Yell, Shetland
Old Norse name | Jala |
---|---|
Meaning of name | Possibly of Pictish origin or from Old Norse for 'barren' |
Location | |
OS grid reference | HU492935 |
Coordinates | 60°37′N 1°06′W / 60.62°N 1.1°W |
Physical geography | |
Island group | Shetland |
Area | 21,211 ha (81.9 sq mi) |
Area rank | 11 [1] |
Highest elevation | Hill of Arisdale 210 m (689 ft) |
Administration | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Country | Scotland |
Council area | Shetland Islands |
Demographics | |
Population | 966[2] |
Population rank | 15 [1] |
Population density | 4.5 people/km2[2][3] |
Largest settlement | Mid Yell |
References | [3][4][5] |
Yell is one of the
The island's bedrock is largely composed of Moine schist with a north–south grain, which was uplifted during the Caledonian mountain building period.[7] Peat covers two-thirds of the island to an average depth of 1.5 metres (4.9 feet).
Yell has been inhabited since the
Notable buildings on the island include the 17th-century Old Haa of Brough in Burravoe, a merchant's house now converted to a museum and visitor centre.[10] There are various folk tales and modern literary references to island life.
Geography
Yell is 19 miles (31 kilometres) in length, with a maximum breadth of 7.5 miles (12.1 kilometres), and is swept all around by very impetuous tides.[11] The island extends northward to within 9.5 miles (15.3 kilometres) of the northwestern extremity of Unst. It is divided by only the narrow Bluemull Sound from the south west of Unst.[11] On the eastern side the coast is generally low and sandy but there is an extensive rocky and partly precipitous coast on the west that rises slowly to elevations of 200–400 ft (61–122 m).[11] It is indented by seven or eight bays forming natural harbours. As Penrith's guide to Orkney and Shetland states:
- "The island is roughly rectangular and nearly cut in two where the long voes of Whale Firth and Mid Yell almost meet."[6]
In addition to these large indentations, there are a number of tombolos connecting peninsulas to the island. Many of these are very fragile, and can be damaged extremely easily by human erosion, or severe storms, creating new islands - or resurrecting old ones.
There is comparatively little farmland, but the coast is conducive to fishing.[11] Much of the interior of Yell is covered in a peat blanket, often as much as 10 feet (3.0 metres) thick,[12] which is the result of 3,000 years of deposits.[6] The peat retains a great deal of water, but is easily eroded, particularly when it comes near to the coast. As Jill Slee Blackadder writes:
- "Some streams carve deep sided gorges. Among these habitats, you can find a wealth of wild flowers and birds nest here in peace."[7]
The island was anciently divided into the parishes of North Yell, Mid Yell, and South Yell. More recently the parish of North Yell was merged with that of
As with the Shetland archipelago as a whole, the island can be seen as creating a barrier between the northern end of the
Attractions on the island include the Sands of Breckon composed of crushed
Settlements
Settlements on Yell tend to be coastal[12] and include Burravoe, home to the Old Haa Museum, Mid Yell, Cullivoe and Gloup, as well as Ulsta, Gutcher, Aywick, West Yell, Sellafirth, Copister, Camb, Otterswick, and West Sandwick.
There is little in the way of modern settlements on the west coast other than West Sandwick, mainly because of the prevailing wind and the high cliffs that border much of it. There are a few crofts along Whale Firth, including Windhouse (see notable buildings), and at Grimister there are the ruins of an old herring curing station, which closed just after World War II.[3]
Surrounding islands
The following islands surround Yell: Aastack,
Geology and soils
Yell lies to the east of the
The island's bedrock is largely composed of Moine
In common with the rest of Scotland, Yell was covered in thick ice sheets during the Pleistocene ice ages. Some of the island's gorges, such as the Daal of Lumbister, may have originally been created by ancient meltwater streams escaping from underneath retreating glaciers, and it is also thought some of Yell's lochs were originally dammed by moraines.[7]
After the ice melted the island would have experienced a large
There is also some dune habitat near West Sandwick, something pretty rare in the Shetland Islands; controversially, there has been some commercial extraction of the sand from this area, which may have had a significant environmental impact.[7]
History
Origin of name
There are various possible derivations of the island's name. The name Yell, recorded in the 1300s as Iala, may be of
Early history
Yell has been inhabited since the Neolithic times.[3] A petrosomatoglyph or stone footprint at North Yell, up Hena, 12 by 4 in (30 by 10 cm)is known locally as the 'Wartie' and was used to wash in dew or rain-water and standing in it was supposed to get rid of warts. In legend it was made by a giant placing one foot here and the other on the Westing of Unst.
