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less certain SMRs in Orkney papers

These are newspaper accounts for Orkney for which I have SMR's I'm not totally sure are them. At one end there are probables with a few niggling doubts and at the other the possibles just that might be. I'm certain there are still more forgotten data gems in my certain identifications from newspaper accounts but until that distant day the SMR's appear online I won't know which hold new facts. To the future.

Alexander Graham Fountain ? possibly HY20NE 96
March 25th 1929 "The Orcadian"

Pump-well in working order (spring still furnishing this with plentiful clean clear water), near town cntre de-commissioned using rubble then levelled off. was about 6' deep and in diameter.

Dowsgarth probably HY31SW 81
February 14th 1929 "The Orcadian"

Probable "mattie hole" (used for hiding alcohol) unearthed 6" down in centre of a Dowascarth field previous week taken in conjunction with a set of buildings with much bone and ash found by Mr [?John] Firth 1928, at a distance of 150 yards, as evidence for an illicit burnside brewery or a smuggler's hideaway. It was almost a 34" square, half the sides of edgeset stones on the others laid flat, 16" deep with a thin coverstone 52" x 39". There was no floor to it and the fairly dry interior only held cayey soil.

Firth probably HY31SE 9
June 20th 1888 "The Orkney Herald" & June 23rd 1888 "The Orcadian"

Almost in front of Maitland's grainstore, some 50 yards W of the Old Stromness Road, a mound was excavated Monday. Beneath a flat stone covered a cavity, cut some 6-7" into the rock, close-fitting an urn [singular]. These steatite urns probably 8~10thC Viking. First had 1" thickness and bore old cracks and contained calcined bone. Urn measured roughly 14" internally across mouth tapering to a 9" base, was some 17" heigh and bore an inch wide groove around the mouth externally. Second urn 14"D at mouth, 16" deep, and was grooved internally and externally.

Near Kewing Hill [i.e. Cuween Hill] bones were found in a subterrean chamber, then a few days after a similar building [to this or Cuween Hill ?] very close to the [Old] Finstown Road produced an urn with charred bones.

Garth, Harray probably near HY31NW 56
June 23rd 1894 "The Orcadian"

Two graves found by roadmen slightly W of Garth house in making a road - a small one and one of edgeset stones 4'6" by 3' by 3', these near to place where an urn had been found.

Graemeshall probably HY40SE 9 or 40
May 13th 1896 "The Orkney Herald"

On Saturday discovered extended skeleton of 15/16 year old male lying on RH side (head facing SE) in cist 16" below floor level at NE corner of recently demolished house during work on mansion house extension. Some 17 years before, when the old hall was being added to, a headless skeleton turned up under a millstone on the courtyard's S side. More recently bones were found in ground on the house's N side [the old house or the mansion house ?]. All this taken as evidence for a burial-ground here with, according to [un-specified but presumably period house built] indications, a terminus ad quem of 300 years before. Graemeshall lies on sandy ground, and the tapering cist of large edgeset blocks sat on the subsoil below this layer. Of roughly square cross-section, it measured 6'4½" long 14" acoss the head end then 17½" broad in the middle before tapering to a point. The E and W sides were formed of three and four stones respectively, and similar sized sabs covered it.

Grind, Tankerness possibly HY50NW 20
February 15th 1882 "The Orkney Herald"

Recently NW/SE aligned cist found some 300 yards due E of Grind house whilst digging road to meet the then new Tankerness road. This lay under some 4" of peat and roughly 8" of clay on the side of a low mound whose base consisted of numerous stones quarried elsewhere. Top of cist a dense 5" thick slab, cist sides rough slabs connected by thin half-checking, size 21" by 12½" by 15" deep. Child's skeleton crumbled on exposure to air, head faced E. Only item accompanying was penci-thin bone some 2½" long having notch cur round one end

Lamaness, Sanday probably HY63NW 18 or 19
February 6th 1878 "The Orkney Herald"

Extended skeleton, no orientation, recently found in a slight rise on Lamaness shore.along with items of various materials ; iron axehead & shapeless lunps of same, bronze sword and plain pin/nail, needle bodkin, bone/ivory decorated comb, bone whistle & tools/ornaments, stone weights/sinkers, lightly decorated wooden fragment, boar tusks and ovine bone.

