21 June: Shetland Day

Shetland Day is celebrated in the Shetland Isles today. 10 things you might not know about the Shetlands:

1. The Vikings ruled there for 600 years from the 8th century. Hence there's a lot of Norse influence in the local dialect and place names, including the name Shetland itself, which is believed have been derived from the Old Norse words, hjalt ('hilt'), and land ('land'), and the name of its capital, Lerwick, which comes from the Old Norse word ‘Leirvik’, meaning the ‘muddy or clay bay’. There are cultural influences too, which include the annual Up Helly Aa festival in January, where people dress up as Vikings and throw flaming torches onto a boat.
2. Until 1469 the Shetland Islands belonged to Denmark. It was only when Princess Margaret of Denmark married James III of Scotland and included the islands as part of her wedding gift to him that they became Scottish.
3. The population is around 23,000 people. Most of them live on the largest island, called Mainland. There are over 100 islands but only 16 are inhabited. The other inhabited islands are Yell, Unst, Fetlar, Bressay, Whalsay, East and West Burra, Muckle Roe, Papa Stour, Trondra, Vaila, Foula, Fair Isle and the Out Skerries. Some of the smaller inhabited islands are connected by bridges.
4. Fair Isle is known for its knitwear. Fair Isle is a famous traditional knitting technique used to create colourful patterns. The patterns are so complicated that it can take 100 hours to knit a Fair Isle jumper. Fashion house Chanel once tread on some toes by copying the designs and had to apologise to a Fair Isle knitwear designer.
5. The highest point of Shetland is Ronas Hill at 450 m (1,480 ft), located on the Northmavine peninsula of Mainland. It is classed as a Marilyn.
6. It's possible to see the Northern Lights in Shetland since it is as far north as St Petersburg, Russia, or Anchorage, Alaska. The locals call the Aurora Borealis 'mirrie dancers'.
7. The Shetlands are the only place in the UK to feature in Lonely Planet's top 10 places to visit (in 2019).
8. In early Irish literature, Shetland is referred to as Insi Catt — "the Isles of Cats". This isn't because the place was over-run with felines, but because Cat was a name of a clan which used to live there. A name more recently used is Zetland. This is why the postcode for the Shetlands is ZE.
9. Shetland ponies originated during the Bronze Age and are well adapted to life on the islands. They have long, shaggy coats to keep them warm during the cold winters, and can eat seaweed from the beaches. According to official classification of breeds, a Shetland pony cannot be more then 11 hands high. They may be small but they are strong, able to pull twice their own weight. Most horse breeds can only pull half their own weight. While they wander freely around the islands and appear to be wild, the ponies you see there all belong to someone. There are also local breeds of sheep, sheepdog, Cow, goose, and duck. There used to be a Shetland Pig, too, called a grice, but they have been extinct since about 1930.
10. One of the main industries is fishing. There are more fish landed in Shetland than in the rest of the UK, England, Wales and Northern Ireland combined.

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