Craigie, Corse; Jim Yorston; Hugh Marwick, Breek; Lilla Yorston; Lily Sinclair, Banks.

SOURIN

Back row: ?; ?; Helen Craigie, born at West Creya; Mary Ann Grieve, Fa’doon; ?; Ann Corsie, Knarston; Winnie Gibson, Avelshay.

4th row: John Marwick, Quoys; Thomas Corsie, Knarston; James Craigie, Glebe; Albert Munro, Old School; William Corsie, Glebe; William Marwick, Quoys; James Lyon, Ervadale.

3rd row: Robert Sabiston, Gripps; John Craigie, Treblo; James Irvine, Woo; ?; William Marwick, Scockness; James Moodie, Ervadale; John Sabiston, Gripps.

2nd row: Janet Corsie, Knarston; Mimie Seatter, Banks; Aggie Lyon, Ervadale; Edith Spark, Est. Ch. Manse; Margaret Jessie Inkster, Swartifield; Maggie Jean Lyon, Ervadale; Catherine Lyon, Ervadale; Bella Seatter, Banks; Jessie Ann Harrold, Blossom.

Front row: George Sabiston, Gripps; David Gibson, Swartifield; Murray Spark, Est. Ch. Manse; Alfred Gibson, Avelshay; Edward Seatter, Banks.
[Alfred and Edward were both killed in WW1.]

Back row, from left: ?; ?; ?; James Grieve; Stanley Gibson; Bobby Marwick; Gordon Dickson; George Corsie; David Linklater; Hugh Grieve; John Craigie.

Middle row: Alice Craigie; Cilla Corsie; Annie Craigie; Hannah Grieve; Mary Ann Craigie; Cissie Craigie; Annie Scott; Sally Craigie.

Front row: Maggie Jean Wylie; Mary Wylie; Jock Costie; Jessie Costie; Sammy Costie; Mary Leonard; Elsie Inkster.

Back row: ?, Willie Ferguson (Stand Pretty), Bing Munro (Bravel), Alfred Gibson (Avelshay), Robert Seatter (Banks), Jeanny Donaldson (Broch), Daisy Munro (Bravel), Jean Clouston (Upper Knarston), Annabella Gibson (Pow), Roy Russell (Old School), Bill Mainland (Hurtiso), ?, Isobel Grieve, teacher (Fa’doon).

John Seatter (Banks), James Lyon (Ervadale), Annie Craigie (Essaquoy), Kathleen Munro (Bravel), Kathleen Grieve (Cruannie), Mabel Grieve (Cruannie), Nelly Harcus (Clumpy), Chrissie Russell (Brendale), Kathleen Gibson (Avelshay), Annie Craigie (Scockness), Isabella Lyon (Ervadale), George Craigie (Scockness).

John Grieve (Digro), Robert Grieve (Cruannie), Archer Clouston (Upper Knarston), Edith Gibson (Avelshay), Maggie Anne Munro (Bravel), Dorothy Mainland (Hurtiso), Netta Russell (Brendale), Anne Lyon (Ervadale), John Harcus (Clumpy), Andy Munro (Bravel), Angus Harcus (Clumpy).

Back row, from left: Angus Harcus; John Grieve; John Seatter; Billy Mainland; Leonard Irvine; George Craigie; Archer Clouston; Hugh Yorston; Robert Marwick; John Harcus.

3rd row: Dorothy Mainland; Edith Gibson; Sally Linklater; Isobel Pirie; Ann Lyon; Mabel Grieve; Cathy Linklater; Maggie Ann Munro.

2nd row: Gordon Taylor; George Grieve; Netta Russell; Chrissie Grieve; Dorothy Munro; Thelma Shearer; Robert Lyon; Norman Munro; Robert Munro.

Front row: Andy Munro; Bertie Grieve; Ernest Mainland; Arnold Grieve; Hugh Lyon; Tommy Linklater.

Morag Russell from Aberdeen writes:- This would have been a couple of years after my father left school (Hugh Russell). His younger sisters, Netta and Chrissie, must have been absent that day but I recognise many of their cousins and neighbours. Long years after this, I met the teacher, Miss Brown, at a creative writing evening class in Aberdeen, when she must have been quite an elderly lady. We sat together and I remember her telling me, with some pride, ‘I’m George Mackay Brown’s sister, you know.’ As we chatted on I realised who she was from stories my dad told about his school days! When I asked if she remembered him, she said, ‘Hughie Russell! He wis a right peedie divvil!’

