The Scilly Isles, called in Latin Silurum Insula, lie about thirty miles from the Land’s End, they are a cluster of small islands, to the number, as some have reckoned, of one hundred and forty-five. Scilly was once the chief in estimation; but St. Mary’s, being the most fruitful and largest, though but nine miles in circumference, has now the pre-eminence; and it has a very good harbour, fortified with a castle built by Queen Elizabeth. These isles were conquered by Athelstane, one of the Saxon kings; and from his time they have been deemed a part of the county of Cornwall.

The most noted of these islands are twenty-seven in number; they are supposed formerly to have been joined to the main hind by an isthmus, or neck of land, in length of time washed away by the sea, in the same manner as Great Britain is thought formerly to have been joined to France.

These islands were called by the ancient Greeks Hesperides and Cassiterides, from their western situation, and their abounding with tin. The Dutch call them Sorting, and in several records they are styled Sulley, or Sully, which is probably a contraction from Insula, as isle from islands.

The Scilly Isles lie due west from the Lizard Point, about seventeen leagues, and nearly west-by-south, from the southernmost, or the Old Land’s End, next Mount’s Bay, ten leagues; also west-southwest from the middlemost, or westernmost Land’s End, above nine leagues, before the entrance of the Bristol and British Channels. They are seen from the Land’s End in a clear day, and at about six or seven leagues off Smith’s Sound, sandy ground and about sixty fathom water; also from the northward, at sixty fathom, ousy sandy ground as far. About twenty-one leagues west-by-north, and west-northwest, from Scilly, is a bank, on which there is only about fifty fathom water, but between this bank and Scilly sixty fathom.

Beheld at a distance, these islands appear like so many high banks in the water, as land usually appears off at sea. But the rocks about the islands, especially those to the westward, appear off at sea like old castles and churches, with the seas alternately flying over them in white sheets, or fleeces of that clement.

St. Mary’s is the largest of the Scilly islands, containing as many houses and inhabitants as all the rest. Its greatest length is about two miles and a half, its middlemost breadth almost one and a half, and it may be reckoned (as before-mentioned) about nine miles in circumference. The hills are rocky, rising in some places to a great height, and are enriched with mineral stores. The valleys are fertile, and the fields, like those in Cornwall, are inclosed with stone hedges.— Also the heathy plains and turfy downs in several places of this island, afford their use and pleasure.— The highest land affords a prospect of England in a clear day, and of ships going out and returning at the mouths of the channels. Here is also morass-ground in two parts of this island, called the Upper and Low er Moors, which supply the cattle with water in dry seasons; in the upper of which, the farthest from Hugh-town, the capital of the island of St. Mary is a pretty large and deep lake. About two furlongs from Hugh-town, to the eastward, is a curious sandy bay, called Pomelin, where the beach, from the mark of flood to the mark of ebb, is covered with an exceeding fine writing sand, and of which shiploads may be gathered at low water. On account of its plenty and brightness, it is used by the inhabitants for sanding their houses, and presents of it are sent to many parts of England as a curiosity.

The greatest curiosities observed in St. Mary’s isle are the rocks of Peninnis, and a subterraneous passage near them, whose entrance is called Piper’s Hole. This passage is said to communicate under ground with the island of Tresco, as far as the northwest cliffs or banks of it, where another cavity is seen, that goes by the same name with the former. Going in at the orifice, at Peninnis banks in St. Mary’s, it is above a man’s height, and of as much space in its breadth; but grows lower and narrower farther in. A little beyond the entrance appear rocky basons or reservoirs, continually running over with fresh water, descending as it distills from the rocky passage: by the fall of water heard farther in, it is probable there may be rocky descents in the passage: the drippings from the sides have worn the passage, as far as it can be seen, into very various angular surfaces.

