ORKNEY 
ufe of for afcertaining the weight of butter, oil, falt, wool, 
cheefe, and fuch other articles as are commonly purchafed i in 
{maller quantities. The loweft denomination of weight is 
the mark, twenty-four marks make a fetteen or lifpund, the 
higheft quantity weighed ru the byfmer, fix fetteens, a meil, 
and twenty-four meils a So intricate are thefe weights, 
and — a angen that attends them, that even the 
ati accuftomed to weighing at incon- 
eenienre arifing from the ufe of them, and differ materially 
con 1 xa vege of ch denomina Soi 
nion ; 
thirty pounds, and the meil eleven ftone four pounds, Am- 
fterdam g 
Language, Mase s, and Cuftoms —The ancient language 
of Orkn ney was derived from the ane c, which iy enerally 
{pread itfelf over Germany and Scandinavia. It called 
the Norfe, but feems to have been a diftinG diale& fan that 
{poken either in Denmark, Sweden, or Norway, though it 
had a much greater fimilitude to the laft than to the others ; 
but whether this difference was the refult of chance and time, 
or was owin 
continued to be fpoken in great purity for two centuries after 
the iflands hae annexed to t 
3 the En sali 
language, with a Noreen accent, and a great mixture of 
Scottifh terms and phrafes, having become the common lan- 
guage of all the iflands. 
e manners of the gentry in this country differ very 
little ie thofe of the fame clafs in Edinburgh, where in- 
deed they moft frequently receive 7 education, and imbibe 
thofe habits and feelings, which are feldom obliterated under 
a ng a 
ftrangers, and when differences ntrfere (whic 
are unhappily too en) focial and friendly among them- 
felves. charaCterifes them as diftin pat hed for 
their good font a literary acquirements, but blames them 
much for their fupine indifference on the fubject of religion, 
in which refpe&t, however, the fame author obferves, they 
differ entirely from their sige! companions, whom he holds 
up as models o innocenc » indu ry, and economy; and no 
e iflands 
try y, Dr. Barry i aoe as 
ecent, peaceable, ce honelt people, who c only 
unite the bufinefs of the farmer with that of als dai 
The fhopkeepers of Stromnefs are faid to bear the fame 
character, but in Kirkwall, though undoubtedly many ex- 
ceptions are to be found, dealers are unhappily deficient both 
ininduftry and education. A fimilar remark may be applied 
to thofe who follow mechanical employments in that town. 
With refpe& to the third clafs, which comprehends all 
thofe connected with the cultivation of the , fuch as 
farmers with their fervants and cottagers, it m ae in general 
be obferved that they are, in a high degree, indolent, wedded 
to old cuftoms, averfe from improvement, dark, artful, in- 
XXV. 
ISLANDS. 
terefted, more refpectful to their fuperiors from fear than- 
attachment, But with thefe defects and vices are blended 
fome od and amiable qualities. In point of underftanding 
they are fcarcely inferior to any peafantry in Great Britain. 
They are faithful in the obfervance of the marriage vow, 
affe€tionate to their children, and ufually honeft in their 
tranfactions with one another, though negligent in payment 
of their rents. Their faults are the refult 
and mean condition, and of the frauds saat ble them 
by snprincpled we lers in the towns, or by itinerant mer- 
chants, to whom are compelled to ap of thei own: 
eftablifhment of regular markets in different parts of the 
iflands, which at prefent are much wante 
Li 
eople in moft other places, thofe of 
uently circulated refpeGting witches, 
ass arte agi ence a multitude of charms are {till 
in ice to fecure good fortune, relieve difeafes, or to 
ward ‘off fome real or imaginary danger. Some days of the 
week are lucky, and others ominous of misfortune. Thurf- 
days and Fridays are the only days on which they incline to 
enter upon the marriage ftate ; and they are car ea in the 
higheft degree, to avoid doing it except when the moon is 
an OX or a ices, 
rn their fu in the direGion of the 
voyage, they always tu 
‘ a Prefby- 
fun’ 8 motion, and utter a fhort 
feafting ate conviviality. 
from work, and on others, aly wndertake work of a 
kind, and for a certain period. At one time they mu raft go 
fithing, at another they carefully see that fort of employ~ 
ment ; now they muft eat fifh, now flefh, now eggs, milk, 
&c. according as the particular an or feafon, may re- 
quire. 
accordingly the fa&, and we believ 
wort an thefe iflands of antiquarian inveftigation. 
the aa and ainaag abound with thofe buildings which 
have been denominated Piéts-houfes ; but the precife ufe of 
ia is uae yet re eieees oe by the refearches of the learned. 
Sometimes they appear fingle and detached, and at ssi 
times are collected together in confiderable numbers. 
of them, at Quarternefs, near Kirkwall, on the Mainland, i ie 
minutely defcribed by Dr. Barry. (See Pomona. A 
Stennis alfo, on the Mainland, is one of thofe circles of 
ftones, commonly regarded as Druidical temples, and on 
this, as well as en moft of the other iflands, may be feena 
4B number 
