Shetland: Whalsay, Out Scerries, Papa Stour

WHALSAY

The prosperous fishing community of Whalsay (pop. 1,000) has long been known in Shetland as ‘Da Bonnie Isle’. In Old Norse the name means ‘island of whales’ and indeed the waters around Whalsay are still one of the best places to see minke whales when they come inshore to feed during the summer. The ferry across from Laxo gives grand views of the many ‘peerie isles’, uninhabited islets in the sounds between Whalsay and the Shetland Mainland. This is an important seabird feeding area and a good place to watch tysties and eider ducks.

The fishing harbour at Symbister, where the ferry docks, is crowded with brightly-coloured boats of all sizes, from the big herring and mackerel trawlers down to tiny inshore skiffs used for traditional line fishing and crab pots. On the shore stands the Bremen Böd, a 17th century trading booth housing a museum to the Hanseatic League which dominated Shetland’s fish trade for over 500 years. The intriguing displays recount how the German merchants from Hamburg, Bremen and Lubeck were eventually forced out by the new British government after the Treaty of Union in 1707. Other visitor attractions include the prehistoric ruins at the Loch of Huxter and, of course, Britain’s most northerly golf course at Skaw.

Overlooking the harbour is one of the most splendid laird’s mansions in Shetland, Symbister House. Built of granite shipped across from Nesting, it’s now occupied by the island’s secondary school. It’s said that all Whalsay children grow up bilingual, as the very strong and distinctive Whalsay dialect can be hard even for other Shetlanders to follow. Whalsay folk rightly cherish their dialect and the thousands of Norse place names in their island.

One of the Whalsay place names appears on the map as Sodom (in Old Norse, ‘the sheep’s house’). In this ‘but-and-ben’ house, Scotland’s foremost 20th century poet and controversialist, Christopher Murray Grieve, lived for nine poverty-stricken years in the 1930s, writing some of his finest work (such as ‘On a Raised Beach’) under the pen name of Hugh MacDiarmid. ‘The Grieve House’ is now a camping böd where you can stay overnight for a small fee.

OUT SCERRIES

The scattering of islands known as Out Skerries is a sort of Shetland in miniature. The landscape is intricate and varied, with rugged cliffs, arches, blow holes, stacks, sheltered inlets and beaches. The East Isle, or Bruray, is lightly grazed so wild flowers grow in profusion, along with dwarf willows.

The panorama of the east coast of Shetland, seen from the hill on Bruray, is unforgettable. The community-owned salmon farm, the fishing pier, the tiny airstrip and the crofts seemingly carved out of the rock, all add detail and interest as you stroll around, to make this one of the most charming places in Shetland.

Skerries Lighthouse on Bound Skerry is now automatic, like all others in the UK, and the lightkeepers’ cottages on Grunay now stand empty. Off Bound Skerry lies a historic wreck, a 17th century Danish warship called the Wrangel’s Palais. Along the south coast of Housay are two more famous wrecks, the Dutch East Indiamen De Liefde and Kennemerland. Finds from both sites can be seen in the Shetland Museum.

The bird watching is always good in Skerries, year round. As well as the usual seabirds, Skerries attracts many migrants in spring and autumn and has recorded some impressive rarities.

PAPA STOUR

The coastline of Papa Stour, off the West Mainland of Shetland, is famous for its sea stacks, spectacular cliffs, tranquil bays and extraordinary sea caves (the longest in Britain), On shore, there’s a complete contrast in scenery between the fertile croft land (some of the best in Shetland) and the bare, stony hill grazing. This is partly because of some curious geology but mainly the result of hundreds of years of islanders ‘scalping’ the hill for peat and turf.

People have lived on Papa Stour for at least 3000 years. There are mysterious prehistoric burnt mounds and traces of ancient field systems. The name means ‘Big Isle of the Priests’ and there appear to have been Celtic monks here in the 6th century. The Vikings ethnically cleansed them (or worse) and Papa became an administrative centre for western Shetland in the late Middle Ages. The Norwegian Duke Haakon’s hall is an important archaeological site. Shetland’s oldest surviving document, a Norse court record from the 13th century, describes evidence in a land dispute in Papa.

Papa Stour now has a car ferry from the Shetland Mainland but hardly any road to drive on when you get here, so the best way to explore and savour this tranquil island is to go on foot.

As you sail into Housa Voe on the ferry, you pass a grassy stack with a ruin on top. Legend has it that an anxious father marooned his daughter here to preserve her from the attentions of a suitor of whom he disapproved. Somehow, the couple eloped anyway...