Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland

STENSCHOLL
width between 3 furlongs and If mile; the lower ex-
tends 3f miles south-eastward, and has a maximum
width of 1J mile. There are boats on the loch, which
contains abundance of sea-trout, yielding capital sport
in September especially. Hugh Miller, in his Foot-
prints of the Creator (1849), describes the Loch of Sten-
ness as ' a large lake about 14 miles in circumference,
bare and treeless, like all the other lochs of Orkney,
but picturesque of outline, and divided into an upper
and a lower sheet of water by two long narrow promon-
tories, that jut out from opposite sides, and so nearly
meet in the middle, as to be connected by a thread-like
line of road, half mound, half bridge, and known as
the Bridge of Brogar. "The Loch of Stennis," says
David Vedder, the sailor-poet of Orkney, "is a beautiful
Mediterranean in miniature." It gives admission to
the sea, the Bay of Ireland, by a narrow strait, crossed
like that which separates the two promontories in the
middle by a long rustic bridge, the Bridge of Waith.
In consequence of this peculiarity the lower division of
the lake is salt in its nether reaches, and brackish
in its upper ones, while the higher division is merely
brackish in its nether reaches, and fresh enough in
its upper ones to be potable. Viewed from the E, in
one of the long clear sunshiny evenings of the Orkney
summer, it seems not unworthy the eulogy of Vedder.
There are moory hills and a few rude cottages in front,
and in the background, some S or 10 miles away, the
bold steep mountain masses of Hoy; while on the pro-
montories of the lake, in the middle distance, con-
spicuous in the landscape, from the relief furnished by
the blue surrounding waters, stand the tall grey
obelisks of Stenness.' These lichened 'Standing Stones
of Stenness' are second of their kind in Britain to those
only of Stonehenge. They occur in two groups — the
smaller (composed, however, of the larger stones) on the
south-eastern peninsula, and the larger or ' Ring of
Brogar' on the north-western. The smaller, 104 feet
in diameter, with an outside ditch 50 feet in width,
originally consisted of twelve stones, 15 to 18J feet
high; but now only three remain, the largest prostrate,
the other two still erect. Remains of a dolmen exist
within this circle, near which, at the S end of the
Bridge of Brogar, is a monolith 18 feet high, the finest
of all the group. In another direction is a lesser mono-
lith, only 8 feet high, 3 feet broad, and 9 inches in
thickness. It is pierced with a circular hole, and by
Mr Fergusson, in his Rude Stone Monuments (1872), is
identified with the 'Stone of Odin,' familiar to readers
of Scott's Pirate. The Ring of Brogar, 340 feet in
diameter, is likewise encompassed by an outer ditch,
1071 feet in diameter, 31 to 33 wide, and 6 deep. It
originally consisted of sixty stones, 6 to 15 feet high;
but only fifteen, 3 to 14J feet high, are now standing,
with remains of twenty-two others. The material of all
is Old Red Sandstone. The famous tumulus of Maes-
howb has been noticed separately. Near it is the
House of Stenness or Tnrmiston, a grey old-fashioned
buMing of no very imposing appearance. From it
Scott makes the ' Pirate ' see the burning of his ship in
Stromness Bay. In 1879 Stenness, with a small portion
of the civil parish of Sandwick, was formed into a quoad
sacra parish in the presbytery of Cairston and the synod
of Orkney. The minister's stipend is £111. The church
was built in 1793. There are a Free Church preaching
station and a public school. Pop. of q. s. parish (1881)
697, (1891) 647, of whom 53 were in Sandwick.
Stenscholl. See Steinscholl.
Stenton, a village and a parish of Haddingtonshire.
The village stands near the right bank of Souchet Water,
5J miles SW of Dunbar, and 4 SE by S of East Linton
or Prestonkirk, under which it has a post and telegraph
office.