Ruby Brown’s son Danny Ross writes:- “Ruby did enjoy her two years teaching at Sourin although she missed her Stromness family and all the shops there. Indeed, she became engaged to a Rousay man but when she discovered the sheer physical hard work of a farmer’s wife, she quickly became unengaged!”

Back row, from left: Dorothy Munro, Breval; Thelma Shearer, Curquoy; Norman Munro, Breval; Tommy Linklater, Blossom; Dorothy Mainland, Hurtiso; Hugh Lyon, Ervadale; Arnold Grieve, Cruannie; Chrissie Grieve, Digro; Eva Wylie, Grindlesbreck.

Middle row: Jim Linklater, Blossom; Peggy Gibson, Broland; Jim Gibson, Lopness; Vera Gibson, Fa’doon; Edward Seatter, Banks; James Harcus, Clumpy; Marjory Groundwater, Quoys; Peggy Corsie, Glebe.

Front row: Robert Munro, Breval; Gordon Taylor, Swandale; Ernie Mainland, Hurtiso; Hugh Munro, Breval; Robert Lyon, Ervadale; George Grieve, Cruannie.

All photos are courtesy of Tommy Gibson

[I have copied the names from the reverse of each photo –
and I admit there are one or two missing!]

SOME NOTES ON THE ROUSAY REIDS

by

George William Reid, born 1864, and ‘Author of these notes’

Probably the Reids came first to Orkney in the train of the Stewart Earls, Earl Robert and Earl Patrick, his son, in the days of Queen Mary and James VI. A number of Orkney families, the Balfours, Stewarts, Traills, Elphinstones, Gibsons, etc, came with those earls as their retainers or servants. There were Reids in Westray and Eday during the 18th Century, but I have not been able to find any connection of our ancestors with them.

[This photo, and those of the other members of the Reid family, as well as the loan of the text, are courtesy of Tommy Gibson]

First Generation:

George Reid 1 (the centenarian, my great grandfather) came to Rousay from Westray some time about the end of the 18th or beginning of the 19th Century. He was said to be 107 years old when he died, but our people thought that that was a slight exaggeration. They estimated 105 years at the outside as his age. From incidents that he remembers they considered he must have been that age at least. He must have been born in Westray sometime about the middle of the 18th Century, for my father who was born in 1843 remembered him still living in Garson in Westside, say, between 1850 and 1860 I should think. I cannot fix the date exactly. I think he came first as a servant to the Traills of Westness, but he was farming in Woo in Sourin for a short time, for I have heard grandfather George 2 (your great grandfather) of Wasdale say that he remembered being at Woo as a little boy with his father. This first George married a Barbara Logie whose parents were Gilbert Logie and Helen Scott, also belonging to Westray. And that Gilbert Logie was the ancestor of the present Rousay Logies, who are thus cousins (3rd and 4th) of ours. I cannot trace the pedigree of George 1 further back. He was said to have been a very bold man. There was a Craigie in Westness, after the Traills I suppose who went and hanged himself. Nobody would venture into the room until our ancestor boldly went in and cut him down. So the story goes. I have never heard of any notice being taken of him by Royalty (Queen Victoria it would have been) or anybody else on account of his great age, except the individual who wrote those doggerel rhymes on the occasion of his photograph being taken. I think I must have a copy of that photograph somewhere if I could only lay hands on it. Whether he was married when he came to Rousay or after I have not been able to discover, but I think all the family were born in Rousay.

Issue (As far as I know)

1. George Reid 11 (in Wasdale) married Janet Harcus.

2. Peter Reid 1 (in Broch, on Westside) Married Mary Louttit.

3. Barbara Reid married William Mainland of Cot a Fea as his 2nd wife.

4. Betty Reid married John Johnstone in the Brinian.

5. Jean Reid married a Harcus, a brother of Janet Harcus mentioned above.

6. Mary Reid 1 died young, unmarried.

George Reid of Wasdale was born about 1806. He used to tell of an escapade of his when he was a very young child. He wandered up from Westness to the “Waters”, and was found somewhere between the Muckle Water and the Little Water which he thought were two seas. When brought home the lady of Westness, after giving him a piece of cake (fine bread he called it) laid her land on his head and said “thoo must not do that again”. He worked about Westness in his youth, went a-fishing as a young man, and was on two or more  voyages  to  the ‘straights’,  i.e.  the  Greenland  whale fishing.  Many a yarn he used to tell us boys about his whaling experiences. He was on one voyage, nearly frozen in, but fortunately they managed to get the ship out through a narrow channel. Otherwise they would have had to spend the winter amid Polar Ice and would probably never have been heard of again. He was first to spot the opening in the ice, and was highly commended for his alertness. I wish I could recall some of these yams but I have forgotten most of them.

