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Shetland

April 27, 2023

For other uses, see Shetland (disambiguation).
"Hjaltland" redirects here. For the passenger ferry operated by NorthLink Ferries, see MV Hjaltland.

Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom.

Shetland
Scottish Gaelic nameSealtainn[Note 1]
Pronunciationˈʃalˠ̪t̪ɪɲ
Scots nameShetland
Old Norse nameHjaltland
Meaning of name'Hiltland'
Coat of arms
Location
Shetland
Shetland shown within Scotland
OS grid referenceHU4363
Coordinates60°20′N 1°20′W / 60.333°N 1.333°W / 60.333; -1.333Coordinates: 60°20′N 1°20′W / 60.333°N 1.333°W / 60.333; -1.333
Physical geography
Island groupNorthern Isles
Area1,466 km2 (566 sq mi)
Highest elevationRonas Hill 450 m (1,480 ft)
Administration
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
CountryScotland
Council areaShetland Islands Council
Demographics
Population22,920 (2019)
Population density15/km2 (39/sq mi)

The islands lie about 80 km (50 mi) to the northeast of Orkney, 170 km (110 mi) from mainland Scotland and 220 km (140 mi) west of Norway. They form part of the border between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east. Their total area is 1,466 km2 (566 sq mi),[2] and the population totalled 22,920 in 2019.[3] The islands comprise the Shetland constituency of the Scottish Parliament. The local authority, the Shetland Islands Council, is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. The islands' administrative centre and only burgh is Lerwick, which has been the capital of Shetland since 1708, before which time the capital was Scalloway.

The archipelago has an oceanic climate, complex geology, rugged coastline, and many low, rolling hills. The largest island, known as "the Mainland", has an area of 967 km2 (373 sq mi),[4] and is the fifth-largest island in the British Isles. It is one of 16 inhabited islands in Shetland.

Humans have lived in Shetland since the Mesolithic period. Picts are known to have been the original inhabitants of the islands, before the Norse conquest and subsequent colonisation in the Early Middle Ages.[5] During the 10th to 15th centuries, the islands formed part of the Kingdom of Norway until they were annexed into the Kingdom of Scotland due to a royal dispute involving the payment of a dowry.[6] In 1707, when Scotland and England united to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, trade between Shetland and continental Northern Europe decreased. The discovery of North Sea oil in the 1970s significantly boosted Shetland's economy, employment and public-sector revenues.[7] Fishing has always been an important part of the islands’ economy.

The local way of life reflects the Norse heritage of the isles, including the Up Helly Aa fire festivals and a strong musical tradition, especially the traditional fiddle style. Almost all place names in the islands also have Norse origin.[8] The islands have produced a variety of prose writers and poets, who have often written in the distinctive Shetland dialect. Numerous areas on the islands have been set aside to protect the local fauna and flora, including a number of important seabird nesting sites. The Shetland pony and Shetland Sheepdog are two well-known Shetland animal breeds. Other animals with local breeds include the Shetland sheep, cow, goose, and duck. The Shetland pig, or grice, has been extinct since about 1930.

The islands' motto, which appears on the Council's coat of arms, is "Með lögum skal land byggja" (“By law shall the land be built"). The phrase is of Old Norse origin, is mentioned in Njáls saga, and was likely borrowed from provincial Norwegian laws such as the Frostathing Law.

Etymology

 
Detailed map of Shetland

The name Shetland may derive from the Old Norse words hjalt ('hilt'), and land ('land'). Another possibility is that the first syllable is derived from the name of an ancient Celtic tribe.[9][10]

In 43 CE, the Roman author Pomponius Mela made reference in his writing to seven islands he called the Haemodae. In 77 CE, Pliny the Elder called these same islands the Acmodae. Scholars have inferred that both of these references are to islands in the Shetland group. Another possible early written reference to the islands is Tacitus' report in Agricola in 98 CE. After he described the Roman discovery and conquest of Orkney, he added that the Roman fleet had seen "Thule, too".[Note 2] In early Irish literature, Shetland is referred to as Insi Catt — "the Isles of Cats" (meaning the island inhabited by the tribe called Cat). This may have been the pre-Norse inhabitants' name for the islands. Cat was the name of a Pictish people who occupied parts of the northern Scottish mainland (see Kingdom of Cat); and their name survives in the names of the county of Caithness and in the Scottish Gaelic name for Sutherland, Cataibh, which means "among the Cats".[13]

The oldest known version of the modern name Shetland is Hetland; this may represent "Catland", the Germanic language softening the C- to H- according to Grimm's law. It occurs in a letter written by Harald, earl of Orkney, Shetland and Caithness, in c.1190.[14] By 1431, the islands were being referred to as Hetland, after various intermediate transformations. It is possible that the Pictish "cat" sound contributed to this Norse name. In the 16th century, Shetland was referred to as Hjaltland.[15][16] [Note 3]

Gradually, the Scandinavian Norn language previously spoken by the inhabitants of the islands was replaced by the Shetland dialect of Scots and Hjaltland became Ȝetland. The initial letter is the Middle Scots letter, yogh, the pronunciation of which is almost identical to the original Norn sound, /hj/. When the use of the letter yogh was discontinued, it was often replaced by the similar-looking letter z (which at the time was usually rendered with a curled tail: ⟨ʒ⟩) hence Zetland, the form used in the name of the pre-1975 county council.[17][18] This is also the source of the ZE postcode used for Shetland.

Most of the individual islands have Norse names, although the derivations of some are obscure and may represent pre-Norse, Pictish, or even pre-Celtic names or elements.[19]

Geography and geology

Main article: List of Shetland islands
 
Lerwick is Shetland's largest settlement
 
Unst

Shetland is around 170 km (106 mi) north of Great Britain and 230 km (143 mi) west of Bergen, Norway. It covers an area of 1,468 km2 (567 sq mi) and has a coastline 2,702 km (1,679 mi) long.[2]

Lerwick, the capital and largest settlement, has a population of 6,958 and about half of the archipelago's total population of 22,920 people[3] live within 16 km (9.9 mi) of the town.[20]

Scalloway on the west coast, which was the capital until 1708, has a population of fewer than 1,000 people.[21]

Only 16 of about 100 islands are inhabited. The main island of the group is known as Mainland. The next largest are Yell, Unst, and Fetlar, which lie to the north, and Bressay and Whalsay, which lie to the east. East and West Burra, Muckle Roe, Papa Stour, Trondra, and Vaila are smaller islands to the west of Mainland. The other inhabited islands are Foula 28 km (17 mi) west of Walls, Fair Isle 38 km (24 mi) south-west of Sumburgh Head, and the Out Skerries to the east.[Note 4]

The uninhabited islands include Mousa, known for the Broch of Mousa, the finest preserved example in the world of an Iron Age broch; Noss to the east of Bressay, which has been a national nature reserve since 1955; St Ninian's Isle, connected to Mainland by the largest active tombolo in the United Kingdom; and Out Stack, the northernmost point of the British Isles.[22][23][24] Shetland's location means that it provides a number of such records: Muness is the most northerly castle in the United Kingdom and Skaw the most northerly settlement.[25]

 
Shetland geological map

The geology of Shetland is complex, with numerous faults and fold axes. These islands are the northern outpost of the Caledonian orogeny, and there are outcrops of Lewisian, Dalradian and Moine metamorphic rocks with histories similar to their equivalents on the Scottish mainland. There are also Old Red Sandstone deposits and granite intrusions. The most distinctive feature is the ophiolite in Unst and Fetlar which is a remnant of the Iapetus Ocean floor made up of ultrabasic peridotite and gabbro.[26]

Much of Shetland's economy depends on the oil-bearing sediments in the surrounding seas.[27] Geological evidence shows that in around 6100 BC a tsunami caused by the Storegga Slide hit Shetland, as well as the west coast of Norway, and may have created a wave of up to 25 m (82 ft) high in the voes where modern populations are highest.[28]

The highest point of Shetland is Ronas Hill at 450 m (1,480 ft). The Pleistocene glaciations entirely covered the islands. During that period, the Stanes of Stofast, a 2000-tonne glacial erratic, came to rest on a prominent hilltop in Lunnasting.[29]

Shetland has a national scenic area which, unusually, includes a number of discrete locations: Fair Isle, Foula, South West Mainland (including the Scalloway Islands), Muckle Roe, Esha Ness, Fethaland and Herma Ness.[30] The total area covered by the designation is 41,833 ha, of which 26,347 ha is marine (i.e. below low tide).[31]

In October 2018, legislation came into force in Scotland to prevent public bodies, without good reason, showing Shetland in a separate box in maps, as had often been the practice. The legislation requires the islands to be "displayed in a manner that accurately and proportionately represents their geographical location in relation to the rest of Scotland", so as make clear the islands' real distance from other areas.[32][33][34]

Climate

Shetland has an oceanic temperate maritime climate (Köppen: Cfb), bordering on, but very slightly above average in summer temperatures, the subpolar variety, with long but cool winters and short warm summers. The climate all year round is moderate owing to the influence of the surrounding seas, with average night-time low temperatures a little above 1 °C (34 °F) in January and February and average daytime high temperatures of near 14 °C (57 °F) in July and August.[35] The highest temperature on record was 27.8 °C (82.0 °F) on 6 August 1910 at Sumburgh Head[36] and the lowest −8.9 °C (16.0 °F) in the Januaries of 1952 and 1959.[37] The frost-free period may be as little as three months.[38] In contrast, inland areas of nearby Scandinavia on similar latitudes experience significantly larger temperature differences between summer and winter, with the average highs of regular July days comparable to Lerwick's all-time record heat that is around 23 °C (73 °F), further demonstrating the moderating effect of the Atlantic Ocean. In contrast, winters are considerably milder than those expected in nearby continental areas, even comparable to winter temperatures of many parts of England and Wales much further south.

The general character of the climate is windy and cloudy with at least 2 mm (0.08 in) of rain falling on more than 250 days a year. Average yearly precipitation is 1,003 mm (39.5 in), with November and December the wettest months. Snowfall is usually confined to the period November to February, and snow seldom lies on the ground for more than a day. Less rain falls from April to August although no month receives less than 50 mm (2.0 in). Fog is common during summer due to the cooling effect of the sea on mild southerly airflows.[35][37]

Because of the islands' latitude, on clear winter nights the northern lights can sometimes be seen in the sky, while in summer there is almost perpetual daylight, a state of affairs known locally as the "simmer dim".[39] Annual bright sunshine averages 1110 hours, and overcast days are common.[40]

Climate data for Shetland Isles (S. Screen)[a], elevation 82 m (269 ft), 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1930–present
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 12.8
(55.0) 		11.7
(53.1) 		13.3
(55.9) 		16.1
(61.0) 		20.7
(69.3) 		22.2
(72.0) 		23.4
(74.1) 		22.1
(71.8) 		19.4
(66.9) 		17.2
(63.0) 		13.9
(57.0) 		12.6
(54.7) 		23.4
(74.1)
Average high °C (°F) 6.1
(43.0) 		5.8
(42.4) 		6.7
(44.1) 		8.3
(46.9) 		10.6
(51.1) 		12.6
(54.7) 		14.4
(57.9) 		14.7
(58.5) 		13.0
(55.4) 		10.4
(50.7) 		8.1
(46.6) 		6.6
(43.9) 		9.8
(49.6)
Daily mean °C (°F) 4.1
(39.4) 		3.8
(38.8) 		4.6
(40.3) 		6.1
(43.0) 		8.1
(46.6) 		10.3
(50.5) 		12.2
(54.0) 		12.6
(54.7) 		11.1
(52.0) 		8.5
(47.3) 		6.2
(43.2) 		4.5
(40.1) 		7.7
(45.9)
Average low °C (°F) 2.2
(36.0) 		1.8
(35.2) 		2.4
(36.3) 		3.8
(38.8) 		5.6
(42.1) 		8.1
(46.6) 		10.1
(50.2) 		10.5
(50.9) 		9.1
(48.4) 		6.6
(43.9) 		4.3
(39.7) 		2.5
(36.5) 		5.3
(41.5)
Record low °C (°F) −8.9
(16.0) 		−7.4
(18.7) 		−8.3
(17.1) 		−5.7
(21.7) 		−2.2
(28.0) 		−0.6
(30.9) 		3.5
(38.3) 		2.8
(37.0) 		−0.6
(30.9) 		−3.3
(26.1) 		−5.7
(21.7) 		−8.2
(17.2) 		−8.9
(16.0)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 150.4
(5.92) 		122.7
(4.83) 		109.2
(4.30) 		67.8
(2.67) 		56.9
(2.24) 		59.8
(2.35) 		67.7
(2.67) 		88.6
(3.49) 		105.8
(4.17) 		130.6
(5.14) 		143.2
(5.64) 		149.7
(5.89) 		1,252.3
(49.30)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 22.0 19.2 19.3 14.7 11.7 11.5 12.1 13.1 16.1 20.3 21.5 22.6 204.1
Average snowy days 10 9 9 5 1 0 0 0 0 1 5 8 48
Average relative humidity (%) 87 86 86 87 88 89 90 91 90 89 87 87 89
Mean monthly sunshine hours 27.4 57.6 97.7 141.2 191.9 147.7 128.6 132.4 99.5 75.1 38.3 20.6 1,158
Source 1: Met Office[41] NOAA (relative humidity and snow days 1961–1990)[42]
Source 2: KNMI[43]
  1. ^ Weather station is located 1.7 miles (2.7 km) from the Lerwick port centre.

