Part 2

The nature of the soil is very different. In some places it consists of deep moss, with a sandy bottom; in others the moss is only about a foot deep over a stratum of clay. The cultivated parts consist generally of a mixture of clay and small stones. In some places there is abundance of tough clay, similar to that used in Britain in the manufacture of bricks or pottery.

No coal has hitherto been discovered in these Islands, but in several of them are found limestone, freestone, rock-crystal, corals, white spar, iron-ore, copper-ore, sulphur, fuller’s earth, and veins of variegated jasper.

Springs of fresh water are frequent in the mountains; and there are numerous lakes and streams, abounding in salmon, trout, &c.

Along the shores are a great many ancient towers, originally known by the names of Burrows or Duns; but by the inhabitants they are now called Wart or Wardhills. They were so arranged, that the whole Islands could, by signals from one to another, be apprised of approaching danger in a very short time. Sometimes they were used for state prisons. Vid. Baxter, _Gloss. Antiq. Brit._

Some of these are surrounded with dry ditches, others with walls. I saw one in Unst, called Snaburg, which has both a wet and a dry ditch. One of these ditches is cut with great labour through the solid rock.

There is another in Fetlar, (one of the most remote of the Shetland Isles,) in the form of a Roman Camp, having in the middle a rectangular area surrounded by a wall, and that by an earthen rampart of the same figure. Vid. Plate, _Pen. Arct. Zool._ vol. i. p. 33.

Druidical circles of stones are also common here.

There have also been found swords made of the bones of large fish, flint heads of arrows, flint hatchets, &c.

In the Island of Unst are two curious sepulchral circles. The largest consist of three concentric circles, its greatest being fifty feet in diameter. The outermost circle is formed of small stones, the other two of earth. Through all these is a single narrow entrance to a _tumulus_ which stands in the centre.

The other circle is considerably less, and has only two rings made of earth.

An extensive burying-place has also been discovered in the Isle of Westra, by the violence of the winds blowing away the sands which covered the bodies twenty feet below the surface of the earth. Near this are a great many graves, discovered only by a few short upright stones set in the level sand.

Among the human bones have been found those of oxen, horses, dogs, and sheep; as also battle-axes, different kinds of swords, brazen daggers, knives, spoons, cups, curious stones, beads, &c. At one time there was found a thigh bone closely encircled by a ring of gold. Pen. _Arct. Zool._ vol. i. p. 36.

In the more early stages of society, this custom of burying weapons, and the rude symbols of worship along with the dead, was perhaps every where practised. The Catacombs of Egypt, and the Tumuli of Peru, abound with relics of this description. The following verses of Virgil allude to the same ceremony:

“Some in the flames,[3] the wheels and bridles throw, The swords and helmets of the vanquish’d foe; Some the known shields their brethren bore in vain, And unsuccessful jav’lins of the slain.” PITT’S _Virg._ lib. I. xi. 266.

[3] The funeral piles.

It has been long since observed, that the two extremes of heat and cold are alike unfavourable to the growth of such animals as may be considered indigenous to the temperate zone. Excessive heat in the one case induces relaxation; while the contrary extreme diminishes the vital principle, and stunts the growth of the animal. The animals common to Britain are, in the Shetland Isles, of a greatly reduced size. Their horses, familiar to us by the name of shelties, are very numerous, and seldom more than nine or ten hands high. They are covered with long hair, and are remarkably strong, spirited, and not unhandsome. They are chiefly used for carrying home peats, and never receive any food but what they gather from the scanty herbage of the ground. Neither are they ever put into a house, so that many of them die in the winter.

The steadiness with which these ponies travel through the most rugged paths is surprising. In both 1806 and 1807, I made several expeditions into the country mounted on them. An islander preceded me to point out the way. At first I thought my brains must have been dashed out, but I soon recovered from this panic. In the most wretched and precipitous paths, the animal never made a single false step, and also travelled with considerable agility.