St. Mary’s isle is defended by a strong garrison, situated upon the west part of it, overlooking the town and isthmus, and commanding the country that way and to the sea about the batteries, of which there are several strong ones, mounted with sixty-four pieces of cannons, some of eighteen pounders. It also contains a company of soldiers, a master-gunner, and six other gunners, a storehouse, with arms for arming three hundred islanders, who are obliged to assist the military forces at the approach of an enemy; a guardhouse, barracks, bridge, and strong gates; and upon the summit of the hill above a regular ascent going from Hugh-town, stands his Majesty’s Star Castle, with ramparts and a ditch about it. This castle commands a prospect of all the islands and seas about them; from whence, in a fair day, are also seen ships passing to and fro, and England, as though rising out of the sea, at a distance. Here the king’s colours are hoisted, and appear conspicuous for ships to observe and obey coming in.

About a mile southwest of the south part of St. Mary’s garrison, lies St. Agnes Island, otherwise called the Lighthouse Island, upon which stands a very high and strong lighthouse, seen in the night at a great distance, by which ships going out of, or coming into, the two channels, avoid fulling in with the rocks, lying thicker about this than any other of the Scilly islands. It is also of use to all coasting vessels crossing the channels. There is nothing particular in the soil of this island, different from the rest of the islands (being in that respect very much alike,) nor of the dwellings, except the light-keeper’s habitation and employment, and a church in use for devotion.

About three miles and a half northerly of the most northern part of St. Agnes’s Island, or two miles northerly from St. Mary’s Key, lies the Island of Tresco, the capital town of which is called the Dolphin, (probably from Godolphin) it consists of a church, and about ten stone built houses; and near the landing place of Tresco, in sight of New Grinsby harbour, stands a dwelling called Tresco Palace.— This formerly was a house of resort for masters of ships, and strangers coming to this island; but for some time they have been accustomed to resort to a house of better accommodation, farther up the island. Hereabouts are several scattered stone-built houses inhabited by labouring people.

The remains of an abbey founded in the tenth century, and enriched by some of the earls of Cornwall after the Norman conquest, are yet visible, the situation of which is well chosen, having a bay of fresh water before it, half a mile long, and a furlong wide, with an evergreen bank, high enough to keep out the sea, and serving at once to preserve the pond, and shelter the abbey. In this pond there are most excellent eels; and the lands lying round it are by far the best in these islands.

About two miles from the northernmost part of St. Mary’s, or one from the easternmost part of Tresco. lies the Island of St. Martin; upon the extremity of which, at the outermost part, stands a day-mark, next the coming in of Crow Sound, appearing at a distance as conspicuous by day, as the lighthouse upon St. Agnes, but it is not altogether so high and large. It is built with rock stone; round next the bottom, and tapering upwards. This serves to direct vessels crossing the channels, or coining into Scilly.

Almost half a mile from the west side of Tresco Island, to the westward of the landing place, lies the island of Bryer, which is inhabited by several families. Samphire, and many kinds of medicinal herbs, grow here, as in several of the other islands.

The number of people upon the island of St. Mary is about seven hundred, including men, women, and children, and about as many in the Islands of Tresco, St. Martin, Bryer, Agnes, and Sampson; in the last and smallest of which inhabited islands live but one family, which goes to the places of worship in the other islands; here being no opportunity of public devotion, nor of communication, but by means of a boat.

The men of these islands are endowed with much natural strength of body and mind, giving proofs of their fortitude in bearing fatigues and hardships; are very good seamen and pilots, and want only an opportunity of education to render themselves more useful subjects. The women are very dexterous in the use of the needle, and are very good housewives; nor do they want beauty and other engaging qualifications to recommend them.

GUEW is a small island, and remarkable only for containing some druidical stones, with several monuments.

Between this island and St. Agnes is a large sand bank, which is seldom covered with water, except during violent storms occasioned by westerly winds.

Annet is a long narrow island, situated at a small distance from the last-mentioned; but it does not contain any inhabitants, being partly covered with rocks, and the rest used for pasture. It appears to have been larger in former times, and was probably joined to the others; for at low water the foundations of houses have been discovered, with some remains of antiquity.

St. Helen's is situated not more than a furlong from Tresco, and contains one of the oldest Christian churches to be met with in the British dominions.— It is not above thirty-six feet long and fourteen broad, formed in the most rustic manner; and there is a stone jutting out like a platform, on which it is supposed by some the image of the saint stood to whom it was dedicated. If this conjecture be true, the stone must have been placed there long after the church was founded, for it is undoubtedly much older than image worship, which was not known in England, till the latter end of the eighth or the beginning of the ninth century. It is probable that some priests or monks used to reside near this church, for there are still the remains of some houses, built in the form of cloisters.

