The Shetland Islands are situated about twenty leagues to the northeast of the Orkneys. They are reckoned to be forty-six in number, besides forty smaller ones called Holms, which produce pasture, and as many barren. Only one, called Shetland, or Main land, is of any considerable size. They are included in the county of Orkney, and are in general rocky and barren, and many of them without inhabitants.

When these islands were first inhabited, or by whom, we have no certain account. Some think the Plights or Picts were the first inhabitants, others the Norwegians; however, it is certain, both did inhabit them. There are such vestiges remaining to this day as sufficiently prove that the Pights did possess Orkney and Shetland; as that of a vast many old buildings called Pights houses, of which here are several yet to be seen in every parish; many of them one or two stories high, vet standing, and all built after one form, round, of large rough stones, very well laid. But these buildings are not alike in size, some of them not twenty feet diameter, thirty feet within the wall, which it ten or twelve feet thick, the heart whereof is all little apartments and stairs; they have had no windows, and a very little door. Whether they have been roofed at top does not appear; but they have all been built in the most inaccessible places, surrounded with water, or upon some high rock, and some have two or three walls of earth and stone round them; and they are still known by the name of Pights houses or burghs. Now burgh in the Teutonic language signifies a castle or fort, as Pight is derived from Pfightan, another word in that language signifying to fight or fighters; and these Pights are said to come from Germany, and to have spoken that language. All these houses are so situate within sight of each other, that by a signal of fire or smoke they could alarm the whole country in less than one hour of the approach of the enemy or any other danger. But at what time or how long these Pights did possess Orkney and Shetland is still uncertain.

That the Norwegians did long possess the islands of Orkney and Shetland is incontrovertible; but that they were the first discovers of these islands (as some would have them) is very doubtful. That which seems most to favour the Norwegian pretension is, that the names of the islands and places in them are all Danish, and continue so for the most part to this day; and the customs, manners, and language of the old Shetlanders, with their way of living, were the same as in Norway, and the greatest part of the common inhabitants, and some of considerable note, still reckon themselves of Danish extract, and are all patronymies, whereby they are distinguished from those that have come from the continent of Britain, who have all sirnames, and have for many years past been the most considerable, though the least numerous. Still these old Danish inhabit ants value themselves much upon their antiquity, and scorn to take sirnames, as a novelty unknown to their forefathers. But, however, for the names of places, customs, language, and traditions of the Shetland in habitants, may go to prove them of Norwegian extract, yet, considering the affinity of the language spoken by the Pights, and that spoken by the Norwegians, being both of Teutonic original, as also that of their customs and manners, being so near neighbours, the Pights stand as fair to be the first inhabitants of Orkney and Shetland as the Norwegians, These islands are known in our English language by tho name of Shetland. They are called in Dutch Hetlandt; by the Danes and Norwegians Yetlandt; the name appears plainly to be of Teutonic or Gothic original.

The ancient language by the inhabitants of Shetland was that of the Norwegians, called Norn. It continued to be spoken by the natives till of late years, but the language now generally spoken is English, which they pronounce with a very good accent.