He married Janet Harcus about 1830 or perhaps a year or two thereafter. Her family I have not been able to unravel satisfactory. It is very complicated somehow. Her father was a William Harcus and her mother a Christian or Christy Flaws, who lived to the great age of 103 years, and died at Wasdale. My father and aunt Lydia remembered her quite well. William Harcus must have died when the family were quite young.

George Reid 11 and his wife Janet Harcus

Grandmother was born about 1801, and as a child had a very hard life. She used to told me how she had to at the age of seven herd kye away in Sourin while her folk were on Westside, and got very (little) to eat from her employers. A sister Betty Harcus (aunt Betty we used to call her) was marred to Willie Robertson, and they lived as far back as can remember at Crey (where Shearer is now). Aunt Betty was a very cheery old lady and I used to like to go up and see her and old Willie, her man. He had lots of old world yarns which were very interesting, but grandfather said to think he put on too much “side”.

To return to the Reids, George 11 and Janet Harcus were a short time in the Brinian; in what house I did not know. Then they were in Pow on the Westside close to Scabra Head, now almost obliterated, and most of the family were born there, except the eldest two perhaps who were born in the Brinian. They lived there till about 1850 or thereabouts, when the landlord, George Traill of Veira, cleared all his Westside tenants out and turned the whole district into a large farm of Westness. Most of the tenants got holdings elsewhere on the estate, either in Wasbister or Sourin or one or two in Frotoft. Grandfather got Wasdale, which was part of a “three penny land of Overdaile” (i.e. Ervadale) as it was described in the old rentals. It was not called Wasdale then though, but simply Newhouse. Grandfather built the house and steading with his own hands mostly, and broke out a great deal of the land and our folks after a time named the place Westdale or Wasdale as it lay west of the other two dales, Ervadale and Brendale. He went to the fishing, did all sorts of odd jobs of carpentry and mason work, etc, for the folks round about, and worked hard all his days. He was a very jolly old soul. The oldest boy William died when only 11 years old in Pow, and grandfather never seemed to get over his loss. My father was born shortly after his death and was named William also after his older brother.

Grandmother died in 1894 and grandfather a few years after. Thus the Reids continued in Wasdale for some 80 years – from about 1850 till it was sold in 1930.

Issue of George 11 and Janet Harcus,

1. William 1 died aged 11 years

2. George 111

3. Mary 11

4. John 1

5. Peter 11

6. Hannah

7. William 11

8. Lydia

Third Generation:

George 111 born about 1835, went to sea, then was in New Zealand for a time at the gold diggings with his brothers John and Peter. Was the first skipper of the first Rousay steamer ‘Lizzie Burroughs’ for a year or two. Married Mary Shearer, a Tankerness woman about 1880 or ’81. Gave up the sea after a few years and kept a shop in Wellington Street, Kirkwall till his death in 1905.

Issue:

1. George 4 now a chemist in Kirkwall married May Reid, an Edinburgh woman.

No issue.

2. Mary Reid 11 married her cousin John Mainland, son of Barbara Reid and William Mainland of Cot a Fea. Lived all her married life at Cot a Fea.

Issue

1. John Mainland of Cott – 3 Children.

2. George Mainland in Rysa – 2 children, I dead.

3. Mary Mainland in Crusday, married Dannie Mackay – no issue.

John Reid 1 went to New Zealand as a young man about 1857 in the days of the gold rush. Working at gold diggings for about 15 years, then returned to home. Married Sarah, daughter of James Mainland of Tratland. Drowned in Evie Sound off the Rousay Mail boat in the autumn of 1893:-

1. John 11 joiner in Glasgow. Issue – 2 children.

2. Maggie married Peter Reid 4 as his second wife.

3. George 5, now in Tratland issue? (Don’t know how many).

4. Anna.

5. Mary 3. Both living in Gripps, unmarried.

Peter Reid 2, served apprenticeship as a cabinetmaker in Kirkwall. Was a great swimmer. Went to New Zealand about 1860 to the gold diggings. Married a Charlotte Stewart and settled there for life. Died some dozen years ago I think. No issue.

