Gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 2

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KIRKWALL
KIRKWALL, a town of great antiquity,
a royal burgh, the seat of a synod and presby-
tery, and the capital of the above parish and of
the Orkney islands, is situated at the head of
the bay of Kirkwall, with a northern exposure,
at the distance of fourteen miles north-east
from Stromness, fifty-eight from Wick, fifty-
nine from Thurso, 334| from Edinburgh, and
forty- one from Houna, the most northerly part
of Great Britain. It stands in north latitude
58° 33', and in west longitude 0" 25'. The
direction of the town is that of the strath to-
wards Scalpa Flow, and it extends nearly a
mile in length, but consists of little else than
a single street. This thoroughfare is exceed-
ingly inconvenient from its narrowness, and
particularly from its pavement, which was
complained of, we perceive, by the statist of
the parish in 1793, and which is now, if not
very recently mended, in the worst possible
state. By a fashion common in old Scottish
towns, borrowed from a usage in the north of
Europe, the houses are generally placed with
their ends or gables towards the street, which
gives the town an awkward appearance. Many
of these houses bear strong marks of old age,
as the doors and windows are very small, the
walls uncommonly thick, and almost all the
apartments narrow, gloomy, and irregular. To
this form, however, there are also many ex-
ceptions ; for such of them as have been lately
repaired or rebuilt, and particularly such new
ones as have been erected, may, both for ele-
gance and conveniency, compare with those of
any other town of the same extent in Scot-
land. The time when, and the persons by
whom Kirkwall was founded, are both lost in
the darkness of antiquity. Previous to the
junction of the western and northern islands
with the kingdom of Scotland, it was under
the rule of the Norwegians or Danes, by whom
it was called Kirkivog, Kirkvaa, or Kirkwaa,
words signifying " the Great Kirk," in allusion
to the cathedral of St. Magnus, here planted,
and from which the present name Kirkwall is
derived. This venerable edifice, which still
exists, is the chief object of curiosity in Kirk-
wall, and is remarkable as the only structure
of the kind, besides that of Glasgow, which
survived the Reformation. It stands on the
east side of the town, which it dignifies by its
stately and ancient appearance, arid is said to
have been founded by Reginald, Count of Ork-
ney, in the year 1138, though there is no evi-
dence to prove such an antiquity. It is never-
theless probable that it was erected in the
twelfth century, as it was in that epoch that the
bishops of Orkney began to have a fixed resi-
dence in their diocess. It is certain it was
not all completed at once, as some of the later
bishops made additions to what was previously
erected. As it now stands, the length of the
fabric outside is 226 feet ; its breadth fifty-six ;
the height of the main roof seventy-one ; and
from the level of the floor to the top of the
steeple 133 feet. The roof is supported by a
row of fourteen pillars on each side, besides
four, the most magnificent of the whole, which
support the spire. The window in the east is
thirty-six feet high, by twelve broad, including
a circular rose-window at the top, twelve feet
in diameter. There is a window in the west
end somewhat similar, but much smaller ; as
also a rose-window on the south gable of the
cross, of like form and dimensions with that
on the top of the east window. The circum-
ference of the pillars that support the roof is
fifteen feet, and that of those on which the
steeple rests is twenty-four feet nearly. Ed-
ward Stewart, bishop, who died 1538, made an
addition of three pillars and arches in the east
end with a window, which for grandeur and
beauty are far superior to any others in the
edifice. Robert Maxwell, the second bishop
in succession after Stewart, and a son of Sir
John Maxwell of Pollock, highly ornamented
the interior, by building the stalls for the in-
ferior clergy, which were curiously engraven
with the arms of several of his predecessors in
the see ; he also furnished the steeple with a
set of excellent bells, which were cast within
the castle of Edinburgh, by Robert Borthwick,
in 1528, as appears by an inscription on them
to that effect. When James V. visited the
isles in 1536, he was nobly entertained by this
bishop at his own charges ; and at this time
the king was pleased to give the town of Kirk-
wall a confirmation of its royalty. The suc-
ceeding and the last bishop under the Romish
hierarchy, was Robert Reid, a munificent pa-
tron of learning, and the originator of the Uni-
versity of Edinburgh. Having been abbot of
Kinloss in Moray, he is noticed under that
head. This worthy prelate added three pillars
to the west end of the cathedral, which were
never completely finished, and which in point
of elegance are much inferior to the former.
He also adorned the entry by the erection ot a