Inside Category History
The Maiden
Hallowe’en at the end of October is traditionally a part of the year when macabre things are thought of and expressed. Perhaps a ...
Read more
The Tolbooth Jail
We don’t have many records that make a direct reference to a person’s personal appearance. Important people might be described, ...
Read more
A Day in Bigga
Bigga, a little island in Yellsound, 80 hectares in extent, is not easy to visit. It has been uninhabited for 200 years, largely ...
Read more
Where is Shetland?
Where is Shetland? Well, it depends who you ask. "In the north Atlantic" is the most likely answer, but it isn't the only one, ...
Read more
Witchcraft in Shetland
Between around 1615 and 1680 Shetland was afflicted by a mania that was disturbing other parts of Europe. Ordinary Shetlanders and ...
Read more
Beltane Festival
We're all familiar with calendar customs. Those we have in Shetland today (with one notable exception in late January!) are identical ...
Read more
The Man Behind the Lowrie Stories
Sometime in the 1920s a middle-aged businessman in Lerwick began to write stories. He didn’t write about his native town. The hero ...
Read more
His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
We are saddened to hear of the passing of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
Read more
Why burn peats?
As part of the Between Islands project, Shetland’s new online exhibition, ‘Fair Game’ examines three customs that are now ...
Read more
The Bohemian Girl
In 1843 White’s, a firm of Quaker shipbuilders, launched a schooner, 125 tons, 104ft x 22.5ft x 12ft, the Bohemian Girl.
Read more
Celebrating International Women's Day: Britta Laurenson
International Women's Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. Here Jenny ...
Read more
Get Your Skates On!
The weather has changed, the temperature risen, wind and rain are back, the frosty winter fun gone. In 1909 though, one organisation ...
Read more
A present from Lerwick?
Some artefacts are interesting for what they tell us, and others are simply nice to look at. Here's one that's both. On the face of ...
Read more
Why hunt whales?
Pilot whales were important to islanders’ survival, providing many useful products. Subsistence whaling was unpredictable, because ...
Read more
St Sunniva's Tableware
The pandemic meant no cruise liners came to Lerwick, but not many Shetlanders realise that an important one lies on the seabed at ...
Read more