Hannah Reid, born about 1841. Married about 1859 James Leonard of Digro lived in Digro till evicted by Burroughs, the landlord about 1886. In Kirkwall for a year or two, then went to Oban, where both died.

Issue a family of 14.

1. George Leonard, died of diphtheria in Digro.

2. John Reid Leonard, Died in Oban. Was married to a Highland woman there.

3. Hannah Leonard, born 1864. Still living in Oban. Unmarried.

4. James Leonard born 1866, went to Canada as a young boy. Married there a Highland Woman. Sailed the Lakes. Engineer in Government Service;

Issue 5 children, one of whom was killed in the war.

5. Fredrick Leonard born about 1869. In the service of the Northern Lighthouse Commissioners, on their steamer ‘Hesperus’. Unmarried.

6. Isabella Leonard born about 1871. Married a Pearson in Oban. Issue 5 or 6 children.

7. Annie Leonard born about 1874 or ’75. Married a David Sinclair from Sanday. Both were in the Hotel service in Oban or elsewhere. He died a few years ago.

Issue 5 children I think.

8. and 9. Arthur Leonard and William Leonard, both died in infancy at Digro because of diphtheria at the same time as their brother George.

10. Alfred Leonard works (or idles) about Oban. Unmarried.

11. George Leonard 2. Married in Oban. Coal merchant. Has issue but I don’t know how many.

12. Edith Leonard, married a man Ogg in Aberdeen, in the Post Office service and still lives there. Issue 2 or 3 but I don’t know how many actually.

13.  Archibald Leonard now in Glasgow. Married. Issue unknown to me.

14. Lydia Leonard. In Oban. Issue unknown to me.

William Reid 2. Born in Pow, Westside, in 1843. Married Catherine Baikie from Stromness, 1863. Went fishing in his younger days. Started as a carpenter and joiner after, and continued that business until stopped by Burroughs the landlord. Was a short time in Edinburgh but soon returned owing to strikes and bad trade. He and his father, George 2 worked the farm of Wasdale jointly for a few years until George 2 failed in health, when he took over the whole farm, succeeding to the rights of the Crofter’s Act on his father’s death. Latterly he suffered much from asthma but continued working until a few days before his death. He died of pneumonia, 29th May 1915.

Issue:

1. George William 6, born 1864. Married (1905) Margaret Yorstan, daughter of Capt James Yorstan, the Ayre, Kirkwall, and Margaret Inkster. She died 31st Jan. 1930. No issue (Author of these notes)

2. Mary Catherine, born 1868. Milliner in Kirkwall for many years then worked at Wasdale after her father’s death. Now resident in Kirkwall since November 1930. Unmarried. Died 9/8/47.

3. Lydia 2, born 1867 or ’68. Died in infancy when only a few weeks old.

4. Peter Reid 4 (Peter 3 was son of Peter 1, 1st generation in Broch) born 1869. Went to Coatbridge Post Office under Mr John Louttit as a young man. Passed through grades to chief clerk. Then as Post Master at Gourock till laid aside by illness. Died 28.11 29.

Married 1. Mary Arthur in Coatbridge. She died 27.10.18.

Married 2. Maggie Reid, his cousin. Daughter of cousin John, above.

         Issue on the first marriage:-

         1. William 4.
         2. James Arthur
         3. Margaret Dean (Peggy)

5. Jessie Harcus born 1872. Worked at Wasdale all her life. She and her sister Mary Catherine became joint proprietors of the farm for a few years until 1930 when they sold it and came to reside in Kirkwall. Unmarried. Died 19.12.1945.

6. William John 3, born 27 Jan. 1874. While at school at Sourin herded cattle at Ervadale for a summer or two. Served apprenticeship as a joiner with his father. Was a harvest or two at Ha’breck in Wyre. He and his father did the joiner work of several houses in Rousay. He was very clever with his hands and could do some fine work. He had a great fund of natural humour, and had more mental capacity I think than any of us. He went to Edinburgh and worked at his trade for nearly two years. I do not know anything of the firms with whom he worked. After a short holiday with his younger brother, James and myself went up to Oban in the summer if 1897, he took typhoid fever, and died at the end of August that year in Edinburgh City Hospital. Father went south just after James and I came home, and was with him to the end. He is buried in Warriston Cemetery, Edinburgh. Unmarried.

