And Just Like That, It's Over

 

In many ways the fact that I was actually going to Scotland felt surreal. This moment had been anticipated for so very long. Two and a half years long, to be exact. However, once I was on the ground, it felt as though no time had passed since my last visit home.

 

I was able to connect with colleagues in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Fife. I caught up with family and even met some cousins I only know virtually (What are the odds that two of my second cousins would be staying at the same wee hotel in Orkney that I was and at the same time?!)

 

I had a great wee group in Orkney. They were fantastic, fun and flexible and we had a wonderful week together. More touring than research but connections with cousins and with ancestors were made. We were in awe of the history that the island retains evidence of. Neolithic remnants dot the islands. Orkney is so picturesque. Gentle hills, inland lochs and miles of coastline. The major agriculture is now cattle and they clearly outnumber the people.

Orkney has a much slower pace than the rest of Scotland. In tune with the sea. And the weather. We were blessed with rainbows every afternoon, thanks to weather that literally changed every five minutes.

 

Orcadians never take their history for granted. A cairn or the remnants of a neolithic village may well be on their farm. They honour it and leave it as is. Our view every morning at breakfast was a look across the sea loch, Loch of Stenness, to see the standing stones at both Stenness and the larger Ring of Brodgar. Still unchanged after 5000 years. Except for a few cattle sharing the land.

 

From Orkney I made my way to Shetland. I have wanted to see Shetland since I first visited Orkney 6 years ago. I was told that the landscape was different but it was still a shock. Outwith the city of Lerwick, the land is rugged, vast and  sparsely populated. And I mean sparsely. It was reminiscent of the northern highlands of mainland Scotland, but more barren, if that is even possible. I could literally drive for miles and miles and encounter no one. No other car, no sign of a homestead, no animals. Shetland is more for sheep than cattle, but even the sheep were sparse.

 

All of the communities are coastal. And small. Usually a couple of dozen homes. Often fewer. Driving along a steep, twisting, single lane mountain road, I would see a sign pointing left to a community. Left! Where the country literally dropped off a cliff to the sea. A steep drive down would find a few scattered buildings along the coast. Many had a leisure centre and some also had a school. No corner shop. No grocery store. No clinic. No gas station. These amenities were miles away. Sometimes even a ferry ride away.

 

I could live in Orkney but I doubt I would survive long in Shetland. Not outwith Lerwick or Scalloway anyway. Scalloway was the original capital city - now known as the ancient capital, before the capital was moved to Lerwick. Compared to the rest of Shetland, Lerwick is a bustling town. Mostly thanks to the tourists. Scalloway is also a busy wee place. Both have wonderful museums, shops, restaurants and peaceful harbours. Surprisingly everything closes at 5 pm. There is a chippy in Lerwick that stays open until 8. And there are a couple of pubs that are open well into the evening. But shops and restaurants are closed by 5, if not earlier.

 

I was able to visit three islands: Unst, Yell and Mainland. There are interisland ferries between them, each about 5 - 10 minutes across. Unst has an incredible viking heritage. Replica ships, longhouses and even a broch. The Unst Heritage Centre is a small museum but one that is packed with information. As I tell everyone, "ask" when you are in any museum. The staff was so pleased to take me to the staff room and show me the wealth of genealogical records that they have available.

 

Unst and Yell can be done in a day. Yell has one small museum, which didn't have much on offer but which provided me a wonderful chat with a local man. He was truly delightful and I will treasure our conversation for years to come. Yell is a wonderful destination for anyone who enjoys rugged hill walks or mountain biking. The scenery is truly breathtaking.

 

There is so much to see in Mainland that I can quite understand why some folk never get to the north isles. I really enjoyed my time in Lerwick and making the trips to Scalloway, St Ninian's Isle, Sumburgh (Jarlshof and the Crofthouse Museum) and Bixter (the original Cake Fridge and the Shetland Pony Experience).

 

Shetland is at 60 degrees North. On par with Norway, Greenland, the Yukon and Nunavut. And it is easy to see the connection. The inland waterways are broken by mountain ranges, emerging out of the fjords. Truly, truly stunning. The climate will be similar although Shetland has the advantage of the effects of the North Atlantic Drift, which is the end part of the gulf stream, which, incidentally, also keeps the west of Scotland fairly moderate, temperature-wise.

