Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/462

Rh SHETLAND. 160 SHEVIOCK. of Great Britain. The crown lands were subsequently granted to the earls of Morton, who sold the estate to Sir Lawrence Dundas in 1766, on which family they confer the title of earls of Zetland. The Norwegian laws and usages continued in force until a comparatively recent period, and may still be traced in the "udal" possession of lands. By the old tenure the udallers, or proprietors, held by mere possession, without any grant or evidence, and when the land was sold care was taken to give the udal-born or kindred the first offer. The islands now pay their proportion of land-tax, and in every respect have become subject to British laws. The new valuation rental is 26,042. The assessment in Shetland in 1860 was, for rogue money 1d. per merkland, and for prisons and valuation ex- penses 3d. per pound. The population in 1851 was 31,078, and in 1861, 31,678. The Shetland Isles unite with the Orkneys, to which sheriffdom they belong, in the return of one member to the imperial parliament. The parliamentary constituency in 1860 was, Shetland 182, Orkney 429, together 611. The county town is Kirkwall, the only royal burgh in the shire situated in Pomona, one of the Orkneys ; but the chief town of Shetland is Lerwick, in Mainland, with a population of about 3,000 ; besides it there are only two considerable villages, Scalloway and Hillswick, both situated on the W. coast of the Mainland, which so far exceeds the other islands, that at least three-fourths of the whole area of the group, estimated at 880 square miles, belong to it. Though rugged and wild, the islands are not remarkable for any great elevation, Eoeness, or Mom Ronaldi, the highest hill in Mainland, being scarcely 1,500 feet in altitude, and Foula, celebrated for its five conical peaks, 1,400 feet above sea-level. The cultivated tracts of fertile land generally lie close upon the sea- board, and stretch away thence toward the moors. Each enclosure contains from 5 to 80 merks, and is almost always subdivided among several tenants, who combine the operations of agriculture with the more profitable pursuit of fishing, the latter being the chief industry of the inhabitants, who also make good sailors for the whalers and Hudson's Bay ships. Though the interior lands are comparatively level, the coastline is rugged and bold, the cliffs often losing themselves in the clouds, and occasionally appearing above them. Along the western coast, which is highest and most rugged, are innumerable bays or voes, the shores of which are sometimes covered with vegetation, and other points overhung by precipices, having 30 to 150 fathoms water at their base. Some of these caverns are of great beauty. The most remarkable are at Papa Stour, Lyra Skerry, Doreholm, Magnussetter Voe, Burrafirth, and the Holse of Scraada, in the peninsula of Northmaven ; these last are divided into several chambers, but communicate with the sea by tunnels. Other noteworthy points along the coast are Sumburgh Head, with its lighthouse, of which is Fair Isle, about 22 miles to the S.W. ; Fitful Head, and Skeldaness, between which lies Scalloway Bay, with its froups of islets and the ancient castle of Scalloway ; apa Sound, near Sandness ; Eshaness, leading round to Bt. Magnus Bay; Ronas Voe, situated beneath the summit of Roeness, the highest point in the Shet- lands ; Papaness, in Yell Island ; Outstack Rock, the most northerly point of Great Britain, shaped like a seal ; Balta Sound, where the whalers touch ; Luna- ness, at the E. end of Yell Sound, with the Outer Skerries off it ; the Noss, outside Lerwick Sound ; and Sandwich Bay, with Mouse Island off it. The deep creeks and sounds which occur along the coast afford shelter to fleets of fishing boats during the season. The fishings include herrings, cod, saithe, ling, and tusk, the last two having been for centuries staple articles of export. The other commodities are cod-liver oil, sperm oil, butter, cattle, and native ponies, or Shelties. Knitted hosiery is the only manufacture of the islands since kelp has ceased to be profitable. The live stock consists of horses, cattle, sheep, and swine, all of which are dimi- nutive in size, and are of varieties almost peculiar to Shetland. The principal crops are black oats, potatoes, and turnips. Wheat and barley seldom come to perfection owing to the humidity of the climate. Winter scarcely terminates before the end of April, and sets in about October, affording but a short period for the operations of the husbandman. In the high" latitudes of Shetland the light of day at Midsummer never totally disappears, so that at midnight the smallest print may be easily read, but in winter the nights are proportion- ately long and dark, the sun being above the horizon not more than 5 J hours. Rabbits are numerous in most of the islands, and sea-fowl swarm along the cliffs, in- cluding cormorants, gulls, kittywakes, guillemots, with the sea eagle, or bonxie, and the great white owl. The capture of seals furnishes employment to a considerable number of persons. Occasionally shoals of the bottle- nosed whale, known to naturalists as deljihimis deductor, approach the shore in pursuit of herrings, and are cap- tured in vast quantities, yielding excellent oil. The irjzerals and metallic ores are of considerable variety, in- cluding chromate of iron, iron mica, found chiefly at Fitful Head, iron pyrites at Garthness, and in Unst and Fetlar, copper ore at Fair Island and Sandlooge, also porcelain clay, galena, asbestos, fluor spa, amianthus, soapstone, verd antique, petroleum, and garnets, but none of these in sufficient quantities to repay the expense of working, except the chromate of iron, which is largely exported in a crude state to be converted into a pigment dye or alloy. The strata consists of a few secondary rocks of the Devonian, or Old Red sandstone formation, ex- tending from Bressa to Sumburgh Head, and vast masses of gneiss and mica slate, occupying the centre and southern parts of the Mainland, the whole of Yell, and part of Unst, the remainder of Unst being chiefly composed of serpentine and diallaze rock. The more remote islands of Foula and Fair Isle chiefly consist of sandstone and trap, with clay and mica slate in parts. The principal igneous rocks are sienite, serpentine, and granite, the last forming the great mass of Ronaness mountain, described above, and occupying part of the north-eastern shores of Foula Island. For ecclesiastical purposes Shetland is divided into twelve parishes, forming the synod of Shetland. The Free Church has seven chapels, the Independents six, the United Presbyterians two, and the Wesleyans three. Education is so generally diffused, that all can read, and most are tolerably proficient in writing and arithmetic. SHETTLESTON, a quoad sacra par. within the juris- diction of the City of Glasgow, in the barony, parish, and shire of Lanark, Scotland, 3 miles S.E. of Glasgow, and 1 mile from Tollcross. It is a considerable village, situated on the high road from Glasgow to Edinburgh, and has in its vicinity a manufactory for boilers and agricultural implements. The collieries, weaving, and agriculture are the chief employments of the inhabitants. The living is in the presb. of Glasgow, in the patron, of the managers and subscribers. There is a Free Church preaching station. SHEVINGTON, a tnshp. in the par. of Standish, hund. of Leyland, co. Lancaster, 3 miles N.W. of Wigan, its post town, and 1 mile N.E. of Gathurst railway station. The village, which is large, is situated on the Leeds and Liverpool canal, near the river Douglas. Many of the inhabitants are employed in the collieries, and in the chemical works situate at Appleby Bridge. There are National schools for both sexes. SHEVIOCK, a par. in the 8. div. of East hund., co. Cornwall, 6 miles from Devonport, its post town, and 3J S.E. of St. Germans. The village, which is of small extent, is situated on Whitesand Bay, and at Wrinkle Cove is a pier. This par. is bounded on the N. by the river Lynker, and on the S. by the English Channel, and includes the hmlt. of Crofthole. A portion of the inhabitants are engaged in the pilchard fishery, but the greater number in agriculture. About three- fourths of the land are arable, and the remainder wood- land with a small proportion of pasture. The soil is i light loam, except near the river, where it is a stiffisli yellow_ clay. Numerous rivulets intersect the parish. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of