Coordinates A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates, using mainly a spherical coordinate system: 60°18′14″N 1°16′08″W / 60.3038°N 1.2689°W Shetland (spelled Zetland until 1970,[citation needed] from Ȝetland; Old Norse Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300 Hjaltland; Old Gaelic Old Irish is the name given to the oldest form of the Goidelic languages, for which extensive written texts are possessed. It was used from the 6th to the 10th centuries, when it gave way to Middle Irish Innse C[h]ait; Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. This branch also includes the Irish and Manx languages. It is distinct from the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages, which includes Welsh, Cornish and Breton. Scottish, Manx and Irish Gaelic are all descended from Old Irish: Sealtainn) is an archipelago An archipelago is a chain or cluster of islands that are formed tectonically. The word archipelago literally means "chief sea", from Italian arcipelago (artʃiˈpelaɡo), derived ultimately from Greek arkhon (arkhi-) ("leader") and pelagos ("sea"). In Italian, possibly following a tradition of antiquity, the in Scotland Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the southwest. In addition to the mainland, Scotland, off the northeast coast. The islands lie to the northeast of Orkney Orkney is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated 10 miles (16 km) north of the coast of Caithness. Orkney comprises over 70 islands; around 20 are inhabited. The largest island, known as "Mainland," has an area of 202 sq mi (523 km²), making it the sixth-largest Scottish island and the tenth-largest island in the British Isles, 280 km (170 mi) from the Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands or Faeroe Islands or simply Faroe or Faeroes (Faroese: Føroyar, Danish: Færøerne, Nynorsk: Færøyane, Bokmål: Færøyene, Old Norse/Icelandic: Færeyjar, Irish: Na Scigirí) are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately half way between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe and form part of the division between the Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres . It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek mythology, making the Atlantic the "Sea of Atlas". The oldest known mention of this name to the west and the North Sea The North Sea is a marginal, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf. The Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north connect it to the Atlantic Ocean. It is more than 970 kilometres long and 580 kilometres (360 mi) wide, with an area of around 750,000 square kilometres (290,000 sq mi). A large part to the east. The total area is approximately 1,466 km² (566 sq mi The square mile is an imperial and US unit of measure for an area equal to the area of a square of one statute mile. It should not be confused with miles square, which refers to the number of miles on each side squared. For instance, 20 miles square (20×20 miles) is equal to 400 square miles). Administratively, the area is one of the 32 council areas For local government purposes, Scotland is divided into 32 areas designated as "council areas" which are all governed by unitary authorities designated as "councils". They have the option under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1997 of being known (but not re-designated) as a "comhairle" when opting for a Gaelic of Scotland. The islands' administrative centre and only burgh A Burgh is an autonomous corporate entity in Scotland, usually a town. This type of administrative division has existed since the 12th century, when David I created the first Royal burghs. Recognition of burgh status today, however, has little more than ceremonial value. Burgh status is broadly analogous to borough status, found in the rest of the is Lerwick Lerwick is the capital and main port of the Shetland Islands, Scotland, located more than 100 miles off the north coast of mainland Great Britain on the east coast of the Shetland Mainland. Lerwick is about 210 miles (340 km) north of Aberdeen, 230 miles (370 km) west of Bergen in Norway and 230 miles (370 km) south east of Tórshavn in the Faroe.

The largest island, known as "Mainland," has an area of 967 km² (374 sq mi), making it the third-largest Scottish island This is a list of islands of Scotland, the mainland of which is part of the island of Great Britain. Also included are various other related tables and lists. The definition of an offshore island used in this list is that it is "land that is surrounded by seawater on a daily basis, but not necessarily at all stages of the tide, excluding and the fifth-largest of the British Isles The term derives from the adjective British and the plural of the noun isle. In classical Latin the plural term Britannicae insulae, was rarely used, though the singular Britannia insula was used denoting Great Britain only. In Old English the term Breotone ealond 'Britain's islands' dates to the 10th century.