Prehistory

Main article: Prehistoric Shetland
 
The preserved ruins of a wheelhouse and broch at Jarlshof, described as "one of the most remarkable archaeological sites ever excavated in the British Isles".[44]

Due to the practice, dating to at least the early Neolithic, of building in stone on virtually treeless islands, Shetland is extremely rich in physical remains of the prehistoric eras and there are over 5,000 archaeological sites all told.[45] A midden site at West Voe on the south coast of Mainland, dated to 4320–4030 BC, has provided the first evidence of Mesolithic human activity in Shetland.[46][47] The same site provides dates for early Neolithic activity and finds at Scord of Brouster in Walls have been dated to 3400 BC.[Note 5] "Shetland knives" are stone tools that date from this period made from felsite from Northmavine.[49]

Pottery shards found at the important site of Jarlshof also indicate that there was Neolithic activity there although the main settlement dates from the Bronze Age.[50] This includes a smithy, a cluster of wheelhouses and a later broch. The site has provided evidence of habitation during various phases right up until Viking times.[44][51] Heel-shaped cairns, are a style of chambered cairn unique to Shetland, with a particularly large example in Vementry.[49]

Numerous brochs were erected during the Iron Age. In addition to Mousa there are significant ruins at Clickimin, Culswick, Old Scatness and West Burrafirth, although their origin and purpose is a matter of some controversy.[52] The later Iron Age inhabitants of the Northern Isles were probably Pictish, although the historical record is sparse. Hunter (2000) states in relation to King Bridei I of the Picts in the sixth century AD: "As for Shetland, Orkney, Skye and the Western Isles, their inhabitants, most of whom appear to have been Pictish in culture and speech at this time, are likely to have regarded Bridei as a fairly distant presence".[53] In 2011, the collective site, "The Crucible of Iron Age Shetland", including Broch of Mousa, Old Scatness and Jarlshof, joined the UKs "Tentative List" of World Heritage Sites.[54][55]

History

Main article: History of Shetland

Scandinavian colonisation

 
Shetland (boxed) in relation to surrounding territories including Norway (to the east), the Faroe Islands (to the north west), and Orkney and the rest of the British Isles (to the south west).
 
14th-century Flateyjarbók image of Harald Fairhair (right, with fair hair), who took control of Hjaltland c. 875.

The expanding population of Scandinavia led to a shortage of available resources and arable land there and led to a period of Viking expansion so the Norse gradually shifted their attention from plundering to invasion.[56] Shetland was colonised during the late 8th and 9th centuries,[57] the fate of the existing indigenous Pictish population being uncertain. Modern Shetlanders still retain the Norse DNA with many family trees showing the Norse patronymic system(-sson/son, -dottir/daughter). Modern DNA studies such as the Viking Health Study are severely flawed as they only account for a tiny fraction of the population.[58]

Vikings then used the islands as a base for pirate expeditions to Norway and the coasts of mainland Scotland. In response, Norwegian king Harald Hårfagre ("Harald Fair Hair") annexed the Northern Isles (comprising Orkney and Shetland) in 875.[Note 6] Rognvald Eysteinsson received Orkney and Shetland as an earldom from Harald as reparation for the death of his son in battle in Scotland, and then passed the earldom on to his brother Sigurd the Mighty.[60]

The islands converted to Christianity in the late 10th century. King Olaf I Tryggvasson summoned the jarl Sigurd the Stout during a visit to Orkney and said, "I order you and all your subjects to be baptised. If you refuse, I'll have you killed on the spot and I swear I will ravage every island with fire and steel". Unsurprisingly, Sigurd agreed and the islands became Christian at a stroke.[61] Unusually, from c. 1100 onwards the Norse jarls owed allegiance both to Norway and to the Scottish crown through their holdings as Earls of Caithness.[62]

In 1194, when Harald Maddadsson was Earl of Orkney and Shetland, a rebellion broke out against King Sverre Sigurdsson of Norway. The Eyjarskeggjar ("Island Beardies") sailed for Norway but were beaten in the Battle of Florvåg near Bergen. After his victory King Sverre placed Shetland under direct Norwegian rule, a state of affairs that continued for nearly two centuries.[63][64]

Increased Scottish interest

From the mid-13th century onwards Scottish monarchs increasingly sought to take control of the islands surrounding their seas. The process was begun in earnest by Alexander II and was continued by his successor Alexander III. This strategy eventually led to an invasion of Scotland by Haakon IV Haakonsson, King of Norway. His fleet assembled in Bressay Sound before sailing for Scotland. After the stalemate of the Battle of Largs, Haakon retreated to Orkney, where he died in December 1263, entertained on his deathbed by recitations of the sagas. His death halted any further Norwegian expansion in Scotland and following this ill-fated expedition, the Hebrides and Mann were yielded to the Kingdom of Scotland as a result of the 1266 Treaty of Perth, although the Scots recognised continuing Norwegian sovereignty over Orkney and Shetland.[65][66][67]

Absorption by Scotland

 
James III and Margaret of Denmark, whose betrothal led to Shetland passing from Norway to Scotland.

In the 14th century, Orkney and Shetland remained a Norwegian possession, but Scottish influence was growing. Jon Haraldsson, who was murdered in Thurso in 1231, was the last of an unbroken line of Norse jarls,[68] and thereafter the earls were Scots noblemen of the houses of Angus and St Clair.[69] On the death of Haakon VI in 1380,[70] Norway formed a political union with Denmark, after which the interest of the royal house in the islands declined.[63] In 1469, Shetland was pledged by Christian I, in his capacity as King of Norway, as security against the payment of the dowry of his daughter Margaret, betrothed to James III of Scotland. As the money was never paid, the connection with the Crown of Scotland became permanent.[Note 7] In 1470, William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness, ceded his title to James III, and the following year the Northern Isles were directly absorbed by the Crown of Scotland,[73] an action confirmed by the Parliament of Scotland in 1472.[74] Nonetheless, Shetland's connection with Norway has proved to be enduring.[Note 8]

From the early 15th century onward Shetlanders sold their goods through the Hanseatic League of German merchantmen. The Hansa would buy shiploads of salted fish, wool and butter, and import salt, cloth, beer and other goods. The late 16th century and early 17th century were dominated by the influence of the despotic Robert Stewart, Earl of Orkney, who was granted the islands by his half-sister Mary Queen of Scots, and his son Patrick. The latter commenced the building of Scalloway Castle, but after his imprisonment in 1609, the Crown annexed Orkney and Shetland again until 1643, when Charles I granted them to William Douglas, 7th Earl of Morton. These rights were held on and off by the Mortons until 1766, when they were sold by James Douglas, 14th Earl of Morton to Laurence Dundas.[75][76]

18th and 19th centuries

 
County Buildings in Lerwick, the former headquarters of Zetland County Council

The trade with the North German towns lasted until the 1707 Act of Union, when high salt duties prevented the German merchants from trading with Shetland. Shetland then went into an economic depression, as the local traders were not as skilled in trading salted fish. However, some local merchant-lairds took up where the German merchants had left off, and fitted out their own ships to export fish from Shetland to the Continent. For the independent farmers of Shetland this had negative consequences, as they now had to fish for these merchant-lairds.[77]

Smallpox afflicted the islands in the 17th and 18th centuries (as it did all of Europe), but as vaccines became available after 1800, health improved. The islands were very badly hit by the potato famine of 1846 and the government introduced a Relief Plan for the islands under the command of Captain Robert Craigie of the Royal Navy who stayed in Lerwick to oversee the project 1847–1852. During this period Craigie also did much to improve and increase roads in the islands.[78]

Population increased to a maximum of 31,670 in 1861. However, British rule came at a price for many ordinary people as well as traders. The Shetlanders' nautical skills were sought by the Royal Navy. Some 3,000 served during the Napoleonic wars from 1800 to 1815 and press gangs were rife. During this period 120 men were taken from Fetlar alone, and only 20 of them returned home. By the late 19th century 90% of all Shetland was owned by just 32 people, and between 1861 and 1881 more than 8,000 Shetlanders emigrated.[79][80] With the passing of the Crofters' Act in 1886 the Liberal prime minister William Gladstone emancipated crofters from the rule of the landlords. The Act enabled those who had effectively been landowners' serfs to become owner-occupiers of their own small farms.[81] By this time fishermen from Holland, who had traditionally gathered each year off the coast of Shetland to fish for herring, triggered an industry in the islands that boomed from around 1880 until the 1920s when stocks of the fish began to dwindle.[82] The production peaked in 1905 at more than a million barrels, of which 708,000 were exported.[83]

The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 established a uniform system of county councils in Scotland and realigned the boundaries of many of Scotland's counties: Zetland County Council, which was created in 1890, was established at County Buildings in Lerwick.[84]

20th century

 
Full-rigged ship Maella, of Oslo, in Bressay Sound, around 1922

During World War I, many Shetlanders served in the Gordon Highlanders, a further 3,000 served in the Merchant Navy, and more than 1,500 in a special local naval reserve. The 10th Cruiser Squadron was stationed at Swarbacks Minn (the stretch of water to the south of Muckle Roe), and during a single year from March 1917 more than 4,500 ships sailed from Lerwick as part of an escorted convoy system. In total, Shetland lost more than 500 men, a higher proportion than any other part of Britain, and there were further waves of emigration in the 1920s and 1930s.[80][85]

 
Leif "Shetland" Larsen, Norwegian leader of the Shetland Bus operations in World War II, the most highly decorated allied naval officer of the war.[86]

During World War II, a Norwegian naval unit nicknamed the "Shetland Bus" was established by the Special Operations Executive in the autumn of 1940 with a base first at Lunna and later in Scalloway to conduct operations around the coast of Norway. About 30 fishing vessels used by Norwegian refugees were gathered and the Shetland Bus conducted covert operations, carrying intelligence agents, refugees, instructors for the resistance, and military supplies. It made over 200 trips across the sea, and Leif Larsen, the most highly decorated allied naval officer of the war, made 52 of them.[86][87] Several RAF airfields and sites were also established at Sullom Voe and several lighthouses suffered enemy air attacks.[85]

Oil reserves discovered in the later 20th century in the seas both east and west of Shetland have provided a much-needed alternative source of income for the islands.[7] The East Shetland Basin is one of Europe's prolific petroleum provinces. As a result of the oil revenue and the cultural links with Norway, a small Home Rule movement developed briefly to recast the constitutional position of Shetland. It saw as its models the Isle of Man, as well as Shetland's closest neighbour, the Faroe Islands, an autonomous dependency of Denmark.[88]

The population stood at 17,814 in 1961.[89]

Economy

Today, the main revenue producers in Shetland are agriculture, aquaculture, fishing, renewable energy, the petroleum industry (crude oil and natural gas production), the creative industries and tourism.[90] Unst also has a rocket launch site called SaxaVord Spaceport (previously known as Shetland Space Centre).[91] A February 2021 news item indicated that a rocket manufacturer from Germany, HyImpulse Technologies, planned to launch spacecraft powered by hydrogen from the Spaceport, starting in 2023.[92] During the previous month, the Space Centre had filed plans with Council for a "satellite launch facility and associated infrastructure".[93]

As of February 2021, information on the Promote Shetland Web site indicated that "Shetland is less reliant on tourism than many Scottish islands" and that oil was an important sector of the economy. The "process of gradually transitioning from oil to clean renewable energy ... production of clean hydrogen" was also emphasized. Fishing remained the primary sector and was expected to grow.[94]

Fishing

Fishing is central to the islands' economy today, with the total catch being 75,767 t (83,519 tons) in 2009, valued at over £73.2 million. Atlantic mackerel makes up more than half of the catch in Shetland by weight and value, and there are significant landings of haddock, cod, herring, whiting, monkfish and shellfish.[95]

A report published in October 2020 was optimistic about the future of this sector in: "With new fish markets in Lerwick and Scalloway, and plans to expand its aquaculture offerings in Yell, Shetland is preparing for more growth in its biggest industry".[96]

As of February 2021, the Promote Shetland Web site stated that "more fish is landed in Shetland than in England, Wales and Northern Ireland combined', that "Shetland harvests 40,000 tonnes of salmon a year, worth £180 million" and that "6,500 tonnes of mussels are grown in Shetland, more than 80 per cent of the total Scottish production".[97]

Energy and fossil fuels

 
Map of Shetland

Oil and gas were first landed in 1978 at Sullom Voe, which has subsequently become one of the largest terminals in Europe.[7][98] Taxes from the oil have increased public sector spending on social welfare, art, sport, environmental measures and financial development. Three quarters of the islands' workforce is employed in the service sector,[99][100] and the Shetland Islands Council alone accounted for 27.9% of output in 2003.[101][102] Shetland's access to oil revenues has funded the Shetland Charitable Trust, which in turn funds a wide variety of local programmes. The balance of the fund in 2011 was £217 million, i.e., about £9,500 per head.[103][Note 9]

In January 2007, the Shetland Islands Council signed a partnership agreement with Scottish and Southern Energy for the Viking Wind Farm, a 200-turbine wind farm and subsea cable. This renewable energy project would produce about 600 megawatts and contribute about £20 million to the Shetland economy per year.[105] The plan met with significant opposition within the islands, primarily resulting from the anticipated visual impact of the development.[106] The PURE project in Unst is a research centre which uses a combination of wind power and fuel cells to create a wind hydrogen system. The project is run by the Unst Partnership, the local community's development trust.[107][108]

 
Apache Corporation's Beryl alpha oil platform in the East Shetland Basin

A status report on hydrogen production in Shetland, published in September 2020, stated that Shetland Islands Council (SIC) had "joined a number of organisations and projects to drive forward plans to establish hydrogen as a future energy source for the isles and beyond". For example, it was a member of the Scottish Hydrogen Fuel Cell Association (SHFCA). The ORION project, previously named the Shetland Energy Hub, was underway; the plan was to create an energy hub that would use clean electricity in the development of "new technologies such as blue and green hydrogen generation".[109]

In December 2020 the Scottish government released a hydrogen policy statement with plans for incorporating both blue and green hydrogen for use in heating, transportation and industry.[110] The government also planned an investment of £100 million in the hydrogen sector "for the £180 million Emerging Energy Technologies Fund".[111] Shetland Islands Council planned to obtain further specifics about the availability of funding. The government had already agreed that the production of "green" hydrogen from wind power near Sullom Voe Terminal was a valid plan. A December 2020 report stated that "the extensive terminal could also be used for direct refuelling of hydrogen-powered ships" and suggested that the fourth jetty at Sullom Voe "could be suitable for ammonia export".[112]

Farming and textiles

Farming is mostly concerned with the raising of Shetland sheep, known for their unusually fine wool.[21][113][114]

Knitwear is important both to the economy and culture of Shetland, and the Fair Isle design is well known. However, the industry faces challenges due to plagiarism of the word "Shetland" by manufacturers operating elsewhere, and a certification trademark, "The Shetland Lady", has been registered.[115]

Crofting, the farming of small plots of land on a legally restricted tenancy basis, is still practised and is viewed as a key Shetland tradition as well as an important source of income.[116] Crops raised include oats and barley; however, the cold, windswept islands make for a harsh environment for most plants.

