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Chapter 6 – Creating a Form on a Web Page

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. A(n) ____ control is any type of input mechanism on a form.

a. variable c. parameter
b. input d. form
ANS: B PTS: 1 REF: HTML 287

2. Which of the following controls sends a form to a server for processing?

a. enter c. send
b. reset d. submit
ANS: D PTS: 1 REF: HTML 287

3. Which of the following controls returns all input controls to the default status?
a. clear c. reset
b. empty d. new
ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: HTML 287

4. Which of the following controls is identical to text fields used for single-line data entry?
a. submit c. password
b. textarea d. radio
ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: HTML 287

5. Which of the following controls creates a drop-down menu of choices from which a visitor chooses?
a. select c. menu
b. option d. choice
ANS: A PTS: 1 REF: HTML 287

6. Which of the following attributes, when used with the text tag, determines the number of characters
that display on a form?
a. character c. width
b. size d. dimension
ANS: B PTS: 1 REF: HTML 287

7. The ____ attribute of the text tag specifies the maximum length of the input field.
a. size c. maxlength
b. limit d. control
ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: HTML 287

8. A ____ input control is either a radio button, a check box, a Submit button, a Reset button, or a
selection menu.
a. select c. capture
b. data d. list
ANS: B PTS: 1 REF: HTML 287

9. In a ____ box, a visitor may enter small amounts of text.

 a. capture c. text
b. link d. textarea
ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: HTML 287

10. The text control has two attributes: ____.

a. cols and rows c. size and maxlength
b. post and get d. width and height
ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: HTML 287

11. In a radio control each choice is preceded by a radio ____.

a. menu c. button
b. bar d. either b or c
ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: HTML 288

12. A radio button typically displays as which of the following?

a. bullet c. small rectangle
b. open circle d. none of the above
ANS: B PTS: 1 REF: HTML 288

13. A ____ control creates a list item in a list from which only one item can be chosen.
a. select c. list
b. solo d. radio
ANS: D PTS: 1 REF: HTML 288

14. The type="____" attribute specifies that the type of control is the radio button.
a. radio c. option
b. check d. circle
ANS: A PTS: 1 REF: HTML 288

15. With a checkbox control, the default can be changed so a particular check box is preselected as the
default, by using the ____ attribute and value within the <input> tag.
a. chosen c. checked
b. default d. preselect
ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: HTML 288

16. The use of which of the following controls prevents the visitor’s having to type information into a text
field?
a. text c. password
b. textarea d. select
ANS: D PTS: 1 REF: HTML 289

17. A(n) ____ control creates a selection menu of choices from which a visitor selects one or more
choices.
a. select c. radio
b. option d. checkbox
ANS: A PTS: 1 REF: HTML 289

18. ____ controls are similar to text controls, except that they allow multiple lines of text input.
 a. Password c. Capture
b. Textarea d. Either a or b
ANS: B PTS: 1 REF: HTML 289

19. The textarea control has two primary attributes: ____.

a. rows and cols c. size and width
b. size and maxlength d. select and option
ANS: A PTS: 1 REF: HTML 289

20. It is a good rule of thumb to keep the number of columns in a textarea to ____ or fewer.
a. 10 c. 25
b. 15 d. 50
ANS: D PTS: 1 REF: HTML 289

21. The ____ attribute identifies the specific information that is being sent when the form is submitted for
processing.
a. spec c. target
b. name d. this
ANS: B PTS: 1 REF: HTML 290

22. All controls except one have a ____ attribute.

a. name c. value
b. link d. select
ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: HTML 290

23. The <____> tag defines the text that displays in the grouping borders.
a. key c. cluster
b. legend d. aggregate
ANS: B PTS: 1 REF: HTML 291

24. The ____ attribute of the <form> tag indicates the URL for the action to be completed by the server.
a. method c. action
b. process d. http
ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: HTML 291

25. There are two primary methods to send the form to the server to be processed: ____
a. send and put c. get and put
b. get and post d. CGI and HTML
ANS: B PTS: 1 REF: HTML 294

26. Which of the following is a program written in a programming language (such as Perl) that
communicates with the Web server?
a. HTML function c. URL imagemap
b. CGI script d. post method
ANS: B PTS: 1 REF: HTML 294

27. The ____ attribute of the <form> tag specifies the manner in which the data entered in the form is sent
to the server to be processed.
 a. process c. http
b. server d. method
ANS: D PTS: 1 REF: HTML 294

28. The two values of the ____ attribute in HTML are get and post.
a. process c. http
b. server d. method
ANS: D PTS: 1 REF: HTML 294

29. The ____ method sends the name-value pairs to the end of the URL indicated in the action attribute.
a. get c. post
b. base d. serv
ANS: A PTS: 1 REF: HTML 294

30. The size=“2” attribute means which of the following?

a. two characters will appear, but more may be entered, depending on the maxlength attribute
b. one character will appear, and the second will be truncated
c. two characters will appear, and no more may be entered
d. at most, two characters can be entered
ANS: A PTS: 1 REF: HTML 296

31. The default type for the <input /> tag is a ____.
a. radio button c. text box
b. checkbox d. textarea
ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: HTML 297

32. If no ____ attribute value is specified, a selection menu initially displays only one option, along with a
list arrow to view other choices in the list.
a. default c. size
b. choice d. checked
ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: HTML 300

33. If a selection menu includes the size attribute with a value of 3, ____ choice(s) will appear in the
menu.
a. one c. three
b. two d. four
ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: HTML 301

34. If the ____ attribute was not used to create a selection menu, the Web page visitor will be allowed to
select only one choice in the menu.
a. several c. choices
b. many d. multiple
ANS: D PTS: 1 REF: HTML 302

35. Form controls are useless unless the information entered in the form can be submitted for ____.
a. concatenation c. aggregation
b. processing d. all of the above
ANS: B PTS: 1 REF: HTML 304
 36. Which of the following tags gives you the option of using an image for a Submit button, rather than
using the default button style?
a. <option> c. <modify>
b. <image button> d. <button>
ANS: D PTS: 1 REF: HTML 304

37. The <form method=post action=mailto:[email protected]> tag designates that the ____ method will be
used to send data to the appropriate location for processing.
a. mailto c. post
b. form d. action
ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: HTML 304

38. Which of the following characters strings together all of the form responses?
a. & c. @
b. ! d. %
ANS: A PTS: 1 REF: HTML 305

39. Which of the following buttons deletes any data previously typed into text or textarea fields?
a. New c. Clear
b. Restore d. Reset
ANS: D PTS: 1 REF: HTML 305

40. Which of the following attributes specifies a reset button?

a. type=“option” c. reset=“type”
b. master=“reset” d. type=“reset”
ANS: D PTS: 1 REF: HTML 305

MULTIPLE RESPONSE

Modified Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following is a main component of a Web page form?

a. input controls c. link to a major search engine
b. <form> tag d. Submit button
ANS: A, B, D PTS: 1 REF: HTML 287

2. A text input control is a ____ box.

a. link c. password text
b. textarea d. text
ANS: B, C, D PTS: 1 REF: HTML 287

3. Which of the following controls creates a list item?

a. checkbox c. list
b. radio d. dropdown
ANS: A, B PTS: 1 REF: HTML 287

4. A password always appears as a series of which of the following?

 a. characters c. bullets
b. asterisks d. ampersands
ANS: A, B, C PTS: 1 REF: HTML 288

5. When a Web page visitor clicks the Submit button on the form, which of the following is sent to be
processed?
a. parameters of the control
b. value of the data contained with the control
c. dimensions of the field
d. name of the control
ANS: B, D PTS: 1 REF: HTML 290

MODIFIED TRUE/FALSE

1. A text control creates a text box that is used for a single line of input. _________________________

ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: HTML 287

2. By default, all check boxes are pre-selected. _________________________

ANS: F, deselected

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 288

3. The reset input control sends the information from a form to the appropriate location for processing.
_________________________

ANS: F, submit

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 290

4. A Web page form must include a Reset button. _________________________

ANS: F, Submit

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 290

5. The paragraph input control creates a multiple-line field for a relatively large amount of text.
_________________________

ANS: F, textarea

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 291

TRUE/FALSE

1. Using a Web page form for user input reduces the potential for errors because customers enter data or
select options from the form included directly on the Web page.

ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: HTML 284

 2. A select input control creates a series of check boxes for Web visitors to use.

ANS: F PTS: 1 REF: HTML 288

3. The maximum length of a text field may exceed the size of the field that displays on the form.

ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: HTML 288

4. Each choice in a check box list can be either on or off.

ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: HTML 288

5. A checkbox control allows a Web page visitor to select only one choice from a list of choices.

ANS: F PTS: 1 REF: HTML 288

6. Multiple radio buttons in the same group can be set to a checked state at the same time.

ANS: F PTS: 1 REF: HTML 288

7. With check boxes, only one option can be selected at a time.

ANS: F PTS: 1 REF: HTML 288

8. It is a good rule of thumb to use between 50 and 100 columns of text in a textarea field.

ANS: F PTS: 1 REF: HTML 289

9. The resume and send controls create the Reset and Submit buttons.

ANS: F PTS: 1 REF: HTML 290

10. A Web page form must include a Reset button.

ANS: F PTS: 1 REF: HTML 290

11. For a textarea field, no value attribute is possible because of the variability of the input.

ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: HTML 290

12. All options in a selection menu are contained within the <select> and </select> tags.

ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: HTML 292

13. HTML5 includes new attributes for the <input /> tag.

ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: HTML 291

14. The value attribute of the <input /> tag is optional for radio and checkbox controls.

ANS: F PTS: 1 REF: HTML 291

15. Few Web sites use CGI scripts to process forms because this is an inefficient way to handle the data
that is sent to a form.
 ANS: F PTS: 1 REF: HTML 293

16. The get method sends the name-value pairs to the end of the URL indicated in the action attribute.

ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: HTML 294

17. The post method is a program written in a programming language that communicates with the Web
server.

ANS: F PTS: 1 REF: HTML 294

18. Information on forms can be sent by e-mail to an e-mail address or can be used to update a database.

ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: HTML 294

19. A FORM script sends the information input on a Web page form to the Web server for processing.

ANS: F PTS: 1 REF: HTML 294

20. If you specify a maximum number of characters that is greater than the number of characters specified
in the size attribute, the additional characters will be cut off.

ANS: F PTS: 1 REF: HTML 296

21. If you do not specify a size attribute in the <select> tag, only one option is displayed, along with a list
arrow.

ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: HTML 300

22. The <legend> tag within the fieldset tag is required.

ANS: F PTS: 1 REF: HTML 306

23. An embedded style sheet changes the style for a single Web page.

ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: HTML 308

24. You should validate the code after the form is completed and view and test it using your browser.

ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: HTML 311

25. When you are collecting information from an online form, it is very important to test that the
information is accurate.

ANS: T PTS: 1 REF: HTML 311

COMPLETION

1. A(n) ____________________ input control is either a text box, a textarea box, or a password text box.

ANS: text
 PTS: 1 REF: HTML 287

2. In a(n) ____________________ text box, a visitor may enter a password.

ANS: password

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 287

3. In a(n) ____________________ box, a visitor may enter larger amounts of text.

ANS: textarea

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 287

4. The ____________________ attribute of the text control determines the number of characters that
display on the form.

ANS: size

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 287

5. A(n) ____________________ control tells the browser to send the data on the form to the server.

ANS: submit

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 287

6. A(n) ____________________ control returns all input controls to the default status.

ANS: reset

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 287

7. A(n) ____________________ control creates a list item in a list from which more than one item can
be chosen.

ANS: checkbox

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 288

8. To set a particular radio button as the default, you use the ____________________ value within the
<input /> tag.

ANS: checked

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 288

9. A(n) ____________________ button typically appears as an open circle.

ANS:

radio
option
 PTS: 1 REF: HTML 288

10. The textarea control uses the ____________________ attribute to specify the number of columns in
the textarea field.

ANS: cols

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 289

11. The ____________________ button sends the information to the appropriate location for processing.

ANS: Submit

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 290

12. The <____________________/ > tag defines the controls used in the form, using a variety of type
attribute values.

ANS: input

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 291

13. The <____________________> tag creates a form that allows user input.

ANS: form

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 291

14. The ____________________ method sends a separate data file with the name-value pairs to the URL
(or e-mail address) indicated in the action attribute.

ANS: post

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 294

15. When the ____________________ attribute specifies the same number of characters as the size
attribute, all characters entered by a user will appear in the text box.

ANS: maxlength

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 296

16. To select multiple choices in a selection menu, a user must first select one choice and then press and
hold the ____________________ key while clicking other choices in the list.

ANS: CTRL

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 301

17. To select several consecutive choices in a selection menu, a user must first select one choice and then
press and hold the ____________________ key while selecting the last choice.

ANS: SHIFT
 PTS: 1 REF: HTML 301

18. The ____________________ button clears any input that was entered in the form, restoring the input
controls back to the initial values.

ANS: Reset

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 304

19. The ____________________ control helps to group related form elements together.

ANS: fieldset

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 306

20. Using ____________________ is especially helpful in cases where some information is required and
some is optional.

ANS: grouping

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 306

MATCHING

Identify the letter of the choice that best matches the phrase or definition.
a. data input f. select
b. checkbox g. textarea
c. attributes h. password
d. radio button i. select control
e. input j. target
1. The use of asterisks, for example, to mark the entered text in this kind of field is designed to help
protect text from being observed as it is being entered
2. When one of these is selected, all of the other ones in the list are deselected automatically
3. This category of control eliminates a visitor's having to type information into a text or textarea field
4. This kind of field is useful when an extensive amount of input from the Web page visitors is required
or desired
5. This kind of input control creates a list item
6. If a choice in a selection menu is highlighted, it means that this attribute has been used for that choice
7. This kind of control either can be a radio button, a check box, a Submit button, or a Reset button
8. These kinds of controls either are HTML tags or attributes of HTML tags
9. Nearly all of the HTML tags used to create forms have at most one of these each
10. This attribute of the <form> tag indicates the location at which a resource will display

1. ANS: H PTS: 1 REF: HTML 288

2. ANS: D PTS: 1 REF: HTML 288
3. ANS: F PTS: 1 REF: HTML 289
4. ANS: G PTS: 1 REF: HTML 289
5. ANS: B PTS: 1 REF: HTML 288
6. ANS: I PTS: 1 REF: HTML 289
7. ANS: A PTS: 1 REF: HTML 287
8. ANS: E PTS: 1 REF: HTML 291
 9. ANS: C PTS: 1 REF: HTML 291
10. ANS: J PTS: 1 REF: HTML 291

ESSAY

1. Briefly list the HTML tags used to create forms, including their functions and any relevant remarks
about their use.

ANS:
<fieldset></fieldset> -- groups related controls on a form; it is optionally used for readability
<form></form> -- creates a form that allows user input; it is required when creating forms
<input /> -- defines the controls used in the form, using a variety of type attribute values; it is required
for input controls
<legend></legend> -- defines the caption that is displayed in the grouping borders; it is optionally
used when using <fieldset> tags
<option></option> -- specifies a choice in a <select> tag; it is required, one per choice
<select></select> -- creates a menu of choices from which a visitor selects; it is required for selection
choices
<textarea></textarea> -- creates a multiple-line text input area; it is required for longer text inputs that
appear on several lines

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 291 TOP: Critical Thinking

2. Explain in detail the difference between the action and method attributes of the <form> tag. Be sure to
include a definition of CGI script, and the get and post method in your explanation.