Shetland is also a lieutenancy area The lieutenancy areas of Scotland are the areas used for the ceremonial lord-lieutenants, the monarch's representatives, in Scotland. They are different from the local government council areas, the committee areas, the sheriffdoms, the registration counties, the former regions and districts, the former counties of Scotland, and the various other, comprises the Shetland constituency of the Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood" (cf. "Westminster"), is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), and was formerly a county The counties of Scotland were the principal divisions of Scotland until 1975. Scotland's current lieutenancy areas and registration counties are largely based on them.

Contents

History

Prehistory

Firm geological evidence shows that at around 6100 BC a tsunami A tsunami (pronounced /(t)suːˈnɑːmi/) is a series of water waves (called a tsunami wave train) that is caused when a large volume of a body of water, such as an ocean, is rapidly displaced. The Japanese term is literally translated into "harbor wave." caused by the Storegga Slides The three Storegga Slides are considered to be amongst the largest known landslides. They occurred under water, at the edge of Norway's continental shelf , in the Norwegian Sea, 100 km north-west of the Møre coast. An area the size of Iceland slumped, causing a very large tsunami in the North Atlantic Ocean. This collapse involved an estimated 290 hit Shetland, as well as the rest of the east coast of Scotland, and may have washed over some of the Shetland Islands completely.[1] Shetland has been populated since at least 3400 BC.[2] The early people subsisted on cattle-farming and agriculture. During the Bronze Age The Bronze Age is, with respect to a given prehistoric society, the period in that society when the most advanced metalworking included smelting copper and tin from naturally-occurring outcroppings of copper and tin ores, creating a bronze alloy by melting those metals together, and casting them into bronze artifacts. The Bronze Age also included, around 2000 BC, the climate cooled and the population moved to the coast. During the Iron Age In archaeology, the Iron Age was the stage in the development of any people in which tools and weapons whose main ingredient was iron were prominent. The adoption of this material often coincided with other changes in society, including differing agricultural practices, religious beliefs and artistic styles, many stone fortresses were erected, some ruins of which remain today. Around A.D. 297, Roman sources describe a people known as the Picts The Picts were a confederation of tribes living in what was later to become eastern and northern Scotland from before the Roman conquest of Britain until the 10th century. They lived to the north of the Forth and Clyde rivers, and spoke the extinct Pictish language, thought to have been related to the Brythonic languages spoken by the Britons to who ruled much of north Scotland Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the southwest. In addition to the mainland, Scotland, and Shetland eventually became part of the Pictish kingdom. Shetland's Picts were later conquered by the Vikings A Viking is one of the Norse (Scandinavian) explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided and colonized wide areas of Europe from the late eighth to the early eleventh century. These Norsemen used their famed longships to travel as far east as Constantinople and the Volga River in Russia, and as far west as Iceland, Greenland, and. Due to the practice, dating to at least the early Neolithic, of building in stone on the virtually tree-less islands, Shetland is extremely rich in physical remains of all these periods,[3] though Shetland is less rich in material remains than Orkney Orkney is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated 10 miles (16 km) north of the coast of Caithness. Orkney comprises over 70 islands; around 20 are inhabited. The largest island, known as "Mainland," has an area of 202 sq mi (523 km²), making it the sixth-largest Scottish island and the tenth-largest island in the British Isles.

The artifacts of all the eras of Shetland's past can be studied at the newly built (2007) Shetland Museum in Lerwick.

Norwegian colonisation

Harald Hårfagre took control of Hjaltland in ca 875. The image is from the Icelandic manuscript Flateyjarbók The Flatey Book, is an important medieval Icelandic manuscripts. It is also known as GkS 1005 fol. and Codex Flatöiensis. Sometimes anglicized as Flateyjarbok from the 1400s

