Three Years in Shetland

Front matter

LIFE IN SHETLAND THREE YEARS IN SHETLAND BY Rev. JOHN RUSSELL, M.A. Minister of Leslie, Aberdeenshire ALEXANDER GARDNER PAISLEY; and 12 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON CONTENTS. PAGE Chapter I., 9 Number of writers about Shetland — Author's knowledge of country — Competition for parishes lessened — Reasons for going to Shetland. Chapter IL, 14 Going to Shetland — Landing furniture — Extent and population of Whalsay — My predecessor, Mr. Willans — Benefits of endowment — Difficulties in travelling — Prejudice against roads — A short ministry. Chapter IIL, - - 20 Church of Whalsay — Neglected state of churches —Attendance at Church — Collections — Female dress — Kirk-Sessions — Discipline. Chapter IV., - 26 Absence of minister — The minister of Dunrossness in the pulpit — Marriage of a brother minister — Catechising and visiting under difficulties — Primitive mode of life — Benefit of resident minister — Case of chronic rheumatism — Condition of poor.

Chapter V., - - 36 The Out-Skerries — Abundance of Sillocks — Lighthouse recreations — Lighthouse-keepers — Tameness of Eider Ducks when breeding — First visit to Skerries. Chapter VL, 42 Mr. Peterson, schoolmaster and catechist — His teaching and preaching — Improvements effected by him — Schoolhouse built by Mr. Arthur Anderson — Reasons for being an Independent— Mr. Peterson's high character — His people in search of him — Reasons for not marrying — Rents — A Whalsay fiddler — Destitution in the Skerries — Salubrity of group. Contents. 6 Chapter VIL, 53 Presbytery meetings — Travelling to them — Place of meeting — Conduct of business — Second diet — Toasts on Highlands — Excuses for shortening procedure — The Synod — Should be united to Synod of Orkney. Chapter VIIL, 60 Ministerial intercourse — Communion services — Communion at Skerries and at Fair Isle — Going to Assembly by way of Hamburg — Watchmaker carried to Greenland and to London.

Chapter IX., -------- 64 Visit to Foulah — Dangers of passage — The landing — Interruption of communication in winter — Configuration of island — Circumstances of people — Climbing the Sneug — The Bouxie fowling — View from top of the hill — Vast numbers of birds — Eagles in Foulah — Morning in July — The schoolmaster of Foulah — The dog-tax — Pauperism — Agility of islanders — Population — Illegitimacy — Second ascent of Sneug — Rolling stones down hill. Chapter X., - - 81 Warrister House — Supply of peats, water, groceries, meat — The shop — Expenses of living — The glebe — A minister farming — Amusements — Gardening — The minister at football — What to cultivate — Growth of trees — Improvement of country by plantations in other places. Chapter XL, 95 Boating — Depopulation of small islands — Solitary life— Employments of family in winter evenings — Fishing for piltocks— Sea trout — A sweep net — Magnus Mouatt.

Chapter I

Number of writers about Shetland — Author's knowledge of country — Competition for Parishes lessened — reasons for going to Shetland. UNTIL a comparatively recent period there were very few strangers who, for the sake of health or recreation, found their way to Shetland. The only visitors were those who went thither for the purposes of trade, or who were inte rested in the fishings, on which the general prosperity of the inhabitants so much depended. All this, however, has been changed. In summer a constant stream of tourists, conveyed by commodious and well-appointed steamers, is landed at Lerwick and Scalloway, who, roaming over the islands, survey with admiration the scenery, and feel interest in observing the manners and customs of the people, so different in many respects from those to which they have been accustomed.

We may judge of the surprise and wonder felt by visi tors at the transition which they experience on leaving Leith or Aberdeen, by the number of articles and notices which have appeared from time to time of late years. A hurried run through the country, and such knowledge as may have been picked up at second hand, is often deemed enough to rush into print. Ministers on their holidays, students on botanical or geological excursions, men in business, inspectors of schools, have been most distinguished for recent, and in some cases most brilliant and successful attempts to communicate to others the delightful impressions made on them, and the information they have collected. This is not to be wondered at. We are assured on high authority that a stay of eight days in India is sufficient to qualify for writing a book on it.

