Topographical dictionary of Scotland > Volume 2

WICK
WICK
55^^53=
Burgh Seal.
WICK, a royal burgh,
the county town, and a
parish, in the county of
Caithness; containing, with
Pulteney-Town adjoining,
and the villages of Sarclet,
Staxigoe, Reiss, and Acker-
gill, 10,393 inhabitants, of
whom 1333 are in the town,
16 miles (S. by E.) from
Canisbay, 20§ (S. E. by E.)
from Thurso, and 276 (N.)
from Edinburgh. This place,
of which the name, in the Celtic language, signifies a vil-
lage or small town on an arm of the sea, appears to
have been originally inhabited by a Celtic tribe, who at
a very early period fell under the power of the Picts, of
whose settlement in this part of the kingdom, many
ancient monuments are still remaining. The Norwe-
gians under Sigard, brother of Ronald, to whom Harold
had granted the Orkneys, eventually obtained posses-
sion also of Caithness, Sutherland, and Ross, which con-
tinued to be governed by a succession of Norwegian
earls for many generations. About the year 1330, that
part of Caithness which includes the parish of Wick
belonged to the family of De Cheyne, of whom the last
male heir, Sir Reginald de Cheyne, dying in 1350, was
succeeded by his two daughters, who by marriage con-
veyed the lands to the Sinclairs, Sutherlands, and
Keiths. In 1464, a feud arising between the clan of
Gun, who held lands here, and the Keiths, a sanguinary
conflict took place on the moors of Tannach, in this
parish, in which the former were defeated ; and above a
century afterwards, in 15SS, the Earl of Sutherland in
revenge for the slaughter of some of his dependents by
the Sinclairs, earls of Caithness, made an inroad into
the territories of the latter, burnt the town of Wick,
laid siege to their baronial castle of Girnigoe, and after
a fruitless endeavour to reduce it, wasted the adjacent
territory. The lands in this parish belonging to the
Earl of Caithness were sold in 16/2, by his grandson,
to the lord of Glenorchy, who, having thus become pro-
prietor of the greater part of Wick, married the coun-
tess, and assumed the title of the Earl of Caithness.
To vindicate his claim to this honour, which was dis-
puted by Sinclair of Keiss, Glenorchy raised a consider-
able force ; and Sinclair, with a band of 400 of his
adherents, took post in the town of Wick, to intercept
his progress to Keiss. A battle now occurred, in which
Sinclair was defeated ; but notwithstanding, his right
was subsequently acknowledged, and Glenorchy, to com-
pensate his disappointment, was created Baron of Wick.
The baron did not, however, long retain his lands here ;
for in 1690, dividing the estate into numerous portions,
he sold them to as many proprietors ; and Sir George
Dunbar, of Hempriggs, is now the principal landowner.
The town is situated at the head of the bay of Wick
in the Moray Frith, and on the north side of the river
Wick, over which is a handsome bridge connecting
the town with the populous district of Pulteney-Town.
The streets are irregularly formed, and the houses but
indifferently built ; the place is, however, lighted with
gas from works erected by a company in 1840, and the
inhabitants are amply supplied with water. A subscrip-
tion library, established in 1 S26, has now a collection of
Vol. II.— 609
more than 1600 volumes; and there are two reading-
rooms, one in Pulteney-Town, and the other in Wick,
the former established in 1829 and the latter in 1840,
and both well supplied with London and other journals,
and supported by subscription. The weekly paper
called the John O' Groat Journal is also published in the
town. Among the principal manufactures carried on
rre, the making of ropes and cordage, for which there
are four establishments employing about eighty men ;
and the building of ships, of which there are always one
or two on the stocks, occupying about fifty men. There
are also twelve yards for boat-building; nearly 100
boats are annually launched for the fisheries, and from
seventy to eighty persons are engaged in the yards.
Here are a distillery and brewery, a meal and barley
mill, and four saw-mills, three of them driven by steam ;
an iron-foundry has been lately established in Pulteney-
Town, and about sixty men are employed in preparing
pa\ing- stones for exportation. The female part of the
population are to a great extent occupied in spinning
yarn, and making it into nets for the herring-fisher)',
for which, also, nearly 300 coopers are constantly em-
ployed.
The trade of the port was early carried on upon a
tolerable scale; and in 1588, when the Earl of Suther-
land burnt the town, it is recorded that he plundered a
ship belonging to one of the merchants of the place.
In 1 843 the number of vessels registered as belonging
to the port was thirty-five, of an aggregate burthen of
2529 tons ; and the tonnage of the vessels annually
touching here averages in the aggregate about 30,000 :
the customs in the same year amounted to £824. There
is a chamber of commerce in the town. The original
harbour, at the mouth of the river Wick, in the bay,
was accessible only to vessels of very small burthen ;
and in 1810 a harbour was consequently constructed by
the British Fishery Society, at a cost of £14,000,
towards which £8500 were granted by government.
This was capable of receiving 100 vessels of considerable
size ; but from the great increase of the fishery, subse-
quent to the erection of Pulteney-Town by that com-
pany, a more capacious harbour has been formed, at an
expense of £40,000. There are also small harbours at
the villages of Sarclet, Broadhaven, and Staxigoe. A
salmon-fishery is conducted in the bay and river of
Wick, and about 150 men are generally engaged through-
out the year in the white-fishery off the coast ; but the
principal trade arises from the herring-fishery, which
was first established here in 1*67, by two or three indi-
viduals who fitted out two sloops for the purpose. In
1 SOS, the British Fishery Society granted lots of land
in perpetual feus, on low terms, for the encouragement
of the fishery, which since that time has rapidly in-
creased, and is now carried on to a vast extent, afford-
ing employment to nearly 8000 persons during the sea-
son. The season usually commences about the middle
of July, and continues till the end of September. About
900 boats are engaged, and the average quantity of fish
taken is 8S,500 barrels, of which 63,500 are of fish
cured for exportation, chiefly to Ireland and the Baltic,
to the former country 50,000, to the latter 5000 ; the
remainder is either consumed at home, or sent coast-
wise. The custom-house for the district has been re-
moved from Thurso to this town. The post-office has
a daily delivery ; and the revenue, previously to the
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