Shetland Sealtainn
Flag Coat of arms
Location
Geography
Area	Ranked 12th
- Total	1,468 km2 (567 sq mi)
Admin HQ	Lerwick
ISO 3166-2	GB-ZET
ONS code	00RD
Demographics
Population	Ranked 31st
- Total (2005)	22,000
- Density	15 /km2 (39 /sq mi)
Politics
Shetland Islands Council www.shetland.gov.uk
Control	Independent
MPs	Alistair Carmichael
MSPs	Tavish Scott

Coordinates: 60°18′14″N 1°16′08″W / 60.3038°N 1.2689°W / 60.3038; -1.2689 Shetland (from Middle Scots Ȝetland; Scottish Gaelic: Sealtainn) is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland, off the northeast coast. The islands lie to the northeast of Orkney, 280 km (170 mi) from the Faroe Islands and form part of the division between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east. The total area is 1,468 km² (567 sq mi)^[1] with a population of 22,210 (2009).^[2] Administratively, Shetland is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland for which the now-archaic spelling Zetland was used until 1970.^[3] The islands' administrative centre and only burgh is Lerwick.

The largest island, known simply as "Mainland", has an area of 967 km² (373 sq mi), making it the third-largest Scottish island and the fifth-largest of the British Isles. Shetland is also a lieutenancy area and comprises the Shetland constituency of the Scottish Parliament.

Contents 1 Etymology 2 Geography and geology 3 History 3.1 Prehistory 3.2 Scandinavian colonisation 3.3 Conflict with Norway 3.4 Increased Scottish interest 3.5 Pawned to Scotland 3.6 The Hansa era 3.7 Napoleonic wars 3.8 World War II 3.9 Shetland today 4 Climate 5 Economy 5.1 Media 5.2 Transport 6 Public services 7 People 7.1 Population development 8 Culture 8.1 Language 8.2 Churches 8.3 Flag 8.4 Notable places and buildings 9 Media and the arts 9.1 Music 9.2 Writers 9.3 Films 10 Wildlife 10.1 Flora 10.2 Fauna 10.3 Domesticated animals 11 See also 12 References 13 External links

[edit] Etymology

In 43 and 77 AD the Roman authors Pomponius Mela and Pliny the Elder referred to the seven islands they call Haemodae and Acmodae respectively, assumed to be Shetland. Another early written reference to the islands may have been when Tacitus reported that the Roman fleet had seen "Thule" from Orkney in AD 98.^{[Note 1]} In early Irish literature, Shetland is referred to as Inse Catt - "the Isles of Cats", which may have been the pre-Norse inhabitants name for the islands. The Cat tribe also occupied parts of the northern Scottish mainland - they can be found in the name of Caithness, and in the Gaelic name for Sutherland (Cataibh, meaning "among the Cats").^{[6][Note 2]}

The oldest version of the modern name Shetland is Hetlandensis recorded in 1190 becoming Hetland in 1431 after various intermediate transformations. It is possible that the Pictish "cat" sound forms part of this Norse name. It then became Hjaltland in the 16th century.^{[8][9][Note 3]}

As Norn was gradually replaced by Scots Hjaltland became Ȝetland (the initial letter being the Middle Scots letter, yogh. This sounded almost identical to the original Norn sound, /hj/). When the letter yogh was discontinued, it was often replaced by the similar-looking letter 'z', hence Zetland, the mis-spelled form used to describe the pre-1975 county council.^[11]

Most of the individual islands have Norse names, although the derivations of some are obscure and may represent pre-Norse, possibly Pictish or even pre-Celtic names or elements.^[12]

[edit] Geography and geology

Shetland is approximately 170 kilometres (110 mi) north of mainland Scotland, covers an area of 1,468 square kilometres (567 sq mi) and has a coastline 2,702 kilometres (1,679 mi) long.^[1]

Out of the approximately 100 islands, only 16 are inhabited. The main island of the group is known as Mainland. The other inhabited islands are: Bressay, East Burra, West Burra, Fetlar, Muckle Roe, Papa Stour, Trondra, Vaila, Unst, Whalsay, Yell in the main Shetland group, plus Foula to the south-west, Fair Isle to the south, and Housay and Bruray in the Out Skerries to the east.^{[Note 4]}

