Northern Isles
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox Scottish island
The Northern Isles (Template:Langx; Template:Langx; Template:Langx) are a chain (or archipelago) of islands of Scotland, located off the north coast of the Scottish mainland. The climate is cool and temperate and highly influenced by the surrounding seas. There are two main island groups: Shetland and Orkney. There are a total of 36 inhabited islands, with the fertile agricultural islands of Orkney contrasting with the more rugged Shetland islands to the north, where the economy is more dependent on fishing and the oil wealth of the surrounding seas. Both archipelagos have a developing renewable energy industry. They share a common Pictish and Norse history, and were part of the Kingdom of Norway before being absorbed into the Kingdom of Scotland in the 15th century. The islands played a significant naval role during the world wars of the 20th century.
Tourism is important to both archipelagos, with their distinctive prehistoric ruins playing a key part in their attraction, and there are regular ferry and air connections with mainland Scotland. The Scandinavian influence remains strong, especially in local folklore and both island chains have strong, though distinct local cultures. The names of the islands are dominated by the Norse heritage, although some may retain pre-Celtic elements.
GeographyEdit
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The phrase "Northern Isles" generally refers to the main islands of the Orkney and Shetland archipelagos. The Island of Stroma, which lies between mainland Scotland and Orkney, is part of Caithness, so for local government purposes it falls under the jurisdiction of the Highland council area, rather than that of Orkney. It is nevertheless clearly one of the "northern isles" of Scotland.<ref>"Clarence G Sinclair: Mell Head, Stroma, Pentland Firth" Template:Webarchive. Scotland's Places. Retrieved 27 May 2011.</ref> Fair Isle and Foula are outliers of Shetland, but would normally be considered part of Shetland, and thus of the Northern Isles. Similarly, Sule Skerry and Sule Stack, although distant from the main group, are part of Orkney, and therefore technically amongst the Northern Isles. However, the other small islands that lie off the north coast of Scotland are in Highland, and are thus not usually considered to be part of the Northern Isles.<ref>"Northern Isles" Template:Webarchive. MSN Encarta. Retrieved 31 May 2011.</ref>
Orkney has 20 inhabited islands and Shetland has 16.<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) pp. 336–403</ref><ref>General Register Office for Scotland (2003)</ref>
Orkney is situated Template:Convert north of the coast of mainland Scotland, separated from it by the waters of the Pentland Firth. The largest island of Orkney, known as the "Mainland" has an area of Template:Convert, making it the sixth largest Scottish island.<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) pp. 334–502</ref> Its total population in 2001 was 19,245, and its largest town is Kirkwall.<ref name=vis>"Orkney Islands" Vision of Britain. Retrieved 21 September 2009.</ref> Shetland is around Template:Convert north of mainland Scotland. It covers an area of Template:Convert and its coastline is Template:Convert long.<ref>Shetland Islands Council (2010) p. 4</ref> Lerwick, the capital and largest settlement, has a population of around 7,500. About half of the archipelago's total population of 22,000 people live within Template:Convert of the town.<ref>"Visit Shetland". Visit.Shetland.org Retrieved 25 December 2010.</ref>
GeologyEdit
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The superficial rock of Orkney is almost entirely Old Red Sandstone, mostly of Middle Devonian age.<ref name="Millennium">Marshall, J.E.A., & Hewett, A.J. "Devonian" in Evans, D., Graham C., Armour, A., & Bathurst, P. (eds) (2003) The Millennium Atlas: petroleum geology of the central and northern North Sea.</ref> As in the neighbouring mainland county of Caithness, this sandstone rests upon the metamorphic rocks of the Moine series. This can be seen on the Orkney Mainland, where a narrow strip of the older rock is exposed between Stromness and Inganess, and also on the small island of Graemsay.<ref>Hall, Adrian and Brown, John (September 2005) "Basement Geology". Retrieved 10 November 2008.</ref>
Middle Devonian basaltic volcanic rocks are found on western Hoy, on Deerness in eastern Mainland and on Shapinsay. A correlation between the Hoy volcanics and the other two exposures has been proposed, but because of differences in their chemical makeup, this remains uncertain.<ref>Odling, N.W.A. (2000) "Point of Ayre". (pdf) "Caledonian Igneous Rocks of Great Britain: Late Silurian and Devonian volcanic rocks of Scotland". Geological Conservation Review 17 : Chapter 9, p. 2731. JNCC. Retrieved 4 October 2009.</ref> Lamprophyre dykes of Late Permian age are found throughout Orkney.<ref>Hall, Adrian and Brown, John (September 2005) "Orkney Landscapes: Permian dykes" Template:Webarchive Retrieved 4 October 2009.</ref> Glacial striation and the presence of chalk and flint erratics that originated from the bed of the North Sea demonstrate the influence of ice action on the geomorphology of the islands. Boulder clay is also abundant, and moraines cover substantial areas.<ref>Brown, John Flett "Geology and Landscape" in Omand (2003) p. 10.</ref>