The parish, containing also Pitcox village, 1J mile
ENE, is bounded N by Dunbar, E and SE by Spott and
Innerwick, S by Berwickshire, SW and W by Whitting-
hame, and NW by Prestonkirk. Its utmost length,
from N by W to S by E, is 10 miles; its breadth varies
between 3 J furlongs and 3 miles; and its area is 7585
STEPPS
acres. Prior to 1891 the parish had two detached sec-
tions. The larger of these, containing Millknowe farm,
was joined to the main body of the parish by the Boun-
dary Commissioners by incorporating the intervening
portion of the parish of Spott and the detached part
of Whittinghame, containing respectively 90 and 129
acres. The smaller or Friardykes section. 3 furlongs E
of the Millknowe section, had an area of 340J acres, and
was transferred to the parish of Spott. Whittinq-
hame or Beil Water flows 2J miles east-north-eastward
along the Whittinghame boundary and across the
northern interior, and, at the point where it first
touches the parish, is joined by Souchet Water, running
2| miles north-by-eastward along the western border.
Pressmennan Lake, lying in a deep ravine, f mile SSE
of the village, extends about 2 miles north-eastward,
but its width varies greatly, the average being about
400 yards. It was formed about 1819 by the construc-
tion of a strong breastwork between the hill-screens of
the ravine near a point where they stoop gradually to
the plain. The hill-screens here are undulating and
richly wooded, and, coming down in steep high banks
upon the margin of the lake, sweep along in sinuous
parallels, so as to render its configuration serpentine;
whilst they are cut by walks and gemmed with attrac-
tions which render them, jointly with the lake, one of
the most delightful pieces of close landscape in Scotland.
Its waters, which are strictly preserved, abound in trout,
originally brought from Loch Leven. Admission to the
lake and grounds, however, is free to all. The lake
sends off Bennets or Spott Burn north-eastward towards
the German Ocean. In the extreme N the surface de-
clines to 97 feet above sea-level, in the extreme S to
700; and between these two points it rises to 900 feet at
Deuchrie Dod, 1000 at Friardykes Dod, and 1250 at
Bothwell or Spartleton Hill — summits these of the
Lammekmuib Hills. The rocks are variously Devo-
nian, Silurian, and eruptive; and the soil of the arable
lands is partly of a light quality suited to the turnip
husbandry, but mainly of an argillaceous kind, varying
from stiff to loamy. Little more than 2000 acres are in
tillage ; about 400 are under wood ; as much or rather
more is in permanent pasture; and the rest is either
hill-pasture or waste. Beil House, noticed separately,
is owned by Mrs Nisbet Hamilton Ogilvy. (See Dirle-
ton.) Stenton is in the presbytery of Dunbar and
the synod of Lothian and Tweeddale; the living is worth
£314. The parish church, with a fine tower, is a hand-
some Gothic edifice of 1829, erected at a cost of over
£2000, and opened by Dr Chalmers. In 1892 exten-
sive improvements were made on it, and a stained-glass
window was presented by Mr James Frazer. Close to it
is an interesting fragment of the old church, with a
saddle-backed tower and a Norman doorway. The parish
was long called Pitcox, from the village of that name,
where stood the original church; and it seems to have
acquired the designation of Staneton, or Stonetown,
from the stoniness of the ground around the church.
In ancient times it was first a chapelry and next a pre-
bend of Dunbar and a rectory. The public school, with
accommodation for 150 children, has an average attend-
ance of about 100, and a grant of nearly £95. Valu-
ation (18S5) £6245, 15s., (1893) £5662, 19s. 6d. Pop.
(1801) 620, (1831) 686, (1861) 692, (1871) 612, (1881)
594, (1891) 556.— Ord. Sur., sh. 33, 1863.
Stenton, a mansion in Caputh parish, Perthshire,
delightfully situated on the left bank of the winding
Tay, opposite Murtly Castle, at the southern base of the
wooded Craig of Stenton, and 3J miles SE of Dunkeld.
Its oldest part bears date 1745_; but the larger portion,
in the Italian style, was built in 1860 by the late pro-
prietor, Thomas Graham Murray, Esq., and is now owned
by his son, Andrew Graham Murray, Esq. (b. 1849; sue.
1S91), lord advocate Irom 1896 and M.P. for Buteshire.
—Ord. Sur., sh. 48, 1868.
Stepps, a station near the mutual boundary of Cadder
and Shettleston parishes, Lanarkshire, on the Cale-
donian railway, 4$ miles E by N of Glasgow. A number
of excellent villas and cottages, with large gardens
1505