Jo Ben's "Descriptions of Orkney"

Descriptio Insularum Orchadiarum, ascribed to the enigmatic Jo Ben, is the oldest surviving account of the Orkney Islands, after they transferred to Scotland in 1468.

Although the Jo Ben manuscript claims the account dates from 1529, it has been suggested that this is not a true date and that his "Descriptions of Orkney" were written later in the century.

Jo Ben's identity remains unknown, although it has been suggested that he was an ecclesiastic named John Bellenden, or Ballendon. Where he came from, and his reasons for being in Orkney, are not known.

The manuscript, in the original Latin, was found in the Advocates' Library in Edinburgh, and was printed in Latin in Barry's History of Orkney in the early 19th century.

For the translation in this section, the text in Barry's History of Orkney, first edition, was followed but I have altered some of the translations - in particular, those not thought to be suitable for readers at the time.

Although much of the text is coherent, there are sections where the author's real meaning is very difficult to ascertain. Whether this is simply due to his attempts at describing something unfamiliar, or resulted from errors due to subsequent copyists and printers, is open to question.

I have added notes and links to sections where it is clear what Jo Ben was referring to.

Throughout this section alternative interpretations of Ben's original text are given in square brackets [***].

I have also retained the island and parish names used by Jo Ben in his manuscript, even in case like Stenhouse, for Stenness, where he was incorrect.