The geology of Shetland is quite different from that of Orkney. It is extremely complex, with numerous faults and fold axes. The Shetland Islands are the northern outpost of the Caledonian orogeny, and there are outcrops of Lewisian, Dalriadan and Moine metamorphic rocks whose histories are similar to those of their counterparts on the Scottish mainland. There are also small Old Red Sandstone deposits and granite intrusions. Shetland's most distinctive geological feature is the ultrabasic ophiolite, peridotite and gabbro on Unst and Fetlar, which are remnants of the Iapetus Ocean floor.<ref>Gillen (2003) pp. 90–91</ref> There are oil-bearing sediments in the surrounding seas, on which much of Shetland's economy depends.<ref>Keay & Keay (1994) p. 867</ref>
Geological evidence shows that, sometime around 6100 BC, a tsunami caused by the Storegga Slides hit the Northern Isles (as well as much of the east coast of Scotland), and may have created a wave of up to Template:Convert high in the voes of Shetland, where modern populations are largest.<ref>Smith, David "Tsunami hazards". Fettes.com. Retrieved 7 March 2011.</ref>
ClimateEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The Northern Isles have a cool, temperate climate that is remarkably mild and steady for such a northerly latitude, due to the influence of the surrounding seas and the Gulf Stream.<ref name=Chalm129>Chalmers, Jim "Agriculture in Orkney Today" in Omand (2003) p. 129.</ref> In Shetland, average peak temperatures are Template:Convert in February and Template:Convert in August. Temperatures over Template:Convert are rare.<ref name=climatetemp>"Shetland, Scotland Climate" climatetemp.info Retrieved 26 November 2010. Template:Webarchive</ref><ref name=SIC200505>Shetland Islands Council (2005) pp. 5–9</ref> The frost-free period may be as short as three months.<ref>"Northern Scotland: climate" Template:Webarchive. Met office. Retrieved 18 June 2011.</ref>
The average annual rainfall is Template:Convert in Orkney<ref name=Chalm129/> and Template:Convert in Shetland.<ref name=SIC200505/> Winds are a key feature of the climate. In summer, there are almost constant breezes. In winter, there are frequent strong winds: Orkney has an average of 52 hours of gales annually.<ref>orkney/climate.htm "The Climate of Orkney" Orkneyjar. Retrieved 18 June 2011.</ref> The Burradale wind farm in Shetland, which operates with five Vestas V47 660 kW turbines, achieved a world record of 57.9% capacity over the course of 2005 due to the persistent strong winds.<ref>"Burradale Wind Farm Shetland Islands". REUK.co.uk. Retrieved 18 June 2011.</ref>
Snowfall is usually confined to the period of November to February and seldom lies on the ground for more than a day. Less rain falls between April and August than at other times of the year, but no month has an average rainfall of less than Template:Convert.<ref name=Chalm129/><ref name= climatetemp/><ref name=SIC200505/> In Shetland there are 1082 hours of bright sunshine per year, on average, and overcast days are common.<ref name= climatetemp/>
To tourists, one of the fascinations of the islands is their "nightless" summers. On the longest day in Shetland there are over 19 hours of daylight, and it never gets completely dark. The long twilight is known in the Northern Isles as the "simmer dim". Winter nights are correspondingly long, with less than six hours of daylight at midwinter.<ref>"About the Orkney Islands". Orkneyjar. Retrieved 19 September 2009.</ref><ref>"The Weather!". shetlandtourism.com. Retrieved 14 March 2011. Template:Webarchive</ref> At this time of year the aurora borealis can occasionally be seen on the northern horizon during moderate auroral activity.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
PrehistoryEdit
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There are numerous important prehistoric remains in Orkney, especially from the Neolithic period. Four of these remains comprise the Heart of Neolithic Orkney UNESCO World Heritage Site (designated as such in 1999). They are: Skara Brae; Maes Howe; the Stones of Stenness; and the Ring of Brodgar.<ref>"Heart of Neolithic Orkney" UNESCO. Retrieved 29 August 2008.</ref> The Knap of Howar Neolithic farmstead on the island of Papa Westray is probably the oldest preserved house in northern Europe. This structure was inhabited for 900 years, beginning around 3700 BC, but it had evidently been built on the site of an even older settlement.<ref>Wickham-Jones (2007) p. 40</ref><ref>Armit (2006) pp. 31–33</ref><ref>"The Knap of Howar" Template:Webarchive Orkney Archaeological Trust. Retrieved 27 August 2008.</ref> The Shetland Islands are also extremely rich in physical remains from prehistoric eras: They contain a total of over 5,000 archaeological sites.<ref>Turner (1998) p. 18</ref> On the island of Fetlar, there is a dividing wall, dating from the Neolithic period, that at one time extended for Template:Convert across the island. It is known as Funzie Girt.<ref>Turner (1998) p. 26</ref><ref>"Feltlar, Funziegirt" Template:Webarchive ScotlandsPlaces. Retrieved 1 May 2011.</ref> But it is the Iron Age that has provided the most outstanding archaeology in Shetland. Numerous brochs were erected during that period. The finest preserved example of these distinctive round towers is the Broch of Mousa.<ref>Fojut, Noel (1981) "Is Mousa a broch?" Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot. 111 pp. 220–228</ref> In 2011, a site known as "the Crucible of Iron Age Shetland", which includes the Broch of Mousa, Old Scatness and Jarlshof, joined the UK's "Tentative List" of World Heritage Sites.<ref>"From Chatham to Chester and Lincoln to the Lake District – 38 UK places put themselves forward for World Heritage status" (7 July 2010) Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Retrieved 7 March 2011.</ref><ref name=BBC311>"Sites make Unesco world heritage status bid shortlist" (22 March 2011) BBC Scotland. Retrieved 22 March 2011.</ref>