By the end of the ninth century the Vikings shifted their attention from plundering to invasion, mainly due to the overpopulation of Norway Norway (pronounced /ˈnɔɹweɪ/ ; Norwegian: Norge (Bokmål), Noreg (Nynorsk)) or Norga (North Sami), officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty. The majority of the country in comparison to resources and arable land available there. Vikings colonised much of northern Europe, including Normandy, England, Scotland, Shetland, Orkney, the Hebrides The Hebrides comprise a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. There are two main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These islands have a long history of occupation dating back to the Mesolithic and the culture of the residents has been affected by the successive influences of Celtic, Norse and English speaking, the Isle of Man The Isle of Man , or Mann (Manx: Mannin, [ˈmanɪn]), is a self-governing Crown dependency, located in the Irish Sea at the geographical centre of the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Crown is represented by a Lieutenant Governor. The island is not part of the United Kingdom but, the Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands or Faeroe Islands or simply Faroe or Faeroes (Faroese: Føroyar, Danish: Færøerne, Nynorsk: Færøyane, Bokmål: Færøyene, Old Norse/Icelandic: Færeyjar, Irish: Na Scigirí) are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately half way between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe, Iceland The Republic of Iceland ( /ˈaɪslənd/ ) (Icelandic: Ísland or Lýðveldið Ísland (names of Iceland); IPA: [ˈislant]), is an island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km². Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík and Greenland Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically associated with Europe (specifically Denmark) since the 18th century. In 1979, Denmark granted, and subsequently North America Vinland was the name given to an area of North America by the Norseman Leif Eriksson, about the year 1001 CE. The Norwegians tended to follow a northern route to the islands and less populous places whereas the Danes Germanic ethnic groups: Norwegians, Icelanders, Swedish, Dutch, Germans, Austrians, English, Faroese, Flemings went to more populated areas such as England England /ˈɪŋɡlənd/ is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population, while its mainland territory occupies most of the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain. England is bordered by Scotland to the north, Wales to the west and the North Sea, Irish Sea, Celtic Sea, and France France (pronounced /ˈfræns/ or /ˈfrɑːns/; French: [fʁɑ̃s]), officially the French Republic (French: République française, pronounced: [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the, and the Swedes Historically Norse paganism, Christianity and more recently Secularism. Also see Religion in Sweden went east.[4]

Hjaltland was colonised by Norwegian Vikings 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 Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300 language Norn Norn is an extinct North Germanic language that was spoken on Shetland and Orkney, off the north coast of mainland Scotland, and in Caithness. After the islands were pawned to Scotland by Norway in the 15th century, it was gradually replaced by Scots, which survived into the 1800s.

After Harald Hårfagre took control of all Norway, many of his opponents fled, some to Orkney and Shetland. From the Northern Isles The Northern Isles are a chain of islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland 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 Adherents of Christianity, known as Christians, believe that Jesus is the Messiah prophesied in the Hebrew Bible . Orthodox Christian theology claims that Jesus suffered, died, and was resurrected to open heaven to humans. They further maintain that Jesus ascended into heaven, and most denominations teach that Jesus will return to judge all humans, in the tenth century.

Conflict with Norway

King Sverre's march over the Vossefjell by Peter Nicolai Arbo Peter Nicolai Arbo was a Norwegian painter, who specialized in painting motifs from Norwegian history and images from Norse mythology. He is above all noted for Åsgardsreien, a dramatic motif based on a Norwegian folk legend and Valkyrie, which depicts a female figure from Norse mythology

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 Sigurd Magnusson was a Norwegian pretender and rival king during the Civil War era, against king Sverre Sigurdsson. He lived approximately from 1180 to 1194. Sigurd was a son of late king Magnus V of Norway the Erlingson. The young Sigurd was proclaimed king in 1193 at Haugating near Tønsberg. A year later he was killed in the naval battle of, son of king Magnus Erlingsson. The eyjarskeggjar were beaten in the Battle of Florvåg near Bergen Bergen ( pronunciation ) is the second largest city in Norway, with a population of 252,051 as of 1 January 2009. Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Economic Region, as defined by Statistics Norway, had a population of 385,450 as of 1 January 2009. 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.