Twelve broch sites are known of and fifteen early chapels.[3][10] The evidence suggests a substantial population in the Pre-Norse period. One of the brochs is Burra Ness Broch. Only part of the wall remains, on the seaward side. This reaches around 3 metres (9.8 feet) high in places. There are traces of earthen ramparts on the landward side, and remains of a structure which may have been a guard's cell.[21] There are also remains of an Iron Age blockhouse fort at Burgi Geos.[21] Burravoe's name derives partly from a nearby broch - the element "Burra" frequently being a corruption of the Norse for one.[7]
Yell's placenames reveal the presence of the
A cross slab from North Yell may also be from this period, but it has since been lost. It is presumed to be like the Bressay Stone.[7]
Norse era
Yell Sound is mentioned in the Orkneyinga saga: "Earl Rögnvald... and the chiefs Sölmond and Jón with him... had a fine body of troops, though not too numerous, and five or six ships. They arrived at Hjaltland [Shetland] about the middle of summer, but heard nothing of Frákork. Strong and contrary winds sprung up, and they brought their ships to Alasund (Yell Sound), and went a-feasting over the country."[5]
In the later Norse period Christianity flourished and foundations of 20 chapels dating from this period have been identified.[22]
The primary Norse legacy is an array of placenames of potentially fully or sometimes partial Old Norse origin. For example, "Dalsetter" is a combination of dalr meaning a "dale" or "valley", either from Old Norse or Old English, possibly influenced by both; and setr meaning a "hill pasture" or shieling, or as a (potentially Norse) interpretation of Old English ("sǣte"). "Gossawater" is a combination of either Old English "gōs" and/or Old Norse "gás" (goose), á (river) and vatn (a lake/loch) anglicised as "water".[23] Other potentially Norse elements on Yell include "firth" which is from either or possibly both the Old English ""Ford"" and Old Norse "fjörðr" as in Whale Firth, "voe" which is an Old Norse cognate with English 'way' (Old English 'weġ')(Old Norse vagr) as in "Gloup Voe", "sound" (Both Old English and Old Norse use sund) as in "Bluemull Sound" and "-a(y)" (ey) as in nearby Hascosay and Linga.
Hanseatic trade and early modern period
Although most of Shetland's Hanseatic trade was conducted from Scalloway, Burravoe was one of the most important of the other Hanseatic centres in the archipelago.[7]
In the 17th century, the Dutch East Indian Ship, Lastdrager was wrecked on Yell, and the survivor, Jan Camphuis wrote favorably of his experiences on the island. He noted the generosity and kindness of the islanders to him while he was there, which he believed was disproportionate to their poverty.
The Rev. Crutwell in the 18th century said of Yell that "the inhabitants have plenty of fuel, catch immense quantities of small fish, and live comfortably."[25]
Modern history
Johnnie Notions successfully carried out early smallpox inoculations on Yell in the 18th century, at a time when many other places remained sceptical.[26]
In the 1841
Germans have claimed that during the First World War their U-boats used to shelter in Whale Firth – this is possible because of the very low population of the area.[3]
During the
Just after the Second World War the old herring curing station at Grimister closed; this was to be one in a long line of economic difficulties including the loss of fishing.[3]
Between 1953 and 1964 Dr Robert Hope-Simpson, a GP, carried out painstaking research[29] establishing that shingles is the reactivation of previously acquired chickenpox (varicella) virus.
In 1961 a Soviet spy ship sank off Yell; the wreck was found by Lieutenant George Wookey, who had also investigated the wreck that inspired Whisky Galore in the Outer Hebrides.[30] It was an undercover plain clothes mission; Lt. Wookey found the wreck 90 ft (27 m) down in clear water.
