An Etymological Dictionary of the Norn Language in Shetland/Introduction/II
II.
Thomas Edmondston’s Glossary and “Shetl. Fireside Tales”, which is written partly in the Shetl. dialect, formed the basis of my knowledge of the Shetlandic, when, after spending a year in the Færoe Isles collecting folklore and tales as well as linguistic material, I set out in the early summer of 1893, via Leith and Edinburgh, for the first time to Shetland, to investigate what might be left of the old language locally known as Norn.
The first assistance I received was from the antiquary Gilbert Goudie in Edinburgh, a Shetlander by birth and belonging to Dunrossness in the south of Shetland, who has written about Shetland antiquities, with intimate knowledge of the subject. In the library of the Museum of Antiquities in Edinburgh, I became acquainted with a valuable manuscript supplement to Edmondston’s Glossary, written by the Shetlander, Barclay, Principal of Glasgow University. After a short stay in Edinburgh I proceeded to Lerwick, Shetland, where James Goudie, afterwards Provost of Lerwick, who has the largest and most valuable private library in the Islands, helped me over my first difficulties. Unfortunately, Arthur Laurenson, a Shetlander who had a wide knowledge of the Old Norse literature and language and was consequently strongly interested in the Norn, had died shortly before I came. Through James Goudie I made the acquaintance of J. J. Haldane Burgess (who has written several excellent stories, partly in the dialect, picturing the life of the Shetland people), and also of John Irvine, ship-broker.
This remarkable man, too early removed by death, who behind a somewhat brusque manner had a warm heart, cherished a strong sympathy with the Northern countries, spoke Norwegian and Danish fluently and had a deep affection for the old people, language and history of Shetland, and saw with sorrow the breaking-up and perversion of the old homely dialect. He had early begun to record old Shetland words and phrases, and to compare them with corresponding ones in Aasen’s Norwegian Dictionary. He placed his notes at my disposal with the most unselfish readiness, and both at his office and at his house often afforded me an opportunity of questioning people from different quarters of the Islands. His assistance was of very great value to me. John Irvine was of Fetlar descent but his notes embraced all parts of the country.
From many others also in Lerwick I obtained valuable help, among whom I will especially mention Thomas Mathewson, bookseller, a native of South Yell; William Ratter, afterwards Inspector of Poor in Lerwick, a native of North Roe; James Inkster, at Greenbank, a native of N.Roe (but also well acquainted with North Yell), John Nicolson, a native of Aithsting, and my landlady, Mrs. Linklater, also a native of Aithsting.
After I had collected a considerable stock of material during a month’s stay in Lerwick, I decided to make a journey to the remote island of Foula in the west before the season should be too far spent and communication between Mainland and that island rendered difficult.
Foula lies about sixteen miles west from Walls, the nearest point of land. A post-boat went there every fortnight. I first made a short stay in Sandness, where I found the schoolmaster, Robert Jamieson, an enthusiast for Old Norse associations. He and his wife showed the most lively interest in my undertaking. I visited Sandness again after my return from Foula; and the main portion of the word-stock I collected on the Westside, excepting Foula, I obtained in Sandness, especially from Jamieson (now deceased) and Mrs. Jamieson.
From Walls I proceeded to Foula, where I stayed for a month. The people of the island are lively and intelligent. Here I collected some fragments of Norn; but the Hildina-ballad, recorded by Low in 1774, was irrevocably lost.
The present Foula-dialect is not in any special way more old-fashioned than that of the Westside, in the main; but conversation with the old people in the Islands soon convinced me that ancient modes of life and language had been maintained longer here than on Mainland, — indeed, than in all the rest of Shetland. Recollections here in Foula were more vivid than elsewhere, even taking the North Isles into account.