The uninhabited islands include Out Stack, the northernmost point of the British Isles^[13] and Mousa known for the Broch of Mousa, an Iron Age round tower, which is the finest preserved example in Scotland.^[14]

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, Dalriadan and Moine metamorphic rocks with similar histories to their equivalents on the Scottish mainland. Similarly, there are also Old Red Sandstone deposits and granite intrusions. The most distinctive feature is the ultrabasic ophiolite peridotite and gabbro on Unst and Fetlar, which are remnants of the Iapetus Ocean floor.^[15] Much of Shetland's economy depends on the oil-bearing sediments in the surrounding seas.^[16] Geological evidence shows that at around 6100 BC a tsunami caused by the Storegga Slides hit Shetland, (as well as the rest of the east coast of Scotland), and may have created a wave of up to 25 metres (82 ft) high in the voes where modern populations are highest.^[17]

[edit] History

[edit] Prehistory

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.^[18] 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 on Shetland.^[19][20] The same site provides dates for early Neolithic activity and finds at Scourd of Brouster in Walls have been dated to 3400 BC.^{[Note 5]}

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.^[22] 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.^[23][24]

During the Iron Age, numerous brochs were erected. 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.^[25] The later Iron Age inhabitants of the Northern Isles were probably Pictish, although the historical record is sparse. Hunter (2000) states that 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.”^[26] In 2010 the collective site, "The Crucible of Iron Age Shetland" including Broch of Mousa, Old Scatness and Jarlshof applied to join the UKs "Tentative List" of World Heritage Sites.^[27]

[edit] Scandinavian colonisation

By the end of the 9th century the Scandinavians shifted their attention from plundering to invasion, mainly due to the overpopulation of Scandinavia in comparison to resources and arable land available there.^[28]

Shetland was colonised by Norsemen in the 9th century, the fate of the existing indigenous population being uncertain. The colonisers gave it that name and established their laws and language. That language evolved into the West Nordic language Norn, which survived into the 19th century.

After Harald Finehair took control of all Norway, many of his opponents fled, some to Orkney and Shetland. From the Northern Isles they continued to raid Scotland and Norway, prompting Harald Hårfagre to raise a large fleet which he sailed to the islands. In about 875 he and his forces took control of Shetland and Orkney. Ragnvald, Earl of Møre received Orkney and Shetland as an earldom from the king as reparation for his son's being killed in battle in Scotland. Ragnvald gave the earldom to his brother Sigurd the Mighty.

Shetland was Christianised in the 10th century.

[edit] Conflict with Norway

In 1194 when king Sverre Sigurdsson (ca 1145 - 1202) ruled Norway and Harald Maddadsson was Earl of Orkney and Shetland, the Lendmann Hallkjell Jonsson and the Earl's brother-in-law Olav raised an army called the eyjarskeggjar on Orkney and sailed for Norway. Their pretender king was Olav's young foster son Sigurd, son of king Magnus Erlingsson. The eyjarskeggjar were beaten in the Battle of Florvåg near Bergen. The body of Sigurd Magnusson was displayed for the king in Bergen in order for him to be sure of the death of his enemy, but he also demanded that Harald Maddadsson (Harald jarl) answer for his part in the uprising. In 1195 the earl sailed to Norway to reconcile with King Sverre. As a punishment the king placed the earldom of Shetland under the direct rule of the king, from which it was probably never returned.

[edit] Increased Scottish interest

When Alexander III of Scotland turned twenty-one in 1262 and became of age he declared his intention of continuing the aggressive policy his father had begun towards the western and northern isles. This had been put on hold when his father had died thirteen years earlier. Alexander sent a formal demand to the Norwegian King Håkon Håkonsson.

After decades of civil war, Norway had achieved stability and grown to be a substantial nation with influence in Europe and the potential to be a powerful force in war. With this as a background, King Håkon rejected all demands from the Scots. The Norwegians regarded all the islands in the North Sea as part of the Norwegian realm. To add weight to his answer, King Håkon activated the leidang and set off from Norway in a fleet which is said to have been the largest ever assembled in Norway. The fleet met up in Breideyarsund in Shetland (probably today's Bressay Sound) before the king and his men sailed for Scotland and made landfall on Arran. The aim was to conduct negotiations with the army as a backup.

