Some Forgotten Incidents and Personages in the Local
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V. SOME FORGOTTEN INCIDENT D PERSONAGEAN S E LOCATH N LI S HISTORY OF SHETLAND, SY QILB.EUT GOUDIE, TIUSASUKEB, S.A. SCOT. Remote as Shetland is from those influences and activities which have tended to the making of history in the provinces of Scot- land in the past, with a scanty population, a poor soil, and limited possi- bilitie evern i s y direction t astonishinye s i t i , g wha wealta t f incidenho t and association is found as the reward of patient research in its obscure annals. Formal history has not failed to present the fascinating story of the Norsemen as conquerors, and finally occupants, of the country, and to repeat the tale of oppression since the sovereignty passed from the Dano-Norwegian crown to that of Scotland, Prolific, too, in illus- tration e prehistorith f lifo n si e c ages have beee revelationth n f o s archaeological discovery t loca d personaBu an l. l history absorptioe th , n and aggregation of landed property, the rise and fall of families, the incident f sociao s l developmen t practicallye e ar t y unexplored; and, fortunately, materials for the study, restricted though they be, are not wanting I hav. e endeavoure o t brind g together some illustrative incidents e sourcehereTh . s from which thes e derivear e e mostldar y legal records, ancient native deeds, and other original documents noticed in this connection for the first time; anything previously to be found in print is either in works issued abroad, or appearing incidentally in works of a different class and difficult of access, and, practically, as regards the subject matter of the paper, unpublished. See Greenwell's British Barrows, . 1S7798 . p , 1 SOME FORGOTTEN INCIDENTS PERSONAGED AN , F SHETLANDO S 1 3 . I.—EARL KOGNVALD AND THE DUNROSSNESS MAN— Twelfth Century. Since the issue in 1873 of the translation of the Orkneyinga Saga, which contain earliese sth t record f Orkneo s d Shetlanyan d historyn a , unknown fragmen e Sag th originalls f a o t y compose s discoveredwa y db e latth e Professor Vigfusso t Upsalaa n . This fragment gives perhaps e earliesth t pictur possese ew f every-daso y lif Shetlandn i e store th yn i , of an incident between the Earl Eognvald of Orkney, Lord of Shetland, and a Dunrossness man (bomdi—small farmer) which occurred most probably on the occasion, about the year A.D. 1150, when the Earl, crossing from Moray s wreckewa , t Gulberwicka d , nearw whano s i t Lerwick. The story tells how the Earl in disguise went off to a fishing near Sumburgh Hea e ordinarth d f wito e countryha placn i on n f eo yma e strange th e boat crefishedw n th f wr whilho ro ;ma plyeoa e ;e th dth how they were nearly swept away by the violent tide of the Sumburgh raust, e strangeth r maintaining meanwhil jaunta e y good humourd an , surprising the other by handing over to him his share of the fish when their catch e dividecame b Ear th o et l w dmisse ho 5 s footinhi d n i g ascending the cliff and fell down, creating merriment to a number of women and other spectators; how he composed a stanza in his usual style on the occasion, and how the ruse he had thus played on the country people was discovered, The narrative, though 700 years old, has all the freshness of yesterday, womed an n theishowinn ni me s r u every-dao gt y calling, with indications ofishina f d agriculturagan l industry combined vern i , y muc same hth e t presenwaa s ya t existin district,e th n gi 1 II. =—A SHETLAND HEIRESS, anno. 1403. A curious record of personal attire and domestic equipment 500 years ago f quito , ea superio r kind s goode preservei , d th lise f an so th t n i d gear of a Shetland heiress, one Gudrun Sigurd's daughter, wife of The text of the story is given in the original Old Northern in An Icelandic Prose Reader,lr Oxford, 1879. I have printed a translation of it in Mill's Diary issued by the Scottish History Society, 1889. 32 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, DECEMBER 8, 1890. Arnbiorn Gudleikson, residin e Feroth n egi Isles, dated 1403.