Among my authorities in Foula I will name David Henry of Guttern (Guttorm), a descendant of Wm. Henry of Guttorm, who repeated the Hildina-ballad to Low in 1774. To David Henry I am indebted for a valuable little collection of words, a fragment of the Eagle-song, and a proverbial expression in Norn; and to a man and his wife in Lerabakk for another fragment of the Eagle-song, and for the verse “I have malt meldra min”, and the Fairy-verse “Høredu, høredu ria”. The masquerader’s verse, Skekla, etc. was repeated to me by the two sisters Manson, de Mires. Finally, I will name Robert Gear, schoolmaster, who afforded me much indirect help by introducing me into many homes in Foula, and much direct help by giving me information regarding the Nesting dialect. Gear was a native of the parish of Nesting on the east side of Mainland.
After a month’s stay in Foula, I returned by the post-boat to Walls, and from there went by land to Sandness, where R. Jamieson had collected some new material. From Sandness I crossed to the island of Papa Stour and stayed there for a week.
Returning to Lerwick I made another long stay there, partly in order to arrange my collections and partly in order to obtain information from people belonging to the country districts who had settled in Lerwick, but had preserved their old home-dialect. Winter was now setting in, the worst season, of course, for undertaking journeys.
After a fortnight’s stay in Lerwick I went south to Conningsburgh, where I remained for a week. The inhabitants of Conningsburgh are intelligent and lively and generally differ somewhat in appearance from most of the people of Shetland; they are rather shorter in stature and more squarely built as well as of a darker complexion, at least in the case of the older generation. This circumstance may be due to an ancient mingling of an original Celtic element with the Norse immigrants. The people of Conningsburgh have held firmly to old customs, and in no parish of Mainland has Norn persisted longer than in Conningsburgh; there is a considerable difference between the dialect here and that in the more southerly Dunrossness, where the Norn element has been more strongly pushed into the background. Among my authorities in Conningsburgh I will specially mention Robert Cogle, fisherman, who by himself had earnestly studied Old Norse and Icelandic; and also Mr. Malcolmson, merchant. The so-called “Conningsburgh Phrase”, an ancient rule of life in Norn, recorded by Low in 1774, was unfortunately lost. Later, I noted a variant in Yell.
My next expedition was to the North Isles, Unst, Yell and Fetlar, where, it was said, the richest stock of old Norn words was to be found. This statement proved later to be quite correct. I proceeded by steamer as far north as Baltasound in Unst, where Andrew Anderson, merchant, gave me the first guidance in regard to the island. Baltasound, the chief centre in the island for the curing of herrings caught on the banks to the eastward, where Dutch, Norwegian and Swedish, as well as Scottish fishermen have long fished, has become modernized, and so I went north to Haroldswick, which has still preserved its old-world character. Here I immediately got very important help from my host, the schoolmaster Robert Dowal, who was a native of the parish of Tingwall on Mainland, but had been for a long time in Haroldswick; he took great trouble to introduce me to persons and families who might be expected to be able and willing to give me the information I sought.
Among my authorities in Haroldswick I will specially mention Peter Nicolson and Robert Nicolson in Spul, and the brothers Andrew Magnus Sutherland and David Sutherland, merchant.
From P. and R. Nicolson I obtained fragments of a sea-song in Norn, and much old information relating to the fishing; and from Nanna Bruce, of Burrafirth, a couple of little rigmaroles in Norn.
From Haroldswick I went several times to the little village of Norwick, lying farther to the north, where valuable help was given by the Henderson family, especially by Wm. Henderson, sen., and his sons Wm. Henderson, jun., and John Henderson.
In Westing, the west and south-west part of Unst, I got great help, both direct and indirect, from my host John Foubister Lund, who introduced me to several families in Westing.
Of those in the south of Unst who assisted me with information I will specially name my host Mr. Sutherland and his wife, of Uyeasound, John Nisbet, of Uyeasound, as well as Mr. James Mackay and his family, of Muness.
From Unst I went by steamer to Mid-Yell, the main village in the large island of Yell, to the south-west of Unst.
In Mid-Yell I at once made the acquaintance of Laurence Williamson, of Gardie, and his mother. L. Williamson, though still young, is the man who, along with John Irvine, already mentioned, afforded me the most outstanding help of all in Shetland. With these two men, I will especially mention W. Ratter of N. Roe, settled in Lerwick, who, in a long-continued correspondence after I had left Shetland and returned to Copenhagen, constantly sent me information regarding Shetland words and place-names.