Media

Shetland is served by a weekly local newspaper, The Shetland Times and the online Shetland News [117] with radio service being provided by BBC Radio Shetland and the commercial radio station SIBC.[118]

Tourism

 
Victoria pier, Lerwick. The replica Viking longboat Dim Riv is bottom left and the town hall is on the hill. Taken from the Aberdeen ferry in Bressay Sound.

Shetland is a popular destination for cruise ships, and in 2010 the Lonely Planet guide named Shetland as the sixth best region in the world for tourists seeking unspoilt destinations. The islands were described as "beautiful and rewarding" and the Shetlanders as "a fiercely independent and self-reliant bunch".[119] Overall visitor expenditure was worth £16.4 million in 2006, in which year just under 26,000 cruise liner passengers arrived at Lerwick Harbour. This business has grown substantially with 109 cruise ships already booked in for 2019, representing over 107,000 passenger visits.[120] In 2009, the most popular visitor attractions were the Shetland Museum, the RSPB reserve at Sumburgh Head, Bonhoga Gallery at Weisdale Mill and Jarlshof.[121] Geopark Shetland (now Shetland UNESCO Global Geopark) was established by the Amenity Trust in 2009 to boost sustainable tourism to the islands.[122]

According to the Promote Shetland organisation's website, tourism increased "by £12.6 million between 2017 and 2019 with more than half of visitors giving their trip a perfect rating".[97]

Extremely popular in many countries, with five series having been filmed and aired by early 2021, Shetland (TV series) was inspired by the Ann Cleeves books about the fictional Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez. This has created an interest in Shetland[123] and some tourists visit because they wish to see the places where the series is set and filmed. In 2018, series star Douglas Henshall said in an interview, "When we were there filming, there’s people from Australia and different parts of America who had come specifically because of the show ... It’s showing all over the world. Now you get a lot of people from Scandinavia on these noir tours".[124][125]

An October 2018 report stated that 91,000 passengers from cruise ships arrived that year (a record high), an increase over the 70,000 in 2017. There was a drop in 2019 to "over 76,000 cruise ship passengers".[126][127]

Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic

Tourism dropped significantly in 2020 (and into 2021) due to restrictions necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the major decline in the number of cruise ships that continued to operate worldwide.[128]

As of early February 2021, the Promote Shetland website was still stating this information: "At present, nobody should travel to Shetland from a Level 3 or Level 4 local authority area in Scotland, unless it's for essential purposes". That page reiterated the government recommendation "that people avoid any unnecessary travel between Scotland and England, Wales, or Northern Ireland".[129]

A September 2020 report stated that "The Highlands and Islands region has been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic to date, when compared to Scotland and the UK as a whole". The tourism industry required short term support for "business survival and recovery" and that was expected to continue as the sector was "severely impacted for as long as physical distancing and travel restrictions".[130] As of 31 December 2020, the usage of ferries and buses was restricted to those traveling for essential purposes.[131] The Island Equivalent scheme was introduced in early 2021 by the Scottish government to financially assist hospitality and retail businesses "affected by Level 3 coronavirus restrictions". Previous schemes in 2020 included the Strategic Framework Business Fund and the Coronavirus Business Support Fund.[132]

Quarries

Transport

 
Loganair aircraft in Fair Isle, midway between Orkney and Shetland

Transport between islands is primarily by ferry, and Shetland Islands Council operates various inter-island services.[133] Shetland is also served by a domestic connection from Lerwick to Aberdeen on mainland Scotland. This service, which takes about 12 hours, is operated by NorthLink Ferries. Some services also call at Kirkwall, Orkney, which increases the journey time between Aberdeen and Lerwick by 2 hours.[134][135] There are plans for road tunnels to some of the islands, especially Bressay and Whalsay; however, it is hard to convince the mainland government to finance them.[136]

Sumburgh Airport, the main airport in Shetland, is located close to Sumburgh Head, 40 km (25 mi) south of Lerwick. Loganair operates flights to other parts of Scotland up to ten times a day, the destinations being Kirkwall, Aberdeen, Inverness, Glasgow and Edinburgh.[137] Lerwick/Tingwall Airport is located 11 km (6.8 mi) west of Lerwick. Operated by Directflight in partnership with Shetland Islands Council, it is devoted to inter-island flights from the Shetland Mainland to Fair Isle and Foula.[138]

Scatsta Airport was an airport near Sullom Voe which allowed frequent charter flights from Aberdeen to transport oilfield workers. The airport closed on 30 June 2020.[139]

Public bus services are operated in Mainland, Trondra, Burra, Unst and Yell, with scheduled dial-a-ride services available in Bressay and Fetlar. Buses also connect with ferries leading to Foula, Papa Stour, and Whalsay.[140][141]

The archipelago is exposed to wind and tide, and there are numerous sites of wrecked ships.[142] Lighthouses are sited as an aid to navigation at various locations.[143]

Government

The Shetland Islands Council is the local government authority for all the islands and is based in Lerwick Town Hall.

Shetland is sub-divided into 18 community council areas[144] and into 12 civil parishes that are used for statistical purposes.[145]

Education

As of early 2021, Shetland had 22 primary schools, five junior high schools, and two high schools: Anderson High School and Brae High School.[147][148]

Shetland College UHI is a partner of the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI). UHI’s Centre for Rural Creativity partners with Shetland Arts Development Agency to provide courses on film, music and media up to Masters level at Mareel. The North Atlantic Fisheries College (NAFC) also operates in partnership with UHI offering "a range of training courses relevant to the maritime industries".[147]

The Institute for Northern Studies, operated by UHI, provides "postgraduate teaching and research programmes"; one of the three locations is at Shetland.[149]

Sport

The Shetland Football Association oversees two divisions — a Premier League and a Reserve League — which are affiliated with the Scottish Amateur Football Association.[150] Seasons take place during summer.

The islands are represented by the Shetland football team, which regularly competes in the Island Games.

Churches and religion

Religion in Shetland (2011)[151]

  Non-religious (45.4%)
  Church of Scotland (29.9%)
  Catholic Church (4.1%)
  Other Christian (10.6%)
  Islam (0.4%)
  Other religions (1.1%)
  Not stated (8.5%)

The Reformation reached the archipelago in 1560. This was an apparently peaceful transition and there is little evidence of religious intolerance in Shetland's recorded history.[152]

In the 2011 census, Shetland registered a higher proportion of people with no religion than the Scottish average.[151] Nevertheless, a variety of religious denominations are represented in the islands.

 
Haroldswick Methodist Church, the most northerly church building in the United Kingdom

The Methodist Church has a relatively high membership in Shetland, which is a District of the Methodist Church (with the rest of Scotland comprising a separate District).[153]

The Church of Scotland had a Presbytery of Shetland that includes St. Columba's Church in Lerwick.[154] On 1 June 2020 the Presbytery of Shetland merged with the Presbytery of Aberdeen becoming the Presbytery of Aberdeen and Shetland. In addition there was further church reorganisation in the islands with a series of church closures and all parishes merging into one, covering the whole of Shetland.

The Catholic population is served by the church of St. Margaret and the Sacred Heart in Lerwick. The parish is part of the Diocese of Aberdeen.

The Scottish Episcopal Church (part of the Anglican Communion) has regular worship at: St Magnus' Church, Lerwick; St Colman's Church, Burravoe; and the Chapel of Christ the Encompasser, Fetlar, the last of which is maintained by the Society of Our Lady of the Isles, the most northerly and remote Anglican religious order of nuns.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a congregation in Lerwick. The former print works and offices of the local newspaper, The Shetland Times, has been converted into a chapel. Jehovah’s Witnesses has a congregation and Kingdom Hall in Lerwick.

Politics

Shetland is represented in the House of Commons as part of the Orkney and Shetland constituency, which elects one Member of Parliament (MP). As of February 2021, and since 2001, the MP is Alistair Carmichael, a Liberal Democrat. He grew up on Islay, the son of hill farmers who raised sheep and cattle and worked at various occupations before running for election.[155]

This seat has been held by the Liberal Democrats or their predecessors the Liberal Party since 1950, longer than any other seat in the United Kingdom.[156][157][158]

In the Scottish Parliament the Shetland constituency elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post system. Tavish Scott of the Scottish Liberal Democrats had held the seat since the creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.[159] Beatrice Wishart MSP, also of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, was elected to replace Tavish Scott in August 2019.[160] Shetland is within the Highlands and Islands electoral region.

The political composition of the Shetland Islands Council is 21 Independents and 1 Scottish National Party.[161]

In the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom, Shetland voted to remain in the United Kingdom by the third largest margin of the 32 local authority areas, by 63.71% to 36.29% in favour of the Union.

In the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, Shetland voted for the UK to remain an EU member state, with 56.5% voting to remain and 43.5% voting to leave. In comparison to the rest of Scotland, Shetland had lower-than-average support for remaining in the EU.

The Wir Shetland movement was set up in 2015 to campaign for greater autonomy.[162] In September 2020, the Shetland Islands Council voted 18–2 to explore replacing the council with a new system of government which controls a fairer share of the islands revenue streams and has a greater influence over their own affairs, which could include very lucrative oil fields and fishing waters.[163]

In 2022, as part of the Levelling Up White Paper, an "Island Forum" was proposed, which would allow local policymakers and residents in Shetland to work alongside their counterparts in Orkney, the Western Isles, Anglesey and the Isle of Wight on common issues, such as broadband connectivity, and provide a platform for them to communicate directly with the government on the challenges island communities face in terms of levelling up.[164][165]

Flag

Roy Grönneberg, who founded the local chapter of the Scottish National Party in 1966, designed the flag of Shetland in cooperation with Bill Adams to mark the 500th anniversary of the transfer of the islands from Norway to Scotland. The colours are identical to those of the flag of Scotland, but are shaped in the Nordic cross. After several unsuccessful attempts, including a plebiscite in 1985, the Lord Lyon King of Arms approved it as the official flag of Shetland in 2005.[166][Note 10]

Local culture and the arts

 
The Shetland Crofthouse museum

After the islands were officially transferred from Norway to Scotland in 1472, several Scots families from the Scottish Lowlands emigrated to Shetland in the 16th and 17th centuries.[167][168] Studies of the genetic makeup of the islands' population, however, indicate that Shetlanders are just under half Scandinavian in origin, and sizeable amounts of Scandinavian ancestry, both patrilineal and matrilineal, have been reported in Orkney (55%) and Shetland (68%).[168] This combination is reflected in many aspects of local life. For example, almost every place name in use can be traced back to the Vikings.[169] The Lerwick Up Helly Aa is one of several fire festivals held in Shetland annually in the middle of winter, starting on the last Tuesday of January.[170] The festival is just over 100 years old in its present, highly organised form. Originally held to break up the long nights of winter and mark the end of Yule, the festival has become one celebrating the isles' heritage and includes a procession of men dressed as Vikings and the burning of a replica longship.[171]

Shetland also competes in the biennial International Island Games, which it hosted in 2005.[172]

The cuisine of Shetland is based on locally produced lamb, beef and seafood, some of it organic. The real ale-producing Valhalla Brewery is the most northerly in Britain. The Shetland Black is a variety of blue potato with a dark skin and indigo-coloured flesh markings.[173]

Language

See also: Norn language and Shetland dialect

The Norn language was a form of Old Norse spoken in the Northern Isles, and continued to be spoken until the 18th century. It was gradually replaced in Shetland by an insular dialect of Scots, known as Shetlandic, which is in turn being replaced by Scottish English. Although Norn was spoken for hundreds of years, it is now extinct and few written sources remain, although influences remain in the Insular Scots dialects.[174] The Shetland dialect is used in local radio and dialect writing, and is kept alive by organisations such as Shetland Forwirds, and the Shetland Folk Society.[175][176][177]

Music

Shetland's culture and landscapes have inspired a variety of musicians, writers and film-makers. The Forty Fiddlers was formed in the 1950s to promote the traditional fiddle style, which is a vibrant part of local culture today.[178] Notable exponents of Shetland folk music include Aly Bain, Jenna Reid, Fiddlers' Bid, and the late Tom Anderson and Peerie Willie Johnson. Thomas Fraser was a country musician who never released a commercial recording during his life, but whose work has become popular more than 20 years after his death in 1978.[179]

The annual Shetland Folk Festival began in 1981 and is hosted on the first weekend of May.[180]

Writers

Walter Scott's 1822 novel The Pirate is set in "a remote part of Shetland", and was inspired by his 1814 visit to the islands. The name Jarlshof meaning "Earl's Mansion" is a coinage of his.[181] Robert Cowie, a doctor born in Lerwick published the 1874 work entitled Shetland: Descriptive and Historical; Being a Graduation Thesis on the Inhabitants of the Shetland Islands; and a Topographical Description of the Country. Menzies. 1874.

Hugh MacDiarmid, the Scots poet and writer, lived in Whalsay from the mid-1930s through 1942, and wrote many poems there, including a number that directly address or reflect the Shetland environment, such as "On A Raised Beach", which was inspired by a visit to West Linga.[182] The 1975 novel North Star by Hammond Innes is largely set in Shetland and Raman Mundair's 2007 book of poetry A Choreographer's Cartography offers a British Asian perspective on the landscape.[183] The Shetland Quartet by Ann Cleeves, who previously lived in Fair Isle, is a series of crime novels set around the islands.[184] In 2013, her novel Red Bones became the basis of BBC crime drama television series Shetland.[185]

Vagaland, who grew up in Walls, was arguably Shetland's finest poet of the 20th century.[186] Haldane Burgess was a Shetland historian, poet, novelist, violinist, linguist and socialist, and Rhoda Bulter (1929–1994) is one of the best-known Shetland poets of recent times. Other 20th- and 21st-century poets and novelists include Christine De Luca, Robert Alan Jamieson who grew up in Sandness, the late Lollie Graham of Veensgarth, Stella Sutherland of Bressay,[187] the late William J. Tait from Yell[188] and Laureen Johnson.[189]

There is one monthly magazine in production: Shetland.[190] The quarterly The New Shetlander, founded in 1947, is said to be Scotland's longest-running literary magazine.[191] For much of the later 20th century, it was the major vehicle for the work of local writers — and of others, including early work by George Mackay Brown.[192]

Films and television

Michael Powell made The Edge of the World in 1937, a dramatisation based on the true story of the evacuation of the last 36 inhabitants of the remote island of St Kilda on 29 August 1930. St Kilda lies in the Atlantic Ocean, 64 km (40 mi) west of the Outer Hebrides but Powell was unable to get permission to film there. Undaunted, he made the film over four months during the summer of 1936 in Foula and the film transposes these events to Shetland. Forty years later, the documentary Return to the Edge of the World was filmed, capturing a reunion of cast and crew of the film as they revisited the island in 1978.