 

Both Shetland and Orkney once belonged to Norway and Shetland has retained much of this early influence, particularly in their language, but also in their culture and their music. While road signs for places (Welcome to...) in Scotland are in both English and Gaelic, in Shetland the original Old Norse meaning of the name is given. For example, Tingwall (the field of the parliament) or Lerwick (Muddy Bay) or even Sumburgh (South broch). And in both Orkney and Shetland, words from Old Norse continue to be used like "peedie" in Orkney or "peerie" in Shetland meaning wee or small.

 

My final few days were spent with colleague Clare Wilson. Many of you will know of Clare from the Lanarkshire monthly presentations or from our Kilted Kulture events. Clare and I met thanks to the Lanarkshire Family History Society putting us in touch and from the first meeting she has felt like kin to me. I thoroughly enjoyed my few days with her and her husband and was sad to have to leave them. We played tourist and shared loads of laughs. And that is what time with kin is all about. Laughter.

 

Shetland's Northern Isles

The ferry arrived at 7 and we were able to stay on board until 8:30 to enjoy breakfast. I picked up the car at 8 and headed north. My plan was to spend today in Unst and tomorrow in Yell before heading back to Mainland tomorrow night. However, I was able to get through everything on my list in both Unst and Yell today, so it will be back to mainland tomorrow after breakfast. 

The landscape in Shetland is very different than the landscape in Orkney, and largely reminiscent of the landscape in the remote parts of the Scottish highlands. Vast, rugged, open. The roads are narrow, usually single lane with the exception of the road from one ferry to the next, likely to accommodate the buses. 

Orkney was almost over populated with cattle, while here in Shetland, cattle are few and far between. There are sheep. 

I took the five minute ferry from mainland to Yell, drove across Yell and took the five minute ferry to Unst. Unst is a Viking haven with loads of remnants of Viking life scattered across its 46 square miles. I was able to see the Viking Ship, a large (very large) replica, literally at the side of the road. 

Beside it is a replica Viking longhouse. 

There is archaeological evidence of some 60 Viking longhouses in Shetland. All are built slightly differently to one another. Some have room for animals, others don't. Some have thatched roofs, others don't. Some have mud walls, others don't.  Some housed Jarls others housed ordinary folk. There seems to be no specific pattern. 

I visited the Unst Heritage Centre and was quite delighted at the genealogical information available there. The Heritage Centre is housed in a former school so has the school admissions from 1894-1997. It also has census information, with little clues written in the margins to help people know they have the right family. There are several large family history charts for the more common names in Unst. As well, there is a very large family history book, with sketches of vod (now abandoned or ruined) homes with the names of the last owners who lived there, taken from the census records. 

As serendipity would have it, the volunteer running the centre today said that in the last month, she had 2 sets of people come into the centre who were, in fact, related to her and fit into her ancestral lines! Queries can be sent to the heritage centre by email. 

Anyone with Shetland roots may want to check out Bayannes if you haven't already done so. 

While in Unst, I was also able to visit Bobby's Bus Shelter. This was a fairly typical bus shelter but at threat of being removed by the Council. Seven year old Bobby wrote to the Council asking them to reconsider and explaining that he rode his bike to the shelter every morning, left his bike in the shelter and picked it back up at the end of the school day. He would have no where to leave his bike if the shelter was removed. The Council not only left the shed but took it over and the locals in the area work to keep it decorated. This year's "theme" is in honour of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth.

Soon I was back on the ferry and over, once again, to Yell. Yell often gets overlooked by travelers who see it as a necessary step en route to Unst. I decided to spend time here but, quite honestly, unless you are a hill walker, hiker or cyclist, there really isn't anything of interest on the island that would warrant more than a couple of hours. 

That said, I took a lengthy and rather harrowing drive to Burravoe to visit the Old Haa Museum. In and of itself, the museum wasn't worth risking life and limb for. However, I chose to have a cup of tea and a slice of cake in the coffee shop and was able to engage in conversation with an incredibly delightful resident who certainly made the stop worthwhile. I found a much shorter, safer route back from the Old Haa and using that route, the museum is certainly worth stopping in to see. It is the home of a former merchant and gives a glimpse into the lifestyle of the merchant. It has old stories playing on an old radio and the gardens are lovely and serene. 

Then I was more than happy to head to my B&B for the night!