During the 1960s Yell reached an impasse. It was in 1965 that the Orcadian novelist Eric Linklater said that Yell was "the problem child of the archipelago"[31] due to its economic woes and burgeoning depopulation. Some blamed this on the islanders' "social egalitarianism", which supposedly prevented anyone from becoming a "leader or entrepreneur"; Haswell-Smith disagrees but believes that "airing the matter seems to have helped"[3] It is certainly notable that the tiny remote Out Skerries seem to be wealthier[3] and that Whalsay is better at retaining its population. Yell is neither near Lerwick like Bressay nor bridged to the mainland like Burra or Muckle Roe. Some Yell people do commute to work at Sullom Voe, but as this appears to be a declining industry this does not hold out hope for the future. Unlike neighbouring Fetlar, Yell never suffered large scale clearances, only some local ones, and has long had multiple ownership.[3] Jim Crumley, himself an incomer, has noted the difficulties faced by Yell by both depopulation and repopulation.[32]
Flora and fauna
The coastline of Yell includes numerous voes (narrow inlets) where otters and various seabirds are common. Brown trout can be found in the inland waters.[3]
Mammals
Yell claims to be the "Otter Capital of Britain". The shore is low-lying and the peaty soil is soft, making it ideal for excavation burrows. The long days in summer also make spotting these largely nocturnal creatures in daylight more likely than on the British mainland.
The island has its own subspecies of field mouse, as do some of the other Shetland Islands, and Hirta in St Kilda.[7]
Birds
A population of Arctic terns, known locally as tirricks (stress on last syllable; an onomatopoeic word), migrates to Shetland from Antarctica during the summer. As swallows are sometimes seen as harbingers of summer elsewhere, in Yell and Shetland, it is the tirricks or terns that fulfil this role -
"On Yell [the Arctic tern] has the impact of August on a heather moor, and nothing draws the islander closer to nature’s year than the first tern."[32]
Other birds that regularly visit Yell include
Flora
Yell has many of the usual plants found in northern European moorland, especially
The gorges in the island, such as the
Transportation
Yell is a transport hub for the neighbouring islands of Unst and Fetlar.
The Yell Sound
There are two main roads, the
Economy
Yell's industries include fishing, fish farming, farming (including commercial strawberry production in polytunnels,[7] mainly for the Shetland market), peat cutting, transport and tourism.
In January 2008, the Shetland Development Trust gave a loan worth £11,000 to Global Yell Ltd, in order to develop "creative industries", i.e. textile weaving and music.[41]
The "world's first community-owned tidal power generator" became operational during April 2014 in Bluemull Sound. The turbine is a 30 kW device by Nova Innovation. North Yell Development Council believed that the project could make a significant contribution to the local economy.[42]
Notable buildings and structures
Built in 1707, the now ruined stone building of Windhouse is claimed as the most haunted house in Shetland. In 1880, when Windhouse was renovated, skeletons were found under the floor of the building.[6] After lying empty for over 80 years, it was bought in 2003 by an English couple intending to restore it.[43] As of February 2015, no restoration has taken place and the property is back on the market.[44]
Windhouse Lodge is the solidly built gatehouse to Windhouse and is run by Shetland Amenity Trust as a camping Böd. This is a well-equipped böd providing accommodation for up to eight people in three bedrooms. Facilities include a hot water heater, shower, crockery, basic cooking utensils, fridge, microwave, kettle, compact cooker with grill, oven and 2 hotplates.[45]
The Old Haa of Brough in Burravoe is a substantial merchant's house built in 1672 now converted to a museum and visitor centre.[10][46]
At Kirkabister, the remains of a former pony stud can be seen. The enclosure is unusual in appearance, having each of its four corners slightly elevated. There are only a handful of such enclosures in the archipelago.[7]
Folklore
At Breckon it is said that when an eroding grave was excavated, a number of human skeletons were uncovered, one of which was not only at least seven-foot tall, but had small stumpy "horns" above the temples.[7] Whether this man was a mutant or this is a tall story is unclear.
