Shetland (formerly spelled
Zetland, from
etland,
Old Norse ), is one of 32
council areas of
Scotland. It is an
archipelago to the north-east of
Orkney and mainland Scotland, and 280 km from
Faroe Islands. It forms part of the division between the
Atlantic Ocean to the west and the
North Sea to the east. The total area is approximately
1,466 km² (566 sq. miles). The administrative centre and only
burgh is
Lerwick.
The largest island, known as the
Mainland, has an area of 967 km² (374 sq. miles), making it the third-largest
Scottish island and the
fifth-largest of the
British Isles.
Shetland is also a
lieutenancy area, comprises the
Shetland constituency of the
Scottish Parliament, and was formerly a
county.
History
Prehistory
Shetland has been populated since at least 3000 BC. The early people subsisted on cattle-farming and agriculture. During the
Bronze Age, around 2000 BC, the climate cooled and the population moved to the coast. During the
Iron Age, many stone fortresses were erected, some ruins of which remain today. Around A.D. 297, Roman sources describe a people known as the
Picts who ruled much of north
Scotland, and Shetland eventually became part of the Pictish kingdom. Shetland's Picts were later conquered by the
Vikings. 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, though fewer are preserved as Ancient Monuments than in
Orkney.
The artefacts of all the eras of Shetland's past are best studied by a visit to the newly built (2007) Shetland Museum in
Lerwick.
Norwegian colonisation
By the end of the ninth century the Vikings shifted their attention from plundering to invasion, mainly due to the overpopulation of Norway in comparison to resources and arable land available there. Vikings colonised much of northern Europe, including the Iberian Peninsula, Normandy, Scotland, Shetland,
Orkney, the
Hebrides, the
Isle of Man, the
Faroe Islands,
Iceland and
Greenland. Subsequently they reached
North America. The Norwegians tended to follow a northern route to the islands and less populous places whereas the
Danes went to more populated areas such as
England and
France, and the
Swedes went east.
Hjaltland was colonised by Norwegian Vikings in the 9th century, the existing indigenous population no doubt being wiped out or driven out. 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 1800s.
After
Harald Hårfagre took control of all Norway, many of his opponents fled, some to Orkney and Shetland. From these
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 tenth century.
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.
Increased Scottish interest
When
Alexander III of Scotland turned twenty-one in 1262 and became of age he declared his intentions 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 Scottish. The Norwegians regarded all the islands in the North Sea as part of the Norwegian Realm. To put more weight on his answer King Harald 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
Isle of Arran. The aim was to conduct negotiations with the large army as a backup.
Alexander III drew out all 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 wasn't 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 where 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. He started negotiations with Alexander III. With the
Treaty of Perth in 1266 he surrendered furthest Norwegian possessions including
Man and the Sudreyar (
Hebrides) to Scotland in return for 4000 marks sterling and an annuity of 100 marks (which the Scottish soon stopped paying). The Scottish also recognised the 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 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
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. In 1348 Norway was severely weakened by the
Black Plague and in 1397 it entered the
Kalmar Union. After a time Norway became controlled by Denmark. King
Christian I of Norway, Denmark and Sweden was in financial troubles 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. On 28 May the next year he also pawned Shetland for 8,000 Rhenish guilders.. He secured a clause in the contract which gave future kings of Denmark-Norway the right to redeem the islands for a fixed sum of 210 kg of gold or 2,310 kg of silver. Several kings of
Denmark-Norway tried to redeem the islands during the 17th and 18th centuries, without success.
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 got cash,
grain,
cloth,
beer and other goods. The trade with the North German towns lasted until the
Act of Union 1707 prohibited the German merchants from trading with Shetland. Briefly Shetland 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 Shetland fish to the Continent. For the independent farmers of Shetland this led to a negative spiral, where they'd to fish for the merchant-lairds.. The
Liberal prime minister
William Ewart Gladstone freed the Shetland 'serfs' from the rule of the landlords in the 1880s.
Napoleonic wars
Some 3000 Shetlanders served in the
Royal Navy during the
Napoleonic wars from 1800 to 1815.
World War II
During
World War II a Norwegian naval unit nicknamed the Shetland Gang or 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 Gang 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 caused any loss of life or equipment.
The Shetland Gang made over 200 trips across the sea and the most famous of the men,
Leif Andreas Larsen (Shetlands-Larsen) made 52 of them..
Shetland today
In the early 1970s, oil and gas was found off Shetland. The
East Shetland Basin is one of the largest petroleum sedimentary basins in Europe and the oil extracted there's sent to the terminal at
Sullom Voe (Norse:
Solheimavagr). Sullom Voe terminal opened in 1978 and is the largest oil export harbour in
Great Britain 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,
Faroe, an autonomous dependency of
Denmark .
Timeline
Culture
The main cultural influences on Shetland are Scandinavian 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.
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, kept alive by the
Shetland Folk Society and the quarterly
New Shetlander magazine.
