B. H. HOSSACK

CRAIGIEFIELD, KIRKWALL

ith Maps and Ellustrations

WILLIAM PEACE & SON

To his Wife,

with thanks for much help,

this Book is affectionately Inscribed

by

The Author.

PREFACE.

HE main object of this book is to keep alive the memories of some of the people whose names are associated with the history of our ancient Burgh, and who have left in its records a local reputation. To accomplish this end in a systematic manner, it has seemed best to associate the persons with the houses in which they lived.

In a few cases it is difficult to fix the site of an ancient dwelling. Long ago, with comparatively few inhabitants, Kirkwall could allow each house a kail-yard and a peat-brae; but, as population increased, these spaces were built upon, making it anything but easy to dissect out the position of the original dwelling.

In seeking information about our old tenements, the writer has persistently worried present proprietors, from the Shore to the Head of the town, and he has to thank them all for their courteous and kindly help.

Our Records of Sasine, which date from the middle of the seventeenth century, show the changes of ownership since that time, and in some instances, by the use of a name which "of old" was borne by a particular tenement, a ray of light is cast upon that house which enables us to go back upon its story, perhaps a century and a half previous to the event recorded.

Family papers, public documents, such as Town Council minutes, Session records, Sheriff Court books, and diaries, notably that of Thomas Brown, give us an insight into the lives and conduct of our forebears. In making use of such papers, a writer is often led to chronicle very small beer indeed; but, in a little community like ours, the authenticated gossip of two centuries ago forms to-day an important contribution to our social history.

In the following pages, with the exception of public buildings, the old part of the town alone is dealt with, and the very attractive period, where memory merges into tradition, is left untouched. Old memories are treacherous, and tradition unreliable.

The writer begs to thank the many friends, too numerous to name, in Orkney and in the South, who have kindly given him assistance.

CRAIGIEFIELD, 3rd December 1900.