Graemsay, an island of Hoy parish, Orkney, in Hoy Sound, ½ mile S of Stromness, and ½ mile E of Bowkirk in Hoy island. Measuring 1½ mile in length from NW to SE, and 1 in breadth, it is all low and level; lies, almost throughout, on a bed of schistose rock; and is mainly covered with excellent soil, much of it being arable. Two lighthouses, guiding the navigation of Hoy Sound, were erected on the island in 1851 at a cost of £15,880. They bear from each other SE ¼E and NW¼ W; and they show lights visible at the distance of 11 and 15 nautical miles. The higher light, towards the western entrance of Hoy Sound, is a fixed red light, illuminating an arc from SE by E to SE ½ S towards SE; and also shows, towards Stromness, a bright fixed light from SSE¼ E to WSW; and towards Cava, an arc from NNW ½ W to N ½ W southerly. The lower light is a fixed bright light from E ½ S to W ½ N, facing northward. The island was anciently a vicarage united to Hoy rectory, and served every third Sunday by the minister of Hoy; but it neither pays stipend nor has any glebe; and it is now under the pastoral care of the minister of Stromness. Pop. (1831) 225, (1861) 230, (1871) 250, (1881) 236.
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