Up Helly Aa is any 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.
Shetland competes in the bi-annual
Island Games, which it hosted in 2005.
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. 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. However, the legacy of Norn remains in a number of words, making the Shetland dialect a distinctive form of Scots. The use of dialect was actively discouraged in schools, churches and civic life throughout Scotland until the late 20th century but islanders now take a pride in their native speech. Efforts are made to retain the use of the dialect and counter influence from English.
Although Norn was spoken for hundreds of years it's 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 sindaeri 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
» 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)
» 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.
For comparison to Orkney Norn and other languages please see:
The Lord's Prayer in different languages.
Name
The original Norse name for Shetland was
Hjaltland.
Hjalt in
Old Norse meaning the
hilt or cross
guard of a sword. As the local language evolved 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..
As Norn was gradually replaced by Scots
Shetland became
etland (the initial letter being the
Middle Scots letter,
yogh (which can also be found in the forename Menzies, for example
Menzies Campbell.) 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
pronounced form used to describe the pre-
1975 county council.
The earliest recorded name for the islands was
Inse Catt, "islands of the Cat people": the same people that
Caithness is named after.
Norse names
The old Norse names of the principal islands were:
- Hjaltland (Mainland)
- Jell (Yell) - might be pre-Norse Pictish
- Unst - might be pre-Norse Pictish
- Fetlar - might be pre-Norse Pictish
- Hvalsey (Whalsay) - literally whale island (Hvalsøy/Kvalsøy in modern Norwegian)
- Brusey (Bressay) - most likely named after a Norse nobleman Bruse
- Fugley (Foula) - literally bird's island (Fugløy in modern Norwegian)
- Frjóey (Fair Isle) - literally fertile island (Froøy/Fræøy in modern Norwegian)
Shetland on film
Michael Powell made
The Edge of the World in
1937. This film is a dramatisation based on the true story of the evacuation of the last thirty-six 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. Despite the fact that the Foula islanders speak the Norse-tinged dialect of Shetland, the film loses none of its power.
The Edge of the World (1937) dramatises the evacuation of the Islands and the ensuing tragedy.
Return To The Edge Of The World (1978) was a documentary capturing a reunion of cast and crew of 1937's The Edge Of The World, 40 years after the fact, as they revisit the island.
Devil's Gate (2003).
It's Nice Up North (2006) comedy documentary by Graham Fellows as John Shuttleworth.
Shetland in Literature
Raman Mundair, 'A Choreographer's Cartography', Peepal Tree Press, Leeds, 2007, ISBN13: 9781845230517
The first section of this book - 60 degrees north - is a series of poems, some in Shetland dialect, that reflect the poet's experiences of Shetland and offers a unique British Asian perspective to the landscape.
Geography
Out of the approximately 100 islands, only fifteen are inhabited. The main island of the group is known as Mainland.
The other inhabited islands are:
Bressay, Burra, Fetlar, Foula, Muckle Roe, Papa Stour, Trondra, Vaila, Unst, Whalsay, Yell in the main Shetland group, plus Fair Isle to the south, and Housay and Bruray in the Out Skerries to the east (see below).
For a more complete list of islands, see List of Shetland islands.
Fair Isle lies approximately halfway between Shetland and Orkney, but it's administered as part of Shetland and is often counted as part of the island group. 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's almost perpetual daylight, a state of affairs known locally as the 'simmer dim'.
Climate
Shetland has a temperate Atlantic Ocean climate. Summers are relatively cool and dry. The sunniest months of the year are the period from April to August. In June there may be 19 hours of sunlight and there's no proper darkness. Winters are dark but fairly mild; the number of daylight hours drops to below eight a day.
Average yearly precipitation is 1037 mm, which is half that of Fort William on the west coast of Scotland. 3/4 of the precipitation falls during winter. The driest period is from April to August and fog is common in the east of the islands during summer.
| Average maximum temperature coldest month |
4.9 °C (February) |
| Average maximum temperature warmest month |
14 °C (August) |
| Number of days with air frost |
33 days |
| Annual precipitation |
1037 mm |
| Number of days a year with snowfall |
60 days |
| Number of days a year with rain or showers |
285 days |
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.
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.
Notable places
Clickimin broch
Fort Charlotte
Jarlshof archaeological site
Mavis Grind
Mousa Broch
Muness Castle the most northerly castle in the United Kingdom
Old Scatness archaeological site
Scalloway Castle
Selivoe
St Ninian's Isle
Sullom Voe oil terminal
Sumburgh Head
Skaw the most northerly settlement in the United Kingdom
Subdivisions
Shetland is subdivided into 22 parishes or wards that have no more administrative significance but are used for statistical purposes [europa.eu.int/comm/eurostat/ramon/nuts/excel_files/UK_LAU_2003.XLS]:
Sound
Clickimin
North Central
Breiwick
South Central
Harbour and Bressay
North
Upper Sound, Gulberwick and Quarff
Unst and Island of Fetlar
Yell
Northmavine, Muckle Roe and Busta
Delting West
Delting East and Lunnasting
Nesting, Whiteness, Girlsta and Gott
Scalloway
Whalsay/Skerries
Sandsting, Aithsting and Weisdale
Walls, Sandness and Clousta
Burra/Trondra
Cunningsburgh and Sandwick
Sandwick, Levenwick and Bigton
Dunrossness
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 17th century Hanseatic traders and Victorian-era herring activities.