ANS:
The action attribute of the <form> tag specifies the action that is taken when the form is submitted.
Information entered in forms can be sent by e-mail to an e-mail address or can be used to update a
database. Although the e-mail option is functional, many Web sites process information from forms
using Common Gateway Interface (CGI) scripting. A CGI script is a program written in a
programming language (such as PHP or Perl) that communicates with the Web server. The CGI script
sends the information input on the Web page form to the server for processing.

The method attribute of the <form> tag specifies the manner in which the data entered in the form is
sent to the server to be processed. Two primary ways are used in HTML: the get method and the post
method. The get method sends the name-value pairs to the end of the URL indicated in the action
attribute. The post method sends a separate data file with the name-value pairs to the URL (or e-mail
address) indicated in the action attribute. Most Web developers prefer the post method because it is
much more flexible. You need to be cautious when using the get method. Some Web servers limit a
URL’s size, so you run the risk of truncating relevant information when using the get method.

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 293-HTML 294 TOP: Critical Thinking

3. Describe in detail the four steps involved in creating an effective form.

ANS:
Before creating a Web page form, you should plan how you want to format it. By effectively utilizing
input controls, you can call attention to important data-collection areas on the Web page without
overpowering it. Creating an effective form includes:
 1. Determine what data to collect. In the case of a form designed to collect information, you need the
visitor’s name and e-mail address. Make sure to provide enough space for each field so that you do not
cut out important information. For instance, a last name field only 5 characters long may cut out much
of the person’s last name.
2. Determine what types of control to use. For data such as name and e-mail address, you need text
input areas. For data such as favorite Internet radio station, there is generally a limited subset (e.g.,
Google, Live 365, Pandora, and Slacker), so a selection control is appropriate. When you ask what
kind of music the visitor is interested in listening to or buying, you can use check boxes, which allow
multiple selection. In the case of a question with only one appropriate answer (e.g., select your
favorite), a radio button is more appropriate.
3. Lay out the input areas effectively. One of the first input items you may want is the visitor’s name
and e-mail address information. That should go to the top of the page. Also, you can group information
together on the same line if it makes sense to make the Web page form short enough that visitors do
not have to scroll much. Collecting e-mail addresses is a great way to continue communication with
visitors or customers. A company can e-mail newsletters, coupons, and general information to
customers once they have their e-mail addresses.
4. Use grouping techniques for clarity. The last thing that you may want to do on a Web page form is
group like input items together. Use the fieldset tag to segregate personal information from preference
information and from other comments that the visitor might make.

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 295-HTML 296 TOP: Critical Thinking

CASE

Critical Thinking Questions

Case 6-1

Brendan is trying to familiarize himself in a hurry with the various form input controls. He has a sense
of the general function of each but not of the nuances among them.

1. What does Brendan learn is the key difference between the checkbox and radio controls?
a. The checkbox control indicates both the size of the field and the total maximum length,
and radio control indicates neither.
b. The checkbox control allows more than one item in a list to be chosen, and the radio
control indicates only one item in a list that can be chosen.
c. The radio control allows more than one item in a list to be chosen, and the checkbox
control indicates only one item in a list that can be chosen.
d. The radio control returns all input controls to the default status, and the radio button tells
the browser to send the data on the form to the server.

ANS:
B

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 288 TOP: Critical Thinking

2. Brendan has a list of 30 different options for a user to select from a given list. Which of the following
controls is the best match for his need?
a. select
b. checkbox
c. radio
d. any of the above

ANS:
 A

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 289 TOP: Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking Questions

Case 6-2

Jacqueline is inheriting a segment of code from a developer who has left the firm. The problem is that
the code became corrupted on a portion of the server during a recent crash and she has to reconstruct a
lot of it.

3. One portion of the code Jacqueline is reconstructing includes a reference to the name attribute, but the
HTML tag is missing. Which of the following tags CANNOT be the tag in question?
a. <input />
b. <select></select>
c. <option></option>
d. <textarea></textarea>

ANS:
C

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 291-HTML 292 TOP: Critical Thinking

4. Another portion of the code Jacqueline is reconstructing includes a reference to the readonly attribute.
Which HTML tag must be in use?
a. <textarea></textarea>
b. <option></option>
c. <select></select>
d. <legend></legend>

ANS:
A

PTS: 1 REF: HTML 292 TOP: Critical Thinking

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be briefly recorded.
The good ship “St Magnus” ran up “the String” to Kirkwall Roads, and
landed me after a ten hours’ passage from Lerwick. My first care was to
send my introductory letter, the gift of Mr Gatherer, to Mr George Petrie,
well known in the anthropological world. He kindly led me to the little
museum, which, like that of Lerwick, is far behind the order and neatness of
Reykjavik. The collection contains good specimens of netting needles, cut
out of rein and red deer bone: the former animal extended to the Orkneys,
as broken bones have been found in the burghs, and suggest that they were
continental. There were natural stone knives, looking as if shaped by art—
the Brazil shows heaps of celts equally deceptive—pots of micaceous schist
and steatite from Shetland; combs conjectured to have been used for
ornamenting pottery; a two-handed scraper of whale’s bone; specimens of
“bysmers” and “pundlers,” wooden bars used as steelyards, the former
three, and the latter seven, feet long: they carried the Norwegian weights,
“bysmars” and “lispunds,”[309] which took root in the Shetlands. I noticed
the huge Varangian[310] fibulæ and torques; the querns still common
amongst the islandry; red “keel” or pigment of silicious hæmatite, showing
that even the artless dames did not ignore the art of rouge; rude beads of
bone and clay; and a human skull with four rabbit teeth, possibly bevelled
by the “bursten bigg,” coarse roasted bere or barley, even as the Guanches
of Tenerife ground down their molars with parched grain. My guide showed
me his ingenious plan for “squeezes,” and making casts of spearheads and
similar articles by means of warmed gutta-percha applied to the stone, and
lastly cooled in water.
Scapa (Skálpeið) Brock, the highly interesting ruin discovered by Mr
Petrie in 1870, was of course visited. At the Earl’s Castle, whose approach
is choked with trees like that of Baalbek, I remarked that the kitchen and the
banqueting-room had false and shouldered arches, which might have been
borrowed from the Haurán. We pitied poor St Magnus the Martyr for the
insult lately offered to him in the shape of a wretched court-house—a
similar affront has been inflicted upon York Minster. The old cathedral,
grand in its rude and ponderous Norman-Gothic, is made remarkable by the
red sandstone mixed with whitey-grey calcaires: it shares with St Mungo
the honour of being the finest remains of Catholicism in the north, and it is
unduly neglected by strangers. The view from that eye-sore, the stunted
spire, is charming. North-west stretches the Bay of Firth, famed for oysters,
backed by the dark heights of Rousay (Hrólfsey); while north-east lies
Shapinshay (Hjápandisey),[311] smiling with corn and white houses, with
the dark hillocks of low-lying Edey in the distance. Amongst the smaller
islets may be mentioned castled Damsey (Daminsey); the Holm of
Quanterness; Thieves’ Holm (Thjófaholmr), where robbers, who were
supposed not to swim, found a safe prison, and often, too, a long home; and
the whale-back of Gairsey (Gáreksey), with the stronghold of that Sveinn
(Sweyn), who lost his pirate life when attacking Dublin—the Vikings seem
ever to have preferred these fragments of earth where the sea, their
favourite element, was never far distant. Nearer and rising from the
reniform “Mainland,” alias Pomona, by the Sagas called Hrossey or Horse
Island, is Wideford (Hvitfjörð) Hill, backed by the Oyce or Peerie Sea. The
ground-wave is dark with bloomless gorse, and ruddy with fading heath,
whilst higher still
 “Earth clad in russet scorns the lively green.”