L. Williamson, who regards his native isles, their memories, and old traditions with deep affection, is a man of a strongly marked, scientific cast of mind, to a greater extent than John Irvine was, and had, long before I made his acquaintance, constructed for himself a phonetic alphabet for use in connection with his linguistic notes. He had by himself studied Old Norse and Danish. In contradistinction to Irvine, L. Williamson had always been very careful to note down the exact locality to which the words he collected belonged. This is of great importance in the comparison of the dialects. L. Williamson made several expeditions with me, especially to the district “de Herra” in Yell, and to his native isle Fetlar, and in this manner opened the way for me.
Of those who afforded me special assistance I will mention Thomas Hunter of Bjelagord in the east of Fetlar, and his family, now settled at Clivocast in the south of Unst; and the old fisherman Thomas Tait, a man of most vivid power of narrative, and the last who could tell the remarkable old story of “Jan Tait and the bear”, a saga in miniature. It is the only historical tale which has come down to us from that period, and is quite in the style and spirit of the old Icelandic tales or “sagas”. The tale belongs to Fetlar. It runs thus (as rendered into English by Dr. Jakobsen):
The king of Norway sent his chamberlain across to Shetland to collect the “skat” (tax) due to the Crown. The chamberlain came to Fetlar, where the skat was collected at Urie (“Øri”). To Urie the udallers came with the “teinds” or tithes they had to pay. They brought with them the “bismers”: ancient wooden steelyards. The chamberlain of course had his own bismer, which was considered standard weight, and on which he tested the udallers’ bismers. A udaller by the name of Jan Tait, while paying his butter tithe, was accused by the chamberlain of having a false bismer. This at once led to a quarrel, in which Tait denounced the chamberlain’s bismer as false, and being threatened by the chamberlain, Jan finally raised his bismer and struck the king’s representative dead on the spot. This was, of course, a great crime, for which he was summoned to appear before the king in Norway. Arrived there, Jan went in before the king bare-headed and bare-footed, and carrying an axe in his hand. Jan was a strongly-built man, and had big knobs on the joints of his feet. So the king stared at his feet, until Jan suddenly asked him why he was staring so fixedly. The king said that he had never seen such strange feet before. Jan said, that if they gave him any offence, he would soon cure that, whereupon he took the axe and hewed off one of the knobs. The king said that he did not at all wonder that Jan had killed his chamberlain, since he had so little regard for his own flesh and blood. But seeing his courage, he would give him a chance to save his life. There was a bear infesting a certain place, and constantly endangering the lives of the inhabitants. If he could catch it and bring it alive before the king, he should be pardoned. Tait then went to an old woman who lived near a spot the bear used to frequent, and asked her all about its ways and habits. She said to him: “By butter you have got into the present trouble, and by butter you shall get out of it”. Then she advised him to take a kit full of butter and place it in an open spot in the forest, where the bear used to come, watch there till the bear appeared on the scene and licked the butter, and then, when it had lain down to sleep, seize his opportunity and bind it with ropes. Tait acted according to her advice. The bear, after having licked the butter, felt heavy, lay down and fell asleep, whereupon Tait, who had been watching, hastened to tie the animal with strong ropes. He managed to bring the bear alive before the king, but the king, wanting to be rid of him, ordered him out of his sight, bidding him to take the bear home with him to Shetland. Tait went back to Fetlar with the bear and transported it from there to the island of Yell-Linga (off the Yell coast), where there is a spot still called “the Bear’s Bait”, which name is known by very few people now. There is a green circle in the island, said to have been made by the bear’s walking around the pole to which it was tethered.
Mid-Yell was the centre from which I made journeys to de Herra, to North Yell, to East Yell, and to Fetlar.
