The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1874-09-10
ON THE WAY To ICELAND
Z" hat DIR. Hayes Saw in the shetland
Islands.

~ AAL W Al ~ lOELAAD.
- hat DIR. Hayes Saw in the Shetland
Islands.
Our expedition has so far got on fine
ly. Our stay at the Shetlands was very
short and afforded very little opportn-
nlty tor observation, yet I found op-
Portunity to cross over from Ler,yick.
the capital, to ScalIoway, where stood
the ruins of the castle Of that Earl
Patrick Stewart, the legends of whose
cruelty are so common In the ShetIands
and the Orkneys. The little boy who
was my guide about the ruin pointed to
the lofty old wall, which is seven feet
thick, exclaiming, "See there that's
the ring the wicked earl hung the Shet-
landers TIL" And sure enough there
was the ring, and many a poor creature
was doubtless strung up to it for no
other crime than that of not producino
sutnclently to the revenues of the
crafty Sir Patrick, who could pardon
any other crime rather than that.
The Shetlands interested me verv
much. Here we catch the first glimpse
OF Norseland, and the islands are teem-
ing with Morse traditions. This was
considered the very central p0int of
operations for many centuries, and even
now the houses are Morse, the people
are Morse, and the language has a touch
OF the Morse which you do not find in
the Orkneys nor in Scotland. In fact,
the people are altogether different from
the Scotch. TIL faxen hair of the
Mortimer is everywhere seen, and the
women are more comely than further
south. They have at least not the enor-
nous feet and hands of their Scotch
sisters. The islands are without trees.
and although there is a good deal of
land under cultivation the most of i5
is a wild waste, on which any one at
viii may rear his herds of sheep, and
the shepherd and his sheep and his
dogs were everywhere to be met as we
crossed over to ScaIloway. Many of the
hocks of sheep were of immense size,
and every such flock was literally fenced
IN by men and dogs, and roamed up
and down among the hills and dells at
will.
There being no trees upon the islands
there is nothing for the people to burn
but turf, of which there seems to be an
inexhaustible supply. The turf beds
are illimitable, not being, as in Ireland,
confined to the low lands, but extend
ing Oftentimes to the summit of the hills.
The first turf beds are to be seen about
mile from Lerwick, and thence on the
way for nearly four miles toward Seal
loway hillside and valley were covered
with great stacks of peat, put up to dry,
while the road was everywhere lined
with women carrying this peat into town.
And this, to me, was a most curious
spectacle. You observe two industries
of the island at once-the women per-
forming both, and both at once. The
Shetlands are famous, as everybody
knows, for the fneness of the wool of
the sheep, and Shetland shawls are
known the world over. Here they are |
very cheap, and are knit with marvellous |
skill. But what struck me most, and |
was not without its comical features, |
was the sight of caravans of women, |
each with a basket of turf holding about |
a bushel strapped to her back, trudg- |
ing along the road into town in her bare !
feet and every one knitting as she went. !
OF hundreds that saw of these turf |
carriers there was but a single man,
and he was very old. In all probability |
the men were fishing or idling, these |
being the principal occupations of the |
men of Shetland everywhere. l saw |
only three turf carts on the whole jour |
ney, and were it not for the sturdy /
women do not see how the five thou |
sand people of Lerwick would ever |
keep themselves warm. A few of the |
wealthier classes burn coal, but the /
fuel is turf, and, practically, |
all of it is brought into town on the |
backs of women. In fact, in these |
northern countries, the women do their |
full share of outdoor work along with |
the men, sometimes, but more COM |
monty, with the boys. In the Orkneys, |
where the land is productive, gangs of |
them go about from farm to farm and |
from field to field, usually under the |
charge of man, to SOW and hoe and |
NOW, at sixteen pence day, ard al |
though I can but think such occupation |
most demoraEzing, yet the groups of /
women, with their variOusly cOlored |
dresses, make even a potato-patch look
What a beautiful exem.
plification all this is of the practical
of women's rights Every
field is open to her here, and while at
home an advocate of wOman's rights
would hardly venture to desire for any
one of the sex the position of a field
hand, here it is not only an unquestiOned
right but duty to dig and carry bur
dens for sixteen pence a day.
I cannot here enter into any history
of the Shetlands further than to observe
that they were probably occupied by
the Picts for several centuries before !
the Christian era. Ruins of their huts
are still to be seen. The name is a cor
ruption of Hialtiland. Agricola is said .
to have discovered the Orkneys, and he,
on the same authority, saw the Shet- /
lands, and doubtless, the "Thule" of .
Tacitus is the Shetlands of the present !
day. Its subsequent occupation by the |
Northmen was mainly begun IN the time .
of Harold Haarfager, king of Norway, |
who, by the tyranny of his rule, drove |
so many of his people to seek homes |
and the Shetlands became |
their principal rendezvous. From here
it was they descended to the coasts of /
England, Ireland and France, |
penetrating even into the Mediterranean,
and, not content with there pillaging |
and plundering, they sought in the west
new fields of enterprise. They reached,
finally, the Faroe islands, and then Ice
land, Greenland and America. l am
now upon their track, and in few days |
shall see in Iceland the only spot where
they cultivated the arts of peace, and
where their language for the first time
took form and shape in a literature rich
in the loftiest poetic images and philo-
5ophical reflections. La passing on my
course 1 have only stepped, as it were,
from place to place. OF this last stone
On my way can say but little. 1t is a
cluster of islands interesting for the
most part only because it remains still,
rs does Iceland and Greenland, IN the
possession of the NOrthmen.
U,.bso,,LIa Doso,.4s eo,. - tvI,;Ia,-o,, - |