12
SHETLAND ISLANDERS.
WAKE MAN TELLS MORE OF THEIR
CUSTOMS.
SOV THE WOMEH WORK—THEIR CON
TEMPT FOR THE LERWICKERS—A
NATION OF KNITTERS.
[Copyrighted for the Enqurier Sun.]
Lerwick, Shetland, December 15,1390.
Whatever their condition in the past, it
■would be difficult to find any lowly people
more generally prosperous and comforta
ble than the Shetland Islanders at the
present time. Their industries are kelp
gathering and burning, sheep-raising,
band-making of hosiery and other knit
goods, whaling and the universal fishing
'fThe minei al wealth of the islands has so
tar been of little importance. At Sand-
lodge, opposite Mousa Island and its
famous Pictish tower, there is an aban
doned copper mine with idle and rusting
machinery. Over against grim Fitful
'Head I found another abandoned mine
where, in search for copper, thousands of
tons of iron pyrites had been thrown into
the sea. Chromate quarries at Baltasound,
In the North Isies, have remained un
touched for years; while in Bressay Island
are slate quarries, but the slates are too
heavy for modern houses, and the thicker
strata are utilized for paving stones, Ler
wick being paved with ‘-Bressay flag#’
The manufacture of kelp was formerly
carried on extensively, and still is a means
of Subsistence by many. This kelp-gath
ering and burning which is still a source
•of livelihood on the Arran Islands, Ire
land, on the west coast of Scotland at
Tiree, in the Argyleshire Hebrides, and in
many places on the Shetland coasts, is
dangerous and destructive of health.
Though the word “kelp” is often applied
to seaweed, it is really the product from
■the burning of seaweed, from which the
alkali soda once so largely used in the
manufacture of glass and soap was ob
tained, and from which iodine is still
secured. The seaweeds are called by
natives “tangles.” They are detached
from the sides of rocks, and frequently
great storms sweep fortunate piles of the
datumy stuff in upon the ledges of the
gios. They are gathered, stacked, thatched
aad dried for several weeks, and in the
-Autumn are burned in rude open pits or
ovens along the shore, the ashes fusing
into a solid substance of the density of
freestone,' which is broken up before
being seat to the market. Kelp gath
ering furnishes many picturesque scenes
along the desolate shores, as women and
children are largely employed.
THE FAMOUS SHETLAND HOSIERY.
The hosiery and other knit woolens
which come from the hands of Shetland
■women are famous. They are as ceaseless
knitters as those of Connemara and Done
gal, in Ireland, and produce fabrics of
wondrous delicacy of texture. The pre
paration of the yarn has much to do with
She lightness and softness of. their work.
-Fleeces are never shorn. The cruel
practice of “rueing” or removing the wool
from sheep by pulliing it out by the roots,
in bandfulis is still prevalent. The finest
wool is thus procured; and the the average
•weight of the most prized fleeces is but
two pounds. The knitting work of these
niinoie-fingered women formerly consisted
•only of coarse wooden stuffs
aad fine Shetland shawls did not become
-common until about 1840. The finest col
lection of knit goods, over produced in the
islands was presented to the Princess of
Wales on her marriage in 1863. This sea
son a large shawl was sold at Lerwick for
$75. It only weighed two and five-eights
ounces; and another which sold for $45
■weighed but two and one-half ounces.
••Some of the designs are marvellously
beautiful.
THE WHALING INTERSST.
"TtreTdifijrhead and other whaling ships
formerly-eeizpleted their crews at Lerwick
aad these tmes were always periods of
great activity. Of late years Shetland’s
interest in whaling has been principally
confined to driving the monsters ashore.