A number of other films have been made on or about Shetland including A Crofter's Life in Shetland (1932),[193] A Shetland Lyric (1934),[194] Devil's Gate (2003) and It's Nice Up North (2006), a comedy documentary by Graham Fellows. The Screenplay film festival takes place annually in Mareel, a cinema, music and education venue.

The BBC One television series Shetland, a crime drama, is set in the islands and is based on the book series by Ann Cleeves. The programme is filmed partly in Shetland and partly on the Scottish mainland.[195][196]

Wildlife

 
Shetland mouse-ear (Cerastium nigrescens), on the Keen of Hamar reserve, Unst.

Shetland has three national nature reserves, at the seabird colonies of Hermaness and Noss, and at Keen of Hamar to preserve the serpentine flora. There are a further 81 SSSIs, which cover 66% or more of the land surfaces of Fair Isle, Papa Stour, Fetlar, Noss, and Foula. Mainland has 45 separate sites.[197]

Flora

The landscape in Shetland is marked by the grazing of sheep and the harsh conditions have limited the total number of plant species to about 400. Native trees such as rowan and crab apple are only found in a few isolated places such as cliffs and loch islands. The flora is dominated by Arctic-alpine plants, wild flowers, moss and lichen. Spring squill, buck's-horn plantain, Scots lovage, roseroot and sea campion are abundant, especially in sheltered places. Shetland mouse-ear (Cerastium nigrescens) is an endemic flowering plant found only in Shetland. It was first recorded in 1837 by botanist Thomas Edmondston. Although reported from two other sites in the nineteenth century, it currently grows only on two serpentine hills in the island of Unst. The nationally scarce oysterplant is found in several islands and the British Red Listed bryophyte Thamnobryum alopecurum has also been recorded.[198][199][200][201] Listed marine algae include: Polysiphonia fibrillosa (Dillwyn) Sprengel and Polysiphonia atlantica Kapraun and J.Norris, Polysiphonia brodiaei (Dillwyn) Sprengel, Polysiphonia elongata (Hudson) Sprengel, Polysiphonia elongella, Harvey.[202] The Shetland Monkeyflower is unique to Shetland and is a mutation of the Monkeyflower (mimulus guttatus) introduced to Shetland in the 19th century.[203][204]

Fauna

 
Atlantic puffin in the Shetland Islands

Shetland has numerous seabird colonies. Birds found in the islands include Atlantic puffin, storm-petrel, red-throated diver, northern gannet and great skua (locally called "bonxie").[205] Numerous rarities have also been recorded including black-browed albatross and snow goose. A single pair of snowy owls bred in Fetlar from 1967 to 1975.[205][206][207] The Shetland wren, Fair Isle wren, and Shetland starling are subspecies endemic to Shetland.[208][209] There are also populations of various moorland birds such as curlew, lapwing, snipe and golden plover.[210]

One of the early ornithologists that wrote about the wealth of birdlife in Shetland was Edmund Selous (1857–1934) in his book The Bird Watcher in the Shetlands (1905).[211] He wrote extensively about the gulls and terns, about the arctic skuas, the black guillemots and many other birds (and the seals) of the islands.

The geographical isolation and recent glacial history of Shetland have resulted in a depleted mammalian fauna and the brown rat and house mouse are two of only three species of rodent present in the islands. The Shetland field mouse is the third and the archipelago's fourth endemic subspecies, of which there are three varieties in Yell, Foula, and Fair Isle.[209] They are variants of Apodemus sylvaticus and archaeological evidence suggests that this species was present during the Middle Iron Age (around 200 BC to 400 CE). It is possible that Apodemus was introduced from Orkney where a population has existed since at the least the Bronze Age.[212]

Domesticated animals

 
Shetland ponies
Main article: Shetland animal breeds
See also: List of domesticated Scottish breeds

There is a variety of indigenous breeds, of which the diminutive Shetland pony is probably the best known, as well as being an important part of the Shetland farming tradition. The first written record of the pony was in 1603 in the Court Books of Shetland and, for its size, it is the strongest of all the horse breeds.[213][214] Others are the Shetland Sheepdog or "Sheltie", the endangered Shetland cattle[215] and Shetland goose[216][217] and the Shetland sheep which is believed to have originated prior to 1000 AD.[218] The Grice was a breed of semi-domesticated pig that had a habit of attacking lambs. It became extinct sometime between the middle of the nineteenth century and the 1930s.[219]

See also

Lists

About Shetland

Others

Notes

  1. ^ Shetland, unlike Scotland, has "no tradition of Gaelic".[1]
  2. ^ Watson (1926) is sure that Tacitus was referring to Shetland, although David Breeze (2002) is more sceptical. The name Thule was mentioned by Pytheas of Massilia when he described visiting Britain sometime between 322 and 285 BC, but it is unlikely he was referring to Shetland, because he also wrote that he believed Thule was a six-day sail north of Britain and a one-day sail from "the frozen sea".[11][12]
  3. ^ As with all western dialects of Norse, the stressed a shifts to e and so the ja became je as with Norse hjalpa which became hjelpa. Then the pronunciation changed through a process of reverse lenition of the initial /hj/ to /ʃ/. This is also found in some Norwegian dialects, for example in the word hjå (“with”) and the place names Hjerkinn and Sjoa (meaning from *Hjó). Lastly, the l before the t disappeared.[10]
  4. ^ Shetland Islands Council state there are 15 inhabited islands, and count East and West Burra, which are joined by a bridge, as a single unit. Out Skerries has two inhabited islands: Housay and Bruray.[2]
  5. ^ The Scord of Brouster site includes a cluster of six or seven walled fields and three stone circular houses that contains the earliest hoe-blades found so far in Scotland.[48]
  6. ^ Some scholars believe that this story, which appears in the Orkneyinga Saga is apocryphal and based on the later voyages of Magnus Barelegs.[59]
  7. ^ Apparently without the knowledge of the Norwegian Rigsraadet (Council of the Realm), Christian pawned Orkney for 50,000 Rhenish guilders. On 28 May 1470, he also pawned Shetland for 8,000 Rhenish guilders.[71] He had secured a clause in the contract which gave future kings of Norway the right to redeem the islands for a fixed sum of 210 kg of gold or 2,310 kg of silver. Several attempts were made during the 17th and 18th centuries to redeem the islands, without success.[72]
  8. ^ When Norway became independent again in 1906, the Shetland authorities sent a letter to King Haakon VII in which they stated: "Today no 'foreign' flag is more familiar or more welcome in our voes and havens than that of Norway, and Shetlanders continue to look upon Norway as their mother-land, and recall with pride and affection the time when their forefathers were under the rule of the Kings of Norway".[63]
  9. ^ No other part of the United Kingdom has any such oil-related fund. By comparison, as of 31 December 2010, the total value of the Government Pension Fund of Norway was NOK 3 077 billion (US$525 billion),[104] i.e., circa £68,000 per head.
  10. ^ The flag is the same design Icelandic republicans used in the early 20th century known in Iceland as Hvítbláinn, the "white-blue".[166]

References

  1. ^ "Forcing Gaelic on our schools is wrong, says MSP". The Shetland Times. 2 February 2016. from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Shetland Islands Council (2012) p. 4
  3. ^ a b . National Records of Scotland. April 2020. Archived from the original on 5 May 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  4. ^ Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 406
  5. ^ Jennings, Stephen (9 April 2021). "In Depth – The Fate of the Picts in the Northern Isles". archaeologyshetland. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  6. ^ "On this day 1472: Orkney and Shetland join Scotland". www.scotsman.com. 20 February 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  7. ^ a b c Shepherd, Mike (2015). Oil Strike North Sea: A first-hand history of North Sea oil. Luath Press.
  8. ^ "Shetland Place Names | Shetland Heritage". www.shetland-heritage.co.uk. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  9. ^ Hjaltland – Shetland – ‘yet, land!” – 1871 27 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Jakobsen, Jakob, fetlaraerial.com. Retrieved 14 May 2015
  10. ^ a b "Placenames with -a, hjalt, Leirvik"[permanent dead link]. Norwegian Language Council. (Norwegian). Retrieved 26 March 2011. Archived version
  11. ^ Breeze, David J. "The ancient geography of Scotland" in Smith and Banks (2002) pp. 11–13
  12. ^ Watson (1994) p. 7
  13. ^ Watson (1994) p. 30
  14. ^ Diplomatarium Norvegicum. p.2 [1190] Dilectissimis amicis suis et hominibus Haraldus Orcardensis, Hetlandensis et Catanesie comes salutem. archive.org
  15. ^ Gammeltoft (2010) p. 21-22
  16. ^ Sandnes (2010) p. 9
  17. ^ Jones (1997) p. 210
  18. ^ "Zetland County Council" 24 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine shetlopedia.com. Retrieved 16 July 2009
  19. ^ Gammeltoft (2010) p. 19
  20. ^ "Visit Shetland" 22 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Visit.Shetland.org Retrieved 25 December 2010
  21. ^ a b Shetland Islands Council (2010) p. 10
  22. ^ Hansom, J.D. (2003) "St Ninian's Tombolo". 23 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine (pdf) Coastal Geomorphology of Great Britain. Geological Conservation Review. Retrieved 13 March 2011
  23. ^ "Get-a-map" 22 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Ordnance Survey, Retrieved 7 March 2011
  24. ^ Fojut, Noel (1981) "Is Mousa a broch?" Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot. 111 pp. 220–228
  25. ^ "Skaw (Unst)" 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Shetlopedia, Retrieved 13 March 2011
  26. ^ Gillen (2003) pp. 90–91
  27. ^ Keay & Keay (1994) p. 867
  28. ^ Smith, David "Tsunami hazards" 20 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Fettes.com, Retrieved 7 March 2011
  29. ^ Schei (2006) pp. 103–04
  30. ^ "Shetland National Scenic Area". NatureScot. from the original on 15 August 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  31. ^ . SNH. 20 December 2010. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  32. ^ Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 section 17; "Ban on putting Shetland in a box on maps comes into force". BBC News. 4 October 2018. from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  33. ^ Kent, Alexander. "Remapping the Shetland Isles". canterbury.ac.uk. Canterbury Christ Church University. from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  34. ^ Kent, Alexander (18 October 2018). "Maps > Representation". The Cartographic Journal. 55 (3): 203–204. doi:10.1080/00087041.2018.1527980.
  35. ^ a b "Shetland, Scotland Climate" 18 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine climatetemp.info, Retrieved 6 January 2018
  36. ^ "MWR_1910 | Met Office UA". digital.nmla.metoffice.gov.uk. from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  37. ^ a b Shetland Islands Council (2005), pp. 5–9
  38. ^ "Northern Scotland: climate" 7 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Met office, Retrieved 6 January 2018
  39. ^ "The Climate of Shetland" 8 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Visit Shetland, Retrieved 11 May 2012
  40. ^ "Lerwick climate information". Met Office. Archived from the original on 24 January 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  41. ^ "Lerwick (S. Screen) (Shetland Islands) UK climate averages". Met Office. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  42. ^ "Lerwick 1961-1990". NOAA. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  43. ^ . KNMI. Archived from the original on 2 February 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  44. ^ a b " Jarlshof & Scatness" 10 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine shetland-heritage.co.uk, Retrieved 2 August 2008
  45. ^ Turner (1998), p. 18
  46. ^ Melton, Nigel D., "West Voe: A Mesolithic-Neolithic Transition Site in Shetland" in Noble et al (2008), pp. 23, 33
  47. ^ Melton, N. D. & Nicholson R. A. (March 2004) "The Mesolithic in the Northern Isles: the preliminary evaluation of an oyster midden at West Voe, Sumburgh, Shetland, U.K." 28 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine Antiquity 78 No 299
  48. ^ Fleming (2005) p. 47, quoting Clarke, P.A. (1995) Observations of Social Change in Prehistoric Orkney and Shetland based on a Study of the Types and Context of Coarse Stone Artefacts, M. Litt. thesis, University of Glasgow
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General references

  • Armit, I.; (2003), Towers in the North: The Brochs of Scotland, Stroud, Tempus, ISBN 0-7524-1932-3
  • Ballin Smith, B. and Banks, I.; (ed. 2002), In the Shadow of the Brochs, the Iron Age in Scotland, Stroud, Tempus, ISBN 0-7524-2517-X
  • Barrett, James H.; "The Norse in Scotland" in Brink, Stefan, (ed. 2008), The Viking World, Abingdon, Routledge, ISBN 0-415-33315-6
  • Clapperton, Chalmers M.; (ed. 1983), Scotland: A New Study, Newton Abbott, David & Charles
  • Gillen, Con; (2003), Geology and landscapes of Scotland, Harpenden, Terra Publishing, ISBN 1-903544-09-2
  • Graham-Campbell, James; (1999), Cultural Atlas of the Viking World, Facts On File, ISBN 0-8160-3004-9
  • Fleming, Andrew; (2005), St. Kilda and the Wider World: Tales of an Iconic Island, Windgather Press, ISBN 1-905119-00-3
  • Gammeltoft, Peder; (2010), "Shetland and Orkney Island-Names – A Dynamic Group 23 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine", Northern Lights, Northern Words, Selected Papers from the FRLSU Conference, Kirkwall 2009, edited by Robert McColl Millar
  • General Register Office for Scotland (28 November 2003) Scotland's Census 2001 – Occasional Paper No 10: Statistics for Inhabited Islands. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  • Haswell-Smith, Hamish (2004). The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh: Canongate. ISBN 978-1-84195-454-7.
  • Hunter, James; (2000), Last of the Free: A History of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, Edinburgh, Mainstream, ISBN 1-84018-376-4
  • Jones, Charles; (ed. 1997), The Edinburgh history of the Scots language, Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-7486-0754-4
  • Keay, J. & Keay, J.; (1994), Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland, London, HarperCollins, ISBN 0-00-255082-2
  • Noble, Gordon; Poller, Tessa & Verrill, Lucy; (2008), Scottish Odysseys: The Archaeology of Islands, Stroud, Tempus, ISBN 978-0-7524-4168-9
  • Omand, Donald; (ed. 2003), The Orkney Book, Edinburgh, Birlinn, ISBN 1-84158-254-9
  • Nicolson, James R.; (1972), Shetland, Newton Abbott, David & Charles
  • Sandnes, Berit; (2003), From Starafjall to Starling Hill: An investigation of the formation and development of Old Norse place-names in Orkney 22 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine, (pdf), Doctoral Dissertation, NTU Trondheim
  • Schei, Liv Kjørsvik; (2006), The Shetland Isles, Grantown-on-Spey, Colin Baxter Photography, ISBN 978-1-84107-330-9
  • Scottish Natural Heritage, (2008), The Story of Hermaness National Nature Reserve, Lerwick
  • Shetland Islands Council, (2005), , (pdf), Economic Development Unit, Lerwick, Retrieved 19 March 2011
  • Shetland Islands Council, (2010), "Shetland in Statistics 2010", (pdf), Economic Development Unit, Lerwick, Retrieved 6 March 2011
  • Thomson, William P. L.; (2008), The New History of Orkney, Edinburgh, Birlinn, ISBN 978-1-84158-696-0
  • Turner, Val; (1998), Ancient Shetland, London, B. T. Batsford/Historic Scotland, ISBN 0-7134-8000-9
  • Watson, William J.; (1994), The Celtic Place-Names of Scotland, Edinburgh, Birlinn, ISBN 1-84158-323-5, First published 1926.