7. James Marwick born 24th February 1876. Served apprenticeship with father and worked at home for a few years. Then at Melsetter in Walls as an estate joiner to Middlemore for a year or two. Worked in Kirkwall for a year or so with S. Baikie & Son. Then went to Coatbridge and eventually to Glasgow in pursuit of his trade. Married in 1915 Kate Muir, whose father belonged to Sanday. Has a small business of his own now in Glasgow.

         Issue 3 children: 1. Betty (in full Elizabeth Catherine) 2. Thelma (Thelma Campbell) 3. George William 7

The Reid siblings just mentioned above: Peter, born September 3rd 1869; George, born
November 20th 1864; James, on February 24th 1875; Mary, July 16th 1866; Jessie,
April 10th 1871; and William, who was born on January 17th 1873. Their sister
Lydia was born on February 25th 1868, but she died in infancy. Photo c.1895

Lydia Reid: Born about 1845 at Pow Westside. Lived at Wasdale practically all her life till after the death of her father, George 2. Then came to Kirkwall, where she lived for some years. Suffered greatly from asthma and other chest troubles and died in the spring of 1913 or ’14. Unmarried.

Additional notes on the Reids. George Reid 1 must have at least one brother and one sister, for George 11 of Wasdale used to tell of an aunt of his called Peggy Reid, who was said to been a very beautiful young woman, but she apparently died young. Then the Reid family in Glasgow – George Reid who lives down Whiteinch way – are of the same stock. That George’s father was Thomas Reid, schoolmaster in Sourin after the Education Act of 1872 came into force, who continued to live in the old school after he ceased teaching. Now, he and my grandfather, George of Wasdale were second cousins. Therefore his father and my grandfather, George of Wasdale would have been full cousins, and consequently, their fathers must have been bothers.

There are also Reids in Shapinsay who are somehow connected with us, but I have not ascertained what the actual connection is. Thus there are many problems to be solved before one could make out a complete pedigree of the clan.

…………………………………………………………

George Reid, the Rousay Centenarian

Below is the ‘doggerel verse’ alluded to above. It is reproduced with the permission of the editors of The Orkney View, issue No. 54, published in June/July 1994.

‘The following poem was sent to us by J. O. Sclater of Orphir, whose father was given it by Robert Johnson of Scows, Orphir around 1920.

It is thought that George Reid, who died in 1858, was Mr Johnson’s great-grandfather. Who the writer was is not known.’

I had often heard of one, George Reid,
In Rousay he did dwell:
That long he worked with plough and spade;
The truth I mean to tell.

His name in print had lately been,
When some account was given
That George the wondrous age had seen,
One hundred years and seven.

I therefore to that isle did go,
And climbed up the hill,
And there I found old George, who
Was hale and hearty still.

My man went in to break the tale,
Which was by my desire,
And George was sipping milk and meal,
As sitting by the fire.

I went into the house also,
And there beheld the scene;
And told George I should like to show
Him to our gracious Queen.

The snow had fell the day before,
Which rather troubled me.
Yet George agreed to come outdoors,
And sit just as you see.

A second time I asked him out.
He said he was quite willing;
He knew well what he was about,
So asked of me a shilling.

When out of doors, the sun and snow
That in his eyes brought tears,
In all respects he looked as though
He still might live for years.

His cheeks were full and colour good,
With some teeth, strange to say,
With which to masticate his food;
His beard was scarcely grey.

And when he sat down in his chair,
I did his portrait take;
I must confess it made me stare –
His head nor hand did shake.

Two days before that I came there
He travelled up the hill,
Unto a neighbouring house that’s near,
And that of his own will.

To beg a little weed so dear –
You will think this a joke –
But since he turned his hundredth year,
Old George had learned to smoke.

His sight and hearing are quite good,
His intellect also;
He spoke of things he understood
An hundred years ago.

He said that he from Westray came,
And made me understand,
The year that he was born, the same
Was famine in the land.

A castle in that isle yet stands.
I asked him also
If he remembered that Northland
An hundred years ago.

