History; Folklore and Construction. University of the Highlands and Islands, Centre for Nordic Studies

Home , Sixareen, Yoal

The Shetland Boat: History; Folklore and Construction. University of the Highlands and Islands, Centre for Nordic Studies

Marc Chivers, [email protected], 078249 96506

Introduction Shetland Timeline Context of the Research Questions This is to be a definitive study of the Shetland boat. It will Research examine the boats Norwegian origins, its history, uses, building traditions and folklore which are an important part of Shetlands Date Event Consequence !"""#$%# !"#$%&"'()*"%)'%$&)##"+,&"'&-(,%.)'/0& 12334'"%",$&/,+,.250& Off shore, large scale fishing for ling, cod and tusk Nordic heritage. &'"#()# 62#7,8")'&9":"'8$&)##"+,0& ;,8"'&%2&$,%%.,0&& **+!## <#:',=&>)#.$&#,*,.."2'&)8)"'$%&?"'8& -(,%.)'/&"$&%):,'&4'/,#&62#7,8")'& developed from the fifteenth century. This fishing was within Having access to a boat has been an essential part of everyday -+,##"#&-"84#/)#$2'&2@&62#7)=&@)".$0& #4.,&@#23&>)#.&A)#)./0& sight of land and was known as the haaf fishing (haaf is old *!"",-# 62#%(&B,#3)'&A)'$,)%"C&%#)/,#$& B22/&@2#&-(,%.)'/&,C2'23=0& life for Shetland’s inhabitants since the islands were first settled C23,&,)C(&$433,#&%2&-(,%.)'/0& Norse for ocean). By the beginning of the nineteenth some 4,000 years ago. A boat was essential for fishing, *!.'# <#:',=&32#%8)8,/&%2&?"'8&D)3,$&EEE& ?"'8&1(#"$%")'&E&2@&F,'3)#:&',,/$& 2@&-C2%.)'/0& )&/27#=&$2&G)#8)#,%&("$&/)48(%,#& century fish stocks had moved up to 40-50 miles off shore transporting people, animals and goods. C)'&3)##=&?"'8&D)3,$&EEE0& and this fishing was known as the far haaf (Goodlad, 1971, *!.+# -(,%.)'/&32#%8)8,/0& & There were no roads and it was easier and quicker to go by *!&/# -(,%.)'/&)'',H,/&%2&-C2%.)'/0& -(,%.)'/&4'/,#&-C2%%"$(.,0& 94). Ness Yoal (1920’s) Ivy, LK 237. *0"",-# I(,&@"#$%&#,C2#/$&2@&62#7,8")'&@24#& J,).%(=&-(,%.)'/&,$%)%,&27',#$& Photo: Shetland Museum and Archive. sea. Thus the boat was central to the social, economic and 2)#,/&)'/&$"H&2)#,/&*2)%$&*,"'8& 82"'8&%2&62#7)=&%2&*4=&*2)%$&)'/& cultural development of the Shetland Isles (Fenton 1978, 80). ,H52#%,/&%2&-(,%.)'/0& %"3*,#0& Haaf fishing was carried out in færings and seksærings and *&"",-## K22#&7,)%(,#&C)4$,$&()#/$("5&"'& A)#+,$%$&@)".,/L&@"$(&$%2C:$&32+,/& What were the hull form differences between the -(,%.)'/0& 2@@$(2#,L&,$%)%,$&7,'%&*)':#45%0& these boats were imported from Norway by the Shetland Norwegian boats being exported to Shetland and the *&"&# MC%&2@&N'"2'O&-C2%.)'/&4'"%,/&7"%(& 6)+"8)%"2'&)C%$&5)$$,/&7("C(& lairds who leased the boats and the fishing gear to their boats being exported elsewhere? >'8.)'/0& /)3)8,&-(,%.)'/P$&%#)/,&7"%(&%(,& Norwegian Viking boat ancestry F4%C(&QA2..)'/,#$R0& tenants. It is not known when this trade in boats began but What did the Hjeltebåt / Jæltebaade look like?

