Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1890-07-04
Shetland Ponies.

The Shetland Islands, from which
the ponies come, are in the Atlantic,
far UP toward the Arctic circle. They
are north of Scotland, and came as
possession 70 that country as pledge
from Norway TO secure the marriage
portion Of a.Norwegian princess who
was welded TO Scotch monarch.
The Norwegians never paid the debt,
and the islands became the property
of the Scotch crown by forfeiture.
They now belong TO the Earl of Let-
land. They are small, barren islands,
so cut up by arms of the sea that
there is no place upon them more
than three miles from the shore.
The people are hardy fishermen,
who are proud of their Morse ancestry.
They depended almost wholly upon
the sea for subsistence, and suffer
greatly when the fisheries fail for a
season. The women clean and cure
the herring and other fish, and cut
the turf in the bogs, while the chill
dren are set to watch the little flocks
and cultivate the gardens.
They are few small farms on
which potatoes, oats and beans grow
but all of these others would not
equal a single Dakota farm in extent.
Vegetation is scanty and the ponies
find a living on the hillsides, which
are covered with coarse, woody heath
er and a little grass.
The little horses have II hard time
of il. and do not grow fat on this
food They are poor and thin, ana
look quite unlike the sleek, well-kept
pets in our stables The winter often
reduces them TO starvation and II is
not an unusual sight to see an islander
carrying young pony home that
has become too weak to walk.
Respectable natives of the island,
whose word would not be doubted in
other matters, have told me that be-
fore the grass comes in spring the
ponies often eat the shiny seaweed,
| and relish IA smoked herring.
The climate of the Shetland Island,
| in spite of their far northern latitude,
is mild and even. The mercury sell
! dom falls far below the freezing point.
| The surrounding waters are tempered
by the Gulf Stream. Strong breezes
| blow almost constantly from the sea,
carving mists and light rain with
| them.
The heavy coats of the ponies serve
! to protect them against these wet
winds. They shed their hair in light
mats like irregular pieces of felt, in
in the summer, and n coat Of fresh
young hair is left beneath.
Lying so far to the north, the
islands have days which are very
long during part of the year, and
correspondingly short during the
autumn and winter months. The
contractor for the new town hall at
Lerwick. the only village OF any size
on the islands was able TO work n
double force of masons and carpen-
ters without artificial light. In fact,
for a considerable portion of the sea
son there is practically no night.
In keeping with the islands them
selves, everything on them, except
men and women, is small. The ma
tive cattle and sheep, like the ponies
are small size a native took .ie to
see what he said was the only tree in
Shetland, and he seemed very much
surprised when | told him the stunted
shrubs growing behind stone wall
was not tree.
Only six hundred ponies are pro
duced annually on the islands, and
these are eagerly sought by buyers
from Scotland, Germany and North
and South America. A few lots are
sent out to Australia.