dividing the Mainland into two, and has a harbour on two sides,
that at Scapa Bay to the south being the port of call for the
daily mail-steamer to Caithness. The harbour of Kirkwall proper,
facing to the north, was designed by Telford, and is the place of
general traffic. The town takes its name, in Norse _Kirkjuvágr_,[1]
churchbay, from the old parish church of St Olaf, supposed to have
been erected by Jarl Rognvald I, _c._ 1040, but it only became the
capital of the Islands after the foundation of the cathedral in
1137, and the consequent transfer of the seat of the Bishopric
from Birsay. Kirkwall received its earliest charter as royal burgh
from James III, in 1486, and was visited by James V, in 1540. Of
several later charters the governing one is that granted by Charles
II, in 1661. The population consists mainly of professional men,
tradesmen, artisans, and labourers, there being no manufactures of
consequence, although fish-curing is prosecuted to some extent, and
there are two distilleries adjacent to the town. The volume of trade
is very considerable, however, as the town shares with Stromness the
position of shopping and shipping centre for a large and comparatively
well-to-do agricultural community. The ancient Grammar School of
Kirkwall, now housed in a spacious modern building and styled the Burgh
School, has given the rudiments of education to many distinguished sons
of town and county. The institution dates at least from Danish times
(1397-1468). Owing to the narrowness of the streets, and the many old
buildings both public and private, the general impression created by
the town is one of quaint antiqueness; while the Oyce, a miniature
inland sea on its north-western outskirts, imparts an additional touch
of picturesque individuality to the place. Two weekly newspapers, _The
Orcadian_ and _The Orkney Herald_, are published at Kirkwall. (pp. 16,
27, 41, 42, 50, 53, 55, 58, 68, 77, 79, 81, 84, 85, 86, 90, 95.)
[1] _Kirkjuvágr_ softened into Kirkwa, and Scots mistook the final
syllable for their own _wa’_ = wall; hence Kirkwall.
=Longhope=, in Walls, although it contains no village, has scattered
along the lower coasts of its splendid bay a Customs House, a good
hotel, two post offices, and a few shops. Two martello towers, one on
each side of the entrance to the bay, attest the importance of the
anchorage at the period of the Great War, when as many as 200 sail
of merchantmen at times lay there awaiting convoy. The bay is now a
coaling station and much appreciated harbour of refuge for steamers,
especially trawlers on their way to and from the northern fishing
grounds. It also constitutes a sort of headquarters for the naval
vessels which now annually visit Scapa Flow for exercise. (pp. 26, 27,
43.)
=Pierowall= is a small village on the bay of the same name, on the east
side of Westray. The bay is a port of shelter for trawlers, and the
village the trading centre for the island.
=St Margaret’s Hope= (400) is a picturesque village situated on a bay
of the same name at the northern extremity of South Ronaldshay. The
bay, named from an early church dedication to St Margaret of Scotland,
was known to the Norse as Ronaldsvaag, and was the rendezvous of King
Hakon’s fleet in the expedition of Largs. The village is after Kirkwall
and Stromness the chief trading centre in Orkney. (pp. 27, 84, 85.)
=St Marys= is a fishing village situated on Holm Sound, 6 miles S.S.E.
of Kirkwall. From here Montrose sailed to Scotland on his final venture
in 1650.
=Stromness= (1653), one of the most picturesquely situated towns in
Scotland, skirts the W. and N.W. sides of a beautiful bay in the S.W.
of the Mainland, which for years was the last port of call for outward
bound Greenland whalers and the vessels of the Hudson’s Bay Company,
and also a touching point both outwards and homewards for the ships
of many Arctic expeditions. As a burgh of barony Stromness dates from
1817, but as a village it had already made history. In the early part
of the eighteenth century the vessels engaged in the American rice
trade having made the safe little bay the depôt for unloading their
cargoes for the various ports of Britain, the growing commerce of
the place attracted the jealousy of Kirkwall. The magistrates of the
Orcadian capital, founding on two obscure Acts of 1690 and 1693, which
appeared to confine the right to such trading to freemen inhabiting
royal burghs, and to such other communities as agreed to pay cess to a
royal burgh, tried to tax the trade of Stromness out of existence. The
people of Stromness, after submitting to these imposts for many years,
between 1743 and 1758 fought their oppressors in the Court of Session
and the House of Lords, both of which tribunals decided that “there
was no sufficient right in the burgh of Kirkwall to assess the village
of Stromness, but that the said village should be quit therefrom, and
free therefrom in all time coming.” As the case was a test one, the
courage shown by this little Orcadian community freed all the villages
of Scotland from the exactions of the royal burghs. Stromness was
visited by Sir Walter Scott in 1814, and by Hugh Miller in 1847, the
latter of whom exhumed from the neighbouring flagstones the specimen
of asterolepis which he deals with in his _Footprints of the Creator_.
