RONALDSHAY-NORTH, an island and parish (parliamentary), in the parish of Cross-and-Burness, county of Orkney, 30 miles (N. E. by N.) from Kirkwall; containing about 520 inhabitants. This island, the most northern of the Orkneys, is bounded on the south by the firth to which it gives name, and by which it is separated from the island of Sanda. It is about four miles and a half in extreme length, and about one mile and a half in its greatest breadth. On the south and east sides the coast is low, and the beach shelving and sandy; but on the west and north-west the coast, though not very elevated, is rocky and precipitous. There are three considerable bays, the bay of Linket on the east, the South bay, and Ness bay on the south-east; none of them afford any shelter for vessels, but towards the north-west the shore is protected by two reefs of rocks called respectively the Altars of Lina and the Shelky Skerry. The surface of the interior is level, with the exception of a portion near the centre, which has a gentle acclivity; the soil is generally dry, from the great proportion of shell-sand with which it is intermixed. About three-fourths of the land are under cultivation; most of the remainder is rendered sterile by the incessant dashing of the spray along the west and north-west coasts, and there is a small tract of waste inland which has not yet been reclaimed. North Ronaldshay is the property of William Traill, Esq., under whose direction considerable improvements have taken place in agriculture. The corn crops are oats and bear, and on the average about 1200 bolls of the former, and 1500 of the latter, are raised annually, with turnips and other green crops. Sea-weed is the principal manure; it is found in great abundance, and also furnishes a supply of food for the sheep during winter. The breed of cattle, formerly very small, has been much improved by a cross with the Dunrobin breed, and is upon a par with the generality of Orkney cattle; the breed of horses has also been improved in size and strength, but the sheep are of the poorest kind, and kept chiefly for their wool. The manufacture of kelp is still carried on, though not to the same extent as formerly; the average quantity was 120 tons annually, and the quality always obtained a preference in the market. It has been lately discovered that kelp made from the drifted sea-weed contains a large quantity of iodine, which renders it of much greater value. Fishing affords employment to many of the inhabitants. The lobster-fishery engages six boats, of two men each, from the beginning of May to the end of June; and the produce is sent to the London markets in smacks fitted up with wells for the purpose, and which call for the fish weekly during the season, at the adjacent island of Sanda. The herringfishery, for which the principal station is at Stronsay, is also profitably conducted, and on the average fourteen boats are employed in it, each from twenty-four to twenty-eight feet in length; these boats are built by two men in the island, and are considered as the best of the Orkney boats. The cod-fishery has of late been followed with success, as a substitute for the diminution in the making of kelp. Considerable disadvantage in the fisheries is experienced from the want of a sheltered harbour, which renders it necessary for the fishermen to shift their boats in bad weather from one side of the island to the other, or to draw them up on the shore. North Ronaldshay was for ecclesiastical, as well as civil, purposes formerly included in the parish of Cross and Burness, from which it has been ecclesiastically separated, as a quoad sacra district. It is in the presbytery of North Isles, synod of Orkney, and in the patronage of the Crown. The minister's stipend is £1'20 per annum, with a manse, and a glebe valued at £3. 10. per annum. The church is a plain building erected about forty years since. A school once supported by the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge, and now a parliamentary school, is attended by about seventy scholars; the teacher has a salary of £30 per annum, paid from the exchequer, and the usual fees. A parochial library, containing about 300 volumes, is supported by the inhabitants. On the north-east corner of the island is a lighthouse, which was maintained for several years, by the Commissioners of Northern Lights; but the light has been transferred to Sanda: the building is now in a very dilapidated state. There are some remains of an ancient fortress called Burrion Castle, consisting chiefly of the foundations; also an upright stone about twelve feet high, supposed to have been part of a Druidical temple.