KIRKWALL.
The hotel at Kirkwall, when it first came into view, presented a very
unpromising appearance. It was built upon a little paved court, the
front, containing the entrance being at the back side of the court, and
two wings one on each side extending forward to the street. A low wall,
with two gateways through it, extended along the line of the street
from one of these wings to the other.
The building itself, like all the buildings in the town, was formed
of very thick and massive walls of stone, with windows set in so far
back in the wall, that the sashes scarcely appeared in view. Indeed in
looking along the street the windows of the houses appeared only as
openings in the wall, as if the buildings were so many stone barns.
On entering the hotel, however, the scene was entirely changed. The
waiter conducted the party up to the second story, and ushered them at
once into a large and handsomely furnished room. There was a bright
fire blazing in the grate, and a polished mahogany dining-table in
the middle of the floor, and arm-chairs, and sofas, and carpets, and
curtains to the windows, and tables in the corners covered with books,
and stands of flower-pots with flowers in full bloom, and many other
nameless conveniences and elegancies which are comprised in the idea of
a comfortable parlor in an English inn.
“Ah, Florence!” exclaimed Mrs. Morelle. “This is just the place for us.
How glad I am to see the fire. I did not know I was so cold.”
The chambermaid came soon to show the ladies their chamber, and Mrs.
Morelle when she went into hers, asked Grimkie to order the best
breakfast that he could get for them. In half an hour the breakfast was
ready, and very soon after breakfast the whole party set out to take a
walk and see the town.
They found that the town consisted chiefly of a very long and narrow
street, which followed the curvature of the shore. It was very narrow,
and seemed intended almost exclusively for foot-passengers. There was
only a narrow track in the center of it—about two feet wide, that
is, just wide enough for one horse—that was paved like a street.
The rest of the space on each side was covered with flag stones for
foot-passengers. Thus the street was almost all sidewalk.
“We may know by the narrowness of the streets and by the looks of the
houses that they have dreadful gales of wind and storms here in the
winter,” said Grimkie. “See what thick walls, and what little windows
and how few! See how deep the windows are set in the walls, so that the
gales may not get at them to burst them in!”
The party walked on for some time, following the windings of the
street, and looking in at the shop windows to see what sort of things
there were to sell. At one place they saw some views in the Orkneys,
hanging at the window of a print shop. There was a view of some of the
coast scenery, with lofty mountains rising abruptly out of the sea, and
tremendous precipices. There was a view also of the town of Kirkwall,
and one of Stromness, a place upon the opposite side of the island.
But the picture which most attracted the attention of Mrs. Morelle and
Florence, was one of the Stones of Stennis. It was a view of an open
plain in a wild and desolate country, with a range of gigantic stones,
like immense tombstones, set up in the ground.
“What is this?” asked Mrs. Morelle; “what are the stones of Stennis?”
“Ah, that is something very curious,” replied Grimkie. “I read an
account of them. They are on the road to Stromness. We must go to see
them.”
“They look like the pictures I have seen of Stonehenge,” said Florence.
“They are like Stonehenge,” said Grimkie.
After going along a little farther, the party came to a sort of open
space in which there was an immense cathedral, old and ruinous, though
it bore marks of having been recently repaired. Mrs. Morelle was much
surprised to see this edifice. She wondered how there could ever have
been any occasion for a structure of such magnitude in so remote a
region, and still more how it could ever have been built. But the truth
is that the earls of Orkney, who formerly ruled over the islands like
sovereign princes, were at one time very wealthy and powerful, and
there was a time moreover, during the period in which the Catholic
religion was in the ascendency in these countries, when the cathedrals
and abbeys, and monasteries which were built in the north of Scotland,
and in the islands adjacent, were of the grandest and most gorgeous
description.
“Would you like to go in and see the cathedral, Auntie?” asked Grimkie.
“Do they have service in it on Sunday?” rejoined Mrs. Morelle.
“In one end of it,” said Grimkie. “One end is finished off for a
church. The rest of it is empty.”
“Then we shall see it to-morrow when we go to church,” replied Mrs.
Morelle, “and that will be better. I like to see such places better
when the people are in them.”
The stones with which the cathedral had been repaired were of a red
color, which gave them the appearance of monstrous bricks. They were
really of sandstone, though of a bright color. John said that he read
in a guide book that they were obtained from a quarry in a cliff which
was named Red Head.
Near the cathedral were the ruins of two ancient palaces, the bishop’s
and the earl’s. These ruins were very ancient and venerable, and Mrs.