History, culture and politicsEdit
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Pictish timesEdit
The culture that built the brochs is unknown, but by the late Iron Age the Northern Isles had become part of the Pictish kingdom.<ref>Hunter (2000) pp. 44, 49</ref> The most common archaeological relics from that period are symbol stones. One of the best examples of these stones is on the Brough of Birsay: It depicts three warriors with spears and sword scabbards, as well as characteristic Pictish symbols.<ref>Wickham-Jones (2007) pp. 106–07</ref><ref name=R39>Ritchie, Anna "The Picts" in Omand (2003) p. 39</ref> In 1958, a trove of silver metalwork, known as the St Ninian's Isle Treasure, was discovered. The silver bowls, jewellery and other pieces it contains are believed to date from around 800 AD. According to O'Dell (1959), "The treasure is the best survival of Scottish silver metalwork from the period .... [T]he brooches show a variety of typical Pictish forms, with both animal-head and lobed geometrical forms of terminal".<ref>O'Dell, A. et al (December 1959) "The St Ninian's Isle Silver Hoard". Antiquity 33 No 132.</ref><ref>O'Dell, A. St. Ninian's Isle Treasure. A Silver Hoard Discovered on St. Ninian's Isle, Zetland on 4th July, 1958. Aberdeen University Studies. No. 141.</ref>
Christianity probably arrived in Orkney in the 6th century, and organised church authority emerged in the 8th century. An Ogham–inscribed artefact known as the Buckquoy spindle-whorl was found at a Pictish site on Birsay. There has been controversy about its origin and meaning, but it is now generally considered to be of Irish Christian origin.<ref>Wickham-Jones (2007) p. 108</ref><ref>Ritchie, Anna "The Picts" in Omand (2003) p. 42</ref>
Norse eraEdit
The 8th century was also the time when the Vikings started invading the Scottish seaboard. They brought to the Northern Isles a new culture and a new language;<ref>Schei (2006) pp. 11–12</ref> rendering the fate of the existing indigenous peoples uncertain. According to the Orkneyinga Saga, Vikings then made the islands the headquarters of the pirate expeditions they carried out against Norway and the coasts of mainland Scotland. According to some sources, in 875, the Norwegian king Harald Hårfagre ("Harald Fair Hair") annexed the Northern Isles and gifted Orkney and Shetland to Rognvald Eysteinsson as an earldom in recompense for the death of his son in battle in Scotland. (Some scholars believe this story is apocryphal and is based instead on events connected with the later voyages of Magnus III of Norway, known as Magnus Barelegs.)<ref>Thomson (2008) pp. 24–27</ref>
In 995, King Olaf I of Norway (Olav Tryggvasson) fully Christianised the islands by fiat, when he stopped in South Walls on his way from Ireland to Norway. The king summoned the jarl Sigurd the Stout and said, "I order you and all your subjects to be baptised. If you refuse, I'll have you killed on the spot and I swear I will ravage every island with fire and steel." Unsurprisingly, Sigurd agreed, and the islands became Christian at a stroke.<ref name=T69/> In the early 11th century, they received their own bishop (the Bishop of Orkney).<ref>Watt, D.E.R., (ed.) (1969) Fasti Ecclesia Scoticanae Medii Aevii ad annum 1638. Scottish Records Society. p. 247</ref>
Annexation by ScotlandEdit
In the 14th century, Orkney and Shetland remained a Norwegian province, but Scottish influence was growing. Jon Haraldsson, who was murdered in Thurso in 1231, was the last of an unbroken line of Norse jarls,<ref>Crawford, Barbara E. "Orkney in the Middle Ages" in Omand (2003) pp. 72–73</ref> and thereafter the earls were Scots noblemen of the houses of Angus and St. Clair.<ref>Nicolson (1972) p. 44</ref> In 1468 Shetland was pledged by Christian I, in his capacity as King of Norway, as security against the payment of the dowry of his daughter Margaret, betrothed to James III of Scotland. As the money was never paid, the connection with the crown of Scotland became permanent. In 1470 William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness ceded his title to James III and the following year the Northern Isles were directly annexed to Scotland.<ref>Nicolson (1972) p. 45</ref>
17th, 18th and 19th centuriesEdit
From the early 15th century on the Shetlanders had sold their goods through the Hanseatic League of German merchantmen.<ref>Schei (2006) pp. 14–16</ref><ref>Nicolson (1972) pp. 56–57</ref> This trade with the North German towns lasted until the 1707 Act of Union when high salt duties 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 farmer/fishermen of Shetland this had negative consequences, as they now had to fish for these merchant-lairds.<ref name="Visit.Shetland.org history page">"History". visit.shetland.org. Retrieved 20 March 2011.</ref>
British rule came at a price for many ordinary people as well as traders. The Shetlanders' nautical skills were sought by the Royal Navy: some 3,000 served during the Napoleonic Wars from 1800 to 1815 and press gangs were rife. During this period 120 men were taken from Fetlar alone and only 20 of them returned home. By the late 19th century 90% of all Shetland was owned by just 32 men, and between 1861 and 1881 more than 8,000 Shetlanders emigrated.<ref>"Ursula Smith" Shetlopedia. Retrieved 12 October 2008.</ref><ref name=Sch16-17>Schei (2006) pp. 16–17, 57</ref> With the passing of the Crofters' Act in 1886 the Liberal prime minister William Gladstone emancipated crofters from the rule of the landlords. The Act enabled those who had effectively been landowners' serfs to become owner-occupiers of their own small farms.<ref>"A History of Shetland" Visit.Shetland.org</ref>