The ancient religion of Shetland was Paganism.— The Christian religion was planted here as soon as in the Orkneys, they being from the beginning one bishopric; but the bishop had his residence in Orkney, and supplied Shetland as he thought proper with clergy, who made it their business to instruct the poor inhabitants, who were naturally superstitious, in all the gross errors of the church of Rome, especially the doctrine of merit, by which they persuaded the ignorant 'l(tellers to make donations of their lands to the church, whereby a great part of the Udellands of Shetland came to the Bishop of Orkney. The first Protestant bishop of Orkney and Shetland is said to have been Adam Bothwell, who, having been long bishop there of, did at last make an exchange of that bishopric with Robert Steuart, natural son to King James V. for the abbacy of Holyrood-house, of which the said Robert has prior by gift from the king his father. This Robert Steuart having got possession of the said bishopric, and the Sinclairs, formerly Earls of Orkney, being attained for some crime against the crown, the said Robert was by King James VI. created Earl of Orkney and Lord Shetland, upon the 21st day of October, 1570. The said earldom and lordship being by then made over to him and his heirs for ever, he become heritable proprietor thereof, together with the bishopric at that time. After the Reformation the church of Scotland was under Presbyterian government, with a superintendent in each diocese with something of episcopal power in church affairs. But whoever was superintendent of Orkney, earl Robert during his life, and Patrick his son and successor after his death, ruled in all matters civil and ecclesiastic at their pleasure. In the year 1606, the king, with consent of parliament, having established episcopal church government in Scotland, James Law was made bishop of Orkney and Shetland; but he received none of the bishop's rents as long as Patrick earl of Orkney lived. After the death and forfeiture of that earl, the islands of Orkney and Shetland were annexed to the crown of Scotland; and bishop Law, with consent of his chapter, entered into a contract with the king, whereby they disponed and resigned to his majesty and his royal successors all their ecclesiastical lands and possessions in Orkney and Shetland, with all rights and securities belonging to it, to be incorporate and united to the crown for ever; and the king gave back and disponed to the bishop as much land and tythes in Orkney as his majesty judged a sufficient patrimony to the bishop of Orkney and Shetland to be possessed and enjoyed by him and his successors in all time coming; the king also disponed to the bishop and his successors the right of patronage to present all the vicarages of Orkney and Shetland, with power to them to present qualified ministers as often as the kirks be came vacant; disponing also to them the heritable and perpetual right of jurisdiction of sheriffs and bailiff within the lands and patrimony of the bishopric, excerning all possessors thereof in all causes, civil and criminal, from the jurisdiction of the sheriff and steward of the earldom, together also with the commissariat of Orkney and Shetland, with power to constitute and ordain commissars, clerks, and other members of court. The contract between the king and the bishop was made in the year 1614, containing several other church privileges and benefices to ministers: it was in the following year ratified and confirmed by act of parliament, called the Act of Platt, whereby all the ministers of Orkney and Shetland were provided with stipends as they still continue.

To this Bishop Law succeeded George Graham in the year 1615, as bishop of Orkney and Shetland, who possessed that bishopric till 1638; at which time, the church of Scotland being again brought under Presbyterian government, Graham was divested of his bishopric, and during the continuance of Presbytery the bishops rents of Orkney were granted by parliament to the city of Edinburgh, who received them by factors and farmers till the year 1662, when episcopacy was restored by Charles II. who appointed Thomas St. Serif bishop of Orkney and Shetland. He lived about two years after his instalment, and was succeeded as bishop in 1664 by Andrew Honyman, who held the said bishopric till 1676. To him succeeded Murdock Mackenzie, who continued in the possession of that bishopric till the year 1668, at which time the Revolution happened, and the Presbyterian church government was restored in Scotland. But the miniters of Orkney and Shetland continued in their charges under their episcopal ordination without any disturbance, being never enquired after till, in the year 1700, a committee was sent over by the general assembly to settle the church government in Orkney and Shetland, where all the ministers conformed to Presbytery, signed the confession of faith, and were continued in their kirks, save two or three, who would not conform, but were turned out of their kirks: and ever since Shetland has been under Presbyterian church government.

There are in Shetland twelve ministers, besides the erection of Fair Isle and Foula. These thirteen ministers make the presbytery of Shetland, who send yearly one of their number as commissioned for them to the general assembly. Each of these ministers have the charge of a parish, and in each parish in Shetland, except Lerwick, there are two, and in some three churches. Their church discipline is by kirk sessions constituted of elders and deacons, in the same manner as commonly practised in Scotland. Before the restoration of patronage, the presbytery had the power of presenting ministers to vacant congregations; but by the act of restoring patronages in the reign of Queen Anne, that of Orkney and Shetland was by her majesty bestowed upon the Earl of Morton, who is patron of all the kirks in Orkney and Shetland.