Increased Scottish interest

Håkon Håkonsson and son depicted in the Icelandic manuscript Flateyjarbók The Flatey Book, is an important medieval Icelandic manuscripts. It is also known as GkS 1005 fol. and Codex Flatöiensis. Sometimes anglicized as Flateyjarbok from the 14th c. An inaccurate map of Shetland from the Carta Marina of 1529

When Alexander III of Scotland Alexander III (4 September 1241 – 19 March 1286), King of Scots, was born at Roxburgh, the only son of Alexander II by his second wife Marie de Coucy. Alexander's father died on 6 July 1249 and he became king at the age of eight, inaugurated at Scone on 13 July 1249 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 Arran or the Isle of Arran is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland, and with an area of 432 square kilometres (167 sq mi) is the seventh largest Scottish island. It is in the unitary council area of North Ayrshire and the 2001 census had a resident population of 5,058. Although commonly associated with the Hebrides, with which it. 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 The Battle of Largs was an engagement fought between the armies of Norway and Scotland near the present-day town of Largs in North Ayrshire on the Firth of Clyde in Scotland on 2 October 1263. It was the most important military engagement of the Scottish-Norwegian War. The Norwegian forces were led by king Håkon Håkonsson and the Scottish forces 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.

Pawned to Scotland

Illustration of King Christian I of Denmark from the Nordens Historie of 1887.

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.[5] 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 Scotland in which he pawned Orkney for 50,000 Rhenish guilders.[6] On 28 May the next year he also pawned Shetland for 8,000 Rhenish guilders.[7] 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.[8]

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".

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

The Hansa era

After the decline of the Vikings, four centuries followed where the Shetlanders sold their goods through the Hanseatic League of German merchantmen in Bergen, and later to merchants from Bremen, Lübeck and Hamburg. 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.[9] 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.[10][11]

Napoleonic wars

Some 3000 Shetlanders served in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic wars from 1800 to 1815.[12]

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.[13]

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.[14]

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 the improved economic state that oil-related development has brought, has resulted in reduced emigration and vastly improved infrastructure throughout Shetland, leading to an improved quality of life.

As a result of the oil revenue and the cultural links with Norway, a small independence movement developed briefly within Shetland. It saw as its model the Isle of Man, as well as its closest neighbour, the Faroe Islands, an autonomous dependency of Denmark.[15]

Sheep farming also plays a big part in Shetland today. Fishing is also important, but not as much as it used to be.

Timeline

Year Event
3400 BC First sign of settlement
43 & 77 AD Roman authors Pomponius Mela and Pliny the Elder refers to the seven islands they call Haemodae and Acmodae respectively, assumed to be Shetland.[16]
297 AD Roman sources mention the Picts
875 Harald Hårfagre took control of the islands
1195 Harald Maddadsson lost the earldom of Shetland and the islands are put directly under the Norwegian king Sverre Sigurdsson
1379 The Scottish earl Henry Sinclair took control of Orkney on behalf of the Norwegian king Håkon VI Magnusson
1469 Christian I pawned Shetland to the Scottish king James III
1700-1760 Smallpox hit the islands hard
1700s Norn language gradually dies out
1707 The German merchants lost their trading rights in Shetland
1708 Capital moved from Scalloway to Lerwick
1861 32,000 inhabitants
1880s William Ewart Gladstone freed the serfs
1940 Shetland bus established by the Special Operations Executive
1961 17,814 inhabitants
1969 Shetland marks 500 years under both Norwegian and Scottish rule
1975 Lerwick Town Council and Zetland County Council merged to Shetland Islands Council
1978 Oil terminal in Sullom Voe opened
2001 21,990 inhabitants
2005 Lord Lyon King of Arms, the heraldic authority of Scotland, approved the blue and white flag of Shetland as an official flag

Culture

The Shetland Crofthouse museum A map showing the modern day Shetland Islands.

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. Shetland's fiddle music is a blend of ancient Norwegian folk music, Scots reels, jigs and slow airs, and tunes brought home by sailors from Ireland, Germany, North America and even Greenland. Notable exponents of Shetland folk music include fiddle players, the late Tom Anderson and Aly Bain, and the guitarist, the late Peerie Willie Johnson (see Category:Shetland music).

The landscape and the light found in Shetland have been an inspiration to many artists in the fields of painting, drawing and sculpturing, both local and from elsewhere. There are several local art galleries. As with other Scottish dialects, the Shetland dialect, a mixture of old English, Scots and Norse words, was actively discouraged in schools, churches and civic life until the late twentieth 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 the Shetland Folk Society and the quarterly New Shetlander magazine.[17]

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.[18]

Shetland competes in the bi-annual Island Games, which it hosted in 2005.