It is a progressive country: middle-aged men have shot grouse in the mosses

near Kirkwall where now the fields bear corn. The peasant’s father
despaired of growing grass: the son ploughs the bog, builds dry walls with
the larger stones that cumber the surface, cuts deep drains, and top-dresses
with sand and lime. Hands, however, are wanting; the fisheries bring more
money than agriculture; and the good landlord will not part with his slow
old tenantry, because he cannot replace it.

ST. MAGNUS CATHEDRAL & EARL'S PALACE, KIRKWALL

Vol. I. Page 283.

Two monuments in the cathedral are peculiarly interesting, and partly

relieve the desert and dismal appearance of all Catholic places of worship
converted to a “purer creed.” The first is that of the Irving family, true
Orcadians, who never changed their name since A.D. 1361, and one lies
murdered in A.D. 1614. Mr Petrie, the discoverer, communicated with the
great Washington of that ilk, who replied courteously, forwarding at the
same time a presentation copy of his works. Mr Pliny Miles (Norðurfari)
and others of his class are fond of claiming all distinguished names for their
own country; for instance, Snorri Thorfinnsson, “the first Yankee[312] on
record,” is the forefather of Finn Magnússon and Thorvaldsen, whilst
Captain Ericsson is the descendant of Eric the Red. It would be easier far to
trace all American celebrities directly to Europe, and many of them would
not be sorry to see the process thus inverted.
The second tomb, much more interesting to me than those of King
Hakon and Maid Margaret, is the cenotaph of Dr Baikie, R.N., designed and
inscribed, I believe, by Sir Henry Dryden: certainly both design and
inscription deserve scanty credit. Not a word about the original profession
of poor “Hammie,” as he was called by a host of friends. And why should it
be a cenotaph? Why bequeath the explorer’s bones to the ignoble
“European’s grave,” S’a Leone? Worse still, the journals, once so
interesting, have been allowed to lie in obscurity for want of an editor, and a
decade in these days takes away almost all the value of an African
traveller’s diary. Dr Baikie is supposed also to have left a valuable
collection of Nigerian vocabularies—these, at least, might be forwarded to
the Anthropological Institute. I can only express a hope that the bereaved
family will bestir itself before the cold shade of oblivion obscures the
memory of a heroic name.
After a long spell of cloudy, misty, and rainy weather, Thursday, the 12th
September, broke fine, with a clear sun and a high rollicking wind which
swept the rolling surface-water like a broom. In these islands, July, August,
and September are frequently wet; in October the “peerie simmer”[313] of
St Martin, the Indian summer of the United States, sets in and gladdens the
eye of man before the glooms of winter round off the year. Mr Petrie
proposed himself as guide to Wideford Hill, Ingishowe (Howe of Inga),
Maes Howe, Stennis, Borgar (Brúargarðr), and Stromness—I need hardly
tell the pleasure with which his kind offer was accepted. He has not only
admirably described these and other antiquities (especially in his “Notice of
the Brochs, or Large Round Towers of Orkney,” etc., read before the
S.N.A., June 11, 1866): he has done far more important work by converting
popular insouciance, and even ridicule, into a something of his own
enthusiasm. Nor should I forget to say that in this great task he has been
ably and efficiently supported by the landlord-class, amongst whom
Colonel Balfour of Balfour Castle and Ternaby (Tjarnabær), the owner of
Maes Howe, has especially distinguished himself. We shall now hope to
have heard the last of such barbarism as breaking up the venerable “Odin’s
Stone” into building material. These acts are like the state of Uriconium, a
national disgrace; we only wish that Jarl Hakon had Mr M——’s leg in the
“Cashidawis,” or “Warm Hose”—a fitting reward for those who justify the
sneer—

“Quod non fecerunt Gothi

Hoc fecerunt Scoti.”

It is also to be desired that the liberal proprietor of Maes Howe would take
active steps to defend the highly interesting central chamber from the
inclemency of the weather; the barrow was opened in July 1861, and
already the interior has suffered from exposure.
The most interesting event of the day was the inspection of Maes Howe,
which some one has lately suggested to be “simply a Norse fort.” It would
be mere impertinence to offer a general description of this unique barrow
after the studies of Mr Farrer (“Notice of Runic Inscriptions discovered
during Recent Excavations in the Orkneys,” made by James Farrer, M.P.;
printed for private circulation, 1862); lately popularised by Mr Fergusson in
“Rude Stone Monuments.” The three mortarless loculi of huge slabs and
their closing stones reminded me so strongly of the miscalled “Tombs of the
Kings,” north of Jerusalem, that I felt once more in the “Holy Land.” It is a
glorious monument of the great tomb-building race, or races whose
animistic creed, the essence of fetichism, expresses itself in tent-tombs
(chambered cairns) and cave-tombs (rock-cut chambers) upon the Siberian
steppes, the Algerian plains, the Wiltshire downs, and the Scoto-
Scandinavian islands. At Maes Howe we find all its characteristics—the
stone circle which drove away the profane; the long passage which keeps
warm the cave or hut; the vestibule for the funeral feast, and the various
rooms for the dead to live in. And at the first sight of the Branch Runes,[314]
otherwise called Palm Runes, I remembered having seen a similar alphabet
in northern Syria.
A ride to Hums, of old Emesa (February 27, 1871), and a visit to my old
friend the Nestorian Matrán (Metropolitan) Butrus, introduced me to the
alphabet known as El Mushajjar, or the branched, one of the many cyphers
formerly and, for aught I know, still current amongst Semitic races.
Returning to England, I sent a copy of it to the Anthropological Institute,
intending to illustrate a paper which was reprinted in “Unexplored Syria”
(vol. ii., Appendix, p. 241): unfortunately the copy was lost.
 According to the Matrán’s MS. there are two forms of El Mushajjar, one
applied to Arabic, and the other to Pehlevi. Both are read from right to left,
and the following is the Arabic form:
No. I.

The adjoined is the Pehlevi.

