The History of the Postmarks of the British Isles from 1840 to 1876 - John Hendy (1909)

92 THE POSTMARKS OF THE BRITISH ISLES FROM I84O.
Orkney and Shetland Islands.
The exact position of these islands is a matter of doubt to many, the doubt being
chiefly caused by the custom of map-makers of not placing the Shetland and Orkney
Islands in maps of Great Britain in their proper position, but putting them in a little
square to themselves at one of the top corners of the map, which gives one a vague idea
that they are situated somewhere between Scotland and the North Pole. The islands
lie in two groups to the north of Scotland. The Orkneys, which are the more southerly
group, are separated from Caithness-shire by the Pentland Frith, about six miles in
breadth. There are about a dozen principal islands. The smaller islands and islets
number nearly seventy, of which about forty are uninhabited. The Shetland, or
Zetland, isles are the more northerly group, and are separated from the Orkneys by a
channel forty-eight miles across ;
including islets they number something about one
hundred, of which thirty or forty are uninhabited. The principal island is, however, far
more extensive than all the others put together. There is a prevalent notion, quite
erroneous, that these islands
are inhabited by Highlanders, speaking Gaelic, and are in
fact part of Scotland ; whereas nothing insults a Shetlander or Orcadian, as the
inhabitants of Orkney are called, more than to call him a Scotchman. The islanders,
both men and women, are a very fine race, showing in a marked degree their Norse
descent. The Norse language was generally spoken until the beginning of the eighteenth
century. As a language it has since then quite died out ; Norse words are, however,
still in use.
The Hebrides or Western Isles of Scotland.
These are a series of islands and islets lying along the west coast of Scotland, partly
and principally in the Atlantic Ocean, but partly also in the Frith of Clyde. The
Hebrides consist of about two hundred islands, great and small, and are divided into
the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the former embracing all those islands which he nearest
the mainland, including those in the Frith of Forth, and the latter consisting of a
continuous range of islands stretching from Barra Head to the Butt of Lewis. The
strait which divides the Outer Hebrides from the Inner and from the mainland of Scotland
is called the Minch, and is, where narrowest, from fifteen to sixteen miles across.
The Outer Hebrides are commonly known as the Long Island; Lewis and Harris (which
are more extensive than all the rest put together), though considered as separate, form,
in fact, only one island.
The postmarks in use at the Post Offices in the several islands varied considerably
both in respect of the types and the different coloured inks employed. Take, for
instance, the Orkneys, which might well be described as a " colour study."
Orkneys.
|
R0U5AY
Fig. £»75.
Lj'^/ti blue ink.
STRONS AY
Fig. 070.
Red ink.
SANDAY
WE STRAY
Fig. 577. Black ink. Fig. 678. Brown ink.
Fig. 079. Dark green mV. Fig. 680, Light green mV. Fig. 581. Dark llueXWu.