Interesting natives or inhabitants of Stromness were John Gow, or
Smith, the original of Scott’s Cleveland in _The Pirate_, a man whose
true history has been told by Defoe; and George Stewart, the “Bounty”
mutineer, of whom Byron writes in his poem _The Island_:
And who is he? the blue-eyed northern child
Of isles more known to men, but scarce less wild,
The fair-haired offspring of the Orcades,
Where roars the Pentland with its whirling seas.
Stromness is a place of considerable trade, and has the advantage over
Kirkwall of direct communication with Liverpool and Manchester. There
is a good museum in the town. (pp. 11, 27, 41, 42, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87.)
=Whitehall= (200), a village on the shores of Papa Sound, near the
northern extremity of the island of Stronsay. (p. 41.)
SHETLAND
By T. MAINLAND
PREFACE
The author begs to acknowledge his indebtedness to Messrs Peach and
Horne (in Tudor’s _Shetland_) for the notes on Geology in Chapter 5;
to Mr John Nicolson author of _Arthur Anderson_, for the Notes and
photograph in Chapter 18; and to Goudie’s _Antiquities_ for historical
information.
1. County and Shire.[2] Name and Administration of Shetland
[2] See p. 1.
_Shetland_ or _Zetland_ is derived from the Norse _Hjaltland_, variant
spellings being _Hieltland_, _Hietland_, _Hetland_. The Norse word is
of doubtful origin.
Like Orkney, Shetland cannot be regarded as strictly a Scottish county
till the seventeenth century. During that century various County Acts
were framed for the better government of the islands. These lasted
till 1747, when heritable jurisdiction was abolished and the judicial
administration of Shetland was assimilated to the general Scottish
system.
Shetland has the same Lord-Lieutenant as Orkney, but separate Deputy
Lieutenants and Justices of the Peace. It shares a Sheriff-Principal
with Orkney and Caithness, but has a Sheriff-Substitute of its own.
The County Council, the Education Authority, Parish Councils, and Town
Council of Lerwick are the administrative bodies. The civil parishes
are: Unst, Fetlar, Yell, Northmavine, Delting, Walls, Sandsting,
Nesting, Tingwall, Lerwick, Bressay, Dunrossness.
In Parliament one member represents both Orkney and Shetland.
Ecclesiastically the parishes are divided into three presbyteries,
Lerwick, Burravoe and Olnafirth, which make up the Synod of Shetland.
2. General Characteristics
The county of Shetland is entirely insular, and its characteristics
are varied. The coastline is generally broken and rugged, and in
many places precipitous; while the larger islands are intersected by
numerous bays and voes stretching far inland, which form safe and
commodious places of anchorage and easy means of communication. 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.
[Illustration: Crofter’s Cottage]
To be near the sea—their chief source of food—the early settlers made
their homes close to the shore, where also they generally found the
soil better than further inland. Accordingly most of the houses and
crofts are situated along the coast, and in particular at the heads of
voes, where often townships and villages have been formed. One striking
feature is the bold contrast between the green cultivated township and
the dark background of moor or hill, sharply marked off from each other
by the ancient “toon” dykes. Still more noticeable are the large tracts
of permanent pasture, where one may still see the ruins of cottages,
once the homes of crofters who were evicted to make room for sheep.
The principal fuel in the islands is peat, the cutting of which,
carried on for centuries, ever since the time of Torf Einar, who is
said to have taught the natives the use of “turf” for burning, has
denuded the surface, and left it blacker than it otherwise would be.
That, and the practice of “scalping” turf for roofing purposes, have
laid bare great stretches of what might have been fairly good pasture
ground.
