Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland .. - National Library of Scotland

ORD-OF-CAITHNESSacres are under wood. Park House, 14 mile SSE ofCornhill station, is a good and commodious mansion,enlarged in 1829. Its owner. Major Lachlan DuffGordon-Duff (b. 1817 ; sue. 1855), is sole proprietor.(See BoTRiPHNiE.) Ordiquhill is in the presbytery ofFordyce and the synod of Aberdeen ; the living is worth£272. The parish church, 2 miles SSW of Cornhillstation, is a neat edifice of 1805, containing 490 sittings.There is also a Free church ; and Park female andOrdiquhill public schools, with respective accommodationfor 74 and 120 children, had (1883) an averageattendance of 73 and 66, and grants of £63, 17s. 6d.and £64, 9s. Valuation (1860) £3067, (1884) £3477.Pop. (1801) 510, (1831) 655, (1861) 764, (1871) 761,(1881) 7U.—0rd. Sur., shs. 86, 96, 1876.Ord-of-Caithness. See Ord.Ore, a sluggish rivulet of SW Fife, flowing 17 mileseast-by-northward through or along the borders of Dunfermline,Beath, Cleish, Ballingey, Atjchterderean",Kinglassie, Dysart, and Markinch parishes, till it fallsinto the Leven at a point 7 furlongs W by N of Windygatesstation. Its banks are everywhere flat, though inplaces prettily wooded ; its current is muddy ;and thetrout, pike, and perch of its waters afford but indifferentfishing. See Lochore.— Ord. Sur., sh. 40. 1867.Orkney, a group of islands and islets off the easternpart of the N coast of Scotland, and forming a divisionof the county of Orkney and Shetland. The group,which is separated from the mainland of Scotland bythe Pentland Firth, contains 28 inhabited islands, 39smaller islands used for grazing purposes, locally knownas holms, and a large number of waste rocky islets orskerries. The island extends from N latitude 58° 44' *(Brough Ness at the S end of South Ronaldsay) to Nlatitude 59° 23' 40" (Point of Sinsoss in the N of NorthEonaldsay), and from W latitude 2° 22' 34" (Start Pointin Sanday) to W latitude 3° 26' 22" (Rora Head at theW end of Hoy). The distance in a straight line fromPoint of Sinsoss SSW to Brough Ness in South Ronaldsayis 50 miles, or SSW by S to Tor Ness in Hoy is 53imiles, and the greatest width of the group is from BurghHead in Stronsay on the E to Outshore Point midwaybetween Marwick Head and Bay of Skaill on the W sideof Pomona on the W, a distance of 29J miles. Theislands are divided into three groups. The first, nearestthe mainland, is known as the South Isles, and comprisesthe large islands of Hoy (W) and South Ronaldsay(E) and the smaller ones that surround them. Tothe N of Hoy is Graemsay, NE is Risa, and E are Flottaand South Walls. To the N of South Ronaldsay andseparated from it by Water Sound is Burray with thesmaller islands of Glimps Holm and Hunda ; on the Sare the Pentland Skerries, and SE is Swona. Thewater space between Hoy and South Walls is the wellknownanchorage of Long Hope. The passage betweenFara and Flotta is Weddel Sound, and betweenFlotta and Switha is Switha Sound. The passagebetween Flotta and South Ronaldsay is the Sound ofHoxa. The South Isles are separated from the mainlandby the Pentland Firth, the distance acrosswhich, from Dunnet Head to Tor Ness (Hoy), is 7Jmiles, from St John's Point to Tarff Tail (Swona) 65miles, and from Duncansbay Head to Brough Ness(South Eonaldsay) 6i miles. The second group lies tothe N of those just described, and consists of Pomonaor the Mainland—the principal island in the Orkneys,containing nearly half the entire area and more thanhalf the whole population—and the smaller islands tothe NE. The deep sweep of Kirkwall Bay on the Nand Scapa Bay on the S [see Kirkwall] narrowsPomona at one point so that it is divided into twoparts of unequal size, that to the W being the larger.Off the NE coast of this larger portion are the islands ofRousay—with the smaller islands of Egilsay (E), Viera(SE), and Eynhallow (SW)—and Gairsay with SweynHolm ; off the S coast, but nearer Hoy, is the small* The Pentland Skerries, which are held to belong to Orkney,are still farther S, the latitude of the Little