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Remembering George P.S. Peterson

George P.S. Peterson died recently at the age of 90. He was a notable archival source, teacher, writer, storyteller, folk dancer, and ...

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Robert Barclay, East India Company

The Bruce of Symbister collection in the Shetland Archives, GD144, is a collection of bundled papers. Since it isn’t feasible to ...

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Alexander Wallace

A very welcome book came out recently. Developed from a Ph.D., 'Shetland Boats: Origin, Evolution and Use', by Dr Marc Chivers ...

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Archivist Brian Smith receives distinguished service award

We’re delighted that Brian Smith’s dedication to Shetland’s historical records has been recognised with a distinguished service ...

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The Elvira

Stories of shipwreck have long occupied the Shetland imagination. One Shetlander, R. Stuart Bruce (1873-1951), devoted much of his ...

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Da Wadder

The weather is never far from conversation here, and it hasn’t been a great summer. Some good days though, and on July 19 the ...

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The Laurel

The Shetland Times, 12 October 1907 reported an important event at the Ness. Harry Irvine of Glenfield got a Fifie fishing boat, the ...

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Letters on Shetland

I got a book in the post the other day, always a good thing. 'Letters on Shetland' by Peter Jamieson (1898-1976), published in 1949 ...

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World Book Day

On World Book Day, it is worth musing about the history of library collections in Shetland. There have been highs and lows in the ...

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550 Years Ago: how Shetland became part of Scotland - part 2

Shetland and Orkney became part of Scotland 550 years ago, on 20 February 1472. Denmark’s economic interests were concentrated in ...

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A reminiscence of a traditional Shetland wedding

When lockdown came, one of our first sad tasks was to tell two couples who’d planned a wedding in the museum that it couldn’t ...

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550 Years Ago: how Shetland became part of Scotland

A fortnight ago some women and men from the South Mainland of Shetland marched in Glasgow with torches. They were commemorating the ...

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Up Helly Aa - the Venues

We’re missing Up Helly Aa again - not just a fire spectacle but a major social event, with dances and performances in many venues in ...

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Origins of the Up Helly Aa Song

A huge procession of torch-carrying guizers is one of the most spectacular sights of the Shetland year.  For anyone who heads out in ...

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The New Year, 1872 and the Truck Commission

The New Year of 1872 began in a special way in Shetland. On the first of January Sheriff William Guthrie began hearings in the Queens ...

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