It may form some apology for my appearing among those who have written on the subject, that my residence in Shetland extended to the period of three years, that at other times I have paid frequent visits to it, and that I have travelled through almost every part of it. It is reasonable to suppose that at no period the cure of a parish in Shetland was so desirable as one on the mainland of Scotland. The isolation from society, the want of roads, the nature of the climate, the distance from centres of intelligence and refinement, had the effect of causing a residence in this country to be regarded by most people as a mild species of banishment. There were, indeed, parishes looked on with greater favour than others ; and if a minister was settled in a parish early in life he gradually became passionately attached to his is land home.

He sought no change, but passed his life in contentment among his people in the peaceful and faith ful discharge of the duties of his sacred office, attached to his parishioners, and they to him. At no period, how ever, has there been any lack of candidates for a vacant parish. Before 1843 when as many as 700 students crowded the divinity halls in St. Andrews, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow, and when there was a large reserve of probationers to fall back upon in the case of a vacancy, no little influence was required to obtain a charge even in Shetland. The Earl of Zetland was sole patron of the twelve livings in the islands, and therefore until the abolition of patronage it was only those who were re commended to him who had any prospect of obtaining an appointment. By the erection of quoad sacra parishes, by the establishment of churches in connection with the Free Church, the United Presbyterians, the Wesleyan Methodists, the In dependents and the Scots Episcopal Church, the number of clergymen has been greatly increased.

It is to be expected that as wealth increases the number of dissent ing churches will also increase, for here as in other parts of the world there are persons given to change. I may now speak of what led to my becoming a minister in Shetland. I had been several years licensed, and was almost in despair of becoming an ordained minister of the Church of Scotland, when I was elected minister of the quoad sacra parish of Whalsay. I was at the time a parish schoolmaster, and was, to tell the truth, heartily tired of teaching. This was not be cause I did not like the work, but because of the circumstances in which I was placed. I had a crowded school, and the accommodation being deficient, my health suffered in consequence. Before the passing of the Education Act there was a want of elasticity in the provisions afforded by law for the purposes of education.

If a schoolroom was in decent repair, however much the attendance of scholars might be increased, there was the utmost difficulty, if not impossibility, of moving heritors to enlarge the buildings. " Palaces were not to be built for dominies." Any one who in an afternoon has entered bne of the old crowded parish school-rooms can readily understand how such an atmosphere was in the highest degree injurious to health, and how a teacher in such circumstances often sighed for a change of occupation. I have heard teachers say at the end of the summer holidays, when their health had been recruited and their appetite had returned, aster enjoying the fresh air and scenery of the country, that it was with a shudder that they contemplated the idea of returning to their usual employment. All this is happily changed, and whatever may be the additional burden of taxation imposed on the country in the shape of school rates, the passing of the Education Act has been a blessing of the highest magnitude and importance to teachers and taught.

In giving up my school I made a very considerable pecuniary sacrifice, my stipend as a minister not being much more than half my emoluments as aparish school master. One thing in particular I grudged giving up. This was my garden. To most schoolmasters in the country, a garden is a pleasant source of recreation. Keeping bees, rearing flowers, fruit, and vegetables during spare hours and moments of leisure are a pleasant exchange for the confined and exhausting labours of a class-room. My garden was small but well adapted in regard to soil and climate for rearing flowers. In one corner I had an immense hydrangea which remained there all winter, and flowered to perfection every summer. The only protection it got in winter was a little brushwood. I had also a Marechal Niel on the wall which grew to a great size and flowered remarkably well.

I had plums and apricots, and even tried a peach. As to other things I need only say that I was a very successful competitor at local exhibitions, and was president of our parish horti cultural society. Parting with friends and old pupils is not very agreeable, but this had to be experienced, as going to Shetland to reside implied taking leave of an acquaintanceship formed during a residence of twenty years. However, I had made up my mind, and in due time set about re moval. As I was living on the south side of the Moray Firth, and about sixty miles from Aberdeen, I hired a sailing vessel from Lerwick to convey my furniture, and went with my family by steamer.

Chapter II

Going to Shetland— Landing Furniture— Extent and Population of Whalsay —My predecessor, Mr. Willans— Benefits of Endowment— Difficulties in Travelling — Prejudice against Roads— A short Ministry. In due time the sloop made its appearance. I was after wards told that the master had been unwilling to under take the voyage. He had up to this time been employed in coasting about the islands, and though he had been at Davis Straits had never been so far south as the Moray Firth. However, his owners had prevailed on him to make the attempt, and as it was summer and the weather fine, he managed without much difficulty to make out Troup Head, and thence found his way to his destination. After a short stay in the metropolis of the islands we again embarked, this time on a small coasting steamer, called from her speed the Crab.