- Ab 1 breviating the description, the lady's possession is said in the old Norse dee havo dt e consisted of— A head-dress valued at 13 or 14 ore ; a full dress suit decorated with shields down to the waist in front and on the loins; a great silver buckle, and a rosary with silver beads smala ; l buckle from Courlan f silvedo rf gold o gil r a o ,t finger-ring of gold, and two silver bowls; two cloaks, and gowns with buckles ; bed ornaments andcurtains, silk red and green, and numerous bright ornaments; that she wor o othen e r head-dress excep n Fridayo t , whes na coarswa p ca e beds 6 d pillows r an o ,use 5 d; , with cover f preciouo s s workmanshid pan fringeslarga d e an ,furnishe d chest; basin d bathing-tuban s feeo tw t n o s (tuifot); dishes, cans, pots, kettle gobletd an s s beyond numbe ; rwit seto hstw of house furnishings, tapestry hangings and carpeting, brocaded and braided lace coverings, [for saints, or relics, or pictures] ; and in addition, a land rent from Shetland. In another document of nearly the same date, this lady's possessions are again describe s consistingda , apart fro r heritablmhe e propertiese th f o , following, viz.:— Six beds with down pillows and precious fringes, the large pillows with goose feathers d gooan , d cover f preciouo s s workmanship a head-dress; valuet da mentiones (a e documene or th 3 n d1 i t last quoted ; )rosarie s with silver beads, 3 finger-rings of gold and a suit ornamented with shields, and other effects, very much as described above.2 III.—HANS SIGUEDSSON'S ESTATE IN SHETLAND, 1490. The division of the estate of this great landowner, whose properties e paristh la f n JSTorthmaveyi ho d elsewherenan s describea , deea n i d of llth September 1490, execute sighe th f Archbishot o ta d p Gautf eo Dronthei d othersman , throw n interestina s g light upo e statth nf o e landed propert islande th t than yi a s t comparatively early period, upon the persistency on the one hand, of local names, and on the other, e differentiationth a gradua y b , l process f theio , re coursformth n i es of time. At the same time the system of heritable succession 1 Diplomatarium Norvegicum (several separate documents). 2These ancient deeds, containe e Diplomatariumth n di Norvegicum were printed smala d Shetlan n i an ly collectione dk deedOr f o n s issue privatr dfo e circulatiot na Edinburgh in 1840. SOME KmGOTTEN INCIDENTS AND PERSONAGES OF SHETLAND. 33 wels i l illustrate d; whil alss i ot ei conclusively shown that large landed estates, which are usually represented as a feature of modern growth, were accumulated in the northern islands at an early date, even during Scandinaviae th n period, sid sidy eb e wit e smallehth r holdings, which were unquestionabl e characteristiyth c feature Udath f lo e system there. e dee f divisioTh do s giveni Diplomatariume th fuln ni n i l Norvegicum, e place-nameth vii . p 436d . an , e criticallar s y discusse e latth e y b d Professo . MuncA . f P rChristiani o h a pape n i a r Memoirse inth dea l Societe Antiquairess de du Nord, 1850-60. IV.—TESTAMENT or SIR DAVID SINCLAIR OF SUMBUKGH, 1506. Equally interesting indications of the more opulent life in the islands in early times are found in the testament of Sir David Sinclair of Sum- burgh, signed at Tingwall 9th July 1506. Sir David was third son of Earl William St Clair, from whose other sons and daughters he obtained Sumburge th othed han r propertie Shetlandn si deey b , d date t Edinda - burg Decd highs 3r .estee n hwa 1498i e H m. wit Kine hth Denmarf go k and Norway, and while occupying the position of Great Fowde of Shet- lan de sam helth t eda tim e appointmeneth f Captaio t n Generae th f o l fortres t Bergesa Norwayn Wille ni th copa n , I whicf .yo preserves hi d among the papers of the Sheriff Court of Orkney, and has been printed Miscellanye th e Bannatynn i th f o e Club e fin w ,r dDavid' Si tha l al t s inherited property in Shetland, together with valuable personal property, was bequeathed to Lord Sinclair, while Lady Sinclair and other noble friends were suitably remembered e followinth d an , g Shetlanders, viz., Thorral f o Bruchtd , Richard Lesk, William Spens d otheran , s received various small land othed an s r presents t George'S o T . s altar, in the Danish cathedral of Koeskilde, he left the gold chain which he got from the King of Denmark; a cup was destined for St Magnus Church at Tingwall, but seems never to have reached that place, and his black velvet cloak was left in the proportions of two-thirds to the church at Tingwall, and the remaining one-third to the Cross-kirk of Dunrossness, venerabla e fabric which 0 yearexiste30 sr fo dlate r e swepb onl o yt t c VOL.