The most ancient government of Shetland, while subject to the kings of Norway and Denmark, was by a governor called the Fowd of Shetland, who was judge in all causes civil and criminal, Under him was a judge in every parish, called the fowd of the parish, who only was judge in small matters, and referred others to the grand fowd, and sent the malefactor to him to be tried. The fowd of Shetland was also chamberlain, and collected the crown rent, which was at that time only called Scat, payable in butter, fish oil, and a sort of very coarse cloth, called wad-mill; the arable ground being all at first the property of the immediate possessors thereof, which went to their successors, by a verbal title called Udell succession, whereby all the children, male and female, succeed equally to the father in his estate, heritable and move able.

Thus Shetland continued under the Danish government until the year 1470, when King James the Third of Scotland, was married to Margaret daughter to the king of Denmark, with whom he got the islands of Orkney and Shetland in dowry, said to be redeemable by the king of Denmark for fifty thousand florins of the Rhine, to be paid to the king of Scotland. But the king of Denmark upon the birth of King James the Fourth, his grandson, renounced, by a charter under his great seal ail right, title, and claim, which he or his successors kings of Denmark might have, or pre tend, to the islands of Orkney and Shetland for ever; reserving to his subjects the Danes their private" estates in these islands, which they actually held in Shetland for many years thereafter, till they were at last purchased from them by several gentlemen in Shetland, and are known by the name of Norway lands to this day. And this renunciation of these islands was again confirmed by Christian king of Denmark unto King James the Sixth, when he married the princess Anne of Denmark, sister to the said Christian.

After the islands of Orkney and Shetland became subject to the crown of Scotland, they were conferred by the king upon some noble favourite, with the dignity of earl of Orkney; among whom the Sinclairs, earls of Orkney, are said to be the longest possessors.

The earl of Morton is heritable Stewart, justiciary, sheriff, and bailiff, within the earldom of Orkney and lordship of Shetland, and is judge competent in all causes, civil and criminal, within that jurisdiction, except high treasons, reduction, improbations, redemptions, and suspensions, having all the powers competent to a lord of regality in Scotland, excepting that power which they have of directing of briefs, and serving them before themselves; but all briefs of land in the stewartry are issued from the court of chancery, and returned thereto. The earl of Morton has also power by his gift from the crown to grant charters of confirmation to the heritors and fewers of Orkney and Shetland to hold of the crown for payment of the usual few duty. He is also by the said gift patron of all kirks in Orkney and Shetland. As heritable Stewart and justiciar of Orkney and Shetland, he appoints deputies there, for administering justice and punishing malefactors, agreeable to the laws and practice of Scotland.

The stewart-depute holds courts as often as there is Occasion for them; but he has two head courts in the year, one in the beginning of November, the other in the beginning of June, at which all the heritors and fewers are obliged to appear; and the absentees are fined each 40s. Scots money. The Stewart clerk has his commission from the earl as Stewart principal; not but the Stewart depute can employ his own clerk upon occasion, as he doth all other members of court needful; but the Stewart clerk only should record all court processes and give out extracts. The Stewart depute is also obliged to hold circuit courts in each parish once a year; but the Stewart depute of Shetland having no salary, save the emoluments of the court, which are seldom so much as pays the necessary members thereof, he cannot afford to be at the charge of travelling through the country with a proper retinue, and therefore these circuit courts are much laid aside.

There is also a baillie in each parish, who holds his commission either of the Stewart principal, or his depute, having power to hold courts within his bailliffry, to make his own clerk and the other court members needful, and is judge in small matters, such as keeping good neighbourhood; but can decern in no cause above 10l. Scots value, unless otherwise provided by his commission.

The baillie is obliged to keep a court book, wherein all causes brought before his court are recorded; and that book must be produced to the Stewart depute when called for at his circuit courts. If the book be regularly kept, then it is approved; if otherwise, the baillie is enjoined by the Stewart depute to amend what is amiss or to lose his commission.