Language

Main articles: Norn language, Shetlandic, and Pictish 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.[19] 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.

Example of the Lord's Prayer in Shetland Norn:

Shetland Norn

Fy vor or er i Chimeri.
Halaght vara nam dit.
La Konungdum din cumma.
La vill din vera guerde
i vrildin sin da er i chimeri.
Gav vus dagh u dagloght brau.
Forgive sindorwara sin vi forgiva gem ao sinda gainst wus.
Lia wus ikè o vera tempa, but delivra wus fro adlu idlu.
For do i ir Kongungdum, u puri, u glori, Amen

Translation to modern Norwegian (nynorsk)

Far vår som er i himmelen!
Heilagt skal namnet ditt vera.
Lat kongedømet ditt koma.
Lat viljen din verta gjort
på jorda som i himmelen.
Gjev oss i dag vårt daglege brød.
Forlat syndene våre, som vi òg forlèt dei som har synda mot oss.
Lei oss ikkje ut i freisting, men frels oss frå alt ille.
For kongedømet er ditt, og makta og æra i all æve. Amen.

Old Norse version

Faþer vár es ert í himenríki,
verði nafn þitt hæilagt
Til kome ríke þitt,
værði vili þin
sva an iarðu sem í himnum.
Gef oss í dag brauð vort dagligt
Ok fyr gefþu oss synþer órar,
sem vér fyr gefom þeim er viþ oss hafa misgert
Leiðd oss eigi í freistni,
heldr leys þv oss frá öllu illu.

English version (not literal translation)

Jakob Jakobsen was a Faroese linguist and leading documentarist of Norn
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
On earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial,
And deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours,
Now and forever. Amen.

Name

The original Norse name for Shetland was Hjaltland. Hjalt in Old Norse meaning the hilt or crossguard of a sword. 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 of the combination of the letters hj changed to sh. This is also found in some Norwegian dialects in for instance the word hjå (with) and the place names Hjerkinn and Sjoa (from *Hjó). Lastly the l before the t disappeared.[20].

As Norn was gradually replaced by Scots Shetland became Ȝetland (the initial letter being the Middle Scots letter, yogh (which can also be found in the name Menzies). 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 mispronounced form used to describe the pre-1975 county council.

In early Irish literature, Shetland is referred to as Inse Catt - "the Isles of Cats". This is considered to represent the pre-Norse 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").[21]

Norse names

The old Norse names of the principal islands were:

Shetland on film

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 west-northwest of North Uist in the Outer Hebrides; the inhabitants spoke Gaelic. 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 the island of Foula, in the Shetland Isles. The film transposes these events to one of the islands of Shetland. 40 years later, the documentary Return To The Edge Of The World (1978) was filmed, capturing a reunion of cast and crew of the film as they revisited the island.

A number of other films have been made on or about Shetland:

Shetland in literature

Haroldswick Methodist Church is the most northerly church building in the UK.

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.[25]

Flag

Flag of Shetland

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.[26]

The reasons behind the design was the desire to illustrate the 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.

Geography

County of Shetland until circa 1890
Geography
Area - Total Ranked 15th 352,876 acres (142,804 ha)
County town Lerwick
Chapman code SHI
See also: List of Shetland islands

Out of the approximately 100 islands, only 15 are inhabited. The main island of the group is known as Mainland. The other inhabited islands are: Bressay, 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 (see below).

Fair Isle lies approximately halfway between Shetland and Orkney, but it is administered as part of Shetland. The Out Skerries lie east of the main group. 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".

Climate

Shetland has a Maritime Subarctic climate (Koppen 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 (55-57°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.[27]

A fine example of cross-bedding in Middle Old Red Sandstone on the Isle of Bressay.
Average maximum temperature coldest month 4.9 °C (40.8 °F) (February)
Average maximum temperature warmest month 14 °C (57 °F) (August)
Number of days with air frost 33 days
Annual precipitation 1,037 mm (40.8 in)
Number of days a year with snowfall 60 days
Number of days a year with rain or showers 285 days[28]

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.[29][30]

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 Shetland Isles are also the home of the Shetland Sheepdog or 'Sheltie' which is a small, robust and graceful dog.