Like all good Nordic lands, Yell has its trolls (known in the Northern Isles as "trows" or "trowes"). The Trow of Windhouse was about as recently as the 1880s, when a shipwrecked sailor claimed he had been attacked by the mythical monster. However, the sailor was courageous enough to fight the creature, and saw it off with an axe. It is said that where he killed the trow, the grass turned a light green.[47] This was not the only trow by any means, and there is another story of a Yell woman coming upon a family of trowes, who later woke up to find one in the house, asking who he was, he said "I am Trippa's son". The woman said a prayer, and the trowe disappeared.[48][49]
Literature
George MacKay Brown
George Mackay Brown, an Orcadian poet, wrote a poem which has a Yell-man of 1263 as a narrator.
- I am a farmer from Yell in Shetland.
- Bjorn my mother called me.[50]
Bjorn grows up amongst "seals and clouds and birds and women" on the island, but this idyll is contrasted with his father's disappearance, and profession as a Viking pirate covered in scars and "harvesting" silver.
Jim Crumley and Among Islands
Jim Crumley is a Dundonian who bought a semi-ruined cottage on Yell.[32] He has written extensively on Yell in the book Among Islands (1994), which contains subject matter ranging from St Kilda and the Hebrides to Shetland. He says his original interest in islands sprung from seeing Inchcape out in the distance, as a teenager. He worked for over twenty years in various newspapers, usually writing about Scottish wildlife and landscapes; his later work has included a number of books on the Scottish islands, and mountains, often including his own photographs.
Crumley has said, "You could never argue with conviction that Yell is a beautiful place",
- "It looks the way Orkney must have in centuries past before that relentless greening began. The only green on a Yell moor in April is a boggy ooze. Yet Yell is the Shetland I carry with me, the Shetland I pack when I leave, the Shetland I am impatient for when I return. It works because of where it is, an island among islands, a perfectly sealed lynchpin, which makes geographical sense of Shetland, and without which the whole archipelago would slide out of kilter and slither uncontrollably into the sea."[32]
As an incomer himself, he writes on the complications that this has caused the island:
- "As elsewhere, the island has suffered from depopulation, and has been challenged by repopulation... good intentions do not turn an incomer into a son of the island soil. That is not to say that there is no place for the incomer [though]."[32]
See also
References
- ^ 2011 census.
- ^ a b National Records of Scotland (15 August 2013). "Appendix 2: Population and households on Scotland's Inhabited Islands" (PDF). Statistical Bulletin: 2011 Census: First Results on Population and Household Estimates for Scotland Release 1C (Part Two) (PDF) (Report). SG/2013/126. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-84195-454-7.
- ^ Ordnance Survey. OS Maps Online (Map). 1:25,000. Leisure.
- ^ ISBN 0-901824-25-9
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Penrith, James & Deborah (2007) Orkney & Shetland (part of The Scottish Islands series). Richmond. Crimson Publishing.
- ^ ISBN 1-84107-125-0
- ^ Gooders, J. (1994) Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Ireland. London. Kingfisher. Pages 147-9
- ^ "A Guide to Scotland's Main Islands 22 July 2020". Best-of-scotland.co.uk. 22 July 2020. Archived from the original on 4 April 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
- ^ a b c d Keay, J. & Keay, J. (1994) Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland. London. HarperCollins. Page 991.
- ^ a b c d e f Wilson, Rev. John The Gazetteer of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1882) Published by W. & A.K. Johnstone
- ^ a b c "Yell feature page". Undiscovered Scotland. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
- ^ "Photo". deriv.nls.uk. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
- ^ "The Storegga Submarine Slides" Archived 8 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Fettes.com. Retrieved 5 February 2005.
- ^ Smith, David "Tsunami hazards" Archived 8 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Fettes.com. Retrieved 5 February 2005.
- ^ Nicolson (1972) pp. 17 and 22.
- ^ Gillen, Con (2003) Geology and landscapes of Scotland. Harpenden. Terra. Pages 75 and 91.