Under the baillie there are ten or twelve honest men of the parish called Rancelmen. These are judicially appointed and chosen in the baillie court; all the householders of the parish being present, are asked if they have any thing to object against such a man, why he should not be made a rancelman: and no objection being made, he is entered into that office, and takes an oath to be faithful and diligent therein, and his instructions and power being read in open court, and recorded in the court book, each rancelman may have an extract thereof, if he please. He has the power of a constable, to command the inhabitants to keep the peace, and to call for assistance; and to enter any house within the parish at all hours of the day or night, and search the house for stolen goods, which they call rancelling; and if they find any thing that the owner of the house cannot give a good account how he came by, then they seize him directly, and carry him to the baillie, who takes cognizance of the cause; and if it infers the crime of theft, then the thief, with the fang or thing stolen found in his custody, is sent to prison, and the Stewart depute acquainted thereof, who appoints a day for trying the thief, according to law; and in case the baillie finds that the representation of the rancelman will not amount to any proof of the crime of theft, he dismisses the suspected thief, upon his good behaviour, with certification.

The climate of these islands, though not good, is not so bad as generally has been represented. The longest day in the island of Unst is nineteen hours, and a quarter, and the shortest four hours and three quarters. The spring is late, the summer short, and the autumn wet and foggy. The winter quarter sets in in October, and lasts till April, bringing continual rains and frequent storms; and the sea swells and rages in such a manner, that for five or six months in the year their ports are inaccessible. During their long and gloomy winters, the Aurora Borealis is particularly splendid, and affords a light almost equal to that of a full moon.

The greater part of the coast is high and rocky, but many of the bays are flat and sandy, and abound with shell fish. They have also great numbers of otters and seals: sponge, ambergris, and amber, are in common with the Orkneys.

The soil, although in many parts boggy and moorish, would admit of much better cultivation, but the inhabitants suffer the greater part to lie in a state of nature.

The only manufacture is a linen, a strong blackish woollen cloth for their own use, and worsted stockings, some of which are of a fine quality and texture.

No mines have been hitherto wrought, though there are, in many places, visible appearances of several kinds of metal, particularly of iron, copper, lead, and silver. From some of the islands beautiful specimens of jasper have been wrought, its colour chiefly black and green; also rock crystal, garnets, and spars.

Besides sheep, they have a great quantity of black cattle, which are rather larger in their size than those of Orkney, and a hardy breed of small horses; they have likewise a small breed of swine, the flesh of which is esteemed very delicious. There are no goats, hares, or fokes, and, in general, no wild or venemous creatures of any kind, except rats, on these islands.

The inhabitants are a stout well-made comely people, the lower ranks having a swarthy complexion; they are a hardy, robust, laborious race, and hospitable to strangers.

The principal parishes are Aithsteng, Bressay, Burray, and Quarf, Delting, Dunrossness, Sandwick, Cunningsburg, Lerwick, Nesting, Skerries, Northmarine, Tingwall, Whiteness, Weesdale, Unst, Walls, Samness, Papastowl, North and South Yell, Fetlar, and the Fair and Foula Isles; the whole containing 3541 houses and 22,379 inhabitants; viz. 9945 males and 12,434 females. These islands contain about three times as much land as the Orkneys.

Shetland, the principal island, otherwise called Mainland, is sixty miles long, but so intersected with bays, here called voes, on its coast every way, that no part of it is above five miles from the sea; some of these form safe and commodious harbours, capable of receiving vessels of the largest size.

The face of the country is covered with craggy mountains, interspersed with fertile spots and morasses; no trees are found or shrubs, except heath and juniper: the sea and voes abound in fish, and on the rocky coasts are found a variety of waterfowls and amphibious animals, such as seals and otters; the principal fish are cod, turbot, and haddock, and, especially at certain seasons, herrings, pursued by whales and other fish of prey. Of shellfish, the chief are lobsters, oysters, and muscles. Most of the fishing banks are thirty or forty miles from the coast, On the hills are pastured some sheep of a small size, and of a ragged appearance, which yet furnish a fine sort of wool.

A mine of copper, and another of iron, have been discovered, and in several parts quarries of stone are found, as also freestone and limestone. There are no coals: turf, and peat, are the chief fuel.