Further reading

  • McMillan, Ron (2008). Between Weathers: Travels in 21st Century Shetland. Dingwall, Ross-shire: Sandstone Press. ISBN 978-1905207206. OCLC 220008309.
  • Shepherd, Mike (2015). Oil Strike North Sea: A first-hand history of North Sea oil. Luath Press.
  • Withrington, Donald J., ed. (1983). Shetland and the Outside World, 1469–1969. Aberdeen University Studies Series, no. 15. Oxford, United Kingdom: Published for the University of Aberdeen by Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780197141076. OCLC 8195814.

External links

 
Look up Shetland Islands in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shetland Islands.
 
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Shetland Islands.
  • Shetland at Curlie
  • Shetland Islands Council
  • www.shetland.org
  • (PDF file) from Highlands and Islands Enterprise
  • Shetlink – Shetland's Online Community
  • National Library of Scotland: Scottish Screen Archive (selection of archive films about Shetland)

April 27, 2023
shetland, other, uses, disambiguation, hjaltland, redirects, here, passenger, ferry, operated, northlink, ferries, hjaltland, also, called, islands, formerly, zetland, subarctic, archipelago, scotland, lying, between, orkney, faroe, islands, norway, northernmo. For other uses see Shetland disambiguation Hjaltland redirects here For the passenger ferry operated by NorthLink Ferries see MV Hjaltland Shetland also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney the Faroe Islands and Norway It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom ShetlandScottish Gaelic nameSealtainn Note 1 Pronunciationˈʃalˠ t ɪɲScots nameShetlandOld Norse nameHjaltlandMeaning of name Hiltland Scotland Coat of armsLocationShetlandShetland shown within ScotlandOS grid referenceHU4363Coordinates60 20 N 1 20 W 60 333 N 1 333 W 60 333 1 333 Coordinates 60 20 N 1 20 W 60 333 N 1 333 W 60 333 1 333Physical geographyIsland groupNorthern IslesArea1 466 km2 566 sq mi Highest elevationRonas Hill 450 m 1 480 ft AdministrationSovereign stateUnited KingdomCountryScotlandCouncil areaShetland Islands CouncilDemographicsPopulation22 920 2019 Population density15 km2 39 sq mi The islands lie about 80 km 50 mi to the northeast of Orkney 170 km 110 mi from mainland Scotland and 220 km 140 mi west of Norway They form part of the border between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east Their total area is 1 466 km2 566 sq mi 2 and the population totalled 22 920 in 2019 3 The islands comprise the Shetland constituency of the Scottish Parliament The local authority the Shetland Islands Council is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland The islands administrative centre and only burgh is Lerwick which has been the capital of Shetland since 1708 before which time the capital was Scalloway The archipelago has an oceanic climate complex geology rugged coastline and many low rolling hills The largest island known as the Mainland has an area of 967 km2 373 sq mi 4 and is the fifth largest island in the British Isles It is one of 16 inhabited islands in Shetland Humans have lived in Shetland since the Mesolithic period Picts are known to have been the original inhabitants of the islands before the Norse conquest and subsequent colonisation in the Early Middle Ages 5 During the 10th to 15th centuries the islands formed part of the Kingdom of Norway until they were annexed into the Kingdom of Scotland due to a royal dispute involving the payment of a dowry 6 In 1707 when Scotland and England united to form the Kingdom of Great Britain trade between Shetland and continental Northern Europe decreased The discovery of North Sea oil in the 1970s significantly boosted Shetland s economy employment and public sector revenues 7 Fishing has always been an important part of the islands economy The local way of life reflects the Norse heritage of the isles including the Up Helly Aa fire festivals and a strong musical tradition especially the traditional fiddle style Almost all place names in the islands also have Norse origin 8 The islands have produced a variety of prose writers and poets who have often written in the distinctive Shetland dialect Numerous areas on the islands have been set aside to protect the local fauna and flora including a number of important seabird nesting sites The Shetland pony and Shetland Sheepdog are two well known Shetland animal breeds Other animals with local breeds include the Shetland sheep cow goose and duck The Shetland pig or grice has been extinct since about 1930 The islands motto which appears on the Council s coat of arms is Med logum skal land byggja By law shall the land be built The phrase is of Old Norse origin is mentioned in Njals saga and was likely borrowed from provincial Norwegian laws such as the Frostathing Law Contents 1 Etymology 2 Geography and geology 2 1 Climate 3 Prehistory 4 History 4 1 Scandinavian colonisation 4 2 Increased Scottish interest 4 3 Absorption by Scotland 4 4 18th and 19th centuries 4 5 20th century 5 Economy 5 1 Fishing 5 2 Energy and fossil fuels 5 3 Farming and textiles 5 4 Media 5 5 Tourism 5 5 1 Effect of the COVID 19 pandemic 5 6 Quarries 5 7 Transport 6 Government 7 Education 8 Sport 9 Churches and religion 10 Politics 11 Flag 12 Local culture and the arts 12 1 Language 12 2 Music 12 3 Writers 12 4 Films and television 13 Wildlife 13 1 Flora 13 2 Fauna 13 3 Domesticated animals 14 See also 14 1 Lists 14 2 About Shetland 14 3 Others 15 Notes 16 References 16 1 General references 17 Further reading 18 External linksEtymology Edit Detailed map of Shetland The name Shetland may derive from the Old Norse words hjalt hilt and land land Another possibility is that the first syllable is derived from the name of an ancient Celtic tribe 9 10 In 43 CE the Roman author Pomponius Mela made reference in his writing to seven islands he called the Haemodae In 77 CE Pliny the Elder called these same islands the Acmodae Scholars have inferred that both of these references are to islands in the Shetland group Another possible early written reference to the islands is Tacitus report in Agricola in 98 CE After he described the Roman discovery and conquest of Orkney he added that the Roman fleet had seen Thule too Note 2 In early Irish literature Shetland is referred to as Insi Catt the Isles of Cats meaning the island inhabited by the tribe called Cat This may have been the pre Norse inhabitants name for the islands Cat was the name of a Pictish people who occupied parts of the northern Scottish mainland see Kingdom of Cat and their name survives in the names of the county of Caithness and in the Scottish Gaelic name for Sutherland Cataibh which means among the Cats 13 The oldest known version of the modern name Shetland is Hetland this may represent Catland the Germanic language softening the C to H according to Grimm s law It occurs in a letter written by Harald earl of Orkney Shetland and Caithness in c 1190 14 By 1431 the islands were being referred to as Hetland after various intermediate transformations It is possible that the Pictish cat sound contributed to this Norse name In the 16th century Shetland was referred to as Hjaltland 15 16 Note 3 Gradually the Scandinavian Norn language previously spoken by the inhabitants of the islands was replaced by the Shetland dialect of Scots and Hjaltland became Ȝetland The initial letter is the Middle Scots letter yogh the pronunciation of which is almost identical to the original Norn sound hj When the use of the letter yogh was discontinued it was often replaced by the similar looking letter z which at the time was usually rendered with a curled tail ʒ hence Zetland the form used in the name of the pre 1975 county council 17 18 This is also the source of the ZE postcode used for Shetland Most of the individual islands have Norse names although the derivations of some are obscure and may represent pre Norse Pictish or even pre Celtic names or elements 19 Geography and geology EditMain article List of Shetland islands Lerwick is Shetland s largest settlement Mainland Shetland Unst Shetland is around 170 km 106 mi north of Great Britain and 230 km 143 mi west of Bergen Norway It covers an area of 1 468 km2 567 sq mi and has a coastline 2 702 km 1 679 mi long 2 Lerwick the capital and largest settlement has a population of 6 958 and about half of the archipelago s total population of 22 920 people 3 live within 16 km 9 9 mi of the town 20 Scalloway on the west coast which was the capital until 1708 has a population of fewer than 1 000 people 21 Only 16 of about 100 islands are inhabited The main island of the group is known as Mainland The next largest are Yell Unst and Fetlar which lie to the north and Bressay and Whalsay which lie to the east East and West Burra Muckle Roe Papa Stour Trondra and Vaila are smaller islands to the west of Mainland The other inhabited islands are Foula 28 km 17 mi west of Walls Fair Isle 38 km 24 mi south west of Sumburgh Head and the Out Skerries to the east Note 4 The uninhabited islands include Mousa known for the Broch of Mousa the finest preserved example in the world of an Iron Age broch Noss to the east of Bressay which has been a national nature reserve since 1955 St Ninian s Isle connected to Mainland by the largest active tombolo in the United Kingdom and Out Stack the northernmost point of the British Isles 22 23 24 Shetland s location means that it provides a number of such records Muness is the most northerly castle in the United Kingdom and Skaw the most northerly settlement 25 Shetland geological map The geology of Shetland is complex with numerous faults and fold axes These islands are the northern outpost of the Caledonian orogeny and there are outcrops of Lewisian Dalradian and Moine metamorphic rocks with histories similar to their equivalents on the Scottish mainland There are also Old Red Sandstone deposits and granite intrusions The most distinctive feature is the ophiolite in Unst and Fetlar which is a remnant of the Iapetus Ocean floor made up of ultrabasic peridotite and gabbro 26 Much of Shetland s economy depends on the oil bearing sediments in the surrounding seas 27 Geological evidence shows that in around 6100 BC a tsunami caused by the Storegga Slide hit Shetland as well as the west coast of Norway and may have created a wave of up to 25 m 82 ft high in the voes where modern populations are highest 28 The highest point of Shetland is Ronas Hill at 450 m 1 480 ft The Pleistocene glaciations entirely covered the islands During that period the Stanes of Stofast a 2000 tonne glacial erratic came to rest on a prominent hilltop in Lunnasting 29 Shetland has a national scenic area which unusually includes a number of discrete locations Fair Isle Foula South West Mainland including the Scalloway Islands Muckle Roe Esha Ness Fethaland and Herma Ness 30 The total area covered by the designation is 41 833 ha of which 26 347 ha is marine i e below low tide 31 In October 2018 legislation came into force in Scotland to prevent public bodies without good reason showing Shetland in a separate box in maps as had often been the practice The legislation requires the islands to be displayed in a manner that accurately and proportionately represents their geographical location in relation to the rest of Scotland so as make clear the islands real distance from other areas 32 33 34 Climate Edit Shetland has an oceanic temperate maritime climate Koppen Cfb bordering on but very slightly above average in summer temperatures the subpolar variety with long but cool winters and short warm summers The climate all year round is moderate owing to the influence of the surrounding seas with average night time low temperatures a little above 1 C 34 F in January and February and average daytime high temperatures of near 14 C 57 F in July and August 35 The highest temperature on record was 27 8 C 82 0 F on 6 August 1910 at Sumburgh Head 36 and the lowest 8 9 C 16 0 F in the Januaries of 1952 and 1959 37 The frost free period may be as little as three months 38 In contrast inland areas of nearby Scandinavia on similar latitudes experience significantly larger temperature differences between summer and winter with the average highs of regular July days comparable to Lerwick s all time record heat that is around 23 C 73 F further demonstrating the moderating effect of the Atlantic Ocean In contrast winters are considerably milder than those expected in nearby continental areas even comparable to winter temperatures of many parts of England and Wales much further south The general character of the climate is windy and cloudy with at least 2 mm 0 08 in of rain falling on more than 250 days a year Average yearly precipitation is 1 003 mm 39 5 in with November and December the wettest months Snowfall is usually confined to the period November to February and snow seldom lies on the ground for more than a day Less rain falls from April to August although no month receives less than 50 mm 2 0 in Fog is common during summer due to the cooling effect of the sea on mild southerly airflows 35 37 Because of the islands latitude on clear winter nights the northern lights can sometimes be seen in the sky while in summer there is almost perpetual daylight a state of affairs known locally as the simmer dim 39 Annual bright sunshine averages 1110 hours and overcast days are common 40 Climate data for Shetland Isles S Screen a elevation 82 m 269 ft 1991 2020 normals extremes 1930 presentMonth Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec YearRecord high C F 12 8 55 0 11 7 53 1 13 3 55 9 16 1 61 0 20 7 69 3 22 2 72 0 23 4 74 1 22 1 71 8 19 4 66 9 17 2 63 0 13 9 57 0 12 6 54 7 23 4 74 1 Average high C F 6 1 43 0 5 8 42 4 6 7 44 1 8 3 46 9 10 6 51 1 12 6 54 7 14 4 57 9 14 7 58 5 13 0 55 4 10 4 50 7 8 1 46 6 6 6 43 9 9 8 49 6 Daily mean C F 4 1 39 4 3 8 38 8 4 6 40 3 6 1 43 0 8 1 46 6 10 3 50 5 12 2 54 0 12 6 54 7 11 1 52 0 8 5 47 3 6 2 43 2 4 5 40 1 7 7 45 9 Average low C F 2 2 36 0 1 8 35 2 2 4 36 3 3 8 38 8 5 6 42 1 8 1 46 6 10 1 50 2 10 5 50 9 9 1 48 4 6 6 43 9 4 3 39 7 2 5 36 5 5 3 41 5 Record low C F 8 9 16 0 7 4 18 7 8 3 17 1 5 7 21 7 2 2 28 0 0 6 30 9 3 5 38 3 2 8 37 0 0 6 30 9 3 3 26 1 5 7 21 7 8 2 17 2 8 9 16 0 Average precipitation mm inches 150 4 5 92 122 7 4 83 109 2 4 30 67 8 2 67 56 9 2 24 59 8 2 35 67 7 2 67 88 6 3 49 105 8 4 17 130 6 5 14 143 2 5 64 149 7 5 89 1 252 3 49 30 Average precipitation days 1 0 mm 22 0 19 2 19 3 14 7 11 7 11 5 12 1 13 1 16 1 20 3 21 5 22 6 204 1Average snowy days 10 9 9 5 1 0 0 0 0 1 5 8 48Average relative humidity 87 86 86 87 88 89 90 91 90 89 87 87 89Mean monthly sunshine hours 27 4 57 6 97 7 141 2 191 9 147 7 128 6 132 4 99 5 75 1 38 3 20 6 1 158Source 1 Met Office 41 NOAA relative humidity and snow days 1961 1990 42 Source 2 KNMI 43 Weather station is located 1 7 miles 2 7 km from the Lerwick port centre Prehistory EditMain article Prehistoric Shetland The preserved ruins of a wheelhouse and broch at Jarlshof described as one of the most remarkable archaeological sites ever excavated in the British Isles 44 Due to the practice dating to at least the early Neolithic of building in stone on virtually treeless islands Shetland is extremely rich in physical remains of the prehistoric eras and there are over 5 000 archaeological sites all told 45 A midden site at West Voe on the south coast of Mainland dated to 4320 4030 BC has provided the first evidence of Mesolithic human activity in Shetland 46 47 The same site provides dates for early Neolithic activity and finds at Scord of Brouster in Walls have been dated to 3400 BC Note 5 Shetland