In North Yell I got very special help from J. Fraser, carpenter, who had a most intimate knowledge of the old dialects of the district. To him I am indebted for the variant of the “Conningsburgh Phrase”, mentioned in “Fragments of Norn”; and to his daughter Margaret Fraser for the riddle in Norn about the melting snowflakes. Mr. Sandison, the merchant at Cullivoe, with whom I stayed part of the time, gave me good indirect help. — I also received good assistance from Wm. Brown, bookseller, a native of Fetlar, settled in Mid-Yell. In the course of his journeys in the North Isles, Brown collected a quantity of linguistic material, which he willingly placed at the disposal of L. Williamson and myself.
The two brothers Charleson, John and David, both old men, natives of de Herra, had a unique knowledge of the old dialect of their native district, and from them I obtained many obsolete words belonging to de Herra, especially from John Charleson, who was blind. The explanations accompanying the words were very exact and striking.
Among my informants who were settled in de Herra, I will name Thomas Henry of Buster, and Gilbert Gilbertson of Raga. To the first of these I am indebted for a proverbial expression in Norn and a couple of fragments of songs in Norn.
After returning to Lerwick and staying there again for a short while, I went a second time to Conningsburgh; and from there proceeded to Dunrossness, the most southerly parish in Shetland. Dunrossness, which is generally spoken of as “the Ness”, has been more strongly affected by the influence of Lowland Scottish than the other parts of Shetland, and, as a consequence, the Norn element here has been pushed further into the background. Nevertheless I found in Dunrossness a certain Norn vocabulary, peculiar to that parish. There exists a certain difference between the various parts of Du., especially between the most northerly and the most southerly.
Among my helpers in Du. I will mention Mr. and Mrs. Jamieson of De Mul, Levenwick, from whom I got information not only about Levenwick and the surrounding district, but also about Sandwick, the most northerly part of Du., though only in a parochial sense belonging to it. For the middle part of Du. I will name my host Andrew Goudie, of Braefield, Clumlie, a brother of the antiquary Gilbert Goudie of Edinburgh, already mentoned. A. Goudie and his family gave me very extensive help. Mrs. A. Goudie, who by birth belongs to Sandsting, gave me much information about that district, which I did not manage to visit personally.
For the west of Du. I will mention the two brothers Henderson, of Scousburgh; and for the south of Du., Gawin Gadie and Wm. Young, of Scatness.
My next visit, after another short stay in Lerwick, was to Northmavine, the most northerly and the largest parish on Mainland, and the district which, after the North Isles, gave me the richest result. Among those who assisted me with information, I will mention, in connection with North Roe, the most northerly part of the parish, the Jamieson family at Brebister, as well as the young intelligent James Inkster, of Huland. Mr. Jamieson was of Unst descent. To his three daughters I am specially indebted for a large vocabulary of words belonging to North Roe. For Eshaness, Nmw., I will name the fisherman Arthur Anderson, at de Punds; on the west side of Nm., south of Eshaness, Thomas Hawick, at Nibon; and in the southerly and south-easterly parts of Nm., Andrew Robertson, at Taften, “Sulem” (Sullom); and Robert Williamson, at Bardister.
Within the scope of the Northmavine dialect, I have specially distinguished between the following branches: Nmn. (with its central point in North Roe), Eshaness (a special part of the west of Nm.), Nmw., the west of Nm. in a narrower sense (to the south of Eshaness, with its central point in the south-west), Nms., particularly Sullom in the south, and Bardister in the south-east. Incidentally mention may be made of Uyea, in the north-west of Nm., Collafirth, and Ollaberry in the east of Nm.
In the case of the Delting dialects, I distinguish between East Delting, Dee. Mossbank; and West Delting, Dew. (especially Voe), with which is reckoned also the island of Muckle Roe.
The Lunnasting and the Nesting dialects are both divided into a northerly and a southerly branch. Vidlin represents the northerly branch of the Lunnasting dialect, and Skelberry the southerly. The district-names North Nesting and South Nesting agree fairly well with the linguistic distinction drawn between Nestingn, and Nestings.