This exciting work is often tremendously
profitable. In 1845 a shoal of 1540 “ca’-
ing” whales were driven ashore in Quen-
' djde Bay, the southermost bay of Shetland,
* lying between Sumburgh and Fitful Heads;
and in June of the present year a shoal of
several hundred was successfully landed on
the east coast. Until quite recently these
shore whalers were illy requited for their
•raptures. The financially omniverous
'landlord, called the “laird” here, true to
Ms octopus instincts, claimed the right, up
to 1839, to tax the poor Shetlanders one-
iialf of the entire proceeds of all whales
driven into shoal water opposite, or upon
the shores of their domains; “a sort of ri
parian right on the Almighty for what was
sent to save man from starvation on ac
count of rents and other burdens imposed
itj the ‘iaird’ himself,” an old Shetlander
explained to me. As the value of the blub
ber will average $30 per ton the “laird”
•often thus secured from $2,000 to $5,000
as his right to a single catch. From 1839
to 1883 the “lairds” were considerate
enough to rob the whalers of but one-
tkird. In September of that year the
elaim was lesislcd in the courts; the
whalers won their cause; and the “lairds”
hive since been compelled to content
themselves with the meager enjoyment of
witnessing, rather than profiling by, the
hazardous work.
THE WHOLE TOWN GOES MAD.
When a whole drove of “ca’ing whales
appear on the coast, the news spreads like
oil drops on marble. As the whole town
of St. Ives, Cornwall, goes mad when a
shoal of pilchers is sighted; so does every
live Shetlander desert every other voca
tion, even to a wedding, to join in the
-‘drive.” A rush is made by the men for
the boats, while women and children
■wildly collect guns, ammunition,harpoons,
scythes, lances, knives and even bags of
atone, indeed anything portable which
may assist in the hoped-for destruction.
The whalers make all haste and splendid
•cunning in getting between the whales
and the open sea. Their fleet of all man
ner of craft then gradually closes in upon
the pack or drove, directing by the splen
did manoeuvres of the different boats the
course of the whales to the shallow bay.
So expert are these Shetland whalers in
driving that a shoal of whales is seldom
lost, if time is given for forming the drive
well outside the drove. If the whales
once enter the chosen bay, their pursuers
come to close, quarters, and
THEN THE CONFLICT REGINS.
Finding the water becoming shallow
terrified whales endeavor to make for the
open sea, but are m;t at every point by a
wall cf bolts, altogether filled with hun-
<ireds and sometimes thousands of men
seemingly desperate in their efforts at
capture; and the howling, shouting,
screaming, lashing of the water, discharge
of fire-arms, stone-throwing and rushing
to arnljfo of the equally desperate whales,
ENQUIRER-SON: COLUMBUS, GEORGIA, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1890.
>
SECURE THEIR FUEL SUPPLIES.
For peat-cutting in Shetland a long T narrow
spade with a sharp iron edge, and an iron
plate some seven inches long, placed at
right angles, is used. Peat-banks or beds
are generally three peat-lengths in depth,
and tliej size of the “toysker,” as the
peat-spade is called, determines the size
of the peat. When cut each block is
about one foot long, six or seven inches
broad, and about three inches thick. The
peats are then laid in rows on the bank,
like unbaked brick, for the first drying.
After lying for three weeks they are then
“raised” that is, stood on ends in small
piles, for complete drying. “Leading the
peats” is taking them home in the “may-
sies” on the ponies’ backs, or in the
“kashies” on the womens ’ backs, when
they are usually “stacked” alongside the
cabins for winter use, as on the Scottish
mainland.
The stranger will still find many curi
ous and interesting
RELICS OF OLDEN DAYS
and ways in Shetland. The ancient vil
lage or “touu” of Sound, two iuildS from
Lerwick, is a veritable nest of odd, old
folk and tliiugs. The inhabitants pique
themselves on possessing the exact spot of
ground on which their ancestors dwelt for
more than a thousand years. They show
fine scorn for “oopstart Lerwick” in the
oft quoted couplet:
“Sound was Sound when Lerwick was nane;
Sound'll be Sound when Lerwick is done!”
and the “Sound wives” still visit Ler
wick on Saturdays with their “kashies” on
form as exciting a scene as one ever wit
nessed outside a genuine field of battle.
Occasionally a few break through
the line and escape. As a rule the school
is doomed. Once driven into shoal water
where they can only flounder in mighiy
struggles, or high and dry on land, where
they often toss themselves in their mad
efforts to escape, their butchery, which is
always a savage and sickening sight, pro
ceeds with wonderful dispatch. In this
bloody work the hardy and powerful Shet
land women take a gleeful and almost
frenzied part.