knives are stone tools that date from this period made from felsite from Northmavine 49 Pottery shards found at the important site of Jarlshof also indicate that there was Neolithic activity there although the main settlement dates from the Bronze Age 50 This includes a smithy a cluster of wheelhouses and a later broch The site has provided evidence of habitation during various phases right up until Viking times 44 51 Heel shaped cairns are a style of chambered cairn unique to Shetland with a particularly large example in Vementry 49 Numerous brochs were erected during the Iron Age In addition to Mousa there are significant ruins at Clickimin Culswick Old Scatness and West Burrafirth although their origin and purpose is a matter of some controversy 52 The later Iron Age inhabitants of the Northern Isles were probably Pictish although the historical record is sparse Hunter 2000 states in relation to King Bridei I of the Picts in the sixth century AD As for Shetland Orkney Skye and the Western Isles their inhabitants most of whom appear to have been Pictish in culture and speech at this time are likely to have regarded Bridei as a fairly distant presence 53 In 2011 the collective site The Crucible of Iron Age Shetland including Broch of Mousa Old Scatness and Jarlshof joined the UKs Tentative List of World Heritage Sites 54 55 History EditMain article History of Shetland Scandinavian colonisation Edit Shetland boxed in relation to surrounding territories including Norway to the east the Faroe Islands to the north west and Orkney and the rest of the British Isles to the south west 14th century Flateyjarbok image of Harald Fairhair right with fair hair who took control of Hjaltland c 875 The expanding population of Scandinavia led to a shortage of available resources and arable land there and led to a period of Viking expansion so the Norse gradually shifted their attention from plundering to invasion 56 Shetland was colonised during the late 8th and 9th centuries 57 the fate of the existing indigenous Pictish population being uncertain Modern Shetlanders still retain the Norse DNA with many family trees showing the Norse patronymic system sson son dottir daughter Modern DNA studies such as the Viking Health Study are severely flawed as they only account for a tiny fraction of the population 58 Vikings then used the islands as a base for pirate expeditions to Norway and the coasts of mainland Scotland In response Norwegian king Harald Harfagre Harald Fair Hair annexed the Northern Isles comprising Orkney and Shetland in 875 Note 6 Rognvald Eysteinsson received Orkney and Shetland as an earldom from Harald as reparation for the death of his son in battle in Scotland and then passed the earldom on to his brother Sigurd the Mighty 60 The islands converted to Christianity in the late 10th century King Olaf I Tryggvasson summoned the jarl Sigurd the Stout during a visit to Orkney and said I order you and all your subjects to be baptised If you refuse I ll have you killed on the spot and I swear I will ravage every island with fire and steel Unsurprisingly Sigurd agreed and the islands became Christian at a stroke 61 Unusually from c 1100 onwards the Norse jarls owed allegiance both to Norway and to the Scottish crown through their holdings as Earls of Caithness 62 In 1194 when Harald Maddadsson was Earl of Orkney and Shetland a rebellion broke out against King Sverre Sigurdsson of Norway The Eyjarskeggjar Island Beardies sailed for Norway but were beaten in the Battle of Florvag near Bergen After his victory King Sverre placed Shetland under direct Norwegian rule a state of affairs that continued for nearly two centuries 63 64 Increased Scottish interest Edit From the mid 13th century onwards Scottish monarchs increasingly sought to take control of the islands surrounding their seas The process was begun in earnest by Alexander II and was continued by his successor Alexander III This strategy eventually led to an invasion of Scotland by Haakon IV Haakonsson King of Norway His fleet assembled in Bressay Sound before sailing for Scotland After the stalemate of the Battle of Largs Haakon retreated to Orkney where he died in December 1263 entertained on his deathbed by recitations of the sagas His death halted any further Norwegian expansion in Scotland and following this ill fated expedition the Hebrides and Mann were yielded to the Kingdom of Scotland as a result of the 1266 Treaty of Perth although the Scots recognised continuing Norwegian sovereignty over Orkney and Shetland 65 66 67 Absorption by Scotland Edit James III and Margaret of Denmark whose betrothal led to Shetland passing from Norway to Scotland In the 14th century Orkney and Shetland remained a Norwegian possession but Scottish influence was growing Jon Haraldsson who was murdered in Thurso in 1231 was the last of an unbroken line of Norse jarls 68 and thereafter the earls were Scots noblemen of the houses of Angus and St Clair 69 On the death of Haakon VI in 1380 70 Norway formed a political union with Denmark after which the interest of the royal house in the islands declined 63 In 1469 Shetland was pledged by Christian I in his capacity as King of Norway as security against the payment of the dowry of his daughter Margaret betrothed to James III of Scotland As the money was never paid the connection with the Crown of Scotland became permanent Note 7 In 1470 William Sinclair 1st Earl of Caithness ceded his title to James III and the following year the Northern Isles were directly absorbed by the Crown of Scotland 73 an action confirmed by the Parliament of Scotland in 1472 74 Nonetheless Shetland s connection with Norway has proved to be enduring Note 8 From the early 15th century onward Shetlanders sold their goods through the Hanseatic League of German merchantmen The Hansa would buy shiploads of salted fish wool and butter and import salt cloth beer and other goods The late 16th century and early 17th century were dominated by the influence of the despotic Robert Stewart Earl of Orkney who was granted the islands by his half sister Mary Queen of Scots and his son Patrick The latter commenced the building of Scalloway Castle but after his imprisonment in 1609 the Crown annexed Orkney and Shetland again until 1643 when Charles I granted them to William Douglas 7th Earl of Morton These rights were held on and off by the Mortons until 1766 when they were sold by James Douglas 14th Earl of Morton to Laurence Dundas 75 76 18th and 19th centuries Edit County Buildings in Lerwick the former headquarters of Zetland County Council The trade with the North German towns lasted until the 1707 Act of Union when high salt duties prevented the German merchants from trading with Shetland Shetland then went into an economic depression as the local traders were not as skilled in trading salted fish However some local merchant lairds took up where the German merchants had left off and fitted out their own ships to export fish from Shetland to the Continent For the independent farmers of Shetland this had negative consequences as they now had to fish for these merchant lairds 77 Smallpox afflicted the islands in the 17th and 18th centuries as it did all of Europe but as vaccines became available after 1800 health improved The islands were very badly hit by the potato famine of 1846 and the government introduced a Relief Plan for the islands under the command of Captain Robert Craigie of the Royal Navy who stayed in Lerwick to oversee the project 1847 1852 During this period Craigie also did much to improve and increase roads in the islands 78 Population increased to a maximum of 31 670 in 1861 However British rule came at a price for many ordinary people as well as traders The Shetlanders nautical skills were sought by the Royal Navy Some 3 000 served during the Napoleonic wars from 1800 to 1815 and press gangs were rife During this period 120 men were taken from Fetlar alone and only 20 of them returned home By the late 19th century 90 of all Shetland was owned by just 32 people and between 1861 and 1881 more than 8 000 Shetlanders emigrated 79 80 With the passing of the Crofters Act in 1886 the Liberal prime minister William Gladstone emancipated crofters from the rule of the landlords The Act enabled those who had effectively been landowners serfs to become owner occupiers of their own small farms 81 By this time fishermen from Holland who had traditionally gathered each year off the coast of Shetland to fish for herring triggered an industry in the islands that boomed from around 1880 until the 1920s when stocks of the fish began to dwindle 82 The production peaked in 1905 at more than a million barrels of which 708 000 were exported 83 The Local Government Scotland Act 1889 established a uniform system of county councils in Scotland and realigned the boundaries of many of Scotland s counties Zetland County Council which was created in 1890 was established at County Buildings in Lerwick 84 20th century Edit Full rigged ship Maella of Oslo in Bressay Sound around 1922 During World War I many Shetlanders served in the Gordon Highlanders a further 3 000 served in the Merchant Navy and more than 1 500 in a special local naval reserve The 10th Cruiser Squadron was stationed at Swarbacks Minn the stretch of water to the south of Muckle Roe and during a single year from March 1917 more than 4 500 ships sailed from Lerwick as part of an escorted convoy system In total Shetland lost more than 500 men a higher proportion than any other part of Britain and there were further waves of emigration in the 1920s and 1930s 80 85 Leif Shetland Larsen Norwegian leader of the Shetland Bus operations in World War II the most highly decorated allied naval officer of the war 86 During World War II a Norwegian naval unit nicknamed the Shetland Bus was established by the Special Operations Executive in the autumn of 1940 with a base first at Lunna and later in Scalloway to conduct operations around the coast of Norway About 30 fishing vessels used by Norwegian refugees were gathered and the Shetland Bus conducted covert operations carrying intelligence agents refugees instructors for the resistance and military supplies It made over 200 trips across the sea and Leif Larsen the most highly decorated allied naval officer of the war made 52 of them 86 87 Several RAF airfields and sites were also established at Sullom Voe and several lighthouses suffered enemy air attacks 85 Oil reserves discovered in the later 20th century in the seas both east and west of Shetland have provided a much needed alternative source of income for the islands 7 The East Shetland Basin is one of Europe s prolific petroleum provinces As a result of the oil revenue and the cultural links with Norway a small Home Rule movement developed briefly to recast the constitutional position of Shetland It saw as its models the Isle of Man as well as Shetland s closest neighbour the Faroe Islands an autonomous dependency of Denmark 88 The population stood at 17 814 in 1961 89 Economy EditToday the main revenue producers in Shetland are agriculture aquaculture fishing renewable energy the petroleum industry crude oil and natural gas production the creative industries and tourism 90 Unst also has a rocket launch site called SaxaVord Spaceport previously known as Shetland Space Centre 91 A February 2021 news item indicated that a rocket manufacturer from Germany HyImpulse Technologies planned to launch spacecraft powered by hydrogen from the Spaceport starting in 2023 92 During the previous month the Space Centre had filed plans with Council for a satellite launch facility and associated infrastructure 93 As of February 2021 information on the Promote Shetland Web site indicated that Shetland is less reliant on tourism than many Scottish islands and that oil was an important sector of the economy The process of gradually transitioning from oil to clean renewable energy production of clean hydrogen was also emphasized Fishing remained the primary sector and was expected to grow 94 Fishing Edit Atlantic Mackerel Fishing is central to the islands economy today with the total catch being 75 767 t 83 519 tons in 2009 valued at over 73 2 million Atlantic mackerel makes up more than half of the catch in Shetland by weight and value and there are significant landings of haddock cod herring whiting monkfish and shellfish 95 A report published in October 2020 was optimistic about the future of this sector in With new fish markets in Lerwick and Scalloway and plans to expand its aquaculture offerings in Yell Shetland is preparing for more growth in its biggest industry 96 As of February 2021 the Promote Shetland Web site stated that more fish is landed in Shetland than in England Wales and Northern Ireland combined that Shetland harvests 40 000 tonnes of salmon a year worth 180 million and that 6 500 tonnes of mussels are grown in Shetland more than 80 per cent of the total Scottish production 97 Energy and fossil fuels Edit Map of Shetland Oil and gas were first landed in 1978 at Sullom Voe which has subsequently become one of the largest terminals in Europe 7 98 Taxes from the oil have increased public sector spending on social welfare art sport environmental measures and financial development Three quarters of the islands workforce is employed in the service sector 99 100 and the Shetland Islands Council alone accounted for 27 9 of output in 2003 101 102 Shetland s access to oil revenues has funded the Shetland Charitable Trust which in turn funds a wide variety of local programmes The balance of the fund in 2011 was 217 million i e about 9 500 per head 103 Note 9 In January 2007 the Shetland Islands Council signed a partnership agreement with Scottish and Southern Energy for the Viking Wind Farm a 200 turbine wind farm and subsea cable This renewable energy project would produce about 600 megawatts and contribute about 20 million to the Shetland economy per year 105 The plan met with significant opposition within the islands primarily resulting from the anticipated visual impact of the development 106 The PURE project in Unst is a research centre which uses a combination of wind power and fuel cells to create a wind hydrogen system The project is run by the Unst Partnership the local community s development trust 107 108 Apache Corporation s Beryl alpha oil platform in the East Shetland Basin A status report on hydrogen production in Shetland published in September 2020 stated that Shetland Islands Council SIC had joined a number of organisations and projects to drive forward plans to establish hydrogen as a future energy source for the isles and beyond For example it was a member of the Scottish Hydrogen Fuel Cell Association SHFCA The ORION project previously named the Shetland Energy Hub was underway the plan was to create an energy hub that would use clean electricity in the development of new technologies such as blue and green hydrogen generation 109 In December 2020 the Scottish government released a hydrogen policy statement with plans for incorporating both blue and green hydrogen for use in heating transportation and industry 110 The government also planned an investment of 100 million in the hydrogen sector for the 180 million Emerging Energy Technologies Fund 111 Shetland Islands Council planned to obtain further specifics about the availability of funding The government had already agreed that the production of green hydrogen from wind power near Sullom Voe Terminal was a valid plan A December 2020 report stated that the extensive terminal could also be used for direct refuelling of hydrogen powered ships