28 PENTLAND FIRTH. CHAP. iv. 



north coast of Caithness and the Orkneys, was in old 

 Norse called the Petland Fiord. Here we have the 

 mythical Picts again. Bleau, in his Geographical Atlas, 

 says that the Picts, when defeated by the Scots, fled to 

 Duncansby, from whence they crossed to Orkney. But, 

 meeting with resistance by the natives, they were forced 

 to return. On their way back to Caithness, they all 

 perished in the firth; from which catastrophe it was 

 ever after called the Pictland or Pentland Firth. 



Heavy currents run through the Firth. The tide runs 

 at the rate of ten miles an hour. A full-rigged ship, 

 with her sails set and a favourable wind, is sometimes 

 driven back by the tide. This I have seen when jour- 

 neying along the shores of the Firth. Sometimes it is 

 whirled round amidst the eddying currents. Where the 

 currents of the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea meet, 

 the water is churned and eddied about as in a maelstrom. 

 At the east end of the Firth is the island of Stroma, which 

 in old Norse means " the island in the current." The 

 population of the island is of pure Norwegian descent ; 

 the men being excellent sailors and boatmen. 



Not far from this island, and in sight of John o' 

 Groat's, are the two Pentland Skerries, commanding the 

 eastern entrance to the Firth. They were originally 

 called Petland Skjaere. The largest skerry contains 

 two lighthouses, one higher than the other, to be a surer 

 guide to the mariner. 



During the equinoctial gales, the wind sweeps across 

 the county with great fury. It is scarcely possible to 

 hold one's feet. Cattle are blown down, and trees are 



