This is my last newsletter – it’s time to pass the baton on to other hands. What I have tried to do with the newsletter is to provide a broad mixture of educative and reporting articles, of local and generic data that impinged on Shetland and took into account the need to look at the wider Viking circle.

 

We decided some years ago that the Society should branch out and adopt an educative role not only for our members but also for those people interested in things Shetland. One of the more successful activities was the kit sent to schools at the time of our 75^th anniversary.  The diversification of the information in newsletter and the establishment of our Web site were further steps taken by the Society to broaden the base upon which we operated. The enquiries we receive from the web site are usually from non-members – just recently we had a Scandinavian Film Unit enquire about our galley and squad. The Society newsletter is important especially for those members unable to attend functions but still very interested in the activities of the Society.   

 

A highlight for our society was the celebration of our 80^th aniversary at the annual Christmas dinner held at Premier house in Wellington on the 7^th of December. The venue was made available through the generosity of our Prime Minister Helen Clark, and what a magnificent setting for the Society.  Although the property is in the heart of Thorndon, it is set back from the road with large mature trees surrounding the property.  You feel as though you have been transported to another world.  The reception room was expansive and easily accommodated the 100 members of the society able to attend. The evening itself was a treat with  Pat and her team providing a wide range of tasty and attractively presented food. A pianist played in the corner and of course we rounded it off with the usual speeches. Congratulations to the committee for organising such a successful event.

 

Ian Laurenson

 

AN OLD FASHIONED NIGHT ATTHE PICTURES

 

You will have received a flyer in mail last week about  “An Old Fashioned Night at the Pictures”. This is being held at the Time Cinema at 191 Sutherland Road Lyall Bay on Friday the 4^th of April.  You can step back in time and see all the memorabilia, listen to some the extensive collection of pianola tunes and of course enjoy the film, cartoons and shorts.  If you have not done so already phone Mary Christie on 388 – 4464 to reserve you ticket.  This small cinema/ museum is well worth a visit.

 

How is your dialect?

 

Kyittle  :   tickle

 

Allwarmie :  I believe what you say

Be-djeeked :  puzzled

Clew :  ball of wool or string

Henry noddie :  sleepy

Kilany :  din or disturbance

Ootermist : farthest out

Spin-willie : a daddy long legs

Wi dat sam : just then / immediately

 

ORKNEY

In past newsletters we have looked at Fair Isle and the Faeroes. In this newsletter we move south to the Orkneys. Orkney, like Shetland, is made up of many islands – in Orkney’s case around 70 - exact agreement as to their total number is difficult as many are little more than skerries.  Less than one-third of the islands are inhabited with the total population in the region of 21,000 – so it’s comparable with Shetland. Most people live on the Mainland, with the greatest population concentrations being around the main towns of Kirkwall and Stromness.  The principal island is now simply referred to as "the Mainland" - a corruption of the Old Norse "Meginland". The island was originally referred to as "Hrossey" - "Horse Island" in Old Norse.

Many readers will have watched the recent television series on TV 1 by Simon Scharma  - “A History of Britain” where he starts at Skara Brae in Orkney

SKARA BRAE

In the winter of 1850, a severe storm lashed Orkney. That was not unusual but on this occasion a "Wahine" style storm, combining Orkney’s notorious winds and very high tides, stripped the grass from a large mound known as Skerrabra. This revealed the outline of a series of stone buildings that intrigued the local laird, William Watt of Skaill, who began an excavation of the site. By 1868, the remains of four ancient houses had been unearthed but Skerrabra was abandoned, remaining undisturbed until 1925 when another storm damaged some of the previously excavated structures. A sea-wall was built to preserve these remains, but during the construction work more ancient structures were discovered. Radio-carbon dating in the early 1970s showed it was late Neolithic, inhabited between 3200 BC and 2200 BC.

Because of the protection offered by the sand that covered the settlement for 4,000 years, these buildings and their contents are well-preserved with the walls of the houses still standing. Each house shares the same basic design - a large square room with a central fireplace, a bed on either side and a shelved dresser on the wall opposite the doorway.