The Orcadian experience was somewhat different. An influx of Scottish entrepreneurs helped to create a diverse and independent community that included farmers, fishermen and merchants that called themselves comunitatis Orcadie and who proved themselves increasingly able to defend their rights against their feudal overlords.<ref>Thompson (2008) p. 183</ref><ref>Crawford, Barbara E. "Orkney in the Middle Ages" in Omand (2003) pp. 78–79</ref> In the 17th century, Orcadians formed the overwhelming majority of employees of the Hudson's Bay Company in Canada. The harsh climate of Orkney and the Orcadian reputation for sobriety and their boat-handling skills made them ideal candidates for the rigours of the Canadian north.<ref>Thompson (2008) pp. 371–72</ref> During this period, burning kelp briefly became a mainstay of the islands' economy. For example, on Shapinsay over Template:Convert of burned seaweed were produced per annum to make soda ash, bringing in £20,000 to the local economy.<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) pp. 364–65</ref> Agricultural improvements beginning in the 17th century coincided with the enclosure of the commons and in the Victorian era the emergence of large and well-managed farms using a five-shift rotation system and producing high-quality beef cattle.<ref>Thomson, William P. L. "Agricultural Improvement" in Omand (2003) pp. 93–99</ref> There is little evidence of an Orcadian fishing fleet until the 19th century but it grew rapidly and 700 boats were involved by the 1840s with Stronsay and then later Stromness becoming leading centres of development.<ref name=Coull/><ref group="Note"> Coull (2003) quotes the old saying that an Orcadian is a farmer with a boat, in contrast to a Shetlander, who is a fisherman with a croft.<ref name=Coull>Coull, James "Fishing" in Omand (2003) pp. 144–55</ref></ref> Many Orcadian seamen became involved in whaling in Arctic waters during the 19th century, although the boats were generally based elsewhere in Britain.<ref>Troup, James A. "Stromness" in Omand (2003) p. 238</ref>
World WarsEdit
Orkney was the site of a naval base at Scapa Flow, which played a major role in World War I. After the Armistice in 1918, the German High Seas Fleet was transferred in its entirety to Scapa Flow while a decision was to be made on its future; however, the German sailors opened the sea-cocks and scuttled all the ships. During World War I the 10th Cruiser Squadron was stationed at Swarbacks Minn in Shetland and during a single year from March 1917 more than 4,500 ships sailed from Lerwick as part of an escorted convoy system. In total, Shetland lost more than 500 men, a higher proportion than any other part of Britain, and there were waves of emigration in the 1920s and 1930s.<ref name=Sch16>Schei (2006) p. 16</ref><ref name=N94>Nicolson (1972) pp. 91, 94–95</ref>
One month into World War II, the Royal Navy battleship Template:HMS was sunk by a German U-boat at Scapa Flow. As a result, barriers were built to close most of the access channels; these had the advantage of creating causeways enabling travellers to go from island to island by road instead of being obliged to rely on ferries. The causeways were constructed by Italian prisoners of war, who also constructed the ornate Italian Chapel.<ref>Thomson (2008) pp. 434–36.</ref> The Scapa Flow base was neglected after the war, eventually closing in 1957.<ref name=Thom439>Thomson (2008) pp. 439–43.</ref>
During World War II, a Norwegian naval unit nicknamed the "Shetland Bus" was established by the Special Operations Executive in the autumn of 1940 with a base first at Lunna and later in Scalloway to conduct operations around the coast of Norway. About 30 fishing vessels used by Norwegian refugees were gathered, and the Shetland Bus conducted covert operations, carrying intelligence agents, refugees, instructors for the resistance, and military supplies. It made over 200 trips across the sea, with Leif Larsen, the most highly decorated allied naval officer of the war, making 52 of them.<ref>"Shetlands-Larsen – Statue/monument" Template:Webarchive. Kulturnett Hordaland. (Norwegian.) Retrieved 26 March 2011.</ref><ref name=scotsatwar>"The Shetland Bus" Template:Webarchive scotsatwar.org.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2011.</ref>
The problem of a declining population was significant in the post-war years, although in the last decades of the 20th century there was a recovery and life in the islands focused on growing prosperity and the emergence of a relatively classless society.<ref name="Thom439"/>
Modern timesEdit
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PoliticsEdit
Due to their history, the islands have a Norse, rather than a Gaelic flavour, and have historic links with the Faroes, Iceland, and Norway. The similarities of both geography and history are matched by some elements of the current political process. Both Orkney and Shetland are represented in the House of Commons as constituting the Orkney and Shetland constituency, which elects one Member of Parliament (MP), the current incumbent being Alistair Carmichael.<ref>"Alistair Carmichael: MP for Orkney and Shetland" alistaircarmichael.org.uk. Retrieved 8 September 2009.</ref><ref>Template:Usurped. alba.org.uk – "The almanac of Scottish elections and politics". Retrieved 9 February 2010. </ref><ref>"The Untouchable Orkney & Shetland Isles " (1 October 2009) www.snptacticalvoting.com Retrieved 9 February 2010. Template:Webarchive</ref> Both are also within the Highlands and Islands electoral region for the Scottish Parliament.