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; antiquated methods of
cultivation; and want of markets for agricultural produce.
Being far removed from the centres of commerce, and having few
natural resources in themselves, the islands are almost entirely
lacking in manufactures. Fishing and farming are the chief industrial
pursuits, while the rearing of native sheep, ponies and cattle form
a considerable part of the rural economy. Along with every croft or
holding goes the right of common pasturage in the hills and moors,
called “scattald.” Crofts would be of little value without this common
grazing, which is a remnant of the old Norse odal system of land
tenure, and is peculiar to the islands of Shetland and Orkney. The word
_scattald_ is from _scat_, a payment, akin to _scot_ in “scot and lot.”
3. Size. Position. Boundaries
In size, Shetland ranks fifteenth among the Scottish counties; but in
population only twenty-seventh. The total area (excluding water) is
352,319 acres or 550½ square miles. The group consists of about one
hundred islands, of which twenty-nine are inhabited. The largest is
Mainland, which embraces about three-fourths of the whole land-surface;
and the others, in point of size, are Yell, Unst, Fetlar, Bressay
and Whalsay. Yell measures 17½ miles by 6½, Unst 12 by nearly 6. The
smaller islands include East and West Burra, Muckle Roe, Papa Stour,
Skerries, Fair Isle and Foula; the remainder consisting of islets,
holms, stacks and skerries. From Fair Isle, which lies about mid-way
between Orkney and Shetland, to Sumburgh Head, is 20¼ miles; and from
that point to Flugga in Unst, in a straight line, is 71 miles. From
Sumburgh Head to Fethaland, the most northerly part of the Mainland, is
54 miles; and the greatest breadth, from the Mull of Eswick to Muness,
is about 21 miles.
Including Fair Isle and Foula, the group lies between the parallels of
59° 30´ and 60° 52´ north latitude; and between 0° 43´ and 2° 7´ west
longitude. The general trend of the islands is north-easterly, and
their position in relation to the mainland of Scotland is also in that
direction; Sumburgh Head being 95 miles north-east of Caithness and 164
miles north of Aberdeen.
The North Sea washes the eastern sea-board, and the Atlantic Ocean the
western; sea and ocean join forces between Sumburgh Head and Fair Isle
to form that turbulent tideway called the “Roost.” They also meet north
of Yell and Unst, where the Atlantic sets strongly through Yell Sound
and Blue Mull Sound for six hours during flood tide, and the North Sea,
in its turn, in the opposite direction for the other six hours.
4. Surface and General Features
The surface of the larger islands is hilly, and the general direction
of the ridges is north and south, corresponding to the length of the
islands. The inland parts present an undulating surface of peat bogs
and moorland, dotted here and there with fresh-water lochs, which
accentuate, rather than relieve, the monotony of the landscape. The
hills are round or conical in shape and of moderate height, ranging
from 500 to 900 feet. Unlike the rounded hills of the Lowlands of
Scotland, which are often grassy to the top, most of the Shetland hills
are brown and barren, being covered with heather and moss or short
coarse grass. Neither have they the rugged grandeur of the Highlands,
for the sides are generally smooth and rounded, the result of intense
glaciation.
The highest in the Mainland is Ronas Hill, Northmavine, a great mass of
red granite, rising to a height of 1475 feet, forming the culminating
point of the North Roe tableland, and having the hilly ridge of the
Björgs on its eastern side. A long range of hills extends through the
parish of Delting, from Firth Ness to Olnafirth; and from the south
side of that inlet it extends southward to Russa Ness on the west side
of Weisdale Voe. This is the loftiest range, and the southern ridge
forms a complete barrier between the east and west side of that part
of the Mainland. The highest hill in this chain is Scallafield, 921
feet. Other two parallel ridges lie east of this, the one from the
east side of Weisdale Voe to Dales Voe in Delting; and the other from
near Scalloway in a north-east direction to Collafirth. There are
breaks in these hilly ridges, notably where the county road crosses
over near Sandwater, and again between Olnafirth on the west and Dury
Voe on the east. The other range worthy of note extends from the Wart
of Scousburgh in Dunrossness, with intervening breaks, to the east of
Scalloway, where it divides into two ridges, and stretches onward to
the east and west sides of Dales Voe. Fitful Head in the south, 928
feet; Sandness Hill in the west, 817 feet; the Sneug in Foula, 1372
feet; the Wart of Bressay, 742 feet; and the Noup of Noss, 592 feet,
are conspicuous land-marks round the coast. The island of Yell is
hilly, with parallel ridges running north-east and south-west—highest
point, the Ward of Otterswick. A range of hills extends along the west
side of Unst—highest point, Vallafield, 708 feet. In the extreme north
is Hermaness, 657 feet; while on the opposite side of Burrafirth is the
still higher hill of Saxa Vord, 934 feet.