He told me yes, and gave the name
Of people who lived there.
From others I have learned the same –
It is an hundred years.

His calling I desired to know.
He let me understand
His business was to plough and sow,
And help to till the land.

His food was on a moderate scale,
And that his humble dish.
A few potatoes, milk and meal,
Sometimes a little fish.

I asked him how his health was still.
He said he had been queer;
And had indeed been very ill
When in his hundredth year.

For five years past, as he told me,
Much better he had been;
It was a pleasant sight to see,
He looked so neat and clean.

I now had carried out my plan,
That had much pleasure given;
I took my leave of this old man,
AN HUNDRED YEARS AND SEVEN.

……………………………………………….

*Following the poem in the last issue about George Reid, the Rousay centenarian, Tommy Gibson from Brinola, Rousay tells us that Reid had been born in Westray in 1755 and came to Rousay to work for the Traills at Westness House. He was ‘cleared’ from Quandale and later farmed in Woo in Sourin for a short time, ending up in Garson on the Westside. The man who took Reid’s photograph was Queen Victoria’s photographer in Scotland whom she specially sent to Rousay. It is unlikely that Reid was 107 as the poem stated. It is estimated that he died at the age of 104.

…………………………………………………

Graham Lyon of Sandwick has been good enough to share a pictorial version of his Reid family tree. Starting with bottom right, his mother Sheila Lyon. Bottom middle, his grandmother Lydia Mary (Edda) Mainland. Bottom left, his great-grandfather John Mainland. Middle right, his great-great-grandmother Mary Reid. Top right, his great-great-great-grandfather George Reid. And main picture the man himself, his great-great-great-great-grandfather George Reid.

Amidst the great tides of the Atlantic and the North Sea lies an Orkney island steeped in ancient history. From the Stone Age to the present, the seas have brought to Rousay a blend of peoples who have left a calendar of their lives for all to see. Having been inhabited for over 5,000 years there are over 166 sites of archaeological interest and an important crofting history. The island provides as rich a spectrum of settlement as can be found anywhere in Northern Europe, with evidence of Neolithic, Stone and Bronze Age, Pictish, and Viking habitation.

Much of the island has been officially designated as a Site Of Special Scientific Interest. The moors are inhabited by birds such as the Red-throated Diver, Hen Harrier, Buzzard, and Merlin, while its maritime heaths are home to colonies of Arctic Tern and Arctic and Great Skua. The northwest coast has a range of dramatic cliff formations with considerable colonies of Guillemot, Razorbill, Puffin, Kittiwake and Fulmar.

Pictured below: Primula scotica – which grows in only very selected places on Rousay. and a Red-throated diver, also known as the Loon or Rain Goose.

Quandale and Westness were the only areas in Orkney to have suffered a major Clearance. In the mid-19th Century 210 people were evicted by George William Traill as part of the modernisation of his Westness estate. Succeeded by his nephew General Sir Frederick William Traill Burroughs it was he who created such difficulties for the crofters that he gained the reputation as being the worst landlord in Orkney. His efforts resulted in troubled times and shaped the recent history of the island. Within this wild and open landscape of Quandale are found the relics of turf dykes, runrig farming and ruined crofts. This deserted community is now home for some of Rousay’s most rare and beautiful flowers and birds.

Rousay is undoubtedly one of the most picturesque islands in Orkney. Even today the greater part of its surface is covered with heather, and in the early days it can have offered but few attractions to the primitive agriculturalist in comparison with the lower-lying and more fertile islands of the group. Round the skirts of the isle, however, there are signs of cultivation  from  very  far-off  days; nor are indications lacking that the island was inhabited thousands of years earlier still – for how long exactly it is impossible to say, but a good idea of how long can be gained from the memorials left behind by these nameless folk of long ago.

To be able to understand who these people were and where and how they lived we owe much to the efforts of Walter Grant, who lived at Trumland House in the 1930’s. His investments in the whisky industry enabled him to invite some of the most influential archaeologists of the time to excavate the island’s sites – the Neolithic chambered cairns of Taversoe Tuick, Blackhammer, and the Knowe of Yarso, and Midhowe Cairn, the largest and longest of Orkney’s chambered cairns, which like the others dates from the 3rd millennium B.C. Just beyond that is the Broch at Midhowe, the best of a range of fortified dwellings built along the shore of Eynhallow Sound dating from the Bronze/Iron Age.