In the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, 65.4% of the constituency's electors voted for Scotland to stay part of the United Kingdom.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
However, there are also two separate constituencies that elect one Member of the Scottish Parliament each for Orkney and Shetland by the first past the post system.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Orkney and Shetland also have separate local Councils which are both dominated by independents.<ref>"Social Work Inspection Agency: Performance Inspection Orkney Islands Council 2006. Chapter 2: Context." The Scottish Government. Retrieved 8 September 2009.</ref><ref>MacMahon, Peter and Walker, Helen (18 May 2007) "Winds of change sweep Scots town halls". Edinburgh. The Scotsman.</ref><ref>"Political Groups" Shetland Islands Council. Retrieved 23 April 2010.</ref>
The Orkney Movement, a political party that supported devolution for Orkney from the rest of Scotland, contested the 1987 general election as the Orkney and Shetland Movement (a coalition of the Orkney movement and its equivalent for Shetland). Their candidate, John Goodlad, came 4th with 3,095 votes, 14.5% of those cast.<ref>Template:Usurped alba.org.uk. Retrieved 11 January 2008. </ref>
TransportEdit
Ferry services link Orkney and Shetland to the rest of Scotland, the main routes being Scrabster harbour, Thurso to Stromness and Aberdeen to Lerwick, both operated by NorthLink Ferries. Inter-island ferry services are operated by Orkney Ferries and SIC Ferries, which are operated by the respective local authorities and Northlink also run a Lerwick to Kirkwall service.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>"Ferries" Template:Webarchive. Shetland.gov.uk. Retrieved 23 May 2011.</ref> Automatic lighthouses are commonly sited across the islands as an aid to navigation at various locations.<ref>"Lighthouse Library" Northern Lighthouse Board. Retrieved 8 July 2010.</ref>
Kirkwall Airport serves as the sole commercial airport in Orkney, which is operated by Highland and Islands Airports. Loganair provides services to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness for both Kirkwall and Sumburgh Airport.<ref name="visork">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Inter-Island flights are available from Kirkwall to several Orkney islands and from the Shetland Mainland to most of the inhabited islands including those from Tingwall Airport. There are frequent charter flights from Aberdeen to Scatsta near Sullom Voe, which are used to transport oilfield workers and this small terminal has the fifth largest number of international passengers in Scotland.<ref>"UK Airport Statistics: 2005 – Annual" Template:Webarchive Table 10: EU and Other International Terminal Passenger Comparison with Previous Year. (pdf) CAA. Retrieved 16 March 2011.</ref> The scheduled air service between Westray and Papa Westray is reputedly the shortest in the world at two minutes' duration.<ref>"Getting Here" Westray and Papa Westray Craft and Tourist Associations. Retrieved 18 June 2011.</ref>
EconomicsEdit
The very different geologies of the two archipelagos have resulted in dissimilar local economies. In Shetland, the main revenue producers are agriculture, aquaculture, fishing, renewable energy, the petroleum industry (offshore crude oil and natural gas production), the creative industries and tourism.<ref>"Economy". move.shetland.org Retrieved 19 March 2011.</ref> Oil and gas was first landed at Sullom Voe in 1978, and it has subsequently become one of the largest oil terminals in Europe.<ref>"Asset Portfolio: Sullom Voe Termonal" (pdf) BP. Retrieved 19 March 2011. Template:Webarchive</ref> Taxes from the oil have increased public sector spending in Shetland on social welfare, art, sport, environmental measures and financial development. Three-quarters of the islands' workforce is employed in the service sector<ref>Shetland Islands Council (2010) p. 13</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Shetland Islands Council alone accounted for 27.9% of output in 2003.<ref>Shetland Islands Council (2005) p. 13</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Fishing remains central to the islands' economy today, with the total catch being Template:Convert in 2009, valued at over £73.2 million.<ref name=SIC16>Shetland Islands Council (2010) pp. 16–17</ref>
Orkney and Shetland have significant wind and marine energy resources, and renewable energy has recently come into prominence. The European Marine Energy Centre is a Scottish Government–backed research facility that has installed a wave testing system at Billia Croo on the Orkney Mainland and a tidal power testing station on the island of Eday.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This has been described as "the first of its kind in the world set up to provide developers of wave and tidal energy devices with a purpose-built performance testing facility."<ref>"Pelamis wave energy project Information sheet" (Template:Webarchive (PDF). E.ON Climate and Renewables UK Ltd. Retrieved 18 June 2011.</ref> Billia Croo also houses an experimental underwater data center run by Microsoft.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