The main areas of revenue in Shetland today are agriculture, aquaculture, fishing and petroleum industry (Crude oil and Natural gas production). Farming is mostly connected to raising of Shetland sheep, known for their unusually fine wool, along with the Shetland Sheepdog as well as the Shetland pony. 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's 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., however the oil revenue allows increased expenditure by the Shetland Islands Council, which alone accounted for 27.9% of employment in 2003 .
The last 25 years unemployment has been under 5% and as of 2004 was on 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, but this plan is meeting significant opposition within the islands, primarily resulting from expected 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. Lerwick also has an international ferry connection operated by Smyril Line tothe following locations:
Tórshavn, Faroe Islands
Seyðisfjörður, Iceland
Bergen, Norway
Hanstholm, Denmark
Sumburgh Airport, the main airport on Shetland, is located close to Sumburgh, 40 km (25 miles) south of Lerwick. Loganair operates flights under British Airways 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
Shetland Islands Council
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 council is allowed to collect Council Tax.
Political composition:
Independent - 17
Scottish Liberal Democrats - 5
Schools
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.
Anderson High School
Brae High School
Shetland is also home to the North Atlantic Fisheries College
NHS
The Shetland NHS is the local Scottish health service in the Shetland Islands.
Flag
Roy Grönneberg founded the local chapter of the SNP (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..
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.
In 1975 the two local authorities in Shetland, Lerwick Town Council and Zetland County Council, were combined in to the Shetland Islands Council. Grönneberg wanted his flag proposal to become the official flag of Shetland, but was unsuccessful. A plebiscite in 1985 also failed to give it official status. In 2005 the Lord Lyon King of Arms approved the flag as the official flag of Shetland.
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 complete Norse cultural dominance of Shetland during the Viking period. It isn't known whether the Picts were rapidly assimilated into the Norse population or driven away. A few place names might have Pictish origin, but this is disputed. Several genetic studies have been made comparing the genetic makeup of the islands' population today in order to establish its origin. Shetland, due to its relative isolation continues to have almost identical proportions of Scandinavian matrilineal and patrilineal ancestry (ca 44%). This suggests that the islands were settled by both men and women. The genetic make-up of those in Shetland today also suggesting that the indigenous population simply disappeared, giving credence to the theory that the Vikings eradicated the indigenous culture already settled within the isles. This genetic distribution is also found 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. 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.
Population development
The population development on Shetland has through the times been affected by deaths at sea and epidemics. Smallpox afflicted the islands hard 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 torpedoed 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 |
opulation 1961 |
opulation 1971 |
opulation 1981 |
opulation 1991 |
opulation 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 |
7,814 |
7,327 |
2,768 |
2,522 |
1,990 |
Kilde: Scottishislands.org.uk
, 18. November 2006
Notable Shetlanders
Arthur Anderson (1792-1868), co-founder of P&O
Tom Anderson MBE (1910-1991), a fiddler, composer, folklorist and teacher who was a profoundly influential figure in the development of Shetland music
Willie Hunter (1934-1994), the best all-around example of Shetland fiddling
Peerie Willie Johnson (1920-2007), a highly renowned pioneer of jazz swing influenced folk guitar who played with the likes of Tom Anderson and Willie Hunter.
Ian Bairnson (b. 1953), session guitarist (The Alan Parsons Project)
Aly Bain (b. 1946), fiddle player.
Sir William Watson Cheyne of Leagarth.(External Link) (b. 14 December 1852, d. 19 April 1932) Pioneered the development of antiseptic.
Morgan Goodlad (b. 1950), controversial Chief Executive of Shetland Islands Council (see, for example, Private Eye No 1144 p27, or this story from the Sunday Herald. Found guilty of maladministration by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman on 23 May 2007.)
Sir Herbert John Clifford Grierson (1866-1960), a literary scholar and critic
Norman Lamont (b. 1942), Conservative MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1990 to 1993.
Steven Robertson, a theatre and film actor from Vidlin
Robert Stout (1844 - 1930), Prime Minister of New Zealand on two occasions in the late 19th century
Astrid Williamson, musician
Sandra Voe (b. 1936), actress appearing in many small film and TV roles (including Coronation Street) and mother of Pulp keyboard player Candida Doyle.
Neil Hughes from Seven Up!
Robert Alan Jamieson (b. 1958), poet and novelist.
Christine De Luca, poet
"Vagaland", often considered the national poet.
External results
Click here for more details on Shetland
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