Skara Brae is under constant threat by the erosion caused by the Orkney weather and now stands right by the shore. When it was occupied however, the village would have been some distance from the sea.

SCAPA FLOW

Scapa Flow is a natural harbour used over many centuries, from the Viking fleet of King Haokon in the 13th Century, to the present day. It formed an important northern base for the British fleets in both world wars.

During World War II, the Home Fleet was based at Scapa Flow, from where it helped to protect the Arctic Convoys to Murmansk.

Visit the Scapa Flow website at

http://www.scapaflow.co.uk/

Birdlife in Orkney

Like Shetland, Orkney has an abundant bird-life along with migrant birds carried by the easterly winds across the North Sea at times of migration. Common visitors are Robins, goldcrests and Blackcaps.

You will not be surprised to find that the local nesting birds are similar to those found in Shetland - Guillemots, Razorbills, Kittiwakes and Fulmars are found at Mull Head in Deerness, Gultak in Holm and on the RSPB reserve on the offshore island of Copinsay. On Copinsay, too, can be seen small numbers of Puffins and Black Guillemots. The heathland at Mull Head has a large colony of Arctic Terns with Arctic Skuas and several species of gulls.

Highland Park Whisky

This is the most northern of all scotch distilleries. It was founded in 1798 by Magnus Eunson, and produced illicit whisky until it was licensed in 1825. If you visit the site you will note it is situated on a rise with excellent views out to sea. There was a practical reason for this apart from the impressive view – it enabled Magnus to keep a weather eye out for the government excise man arriving at Kirkwall.

The special character of the 12-Year-Old Single Malt comes from the local peat beds that have absorbed the salt spray of centuries and imparts a rooty, heathery quality to the whisky and the water from the Cattie Maggie spring.

If you are visiting Orkney you can call in at the distillery at Kirkwall – it is open for visitors most days of the year except January & February.

ORKNEY OAT CAKES

Absolutely divine – but unfortunately the cost of importing them to New Zealand is prohibitively expensive. The leading brand is made by Stockan & Gardens Orkney Oatcakes. These are baked in traditional ovens with no artificial additives, preservatives or flavorings. Oatcakes are a simple blend of natural Highland oats and soft island water.

Oatcakes are made in Shetland as well – the bakery at Walls for example makes, or used to make, tasty traditional oatcakes – Shetland Oaties.

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www.shetland-news.co.uk/

If you are interested in local up to date news about Shetland – the day-to-day happenings and the current issue facing Shetlanders then you should visit this site. It has just returned to the Internet after an absence of three years and is well worth a visit.

The editors are Hans J. Marter and Pete Bevington.

Hans is from Germany, and moved to Shetland in 1992. He has been reporting from Shetland to the German media market ever since, and is the UK correspondent for the German renewable energy magazine Neue Energie.

Pete moved to Shetland in 1988 after working for radio stations and newspapers in London and South Yorkshire. Pete lives at The Booth, in Hillswick, where he helps his partner Jan run Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary.

 

BOOK REVIEW

ANNE DROYD and Century Lodge

By Will Hadcroft

ISBN 1 903674 14X

This book has absolutely nothing to do with Shetland but it’s well written and pitched at the 9 –15 year old sector. Will Hadcroft lives in the UK. This is his first full-length novel but he has published quite a few articles in science fiction magazines over the past decade.

Gezz and her friends, Luke and Malcolm are minding their own business, having fun on the small area of wasteland near their homes when their lives are shattered by the arrival of a truck carrying a strange visitor who will change their lives for ever. Many of the features that made the Famous Five books and the Dr Who TV series popular have been distilled and updated to produce a modern fable which entertains, surprises and amuses while also looking at how children see themselves and their place in the world as they approach adolescence. The author deals with issues such as smoking, drinking, bullying and the misuse of science within the context of an adventure story. These themes are dealt with subtly within a well-written plot that keeps the reader hooked for the whole 300 pages. Check with your local library or visit Amazon UK.

