Shetland

“ ARLY in the present century many superstitious beliefs and observances were common in Shetland which are now altogether forgotten, or only to be found lingering in some outlying districts. The old world ways of the Shetlanders have given place to a new order of things. Our domestic, social, and industrial life is conducted on different lines. Hence it is evident that even the remembrance of the times of our forefathers will pass away for ever with the present generation. ”

“ On my first visit to Shetland I spent some time on the mainland, chiefly on geological errands bent, but not without a glance at the scenic and antiquarian interests of the islands. One of my excursions took me to Papa Stour—a small island lying to280 the west, and exposed to the full fury of the Atlantic storms, which have tunnelled its cliffs with caverns and gullies. ”

“ It is reasonable to suppose that the earlier migrations of the human race have been from east to west—hence we may infer that the people called Picts were Finnish adventurers from the Scandinavian peninsula, who migrated or were driven westward about the beginning of or shortly before the Christian era. And as Shetland is the nearest land to Norway, they probably colonised these islands first, and in time proceeded westward by way of the Orkneys to the mainland of Scotland. ”

“ Shetland or Zetland (29) , a group of over 100 islands, islets, and skerries, of which 29 are inhabited, forming the northernmost county of Scotland, lying out in the Atlantic, NNE. of the Orkneys; Mainland (378 sq. m.) , Fell, and Unst are the largest; the coast-line is boldly precipitous and indented, while the scenery all over the island is very grand; the soil is peaty, ill adapted to cultivation, but there is considerable rearing of stock, and the little shaggy pony is well known; fishing is the chief industry, herring, cod, ling, &c. Lerwick (q. v.) is the capital. ”

“ The Shetland Isles became a province of Norway in King Harald Fairhair’s time, and belonged to that country till 1469, when King Christian I of Denmark and Norway (which countries had shortly before been united) pledged the Isles, together with the Orkney Islands, to Scotland as security for the dowry he had undertaken to provide on the occasion of the marriage of his daughter Margaret to King James III of Scotland. ”

“ But more frequently these guileless maidens and their happy lovers tripped with lightsome lilt the old Shetland reels, such as “Nippin' Grund,” “Da Brunt Scones o' Voe,” “Da Scalloway Lasses,” “Shak'-'im-troose,” “Kale an' Knocked Corn,” etc.
There is a desire in the human mind to pry into the future, and even at the present day, in this land of Kirks and Bibles, you may see jolly lads in H.M. uniform and braw young lasses patronising the professional cup and card reader. ”

“ Then I suppose the reason which you are now assigning for keeping up the present system is rounded upon your opinion, that the people of Shetland are less careful and less sensible than people of the same class in other parts of Scotland?-I don't believe they are less sensible than the fishermen or men of the same class elsewhere. ”

“ But I have been told today that the Shetland people are a very intelligent class, and they would surely have intelligence enough to discover that they were getting a lower price than they might get for their produce?-Some of them are intelligent, and no doubt they would discover that. ”

“ Have you formed any opinion as to the effect of this system upon the truthfulness and uprightness of the Shetland character?-I have formed the opinion that it has a very bad effect indeed upon the straightforwardness and truthfulness of the character of the people in this part of Shetland, for of course I have, had no experience elsewhere. I have found among the younger portion of the population generally a desire or at least a tendency, not to be so straightforward as one would wish. ”

“ Shetland is a very different country than many see. There are no green fields and trees, and the children living there hardly believe it when you tell them that in England or Scotland there are green lanes, and that birds build nests among green leaves. ”

“ No point in Shetland is more than three miles from the sea. Detached rocks and stacks, some high above the water and others below the surface, present a forbidding aspect to the spectator, and increase the dangers of navigation round the coast. ”

“ ON CERTAIN BELIEFS AND PHRASES OF SHETLAND FISHERMEN. By ARTHUR LAURENSON, Esq., Lerwick.
The native population of the Shetland Islands is Norse in blood and origin. There is not, nor has there been, any appreciable Celtic element in it. To this day the Norse physiognomy of the people is distinctly marked; nowhere do you find the Celtic type. The language, now rapidly merging into English, has for the last three hundred years been departing from the old Norse which was once the tongue of the islands ”

“ The old Norse speech of Shetland shows in its vocabulary a close connection with the mother-tongue, Norwegian, a closer connection than that shown by Icelandic and partly by Færoese with the same language, the common mother-tongue of them all. This circumstance has a natural explanation in the fact that Shetland was situated so much nearer to Norway. Certainly the political connection between the Islands and Norway was severed by the mortgaging of the Islands to Scotland in the 15th century ”

“ Hitherto the Norse traditions of Orkney and Shetland have been solely espoused by outlanders and by natives bearing surnames which leave no doubt as to their foreign origin.
The most voluminous history of Shetland was written by an English tourist, Dr. Hibbert, afterwards Dr. Hibbert Ware. But then, the English are noted for their greater interest in the history and antiquities of countries other than their own, which may be accounted for by the exceptional variety of races which they represent.
But after all the land makes the man. ”

“ Some ancient people, presumably the Picts, have occupied the pastures and outruns of Shetland in a manner never subsequently attempted. All the hills and outruns of the islands are ramified by a network of the remains of old stone dykes. Those vestiges (which seldom have any name) are very ancient, probably coeval with the brochs. There is a place in Unst, near the broch of Underhool, where what appears to be the outer dyke of an old town can be traced ”

“ By the separation from Denmark and Norway, the small Shetland population had become intellectually and linguistically isolated, a circumstance that was bound to weaken very much their power of resistance to the persistent Scottish influence. Bit by bit, the peasantry began to think it genteel to adopt Scottish words and modes of expression, and to feel ashamed of the old homely words, which they gradually came to look upon as lacking authority and justification. ”