THE CHIEF INDUSTRY OF THE SHET
LANDERS
must always be that of fishing. Cod, line
and herring are taken. -The boats form
erly used were “sixerns,” or ancient six-
oared boats, of aboat twenty feet keel, and
fiddled-shaped at bow and stern; but the
great loss of life in 1881, which occurred
in the “Haaf, or deep-sea fishing with
long fines, in which ten boats went down
and fifty-eight fishermen perished, paved
the way for the adoption of the large
decked boats, described in a recent article
of this series on the Herring Fisheries of
Scotland. Cod and ling fishing is exten
sively prosecuted, many of the Shetland
smacks going as far as the Faroe Islands
and to Iceland. The number of these two
varieties of fish taken by Shetland vessels
in 1888, was 1,566,446, representing a
weight of 5,576,600 pounds when cured
and dried; more than one-third of this
class of fishing for all Shetland for the
same year. In general, however,
Shetland annually produces fully one-half
of the total catch for Scotland.
RUGGED HANDS AND HEARTS.
The Shetland crofter differs little in
character and environment from the Scot
tish Highland crofter of the North and
West shores of the Scottish mainland. He
is a God-fearing, rugged, hardy, honest,
simple feilow, with scarcely other than
the two impulse* of being, in living and
right living. It' he possesses faults, they
are inherited rather than acquired. His
sodden fatalism, despite his almost fierce
religious faith, is the outcome of those
curious superstitions of all lowly races
living alongside the material relics and re
mains uf Pagan progenitors; and his ap
parently easy-going nature, which cheerily
contemplates most of the burdens of home-
life and croft-toil falling upon his faithful
spouse, is the traditional one existing
among all seafaring people. The islands
being deeply indented with voes, or arms
of the sea, the crofts are generally situated
along the shores of these. Croft-holdings
comprise from three to ten acres of arable
lands, with hill-pasture in common. The
laLter is known here as scattal, pronounced
by the natives “scathold” but the land is
reckoned by so many merks value; the
merk being an old Norse coin worth about
$3.22—thus a “5-merk croft,” “a 20-
merk croft,” etc., the value, rather than
the size of the croft being thus in indi
cated.
A BARBAROUS SYSTEM.
The “truck” system, that barbarous in
iquity still prevalent in some portions of
our own country, which formerly kept
Shetlanders in precisely the same abhor
rent condition of slavery as that suffered
by the miners of Pennsylvania, Indiana
and Illinois, having a few years since been
ext rpated from Shetland by the same
British public sentiment which fixed “fair
rents” for Scottish crofters generally, the
Shetland fisher-crofters are prosperous and
content upon their bits of land, as the re
sult of their labor upon the crofts and in
fishing; for every Shetland peasant is both
fisher and crofter. At each croft-home
‘will be found a few sheep, great flocks
of geese, often a cow, and always
the stumpy little Shetland pony and cart.
The ponies are very hardy, wondrously
sure-footed, and, being as much compan
ions as beast of burden, are left pretty
much to the freedom of their own wills
when not required for use.
SHETLAND PONIES.
These ponies are of course used in all
manner of carrying capacities like the lit
tle donkeys of the Azores, but one irresist
ibly connects them in the thought with
peat carrying. You can hardly turn your
eyes upon any road or pathway in Shet
land without somewhere seeing a Shetland 1
pony half hidden under great straw pan
niers, or “maysies,” as the natives call
them, going f,r or returning with peat,
while the Shetland guidwife or maiden
jogs along in company, knitting -with an
almost savage sedulousness and energy.
But there is another carrier here that does
almost the work of the Shetland pony.