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.[31]

Notable places and buildings

Subdivisions

Shetland is subdivided into 22 parishes or wards that no longer have administrative significance but are used for statistical purposes:

1. Sound 2. Clickimin 3. North Central 4. Breiwick 5. South Central 6. Harbour and Bressay 7. North 8. Upper Sound, Gulberwick and Quarff 9. Unst and Island of Fetlar 10. Yell 11. Northmavine, Muckle Roe and Busta

12. Delting West 13. Delting East and Lunnasting 14. Nesting, Whiteness, Girlsta and Gott 15. Scalloway 16. Whalsay/Skerries also known as Out Skerries 17. Sandsting, Aithsting and Weisdale 18. Walls, Sandness and Clousta 19. Burra/Trondra 20. Cunningsburgh and Sandwick 21. Sandwick, Levenwick and Bigton 22. Dunrossness

Economy

85% of the catch (67 000 tonn) in Shetland is herring and mackerel which is 52% of the catch value. Haddock, cod and angler achieve higher prices and make up the rest of the catch value, even though these species only make up 15% of the catch. Pictured: Mackerel.

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,[32] 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. The Shetland Pony is another important aspect of the Shetland farming tradition.

North Sea oil rig

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.[33] The oil revenue allows increased expenditure by the Shetland Islands Council, which alone accounted for 27.9% of employment in 2003.[34]

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.[35] The plan is meeting significant opposition within the islands, primarily resulting from the anticipated visual impact of the development.

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.

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.

Loganair aircraft on Fair Isle, midway between Orkney and Shetland

Sumburgh Airport, the main airport on Shetland, is located close to Sumburgh, 40 km (25 miles) south of Lerwick. Loganair operates flights for FlyBe to other parts of the British Isles seven times a day. The destinations are Kirkwall, Aberdeen, Inverness, Glasgow and Edinburgh. In the summer months, there are also flights to London Stansted and the Faeroes operated by the Faeroese airliner Atlantic Airways.

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.

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.

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.

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.[36] 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.[37] 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.[38]

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 1 2
West Burra 561 501 767 817 753
Whalsay 764 870 1,031 1,041 1,034
Yell 1,155 1,143 1,191 1,075 957
Total 17,814 17,327 22,768 22,522 21,990

