ΤΟ ORKNEY. "Land of the whirlpool-torrent--foam, Land of the bleak, the treeless moor- The yawning gulf-the treacherous sand- "Land of the dark—the Runic rhyme— The mystic ring-the cavern hoar; The Scandinavian seer—sublime In legendary lore: Jand of a thousand Sea-kings' graves— Those tameless spirits of the past, Fierce as their subject Arctic waves, Or hyperborean blast ; Though Polar billows round thee foam, I love thee! Thou wert once my home."-DAVID Vedder. PREFACE. THE purpose of the following Sketches is to bring more promi nently before the travelling and reading public the attractions. and historical features of places which, though lying so near their own doors, are little known. The Orkney and other Islands of the North Sea well merit the attention of the tourist no less than that of the antiquarian and the geographer. It would be a good thing for those inclined to travel into other and strange lands to know some, at least, of the beauties of those scenes which are so closely associated with the history of our own country. The many peculiar beauties of some of those Islands are touched upon in these Sketches, and some of the existing Folk-lore is for the first time introduced to the public. The concluding Sketch consists of a number of fairy tales, most of which have been collected at first hand and may not be uninteresting to lovers of the marvellous. The following pages are the hurried product of a two-summers' sojourn in the North Sea. Many of the Sketches appeared last winter in the columns of the Fifeshire Journal. Almost all the scenes described came under the writer's personal notice, and the historical matter is derived from the most reliable sources, which are acknowledged in their proper place. If this little volume creates in any a desire to visit the same scenes, it will not have been written in vain. The "Orcadian Musings" that form the latter part of the volume are occasional attempts at versification, and do not aspire to the higher walks of poesy. |