No. III. is the Norsk-Runic alphabet, read from left to right, as classified by
Mr George Petrie, to decipher the palm-runes in Maes Howe.
And the following are the inscriptions on the walls of Maes Howe:

The key to the cypher is here shown by the transverse stroke on the stem of
the first letter to the left (A or æ).
forming an inceptive—“these runes.” In the word “Runar,” the left-hand
branches are turned down by way of variety; of course the number is the
same. Finally, it is interesting to compare this “Mushajjar” with a similar
system, the Irish letters, which bear the names of trees. They are:

And even in the common runes, we may observe that there is only one (R)
which is not composed of a rune-staff, supporting offsets disposed at
various angles.
No. I., the Arabic form connected by horizontal base-lines, contains two
sets of three, and four sets of four letters, read as usual in Semitic alphabets;
beginning with Alpha and ending with Tau: it is in fact the Aleph-Tav of the
Hebrews and of the older Arabs, as preserved in the numeral and
chronological syllabarium “El Abjad.” I need hardly note that this was
characteristic of the world-conquering Phœnician, that glorious gift to
Greece, usually attributed to Cadmus (El Kadim, or the Ancient), and by us
incongruously applied to our Aryan speech; a comparison of the sequences
a, b, c, and d (Abjad), and k, l, m, and n (Kalaman) with any other system at
once proves direct derivation. In the Pehlevi Mushajjar the letters, it will be
seen, are not joined at the base, and sundry branches are formed in a
different way.
Mr Farrer, who first “established the important fact of Runic inscriptions
existing in Orkney, where none had hitherto been found,” gives both sets of
palm-runes (Plates VIII. and IX.). He borrows the following information (p.
29, referring to Plate VIII.) from Professor Stephens, a good Norsk scholar:
“The six crypt runes or secret staves represent the letters A, Æ, R, L, I, K,
R, and signify Aalikr or Erling, a proper name, or perhaps the beginning of
some sentence.” Professor Munch observes, “The other characters in the
third line are known as ‘Limouna,[315] or Bough-Runes.’ They were used
during the later times of the Runic period in the same manner as the Irish
Ogham, but are not here intelligible. The writer probably intended to
represent the chief vowels—A, E, I, O, U, Y. The Runic alphabet was
divided into two classes: the strokes on the left of the vertical line indicating
the class, and those on the right the rune itself.” And Professor Rafn
declares, “The palm-runes underneath cannot be read in the usual manner;
the first, third, and fourth of the runes being a, o, and i; the writer probably
intended to give all the vowels, but some of the letters have been obviously
miscarried, and have perhaps been altered and defaced at a later period by
other persons. In the first of these a cross line has been added to show that
the letter a is intended.” Of No. XVIII. (Plate X.), Mr Farrer notes, “The
palm-runes are rarely capable of being deciphered.” Professor Munch
similarly declares, “The boughrunes are not easy to decipher;” whilst
Professor Stephens asserts, “The palm-runes on the first line indicate Thisar
Runar—‘these runes.’ ” They are mentioned in the Elder Edda
(Sigrdrífumál, stanza 11):

“Lim-runes thou must ken,

An thou a leech wouldst be,
And know to heal hurts.”

The cryptogram, “El Mushajjar,” was forwarded to Mr Petrie, who

replied as follows: “I attempted by means of your tree-branched alphabet to
read the palm-runes of Maes Howe, but failed. It then occurred to me that
they might correspond with the Futhork, or Icelandic alphabet, and,
obtaining the key of the cipher, I completely succeeded after a few hours’
trial. On referring to Mr Farrer’s copies of the translations given by the
Scandinavian professors, I find that Professor Stephens appears to have put
five runes in each of the first two classes, which makes the third palm-rune
(inscription No. I.) to be L instead of Y; moreover, he does not give the key.
My first attempt at classifying the runes by means of the cipher turned out
correct, and I have therefore retained that classification in reading the
second inscription. It is evident that the classification could be altered at
will of the person using it, and this uncertainty of arrangement must
constitute the difficulty of interpreting such runes.”
In Nos. XIX. and XX. (Plate X.) we read “Iorsafarar Brutu
Orkhröugh”—the Jórsalafarar (Jerusalem-farers, i.e., pilgrim-visitors of
Jerusalem) broke open Orkhow (shelter-mound), probably in search of
treasure: the latter is an object especially Eastern. There are seven crosses,
and one inscription (No. XIII.) must be read from right to left. We may
therefore believe that certain old Coquillards, and possibly Crusaders,
returning from Palestine, whence they brought the “hubby,”[316] violated
the tombs, and left a single name and an unfinished inscription to record
their propensity[317] for grave-plundering.
We visited the museum at Stromness, the amorpholites or “Standing
Stones,” and that “Mediterranean in miniature,” the Stennis Lake, whose
flora is partly marine and partly lacustrine. Hereabouts, the plain shows
distinct remnants of the two great epochs—Bruna-öld, the Age of Burning;
and Hauga-öld, the Age of Burial. We have no reason to believe the
tradition that Odin introduced cremation; doubtless, the “crematee” was
chiefly of the wealthy classes, while the poor were inhumed—they were
both synchronous in the days of the Twelve Tables: “Hominem mortuum in
urbe ne sepelito, neve urito.” Hence a valuable rule for tracing the exact
limits of old Roman cities, even of Rome herself: the cemetery was always
outside the city settlement, and, if possible, to the south.
The day ended happily, as it began, in meeting Colonel Burroughs of
Rousay, and Dr Rea of Arctic fame. My memories of Kirkwall are pleasant
in the extreme. It wants only a good modern hotel to deserve the patronage
of tourists, who, in these days, are told to “try Lapland,” when they have
ample inducement to pass a summer in the “storm-swept Orcades,” and in
other sections of the Scoto-Scandinavian archipelago.
 On Friday, September 6, the “Jón Sigurðsson,” Captain Müller of whom
more presently, made with some difficulty the Shetland Mainland. Many
derivations are offered for the latter word, but, as the island is larger than all
the rest put together, the obvious signification suffices.[318] A dark, thick
fog had kept us drifting all night close to the dangerous rocks called Hivda
Grind, Havre de Grind, or Hardegrind, originally Nafargrind, from Grind (a
hedge-gate or sea-way), and, perhaps, Höfða (a head or bluff). Our position,
some seven miles E.S.E. of Foula (Fugley) Island, explained the noise of
the surf and the shallowing of water to thirty-two fathoms—it is far easier
in these latitudes to hear than to see the land! The raw mist obscured the
bold, grand scenery of the western coast till noon, when a sickly sun
sublimed the vapours, reminding me of the Malabar coast after the
Nilgherry Hills. Very mild was the Roost[319] or Race of Sumburgh, a
Euripus, where nine currents are said to meet. We could distinctly sight
Fitful[320] Head, and

“We saw the tide

Break thundering on the rugged side
Of Sumburgh’s awful steep.”