Alexander III drew out the negotiations while he patiently waited for the autumn storms to set in. Finally, after tiresome diplomatic talks, King Håkon lost his patience and decided to attack. At the same time a large storm set in which destroyed several of his ships and kept others from making landfall. The Battle of Largs in October 1263 was not decisive and both parties claimed victory, but King Håkon Håkonsson's position was hopeless. On 5 October, he returned to Orkney with a discontented army, and there he died of a fever on 17 December 1263. His death halted any further Norwegian expansion in Scotland.

King Magnus Lagabøte broke with his father's expansion policy and started negotiations with Alexander III. In the Treaty of Perth of 1266 he surrendered his furthest Norwegian possessions including Man and the Sudreyar (Hebrides) to Scotland in return for 4,000 marks sterling and an annuity of 100 marks. The Scots also recognised Norwegian sovereignty over Orkney and Shetland.

One of the main reasons behind the Norwegian desire for peace with Scotland was that trade with England was suffering from the constant state of war. In the new trade agreement between England and Norway in 1223 the English demanded Norway make peace with Scotland. In 1269, this agreement was expanded to include mutual free trade.

[edit] Pawned to Scotland

In the 14th century Norway still treated Orkney and Shetland as a Norwegian province, but Scottish influence was growing, and in 1379 the Scottish earl Henry Sinclair took control of Orkney on behalf of the Norwegian king Håkon VI Magnusson.^[29] In 1348 Norway was severely weakened by the Black Plague and in 1397 it entered the Kalmar Union. With time Norway came increasingly under Danish control. King Christian I of Denmark and Norway was in financial trouble and, when his daughter Margaret became engaged to James III of Scotland in 1468, he needed money to pay her dowry. Apparently without the knowledge of the Norwegian Riksråd (Council of the Realm) he entered into a contract on 8 September 1468 with the King of Scots in which he pawned Orkney for 50,000 Rhenish guilders.^[30] On 28 May the next year he also pawned Shetland for 8,000 Rhenish guilders.^[31] He secured a clause in the contract which gave future kings of Norway the right to redeem the islands for a fixed sum of 210 kilograms (460 lb) of gold or 2,310 kilograms (5,100 lb) of silver. Several attempts were made during the 17th and 18th centuries to redeem the islands, without success.^[32]

Following a legal dispute with William, Earl of Morton, who held the estates of Orkney and Shetland, Charles II ratified the pawning document by a Scottish Act of Parliament on 27 December 1669 which officially made the islands a Crown dependency and exempt from any "dissolution of His Majesty’s lands". In 1742 a further Act of Parliament returned the estates to a later Earl of Morton, although the original Act of Parliament specifically ruled that any future act regarding the islands status would be "considered null, void and of no effect".

[edit] The Hansa era

After the decline of the Vikings, three centuries followed where the Shetlanders sold their goods through the Hanseatic League of German merchantmen. The Hansa would buy shiploads of salted cod and ling. In return, the island population received cash, grain, cloth, beer and other goods. The trade with the North German towns lasted until the 1707 Act of Union prohibited the German merchants from trading with Shetland. Shetland then went into an economic depression as the Scottish and local traders were not as skilled in trading with 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.^[33] With the passing of the Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886 the Liberal prime minister William Ewart 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.^[34][35]

[edit] Napoleonic wars

Some 3000 Shetlanders served in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic wars from 1800 to 1815.^[36]

[edit] World War II

During World War II a Norwegian naval unit nicknamed the "Shetland Bus" was established by the Special Operations Executive Norwegian Section in the autumn of 1940 with a base first at Lunna and later in Scalloway in order to conduct operations on the coast of Norway. About 30 fishing vessels used by Norwegian refugees were gathered in Shetland. Many of these vessels were rented, and Norwegian fishermen were recruited as volunteers to operate them.

The Shetland Bus sailed in covert operations between Norway and Shetland, carrying men from Company Linge, intelligence agents, refugees, instructors for the resistance, and military supplies. Many people on the run from the Germans, and much important information on German activity in Norway, were brought back to the Allies this way. Some mines were laid and direct action against German ships was also taken. At the start the unit was under a British command, but later Norwegians joined in the command.

