=Kirkwall= (3810), is situated at the northern end of a low isthmus dividing the Mainland into two, and has a harbour on two sides, that at Scapa Bay to the south being the port of call for the daily mail-steamer to Caithness. The harbour of Kirkwall proper, facing to the north, was designed by Telford, and is the place of general traffic. The town takes its name, in Norse _Kirkjuvágr_,[1] churchbay, from the old parish church of St Olaf, supposed to have been erected by Jarl Rognvald I, _c._ 1040, but it only became the capital of the Islands after the foundation of the cathedral in 1137, and the consequent transfer of the seat of the Bishopric from Birsay. Kirkwall received its earliest charter as royal burgh from James III, in 1486, and was visited by James V, in 1540. Of several later charters the governing one is that granted by Charles II, in 1661. The population consists mainly of professional men, tradesmen, artisans, and labourers, there being no manufactures of consequence, although fish-curing is prosecuted to some extent, and there are two distilleries adjacent to the town. The volume of trade is very considerable, however, as the town shares with Stromness the position of shopping and shipping centre for a large and comparatively well-to-do agricultural community. The ancient Grammar School of Kirkwall, now housed in a spacious modern building and styled the Burgh School, has given the rudiments of education to many distinguished sons of town and county. The institution dates at least from Danish times (1397-1468). Owing to the narrowness of the streets, and the many old buildings both public and private, the general impression created by the town is one of quaint antiqueness; while the Oyce, a miniature inland sea on its north-western outskirts, imparts an additional touch of picturesque individuality to the place. Two weekly newspapers, _The Orcadian_ and _The Orkney Herald_, are published at Kirkwall. (pp. 16, 27, 41, 42, 50, 53, 55, 58, 68, 77, 79, 81, 84, 85, 86, 90, 95.) [1] _Kirkjuvágr_ softened into Kirkwa, and Scots mistook the final syllable for their own _wa’_ = wall; hence Kirkwall. =Longhope=, in Walls, although it contains no village, has scattered along the lower coasts of its splendid bay a Customs House, a good hotel, two post offices, and a few shops. Two martello towers, one on each side of the entrance to the bay, attest the importance of the anchorage at the period of the Great War, when as many as 200 sail of merchantmen at times lay there awaiting convoy. The bay is now a coaling station and much appreciated harbour of refuge for steamers, especially trawlers on their way to and from the northern fishing grounds. It also constitutes a sort of headquarters for the naval vessels which now annually visit Scapa Flow for exercise. (pp. 26, 27, 43.)