COPINSHAY, an island, in the parish of DeerNEss,
county of Orkney; containing 13 inhabitants.
It is about three-quarters of a mile in length and half a
mile in breadth, lying about three miles directly eastward
of the mainland, and comprising some good ground,
both arable and pasture. The island is accessible on
the west side only. The height of the east side, forming
a perpendicular rock, is 300 feet, and about threequarters
of a mile to the north of the island, is a large
rock called the Horse of Copinshay, about 200 feet
high, and covered on the top with grass, to which a few
sheep are sometimes taken to graze. Both of these
rocks are resorted to by immense numbers of sea-fow'l
in the spring and summer months; and at the period
when they deposit their eggs and hatch their young, if
a gun be fired from a boat below, the birds, alarmed by
the report, fly from their nests in such myriads as to
darken the air for some extent around. They are principally
maws, nories, scarfs, auks, and kittyauks.