See also: List of Shetland islands

Notable Shetlanders

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ Smith, David "Tsunami hazards". Fettes.com. Retrieved 5 February 2008.
  2. ^ The Scourd of Brouster site in Walls 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. See 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.
  3. ^ Turner (1998) p. 18 states that there are over 5,000 archaeological sites all told.
  4. ^ James Graham-Campbell: Cultural Atlas of the Viking World, 1999. Page 38. ISBN 0816030049
  5. ^ Julian Richards, Vikingblod, page 235, Hermon Forlag, ISBN 8283200165
  6. ^ Acquisition of Orkney and Shetland 1468-9
  7. ^ University Library, University in Bergen: Article on Shetland (Norwegian)
  8. ^ Universitas, Norsken som døde (Norwegian article on the history of the islands) (Norwegian)
  9. ^ Visit Shetland history page
  10. ^ "A History of Shetland" visitshetland.com. Retrieved 12 October 2008.
  11. ^ McLean, Duncan (20 September 1998) "Getting on the Map". London. The Independent. Retrieved 12 October 2008.
  12. ^ Ursula Smith" Shetlopedia. Retrieved 12 October 2008.
  13. ^ University in Bergen, Historical institute page on the Shetland Gang(Norwegian)
  14. ^ Kulturnett Hordaland page on Shetlands-Larsen(Norwegian)
  15. ^ New Statesman - Independence thinking
  16. ^ Breeze, David J. "The ancient geography of Scotland" in Ballin Smith and Banks (2002) pp. 12–13.
  17. ^ Visit Shetland page on culture
  18. ^ Visit Shetland page on Up Helly Aa
  19. ^ Julian Richards, Vikingblod, page 236, Hermon Forlag, ISBN 8283200165
  20. ^ Norwegian language council: Placenames with -a, hjalt, Leirvik, vin in placenames(Norwegian)
  21. ^ Watson, William J. (2005) The Celtic Place-names of Scotland. Edinburgh. Birlinn. ISBN 1841583235.
  22. ^ "The Rugged Island: A Shetland Lyric" IMDb. Retrieved 12 October 2008.
  23. ^ "A Crofter's Life in Shetland" screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2008.
  24. ^ Mundair, Raman (2007) A Choreographer's Cartography. Leeds. Peepal Tree Press. ISBN 9781845230517
  25. ^ "Lerwick and Bressay Parish Church, St Columba's, " shetland-museum. Retrieved 12 October 2008. "It... is the largest church in Shetland... affectionately known as "the Big Kirk" ".
  26. ^ Flags of the Worlds page on the flag of Shetland
  27. ^ UK Meteorological Office, www.meto.gov.uk
  28. ^ Shetlands tourist agency climate page. visitshetland.com. Retrieved 19 April 2007
  29. ^ Scott, W. & Palmer, R. (1987) The Flowering Plants and Ferns of the Shetland Islands. Shetland Times. Lerwick.
  30. ^ Scott, W. Harvey, P., Riddington, R. & Fisher, M. (2002) Rare Plants of Shetland. Shetland Amenity Trust. Lerwick.
  31. ^ Nicholson, R.A., Barber, P., and Bond, J.M. (2005). New Evidence for the Date of Introduction of the House Mouse, Mus musculus domesticus Schwartz & Schwartz, and the Field Mouse, Apodemus sylvaticus (L.) to Shetland. Environmental Archaeology 10 (2): 143-151
  32. ^ Shetland sheep
  33. ^ Visit Shetland's economy page
  34. ^ Shetland Islands Council. "Shetland In Statistics 2005".
  35. ^ BBC News 'Powering on with Island wind plan', 19 Jan 2007
  36. ^ Jones G. (1984) A History of the Vikings Oxford University Press: Oxford.
  37. ^ Article: Genetic evidence for a family-based Scandinavian settlement of Shetland and Orkney during the Viking periods
  38. ^ Visit Shetland page on the people
  39. ^ [1] timesonline.co.uk Retrieved 24 November 2008.
  40. ^ "Sir William Watson Cheyne" watson-cheyne.com. Retrieved 12 October 2008.
  41. ^ Private Eye No 1144 p. 27
  42. ^ "News From Around the Fish Farms, April 2004" The Salmon Farm Monitor. Retrieved 12 October 2008.
  43. ^ "Morgan's "maladministration" " The Shetland News Retrieved 12 October 2008.

Bibliography

External links

Look up Shetland Islands in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Shetland
Shetland Islands
Inhabited islands Mainland · Bressay · Burra · Fair Isle · Fetlar · Foula · Muckle Roe · North Isles · Out Skerries · Papa Stour · Trondra · Unst · Vaila · Whalsay · Yell
Other islands Balta · Bigga · Brother Isle · Hascosay · Hildasay · Lamba · Linga, Muckle Roe · Linga, Yell · Mousa · Noss · Oxna · Papa · Papa Little · Samphrey · South Havra · Uyea, Northmavine · Uyea, Unst · Vementry · West Linga · List of Shetland islands
Towns and villages Lerwick · Aith · Baltasound · Brae · Grutness · Gutcher · Haroldswick · Mossbank · Scalloway · Symbister · Toft · Ulsta · Uyeasound · Vidlin · Walls
Maritime features Balta Sound · Bluemull Sound · Burra Voe · Busta Voe · Sullom Voe · West Voe of Sumburgh · Yell Sound
Extreme points (N,S,E,W) Out Stack · The Skerry, off Fair Isle · Bound Skerry · Waster Hoevda, Foula
Archaeological sites Broch of Clickimin · Jarlshof · Mousa Broch · Old Scatness
Council areas of Scotland