Morelle and Florence were greatly interested in walking about them, and
looking up to the ivy covered battlements and towers. It was melancholy
to look upon these utterly abandoned ruins. The air of desolation and
solitude which reigned around them was greater than Mrs. Morelle had
ever observed in any ruins before. In England there are many remains
of ancient edifices, but they are all objects of great interest to
tourists, and are visited by great numbers of people, for whose
benefit the grounds are kept in order, and a certain degree of life
is imparted to the scene. But these old palaces seemed not only to
have outlived their possessors and occupants, but to have been utterly
forsaken and forgotten by all the world, and an air of solitude and
desolation reigned around them that it would be impossible to describe.
After passing by the ruins of the palaces, Mrs. Morelle and the
children found themselves coming out into the country at a place where
the road ascended a hill. They concluded to continue their walk until
they reached the summit, in order to take a survey of the situation of
Kirkwall, and of the surrounding country. So they walked slowly on,
stopping occasionally to look at objects of interest, or to talk with
the peasant women whom they met in the road, or found standing at their
cottage doors.
They asked one of these women about their mode of life in the winter.
Among other questions they asked her if the days were not very short at
that season of the year.
“Yes,” said she, “very short. In fact there is not much of any day
in the winter, and it is always snowing, or blowing, or raining, or
something else, so that there is not much chance to work upon the
land. So the men stay in the barns a great deal, and thrash the grain,
and do other such things, by the light of lanterns.”
“But I should think the ground would be frozen up in the winter,” said
Grimkie, “and that that would prevent working on the land.”
“No,” said the woman. “The ground does not freeze much. We can always
work on the land when it is good weather.”
“That’s very strange,” said Grimkie, “so far north as this.”
“And is not the ground covered with snow?” asked Mrs. Morelle.
“Not much,” said the woman. “It snows very often, but the snow does not
lie on the ground much.”
“And don’t you travel in sleighs here in the winter then?” asked John.
“Sleighs?” repeated the woman, looking puzzled, “what are they?”
“Sledges perhaps you call them,” suggested Mrs. Morelle.
“No,” replied the woman. “We never use sledges. But they do in some
countries I’ve heard tell.”
After reaching the top of the hill, the party stopped to take a survey
of the country around, and a very magnificent spectacle presented
itself to view. The land extended in every direction farther than
they could see, but it was divided and separated into so many portions
by bays, straits, inlets, and channels formed by the sea, that the
view exhibited as charming a combination of land and water as could
possibly be imagined. The islands which were near were formed of green
and fertile slopes of land, of marvelous beauty, with pretty dells and
vales opening here and there among them, and hamlets and villages,
and farm-houses, and gentlemen’s seats, dotting the country in every
direction. Toward the west ranges of lofty mountains were seen.
Grimkie took out his map and a little pocket compass which he had, and
endeavored to ascertain the names of some of the highest peaks, by the
bearings and distances of them. He pointed out in what direction they
would go in their ride to Stromness, and where the Stones of Stennis
were,—though the spot was not actually in view, being concealed by an
intervening mountain.
They saw great numbers of cattle and sheep feeding on the hill sides
in every direction. Indeed cattle and sheep are the staple productions
of the Orkney Islands. The climate is so wet that the grass grows
luxuriantly, and notwithstanding the high latitude the air is so
tempered by the influence of the surrounding seas that it continues
green nearly all the year.
To the west and south, lofty mountains were seen, in the distance.
Grimkie and John were greatly taken with the view of these mountains.
They concluded that they must lie at the south of Stromness.
“When we go to Stromness we will go up to the top of them, Johnnie,”
said Grimkie.
John very readily assented to this proposal, and Florence said that
they must take her too.
After remaining upon the top of the hill until they were satisfied
with studying the localities which were in sight, and with admiring
the different views, they all descended again, and returned to the
hotel. Instead, however, of going back through the main street, they
took another course which led them along the margin of the water.
Here they saw the piers which formed the little port, and the fishing
boats lying inside of them, and many other curious things. Among other
objects that arrested their attention was a small hut near the shore,
the roof of which was made of an old boat turned upside down. The boat
was supported by walls of stone which formed the sides of the hut, and
there was a door in front to go in by. John was so much pleased with
this curious hut that he took paper and a pencil out of his pocket in
order to draw it, and he remained behind, to make his sketch, while the
rest of the party went on; so that he did not return to the hotel until
some time after the others arrived.
He had, however, made a very pretty drawing—so pretty that Florence
asked him to copy it in ink in her journal book, which John readily
promised to do.