 

Shetland  Poetry

Tom Laurenson is a Shetland poet, now resident in Scotland. His collected anthology "Tochts on Shetland Life" is available at the Shetland Bookshop.

 

On that last long night, when the tide is low,

And the softest of breezes gently blow;

I will hoist my sail, and will gladly go

O’er the unknown sea, to that far-off land,

Where HIM who we serve will extend HIS hand,

And welcome me to that distant strand-,

Where the storms of life are forever stilled –

And HIS promise to me will be fulfilled.

A number of friends whom I’ve held dear,

They will morn for me, and shed a tear,

But I will be safe on that further shore-

And welcomed by those who have gone before-,

And like me are at peace for evermore.

Tom Laurenson

 

HILDINA   -      An ancient ballad

It was the Earl from Orkney,
And counsel of his kin sought he,
Whether he should the maiden
Free from her misery.

"If thou free the maid from her gleaming hall,
O kinsman dear of mine,
Ever while the world shall last
Thy glory still shall shine."

Home came the King,
Home from the ship's levy
The lady Hildina she was gone,
And only her stepmother there found he.

"Be he in whatever land,
This will I prove true,
He shall be hanged from the highest tree
That ever upward grew."

"If the Earl but come to Orkney,
Saint Magnus will be his aid,
And in Orkney ever he will remain -
Haste after him with speed."

The King he stood before his lady,
And a box on her ear gave he,
And all adown her lily white cheeks
The tears did flow truly.

The Earl he stood before Hildina,
And a pat on her cheek gave he, -
"O which of us two would thou have lie dead,
Thy father dear or me?"

"I would rather see my father doomed,
And all his company,
If so my own true lord and I
May long rule in Orkney.

"Now do thou take in hand thy steed,
and ride thou down to the strand;
And do thou greet my sire full blithely,
And gladly will he clasp thy hand."

The King he now made answer -
So sore displeased was he -
"In payment for my daughter
What wilt thou give to me?"

"Thirty marks of the red gold,
This to thee will I give,
And never shalt thou lack a son
As long as I may live."

Now long stood the King,
And long on the Earl gazed he : -
"O thou art worth a host of sons;
Thy boon is granted thee."

 

ARTHUR SCLATER

 

Commander of the “Shetland Bus”

 

At the commencement of World War II Arthur Sclater joined the Royal marines and was later recruited to the Special Operations Executive in 1941. The clandestine support of the Norwegian resistance by way of the Shetland Bus was the brainchild of Major L Mitchell.  In 1942 Sclater succeeded Mitchell as commander of the Shetland base at Scalloway. Initially the Norwegian fishing boats described in the book “ The Shetland Bus “were used but later reinforced by motor torpedo boats and three American submarine chasers were introduced.  The

 

latter were especially effective. They were well armed, including 40mm anti aircraft guns, and could travel four times faster than the fishing boats. 

 

Attack from enemy aircraft was a constant threat so operations were conducted over the winter months when darkness gave additional cover. Unfortunately, as Shetlanders know only too well, the seas can be particularly dangerous in winter with hurricane force winds and ice-cold water.     

 

Sclater's mother Heeda was Norwegian so the family usually spent the summer holidays in Norway with Heeda’s family.  Scalter’s wife was also Norwegian. This Norwegian connection was to prove invaluable as the Scaters acted as intermediaries between the Navy and the fiercely independent Norwegian skippers who had enough on their plates battling the seas and avoiding nazi detection, to worry about the finer points of the Naval Discipline Act.

 

Arthur Sclater was awarded the Haakon VII cross of liberty and the American medal of Freedom, with bronze Palm, in recognition of his effort. After the war he returned to Sussex. He died on 7^th June 2002.  

