L E W I S. 



715 



lrly elegant altar. There are also seven meeting, 

 houses for the Presbyterians, Quakers, Arminian Me- 

 thodists, General Baptists, Particular Baptists, and Cal- 



front, which is much admired. St. Thomas in the tual rent, valuing kelp at lOperton, is about 10,000 Lewis. 



Cliffe is a very neat parish church, and has a particu- Sterling per annum. > p ~V~' 



The island of Lewis is formed into four parishes, 

 which compose the presbytery of Lewis, the parish of 

 Harris belonging to the presbytery of Uist. These pa- 

 rishes are Barras, Lochs, Stornoway, and Uig. 



The parish of Barras occupies the northern extremity parish of 

 of the island, and is about 36 miles long, and 13 broad. Barias. 

 It has about 45 miles of sea coast, which is bold and 

 rugged, but contains no harbours for vessels, and only 

 a few creeks where ships can enter in calm weather. 

 The ground is level, but the soil is poor, moorish, and 

 ill cultivated. Attached to this parish is the island of 

 Rona, which is said to be the most north-western point 

 of Europe, being situated 10 leagues to the N. W. of 

 the Butt of Lewis. It is about a mile in length, and 

 half a mile in breadth. 



The parish of Lochs, so called from the number of parish W 

 its lochs or lakes, is about 1 9 miles long, and 9 miles Lochs. 

 broad at an average. Its line of coast, from its nume- 

 rous inlets, amounts to 90 miles. The coast is bold 

 and rocky. The soil is moory and unfit for culture, al- 

 though by the industry of the inhabitants, and the use 

 of sea- weed, some parts near the coasts have been cul- 

 tivated. The inhabitants are principally employed in 

 the fisheries, and in the manufacture of kelp, gf which 

 60 tons used to be made annually. The Shaint or 

 Holy Isles, belong to this parish, and lye in the chan- 

 nel which separates Lewis and Skye. One of these is 

 called llaan Moair, or St. Mary's Island, and has a 

 chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary. They are cele- 

 brated for pasturing sheep and black cattle. 



The parish of Stornoway is very extensive ; but the 



The shire hall, erected in the High Street, is a new 

 building, both elegant and commodious. The house 

 of correction was built in 179K on a plan recommend- 

 ed by Howard. It has thirty-two cells, a chapel, &c. 

 The free grammar school was originally established in 

 1512. The theatre, which is a neat building, has late- 

 ly been enlarged and improved. A library society was 

 established here in 1786, and now possesses an excel- 

 lent collection of books. The Sussex Agricultural Socie- 

 ty, instituted in 1796, holds its meetings at Lewes: Its 

 premiums are awarded about the beginning of August. 

 On a hill, about a mile from the town, is a race course, 

 reckoned one of the best in England. The races are 

 generally held in the first week of August, and conti- 

 nue three days. The. only manufacture of importance 

 is at the iron-works, above the bridge, where cannon, 

 shells, balls, Sec. are cast. The river Ouse, which runs 

 through the town below a handsome bridge, is naviga- 

 ble for barge* six miles up the county, and enables the 

 town to carry on a great trade in corn of all kinds and 

 malt ; and all the articles consumed in the adjoining 

 county are imported at Newhaven, and sent up the 

 Ouse to Lewes for tale. In consequence of the in- 

 crease of its trade, two respectable banks have been es- 

 tablished. The river Ouse was formerly navigable for 

 mall barges only from Newhaven bridge to Lewis, 



but since the passing of the act in 1791, it has been , , 



widened, deepened, and embanked, so as to be navi- inhabited parts have the form of an isosceles triangle, Stornoway. 

 gable for barge* of a larger burden. The remains of two sides of which are 10 miles, and the other 7. The 

 the castle of Lewes are still in existence ; and there is extent of sea-coa.st is 35 miles. The chief bays are 



Loch Stornoway, and Loch 



reason to think, that Lewes is the site of the Roman 

 station called Muntantonit. 



The population of the borough of Lewes, in 1811, 



I, t Hi hMM. 



Din* aupfojrtd in trade atul manufacture* -. 

 Total population 



. 893. 

 . 1858 

 . 697 

 . 6221 



vol. xiv. 



See Tke Btavliet of England and Walet, 

 Itt 



LEWIS i< the name of the most northern, and the 

 largest of the Hebrides, or the Western I stands of Scot- 

 land. It i connected with the Island of Harris, by a 

 narrow isthmus on its southern side, which is entirely 

 dry at low water, and not wholly covered at high wa- 

 ter, *o that the two may be con*i< It-mi .-is one island, al- 

 though the Lewis part of it is politically connected 

 with RoM-sbire, while Harris belongs to Inverness- 

 shire. 



The whole island, including Harris, is 82 miles long, 

 from the Butt of Lewis to the Sound of Bernera, 

 extending north-west and south-east ; and though it 

 don not poMew such numerous arms and indentations 

 a the Inland of Sieve, yet it furnishes some of the best 

 harbour* in Great Britain. The average breadth of the 

 island is 1 1 miles, and its area 451,000 Scots acres. Only 

 flO acres are under regular meadow or corn land, 

 the rent consisting of mountains, moors, marshes, and 

 other waste*. The circumference of Lewis and Harris, 

 following the seaTnnrk, is 850 miles. The valued rent 

 of the whole is 7783, 6s. 6d. Scots, and the real ac- 



Broad bay, South bay, 



Grimshader, all of which afford excellent anchorage for 

 the fishing vessels. In Loch Stornoway there is suffi- 

 cient water for ships of any burden, and no heavy sea 

 can come into it. 



At the head of this bay, upon a projecting point, is Town of 

 built the town of Stornoway, which, by the exertions Stomowy. 

 of the late Lord Seaforth, has, from being a paltry ham- 

 let of a dozen of thatched houses, become the first town 

 in the northern Hebrides. 



The streets of this town are straight, and the houses 

 neat and well built, and covered with slate. It has a 

 commodious custom-house, a town-house, an assembly- 

 room, and two convenient school houses, in which there 

 were educated, in 1808, no fewer than 219 scholars of 

 both sexes. Stornoway is a thriving town, possessing 

 a brisk trade fishery. During the five years, ending 

 July 1808, 17,430 barrels of cured herrings, and 719 

 tons of ling and cod fish had been exported from the 

 place, which had brought into the town at least *. 52,000. 

 The quantity of oil exported during the same period 

 amounted to about 1 0,000. In 1 808 there were about 

 14 registered vessels, of from 16 to 127 tons burden, 

 belonging to the port and district, which were naviga- 

 ted by 136 men and boys, and of which the tonnage 

 amounted to 1612 tons. In addition to those which 

 were regularly employed in fishing and in trade, there 

 were 104 small boats, navigated by 562 men, and oc- 

 casionally engaged in the herring, ling, and cod fishery. 

 These boats did not all belong to Stornoway, but they 

 had their residence there for part of the year, and con- 

 tributed to enrich the place. The following was the 

 population of Stornoway in 1808 : 