- ^ Forsyth, Katherine. "Protecting a Pict?: Further thoughts on the inscribed silver chape from St Ninian's Isle, Shetland. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (2020)" (PDF). University of Glasgow. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
- ^ Voiceless palatal fricative
- ^ "J Fritzner has "hjalli", m. Afsats, Terrasse i en Fjeldside (Folkesprogets hjell 5 hos I. Aasen).Flat. III, 40822; Heilag. I, 1885; Stj.52933; Hrafnk. 92; Vígagl. 1631; Dpl.3319; Þorskf. 6225; Sturl. II, 2159;Finb. 8512, and "hjallr", m. 1) Forhøining, Stillads i Alm., saasom: den hvorpaa et Afgudsbillede er stillet OH. 10813; den som en Maler benytter, naar han skal male under Loftet i et Værelse Mar. 57724. 2) seiðhjallr.Fld. II, 7220; Gísl. 3130. 3) Hjeld hvorpaa Fisk ophænges til Tørring. Frost.2, 191; JKr. 1820". Edd.uio.no. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
- ^ a b "Gazetteer—Iron Age Domestic and Defensive". Shetland Museum. Archived from the original on 26 September 2006. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
- ^ Nicolson (1972) p. 43.
- ^ What's in a Name? | ChooseShetland.com Archived 12 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Martin, Martin (1695) '"A Brief Description of the Isles of Orkney and Shetland &c." Archived 13 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine in A Description of The Western Islands of Scotland. Appin Regiment/Appin Historical Society. Retrieved 3 March 2007.
- ^ Rev Crutwell quoted in Haswell-Smith op-cit
- ^ "Am Baile - Health & welfare". Archived from the original on 15 July 2003. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
- ^ Nicolson (1972) pp. 62-3.
- ^ Nicolson (1972) p. 120.
- ^ Ganfyd: Collaborative medical textbook: http://www.ganfyd.org/index.php?title=Robert_Hope-Simpson
- ^ "Lieutenant George Wookey". The Daily Telegraph. London. 6 April 2007.[dead link]
- ^ Eric Linklater quoted in Keay, J. & Keay, J. (1994) Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland. London. HarperCollins.
- ^ ISBN 1-85158-619-9
- ^ "Yell – Otter Capital of Britain". Visit Shetland. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
- ^ "Flora and Fauna". Shetland Amenity Trust. Archived from the original on 30 December 2007. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
- ^ Williams, Leslie. "Observations on the Flora of Wall Habitats on Yell, Shetland". From Ecological Studies in the Maritime Approaches to the Shetland Oil Terminal 1986-1987: Report of the Leicester Polytechnic Expeditions to Shetland, August 1986 and July 1987. Edited by J.A. Fowler. The David Attenborough Laboratories, School of Life Sciences, Leicester Polytechnic. (June 1988). Retrieved 20 February 2008.
- ^ "The Fleet – New Yell Sound Ferries". Shetland Islands Council. Archived from the original on 6 August 2007. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
- ^ a b "Inter-Island Ferry Service Timetable WINTER 2007/08" (PDF). Shetland Islands Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
- ^ "The Fleet – Bigga". Shetland Islands Council. Archived from the original on 4 August 2007. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
- ^ "The Fleet – Geira". Shetland Islands Council. Archived from the original on 6 August 2007. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
- ^ a b c Ordnance Survey Atlas of Great Britain (London, 1983, 7th impression) Book Club Associates
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ Urquhart, Frank (4 September 2011) "Island to switch on power of currents". Edinburgh. Scotland on Sunday.
- ^ Staples, John (10 February 2003). "Haunted house sold after 80 years". The Scotsman. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
- ^ Marter, Hans J. (26 February 2015). "Yell haunted house back on the market". Shetland News. Archived from the original on 19 December 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
- ^ http://www.camping-bods.com/Windhouse-Lodge-g.asp" Archived 20 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Old Haa Museum". Shetlopedia. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
- ^ "Windhouse". Ghostweather.com. 2 January 2006. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
- ^ "Keightley, Thomas The Fairy Mythology, Illustrative of the Romance and Superstition of Various Countries(1870)". Sacred-texts.com. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
- ^ Hibbert Description of the Shetland Islands. Edinburgh, 1822
- ^ Brown, George Mackay The Collected Poems of George Mackay Brown John Murray Publishers
Sources
- Nicolson, James R. (1972) Shetland. Newton Abbott. David & Charles.
- The geography section incorporates text from Wilson, Rev. John (1882) The Gazetteer of Scotland Edinburgh. W. & A.K. Johnstone.