In former times superstition brought pilgrims to visit this island, from whence we may reasonably suppose that the priests had some precious relics, which they pretended could cure most kinds of diseases.

North Wethal Island contains several druidical monuments. It is uninhabited, and the whole does not consist of more than ten acres of land, which are used for pasture. One of the monuments in this island is a funereal one, and is called the Tomlen. It consists of a large stone, surrounded by artificial inclosures, and has undoubtedly been the burying-place of some dignified person.

Near this island is a smaller one called Tean, which is also uninhabited; but the ground at fords excellent pasturage for cattle.

Arthur is a small island, situated at a small distance from Sampson. In it are several funeral monuments, and some ruins of druidical superstition, but it is not inhabited, being only used for pasture.

At some distance from Arthur are about twenty small islands, called the Easter Islands; but neither of them are inhabited, nor do they contain any thing remarkable.

The air of the Scilly Islands (says Mr. Campbell,) is equally mild and pure; their winters being seldom subject to frost and snow. When the former happens, it does not last long, and the latter never lies upon the ground. The heat of their summer is much abated by the sea-breezes; they are indeed frequently incommoded by sea-fogs, but these are not unwholesome. Agues are rare, and fevers more so: the most fatal distemper is the smallpox; yet those who live temperately commonly survive to a great age, and are remarkably free from diseases.

The soil is very good, and produces grain of all sorts, except wheat, of which they had anciently great quantities: they still grow a little, but the bread made of it is unpleasant: for this reason they chiefly eat what is made of barley; and of this they have such abundance, that though they use it both for bread and beer, they have more than sufficient for their own consumption. Potatoes are a late improvement, and they prosper to such a degree, that in some places they have two crops in a year. They have all sorts of roots, and pulse and salads grow well. Dwarf fruit-trees, gooseberries, currants, raspberries, and every thing of that kind, under proper shelter, thrive exceedingly; but they have no tall trees. The ranuncula, anemone, and most kind of flowers are successfully cultivated in their gardens. They have wild fowl of all sorts, from the swan to the snipe, and a particular kind called the hedge chicken, which is not inferior to the ortolan; tame fowl, puffins, and rabbits, in great numbers, their black cattle are generally small, but very well tasted, though they feed upon ore-wood: their horses are little, but strong and lively.

These islands, lying in the middle between the two vast openings of the north and south narrow seas, or as sailors call them the Bristol Channel, and the Channel (so called by way of eminence,) that it cannot, or perhaps never will, be avoided, but that several ships in the dark of the night, and in stress of weather.

THE ISLANDS OF SCILLY consist of six large islands, and islets and rocky masses to the number of 145, situated 40 miles due west from the Lizard Point and 28 west-by-south from the Land’s End, in lat. 50 N. long. 6 W. and are reached by steamers from Penzance three times weekly in summer (May and June daily) and twice in winter; average passage, 3 hours. The situation is wild, and the rocky scenery beautifully grand. The islands form a superintendent registrar's district and are in a separate petty sessional division, Penzance county court district, rural deanery of Penwith, archdeaconry of Cornwall and diocese of Truro. For local government purposes they have a separate County Council, distinct from that of Cornwall, and formed in 1892 under the “Local Government Act, 1888”; it consists of a president, vice-president, four aldermen and eighteen councillors. St. Mary’s and St. Agnes each return two aldermen. The councillors are returned as fallows:-eleven from St. Mary’s, three from Tresco, one from Bryher, two from St. Martin’s, and two from St. Agnes. The following are the principal islands and their acreage:—

The total acreage of the whole of the islands is 3,560; the population in 1891 was 1,870.

The islands are now connected by telephone for coastguard purposes, and in 1894 the wires were connected with the post office for the use of the inhabitants.