The Shetland cows are also very small, and, owing to the scarcity of fodder, give but little milk. They are kept close in the house, summer and winter; and are littered with heath, and sometimes with peat mould.

The women of Shetland are, in general, ignorant of making cheese; but their butter, when manufactured for sale, is equal to any that can be found elsewhere. That made for the payment of rent is of a much inferior quality.

It was an old custom here to pay their rent one half in grease butter at Lammas, and the other half in money at Martinmas. This custom, however, is generally relinquished, and the butter converted into money.

Their method of making butter being curious, I have thought proper to describe it. They fill their churn with milk, which they churn in the usual way till the oleaginous part be made to separate from the serum. They then throw in some red-hot stones, and continue churning till the butter float at the top, when it is taken out, and carefully washed and salted. The butter-milk being boiled, what floats on the surface is used as food, and the residue is esteemed an excellent beverage; and when kept over winter, they reckon it an efficacious antidote against the bad effects arising from the constant use of fish.

Their swine are of a remarkably small size, short-backed, and easily fed. A pig ready for the spit is often sold at two shillings.

Their sheep (the most profitable part of their live stock, and which are calculated to be from 110,000 to 120,000 in number,) are likewise of very small growth. One between three and five years old, sells from four to seven shillings.

In winter, especially when the ground is covered with snow, these animals feed on the sea-weed, with which the shores are covered. This they resort to by a kind of natural instinct; for as soon as the tide begins to ebb, the whole body of them (although feeding several miles off) make for the seashores, where they stay as long as the tide will permit them, and then return to their usual walks.

The wool of these sheep is remarkably soft and fine; but there is so much diversity in its quality, that some stockings at L.2, 2s. per pair, and others at sixpence, are made from it. The common price of tolerable good stockings is from five shillings to half-a-guinea per pair. They are all knitted. The very fine ones, which are esteemed superior in value to silk, will pass through a small finger ring. The different colours of the wool are white, black, light grey, and sometimes a russet. The sheep are never shorn; but early in June the wool is pulled off without injuring the animal. In this process care is taken to leave the long hairs which grow amongst the wool, by which means the young wool is sheltered, and the animal kept warm and comfortable.[4]

[4] Shetland sheep seem to be peculiarly calculated for an insular situation, hence they are distinguished by Sir John Sinclair by the name of “Island sheep.”

“It has been lately discovered that the skin of this breed, with the fleece on, may be prepared so as to make a beautiful fur; and their excellent quality may probably make them fit to be converted into morocco leather, the raw material of which cannot easily be procured in sufficient quantities.” Vid. Report of the Society for Improvement of British Wool.

The people of these isles have attempted to introduce a larger breed of sheep from Britain, but the inclemency of the climate rendered their labours abortive. This verifies what the famous Scottish historian says of these Isles:

“_Adeo fera, ut nullum animal nisi illic natum ferat._” Buch. lib. 1. § 50.

Here are neither hares nor foxes, though rabbits are plenty; the skins of which are sold at about half-a-guinea per dozen. The flesh of these is nothing inferior to those of Britain, though they are somewhat less in size.

The other wild quadrupeds which have reached these islands, are the otter, brown rat, common mouse, fetid shrew, and bat.

The Shetland Isles abound with several kinds of birds, as curlews, snipes, grouse, green plovers, redshanks, herons, and other _waders_. The short-eared owl is also frequently seen here, and makes its nest on the ground. This species never flies, like other owls, in search of prey, but sits quiet on an eminence, watching like a cat the appearance of mice or other vermin. No partridges are found in these Isles, and many of the other birds migrate to a warmer clime on the approach of winter.

The lofty cliffs impending over the ocean, are the haunts of eagles, falcons, ravens, hawks, hooded crows, &c. The Erne-eagles, which are very ravenous, and destructive among the lambs, possess the most exalted precipices, and, like the falcons, will not admit of any society. This, Pliny, in his _Hist. Nat._ lib. 10. c. 3. beautifully expresses:-- “_Unum par Aquilarum magno ad populandum tractu, ut satietur, indiget; determinant ergo spatia nec in proximo prædantur._”

A premium of three shillings and fourpence is obtained for killing one of these eagles; and smaller premiums are given for killing less destructive birds.