The fishing vessels made 80 trips across the sea. German attacks and bad weather caused the loss of 10 boats, 44 crewmen, and 60 refugees. Because of the high losses it was decided to procure faster vessels. The Americans gave the unit the use of three submarine chasers (HNoMS Hessa, HNoMS Hitra and HNoMS Vigra). None of the trips with these vessels incurred loss of life or equipment.^[37]

The Shetland Bus made over 200 trips across the sea and the most famous of the men, Leif Andreas Larsen (Shetlands-Larsen) made 52 of them.^[38]

[edit] Shetland today

In the early 1970s, oil and gas were found off Shetland. The East Shetland Basin is one of the largest petroleum sedimentary basins in Europe and the oil extracted there is sent to the terminal at Sullom Voe (Norse: Solheimavagr). Sullom Voe terminal opened in 1978 and is the largest oil export harbour in the United Kingdom with a volume of 25 million tons per year.

Income from oil and related economies has reduced emigration and vastly improved infrastructure throughout Shetland. Sheep farming also plays a big part in Shetland today as does fishing.

As a result of the oil revenue and the cultural links with Norway, a small independence movement developed briefly. It saw as its model the Isle of Man, as well as its closest neighbour, the Faroe Islands, an autonomous dependency of Denmark.^[39]

[edit] Climate

Shetland has a Maritime Subarctic climate (Köppen Cfc), with long but mild winters and short, cool summers. The climate all year round is moderate due to the influence of the relative warmth of the surrounding seas, the surface temperature of which falls to 5 °C (41 °F) in early March and peaks at 13 to 14 °C (55 to 57 °F) in late August. However, summers are cool and temperatures over 21 °C (70 °F) are rare. The warmest month on record was August 1947, when the average maximum temperature was 17.2 °C (63.0 °F).

The general character of the climate is windy and cloudy with at least 1 mm (0.039 in) of rain falling on about 200 days a year. Average yearly precipitation at Lerwick is 1,238 mm (48.7 in), with November and December the wettest months, together receiving about a quarter of annual precipitation. Snowfall can occur at any time from July to early June although it 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 in the east of the islands during summer due to the cooling effect of the sea on mild southerly airflows.

There is a wide variation in day length during the course of the year due the islands' northerly location. On the shortest day at the winter solstice sunlight lasts 3 hours and 45 minutes and this stretches to 23 hours at the summer solstice, with twilight occupying the remainder of the time. However, the remoteness of the islands from warm and dry airflows means that all months are cloudy. Annual sunshine hours average 1065 hours so sunny days are rare and overcast days are common.^[40]

Climate data for Shetland
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	5 (41)	5 (41)	6 (43)	8 (46)	11 (52)	13 (55)	14 (57)	14 (57)	13 (55)	10 (50)	8 (46)	6 (43)	9.4 (49)
Average low °C (°F)	1 (34)	1 (34)	2 (36)	3 (37)	5 (41)	7 (45)	10 (50)	10 (50)	8 (46)	6 (43)	4 (39)	3 (37)	5 (41)
Precipitation mm (inches)	109 (4.29)	87 (3.43)	69 (2.72)	68 (2.68)	52 (2.05)	55 (2.17)	72 (2.83)	71 (2.8)	87 (3.43)	104 (4.09)	111 (4.37)	118 (4.65)	1,003 (39.49)
Avg. precipitation days	25	22	20	21	15	15	17	17	19	23	24	25	243
Sunshine hours	24.8	50.4	89.9	136	164	159	124	117.8	108.5	68.2	33	15	1,090.6
Source: [41]

Due to the islands' latitude, on clear winter nights the aurora borealis or "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".

[edit] Economy

Fishing has been an integral part of Shetland's economy since prehistory and it remains central to the islands' economy even today. It was also important in bringing in commerce from outside the isles, for example the 17th century Hanseatic traders and Victorian-era herring activities.

The main revenue producers in Shetland today are agriculture, aquaculture, fishing and the petroleum industry (crude oil and natural gas production). Farming is mostly concerned with the raising of Shetland sheep,^[42] known for their unusually fine wool. Crops raised include oats and barley; however, the cold, windswept islands make for a harsh environment for most plants. Crofting, the farming of small plots of land on a legally restricted tenancy basis, is still practiced and viewed as a key Shetland tradition as well as important source of income.