The first Norwegian Viking settlers arrived in Shetland towards *&*/# I)H&2'&@2#,"8'&$).%&"352#%$0& B,#3)'&3,#C()'%$&$%25&C23"'8&%2& the earliest records begin in the sixteenth century -(,%.)'/O&)$&C4#"'8&@"$(&"$&'27&%22& What factors influenced the Shetland boat design and the end of the ninth century. Christensen (2009, 92) thinks it ,H5,'$"+,0&& (Thowsen,1969; Smith, 1978). These boats were soon hull form? reasonable to assume that settlers brought with them their *'"1#2 6)52.,2'"C&7)#$0& -(,%.)'/&*2)%*4"./"'8&*,8"'$0&& When did Shetland boat builders acquire their skills? *'*0# ;.2C:)/,&2@&62#7,8")'&52#%$0& being built to order and were known as Hjeltebåt (Shetland færings (four oared boats) and possibly seksærings (six oared *'1/# B#,)%&$%2#30& ST&*2)%$&.2$%&)'/&TUV&@"$(,#3,'& boat). By 1836 there are records of larger boats being built How did Shetland boat builders acquire their skills? boats). /#27',/0& for the far haaf called Jæltebaade and these boats are *''*# -%2#30& I,'&*2)%$&.2$%&)'/&VW&@"$(,#3,'& What is the Shetland boatbuilding tradition? /#27',/0& probably the beginning of the building of the bigger sixern In 1880 a færing and a seksæring were discovered along with *''.# I(,&1#2@%,#$&A2./"'8$&Q-C2%.)'/R&MC%0& -,C4#,&%,')'C",$&@2#& Is the boatbuilding tradition the same throughout one other small boat in a ship burial at Gokstad farm, @"$(,#3)'XC#2@%,#$0&& used during this period (Thowsen, 1969; Smith, 1978). Shetland? *'&"# A,##"'8&*2230& A))@&@"$("'8&*,8)'&%2&/,C."',0&& Sandefjord, Norway and is dated 600-900 AD. McGrail (1974) What factors influenced the Shetland boatbuilding identifies similarities between the Gokstad færing and the South tradition?

Western Norwegian Oselver færing. The linking between the How did the Shetland boat types evolve? Oslever færing and the Gokstad færing is important as In what context was the term ‘Shetland model’ first Christensen and Morrison (1976) suggest that the Gokstad used? færing is the ancestor of one of Shetland’s boat types, the Ness When was the term ‘Shetland model’ first used? yole.

Bibliography What is the Shetland boat? Christensen, A, E. (1968) Boats of the North. Det Norske Samlaget. Oslo. There are at least seven different types of boat that are Christensen, A, E.; Morrison, I, A. (1976) Experimental Archaeology and boats. considered to be, or termed ‘Shetland boats’. These types of International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 5:4 275-284. boats are as follows: Christensen, A, E. (2009) Trebåten. Cultural Vegbok of Oslo, Oslo 1993/2009. 92 – 94.

• the fourern or fourareen or foureen or eela or whilly boat; Fenton, A. (1978) The Northern Isles: Orkney and Shetland. John Donald Publishers Ltd. Edinburgh. • sixern or sixareen; Goddlad, C, A. (1971) The Shetland Fishing Saga. Shetland Times Ltd. Lerwick. • Fair Isle yole; McGrail, S. (1974) The Building and Trials of the Replica of an Ancient Boat: • Ness yole; The Gokstad Faering. Part 1. Building the Replica. Maritime Monographs and Reports. No. 11. National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. • haddock boat; Smith, H, D (1978) ‘The Scandinavian Influence in the Making of Shetland’, in • maid class sail racing boat and; Scandinavian Shetland. An ongoing Tradition? Scottish Society for Northern Studies, ed, Baldwin, J, R. Edinburgh, 23-40. • the motor fishing boat. Flitting Sheep in a sixareen at Ulsta, Yell (Peterson, J). Thowsen, A. (1969) ‘The Norwegian Export of Boats to Shetland, and its Collectively, all the boats listed, are known in Shetland as the Sixareen Industry under racing squaresail, Walls. Influence Upon Shetland Boat Building and Usage'. In Norwegian Yearbook of Maritime History. ed. Peterson, L.; Thowsen, A. Bergen- Sjøfartshistrisk Årbok, Photo: Shetland Museum and Archive. Photo: Shetland Museum and Archive. ‘Shetland model’. 145-208.