The principal fishery of the inhabitants is that of cod; the herring fishery was formerly carried on al most wholly by foreigners, 200 busses from Holland, fifty from Denmark, forty from Prussia, twenty from Dunkirk, and about the same number from the Netherlands were employed every summer in this fishery: they generally put into Bressay sound, before the fishery, which, with the Dutch in particular did not commence until the 21th of June; with them, it has been on the decline ever since the year 1703.— 'They had then about five hundred busses in Shetland, under the convoy of four ships of war, commanded by an admiral; but a French fleet of six ships of war, sent out for the purpose, fell in with the Dutch ships of war, and an engagement taking place, the Dutch admiral's ship was sunk, on which the remaining three ran away, and made their escape. Whereupon the French fleet sailed for the entry of Bressay sound, sent their boats into the bay, and burned and destroyed about four hundred of the Dutch fishing vessels, sparing only a number barely sufficient to carry home the crews of the whole.

Although the island is bare of trees at present, many of considerable size have been dug up in the mosses. There are no rivers, but they are well sup plied with water by numerous springs and rivulets.

The chief town is Lerwick, which is situated at the eastern part of the island, and contains about one thousand inhabitants. The houses are built of exceeding coarse stone; there are two churches, but neither contain any thing remarkable. Near the town is a small fort and barracks, garrisoned by a company of invalids.

The annual export of kelp from the whole country does not exceed two hundred tons. Doubtless more might be made; but the quantity must still be inconsiderable, the shores being steep, and the fall of water not exceeding six or seven feet of perpendicular height, even with spring tides. The ebb 'tides here run north,, and the flood tides to the southward, unless on the north and south extremities of the country, where they run east and west; their rapidity is inconsiderable, at least when compared to that of the Friths of Orkney.

There is no lighthouse in Shetland; nor is there any chart of the country extant that can be depended upon. Alight house erected on Noss, a small island cast from Bressay, might be of essential service, as many ships have been lost on the east coast of Shetland, especially of late years, that such a lighthouse in all probability might have saved: some of the most remarkable of these are the following: In the year 1775, a Liverpool ship, two men only saved out of twenty-four. In 1776, the Ceres of London, Greenland ship, was lost with her whole crew. In 1779, a Dutch Greenland ship lost, one of the crew saved. In 1780, a Russian man of war, of thirty-six guns, on her way from Archangel to the Baltic, lost, and of her whole crew only five men saved. In 1786, the Concordia, a Danish East India ship, with a valuable cargo, outward bound, lost, and only fifteen of her crew saved, and in 1789, a Dutch Greenland ship lost, of her crew only five saved.

The aurora borealis, or, as the natives call it, the merry dancers, is constant in clear evenings in all these northern islands, and proves a great relief in the gloom of the long winter-nights, frequently covering the whole hemisphere. The cold is moderate; the fogs great and frequent; the winter tempests are astonishing, agitating the water to the bottom of these comparatively shallow seas.

The herrings which appear off Shetland, in amazing columns, in June, perform the circuit of our island, and retire beyond the knowledge of man. When their main body approaches from the north, it alters the very appearance of the ocean: it is divided into columns of five or six miles in length, and three or four in breadth, which drive the water before them with a sort of rippling current. Sometimes they sink for a short space, then rise again, and in bright weather reflect a variety of splendid colours.

The birds of these islands are the same with those of the Orkneys, except the skua, which breeds only in Foula and Unst. Among the few land birds which migrate to them in summer is the golden-crested wren. Multitudes of the inhabitants of each cluster of islands feed on the eggs of the birds of the cliff, which they take with the utmost hazard. Copinsher, Hunda, Hay, Foula, and Nosshead, are the most celebrated rocks, and the neighbouring natives the most expert climbers up precipices above 60 fathoms high, roughened with shelves or ledges, which the men climb from below, or are let down by a rope held by a single assistant above, shifted by the weight of the fowler and his booty, and directed by signals; and in Foula they trust the rope to a stake, or a dagger stuck in the ground. Few of these fellows come to a natural death. They slide across the holm of Noss, a vast rock separated from the isle of Noss, only sixteen fathoms and 480 feet high, with a raging sea between, in a cradle, along a cord; guided by a small parallel cord.