Here are also seen grey linnets, larks, sparrows, red-breasts, wrens, landrails, and stone chatters. The tame fowl are, geese, ducks, pigeons, dung-hill fowl, and some turkeys.

To the winding bays resort swans, dunter, clack, and soland geese; teal, Greenland doves, shearwaters, kittiweaks, (which are amazingly numerous,) different kinds of gulls, cormorants, and other aquatic birds.

In the islands of Unst and Foula is bred a bird of the web-footed kind, called Skua, about two feet long, having its claws sharp, strong, and hooked, like those of a kite. It preys on the lesser water fowl, like a rapacious land bird, and is so remarkably courageous and fierce in defending its young, that it will even repel the eagle from its haunts. Some birds are driven here by the frost from the inclement north, and pass their winter in the Shetland bays; whilst others, (mostly of the palmated kind,) retire in the spring to more southern latitudes. The guillemot remains in these islands till November.

This is a very pretty bird, about one foot and a half long. Its bill is about three inches long; head, neck, back, wings, and tail of a deep mouse colour. Its breast and belly milk white. There is another bird, called the stormy petrel, of a black and white colour, with a black bill much hooked at the end. It breeds commonly among the loose stones on the shore; and, bounding into the water, often affrights the superstitious fishermen, who take it to be an omen of some impending disaster. These birds are found at all distances from land, in all parts of the Atlantic, from Great Britain to the coast of North America; and follow ships in great flocks. On account of their clamour at night (being silent through the day) they are hated by sailors, who (imagining they forbode a storm) call them witches.

Our sailors shot many of these birds, but that had not much effect in making the others keep a more respectful distance.

Many of the inhabitants of these islands feed, during the season, on the eggs and young of wild birds. These they procure in a very dangerous manner from cliffs, in some places from sixty to one hundred fathoms high. The attempt is mostly made from above. The dauntless adventurer descends by a rope made either of straw or hog’s bristles, and held by a person at the top. Oftentimes the rope breaks, and the unhappy fowler is either dashed to pieces or drowned. The necessity of shifting the rope from place to place, with the impending weight of the fowler and his prey, renders the attempt much more hazardous.

In Foula they drive a small stake or dagger in the soil at the top of the precipice, to which they fasten a fishing line. By this slender assistance they descend to the place where the nests are, which they plunder, and ascend again with amazing intrepidity. This manner of fowling was, by the Norwegian law, considered a species of suicide.

What is still more extraordinary, custom has so hardened the Shetlanders against all sense of danger, that they will wander among the rocks at night, in order to surprise the old fowl upon the nest.

The eggs and young of the black-backed and herring gulls, compose the chief part of the booty acquired in these predatory and desperate attempts.

The seas[5] abound with cod, turbot, haddock, ling, and two certain species of northern fish, called torsk and opah. Lobsters, crabs, oysters, &c. are also very plentiful. At certain seasons vast shoals of herrings visit these shores. In June they appear in surprising columns, and perform the circuit of the islands; after which they totally disappear, especially in time of storm. After they first approach from the north, the appearance of the ocean is materially altered. They are divided into columns of five or six miles long, and three or four broad; and, in their passage, the water is propelled before them like an impetuous current. Sometimes they sink for a little while, then rise again to the surface. When the sun shines, the appearance of this finny tribe is most beautiful, being similar to a spacious field of variegated gems.

[5] _Divitiæ eis sunt a mari, ab omni parte summa piscandi commoditate objecta._ Buch. lib. 1. § 50.

They afford a sure subsistence to vast multitudes of birds, of whales, and other fish; and, to complete their destruction, man himself joins in the common chase.