That is the Shetland woman. All the
manure for the crofts, comprising thou
sands of tons of gathered sea-weed,
the millions of fish in the operations of
landing and curing, and a large portion of
the peat, is carried not on ponies’ backs,
but on the backs of women in the univer
sal “kashie” of the islands. This is a
creel made of twisted and woven straw
like the “maysies” It i3 also written
‘cassie” aad its pronunciation is best in
dicated in the spelling “kyshire” or
kishie” Shetland women step off nim
bly with from seveuty to eighty pounds
weight in their “kashies,” but knit, knit,
knit, forever and forever. Peat is the
principal burden, for there is no wood-
t'uel in Shetland. Nearly all the high inte
rior surface of the islands, consists of wild
dreary scattalds or peat mosses, common
for pasture as well as for peat; anil from
these nine-tenths of the Shetlanders
their backs, their knitting m full swing,
and their noses high in lofty contempt,
waiting on one another until all are done
with their errands or shopping, and then
returning to Sound the embodiment of
haughty toleration. The old implements
of labor and ancient costumes are yet com
mon in some quarters. You will still find
men clad in jackets and trousers, reaching
a little below the knee, of roughly tanned
sheep skins, the large blue bonnets of the
Tam O’Shanter variety on their heads
and their feet encased in “rivlins,” the
“pampootas” of the half-naked wretches
of the Irish Arran Islands, consisting of
oblong patches of rawhide, tied over the
feet with thongs.
THE HAIR IS NEXT THE FOOT
and the sole and sides only are covered,
The ancient “elivans” or fire-tongs fre
quently weigh twenty pounds. Grain is
universally cut with the sickle, threshed
with the flail, and winnowed by bein,
tossed in the breeze. The old wooden
harrow is common; crooked wooden
ploughs are still seen; many households
possess the quern or stone hand mill as old
as Aryan history; and little huts of water
mills, where larger querns are whirled
about by rude wheels against which water
from little rills is shot horizontally, and
where the grain is fed into the upper stone
by hand, are numerous in the islands.
The Shetlanders as a people are most
frank, engaging and courteous, though
underneath it all there is
A WISE CANNINESS OF RESERVE
far exceeding that of the mainland Scotch,
A genuine charm to the stranger is their
softness and almost liquidity of speech
although it is at first difficult for even
Scotchman to wholly understand the lan
guage of the country people and fisher
men. A few illustrations may be given
A grandfather is a “gutcher;” a house is
a “ljora;” a “crus” is a sheepfold;
“clivin” is the tongs; the thole-pin for a
boat is a “kaibe;” dog-fisli are “hoes;”
and a buoy is a “bow,” and fish-gall has
no other name than “huggie-staff.” The
use of “du” and “de” for “thou” and
“you” is universal; and an answer by a
bright guidwife to whom I had applied for
one or two Shetland superstitions, is the
best example which could be given of the
Shetland dialect:
“Guid truth, gin I wid tell de ony thin
de wid shuue (surely) liae it in prent; an
da guid o’t to me wid be dune.”
Edgar L. Wakkman.
lemon
Its Wonderful Effect on the Liver, Stomach,
Bowels, Kidneys and Blood.
Dr. Mozley’s Lemon Elixir is a pleasant
lemon drink that positively cures all bil
iousness, constipation, indigestion, head
ache, malaria, kidney disease, dizziness,
colds, loss of appetite, fevers, chills,
blotches, pimples, pain in back, palpitation
of heart and ali other diseases caused by
disordered liver, stomach and kidneys, the
first great cause of all fatal diseases. Fifty
cents and one dollar per bottle. Sold by
druggists. Prepared only by H. Mozley,
M. D., Atlanta, Ga.
LKMOiM HdT DROPS.
For coughs and coids, take Lemon Hot
drops.
For sore throat and bronchitis, take
Lemon Hot Drops.
For pneumonia and laryngetis, take
Lemon Hot Drops.
For consumption and catarrh, take
Lemon Hot Drops.
For all throat and lung diseases, take
Lemon Hot Drops.
An elegant and reliable preparation.
Sohi by druggists. 25 cents per bottle.
Prepared by H. Mozley, M. D., Atlanta, Ga.
SCOTT’S
Fiulsiom
Of Pure Cod Liver Oil with
Hypophosphltes
Of Lime and Soda.