When the Neolithic settlement of Rinyo,  near  the  farm  of Bigland, was excavated it was found to be similar to Skara Brae, with at least seven houses. Like the more famous village, the houses had stone drains, fireplaces, beds and boxes. Now back-filled, only a few upright stones and drystone walls are visible today.

The Westness area of Rousay has been described as ‘the most important archaeological mile in Scotland,’ for it spans settlements from the first Stone Age farmers, the Pictish Iron Age, the Viking invaders, the period of the Earls of Orkney, through to the mid-19th century clearances when 210 people were evicted from Westness and Quandale by the laird, George William Traill.

According to an old Rousay legend, when the first Norsemen came to the island they were confronted at landing by strange elf- or troll-like beings who marched down against them – armed with glittering spears. In such a curious fashion has been perpetuated the first meeting of the Norsemen with the alien Celtic race.

Who the  first  Viking  to  set  foot on Rousay was, we do  not know. One would be compelled to identify Rolf (Hrølfr) whose name is commemorated in the name of the island – Rousay, Hrølfsey – with Torf Einar’s half-brother of that name – Rolf the Ganger, who founded the Norse power in Normandy, but there can be no justification in doing so. It is known that he went from Norway to the Hebrides and could well have visited Orkney en route, but it is probable that Orkney was settled some generations at least before the great Viking age, and that had begun nearly a century before his day.

Besides the unknown Rolf, the names of a few other early settlers may be deduced from some of the farm-names in Rousay. The present farm-name Innister appears to be a corruption. The name does not appear in any of the early rentals, but in a deed of 1664 we find Rowland Insgaire in Insgaire. In the Valuation of 1653, this man evidently appears again as Roulland Ingsgarth. In a deed of 1671 the name appears as Ingsgair, and even as late as 1799 Innisgir in Wasbister is found in the Register of Births. By some strange accident the house name has now become Innister and the surname Inkster. The original form is doubtful, but almost certainly the first syllable represents a personal name.

Above: Both sides of the Hole o’ the Horse, Scabra Head

A clue to the original form of Hurtiso, a farm name in Sourin, is to be found in the 1492 Rental where Hurtiso, in Holm, appears as Thurstainshow – which translates to Thorstein’s mound.

The first syllable in Knarston is almost certainly also a personal name. In most cases in Orkney tunship-names, the termination –ston, which represents the dative plural of staðr, a stead, settlement, ‘tun,’ is suffixed to a man’s name, and this is unlikely to be an exception. There are two names suitable – Knorr and Narfi – and, as old forms of the name regularly show the initial K-, the former is to be preferred – Knarrar-stoðum, the settlement of Knorr.

Avalshay appears in both the 1500 and 1595 Rentals as Awaldschaw. The first part of the name represents a man called Augvald, and judging by the analogy of Horraldshay in Firth, which the 1500 Rental spells Thorwaldishow, and the Rental of 1595 Horraldsay and Horraldshay, we conclude that the Rousay name has been Augvaldshaugr, Augvald’s mound.

Lastly, in Frotoft, we have a form that points to an earlier Froða-topt, the site of a house of a man named Froði.

These four men – Froði, Augvald, Knorr, and Thorstein – were in all probability among the earliest Norse settlers in Rousay. They may even have been among those who, when landing, were challenged by the ‘glittering spears’; but to us today, none of them is more than a pale shadow of a name.

Knowledge of the tunship settlements in Orkney is largely derived from the old Rentals. These Rentals were primarily tax-rolls showing the various skats or taxes due to the Earls or Bishops from each farm or tunship, and in addition, in the case of property lands belonging to the earldom or bishopric, the annual rents due from the tenants in occupation.

From these Rentals we note that Orkney lands were  valued  in  terms of early Norse money as ouncelands and pennylands. The old Norse silver mark (actually a weight – about ½ lb.) was sub-divided  into  8  ounces  and in Orkney the ounce was  divided again into 18 pennies. Thus we find Orkney lands  valued  as  urislands (i.e. ouncelands, from the Old Norse øyrir, ounce) and pennylands – 1 urisland consisting of 18 pennylands.

Outer Westness included Brugh – a 7d. land; Skaill, a 5d. land; Whome (Quham) a 3d. land; and Quandale, a 3d. land – in all, one whole urisland.