CultureEdit
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The Northern Isles have a rich source of folklore. There are many Orcadian tales concerning trows, a form of troll that draws on the islands' Scandinavian connections.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Local customs in the past included marriage ceremonies at the Odin Stone that forms part of the Stones of Stenness.<ref>Muir, Tom "Customs and Traditions" in Omand (2003) p. 270</ref> The best known literary figures from modern Orkney are the poet Edwin Muir, the poet and novelist George Mackay Brown and the novelist Eric Linklater.<ref>Drever, David "Orkney Literature" in Omand (2003) p. 257</ref>
Shetland has a strong tradition of local music. The Forty Fiddlers was formed in the 1950s to promote the traditional fiddle style, which is a vibrant part of local culture today.<ref>"The Forty Fiddlers" Shetlopedia. Retrieved 8 March 2011.</ref> Notable exponents of Shetland folk music include Aly Bain and the late Tom Anderson and Peerie Willie Johnson. Thomas Fraser was a country musician who never released a commercial recording during his life, but whose work has become popular more than 20 years after his untimely death in 1978.<ref>Culshaw, Peter (18 June 2006) " The Tale of Thomas Fraser" guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2011.</ref>
LanguageEdit
The Norn language, formerly spoken in the islands, is descendant of Old Norse brought by the Vikings in the 9th century. Since 1468-1469, after Orkney and Shetland were absorbed by the Kingdom of Scotland, Norn gradually began to fade as the influx of Scots-speaking settlers migrated to the islands. Norn as such became an extinct language around 1850, after the death of its last-known speaker Walter Sutherland. The local dialects of the Scots language, collectively known as Insular Scots, are distinctive and retain strong Nordic influences.<ref>Glanville Price, The Languages of Britain (London: Edward Arnold 1984, Template:ISBN), p. 203</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>McColl Millar. 2007. Northern and Insular Scots. Edinburgh: University Press Ltd. p. 5</ref>
Main settlementsEdit
List of the main centres of population in the Orkney and Shetland islands as of 2020, with populations of over 500.<ref>Template:Scotland settlement population citation</ref>
Island namesEdit
The etymology of the island names is dominated by Norse influence. There follows a listing of the derivation of all the inhabited islands in the Northern Isles.
ShetlandEdit
The oldest version of the modern name Shetland is Hetlandensis recorded in 1190 becoming Hetland in 1431 after various intermediate transformations.<ref name=G21>Gammeltoft (2010) p. 21</ref><ref name=S9>Sandnes (2010) p. 9</ref> This then became Hjaltland in the 16th century.<ref name=G22>Gammeltoft (2010) p. 22</ref> As Shetland's Norn was gradually replaced by Scots Hjaltland became {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}. When use of 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. However the earlier name is Innse Chat – the island of the cats (or the cat tribe) as referred to in early Irish literature and it is just possible that this forms part of the Norse name.<ref name=G21/><ref name=S9/> The Cat tribe also occupied parts of the northern Scottish mainland – hence the name of Caithness via the Norse Katanes ("headland of the cat"), and the Gaelic name for Sutherland, Cataibh, meaning "among the Cats".<ref name=G9>Gammeltoft (2010) p. 9</ref><ref name="Watson 1994 p. 30">Watson (1994) p. 30</ref>
The location of "Thule", first mentioned by Pytheas of Massilia when he visited Britain sometime between 322 and 285 BC<ref name=Breeze/> is not known for certain. When Tacitus mentioned it in AD 98 it is clear he was referring to Shetland.<ref>Watson (1994) p. 7</ref>
| Island | Derivation | Language | Meaning | Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bressay | Breiðøy | Norse | broad island<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 425</ref> | |
| Bruray | Norse | east isle<ref name=H459>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 459</ref> | Norse: bruarøy – "bridge island"<ref name=H459/> | |
| East Burra | Scots/Norse | east broch island<ref name=H433/> | ||
| Fair Isle | Frioarøy | Norse | fair island<ref name=H408>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 408</ref> | Norse: feoerøy – "far-off isle".<ref name=H408/> |
| Fetlar | Unknown | Pre-Celtic? | Unknown | Norse: fetill – "shoulder-straps"<ref name=G19>Gammeltoft (2010) pp. 19–20</ref> or "fat land".<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 471</ref> See also Funzie Girt. |
| Foula | Fugløy | Norse | bird island<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 419</ref> | |
| Housay | Húsøy | Norse | house isle<ref name=H459/> | |
| Shetland Mainland | Hetlandensis | Norse/ Gaelic | island of the cat people?<ref name=G9/> | Perhaps originally from Gaelic: Innse Chat – see above<ref name=G9/> |