There are emulsions and emulsions,
and there ia atilt much skimmed milk
■which masquerades as cream. Trtj as
they will many manufacturers cannot J
■ so disguise-their eort liver oil as to- make
it palatable to sensitive stomachs. Scott’s
\ Emulsion of PURE NORWEGIAN COD
• El I EH OJXi, comhitied with Rypopkos-
! phites is almost as palatable as milk.
I Eor this reason as well as for the fact
I of the. stimulating qualities of the Uypo-
I phosphites,,Physicians frequently pre- |
) scribe it in. cases of j
CONSUMPTION,
SCROFULA, BRONCHITIS and \
CHRONIC COUGH or SEVERE COED. I
All Druggists sell it, but be sure you get j
the genuine, as there are poor imitations.
RADAM’S
HIICROBE
KILLER.
The Greatest Discovery
of the Age.
OLD IN THEORY, BUT THE REMEDY
RECENTLY DISCOVERED.
CURES WITHOUT FAIL
CATARRH, CONSUMPTION, ASTHMA, HAY FEVER
BRONCHITIS, RHEUMATISM, DYSPEPSIA,
CANCER, SCROFULA, DIABETES,
BRIGHT’S DISEASE,
MALARIAL FEVER, DIPTHERIA AND CHILLS.
In short, all forms of Organic and Functional Disease.
The cures effected by this Medicine are in
many cases
MIRACLES!
Sold only in Jugs containing One Gallon.
1 yice Three Dollar*—a small investment
woe a Health and Life can be obtained.
“History of the Microbe Killer” Free
CALL ON OR ADDRE68
O. W. Wakefield, Bole agent for Columbus, Ge.
No. 8 Twelfth street
WEAREOFFERING
Inducements to Buyers of
Li
A
V
I
Columbia Eiver Salmon,
American - Sardines
♦
STARCH
IN NICKEL PACKAGES.
JELLY IN WOODEN BUCKETS,
CARTER & BRADLEY
\
Cotton Factors and-Wholesale Grocers.
COXjXTjytBTTS O-JL
CENTRAL, PEOPLE’*?
—AND—
Columbus ft Gulf Navigation
LINES OP
S TEAMEB S
Ogmjmbus, Ga.,’September 5,1896.
On and after September^, 1880. the local rates
of freight on the Chattahoochee. Flint and Apa
lachicola rivers will be as follows:
Flour, per barrel. f 2t
Cotton Seed Meal, per ton 1 It
Cotton, per bale 5f
Guano, per ton 13
Other freight ih. proportion.
Passage from Columbus to Apaiaohloola, 86XX)
Other points in proportion.
aenttu.
Steamers leave Columbus as follows:
Steamer Fanny Fearn Tuesdays at 18 a., m.
Steamer Naiad-Thuisdajs at 8 a. m.
Steamer Milton H. Smith Saturdays at 6a.m.
Above schedule will be run, river, etc., permit^
ting. Schedule subject to change without notioe.
Boat reserves Hie right of not landing at an?
i dared da
point when cocsii _ _
Boat will not stop at any point not named in
list of landings furnished shipper*
dangerous by the pilot,
point not narnec
ippers under date of
December 16, 1889.
Our responsibility for freight ceases after it hM
been discharged at a landing where no person it
there to reoeive it.
GEO. B. WHITESIDE,
Sec’y and Treas. Central Line of Boat*
W. R. MOORE,
Agent People’s Lin*
.JOSEPH
I. JOSEPH,
Pr esident Colmnbas and Gulf Navigation C->
h\ Estate Eor Money,
Now & til* tsime to buy you a home on invest
ment when money is so tight. When thi} 5*‘M)0,000
of cotton now held in Columbus is sold* the price
will advance and yon can sell for a good protit.
FIRST.
I have for sale an elegant new two-story resi
dence loeated east of (frorting) court house
square. This is one of the handsomest homes in
tile city, 7 large rooms with high ceiling, kitchen
and servants’ rooms; batli,ro in. waher closet,hot
and cold water, hay window in parlor, also, on
second floor; roof of cypress shingles, painted.