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; but it has burns in plenty, rippling brooks in summer
and brawling torrents of brown peaty water in winter, when the soil is
sodden with rain or snow.
5. Geology and Soil
The geological map shows that metamorphic rocks cover the greater
part of Shetland. These rocks are represented by the clayslates and
schists that extend from Fitful Head to the Mull of Eswick; and by
the gneiss found from Scalloway to Delting, and also on Burra Isle
and Trondra, Whalsay and Skerries, Yell, the west side of Unst and
of Fetlar, the east side of Northmavine, and the north sea-board of
the Sandness-Aithsting peninsula. Associated with the two series
of metamorphic rock are bands of quartzite; while at Fladdabister,
Tingwall, Whiteness, Weisdale, Northmavine and Unst are beds of
limestone.
The geological formation of Unst is interesting. The gneiss on the west
is succeeded by a band of mica, chlorite and graphite schists. Next
come zones of serpentine and gabbro, to be followed by schistose rocks
at Muness. Fetlar shows a similar formation.
Of the igneous rocks we may mention first the intrusive granites
of Northmavine, Muckle Roe, Vementry, Papa Stour, Melby and South
Sandsting. A bed of diorite extends from Ronas Voe to Olnafirth. Part
of Muckle Roe also shows diorite. Syenite occurs round Loch Spiggie
and is traced northward through Oxna and Hildasay to Bixter and Aith.
Lava, tuff, and other volcanic materials appear in various parts of
the islands, as between Stennis and Ockran Head, in Northmavine, Papa
Stour, the Holm of Melby, Vementry and Bressay.
The predominating sedimentary rocks in Shetland belong to the Old Red
Sandstone formation. These are found from Sumburgh Head to Rova Head,
and in Fair Isle, Mousa and Bressay. The fault or boundary line between
them and the metamorphic rocks is clearly traceable at various points
along the east of the Mainland. Foula, Sandness and Papa Stour, on the
west, show remnants of Old Red Sandstone. This formation is believed
to have once covered the whole area now represented by the Shetlands.
To the same geological period the hardened sandstone is considered to
belong, which occurs in the western peninsula, covering most of the
district of Sandness, Walls, Sandsting and Aithsting.
Glacial phenomena—striae, moraines, boulders—are interesting features
in the geology of Shetland. Over Unst, Fetlar, Yell and the north of
Mainland the movement of the ice had been uniformly from east to west.
Over the middle and southern districts, the glaciers had curved in a
north-westerly direction.
The variety of rocks accounts for the variety of soils in the islands.
There are many fertile regions of sandy and loamy soil. Perhaps the
best is the limestone district of Tingwall. Most of the county,
however, is covered with peat moss and peaty soil.
6. Natural History
The mammals of Shetland are comparatively few. There are no deer,
foxes or badgers. Rats and mice are numerous, hedgehogs are fairly
common. Moles and bats are unknown. So, too, are snakes, lizards,
frogs and toads. The weasel is found in many districts, and its near
relative, the ferret, is used for hunting rabbits, which are plentiful
everywhere. Hares were imported some time ago, but have a hard struggle
for existence with so many enemies around. Along the shore may
occasionally be seen the sea-otter, when he comes up on a rock to enjoy
a feast of sea-trout, or to venture inland in search of fresh water. He
must needs be wary, as he is greatly sought after for the sake of his
valuable skin. Another amphibian is the seal, whose habitat is the base
of inaccessible cliffs and out-lying rocks and isles.