Its flank of clay-slate showed vast rivas (clefts) and stone-slips, while
beyond it lay the skeleton of Jarlshof (Earl’s house), names now world-
known. It is curious to trace how the practised eye and the wonderful
memory which created our modern historical novel skimmed the very
cream of Hjaltland peculiarities during a few days’ visit in August 1814, the
year in which he published the Eyrbyggja Saga;[321] and it is fortunate for
writing travellers that Sir Walter Scott did not visit the Færoes and Iceland.
See what he did for the “Waverley Line” of Railway! Amongst the islanders
he is a household word, but though the Troils of Papa Westræ do not object
to Magnus Troil, they are still incensed by the portraiture of that “fiddling,
rhyming fool,” poor Claud Halcro.
The approach to Bressey Sound, one of the finest ports in Great Britain,
is unusually picturesque. On the right is the “Wart of Bressey”[322]—
verrucose features are here common as in the Orkneys, but the word is the
Icelandic “Varða,” and the German “Warte,” a watch-house. Its flanks are
gashed for turf; and a goodly lighthouse is as much wanted on the
dangerous western coast as on the Mediterranean shores of Africa. The
island was lately sold, they say, for £20,000. On the left is the historic Knap
or Knab (Hnapp meaning a button) of quartzose slate, backed by the
quarries and the spreading town of Lerwick—mud bay. The (Arthur)
Anderson Institute and the Widows’ Asylum reminded me of a Shetlander
who began life as a clerk, became M.P. in 1847-52, and died the chairman
of the great “P. & O.”—it is a pity that these fine establishments were not
better endowed. The capital stands with its feet in the water; the houses,
with their crow-stepped gables, being so built for convenience of
smuggling, and its sons fondly compare it with cities on the Rhine. Half a
dozen Dutch busses, riding in couples, now represent the hundreds of
bygone days, when the British fisheries were called the “gold mine of
Holland.” Certain features suggested modern Tiberias, but the
disproportionate number of the churches soon weighed down that flight of
fancy.
On the day after arrival, I set out with Captain Henry T. Ellis, R.N. (of
“Hong-Kong to Manilla”), to do the tour de rigueur—Scalloway[323] Castle
and Moseyaburgum, the Mousa (Mósey) Broch[324] or Pecht House. We
took the excellent northern road, begun during the famine, and finished
some four years ago (1870): formerly when a picnic was intended, gillies
were sent on to smooth the way for riders. After a few yards, we left the
fertile seaboard, whose skirts and smooths are, as in Iceland, the only sites
for agriculture, and entered the normal type of country, which begins in
Scotland and Ireland. There can be no better description of bog and moor,
of hill-land or commonty, and of “moss, mount, and wilderness, quhairin
are divers great waters,” than that which opens the first chapter of “Lord
Kilgobbin,” the last work of that most amiable and sympathetic writer,
whose unworthy successor I now am: “Some one has said that almost all
that Ireland possesses of picturesque beauty is to be found on or in the
immediate neighbourhood of the seaboard; and if we except some brief
patches of river scenery on the ‘Nore’ and the ‘Blackwater,’ and a part of
Lough Erne, the assertion is not devoid of truth. The dreary expanse called
the Bog of Allen, which occupies a high table-land in the centre of the
island, stretches away for miles, flat, sad-coloured, and monotonous,
fissured in every direction by channels of dark-tinted water, in which the
very fish take the same sad colour.” Similarly we read of Scotland: “The
inland, the upland, the moor, the mountain, were really not occupied at all
for agricultural purposes, or served only to keep the poor and their cattle
from starving.”
The surface of this Irish Sliabh and Icelandic Heiði, a true “black
country,” natural not artificial, rolls in low warty moors revetted with moss,
spangled with Fífa, or cotton-grass (Epilobium, or Eriophorum
epistachion), and gashed with deep black earth-cracks, showing the
substrata of peat; the tarns and flowing waters are inky as the many
Brazilian “Unas” (Blackwaters), and though strongly peat-flavoured, they
are not unwholesome. I could not find that they had been used for tanning,
nor have the people yet found out the value of the “peat-coal,” macerated
condensed[325] peat, so long appreciated by the Grand Trunk of Canada and
the railways of New England and Bavaria; even in the Brazil a patent for
the manufactory was taken out some years ago, and Bahia now exports the
article. Yet in Lyell’s “Principles of Geology” (11th edit., vol. ii., p. 504) we
meet the strange assertion, “No peat found in Brazil.” The supply of the bog
factories near Montreal costs nine shillings to ten shillings per ton, or about
one-fourth the value of pit coal. The Torbite of Horwich (Lancashire) is
even cheaper, and experts have said that it gets up steam to 10 lbs. pressure
in one hour ten minutes, and to 25 lbs. in one hour thirty-two minutes—the
figures of Lancashire coal being two hours twenty-five minutes and three
hours—at any rate, we may believe that when water is excluded, its heating
power is about half way between wood and coal. Thus it becomes an article
of general value to brewers, distillers, and manufacturers; and the Swedish
iron, equal to Low Moor, as well as the yield of the Bavarian, the
Wurtemberg, and the Bohemian mines, are all treated with condensed peat.
It is now time to utilise the vast bogs of the finest deep black fuel, in which
Ireland and the Hebrides, the Shetlands and the Orkneys abound, especially
when perpetual colliery strikes, causing coal famines and the immense rise
in the value of the combustible, have made steamers lie idle in our ports.
Truly Torf-Einarr Jarl, who first taught the art and mystery of “yarpha”-
burning, deserves a memorial statue on the Torf-nes.
In such “sea-girdled peat-mosses” as these, agriculture is a farce, and
only sheep can pay. The foundation of the rocks, snowy quartz veining grey
and chloritic slate, is that of Minas Geraes, and yet crushing for gold has
not, we were assured, been attempted. Dr Cowie informed me that copper
and iron are now successfully worked near Sandwich; and I hope soon to
hear of prospecting for the nobler metal. At present our African California,
the Gold Coast itself, is not more thoroughly neglected.[326]
Shetland life is concentrated near the sounds and voes (the Vogr of
Iceland), where the dykes of Galway and Roscommon, dry or mortared
walls, enclose yellow fields of oats, barley, and potatoes black with frost.
Churches, and manses bigger than the churches; kilns burning kelp and
lime; substantial houses, thatched with barley-straw, upon “pones,” or slabs
of dried turf, the whole kept in place by “simmins” (straw ropes), stones,
and logs, dotted the lowlands. Here and there stood a few willows and
maple-planes, erroneously called sycamores,[327] under the shelter of walls;
and uncommonly pleasant after Iceland was the twitter of the birdies. Many
broken and unroofed cottages, some of them leper-houses in bygone days,
reminded us that the disease lingered longer in Scotland than in England; in
the Scoto-Scandinavian islands than in Scotland; and in Iceland than in the
“Eyjar.” The frequent ruined home-steads of small tenantry, compelled,
when their land was “laid down to grazing,” to seek their fortunes
elsewhere, are the salient features. The “murid” (murret) coloured Shetland
sheep have now made way for Scotch intruders; the cattle are from
Ayrshire; and English horses, not “cussers from Lanarkshire,” have taken
the place of shelties. Ducks and geese are everywhere; skarfs and gulls are
more numerous than the speckled cocks and hens; and salt-fish, which here
is not sun-dried, lies piled, as in Iceland, upon the sands.
Much has been said in books[328] about the physical beauty of the
Shetlanders, but neither of us could see it. There is a greater variety of race
than in the islands farther north, but less, as might be expected, than in the
Orkneys and Caithness. The blue eyes are milder than in Iceland, the long
bright locks are the same, but the complexion is by no means so “pearl and
pink”—perhaps its muddiness may result from peat-water. The blondes, as a
rule, wear that faded and colourless aspect, which especially distinguishes
the Slav race. The look is shy and reserved, and the voice is almost a
whisper, as if the speaker were continually nervous: strangers notice this
peculiarity even in society. En revanche, the women appear to be peculiarly
industrious. They crowd Commercial Street during the Monday markets,
and even when carrying their heavy “cassies,” “cassie-cazzies,” or crates of
peat, which serve for “Ronin the Bee,” they spin yarn and knit “tree-ply
stockings,” apparently not intended for their own naked feet. The Wadmel,
or Wadmaal, the North of England Woadmel, here better known as
“Shetland claith,” cannot, however, compare with that of Iceland; the
texture is loose, and the stuff in the shops is evidently meant to sell, not to
last.
After seeing the humble wonders of Scalloway Castle, we struck
southwards and across the Mainland, where we could hire a boat for the
Whalesback of Mousa. The leek-shaped Broch has a pair of romantic
legends attached to it, but they are too modern for interest. This most
perfect specimen of the seventy round towers[329] has been often described,
but no one seems to have noticed the similarity of the double walls of the
vaulted and many-storied bee-hive chambers, and of the other peculiarities,
with those of the pre-historic Sardinian Nurhágghi. The “stepped domes” of
dry stone, and the “concealments,” also reminded me much of similar
features in outlying Syria. Some ill-conditioned party of “cheap-trippers,”
or “devil’s-dust tourists,” has lately fired the secular moss which clothed the
south-western wall. On the way back to Lerwick there is another ruin in
Clickamin (also written Chickhamin) Lake: interesting as the means of
comparison, it has an addition evidently more modern of extensive
outworks, which Mousa Castle wholly wants.
Unfortunately for myself, I had not time to call upon the late Mr Thomas
Edmonston of Buness, whose philological labours are so valuable to
northern students;[330] and to tell unpleasant truth, I was somewhat
surprised by the success of the nineteenth century in abolishing all the old
hospitality. We inspected the contents of the dark little room, the
anthropological collection of the Shetlands, which deserves a catalogue, and
other comforts of civilised life. Many Hjaltlanders have never heard of it.
The most interesting articles are the steatite pots from Unst, and the ceramic
remains, guiltless of wheel, collected in the Brochs. There are also some
rough “thunderbolts”—here the stone celt is considered, as by the ancient
Greeks, to be an ἀστροπελέυς. Hence Claudian (fifth century) sings:

“Pyrenæisque sub antris

Ignea flumineæ legere ceraunia nymphæ.”

We ran into Thorshafn (Færoes) on September 4, when a shower of rain

had laid the fog. The “Isles of Sheep,” others say of “Feathers,” are
evidently built like Iceland, with submarine trap; and the deep narrow
“grips” between them, passages free from any danger except the
“vortices,”[331] which can be seen, suggest that they have parted into long
narrow fragments under the influence of subaërial cooling and contraction.
The deep black strata appear peculiarly regular, as those of the western
Fjörðs of Thule, streaked with lines of red ochre, spotted with white guano,
and not showing, in this part at least, any signs of Palagonite or sea-sand.
The leaf-shaped valleys, the water-falls, and the natural arches, are familiar
to us after “Snowland;” the shallow turf lies upon the steepest inclines, and
not unfrequently it is torn off by the frantic wind with as much ease as a rug
is rolled up.

KIRKJUBÆ RUINS IN FÆROE ISLANDS

The course lay abreast of Mygganaes (Midge Naze),[332] with its head to
the south, and projecting a long low tail cut by a “coupé,” like that of Sark.
We then opened Waagoe (voe islet), so called because imbedded in the
greater Stromoe. At the southern end, where once whales abounded, as may
be seen in prints of 1844, many “Battles of the Summer Islands” were
fiercely waged. We pass Gaasholm, Tind-holm, or Peak Island, a slice of
rock with jagged uplifted edge, here a common feature, the Koltar
(Coulter), which passably represents its name, and Hestoe the horse-eyot.
The latter is a common Scandinavian name for a feature with a long straight
dorsum, ready as it were for the saddle—witness the Horse of “Copinshay”
(Kolbeins-ey): the hunchbacks are mostly called “hogs,” and the smaller
outliers “calves.” The normal shape is a quoin, bluff to north or east, and
sloping with a regular green incline to the water. There is no snow; the hay
crop has been got in, and the settlements are villages, not Bærs or detached
farms. We ran within easy sight of Kirkjubæ, which stands well out from its
adjacent hovels; it is the last Roman Catholic building in the islands, and
the “Reformation” left its sturdy walls unroofed. Visitors speak of an iron
plate imbedded in its masonry, and supposed to denote treasure, which is
not likely. The old Church still keeps up a mission-house and chapel at
Thorshafn, but we found the building void of priests.
Whilst the “haaf,” or outer sea, was calm as a lake, a cold and furious
southerly wind, the gift of the funnel between Sandoe and Stromoe, blew in
our faces, and when we had turned the southern point of the latter, it again
met us from the north-east. The capital Thorshafn is a small heap of houses,
or rather boxes strewed “promiscuous” on the ground, and a large white
church, whose belfry is adorned with a gilt ball and a profusion of crosses.
It has, however, a literary dean, and, better still, a library. The site of the
settlement is a spit of rock dividing the harbour into a northern and a
southern “hop”—the latter being generally preferred. A green flag floating
over a shed near the fort denotes the quarantine station; planked boat-
houses figure conspicuously, and the roofs are more grassy even than in
Iceland. Willows, elder-trees, and currant-bushes, looking gigantic after the
stunted vegetation farther north, flourish in sheltered spots, especially near
the well-bridged brook in the southern part of the city. Along the dorsum of
the spit runs an upper road with a small central square, looking as if a single
house had been pulled down to make room. Huge boulders have not
disappeared from the thoroughfares, and the latter are the most crooked and
irregular of any that claim to be in Europe; narrow, steep, and steppy—-
narrower than Malta, steeper than ramps at “Gib,” and steppy like
Dalmatian towns, for instance Curzola and Lésina: in places they are
supplied with hand-rails.
The people are remarkably English in appearance, and perhaps an easy
reason may be found for the resemblance. They appear rather shy than the
reverse, and they notably lack Hazlitt’s “Scotch stare.” The women show
the bloom of infinite delicacy that characterises the complexion of Iceland.
The men, who unwisely shave their faces, still affect the picturesque island-
dress, a peculiar-shaped cap of dark colour with thin blue or red stripes,
long brown jacket, knee breeches of Wadmal, long stockings, and untanned
spartelles, or “chumpers,” the wooden-soled clogs of “Lankyshire.”
We called on Hr Sysselmand Müller, and we left the Færoes with a
conviction that its capital is one of the “slowest” places now in existence:
the only possible excitement would be to buy a 560-fathom “fowl-
rope,”[333] and to dangle like the samphire-gatherer of dreadful trade over
the bird-precipices. “In a rope’s end between earth and heaven, with the
blue sky above you, and below you the still bluer sea tumbling, between
which two you swing to and fro like a pendulum,” one might secure a novel
sensation to take the place of many an illusion perdue. A St Bartholomew’s
Day of a hundred and fifty whales, a massacre headed by the parson and the
schoolmaster, must also have its charms, but these events are unhappily
waxing rare.

