FIRTH-AND-STENNESS, a parish, in the county of
Orkney, the former district 6 miles (W. by N.) and the
latter 8 miles (W.) from Kirkwall; containing 116'
inhabitants, of whom 584 are in Firth. These ancient
parishes, which appear to have been united soon after the
abolition of episcopacy in Scotland, are situated on the
Mainland of the Orkney Islands, and are bounded on the
north by the parishes of Harray and Kendall, on the east
by the parish of Kirkwall, on the south by that of Orphir,
and on the west by the parishes of Sandwick and
Stromness. The coast, including the small island of
Damsay and the holm of Grimbister, detached portions
of Firth, lying in the bay of that name, is about ten miles
in length, and the shores low and flat, with few or no
headlands of importance. Firth bay abounds with fish
of various kinds; and oysters of large size, and of excellent
quality, are found in considerable numbers. The
island of Damsay, more than a mile in circumference, is
extremely beautiful; its surface is covered with verdure,
and affords luxuriant pasture for sheep, of which a few
hundreds of superior breed are kept upon it. On this
island was anciently a castle, which was regarded as a
place of much strength; and there was subsequently a
church dedicated to the Virgin Mary, of which, however,
little more than the site remains.
The parish is about nine miles in extreme length, and
varies greatly in breadth: the number of acres it contains
has not been ascertained, owing to its great irregularity
of form. Its surface is broken by numerous
ridges of hilly moorland, covered with heath and moss
to the very summit. The soil near the shore is a deep
mossy loam, and in other parts shallow. There are
some portions of arable land in good cultivation, yielding
pretty fair crops, and some fields of rich pasture near
the borders of the loch of Stenness, and in parts of
Firth; but in general little improvement has been made
in agriculture. Stenness loch, to the north-west, is a
noble sheet of water nearly five miles in length, and
divided almost into two separate lakes by the projection
of a strip of land from the north-west to the bridge of
Broigar. In that portion of the lake which is bounded
by the parish of Harray on the east, are numerous small
holms, frequented by great numbers of aquatic fowl of
various kinds. The shores of the loch are embellished
with fields of natural grass, alternated with others of
highly-cultivated land, and are studded with neat houses
belonging to the proprietors of small farms that acknowledge
no superior landlord. On the peninsula dividing
the lake are the celebrated stones of Stenness, one of
the most extensive and complete Druidical relics in the
county, consisting of a circle, nearly entire, of massive
and lofty columns, beyond which are a semicircle, with
several single stones irregularly placed, and numerous
cairns. Buruess, a seat in the parish, is a handsome
mansion finely situated on the shore of the baj' of Firth.
There is but one village, that of Phinstown, seated at the
western extremity of the bay. The platting of straw
affords employment to part of the females, who work at
their own homes for the manufacturers of Kirkwall and
Stromness.
For ECCLESIASTICAL purposes the parish is within the
bounds of the presbytery of Cairston, synod of Orkney.
The minister's stipend is £158. 6. .S., of which part is
paid from the exchequer; with a manse, and two glebes
valued together at £"27 per annum: patron, the Earl of
Zetland. There are tvi-o churches, that of Firth, built in
1813, and the church of Stenness, built in 1793, and repaired
and reseated in 1816; they are both neat structures,
and contain each about 700 sittings. Divine
service is performed in each every Sunday. The whole
of the services were until recently performed by the incumbent
alone; but he is now assisted by a missionary,
for whose support the General Assembly give the annual
sum of £30, and one of the proprietors contributes £"20.
There are also places of worship for members of the Free
Church and the United Presbyterian Synod. The parochial
school is well attended: the master has a salary
of £26, and the interest of £90 laid out on heritable
security, together with a house and garden; his fees are
very inconsiderable. In each of the districts is a school
supported by the Society for Propagating Christian
Knowledge, who pay each of the teachers a salary of £15
per annum. In the neighbourhood of Garmiston, in
Stenness, is an extensive plain between two hills, on which
are numerous tumuli, supposed to cover the graves of
the slain in the battle of Summers-dale, or Bigswell.
This battle took place in the reign of James V., between
the inhabitants under Sir James Sinclair, son of Robert,
Earl of Orkney, and a body of men under John, Earl of
Caithness, who, pretending to have some claim to the
earldom of Orkney, landed at Howton in order to take
forcible possession of it.