“ But there is another and much more ancient broch at Seffster, Sandsting,—an underground one, and of a kind existing in several parishes in Shetland. They are often found in level fields, dug deep into the ground. These must have formed the earliest abodes of the Norsemen. They are quite different from the mound dwellings or earth houses.
“The conclusion I have come to is that Shetland was inhabited by three successive and distinct races before the arrival of the Norsemen, and that the last of them, the Finns, built the brochs. ”

“ It is, at all events, remarkable, that the traditions of the country should ascribe to the Picts, the early inhabitants of Shetland, the same dwarfish stature, and that the numerous remains of their habitations which still exist, should seem to confirm the tradition. The race which at present possesses the Shetlands is, however, of what the French call "an advantageous stature," and well limbed. If it be the want of a proper and genial warmth, which prevents the due growth of the domestic animals, it is a want to which the Zetlanders are not subject. ”

“ D. Edmonstone, ‘A View of the Ancient and Present State of the Zetland Isles,’ Edinburgh, 1809, vol. i. p. 226; vol. ii. p. 206. G. Sinclair, ‘A General View of the Agriculture of the Central Highlands of Scotland’ (Shetland Isles) , 1794, p. 247.
[28] ‘An Exact and Authentic Account of the greatest White Herring Fishery in Scotland, carried on yearly in the Island of Zetland by the Dutch only.’ To which is prefixed ‘A Description of the Island by a Gentleman who resided Five Years on the Island,’ London, 1750. Tracts on Orkney and Shetland, 1750–1801, p. 8 ”

“ Of the Norn words that are not in general use throughout Shetland, some belong to certain larger portions of the Islands, as, for example, North Shetland, more strictly, the North Isles; the Westside; South Shetland; but many are limited to a single district or to a single island.
Of the great mass of words that have become antiquated, some cannot be said to have perished, as they are still used by old people, though often only in certain islands, districts or neighbourhoods; they are not to be heard in the speech of younger people. ”

“ They are, without doubt, more independent and less under control than mechanics and others (who are obliged to work under a master a stated number of hours every day) , and consequently are more happy and contented. We have no international societies in Shetland. Some of the dwelling-houses are not what they should be, but a great improvement has taken place in this respect since the timber-duty was repealed; and, for my own part, I would ten times rather live a year in a Shetland cottage, surrounded by pure air, than week in one of the slums of London or Glasgow. ”

“ It is well known that the Shetlanders as seamen are very highly prized at ports in the south, such as Liverpool and Shields; and very often a shipmaster, when desiring a crew, will put into the advertisement 'Shetland men preferred.' I believe the reason for that preference is not so much that the Shetlanders are better seamen, although they are as good if not better than others, but because they are more steady and more to be depended upon. ”

“ While the Gaelic words and names in Shetland may date partly from ancient times, and partly from later periods with Lowland Scottish (which contains a large Gaelic element) as an intermediate link, the Pictish element in Shetland is very ancient, and is pre-Northern.
Gradually, as the Scots from Ireland, in the course of centuries of conflict, got the upper hand of the Picts in Scotland, the earlier Pictland, the Picts were forced back, and undoubtedly some of them from the North of Scotland emigrated to Orkney and Shetland. ”

“ Now the people of the Shetland Islands are very quiet, orderly and industrious. They live by many means. Some of them have shops in the towns, where they sell groceries, and dress-goods and cured meats. Others live by catching fish to send south. Some let themselves down by ropes over the edge of a great high cliff, and gather the eggs of birds. Then [90] the women knit shawls and hoods and veils and socks, and so gain a few pennies to buy food with. ”

“ The proportion of arable land is very small compared with the whole land surface of the islands. For this reason Shetland has never figured as an agricultural county; and other causes may be mentioned, such as divided attention between the two branches of industry—fishing and crofting; indifferent soil; variable climate ”

“ In the larger islands the land is generally lower on the east side than on the west; and in many cases the hills are steeper on the west than on the east. Most of the smaller islands are low-lying and grassy, forming excellent pasture ground for sheep.
There are many fresh-water lochs in the islands, the largest being Girlsta Loch in Tingwall, Loch of Cliff in Unst, and Spiggie in Dunrossness. They are nearly all well stocked with trout, which makes Shetland attractive to anglers. Shetland has no streams large enough to be called rivers ”

“ A most worthy sight it were, if they were my own countrymen; yet have I taken pleasure in being amongst them, to behold the neatness of their ships and fishermen, how [Pg 332] every man knoweth his own place, and all labouring merrily together: whereby the poorest sort of themselves, their wives and children, be well maintained; and no want seen amongst them.
Shetland is the greatest Isle of all the Oreades, and lieth in the height of 60° N. Lat. ”

“ That is a different system from what prevails in other parts of Shetland?-There is no difference, except that our men make more money than they generally do in the north fishing, and there are no men in Shetland who have to incur less expense for sea material. ”

“ In Shetland you will see women that you may safely love–good and beautiful girls of your own race; there must be no strange women among the Borsons. Your Bible tells you what sorrow comes from marrying daughters of Heth and their like. Go to Shetland for your wife.”
“I will, father.”
“You will find friends and kindred there–my good cousin Paul, and his sons and daughters, and your mother’s family in Yell, and Matilda Sabiston. I would say something of her, but she is doubtless in the grave by this time, and gone to the mercy of the Merciful.” ”

“ Do you think the condition of Shetland has improved during the sixteen years you have lived in it?-Yes; especially during the last five, and more especially during the last three years. The prices of cattle have been so high that a tenant could pay his rent at once with an animal, when he could not do that before. The price of fish has also improved. ”