 

SHETLAND”S ROLE OF HONOUR – Gifford Tait

 

One of the books in my library is a copy of   the Shetland Roll of Honour. This bound volume records all the Shetlanders who died in World War I complete with biographical details and photographs of all but a few.  It makes for sombre reading when one considers the small population of Shetland at the time – 617 men lost their lives.  One of the entries was a Shetlander who moved to New Zealand with his parents – Gifford Tait – whose memory is commemorated each year at our picnic with a competition for the Gifford Tait cup .  Gifford’s family have sent us some biographical details. Gifford was the son of Margaret & Ross Tait, formally of Bressay where the first member of the Tait family had settled from Scotland in 1720, founding a private school known as Grindi School. Gifford was killed in action in Palestine on 25^th November 1917. His remains are buried in the Ramleh War cemetery, Israel. 

 

To give a sense of perspective to the  lives lost in this war,  if we concentrate on the Tait clan we find that 14 Tait’s were killed in action including Gifford. 

 

Andrew Tait jnr;  Andrew Tait, age 40;  Christopher Tait, age 24;  Gifford Tait, age 21;  J. Tait;  James Tait, age 32;  James C Tait, age 22,  John Tait, age 21;  Magnus Tait, age 26; Mitchell Tait, age 21;  Robert Tait age 42; William Tait, age 20; William Tait, age 19  and John Tait age 30

UDAL LAW in SHETLAND

 

While the Scottish branch of United Kingdom law applies in Shetland there is substratum of law that is distinctly Norse in Shetland. It is the Udal Law.  It is what we would call customary law – you could draw a comparison with Maori customary law in New Zealand because that centres on patterns of land tenure and the use of the land. It is still relevant - the law was invoked as recently as 1990 in the case  Crown Estate Commissioners v. Shetland Salmon Farmers Association.

 

Aspects of udal law that have continued to have significance in more recent times  are allodial tenure – the ancient Norse system of inheritance and law which the Viking settlers brought to Shetland.  Udallers have absolute ownership of their land, with no superior, gained by holding the land over a number of generations, normally originally by settlement. This land was held in unwritten freehold, with no obligation except a duty to pay tax or skat to the king. The eldest son inherited the father's house, while the rest of the property was shared among the other siblings, with daughters inheriting half as much as sons.

In mainland Britain, as in New Zealand, ownership of land extended to the High Water mark, but in Shetland (and Orkney) under udal law, this extended to the lowest spring ebb, together with rules relating to how far as a stone can be thrown, or a horse can be waded, or a salmon net thrown. Also anything arriving fortuitously on the shore is technically the property of the landowner. Naturally the lairds of old used Udal Law to control their lucrative Kelp-making trade.

Since the foreshore belonged to the adjacent landowner and is not Common Land, there was no absolute right of access to the inter-tidal zone in Shetland or Orkney although these days it is unlikely anyone would object to you walking along

Dialect in context.

Having checked out some words of dialect on page 1, here are a few more examples of dialect in action that have been collected by Margaret Anderson. Our appreciation to the  “New Shetlander “ for this article.

 Arls    This means agreement but it has a specific application. Each year before the herring season began women who usually did the gutting were contracted by the coopers and paid in advance – they were paid in advance and it was this payment that was the agreement – the arls.

Durkit   - to plunge – e.g. “ She durkit da knife a butter”

Fairley   - really  -  e.g.  -  “ Du is fairly grown fae I saw dee.

Guidable – lately  -  e.g.  “ He’s just guidably gaen”

Tipper – allow   -  e.g. “shu coodna tipper her fit Doon ava”

  Broom - signal to boats e.g. "gaen oot an broom da boats"

The practical application of this word is interesting. Because there was no means of communication between the boats and the shore Margaret notes that they waved a white towel from the house as the boats passed Saltness and one of the crew would signal with his arms how many boxes of fish they had caught that day. This was known as " brooming the boats" Both arms held out level with the shoulders and then brought down to the sides meant 10 boxes – a good days fishing. One arm level with the shoulder and brought to the side meant only one.