More recently, oil reserves discovered in the 20th century out to sea have provided a much needed alternative source of income for the islands. The East Shetland Basin is one of Europe's largest oil fields. Oil produced there is landed at the Sullom Voe terminal in Shetland. Taxes from the oil have increased spending on social welfare, art, sport, environmental measures and financial development. Three quarters of the islands work force is employed in the service sector. Even though oil makes up 15% of the islands' economy, (£116 million a year), the fish-related industry generates twice as much income and employs three times as many workers.^[43] The oil revenue allows increased expenditure by the Shetland Islands Council, which alone accounted for 27.9% of employment in 2003.^[44]

For the last 25 years unemployment has been under 5% and as of 2004 was 2%, but the fluctuations in the market for farmed salmon and trawled white fish leads to seasonal changes in unemployment.

In January 2007, the Shetland Islands Council signed a partnership agreement with Scottish and Southern Energy for a 200-turbine wind farm and subsea cable. The renewable energy project would produce about 600 megawatts and contribute about £20 million to the Shetland economy per year.^[45] The plan is meeting significant opposition within the islands, primarily resulting from the anticipated visual impact of the development.

[edit] Media

Shetland is served by a weekly local newspaper, The Shetland Times (one of the first UK newspapers to publish on the internet), two monthly magazines, Shetland Life and i'i' Shetland and a news website, www.shetland-news.co.uk.

Radio service is provided by BBC Radio Shetland (the local opt-out of BBC Radio Scotland) and SIBC, a commercial radio station.

[edit] Transport

Transport between islands is primarily by ferry. Shetland is served by a domestic ferry connection from Lerwick to the mainland, operated by Northlink Ferries to Aberdeen.

Sumburgh Airport, the main airport on Shetland, is located close to Sumburgh, 40 km (25 mi) south of Lerwick. Loganair operates flights for FlyBe to other parts of the British Isles up to ten times a day. The destinations are Kirkwall, Aberdeen, Inverness, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Non-stop flights from London Stansted and the Faeroes operated by the Faeroese airline Atlantic Airways were discontinued in 2008.

Inter-Island flights from the Shetland Mainland to Fair Isle, Foula, Papa Stour, and Out Skerries are operated from Tingwall Airport 11 km west of Lerwick, by Directflight Ltd., using Islander aircraft owned by the Shetland Islands Council.

There are frequent charter flights from Aberdeen to Scatsta (near Sullom Voe), which are used to transport oilfield workers.

A Public Travel and also Travel Agent called John Leask and Son (also known as Leasks of Lerwick or Leasks Travel) founded in 1919, based in Lerwick opearte a Public Bus Service round Shetland.

[edit] Public services

The Shetland Islands Council provide services in the areas of Environmental Health, Roads, Social Work, Community Development, Organisational Development, Economic Development, Building Standards, Trading Standards, Housing, Waste, Education, Burial Grounds, Fire Service, Port and Harbours and others. The political composition of the Council is 22 Independents. Shetland is subdivided into 12 civil parishes that no longer have administrative significance but are sometimes used for statistical purposes:

In Shetland there are a total of 34 schools: two High Schools, seven Junior High Schools with primary and nursery departments, and 25 Primary Schools. The High Schools are Anderson High School and Brae High School. Shetland is also home to the North Atlantic Fisheries College.

The Shetland NHS is the local Scottish health service in the Shetland Islands.

[edit] People

It is believed that the island group had an original population about which little is known who were replaced or assimilated by the Picts. Historical, archaeological, place-name and linguistic evidence indicates Norse cultural dominance of Shetland during the Viking period.^[46] A few place names might have Pictish origin, but this is disputed. Several genetic studies have been conducted investigating the genetic makeup of the islands' population today in order to establish its origin. Shetlanders are less than half Scandinavian in origin. They have almost identical proportions of Scandinavian matrilineal and patrilineal ancestry (ca 44%), suggesting that the islands were settled by both men and women, as seems to have been the case in Orkney and the northern and western coastline of Scotland, but areas of the British Isles further away from Scandinavia show signs of being colonised primarily by males who found local wives.^[47] After the islands were transferred to Scotland thousands of Scots families emigrated to Shetland in the 16th and 17th centuries. Contacts with Germany and the Netherlands through the fishing trade brought smaller numbers of immigrants from those countries. World War II and the oil industry have also contributed to population increase through immigration.^[33]