| Muckle Roe | Rauðey Mikla | Scots/Norse | big red island<ref name=H433>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 433</ref> | |
| Papa Stour | Papøy Stóra | Celtic/Norse | big island of the priests<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 449</ref> | |
| Trondra | Norse | boar island<ref name=H434>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 434</ref> | Norse: "Þrondr's isle" or "Þraendir's isle". The first is a personal name, the second a tribal name from the Trondheim area.<ref name=H434/> | |
| Unst | Unknown | Pre-Celtic? | Unknown | Norse: omstr – "corn-stack"<ref name=G19/> or ørn-vist – "home of the eagle"<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 481</ref> |
| Vaila | Valøy | Norse | falcon island<ref name=H430>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 430</ref> | Norse: "horse island", "battlefield island" or "round island"<ref name=H430/> |
| West Burra | Scots/Norse | west broch island<ref name=H433/> | ||
| Whalsay | Hvalsey | Norse | whale island<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 452</ref> | |
| Yell | Unknown | Pre-Celtic? | Unknown | Norse: í Ála – "deep furrow"<ref name=G19/> or Jala – "white island"<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 467</ref> |
OrkneyEdit
Pytheas described Great Britain as being triangular in shape, with a northern tip called Orcas.<ref name=Breeze>Breeze, David J. "The ancient geography of Scotland" in Smith and Banks (2002) pp. 11–13</ref> This may have referred to Dunnet Head, from which Orkney is visible.<ref name=jarehro>"Early Historical References to Orkney" Orkneyjar.com. Retrieved 27 June 2009.</ref> Writing in the 1st century AD, the Roman geographer Pomponius Mela called the Orkney islands Orcades, as did Tacitus in AD 98<ref name=jarehro/><ref>Tacitus (c. 98) Agricola. Chapter 10. "ac simul incognitas ad id tempus insulas, quas Orcadas vocant, invenit domuitque".</ref> "Orc" is usually interpreted as a Pictish tribal name meaning "young pig" or "young boar".<ref name=W116>Waugh, Doreen J. "Orkney Place-names" in Omand (2003) p. 116</ref> The old Irish Gaelic name for the islands was Insi Orc ("island of the pigs").<ref>Pokorny, Julius (1959) Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (Indo-European Etymological Dictionary) Template:Webarchive. Retrieved 3 July 2009.</ref><ref name=jaroo>"The Origin of Orkney" Orkneyjar.com. Retrieved 27 June 2009.</ref><ref group="Note">The proto-Celtic root *φorko-, can mean either pig or salmon, thus giving an alternative of "island(s) of (the) salmon".<ref>"Proto-Celtic – English Word List" Template:Webarchive (pdf) (12 June 2002) University of Wales. p. 101</ref></ref> The ogham script on the Buckquoy spindle-whorl is also cited as evidence for the pre-Norse existence of Old Irish in Orkney.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The Pictish association with Orkney is lent weight by the Norse name for the Pentland Firth – Pettaland-fjörðr i.e "Pictland Firth".<ref name="Watson 1994 p. 30"/>
The Norse retained the earlier root but changed the meaning, providing the only definite example of an adaption of a pre-Norse place name in the Northern Isles. The islands became Orkneyar meaning "seal islands".<ref name=G8>Gammeltoft (2010) pp. 8–9</ref> An alternative name for Orkney is recorded in 1300—Hrossey, meaning "horse isle" and this may also contain a Pictish element of ros meaning "moor" or "plain".<ref name=G21/>
Unlike most of the larger Orkney islands, the derivation of the name "Shapinsay" is not obvious. The final 'ay' is from the Old Norse for island, but the first two syllables are more difficult to interpret. Haswell-Smith (2004) suggests the root may be hjalpandis-øy (helpful island) due to the presence of a good harbour, although anchorages are plentiful in the archipelago.<ref name=H364>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 364</ref> The first written record dates from 1375 in a reference to Scalpandisay, which may suggest a derivation from "judge's island". Another suggestion is "Hyalpandi's island", although no one of that name is known to have been associated with Shapinsay.<ref name=Orkneyjar>"Orkney Placenames" Template:Webarchive Orkneyjar. Retrieved 10 October 2007.</ref>
| Island | Derivation | Language | Meaning | Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auskerry | Østr sker | Norse | east skerry<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 363</ref> | |
| Burray | Borgrøy | Norse | broch island<ref name="Haswell-Smith 2004 p. 354">Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 354</ref> | |
| Eday | Eidøy | Norse | isthmus island<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 386</ref> | |
| Egilsay | Égillsey | Norse or Gaelic | Egil's island<ref>Gammeltoft (2010) p. 16</ref> | Possibly from Gaelic eaglais – church island<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 379</ref> |
| Flotta | Flottøy | Norse | flat, grassy isle<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 341</ref> | |
| Gairsay | Gáreksøy | Norse | Gárekr's isle<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 367</ref> | |
| Graemsay | Grims-øy | Norse | Grim's island<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 352</ref> | |