Skerry beino- 5S^40' 30".132ORKNEYisland of Cava. To the N of the smaller eastern portionis Shapinsay with Helliar Holm ; to the SE isCopinsay with the Horse of Copinsay and Corn Holm;to the S is the small Lamb Holm. This the Mainlandgroup is separated from the NE of Hoy by Hoy Sound ;from the E of Hoy, and from Fara, Flotta, and the NWof South Ronaldsay, by Scapa Flow ; and from Burrayby Holm Sound. The third group lies NE of the Mainlandislands, and consists of Westray, Eday, and Stronsayin a line from NW to SE, with Papa Westray to theNE of Westray ; Sanday NE of Eday, and North Ronaldsaystill farther to the NE. To tlie E of Papa Westrayis the small Holm of Papa, NE of Eday is the Calf ofEday, SW of it are Muckle and Little Green Holms,and W of it are Fara and Holm of Fara. To the N ofStronsay is Holm of Huip, NE is Papa Stronsay, S is-Auskerry, W is Linga Holm, and NW isLittle Linga.This group is known as the North Isles, and sometimesRousay and Shapinsay are included in it. Westrayand Eday are separated from Rousay and Egilsayby the Westray Firth (varying from 4 to 8 mileswide), and the portion of sea E of Shapinsay andSW of Stronsay is known as Stronsay Firth. Westrayis separated from Papa Westray by Papa Sound (IJmile), and from Holm of Fara by Rapness Sound (ijmile) and Weatherness Sound (3 furl.). Eday isseparated from Fara by Sound of Fara (varying from 1to 14 mile), from Muckle Green Holm by Fall of Warness(1| mile), from Calf of Eday by Calf Sound (J mile),and from the SW of Sanday by Eday Sound (1| mile)and Lashy Sound (at Calf of Eday, 1 mile). Stronsayis separated from Linga Holm by Linga Sound (J mile),from Auskerry by Ingale Sound (2^ miles), from PapaStronsay by Papa Sound (J mile), from Holm of Huipby Huip Sound (J mile) ; and between Holm of Huipand the SW end of Sanday is Spurness Sound (If mile).The sea N of Eday, between Westray and Sanday, isknown as the North Sound ; while along the S coast ofSanday, between that island and Stronsay, is SandaySound {i^ miles at narrowest point), and between Sandayand North Ronaldsay is the North Ronaldsay Firth (2miles 3 furlongs at the narrowest part). Except along thecliffs of the southern and western sides the coast-line ofall the islands is extremely irregular, there being everywherenumerous deep bays. Of these the chief are LongHope, near the SE end of Hoy ; Pan Hope in Flotta-;Widewall Bay on the W side, and St Margaret's Hopein the N end, of South Ronaldsay ; Echnaloch Bay inthe NW of Burray; Bay of Ireland and Scapa Bay onthe S side of Pomona ; Bay of Firth and Bay of Kirkwallopening off the Wide Firth, Bay of Meil and InganessBay opening off Shapinsay Sound, and Deer Soundfarther E, all in Pomona ; Veantrow Bay on the N side ofShapinsay ; Saviskaill Bay on the N side of Rousay ; Bayof Pierowall on the E side of Westray, opposite the Send of Papa Westray ; Bay of Tuquoy on the S side ofWestray ; Fersness Bay on the W coast of Eday ; StCatherine's Bay on the W coast. Bay of Holland onthe S coast, Odin Bay and Mill Bay on the E coast, ofStronsay ; North Bay on the W coast, BackaskaillBay, Kettletoft Bay, Cat-a-Sand, and Lopness Bay onthe S coast, Scuthvie Bay on the E coast, and Otters-Wick Bay on the N coast, of Sanday ; and Linklet Bay inNorth Ronaldsay. The surface of the islands lies low,and, except Hoy, none of them can be called hilly.The general rise is from NE to SW, a height of 333feet being reached at the Ward Hill at the S end ofEday ; 880 at the Ward Hill in the SW of the Mainland,midway between Bay of Ireland and Scapa Bay ;and 1420 at Cuilags, 1564 at the AVard Hill, and 1308at Knap of Trewieglen, the three highest points in Hoyand in the whole group of islands. Except in the PentlandFirth, where the depth of the sea reaches 40fathoms, the water in the straits between the islandsand in their immediate neighbourhood is nowheredeeper than 20 fathoms. A rise of 120 feet in the seabottomwould unite the whole group, except Swona andthe Pentland Skerries, into one mass of land, whichwould be separated from the mainland of Scotland by a