Langadae, Yesnaby probably HY21NW 3
January 12th 1907 "The Orcadian"

'Aesir knowes' excavated by W.Allan on low ground in Langadae [Linga Dee], deceased, were mounds surmounted by white quartz lumps called hael-stones and had had water trained about them and the cremation cemetary bound by marchstones. Though the writer starts with steatite urns and then calls these "common stone cists" at Langadae each mound is described as containing 8-12 distinct cremations apart from one with thirteen and another with fourteen.

Milldam farm, Deerness HY50NE 10 or 4
June 11th 1861 "The Orkney Herald"

A Deerness barrow had held 11 cists [Milldam farm according to "Anderson's Guide to Orkney"]. One was central, another at ground level and the rest not so well built grouped about the central one, having their bottoms at the level of its top. Soil level one formed of edgeset slabs with neatly fitting corners, had a ill-dressed cover much beyond the area needed and was itself covered by a 7" thick stone block almost 5' long by 4'. Petrie saw three in the mounds W side : 3' by 3' by some 2¼' deep containing another 1 ft.sq. holding burnt bones, a narrower adjoinig one then a third yet smaller, both amongst loose stones and shingle and containing burnt bones. Loer jawbone and long bone fragments confirmed human remains.
[could this be an error for Milldam in St.Andrews & Deerness, making this Millbrae burnt mound HY50NW 12 or close to it ??]

Eday probably HY53NE 28
December 8th 1855 "The Orcadian"

In a barrow near the standing stone Mr.Hebden yesterday found a cist made of four edgeset stones covered by a large freestone. This contained some ashes on a 2' long stone at the bottom.

Moodie's Pillar, Sandwick probably HY22SW 9'C'
May 11th 1892 "The Orkney Herald" & August 19th 1920 "The Orcadian"

Not long ago locals made deposits at Moodie/Moadie's Pillar near Vaestrafiold.
Long ago a minister built this eponymous pillar on the summit of Vestafiold.

North Links, Westray [?Papa Westray] probably HY44SW 9
July 15th 1874 "The Orkney Herald"

At North Links Petrie cleared out an underground chamber whose roof lay below 5' of stony clay [Pisgah was 9' deep unless that be the floor level].

Sanday probably HY64SW 3
April 25th 1923 "The Orkney Herald"

Mr.A.Moodie presented to the Orkney Antiquarian Society finds, including crude stone tools, found lately in Sanday cists.

St.Laurence monastery & chapel, Sandwick HY22SW 17 and/or HY21NW 22
November 7th 1888 & February 27th 1907 "The Orkney Herald", June 29th & July 6th 1907 "The Orcadian"

Place of worship near Linahowe built by R.C. priest called Mohr still pointed out [Mohr also supposed surname of three early missionary brothers James, Duthan and Lawrence/Lowrie].
Extensive ruins on Linahowe farm traditionally St.Laurence monastery. Old local remembers when some still stood and that portions were circular. Most of stone used by present owner to build a new steading.
Formerly extensive ruins at Linahowe covered almost an acre with large stones.
Linahowe called St.Laurence stook [side-chapel] and Moarisyard or Mo(a)bisyard {Mobhisland and Moarisland used for grounds of Sandwick church].

Stronsay probably HY62NW 5
July 28th 1864 "The Orcadian"

A few years before several cists with stone urns, two round one rectangular, found by locals. Urns held bone fragments and had stone lids. Circular urns decorated with relief of "bead-like ornaments" in rows at level of mouth and middle. Square one held malachite pieces in opposite corners at the bottom. Items destroyed on discovery but one of the two malachite pieces passed into Petrie's possession.a few weks revious to article.

Westray HY44NW 3 or 6
February 13th 1886 "The Orcadian"

Thin light fragments of glass in [Scottish Antiquarian] Museum, from cist found