We reached the Manse of Whalsay in safety. For some days we were most hospitably entertained at the house of the principal farmer in the place until our furniture could be landed and placed under cover. The sloop which carried our household goods was anchored in the narrow sound opposite the manse, near the rocks which bordered the shore. There was no pier, but the people who assisted were well accus tomed to landing goods in such circumstances. The sea was smooth, and in a few hours the various articles of furniture were taken from the hold, placed in boats, and then handed ashore on the rocks, whence they were carried up to the house by a steep path a distance of about a couple of hundred yards. It was fortunate that the weather was both calm and dry. I do not know how we would have fared if the sea had been rough or rain had been falling.

As it was, thanks to the ingenuity of the carpenter whom we employed and the willing services of neighbours, we found no more difficulty in putting things in order than is usually experienced in removing from one house to another on the mainland. The parish to which I had come consisted of the island of Whalsay and the group of islands called the Out- Skerries. Whalsay is on the east side of Shetland, and contains nearly 900 inhabitants. It is about five miles in length by two in breadth. Portions of it near the shore are good soil and are cultivated, but by far the greatest part is an uncultivated waste of bog and moor. The place names are all Norse : such words as Shaw, Berg, Houl, Gard, Brough, and especially Sæter, being found. This last word occurred in various combinations. We had Challister, Isbister, Hogsetter, Symbister, Marrister, Li vister, Hamaster, and others.

My predecessor was the Rev. Angus Willans. He had been at first missionary on the Royal Bounty. By his untiring exertions a sufficient sum of money was raised both for the endowment of the charge and for the erection of a commodious manse. As sometimes happens, he did not live long to enjoy the fruit of his labours in a worldly point of view. He died a few years aster the endowment was completed. By his pulpit ministrations, and the kindly interest which he took in the members of his flock, he had endeared himself in a high degree to his parishioners. They often lamented his untimely death with expressions which I had every reason to believe were heart felt and sincere. In many cases the people are poor, or in very humble circumstances. They are far from church. The roads are bad, or do not exist at all.

Landlords are often non resident. The presence of a clergyman, a man of education, has a beneficial influence in a community, apart from his preaching. He is one who can give them counsel and advice when it is needed. He is ready at all times to minister comfort and consolation to the sick and aged ; and if he cannot, from his limited means, always relieve the wants of the poor, he is one to whom in a time of difficulty all look for help and guidance. Formerly the parish minister in many cases had to preach in turn at two and even three churches. These were it may be six or eight miles apart. In the case of Whalsay the church and parish were separated from the mainland and from the rest of the parish of Nesting by a sound or channel, impassable in stormy weather. The minister preached at the different churches in his parish on successive Sabbaths.

If by stress of weather he was prevented from discharging this duty on the appointed day, he waited until the day came round again, so that he made his appearance occasionally aster an absence of six weeks. It is to the credit of parish ministers in that remote part of the world that they have faithfully discharged the duties of the Christian ministry under great difficulties. They have had, as an almost ordinary part of their work, to en dure fatigue and exposure to wind and rain, which many would deem intolerable. In travelling from one place to another, whether in going to church or returning, but especially in the work of visitation, trackless moors have often to be crossed. It is true that in many highland parishes, and in pastoral districts in the south of Scotland, similar work has to be done, but there, where there are no roads, the peat mosses and hill pasture generally present a firm and even surface- In Shetland, however, the moors are in many places broken up, not unlike the lumpy appearance of the sea in one of the sounds in a storm.

Travelling is therefore frequently a series of jumping over hollows, or climbing up one hillock and going down another. Even when the surface is unbroken it is for the greatest part of the year of a soft and spongy texture, rendering walking to a distance extremely fatiguing. To the natives, who used to walk barefooted or wearing sandals of un dressed cow-hide, called rivelins, the soft surface was more agreeable than a macadamised road. When at the time of the potato disease district roads were formed, one of the principal objections to them was that walking on them would wear out the rivelins. When roads were made some opposed to innovations, laudatores acti tem poris, used to walk among the heather beside the road, scorning to make use of the new pathway, but they had to give in. In journeying by sea, there is the discomfort of being cooped up in a small boat with scarcely room to stretch one's limbs.

