The Hickman courier., 1874-09-04
ON THE WAY To ICELAND.
Nhat DIR. Hayes Saw Ina the Shetland
Islands.

ON THE WAY To ICELAND.
.Nhat DIR. Hayes Saw Ina the shetland
Islands.
Our expedition has SO far got on fine
ly. Our stay at the Shetlands was very
short and afforded very little opportu-
nity for observation, vet I found OPP
portunity to cross over from Ler7lck,
the capital, to Scalloway, where ood
the ruins of the castle of that Earl
Patrick Stewart, the legends of whose
cruelty are SO common in the Shetlands
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 poor creature
was doubtless strung up to 1T for no
other crime than that of not producing
sufficiently tos the revenues of the
crafty Sir Patrick, who could pardon
any other crime rather than that.
sSaeuasaetlands interested me very
f-fSt---ratch the 6rst GLIMPSE
- ssfafid, anu the islands are teem-
/ ing with Morse traditions. This was
considered the very central point of
operations for many centuries, and even
are Morse, and the language has a touch
of the Morse which you do not find in
the Orkneys nor III Scotland. la fact,
the people are altogether different from
the Scotch. Tn 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 islards are without trees,
and although there is a good deal of
land under cultivation the most of IL
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 Scalloway. Many of the
fiocks 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 islapds
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
a 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
r. l. e L., 4 =
the sheep, and Shet and 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 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 7 saw of these turf
carriers there was but single man,
and he was very old. In all probability
the men were fishing or idling, these
hsilng the grin,eps,y 2se9Raions OF rm tas
only three turf carts on the whole jour
ney, and re it not for the sturdy
women / do not see how the five thou
sand people of Lerwick would ever
keep themselves warm. 4 few of the
wealthier classes burn coal, but the
common fuel is turf, and, practically,
all of 1t 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 a man, to SOW and hoe and /
now, at sixteen pence a day, and al |
though I can but think such occupation /
most demoraliziBg, yet the groups of /
women, with their variously colored 4
dresses, make even a potato-patch look /
picturesdue. What a beautiful exem- |
plification all this is of the practical /
application 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 HiaItiland. 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
elsewhere, and the Shetlands became
their principal rendezvous. From here
it was they descended to the coasts of
Scotland, 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 Farce islands, and then Ice
land, Greenland and America. / 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 literature rich
in the loftiest poetic images and philo
sophical reflections. La passing on my
course I have only stepped, as it were,
from place to place. OF this last stone
on my way can say but little. 1t Is
cluster of islands interesting for the
most part only because it remains still,
as does Iceland and Greenland, in the
possession of the Northmen.
Fashionable Resorts for Sc Children"
To withdraw q child from a city sea-