For this purpose, vessels from many nations used to rendezvous in Bressay Sound, to lay in treasures of this useful species.[6]

[6] The Dutch formerly carried on this fishery very extensively. It has, however, been on the decline with them ever since the year 1703. They had then about 500 busses in Shetland, under the convoy of four ships of war, but a French fleet of six ships of war sent out for the purpose, fell in with the Dutch, and, an engagement taking place, the Dutch Admiral’s ship was sunk, on which the remaining three ran away and made their escape; whereupon, the French fleet sailed for the entry of Bressay Sound, sent their boats into the bay, and burned and destroyed about 400 of the Dutch fishing vessels, sparing only a number barely sufficient to carry home the crews of the whole.

The fishing business here engrosses the whole attention of the men. To this they constantly resort in all seasons and weathers, in small light skiffs which they get from Norway. These boats go out about noon, and do not return until three, and sometimes six o’clock the following day. During that time they often go twelve leagues from land. The yearly export of fish to foreign markets, particularly those of Spain and Italy, amounts to several hundred tons.

Agriculture, in the Shetland Isles, is at a very low ebb. The land being in general very barren, rocky, and chiefly depending on the tillage of the women, yields but scanty produce. The labour, in the lesser isles, is performed by digging over the soil like a garden. Their spade is narrow, like that used in cutting peats, and not at all similar to that with which they dig in Britain and Ireland.

After the seed is sown, (which they do in a very awkward manner, going backwards as if sowing onion seeds,) the women drag a kind of harrow, made _wholly_ of wood, over it, taking hold of a straw rope fastened to the harrow, and passing over their shoulders. This I have seen them do, at the same time that the men were lying beside them looking on.

In Mainland, where the farms are more level and extensive, they make use of a sort of plough, such as was common in times of remote antiquity, and which a man may carry to any distance in one hand. The ploughman walks by the side of the plough, which he directs by a small handle fixed on the top of it. The driver (if so he may be called) goes before the oxen, and pulls them on by a rope tied round their horns; and some with spades follow, to level the furrow and break the clods. Such seed as I saw, was not so good as that called drawings, or small corn, in Britain, and was also chaffy, and seemingly of a bad species. From the appearance of a stubble, it was evident that their crops were neither luxuriant nor prolific.

So prevalent is their rage for fishing, that the only land used in husbandry is that along the sea coast, which bears no proportion to that lying waste and uncultivated.

In some places where the soil is fertile, the crops are early, especially where the substratum is limestone; but the seasons are so various, that it is impossible to state the precise time of harvest.

The grain crop consists of a small kind of black or grey oats, and a species of barley, commonly called bear or big. The oatmeal has a bitter burnt taste. The potatoes, however, are tolerably good.

Very little time is, in general, devoted to gathering of manure. Sometimes they make use of sea-weed either by itself, or made into small dunghills with cow-dung or earth. Notwithstanding that they have abundance of limestone and peats, they seldom use lime as a manure, owing to which neglect, and the want of fallowing, they have frequently a plentiful crop of weeds.

There is a very great stop to agricultural improvements still to be considered. Most of the tenants hold their farm from year to year by a verbal bargain; and the stipulations of the very few written leases that are granted, consist chiefly in binding the tenant assiduously to attend his landlord’s fishing as long as he possesses his farm. Now, any failure in this is a forfeiture of the agreement. But he may labour the land as he pleases; no question is asked on this head by the landlord.

The grain is cut down in the usual way, and when fit, is carried home either on the shoulders of the women, or on horseback.

There are not more than two or three carts in these islands, and these are only kept by gentlemen by way of novelty. Neither are there any roads, public or private, except the foot-paths made over the hills by the horses, cattle, and sheep.

The landlords build the farm houses at their own expense. They are generally mean, low huts, into which a person must enter in a bending posture; and if he have not a guide (unless he be acquainted with the windings of the fabric,) he will scarcely find the apartment occupied by the family, they and their cattle being, for the most part, inhabitants of the same building[7]. They have the fire in the middle of the house. The beds are commonly like those of ships, with sliding doors. A table, a pot, and some stools, are the principal furniture to be seen.