Aberdeen · Aberdeenshire · Angus · Argyll and Bute · Clackmannanshire · Dumfries and Galloway · Dundee · East Ayrshire · East Dunbartonshire · East Lothian · East Renfrewshire · Edinburgh · Falkirk · Fife · Glasgow · Highland · Inverclyde · Midlothian · Moray · Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles) · North Ayrshire · North Lanarkshire · Orkney · Perth and Kinross · Renfrewshire · Scottish Borders · Shetland · South Ayrshire · South Lanarkshire · Stirling · West Dunbartonshire · West Lothian
Former local government counties of Scotland
Subdivisions created by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 and abolished by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973
Aberdeenshire · Angus · Argyll · Ayrshire · Banffshire · Berwickshire · Bute · Caithness · Clackmannanshire · Dumfriesshire · Dunbartonshire · East Lothian · Fife · Inverness-shire · Kincardineshire · Kinross-shire · Kirkcudbrightshire · Lanarkshire · Midlothian · Moray · Nairnshire · Orkney · Peeblesshire · Perthshire · Renfrewshire · Ross and Cromarty · Roxburghshire · Selkirkshire · Shetland · Stirlingshire · Sutherland · West Lothian · Wigtownshire
The British Isles
Terminology · Naming dispute · Islands of the North Atlantic (IONA)
Politics
Sovereign states and constituent countries Ireland · United Kingdom (England · Northern Ireland · Scotland · Wales)
British Crown dependencies Guernsey · Jersey · Isle of Man
Political cooperation British-Irish Council · British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body · Common Travel Area · North/South Ministerial Council
Geography
Island groups Channel Islands · Islands of the Clyde · Great Britain · Hebrides (Inner · Outer) · Ireland · Isle of Man · Isles of Scilly · Northern Isles (Orkney · Shetland)
Lists of islands of Ireland · Isle of Man · United Kingdom (England · Scotland · Wales)
History
Current states and dependencies Ireland · United Kingdom (England · Northern Ireland · Scotland · Wales) Guernsey · Jersey · Isle of Man
Former states Kingdom of England · Kingdom of Scotland · Kingdom of Ireland · Principality of Wales · Kingdom of Great Britain · United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland · Irish Free State
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Modern languages Auregnais · BSL · Cornish · English · French · Guernésiais · Irish · ISL · Jèrriais · Manx · NISL · Scots · Scottish Gaelic · Sercquiais · Welsh
People British · Celts · Cornish · English · English Gypsies · Irish · Irish Traveller · Kale · Manx · Scottish · Ulster-Scots · Welsh
Former possessions of Norway
Medieval empire Faroe Islands · Greenland (Eastern- and Western Settlement) · Iceland · Mann and the Isles · Orkney1 · Shetland1
Mainland provinces Bohuslän · Härjedalen · Parishes of Idre and Särna · Jämtland
Modern era Erik the Red's Land2 · Sverdrup Islands2
1 Pawned as dowry security. 2 Not internationally recognised.

Categories: Counties of Scotland | Former Norwegian colonies | Shetland Islands | National Scenic Areas in Scotland | Northern Isles | Lieutenancy areas of Scotland | Unitary authorities of Scotland

 

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In brief 15 May 2009 - Shetland News
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In brief 15 May 2009

Shetland News, UK

The song is based on a poem from Paulo Dante, from Unst, about his grandfather the halibut fisherman, and times when the mighty halibut could be found in the seas around Shetland . loganair is axing its Saturday flight from Shetland to Inverness via ...
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sahunk

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:55:51 GM

As the title says, whats the difference? Thanks James.

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Where can i find shetland breeders?
Q. I have a shetland sheepdog that we want to breed, where can i find people interested and how much is it worth to breed the shetlands??
Asked by Rick R - Tue Apr 24 13:55:26 2007 - - 5 Answers - 0 Comments

A. If you are in the US, try AKC.com. It is a website for the American Kennel Club. They can give you help regarding reputable breeders. Best of luck to you!
Answered by SMH - Tue Apr 24 14:13:22 2007

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