These islands are supposed to have been first known to the Greeks by the name of the Hesperides, and to the Phoenicians as the “Cassiterides,” or tin islands, and were called by the Romans, “Silurae Insulae.” In 1649 Sir John Grenville, the royalist, who afterwards took an active part in the restoration of Charles II. fortified these islands, and converted them into a fort and refuge for privateers, with which he so completely swept the adjacent seas that, the Channel trade being seriously injured, Parliament at length fitted out and dispatched an expedition under Admiral Blake and Sir George Ayscue, and in June, 1651, compelled Sir John Grenville to surrender.

The isles of Scilly were in 936 granted by Athelstan to some monks who settled at Tresco, but were subsequently in part granted to the abbey of Tavistock, on its endowment. In the reign of Edward I. the remainder of these islands were held of the king, at a rent of 300 puffins annually, and in the reign of Henry VI. they were held at a rental of only 50 puffins, or 6s. 8d. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth they were evidently divided amongst numerous proprietors, from whom they were purchased by the Crown, and from that time to 1830 they were rented by the Godolphin family. At present all the islands are included in the Duchy of Cornwall, and in 1834 they were granted on life leases, which were made terminable by Act of Parliament passed in 1846, to the late Augustus John Smith esq. who undertook to complete the pier and new church of St. Mary, then in course of construction; he died in 1872, having held the lord proprietorship for 38 years. The present lord proprietor, Thomas Algernon Smith-Dorrien-Smith esq. D.L., J.P. renewed the lease in 1884 for a term of 31 years.

The inhabitants were, in former times, chiefly small farmers, fishermen, sailors and pilots, but very few are now engaged in fishing. After the potato famine in 1847, the attention of the farmers was directed to the growing of early potatoes for the London and other markets, and the exceptional mildness of the climate enables them to supply the earliest English grown potatoes; but this industry has now largely given place to the growing of asparagus and other early vegetables, and the raising of spring flowers, chiefly the narcissus, of which there are 300 varieties; this trade is still increasing, the quantity exported having increased from 200 tons in 1889 to 450 tons in 1893, and to 515 tons in 1896; there are 50,000 feet super of glass houses, under which these flowers are grown, and by this means they furnish almost the earliest supply to London and the large towns ; considerable quantities of lobsters are also exported.

The isles are composed wholly of granite, consisting of a coarse-grained mixture of felspar, quartz and mica, occasionally stained by iron; and in some places may be found schorl, chlorite and hornblende: the rocky surfaces are in many places hollowed out by the action of rain water into basins, some of which are of considerable size. The scenery, though impaired by the absence of trees, is romantic; among the rocks the heather grows luxuriantly, and the extreme mildness of the climate admits of a semi-tropical vegetation; the seas amid the islets abound with fish, and the western reef with huge seals; and at certain times both the cliffs and the surface of the water are covered with myriads of sea fowl. Coral is met with in large quantities. The latitude of the islands is 49‘55 N. and being situated so near Rimmel’s current (an offshoot from that mass of warm sea-water, the Gulf stream) they naturally have a very mild and salubrious climate. The temperature is singularly equable, the winter readings of Farenheit’s. thermometer giving a mean of 46 degrees and in summer a mean of 58 ½ degrees. Snow seldom falls, and ice is very rarely seen. The subsoil being entirely granitic, moisture never remains long on the surface, but, rapidly percolating, leaves the roads dry and elastic; there is mostly a pleasantly cool breeze from the sea in the summer months, and during the winter, when the winds are more boisterous, they have a soothing effect from their comparatively high atmospheric temperature, making this locality an admirable residence for the invalid. A portion of the British fleet, under the command of Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovel kt. on its return from foreign service, was wrecked on these islands in thick and tempestuous weather during the night of Oct. 22, 1707, when about 2,000 persons, including the admiral, were lost.

The Sorlinges -These Islands called by the English Silly, are situate over against the Western Cape of Cornwall, from which they are distant 24 miles. They are in number 145, of which ten only are of estimation, viz. Armath, Agues, Sampson, Silly, Bresar, Rusco, S. Helens, S. Martins, Arthur, and S. Maries, the chief of all the rest, as being 8 miles in compass, sufficiently fruitfull, and strengthened with a Castle call'd Stella Maria. These Islands are well stored with Grass, Grain, and Lead.