NOTE ON STONE IMPLEMENTS AND OTHER PRE-HISTORIC

REMAINS FOUND IN THE SHETLAND ISLANDS.
By the late Robert Cowie, M.A., M.D.

Of the pre-historic weapons of warfare, or implements of domestic

economy, which have been found in the Shetland Islands, by far the most
numerous and important are the stone implements. These naturally divide
themselves into two classes, viz., the polished and the rude. First let us
speak of the polished stone implement, celt, steinbarte, battle-axe head, or
“thunderbolt.” This implement has, for centuries, been an object of search,
not only for the antiquary and the collector of curiosities, but for the native
peasantry—the latter class regarding it with superstitious awe, as a sort of
household god, who brings luck to the family that is fortunate enough to
possess it. They term it the “thunderbolt,” from a belief—everywhere found
and dating from all times—that the weapon has come down from the sky
during a thunderstorm. These “celts,” or steinbartes, as they are generally
termed in scientific language, again divide themselves into two varieties,
viz. (1.) the single-edged steinbarte and (2.) the double-edged steinbarte.
1. The single-edged steinbarte, which is by far the most common, is thus
very accurately described by Dr Hibbert, in his excellent work on Shetland:
“This variety of blade has one cutting edge, generally of a semilunar
outline, and tapering from opposite points to a blunted extremity or heel. In
some specimens both sides are convex; in others one side only, the other
being flattened. All the edges except the broad sharpened margin are bluntly
rounded off. The single-edged stone-axes of Shetland vary much in their
dimensions, being from four to eight or ten inches in length; their breadth
proportionately differing. When the Shetland steinbarte was used in war, its
blunt tapering extremity may be supposed to have been introduced within
the perforation made into some wooden or bone haft, and afterwards
secured by overlapping cords, formed of thongs of leather, or the entrails of
some animal; twine of hemp not being then in use.”
From considerable personal observation, I can testify to the accuracy of
the above description, except that there appears to be in these instruments
greater variety in size than that indicated by the learned Doctor; the largest
single-headed steinbarte in the Lerwick Museum being 14½ inches long by
4½ inches at the broadest point, and the smallest 4½ inches long by 2½
inches at the broadest point.
Continuing the paragraph just quoted, Dr Hibbert says: “Another kind of
steinbarte has been said to occur in Shetland, the sharp edge of which
describes the segment of a circle, whilst the chord of the outline is
thickened like the back of a knife. Probably its blunt edge was fixed within
the groove of a wooden or bone handle, so as to form a single-edged cutting
instrument.” This peculiar variety must have been very rare indeed, for no
one appears to have seen it since the days of the Rev. Mr Low of Orkney,
who wrote exactly a century ago.
2. The double-edged steinbarte is described as follows by Dr Hibbert:
“The blade of this instrument is a stone completely flattened on each of its
sides, and not more than the tenth of an inch thick; it is of an oblong shape,
having one blunted margin perfectly straight, and, with the stone in such a
position that the dull edge is the uppermost, we have the form of a blade
presented, in which the two narrow edges are irregularly rounded off at
their angles, so that one edge is much broader than the other. Every part of
the margin but that which constitutes the summit of the outline is
sharpened; by which means there is a great addition made to the extent of
the cutting edge. The blade is 5½ inches long, and from 3 to 4 broad.” This
description does not correspond with the specimens I have been able to
examine. If they are to be considered fair specimens, I would describe the
so-called double-edged steinbarte thus: An oblong flat piece of porphyry,
serpentine, or some similar stone, 5 or 6 inches long by 4 or 5 broad, and
about a third or a fourth of an inch thick, with a thin sharp edge all round.
 These instruments, many of which are very beautiful both as regards
form and polish, are generally formed of a peculiarly compact green
porphyry or of serpentine. They have been found in most of the districts of
Shetland, particularly in the parishes of Unst, Delting, Wells, and Sandsting.
The situations and numbers in which they have been found, also present
great variety. Some have been taken out of ancient stone coffins, others
found inside of or near to old “burghs,” while many have been dug up in the
common—some near the surface and others several feet beneath it.[334]
Most of them have been found singly, but in many instances large
collections of such weapons have been discovered. Thus, in one instance,
twenty-four of them were found in one spot, in another eight, and in a third
seven, the last-mentioned series being arranged in the form of a circle.
Polished stones having the shape of spear-heads have also been found in
Shetland, but very rarely. They are said to be about four inches long, having
a groove apparently for receiving a wooden shaft.
Flint arrow-heads, although frequently dug up in Orkney, have not yet,
as far as I can learn, been found in Shetland.

2. The Rude Stone Implements.

While the polished archaic stone implements have been known during a
long period of modern history, the rude or unpolished have only very
recently been discovered, or at all events recognised; and for this discovery
we are chiefly indebted to the late Dr James Hunt, London; Dr Arthur
Mitchell, Edinburgh; and Mr George Petrie, Kirkwall, who conducted
archæological explorations in Shetland in the summer of 1865. Vast
quantities of such articles must from time to time have been turned up by
the peasantry; but it is only about this period they appear to have been
recognised—a circumstance somewhat curious considering the many
searches during a long series of years, made for relics of pre-historic times,
by various accomplished antiquaries. These rough instruments present great
variety both as to shape and size. Let us endeavour to indicate the chief
types.
 Fig. 1.—Stone Implements found in Shetland.

1. We have the club-like form, which is well illustrated by the

accompanying copies of Dr Mitchell’s excellent paper on the subject.[335]
This implement is generally of large size; one specimen measuring 21
inches by 2½ inches at the greatest breadth, and weighing 6¾ lbs.; another
is 20 inches long, 5 or 6 in diameter, but attains the great weight of 14 lbs.
Many of the small forms found in the collections to be described appear to
be fragments of this larger implement.
 Fig. 2.

2. Next in importance comes a long, narrow, flattish stone—“from 11

inches by 3 inches, to 6 inches by 1½—thinned and somewhat rounded at
each end.” Stones of this variety, which are very numerous in the
collections already made, present a remarkable similarity. (See Fig. 2.)

Fig. 3.

(3.) The third type, which is illustrated by Fig. 3, is “a broad, flat stone,
showing a tendency to be pointed at one end.” Dr Mitchell considers most
of these stones fragments of larger implements; but two entire specimens of
this type are to be found in a good collection made by Mr Umphray, of
Raewick Shetland. The great majority of the rude stone implements found
in Shetland belong to one or other of the types above briefly noticed; but we
have still one or two less common varieties.

Fig. 4.

(4.) The fourth type, of which I have not been able to see a specimen, is
described by Dr Mitchell as “a water-worn stone, 10 to 12 inches long,
more or less cylindrical, but tapering at the ends.”
(5.) The fifth variety, illustrated by Fig. 4, is a curious and very
interesting spud-like instrument, of which only a few specimens have been
yet found.
We next have three or four very rare and exceptionable varieties. The
first of these is a cylindrical and apparently water-shaped stone, well worn
at each end, as if it had been used as a pestle in crushing corn, or for some
such domestic purpose (Fig. 5); the second a “flat, four-sided stone, 5
inches long, 3 inches wide, and 1½ inches thick,” with a groove on each of
the long sides, so as to give it a constricted appearance; and the third a piece
of sandstone, or some such stone, with an oval cup-like hollow in it.