| Holm of Grimbister | Norse | Small and rounded islet of Grim's farm | ||
| Hoy | Háøy | Norse | high island<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 343</ref> | |
| Inner Holm | English/Norse | inner rounded islet | ||
| North Ronaldsay | Rinansøy | Norse | Uncertain – possibly "Ringa's isle"<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 400</ref> | |
| Orkney Mainland | Orcades | Various | isle(s) of the young pig<ref name=W116/> | See above |
| Papa Stronsay | Papey Minni | Norse | priest isle of Stronsay<ref name=H376>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 376</ref> | The Norse name is literally "little priest isle"<ref name=H376/> |
| Papa Westray | Papey Meiri | Norse | priest isle of Westray<ref name=H397>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 397</ref> | The Norse name is literally "big priest isle"<ref name=H397/> |
| Rousay | Hrólfsøy | Norse | Hrólfs island<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 383</ref> | |
| Sanday | Sandøy | Norse | sand island<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 392</ref> | |
| Shapinsay | Unknown | Possibly "helpful island"<ref name=H364/> | See above | |
| South Ronaldsay | Rognvaldsey | Norse | Rognvald's island<ref name="Haswell-Smith 2004 p. 354"/> | |
| South Walls | Sooth Was | Scots/Norse | "southern voes" | "Voe" means fjord. Possibly "south bays". |
| Stronsay | Possibly Strjónsøy | Norse | good fishing and farming island<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 370</ref> | |
| Westray | Vestrøy | Norse | western island<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 394</ref> | |
| Wyre | Vigr | Norse | spear-like island<ref>Gammeltoft (2010) p. 18</ref> |
Uninhabited islandsEdit
Stroma, from the Norse Straumøy<ref name=H336>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 336</ref> means "current island"<ref>Mac an Tàilleir (2003) p. 109</ref> or "island in the tidal stream",<ref name=H336/> a reference to the strong currents in the Pentland Firth. The Norse often gave animal names to islands, and these have been transferred into English in, for example, the Calf of Flotta and Horse of Copinsay. Brother Isle is an anglicisation of the Norse breiðareøy meaning "broad beach island".<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 465</ref> The Norse holmr, meaning "a small islet" has become "Holm" in English and there are numerous examples of this use including Corn Holm, Thieves Holm and Little Holm. "Muckle" meaning large or big is one of few Scots words in the island names of the Nordreyar and appears in Muckle Roe and Muckle Flugga in Shetland and Muckle Green Holm and Muckle Skerry in Orkney. Many small islets and skerries have Scots or Insular Scots names such as Da Skerries o da Rokness and Da Buddle Stane in Shetland, and Kirk Rocks in Orkney.
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
- Notes
- Footnotes
- General references
- Armit, Ian (2006) Scotland's Hidden History. Stroud. Tempus. Template:ISBN
- Ballin Smith, B. and Banks, I. (eds) (2002) In the Shadow of the Brochs, the Iron Age in Scotland. Stroud. Tempus. Template:ISBN
- Clarkson, Tim (2008) The Picts: A History. Stroud. The History Press. Template:ISBN
- Template:Haswell-Smith
- Gammeltoft, Peder (2010) "Shetland and Orkney Island-Names – A Dynamic Group". Northern Lights, Northern Words. Selected Papers from the FRLSU Conference, Kirkwall 2009, edited by Robert McColl Millar.
- General Register Office for Scotland (28 November 2003) Occasional Paper No 10: Statistics for Inhabited Islands. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- Gillen, Con (2003) Geology and landscapes of Scotland. Harpenden. Terra Publishing. Template:ISBN
- Keay, J. & Keay, J. (1994) Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland. London. HarperCollins. Template:ISBN
- Template:Gaelic Placenames
- Omand, Donald (ed.) (2003) The Orkney Book. Edinburgh. Birlinn. Template:ISBN
- Nicolson, James R. (1972) Shetland. Newton Abbott. David & Charles.
- Sandnes, Berit (2003) From Starafjall to Starling Hill: An investigation of the formation and development of Old Norse place-names in Orkney. (pdf) Doctoral Dissertation, NTU Trondheim.
- Sandnes, Berit (2010) "Linguistic patterns in the place-names of Norway and the Northern Isles" Northern Lights, Northern Words. Selected Papers from the FRLSU Conference, Kirkwall 2009, edited by Robert McColl Millar.
- Schei, Liv Kjørsvik (2006) The Shetland Isles. Grantown-on-Spey. Colin Baxter Photography. Template:ISBN
- Shetland Islands Council (2010) "Shetland in Statistics 2010" (pdf) Economic Development Unit. Lerwick. Retrieved 6 March 2011
- Thomson, William P. L. (2008) The New History of Orkney Edinburgh. Birlinn. Template:ISBN
- Turner, Val (1998) Ancient Shetland. London. B. T. Batsford/Historic Scotland. Template:ISBN
- Wickham-Jones, Caroline (2007) Orkney: A Historical Guide. Edinburgh. Birlinn. Template:ISBN
- Watson, W. J. (1994) The Celtic Place-Names of Scotland. Edinburgh. Birlinn. Template:ISBN. First published 1926.
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