And there is the risk that though the weather may be fine in the morning you may have to return home in a gale. To a landsman, little accustomed in youth to the sea, the sight of broken water in the currents and tideways, even in smooth weather, is apt to inspire a certain amount of fear, not to speak of other un comfortable sensations, corporeal rather than mental. No doubt this wears off by degrees, but even habit does not make boating agreeable to those who live a sedentary life, and frequent exposure to cold and wet is rather favourable to rheumatism than otherwise. Some ministers, indeed, seem to take a great delight in boating at all seasons, but this is by no means common. The late Dr. Hamilton of Bressay was one of the most fearless and skilful boatmen in the islands. One instance will give an idea of the feelings with which a beginner is apt to regard the fatigues and exposure incident to the ministry in Shetland.

A young man had come from the south to be assistant to the minister of Quarff and Burra. This is a united parish, having one church in Quarff beside the manse, and the other in the island of Burra. A road leads from the manse of Quarff for about a mile to the noost where the minister's boat was kept. From this to the church of Burra the distance to be traversed by sea is about three miles. Part of this is quite land-locked. Service is held in the two churches on alternate Sabbaths. An afternoon service is in addition held in Quarff in summer when the minister can return home in time. The young man who had been engaged as assistant arrived on Saturday evening from Aberdeen by the steamer. He had been brought up in a large town, and having been comfortably reared, probably had never got his feet wet during his life.

He was told the next morning that he had to go to preach at Burra. So he prepared to go. Before setting out, he after breakfast went out to the lawn in front of the manse to take a look at the weather. It was a lovely morning in July, but owing to a heavy dew the grass was wet as with a heavy shower of rain. On seeing this he immediately returned into the house and said to the minister, " I cannot go to Burra to-day, the grass is all wet, I will get my feet wet and catch cold." The old man, who had been long accustomed to island life and had gone so often to Burra in all sorts of weather, and had never thought of complaining, was so much astonished that at first he did not know what to say. However, at last he told him that it was chiefly to go to Burra that he was wanted, and that there he must go, otherwise he would be of no use to him.

On hearing this, the assistant went to Burra, preached and returned in the evening, all the while resolved that as it was his first visit to that place it would be his last. So on Monday morning he gathered all together, I am not sure indeed if he had unpacked his trunk, and went in to Lerwick, whence he returned to Aberdeen, sailing by the steamer in the evening. His ministry was thus the briefest known in Shetland, being comprised within the forty-eight hours during which the steamer lies at anchor in Bressay Sound. It is but fair to add that on the mainland he has been a diligent and successful minister, and still labours assiduously in one of our finest country parishes, but in a more genial clime than that of Shetland.

Chapter III

Church of Whalsay — Neglected state of Churches — Attendance at Church — Collections — Female dress — Kirk-Sessions — Discipline. I HAVE already mentioned that Whalsay with the Out- Skerries constituted my parish. There is a church in each. Owing to the distance between them, about seven miles from land to land, the Out-Skerries were only occasionally visited. The church of Whalsay was situated on a sandy peninsula on the west side ofthe parish. It did not seem to have been built with a view to ac commodate the majority of the population. If this had been the case it would have been built nearer the centre of the island. It was, I suppose, the want of roads and consequently the difficulty of carriage of building materials that had led to the site being on the sea shore. But to the place chosen it was easy to convey materials by sea, and land them on the shore, whereas their convey ance even a mile inland would have been a very serious undertaking.

There were also the remains of a very large brough on the top of a hill close at hand, which seemed to have served as a quarry, and this may have in some measure led to the selection of the site. For those who chose to come in boats the place was very convenient. There was a pier and boathouse near the church. The heritors were bound to keep the church in repair in virtue of its being one of three original parish churches in the Presbytery of Nesting. It was therefore commodious, and except in winter, comfortable. A great and much-needed reformation had taken place in the churches and manses of the Presbytery of Olna firth, a few years previous to my becoming a member of it. This was principally owing to the energetic action of the respected Clerk of Presbytery, the minister of Northmavine.

Until a comparatively recent period several of the churches and manses were in a very wretched condition. As showing the indifference to appearances which prevailed, a minister told me that when preaching his trial sermon after being presented, one thing which attracted his attention in particular was a long ladder hung for safety and preservation in front of the gallery. One of the first things he did aster his ordination and induction was to remove so unseemly an object to a less con spicuous place outside the church. In Whalsay I found all things arranged decently and in order. There was even a vestry, useful for keeping the pulpit bible, and where one could take breath aster the walk to church. In cold or rainy weather the church officer, who was also precentor, was so mindful as to light a fire, but it did not warm the apartment very much.