[edit] Population development

The population development on Shetland has through the times been affected by deaths at sea and epidemics. Smallpox afflicted the islands in the 17th and 18th centuries, but as vaccines became common after 1760 the population increased to 40,000 in 1861. The population increase led to a lack of food and many young men went away to serve in the British merchant fleet. 100 years later the islands' population was more than halved. This decrease was mainly caused by the large number of Shetlandic men being lost at sea during the two world wars and the waves of emigration in the 1920s and 1930s. Now more people of Shetlandic background live in Canada, Australia and New Zealand than in Shetland.

District	Population 1961	Population 1971	Population 1981	Population 1991	Population 2001
Bound Skerry (& Grunay)	3	3	0	0	0
Bressay	269	248	334	352	384
Bruray	34	35	33	27	26
East Burra	92	64	78	72	66
Fair Isle	64	65	58	67	69
Fetlar	127	88	101	90	86
Foula	54	33	39	40	31
Housay	71	63	49	58	50
Mainland	13,282	12,944	17,722	17,562	17,550
Muckle Flugga	3	3	0	0	0
Muckle Roe	103	94	99	115	104
Noss	0	3	0	0	0
Papa Stour	55	24	33	33	25
Trondra	20	17	93	117	133
Unst	1,148	1,124	1,140	1,055	720
Vaila	9	5	0	7	2
West Burra	561	501	767	817	753
Whalsay	764	870	1,031	1,041	1,589
Yell	1,155	1,143	1,191	1,075	957
Total	17,814	17,327	22,768	22,522	22,990

[edit] Culture

The main cultural influences on Shetland are Scandinavian (especially Norwegian) and British (especially Scottish) but North Sea and North Atlantic commerce have ensured various other influences. As with other Scottish dialects, the Shetland dialect, Lowland Scots influenced by the Norn language, was actively discouraged in schools, churches and civic life until the late 20th century, but has since then been restored as a language of culture. It is used both in local radio and dialect writing, and kept alive by Shetland ForWirds, the Shetland Folk Society and the quarterly New Shetlander magazine.^[48]

Up Helly Aa is one of a variety of fire festivals held in Shetland annually in the middle of winter. The festival is just over 100 years old in its present, highly organised form. Originally a temperance festival held to break up the long nights of winter the festival has become one celebrating the isles heritage and includes a procession of men dressed as Vikings, the burning of a replica longship and copious amounts of alcohol. The main Up Helly Aa in Lerwick bars women from taking part in the processions of guizers. Instead, women prepare food for the big night.^[49]

Shetland competes in the biennial Island Games, which it hosted in 2005.

[edit] Language

The Pictish language died out during the Viking occupation to be replaced by Old Norse, which in turn evolved into Norn. This remains the most prominent remnant of Norse culture on the islands. Almost every place name in use there can be traced back to the Vikings.^[50] Norn continued to be spoken until the 18th century when it was replaced by an insular dialect of Scots also known as Shetlandic, which in turn is being replaced by Scottish English. Although Norn was spoken for hundreds of years it is now extinct and few written sources remain. ^[51]

[edit] Churches

There are churches of many different denominations in Shetland, with the largest variety found in Lerwick. Unlike much of Scotland, the Methodist Church has a relatively high membership in Shetland. Shetland comprises a District of the Methodist Church (the rest of Scotland comprises a separate District). The Church of Scotland has a Presbytery of Shetland; the largest church is Lerwick and Bressay Parish Church.^[52]

[edit] Flag

Roy Grönneberg founded the local chapter of the Scottish National Party in 1966 and was active in the struggle for Shetland autonomy. In 1969 he designed the flag of Shetland in cooperation with Bill Adams to mark the 500 year anniversary of the transfer of Shetland from Norway to Scotland.^[53]

The reasoning behind the design was a desire to illustrate that Shetland had been a part of Norway for 500 years and a part of Scotland for 500 years. The colours are identical to the ones in Flag of Scotland, but shaped in the Nordic cross and is the same design Icelandic republicans used in the early 20th century known in Iceland as Hvítbláinn, the white-blue.