The Shetland of Letland Islands lie about 44 leagues west from Bergen in Norway, and about 15 ieagues north of the Orkneys, and with them send a member to parliament. They are in number 86, but only 33 of them are inhabited; the others being only holms or rocky islets for pasturage.

The principal parishes are Aithsting and Sandsting, Bressay, Burray, and Quarff, Delting, Dunrossness, Sandwick, Cunningsburgh, Lerwick, Nesting, Skerries, Northmavine, Tingwall, Whiteness, Weisdale, Unst, Walls, Samness, Papa-stour, North and South Yell, Fetlar, and the Fair and Foula Isles; the whole containing 3541 houses, and 22,379 inhabitants; viz. 9945 males, and 12,434 females. These islands contain about three times as much land as the Orkneys.

The climate is not good, yet it is not so bad as it has generally been represented. The longest day in the island of Unst is nineteen hours and a quarter, and the shortest four hours and three quarters The spring is late, the summer short, and the autumn wet and foggy. The winter quarter sets in in October, and lasts till April, bringing continual rains and frequent storms; and the sea swells and rages in such a manner, that for five or six months in the year their ports are inaccessible. During their long and gloomy winters, the Aurora Borealis is particularly splendid, and affords a light almost equal to that of a full moon.

The coast is well adapted for fishing, but this branch of trade having been much neglected, it was taken advantage of by the Dutch. The inhabitants indeed export great quantities of dry fish.

The greater part of the coast is high and rocky, but many of the bays are flat and sandy, and abound with shellfish. They have also great numbers of otters and seals: sponge, ambergris, and amber are in common with the Orkneys.

The soil, although in many parts boggy and moorish, would admit of much better cultivation, but the inhabitants are indolent, and suffer the greater part to lie almost in a state of nature. They have few trees, and scarcely any shrubs except juniper. The fuel is peat and turf. The black cattle is much larger than those of the Orkneys; their horses are small but very stout and hardy; and their sheep are exceedingly delicate, and afford excellent wool.

The inhabitants are a stout well-made comely people, the lower ranks having a swarthy complexion; they are a hardy, robust, laborious race, and hospitable to strangers. Their language is the English.

The only manufacture is a little linen, a strong blackish woollen cloth for their own use, and worsted stockings, some of which are of a fine quality and texture.

No mines have been hitherto wrought, though there are, in many places, visible appearances of several kinds of metal, particularly of iron, copper, lead, and silver. From some of the islands beautiful specimens of jasper have been brought, its colour chiefly black and green: also rock crystal, garnets, and spars.

It has been matter of great dispute from whence the inhabitants of these islands first came, but it is the general opinion that they were originally from Norway. The islands were tributary to the crown of Norway, till the end of the 12th century, at which time they were again annexed to the Scottish crown, together with the Orkneys, being a dowry with the princess of Denmark, who married our King James I.

Mainland, the largest island in this cluster, is sixty miles long and nearly sixteen broad; it projects into the sea, and has many irregular bays and promontories. The interior is for the most part mountainous, and the soil is moorish and boggy. Near the coast there are sometimes, for miles together, flat pleasant spots, very fertile both in pasture and corn, but the great occupation of the inhabitants being fishing, the land is cultivated in the rudest manner: the corn they grow is chiefly bear, with some oats.

The hills are mostly covered with heath, and afford excellent pasture for black cattle and sheep, which are suffered to run wild. Birds of prey are numerous here, and destructive to the lambs. Although the island is bare of trees at present, many of considerable size have been dug up in the mosses. There are no rivers, but they are well supplied with water by numerous springs and rivulets. The chief town in this island, called Lerwick, is situated in the eastern part. The houses are built of stone, exceeding coarse, and few of them are above two stories high. There are two churches, but neither contain any thing remarkable. Near the town is a small fort and barracks, garrisoned by a company of invalids.