The few peats that smoked on the hearth give out more smoke than heat. But William Hutchison, whose salary for both offices amounted to only a pound, gave his services from good will rather than for the emoluments they brought to him. He and his choir sang right heartily, more from attachment to the church than for filthy lucre's sake. On a fine day the walk to church, which was about a mile and a half distant from the manse, was most exhilarating. The people could be seen coming from all parts of the island, holding out to the preacher the prospect of a numerous audience. They were very regular in their attendance on ordinances, so that unless in very rainy or boisterous weather the church was crowded. The collections did not amount to a large sum when counted up at the end of the year. The coin usually put into the ladle was a farthing.

As the collections were ex changed at the shop for silver, and as it was at the shop that my hearers provided themselves with those farthings, I thought that if the Session hoarded up the farthings and so stopped the supply of them, we might get halfpence put into the ladle instead. But if this should be done, I was given to understand that instead of farthings we should get nothing at all, so the experiment did not get a fair trial. After all, when circumstances are considered, a farthing from a crofter in Shetland is as much as a half penny from a well to do farmer in Scotland. I have known farmers paying from three hundred to sour hundred pounds of rent, who drove a gig or dogcart on week-days, and esteemed themselves something of gentlemen, who did not exceed the halfpenny in giving to ordinary collections, and who, if absent at a market on a thanksgiving day when the annual collection was made for the infirmary, did not remember to give silver when next in church Several causes contributed to good attendance at church.

As the people lived in seven or eight separate districts, an opportunity was afforded for friends and relatives for see ing and talking to each other for a few minutes before the service. There were few opportunities of meeting for amusement such as exist in other places. The church was the only place which the young women had of displaying their finery. Their earnings at making kelp and knitting were for the most part expended in Lerwick, and it was only at church that those articles of dress, which are the pride and the envy of the female mind, could be exhibited. And to do them justice, there the young women of the place appeared tastefully and even elegantly attired. On one occasion I remember some of them being adorned in a rather conspicuous way. A young man who had been chief officer on a steamer in China on the Yangtre-kiang came home to see his friends.

He had brought various curiosities and presents with him. When at Aden he had purchased a quantity of beautiful ostrich feathers. These he distributed among his female relatives, who of course stuck them into their bonnets and appeared in church with them. But at all times, it was wonderful to see how the latest fashions from Edinburgh, closely protected during the week from smoke in trunks, were brought out on the Sabbath day to dazzle and captivate admirers. But while these secondary causes contributed to church attendance, I have reason to believe that higher motives were the prevailing cause. The people in general were exemplary in their conduct, and, so far as I could learn, lived under the habitual influence of religion. Family worship if not universal was very common. It was a very commendable feature of character here as in other parts of Shetland, that when the minister from necessity was absent, the congregation met as usual.

The service in that case was conducted by the elders, one of them read ing a sermon. This practice had arisen from the ministers having more than one church to preach in by turns. I found a staff of excellent elders. They were highly esteemed by the rest of the flock. Nothing could exceed their willingness to endeavour to discharge the duties of their office faithfully. Like the rest of the islanders they were crofters and fishermen, and were very prudent, sen sible, and pious men. They were six in number. Each had a district assigned to him, in which he ruled. As in other parishes they were expected to visit the sick, to exercise a general supervision of morals, and if need were, to report to the minister anything which called for church discipline. When a child was to be baptized the father was required to present a certificate from the district elder, to the effect that his conduct was what it ought to be.

And when the young men came to be instructed as catechumens they were expected to produce a certificate that they were of good moral character. The authority which the elders were thus enabled to exercise tended to procure for them respect and influence in their several districts. But as no system or method of government is without its defects and drawbacks, it was sometimes troublesome to have to attend to all the grievances and disputes which were brought before the Kirk-Session. This arose from the absence in past times of facilities for obtaining redress in courts of law. If cases of slander or assault, petty quarrels between neighbours, or charges of dishonesty arose, it was expected that the Kirk-Session would take cognisance of them, or adjudicate on them when brought before them. And when this was done the matter ended.

Occasionally, however, complaints caused annoyance to the minister. Every elder had a large following in the parish, consisting of relatives and connections. He was like the chief of a clan. So when an injury was done to Life in Slietland. 25 any of his friends, he brought a complaint against the delinquent before the Kirk-Session. The accused, on the other hand, had a friend at court in the person of one of the other elders, who became his advocate. In this way divisions arose, and it required a little management on the part of the minister to mediate between the contending parties, who strove not for justice so much as for victory. In private, complaints were brought to him. It was sound, as the best way of testing the truth of these, to ask, " Will you state this in the presence of two witnesses."