Daily Kennebec journal., 1897-09-08
Bar Harbor is getting all worked up
over better roads. Keep up the agita-
.Arsoc,ous WEATHER"
A Bit Of What maine Endured Arrives at
the 0rkneys.
(All Rights Reserved.)


Orphir, August %. 1897.
Especial correspondence to the JouIhl ,
The weather for the last fortnight mas
been atrocious. There has been scarcey
been quite out of the question except IN
a very limited way. The shooting season
has Just begun and the gentlemen are OUT
most days with their guns Repeated
drenchings have not the slightest erect
on them and they generally come nome
at night laden with grouse and snipe ana
sometimes a hare or two:
We have been to several local festiV1ties,
the Kirkwall regatta. and also the 1alr'
and a flower show and concert AZ otroln-
ness. The latter was something 10 pe re-
mcmbered. Our host was asked to take
the chair at the concert, and we went IN
| a body to support him. The perlorIieIS - >
were alike in one respect. they were an
bad. The palm. however, was taken ny
the pianist maiden lady of uncertain
age, who not content with numbering Il
piece called Her bright smile haunts me
STILL" of which she skipped whole page,
she must needs attempt PadereWSkl 5
| "Minuetto." Words fail me when try TO
describe the performance. She played
wrong notes and left out whole pars
| without the slightest compunction. IL
was very painful and we were very
thankful when the concert ended with Il
vote of thanks to the chairman who
richly deserved them, for being brilliant
| musician himself he must have suffered
agonies. An unexpected interruption to
one song was caused by two dogs getting
up a fight under a bench in the centre OF
the room. For a few minutes we thought
the dog had gone mad. as no one knew
there was Il second dog in the rOom
The Kirkwall Regatta was rather SLOW
as of course we knew none of the boats;
and the racing was very tame as there
was hardly any wind. After watching
for some time we went across in the
yacht to the island of Shapinsay and
landed at the village. This island be-
longs to Colonel Balfour. a transporting
gentleman and the great enemy of all
tourists to Orkney. His house is very
large. handsome stone building standing
in beautiful grounds. and is known as
BalfOur Castle. The village is Il quaint
little place built like all the villages here,
almost in the sea. The coast scenery,
along the north side of Shapnsay is very
fine. There are numerous natural arches
and deep cliffs, or Seos as they are
called, which run far back into the land.
We had intended to visit the ruins of
Linton church which is one of the oldest
in Orkney, but it began to rain so we
thought it prudent to return to the yacht
On our way back we passed large stone
not unlike the standing stones of STEM
ness, which is known as "Mooros Stone"
1t has four marks on one side and one
on the other. Tradition says that these
are the finger marks of a grant named
Moore who threw this stone at an enemy
"
cient force it fell here.
The kirkwall fair used to be of great
Importance and lasted ten days. but now
it is only one day. There were the usual
swings, merry-gO-roundS and booths. All
these things occupied the square round the
cathedral and it made one feel quite
ashamed of indulging in such amuse-
mentS under the shade of the sacred
building. | could not help contrasting the
behavior of the people with that of the
same class In England. They enjoyed
themselves in an orderly quiet way which
was nice to see. In England there would
have been pushing and crowding and
noisy. boisterous behavior generally and
probably fight or two.
The only fine day we had this week we
went on fishing expedition. but not find
ing the fish very eager to bite we took
the small boat and landed on the island
of Burray. The only thing in this island
to be seen is very large burg similar to
Maeshowe. This island was called "Bo-
carey or the Burg ISLE and this shows
that the burg existed when the Norwe-
gians invaded Orkney. and that it was SO
conspicuous an object that they named
the island after it. We did not go inside
the burg as we all had vivid recolections
of cropping about in the dark at Macs
howe. Leaving Burray we sailed to
Pegal bay. where We were to spend the
night and set some long lines for skate.
We went ashore on a small uninhabited
island called Risa to look for bait. but
Idileu 10 Hilu the TlSnl SOTI. AS we were
rowing back to the yacht we were hailed
by very pompous looking individual
with an eye glass. and asked if we had
permission to land to which we replied
that we did not know it was necessary
and we had no permission. Then the
pompous gentleman demanded our names
and addresses. We rejoined by asking
him to come on board where we would
explain. Finally Mr.. Caskey. the parish
minister who was with us told him we
Unrf q no IT tXy hn of nrnhi IN
and were only looking for bait: and add
ed that we could not be pOaching as we
had neither dogs or guns. At last he
rowed away, but we were destined to
have another encounter with him. The
| men went to look for bait on Hoy and on
their return forgot to fasten the little
boat. and before we knew it had drifted
out of reach. We at once tried to follow
| it with the yacht, but before we could
get underway the boat had drifted back
to Risa. We did not know what to do,
| but at last succeeded in attracting the
| attention Of two men on Hoy who put off
and brought the boat back. These
| friends in NEED proved to be our pompOus
enemy and the same man who was row.
| ing MIN before. OF course we thanked
him and asked him to come on board.
which invitation he declined in a very
| surly manner. Then we asked If his man
would not have wee drap'' of whiskey
| at which the man beamed but his master
said No" We said good evening but
| got no reply, but when the boat was a
considerable distance away he shouted
out What's your tonnage?" and on being
| told he did not vouchsafe another word
not even a civil thank you for the in
formation. We held an Indignation meet
ing, but on the whole we were too glad
to get back our boat to be very angry at
| the mans churlish behavior. We have
seen this same gentleman on several ec-
casions but he takes no notice of us for
which We are devoutly thankful. This
man is quite an exception to the rule for
although the Orcadans are very inde-
pendent and every bit as good as you, yet
they are pOliteness itself and anxious to
do everything in their power for you
| Ear. ... IDA MAY COUSINS.