Aithbank was the main trading centre for the island. Around 1750 John Ross carried out fish curing from Aithbank and Funzie, trading with Norway for wood to build boats and houses. In 1851 this was a township of 13 houses, and 70 inhabitants. Finn is a recurring name in the isles, with many theories and tales about a race of people, the Finns, who lived at the same time as the Norsemen and had extraordinary powers, enabling them to transform into a bird or fish at will. They could row to Norway and back between sunrise and sunset, and were said to possess a garment, or skin, that when worn, allowed them to take to the sea like a seal.
Many tales tell of lost skins and poor souls, forever trapped on earth.
The prepossessing house of Leagarth, at Houbie, was built in 1900, with its own electricity supply and walled garden full of exotic plants. It was the home of Sir William Watson Cheyne, famous surgeon, MP and Lord Lieutenant for Shetland, who retired to Fetlar, and died in 1932. The Ripple Stone in the grounds is named for the 'De Ripels' - the stretch of coast on which it stands. Brough Lodge was built around 1820 for Arthur Nicholson who took over the Fetlar estate from the Bruce family. Now the Gothic remains, with the folly on the hill behind, which was used as an astronomical observatory in the 19th century, look dramatic from the approaching ferry.