[7] “---- Ignemque Laremque Et pecus et dominos communi clauderet umbra.”--JUVENAL.

Whether there were any chests, presses, cupboards, &c. in any of the huts which I visited, the continual smoke would not admit being ascertained. It is evident, however, that they are exempt from the window tax, as they have only a small hole besides that of the chimney, on which is a door to shut and open occasionally.

The office-houses (where there are any) are truly despicable. These the tenants build at their own expense, and in the cheapest manner they can, on account of the uncertainty of their tenure.

Here are few inclosures, so that the land lies almost wholly in open fields; and by this breach of agricultural economy their crops are exposed to the ravages of the numerous sheep, cattle, &c. which feed on the commons without herdsmen.

These islanders trade chiefly to Leith, London, and Hamburgh; and with Dutch fishermen, and such ships as visit their coasts. The chief exports are linen and woollen yarn, rugs, stockings, butter, dried fish, herrings, oil, feathers, skins of various kinds, and kelp; the manufacture of which was first commenced in 1780. The commodities imported are corn, oatmeal, spirits, tobacco, lines and hooks, salt, &c.

Here the Greenland ships are frequently served with mittens, night-caps, comforters, wigs, &c.

The inhabitants are sure to come with their boats alongside such ships as happen to call in here. They bring with them fish, fowl, eggs, &c. for which they get beef, pork, flour, meal, or such provisions as they may wish to have. They choose rather to barter than sell for money, probably for this reason, that they generally get more than the value of their commodities; at least, they do not fail to ask plenty, and have cunning enough to lay down their case as very deplorable, which tends to excite in the breasts of commanders of vessels that sympathy which is so peculiar to sailors. The Shetlanders, by these means, find a very good market for such things as they have to dispose of, and generally get as much meat and drink as they can take while on board.

The Shetland Isles are divided into twelve parishes, in which are placed twelve ministers, the office of some of whom is very laborious, there being different small islands in one parish: besides, the paths are remarkably bad, and the people so wretchedly poor, that they cannot afford to accommodate their pastor in times of public examinations, visitations, &c. insomuch, that unless he carry with him, on those occasions, some store of _viaticum_, he must content himself with the soothing hope of a hearty meal on his return home.

These islands enjoy the advantage of parochial schoolmasters, having the salaries allowed on the Scottish establishment; by which means the inhabitants are all taught to read, write, and understand arithmetic; and among those of any rank, the Latin, Greek, and French languages are not unknown, as also the rudiments of the mathematics.

The English language prevails in all these islands; but they being a long time subject to the Kings of Norway, it is spoken with the accent of that country, and is mixed with a great many Norwegian words, especially in Foula. Neither here nor in the Orkneys is the Gaelic language known.

English as well as Danish money is current here; but neither species is superabundant.

According to the latest account, this group of islands contains 22,379 inhabitants, among whom are about twenty considerable proprietors, and a great many small ones. The whole land-rent amounts to about £5000 per annum, which is a small sum when compared with the profits the proprietors make by the fisheries, in which they are all concerned. This business is carried on by the tenants: an affair which tends much to affect the state of the common people at large. The landlords, as before mentioned, make their lands subservient to this trade, by setting them in small portions to fishermen; and, in order the more to propagate the human species for the purpose of fishing, the young men get premiums of small subdivisions of land, (though without lease,) on their taking wives. The poor, who thus swallow the matrimonial bait, getting more numerous families than they can maintain, and having no way of supporting themselves but by the fish which they take; (and which they are obliged to sell to their landlords at a fixed price,) are often necessitated, either to go on board such merchant vessels as call in here, or to enter voluntarily into his Majesty’s navy. In many places, three or four families are found on a farm which, thirty or forty years ago, was possessed only by one.