The 'toons,' or townships, in which the peasantry of Shetland
live, are generally situated along the margins of the voes, or
far-stretching inland bays which intersect the country; and
although in some districts they extend into the valleys running into
the interior, they are almost always within a short distance from
the sea. It is natural, therefore, that the Shetlander should be a
fisherman or a sailor; and for two centuries it appears that he has
generally combined the occupations of farming and fishing. The
following description of the rural polity of Shetland, taken from
Dr. Arthur Edmonstone's View of the Ancient and Present State of
the Zetland Islands (2 vols. 8vo, Edin. 1809), is for the most part
applicable at the present day.
'The enclosed land in Zetland is divided into what are called
merks and ures. A merk, it is said, should contain 1600 square
fathoms, and an ure is the eighth part of a merk; but the merks are
everywhere of unequal dimensions, and scarcely two are of the
same size. The oldest rentals state the number of merks to be
about 13,500, and those of the present time make them no more.
A considerable portion, however, of common has been enclosed
and cultivated since the appearance of the first rentals, although
not included in them. When a part of the common is enclosed and
farmed, the enclosure is called an outset; but the outsets are never
included in the numeration of merks of rental land. From these
circumstances it is very difficult to ascertain the actual quantity of
cultivated ground in Zetland.
'The enclosures are made, generally, in the neighbourhood of
the sea, and contain from 4 to 70 merks, which are frequently the
property of different heritors, and are always subdivided among
several tenants. Such place is called a town or a room, and each
has a particular name.
'The uncultivated ground outside of the enclosure is called the
scatthold, and is used for general pasture, and to furnish turf for
firing. Every tenant may rear as many sheep, cattle, or horses, on
the general scatthold attached to the town in which his farm lies as
he can. There is no restriction on this head, whether he rent a
large or a small farm. If there be no moss in the scatthold
contiguous to his farm, the tenant must pay for the privilege to cut
peat in some other common, and this payment is called <hogalif.>
It seldom exceeds 3s. per annum.
'The kelp shores and the pasture islands are seldom or never
let to the tenant along with the land; these the landholder retains in
his own hands. In some parts of Zetland, particularly in the island
of Unst, the proprietor furnishes the tenant, gratis, with a house,
barn, and stable, which he also keeps in a state of repair. In other
parts of the country this expense is divided between them, but the
chief proportion of it always falls on the landholder.
'The quantity of land farmed by a tenant varies from 3 to 12
merks, and sometimes more; but the average number to each
may be taken at 5. In a few instances regular leases are granted,
and some of them for a great number of years; but these are
comparatively rare. In the great majority of cases, nothing more
takes place than a verbal agreement on the part of the tenant to
occupy a farm under certain conditions, for one year only, at the
expiration of which both he and the landholder consider
themselves at perfect liberty to enter on a new engagement ....
'The rents are paid in cash and various articles of country produce,
such as fish, butter, oil, etc.; and the amount of the rent varies,
according as the tenant has the exclusive disposal of his labour or
agrees to fish to his landholder. In the former case, the probable
profits on the sale of fish and the other articles of produce are
estimated, and the lands are let at their full value. In the latter
case, or where the tenant fishes to the landholder, he comes under
an agreement to deliver to him his fish, butter,* and oil, at a
certain price, and then the lands are let at a considerably reduced
rate. This system, where there is a reciprocity of profit between
the landholder and the tenant, is by far the most general, and the
practice is immemorial in Zetland.
'The merks are divided into different classes, such as
<six-penny, nine-penny>, and <twelve-penny> merks. These are
arbitrary numbers, employed to designate certain differences in
the rents of the merks, according to their size and produce. Thus
nine-penny merks should be more valuable than six-penny merks,
and twelve-penny more so than nine-penny. But these distinctions,
although rounded, no doubt, originally on real differences, are at
present very inaccurate measures of the relative value of the
different classes of merks; for sometimes happens that a six-penny
merk is as large and productive as a twelve-penny one. . .
'The lands in the different towns generally lie, <pro indiviso>,
intimately mingled together, which not only [Page 3 rpt.] creates
frequent disputes, but prevents the more industrious tenants from
making smaller enclosures...
'The ground is divided into what is called <outfield> and
<infield>. The outfield is the land which has been last brought
into a state of cultivation, and in most parts the soil is mossy. It is
sown generally with oats. The infield, on the contrary, has been
long in a state of culture, and it produces barley, called in Zetland
bear, and potatoes. The outfield is seldom well drained, although
it might be easily done without any additional trouble or expense.
Thus, when cutting peat for fuel, which is often done within the
dyke, instead of doing this in parallel lines, leaving a considerable
space between them to become a future corn-field, the people cut
in every direction, disfigure the ground, and very often form
reservoirs for water to accumulate in. The outfield is allowed to
remain fallow for one, and sometimes two years in succession, but
the infield is generally turned over every year.'** [Vol. i p. 147
sqq.]
* This does not accurately describe the present mode of paying
rents. The rent is always nominally a money rent, although it may
be paid in account, as will afterwards be shown
** It would be out of place to make extensive quotations from this
valuable work. But I refer to it as containing discussions the social
state of Shetland, showing that many of the questions involved in
the present inquiry required an answer seventy years ago. See also
Hibbert's <Description of the Shetland Islands> (Edin. 1822)
The enclosed lands were formerly runrig, <i.e.> held by the
inhabitants of the township in scattered allotments, at different
places within the dyke or enclosing wall,-the allotments
being made, apparently, in such a manner as to give the tenants
equal shares of the different qualities of land. In late years,
however, much progress is said to have been made in dividing the
farms and throwing the ground of each tenant into one lot. [J.S.
Houston, 9654; W. Stewart, 8992; A. Sandison, 9993.]