An old document refers to land as being in Birsay Stewartry – at least that is how I read it. Could this be correct? What does it mean? Alan S --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.614 / Virus Database: 393 - Release Date: 5/03/2004

----- Original Message ----- From: "AlanS" <alan.spence@xtra.co.nz> To: <ORCADIA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, March 07, 2004 8:32 PM Subject: [<orcadia>] Birsay Stewartry? > An old document refers to land as being in Birsay Stewartry – at least that > is how I read it. > > Could this be correct? > > What does it mean? > The Earldom of Orkney was given to Earl Robert Stewart, illegitimate son of King James V of Scotland and half brother to Mary, Queen of Scots. He built a "palace" in Birsay in the early 1570s, which was finished by his son Patrick. Robert was a tyrant - Patrick was ten times worse. Patrick also built the Earl's Palace in Kirkwall and Scalloway Castle in Shetland. Patrick had a son called Robert who led an armed rebellion against James VI of Scotland - not a good career move. Both he and his father ended up being executed in 1615 I suspect the Stewartry referred to is land once owned by the Stewart earls. -- Mike Clouston

well, on Scotland Mainland a "stewartry" in general is a term applied to any area which was crown property and administered by a "steward" (rather than a "sheriff") as were Strathearne and Mentieth after the annexation by James I, ... after the end of the Stewart Earls of Orkney the term was applied to the similar situation in Orkney & Shetland as well ... But, Sigurd, as far as I know, the Stewart properties in Orkney included much more than the lands in Birsay and that brings me up to the question whether or not the "Birsay stewartry" for a topographic area is a term more or less synonymous to "The Barony" (Baron of Birsay as heir of the modern Earls of Orkney) and "stewartry" simply meaning "in the hands/management of the Earl's family" ... although this tradition may have started with the Stewart Earl's as well ... :-)