This house is built te last.
NEXT.
I offer a new residence in good neighborhood
for S13. Kj cash. If money was- easier this place
would not be offered for less than 81750.
NEXT.
For $50P0 a residence of 7 rooms, hath, gas,
water works; lot 67 ft. 7 in. x 147.10. that would
bring easily i4500 if house were off; located in
one of best neighborhoods in city, on west side of
street. If you wisli a nice residence that you
will be alwajs satisfied with, call and see me.
NEXT.
A $2300 investment that will pay you 10 per
cent. On this lot are 8 dwellings and room for 2
more.
NEXT.
Rose Hill. I will s 11 on weekly or monthly in
stallments. I have also a dwelling of 3 room’s on
Rose Hill for sale; S5 a mouth.
-NEXT.
New 2-story East Highland residence on diunmy
line, close in; will sell for $3030, part cash, bal
ance §23 a month.
NEXT.—-
Corner lot. Third avenue anil Eighth street,
$18 0, and will also sell the neat dwelling next
south, both lot and dwelling $3000.
NEXT.
Dwelling and lot 35 feet front (large pile of
brick in >ard) opposite north of Clegg s factory;
$1160 will buy the house, lot and hric i.
NEXT.——
Nos. 802, 806 and 810 Third avenue; alley in
rear for benefit of ah; will sell all or either one.
NEXT.
The Briggs warehouse east of jail, on dummy;
also side tracks connecting with all railroads.
Owner being a non-resident, wiil sell cheap and
give time to pay for it.
Brick residence Twelfth street, north of Bap
tist church; 12 rooms, furnished with all modern
conveniences, on street car line, and so close in
that it will always rent well for boarding house,
club room or transient hotel.
JOHN BLACKVIAR,
Real Estate and Insurance Age nt,
Rond and Stock Broker.
C. M. KINSEL,
(Successor to Wittich & Kinsel),
Will sell at Ntw York prices my new and well selected
stock •
Diamonds, Watches, Clocks, Jewelry,
Silverware ar d Sp ; claries.
IGUARANTEE
RELIABLE (lOOilS, BOTTOM PRICES
AND FAIR DEi LINGS.
Inspector of watches for Central Railroad of Georgia
CORNER BROAD and TWELFTH STREETS.
W, K. BROWN, Prj*iclem.
ai o. WHIT*- IDS. Sec’y udTnu.
COLUMBUS IRON WORKS CO.,
FOUNDERS AND MACHINISTS
OOIaTJiwd: IB TXiS,
Q-.A..
Manufacturers'Col
TIE IMPROVED CALENDER ROLLERS
So muoh admired and extensively need by cotton manufacturers of the present -day. They consls
of Are Rollers, six inches in diameter, 40inches long, two of them fallow, being a recep
taelc for steam. They are furnished with all necessary pipe and valves, fitted np ready to be attache 1
SLfa .. latest improvements on same, including the Selvage Kellers and Cloth Yard
““I loose Pulley, 20 inches in diameter, 4 inches face, all ready to be connected to
line of Shafting. It only requires a trial to demonstrate their indiape usability.
We are 8ol« Manufacturers ot Stratton’s improved
Absorption Ice Machines
(he moat PRACTICAL, ECONOMIC AI. and DURABLE ICE
made in America.;
IACHIIIk ever
Southern Plow Company,
manufacturers of the
OOILTTIvtlBTTS SIHSTG-ZLIE! IPULiOW STOCK,
SOLID aml WINO SWEEPS, STEEL, WROUGHT and CAST IKON PLOW
BLADES, HEEL BOLTS, GRASS RODS, CLEVISES, SINGLE-
TREES, and all other Agricultural Implement*.
any ?hfuid^d L '° mainteined ’ sold on as favorable terms as bj
WOOD
WORK
Dealers in Lame, Laths, Shingles, Lumber, and everylng in the Building Line.
LUMBER BOUGHT AND SOLD
IN
Building ]
ANY ^QUANTITY,
ng£
screw Cotton prf^’ ~ ccieoratou 131 bkovisd i