and suggested that the fourth jetty at Sullom Voe could be suitable for ammonia export 112 Farming and textiles Edit Farming is mostly concerned with the raising of Shetland sheep known for their unusually fine wool 21 113 114 Knitwear is important both to the economy and culture of Shetland and the Fair Isle design is well known However the industry faces challenges due to plagiarism of the word Shetland by manufacturers operating elsewhere and a certification trademark The Shetland Lady has been registered 115 Crofting the farming of small plots of land on a legally restricted tenancy basis is still practised and is viewed as a key Shetland tradition as well as an important source of income 116 Crops raised include oats and barley however the cold windswept islands make for a harsh environment for most plants Media Edit Shetland is served by a weekly local newspaper The Shetland Times and the online Shetland News 117 with radio service being provided by BBC Radio Shetland and the commercial radio station SIBC 118 Tourism Edit Victoria pier Lerwick The replica Viking longboat Dim Riv is bottom left and the town hall is on the hill Taken from the Aberdeen ferry in Bressay Sound Shetland is a popular destination for cruise ships and in 2010 the Lonely Planet guide named Shetland as the sixth best region in the world for tourists seeking unspoilt destinations The islands were described as beautiful and rewarding and the Shetlanders as a fiercely independent and self reliant bunch 119 Overall visitor expenditure was worth 16 4 million in 2006 in which year just under 26 000 cruise liner passengers arrived at Lerwick Harbour This business has grown substantially with 109 cruise ships already booked in for 2019 representing over 107 000 passenger visits 120 In 2009 the most popular visitor attractions were the Shetland Museum the RSPB reserve at Sumburgh Head Bonhoga Gallery at Weisdale Mill and Jarlshof 121 Geopark Shetland now Shetland UNESCO Global Geopark was established by the Amenity Trust in 2009 to boost sustainable tourism to the islands 122 According to the Promote Shetland organisation s website tourism increased by 12 6 million between 2017 and 2019 with more than half of visitors giving their trip a perfect rating 97 Extremely popular in many countries with five series having been filmed and aired by early 2021 Shetland TV series was inspired by the Ann Cleeves books about the fictional Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez This has created an interest in Shetland 123 and some tourists visit because they wish to see the places where the series is set and filmed In 2018 series star Douglas Henshall said in an interview When we were there filming there s people from Australia and different parts of America who had come specifically because of the show It s showing all over the world Now you get a lot of people from Scandinavia on these noir tours 124 125 An October 2018 report stated that 91 000 passengers from cruise ships arrived that year a record high an increase over the 70 000 in 2017 There was a drop in 2019 to over 76 000 cruise ship passengers 126 127 Effect of the COVID 19 pandemic Edit Tourism dropped significantly in 2020 and into 2021 due to restrictions necessitated by the COVID 19 pandemic and the major decline in the number of cruise ships that continued to operate worldwide 128 As of early February 2021 the Promote Shetland website was still stating this information At present nobody should travel to Shetland from a Level 3 or Level 4 local authority area in Scotland unless it s for essential purposes That page reiterated the government recommendation that people avoid any unnecessary travel between Scotland and England Wales or Northern Ireland 129 A September 2020 report stated that The Highlands and Islands region has been disproportionately impacted by the COVID 19 pandemic to date when compared to Scotland and the UK as a whole The tourism industry required short term support for business survival and recovery and that was expected to continue as the sector was severely impacted for as long as physical distancing and travel restrictions 130 As of 31 December 2020 the usage of ferries and buses was restricted to those traveling for essential purposes 131 The Island Equivalent scheme was introduced in early 2021 by the Scottish government to financially assist hospitality and retail businesses affected by Level 3 coronavirus restrictions Previous schemes in 2020 included the Strategic Framework Business Fund and the Coronavirus Business Support Fund 132 Quarries Edit Brindister 60 06 52 N 1 12 57 W 60 114475 N 1 215874 W 60 114475 1 215874 Scord 60 08 32 N 1 15 42 W 60 142287 N 1 261629 W 60 142287 1 261629 Scalloway 05 Sullom 60 26 24 N 1 22 56 W 60 439953 N 1 382306 W 60 439953 1 382306 Vatster 60 12 46 N 1 13 15 W 60 212887 N 1 220861 W 60 212887 1 220861Transport Edit Loganair aircraft in Fair Isle midway between Orkney and Shetland Transport between islands is primarily by ferry and Shetland Islands Council operates various inter island services 133 Shetland is also served by a domestic connection from Lerwick to Aberdeen on mainland Scotland This service which takes about 12 hours is operated by NorthLink Ferries Some services also call at Kirkwall Orkney which increases the journey time between Aberdeen and Lerwick by 2 hours 134 135 There are plans for road tunnels to some of the islands especially Bressay and Whalsay however it is hard to convince the mainland government to finance them 136 Sumburgh Airport the main airport in Shetland is located close to Sumburgh Head 40 km 25 mi south of Lerwick Loganair operates flights to other parts of Scotland up to ten times a day the destinations being Kirkwall Aberdeen Inverness Glasgow and Edinburgh 137 Lerwick Tingwall Airport is located 11 km 6 8 mi west of Lerwick Operated by Directflight in partnership with Shetland Islands Council it is devoted to inter island flights from the Shetland Mainland to Fair Isle and Foula 138 Scatsta Airport was an airport near Sullom Voe which allowed frequent charter flights from Aberdeen to transport oilfield workers The airport closed on 30 June 2020 139 Public bus services are operated in Mainland Trondra Burra Unst and Yell with scheduled dial a ride services available in Bressay and Fetlar Buses also connect with ferries leading to Foula Papa Stour and Whalsay 140 141 The archipelago is exposed to wind and tide and there are numerous sites of wrecked ships 142 Lighthouses are sited as an aid to navigation at various locations 143 Government EditThe Shetland Islands Council is the local government authority for all the islands and is based in Lerwick Town Hall Shetland is sub divided into 18 community council areas 144 and into 12 civil parishes that are used for statistical purposes 145 Civil Parish Included areas 89 Area km 146 PopulationCensus2011 03 27 89 DensityBressay 27 8 368 13 2Delting Brae Muckle Roe 131 7 1 917 14 6Dunrossness Cunningsburgh Fair Isle Sandwick 120 5 3 216 26 7Fetlar 41 4 61 1 5Lerwick Gulberwick Quarff Burra 32 2 8 607 267 3Nesting Skerries Whalsay 105 6 1 759 16 7Northmavine 204 1 741 3 6Sandsting 162 4 831 5 1Tingwall Scalloway Trondra 118 9 3 091 26 0Unst 122 2 632 5 2Walls and Sandness Foula Papa Stour Vaila 78 6 978 12 4Yell 211 7 966 4 6Shetland 1 357 1 23 167 17 1 Dunrossness Lerwick Bressay Tingwall Sandsting Walls and Sandness Nesting Delting Northmavine Yell Fetlar UnstEducation EditAs of early 2021 Shetland had 22 primary schools five junior high schools and two high schools Anderson High School and Brae High School 147 148 Shetland College UHI is a partner of the University of the Highlands and Islands UHI UHI s Centre for Rural Creativity partners with Shetland Arts Development Agency to provide courses on film music and media up to Masters level at Mareel The North Atlantic Fisheries College NAFC also operates in partnership with UHI offering a range of training courses relevant to the maritime industries 147 The Institute for Northern Studies operated by UHI provides postgraduate teaching and research programmes one of the three locations is at Shetland 149 Sport EditThe Shetland Football Association oversees two divisions a Premier League and a Reserve League which are affiliated with the Scottish Amateur Football Association 150 Seasons take place during summer The islands are represented by the Shetland football team which regularly competes in the Island Games Churches and religion EditReligion in Shetland 2011 151 Non religious 45 4 Church of Scotland 29 9 Catholic Church 4 1 Other Christian 10 6 Islam 0 4 Other religions 1 1 Not stated 8 5 The Reformation reached the archipelago in 1560 This was an apparently peaceful transition and there is little evidence of religious intolerance in Shetland s recorded history 152 In the 2011 census Shetland registered a higher proportion of people with no religion than the Scottish average 151 Nevertheless a variety of religious denominations are represented in the islands Haroldswick Methodist Church the most northerly church building in the United Kingdom The Methodist Church has a relatively high membership in Shetland which is a District of the Methodist Church with the rest of Scotland comprising a separate District 153 The Church of Scotland had a Presbytery of Shetland that includes St Columba s Church in Lerwick 154 On 1 June 2020 the Presbytery of Shetland merged with the Presbytery of Aberdeen becoming the Presbytery of Aberdeen and Shetland In addition there was further church reorganisation in the islands with a series of church closures and all parishes merging into one covering the whole of Shetland The Catholic population is served by the church of St Margaret and the Sacred Heart in Lerwick The parish is part of the Diocese of Aberdeen The Scottish Episcopal Church part of the Anglican Communion has regular worship at St Magnus Church Lerwick St Colman s Church Burravoe and the Chapel of Christ the Encompasser Fetlar the last of which is maintained by the Society of Our Lady of the Isles the most northerly and remote Anglican religious order of nuns The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints has a congregation in Lerwick The former print works and offices of the local newspaper The Shetland Times has been converted into a chapel Jehovah s Witnesses has a congregation and Kingdom Hall in Lerwick Politics EditShetland is represented in the House of Commons as part of the Orkney and Shetland constituency which elects one Member of Parliament MP As of February 2021 and since 2001 the MP is Alistair Carmichael a Liberal Democrat He grew up on Islay the son of hill farmers who raised sheep and cattle and worked at various occupations before running for election 155 This seat has been held by the Liberal Democrats or their predecessors the Liberal Party since 1950 longer than any other seat in the United Kingdom 156 157 158 In the Scottish Parliament the Shetland constituency elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament MSP by the first past the post system Tavish Scott of the Scottish Liberal Democrats had held the seat since the creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 159 Beatrice Wishart MSP also of the Scottish Liberal Democrats was elected to replace Tavish Scott in August 2019 160 Shetland is within the Highlands and Islands electoral region The political composition of the Shetland Islands Council is 21 Independents and 1 Scottish National Party 161 In the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom Shetland voted to remain in the United Kingdom by the third largest margin of the 32 local authority areas by 63 71 to 36 29 in favour of the Union In the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum Shetland voted for the UK to remain an EU member state with 56 5 voting to remain and 43 5 voting to leave In comparison to the rest of Scotland Shetland had lower than average support for remaining in the EU The Wir Shetland movement was set up in 2015 to campaign for greater autonomy 162 In September 2020 the Shetland Islands Council voted 18 2 to explore replacing the council with a new system of government which controls a fairer share of the islands revenue streams and has a greater influence over their own affairs which could include very lucrative oil fields and fishing waters 163 In 2022 as part of the Levelling Up White Paper an Island Forum was proposed which would allow local policymakers and residents in Shetland to work alongside their counterparts in Orkney the Western Isles Anglesey and the Isle of Wight on common issues such as broadband connectivity and provide a platform for them to communicate directly with the government on the challenges island communities face in terms of levelling up 164 165 Flag EditRoy Gronneberg who founded the local chapter of the Scottish National Party in 1966 designed the flag of Shetland in cooperation with Bill Adams to mark the 500th anniversary of the transfer of the islands from Norway to Scotland The colours are identical to those of the flag of Scotland but are shaped in the Nordic cross After several unsuccessful attempts including a plebiscite in 1985 the Lord Lyon King of Arms approved it as the official flag of Shetland in 2005 166 Note 10 Local culture and the arts Edit The Shetland Crofthouse museum The Lerwick Up Helly Aa After the islands were officially transferred from Norway to Scotland in 1472 several Scots families from the Scottish Lowlands emigrated to Shetland in the 16th and 17th centuries 167 168 Studies of the genetic makeup of the islands population however indicate that Shetlanders are just under half Scandinavian in origin and sizeable amounts of Scandinavian ancestry both patrilineal and matrilineal have been reported in Orkney 55 and Shetland 68 168 This combination is reflected in many aspects of local life For example almost every place name in use can be traced back to the Vikings 169 The Lerwick Up Helly Aa is one of several fire festivals held in Shetland annually in the middle of winter starting on the last Tuesday of January 170 The festival is just over 100 years old in its present highly organised form Originally held to break up the long nights of winter and mark the end of Yule the festival has become one celebrating the isles heritage and includes a procession of men dressed as Vikings and the burning of a replica longship 171 Shetland also competes in the biennial International Island Games which it hosted in 2005 172 The cuisine of Shetland is based on locally produced lamb beef and seafood some of it organic The real ale producing Valhalla Brewery is the most northerly in Britain The Shetland Black is a variety of blue potato with a dark skin and indigo coloured flesh markings 173 Language Edit See also Norn language and Shetland dialect The Norn language was a form of Old Norse spoken in the Northern Isles and continued to be spoken until the 18th century It was gradually replaced in Shetland by an insular dialect of Scots known as Shetlandic which is in turn being replaced by Scottish English Although Norn was spoken for hundreds of years it is now extinct and few written sources remain although influences remain in the Insular Scots dialects 174 The Shetland dialect is used in local radio and dialect writing and is kept alive by organisations such as Shetland Forwirds and the Shetland Folk Society 175 176 177 Music Edit Shetland s culture and landscapes have inspired a variety of musicians writers and film makers The Forty Fiddlers was formed in the 1950s to promote the traditional fiddle style