[Illustration: Kittiwakes. Noss Isle]
The birds of Shetland may be divided into residents, summer visitors,
and winter visitors. In the great annual migrations which take place
in spring and again in autumn, the islands form a resting-place for
the feathered voyagers, some of whom stay to nest. Sea fowl naturally
predominate. The gull family is the most numerous and includes the
great black-backed gull, the lesser black-back, the herring gull, the
common gull, the black-headed gull and the pretty kittiwake. Shags
(scarfs) and cormorants are abundant all the year round; and in their
season come the guillemots, razorbills, puffins, manx shearwaters
and little auks. The guillemots congregate in thousands on the rocky
ledges of cliffs, where each female lays a solitary egg on the bare
rock. The egg is so formed that, even if disturbed, it will not roll
off the shelf on which it lies. The plumage of the black guillemot or
“tystie” during the winter season is of a mottled-grey colour, and the
bird is difficult to recognise in its changed appearance. Eider ducks
are abundant, and the great northern diver (emmer goose) may often be
seen.
[Illustration: Shag on Nest. Noss Isle]
Colonies of fulmar petrels are spreading all round the coast, while the
stormy petrel comes to nest in the outer islands. The piratical skua
is common; and the great skua, which is strictly protected, is on the
increase in certain localities. Among the shore birds may be mentioned
the noisy terns and oyster-catchers. In the winter come the turnstones,
sandpipers, dunlins and redshanks. Among the divers may be noted the
golden-eye, merganser, and long-tailed duck, while the stock-duck, teal
and widgeon are fairly plentiful.
Wild geese and swans, and flocks of rooks occasionally rest on their
journey, but the rooks, though numerous elsewhere in Britain, do not
take up residence in Shetland longer than they can help. Ravens and
hooded-crows are plentiful. The peregrine falcon, the merlin, the
kestrel and the lordly sea-eagle are among the birds of prey. Of game
birds, the ringed plover, curlew, snipe, golden plover and rock pigeons
are common, while woodcock make their appearance during the migratory
flight in autumn.
Starlings, sparrows and linnets are plentiful; and owing to the
almost entire absence of other songsters, the song of the skylark
is more noticeable. Among summer visitors may be mentioned the
wheat-ear, landrail and peewit, while swallows and martins may be seen
occasionally. Winter visitors include fieldfares, buntings, redwings,
robin redbreasts, blackbirds, thrushes and the smallest of all British
birds, the golden-crested wren. The tiny wren, misnamed the “robin,”
with its cheery song and hide-and-seek ways among the rocks, stays all
the year round, as do also the rock and meadow pipits.
Absence of trees and hedgerows, and the general bareness of the ground,
bring into prominence the different varieties of wild flowers. On the
moors and hillsides grow the crisp heather and heath, with occasional
patches of crowberry, while peeping out among these are the milk-wort,
the butter-wort and bog asphodel, with the downy cotton-grass in damp
places. The pretty yellow tormentil is everywhere among the stunted
grass. The spotted orchis, the yellow buttercup and the lovely grass of
Parnassus are also conspicuous on the grassy uplands. In meadow lands
and marshy places are found the purple orchis, marsh-marigold, marsh
cinquefoil, lady’s smock, ragged robin, and red and yellow rattle,
while in ditches may be seen different varieties of the crow-foot tribe
and scorpion grass (forget-me-nots). On dry banks may be found the
scented thyme, white and yellow bed-straws, and near by, the bird’s
foot trefoil. Daisies, scentless Mayweed and eyebrights are everywhere.
In some corn-lands the red poppy shines forth; while the wild mustard
and radish (runchie) are only too common. Growing in the cliffs are
rose-root, scurvy grass and sea-campions (misnamed sweet-william).
The vernal squill, hawk-weed and sheep’s scabious spangle the green
pasture, and sea-pinks are all round the shore, extending in some
places to the water’s edge. The mountain-ash, the wild rose and the
honeysuckle grow in sheltered nooks.
7. Round the Coast—(_a_) Along the East from Fair Isle to Unst
The extent of coastline is enormous, and only the outstanding features
can be noted here.
Fair Isle, rock-bound, precipitous and lonely, with but one or two
small creeks where vessels may shelter, has two lighthouses, each with
a fog-siren and a group-flashing white light—the Scaddon, visible 16
miles, and the Scroo, visible 23 miles. It was on Fair Isle that _El
Gran Grifon_, one of the Armada ships, was wrecked in 1588.
[Illustration: Sumburgh Head and Lighthouse]