In 1975 when the new Shetland Islands Council came into being Grönneberg wanted his proposed flag to become the official flag of Shetland, but was unsuccessful. A plebiscite in 1985 also failed to give it official status. Finally, in 2005 the Lord Lyon King of Arms approved the flag as the official flag of Shetland.

[edit] Notable places and buildings

• Cunningsburgh
• Fort Charlotte
• Lerwick Town Hall
• Mavis Grind
• Muness Castle the most northerly castle in the United Kingdom
• Scalloway Castle
• St Ninian's Isle
• Sumburgh Head
• Skaw the most northerly settlement in the United Kingdom
• The most northerly phone box in the United Kingdom
• The Bridge-end outdoor centre

[edit] Media and the arts

Shetland's culture and landscapes have inspired a variety of musicians, writers and film-makers.

[edit] Music

The Forty Fiddlers was formed in the 1950s to promote the traditional fiddle style, which is a vibrant part of local culture today.^[54] Notable exponents of Shetland folk music include Aly Bain 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 untimely death in 1978.^[55]

[edit] 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.^[56][57]

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.^[58]

The 1975 novel North Star by Hammond Innes is largely set in Shetland and the first section of Raman Mundair's 2007 book A Choreographer's Cartography is "60 degrees north", which offers a British Asian perspective on the landscape.^[59] Vagaland, who grew up in Walls, was arguably Shetland's finest poet of the 20th century.^[60]

[edit] Films

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 kilometres (40 mi) west of the Outer Hebrides but Powell was unable to get permission to film on St. Kilda. Undaunted, he made the film over four months during the summer of 1936 on Foula. 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)^[61] A Shetland Lyric (1934),^[62] Devil's Gate (2003) and It's Nice Up North (2006), a comedy documentary by Graham Fellows.

[edit] Wildlife

[edit] Flora

The landscape in Shetland is marked by the grazing of sheep and the rarity of trees. The flora is dominated by Arctic-alpine plants, wild flowers, moss and lichen. Shetland Mouse-ear (Cerastium nigrescens) is an endemic plant found only in Shetland. It was first recorded in 1837 by botanist Thomas Edmondston. Although reported from two other sites in the 19th century, it currently grows only on two serpentine hills on the island of Unst.^[63][64]

[edit] Fauna

Shetland is the site of one of the largest bird colonies in the North Atlantic, home to more than one million birds. Most birds are found in colonies on Hermaness, Foula, Mousa, Noss, Sumburgh Head and Fair Isle. Some of the birds found on the islands are Atlantic Puffin, Storm-petrel, Northern Lapwing and Winter Wren. Many arctic birds spend the winter on Shetland and among those are Whooper Swan and Great Northern Diver.

The geographical isolation and recent glacial history of Shetland have resulted in a depleted mammalian fauna. The Wood Mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus L.), along with the Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus Berkenhout) and the House Mouse (Mus musculus domesticus), are the only recorded types of rodent present on the island. Based largely on morphological studies of epigenetic variations, the source of the original founding population has been attributed to Norway with the most obvious date of introduction being presumed to be around the 9th century AD with the arrival of the Vikings. However, archaeological evidence now suggests that this species was present during the Middle Iron Age (around 200 BC - AD 400), and one theory proposes that Apodemus was in fact introduced from Orkney where a population had existed since at the least the Bronze Age.^[65]

The High-finned sperm whale is a supposed cryptid relative of the sperm whale that is said to live in the seas around the Shetland. The difference between this creature and other sperm whales is said to be the presence of a tall dorsal fin on its back, which the sperm whale lacks. Two such stranded whales were apparently observed by Sir Robert Sibbald who described their dorsal fins as being similar to a "mizzen mast".^[66]

[edit] Domesticated animals

There are 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.^[67][68] Others are the Shetland Sheepdog or "Sheltie", the endangered Shetland Cattle^[69] and Shetland Goose^[70][71] and the Shetland Sheep which is believed to have originated prior to 1000 AD.^[72] The Grice was a breed of semi-domesticated pig that became extinct in 1930. Its habit of attacking lambs cannot have aided its survival.^[73]

[edit] See also

• Hjeltefjorden
• List of domesticated Scottish breeds
• Udal law
• Category:Shetland music

[edit] References