which is a vibrant part of local culture today 178 Notable exponents of Shetland folk music include Aly Bain Jenna Reid Fiddlers Bid and the late Tom Anderson and Peerie Willie Johnson Thomas Fraser was a country musician who never released a commercial recording during his life but whose work has become popular more than 20 years after his death in 1978 179 The annual Shetland Folk Festival began in 1981 and is hosted on the first weekend of May 180 Writers Edit Walter Scott s 1822 novel The Pirate is set in a remote part of Shetland and was inspired by his 1814 visit to the islands The name Jarlshof meaning Earl s Mansion is a coinage of his 181 Robert Cowie a doctor born in Lerwick published the 1874 work entitled Shetland Descriptive and Historical Being a Graduation Thesis on the Inhabitants of the Shetland Islands and a Topographical Description of the Country Menzies 1874 Hugh MacDiarmid the Scots poet and writer lived in Whalsay from the mid 1930s through 1942 and wrote many poems there including a number that directly address or reflect the Shetland environment such as On A Raised Beach which was inspired by a visit to West Linga 182 The 1975 novel North Star by Hammond Innes is largely set in Shetland and Raman Mundair s 2007 book of poetry A Choreographer s Cartography offers a British Asian perspective on the landscape 183 The Shetland Quartet by Ann Cleeves who previously lived in Fair Isle is a series of crime novels set around the islands 184 In 2013 her novel Red Bones became the basis of BBC crime drama television series Shetland 185 Vagaland who grew up in Walls was arguably Shetland s finest poet of the 20th century 186 Haldane Burgess was a Shetland historian poet novelist violinist linguist and socialist and Rhoda Bulter 1929 1994 is one of the best known Shetland poets of recent times Other 20th and 21st century poets and novelists include Christine De Luca Robert Alan Jamieson who grew up in Sandness the late Lollie Graham of Veensgarth Stella Sutherland of Bressay 187 the late William J Tait from Yell 188 and Laureen Johnson 189 There is one monthly magazine in production Shetland 190 The quarterly The New Shetlander founded in 1947 is said to be Scotland s longest running literary magazine 191 For much of the later 20th century it was the major vehicle for the work of local writers and of others including early work by George Mackay Brown 192 Films and television Edit Michael Powell made The Edge of the World in 1937 a dramatisation based on the true story of the evacuation of the last 36 inhabitants of the remote island of St Kilda on 29 August 1930 St Kilda lies in the Atlantic Ocean 64 km 40 mi west of the Outer Hebrides but Powell was unable to get permission to film there Undaunted he made the film over four months during the summer of 1936 in Foula and the film transposes these events to Shetland Forty years later the documentary Return to the Edge of the World was filmed capturing a reunion of cast and crew of the film as they revisited the island in 1978 A number of other films have been made on or about Shetland including A Crofter s Life in Shetland 1932 193 A Shetland Lyric 1934 194 Devil s Gate 2003 and It s Nice Up North 2006 a comedy documentary by Graham Fellows The Screenplay film festival takes place annually in Mareel a cinema music and education venue The BBC One television series Shetland a crime drama is set in the islands and is based on the book series by Ann Cleeves The programme is filmed partly in Shetland and partly on the Scottish mainland 195 196 Wildlife Edit Shetland mouse ear Cerastium nigrescens on the Keen of Hamar reserve Unst Shetland has three national nature reserves at the seabird colonies of Hermaness and Noss and at Keen of Hamar to preserve the serpentine flora There are a further 81 SSSIs which cover 66 or more of the land surfaces of Fair Isle Papa Stour Fetlar Noss and Foula Mainland has 45 separate sites 197 Flora Edit The landscape in Shetland is marked by the grazing of sheep and the harsh conditions have limited the total number of plant species to about 400 Native trees such as rowan and crab apple are only found in a few isolated places such as cliffs and loch islands The flora is dominated by Arctic alpine plants wild flowers moss and lichen Spring squill buck s horn plantain Scots lovage roseroot and sea campion are abundant especially in sheltered places Shetland mouse ear Cerastium nigrescens is an endemic flowering plant found only in Shetland It was first recorded in 1837 by botanist Thomas Edmondston Although reported from two other sites in the nineteenth century it currently grows only on two serpentine hills in the island of Unst The nationally scarce oysterplant is found in several islands and the British Red Listed bryophyte Thamnobryum alopecurum has also been recorded 198 199 200 201 Listed marine algae include Polysiphonia fibrillosa Dillwyn Sprengel and Polysiphonia atlantica Kapraun and J Norris Polysiphonia brodiaei Dillwyn Sprengel Polysiphonia elongata Hudson Sprengel Polysiphonia elongella Harvey 202 The Shetland Monkeyflower is unique to Shetland and is a mutation of the Monkeyflower mimulus guttatus introduced to Shetland in the 19th century 203 204 Fauna Edit Atlantic puffin in the Shetland Islands Shetland has numerous seabird colonies Birds found in the islands include Atlantic puffin storm petrel red throated diver northern gannet and great skua locally called bonxie 205 Numerous rarities have also been recorded including black browed albatross and snow goose A single pair of snowy owls bred in Fetlar from 1967 to 1975 205 206 207 The Shetland wren Fair Isle wren and Shetland starling are subspecies endemic to Shetland 208 209 There are also populations of various moorland birds such as curlew lapwing snipe and golden plover 210 One of the early ornithologists that wrote about the wealth of birdlife in Shetland was Edmund Selous 1857 1934 in his book The Bird Watcher in the Shetlands 1905 211 He wrote extensively about the gulls and terns about the arctic skuas the black guillemots and many other birds and the seals of the islands The geographical isolation and recent glacial history of Shetland have resulted in a depleted mammalian fauna and the brown rat and house mouse are two of only three species of rodent present in the islands The Shetland field mouse is the third and the archipelago s fourth endemic subspecies of which there are three varieties in Yell Foula and Fair Isle 209 They are variants of Apodemus sylvaticus and archaeological evidence suggests that this species was present during the Middle Iron Age around 200 BC to 400 CE It is possible that Apodemus was introduced from Orkney where a population has existed since at the least the Bronze Age 212 Domesticated animals Edit Shetland ponies Main article Shetland animal breeds See also List of domesticated Scottish breeds There is a variety of indigenous breeds of which the diminutive Shetland pony is probably the best known as well as being an important part of the Shetland farming tradition The first written record of the pony was in 1603 in the Court Books of Shetland and for its size it is the strongest of all the horse breeds 213 214 Others are the Shetland Sheepdog or Sheltie the endangered Shetland cattle 215 and Shetland goose 216 217 and the Shetland sheep which is believed to have originated prior to 1000 AD 218 The Grice was a breed of semi domesticated pig that had a habit of attacking lambs It became extinct sometime between the middle of the nineteenth century and the 1930s 219 See also Edit Scottish Islands portal Scotland portal Islands portalLists Edit List of counties of the United Kingdom List of islands in Scotland List of populated places in ShetlandAbout Shetland Edit Mavis Grind Udal lawOthers Edit Hjeltefjorden Battle of Florvag Rognvald Kali Kolsson Timeline of prehistoric Scotland Prehistoric Scotland Constitutional status of Orkney Shetland and the Western IslesNotes Edit Shetland unlike Scotland has no tradition of Gaelic 1 Watson 1926 is sure that Tacitus was referring to Shetland although David Breeze 2002 is more sceptical The name Thule was mentioned by Pytheas of Massilia when he described visiting Britain sometime between 322 and 285 BC but it is unlikely he was referring to Shetland because he also wrote that he believed Thule was a six day sail north of Britain and a one day sail from the frozen sea 11 12 As with all western dialects of Norse the stressed a shifts to e and so the ja became je as with Norse hjalpa which became hjelpa Then the pronunciation changed through a process of reverse lenition of the initial hj to ʃ This is also found in some Norwegian dialects for example in the word hja with and the place names Hjerkinn and Sjoa meaning from Hjo Lastly the l before the t disappeared 10 Shetland Islands Council state there are 15 inhabited islands and count East and West Burra which are joined by a bridge as a single unit Out Skerries has two inhabited islands Housay and Bruray 2 The Scord of Brouster site includes a cluster of six or seven walled fields and three stone circular houses that contains the earliest hoe blades found so far in Scotland 48 Some scholars believe that this story which appears in the Orkneyinga Saga is apocryphal and based on the later voyages of Magnus Barelegs 59 Apparently without the knowledge of the Norwegian Rigsraadet Council of the Realm Christian pawned Orkney for 50 000 Rhenish guilders On 28 May 1470 he also pawned Shetland for 8 000 Rhenish guilders 71 He had secured a clause in the contract which gave future kings of Norway the right to redeem the islands for a fixed sum of 210 kg of gold or 2 310 kg of silver Several attempts were made during the 17th and 18th centuries to redeem the islands without success 72 When Norway became independent again in 1906 the Shetland authorities sent a letter to King Haakon VII in which they stated Today no foreign flag is more familiar or more welcome in our voes and havens than that of Norway and Shetlanders continue to look upon Norway as their mother land and recall with pride and affection the time when their forefathers were under the rule of the Kings of Norway 63 No other part of the United Kingdom has any such oil related fund By comparison as of 31 December 2010 the total value of the Government Pension Fund of Norway was NOK 3 077 billion US 525 billion 104 i e circa 68 000 per head The flag is the same design Icelandic republicans used in the early 20th century known in Iceland as Hvitblainn the white blue 166 References Edit Forcing Gaelic on our schools is wrong says MSP The Shetland Times 2 February 2016 Archived from the original on 31 October 2020 Retrieved 31 August 2020 a b c Shetland Islands Council 2012 p 4 a b Shetland Islands Council Area Profile National Records of Scotland April 2020 Archived from the original on 5 May 2020 Retrieved 7 May 2020 Haswell Smith 2004 p 406 Jennings Stephen 9 April 2021 In Depth The Fate of the Picts in the Northern Isles archaeologyshetland Retrieved 18 August 2022 On this day 1472 Orkney 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September 2008 Retrieved 22 October 2008 Shetland Goose Archived 18 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine American Livestock Breeds Conservancy Retrieved 20 July 2009 Sheep Breeds S St Archived 21 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Sheep101 info Retrieved 1 May 2009 Extinct Island Pig Spotted Again BBC News Online 17 November 2006 Archived from the original on 14 March 2013 Retrieved 1 January 2007 General references Edit Armit I 2003 Towers in the North The Brochs of Scotland Stroud Tempus ISBN 0 7524 1932 3 Ballin Smith B and Banks I ed 2002 In the Shadow of the Brochs the Iron Age in Scotland Stroud Tempus ISBN 0 7524 2517 X Barrett James H The Norse in Scotland in Brink Stefan ed 2008 The Viking World Abingdon Routledge ISBN 0 415 33315 6 Clapperton Chalmers M ed 1983 Scotland A New Study Newton Abbott David amp Charles Gillen Con 2003 Geology and landscapes of Scotland Harpenden Terra Publishing ISBN 1 903544 09 2 Graham Campbell James 1999 Cultural Atlas of the Viking World Facts On File ISBN 0 8160 3004 9 Fleming Andrew 2005 St Kilda and the Wider World Tales of an Iconic Island Windgather Press ISBN 1 905119 00 3 Gammeltoft Peder 2010 Shetland and Orkney Island Names A Dynamic Group Archived 23 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Northern Lights Northern Words Selected Papers from the FRLSU Conference Kirkwall 2009 edited by Robert McColl Millar General Register Office for Scotland 28 November 2003 Scotland s Census 2001 Occasional Paper No 10 Statistics for Inhabited Islands Retrieved 26 February 2012 Haswell Smith Hamish 2004 The Scottish Islands Edinburgh Canongate ISBN 978 1 84195 454 7 Hunter James 2000 Last of the Free A History of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland Edinburgh Mainstream ISBN 1 84018 376 4 Jones Charles ed 1997 The Edinburgh history of the Scots language Edinburgh University Press ISBN 0 7486 0754 4 Keay J amp Keay J 1994 Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland London HarperCollins ISBN 0 00 255082 2 Noble Gordon Poller Tessa amp Verrill Lucy 2008 Scottish Odysseys The Archaeology of Islands Stroud Tempus ISBN 978 0 7524 4168 9 Omand Donald ed 2003 The Orkney Book Edinburgh Birlinn ISBN 1 84158 254 9 Nicolson James R 1972 Shetland Newton Abbott David amp Charles Sandnes Berit 2003 From Starafjall to Starling Hill An investigation of the formation and development of Old Norse place names in Orkney Archived 22 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine pdf Doctoral Dissertation NTU Trondheim Schei Liv Kjorsvik 2006 The Shetland Isles Grantown on Spey Colin Baxter Photography ISBN 978 1 84107 330 9 Scottish Natural Heritage 2008 The Story of Hermaness National Nature Reserve Lerwick Shetland Islands Council 2005 Shetland In Statistics 2005 pdf Economic Development Unit Lerwick Retrieved 19 March 2011 Shetland Islands Council 2010 Shetland in Statistics 2010 pdf Economic Development Unit Lerwick Retrieved 6 March 2011 Thomson William P L 2008 The New History of Orkney Edinburgh Birlinn ISBN 978 1 84158 696 0 Turner Val 1998 Ancient Shetland London B T Batsford Historic Scotland ISBN 0 7134 8000 9 Watson William J 1994 The Celtic Place Names of Scotland Edinburgh Birlinn ISBN 1 84158 323 5 First published 1926 Further reading EditMcMillan Ron 2008 Between Weathers Travels in 21st Century Shetland Dingwall Ross shire Sandstone Press ISBN 978 1905207206 OCLC 220008309 Shepherd Mike 2015 Oil Strike North Sea A first hand history of North Sea oil Luath Press Withrington Donald J ed 1983 Shetland and the Outside World 1469 1969 Aberdeen University Studies Series no 15 Oxford United Kingdom Published for the University of Aberdeen by Oxford University Press ISBN 9780197141076 OCLC 8195814 External links Edit Look up Shetland Islands in Wiktionary the free dictionary Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shetland Islands Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Shetland Islands Shetland at Curlie Shetland Islands Council www shetland org shetlopedia com The Online Shetland Encyclopedia HIE Area Profile Shetland PDF file from Highlands and Islands Enterprise Shetlink Shetland s Online Community National Library of Scotland Scottish Screen Archive selection of archive films about Shetland Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Shetland amp oldid 1151892097, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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