Page:Shetland Folk-Lore - Spence - 1899.pdf/69

 past. But of these rude monuments we are left with the poet to ask in vain:

From the great number of stone implements found in Shetland, it might be supposed that the Stone Age extended over a very long period in these islands. It is probable, however, that even after metal implements were introduced, they did not come into common use for a long period, and that the primitive stone implements were only very gradually displaced. This, it is quite reasonable to suppose, would have been likely to happen in the case of a remote group of islands where we find, even in the present day when there frequent communication with the mainland, that the bismar is still often employed as a weighing machine, and an old world iron fish-oil lamp (the kollie) is still used in out of the way places.