The districts Walls, Sandness, Aithsting and Sandsting are embraced under the name “The Westside”. All four districts have certain prominent linguistic characteristics in common (which will be mentioned later) and might therefore be said to form a linguistic unit. Sandness is divided, in regard to dialect, into Sandnessw. (that is, Sandness proper) and Sandnesse. (Snaraness); Aithsting into Aiw. (Fogrigert) and Aie., or Ai. proper (Ai., W. Burr., Clousta). To the Westside in a wider sense, we assign also the island of Papa Stour, in the north, and Foula, far to the west, each with its own linguistic peculiarities.
In the case of the Unst dialects, a distinction is here made between areas where the lines of demarcation are very strongly marked: a) the northerly, Un., specially represented by Haroldswick, Norwick and Skaw. The more westerly Burrafirth (Ubu.) differs only slightly from the districts named, but falls under Un. in a wider sense. b) Um., Mid Unst, or Uba., Baltasound, c) Ue. or Uc., Colvidale in the east of Unst, south from Baltasound. d) Westing, or the westerly (west-south-west) Unst, here written Uwg., while Uw. denotes Unst west, in a wider sense, including the little village Widwick in the north. e) the south of Unst, Us., esp. the village of “Øjasund”, Uyeasound. Linguistically the little village of “Mooness” (Umo.), Muness, forms a special district in the east of Unst.
In the Yell dialects, several ramifications are to be distinguished: a) the north of Yell, Yn., in a narrower sense, with centres in “Kollivo” Cullivoe, Brecken and the northerly village Gloup. b) Bastavoe, Yb., which can be classed under Yn. in a wider sense. c) Mid Yell, Ym., on the east side of the island, d) de Herra, Yh., the district round Hwalfirth Voe, west and north-west from Ym. e) West Sandwick, on the west side of the island (Yw). f) the village West-Yell (Ywy.), south from W.Sw. g) the little district East Yell, Ye., in the south-east of the island, h) the south of Yell, Ys., with centre in Burravoe, and Hamnavoe.
In the case of the Fetlar dialects, a special distinction is made here between the easterly branch, Fee., and the westerly, Few. Along with these are Feh., de Herra, the central district, as well as Fef., the village “Finni”, Funzie, on the east side of the island, a special sub-division of Fee.
In Lerwick, I collected a good deal of information from people who had moved into the town from the country, and had retained their home-dialect. The most varied districts and dialects were in this way represented in the capital. Everything thus recorded I investigated and sifted later, during visits made to the districts or to the islands to which the people concerned belonged.
Among other methods employed during my visits to the various places, I made a point of getting into conversation with people who did not belong originally to the place, but had moved into it from another neighbourhood. These people quite naturally took particular notice of such words and expressions as differed from those used in their original homes. In that way I often obtained knowledge of differences in the vocabulary of the dialects, that otherwise might have escaped my observation; but of course, information about places obtained from people who were half-strangers in such places, had to be confirmed by people who were natives of the places concerned.
Old people who had good knowledge of the matters I wished to investigate, were often difficult to question, for, as a rule, they did not and could not have that comprehension of my undertaking which the younger people had, or quickly acquired. The older people were sometimes anxious lest what they said should be recorded, and were, on that account, at first apprehensive of unpleasant consequences. Further conversations, however, almost invariably dispelled such apprehensions. A certain intimacy of relation had to be established, before I could, with any real advantage, obtain replies to my numerous inquiries.
It was from the younger generation that I collected by far the greater part of the Shetland Norn vocabulary presented in this dictionary. The younger people were thoroughly interested in my work, had a certain understanding of its scope, and they formed a needed link between me and the older people. The younger people did not, of course, themselves possess such a fund of Norn vocabulary as the older generation; but they had better opportunity than I had to question the old people, and, in general, could more easily obtain information from them. Where the rarer words were concerned, I myself sought and afterwards obtained confirmation regarding them from the older people.
On the occasion of my visits to Shetlandic homes, especially evening visits which gave the best results, I often took up two definite subjects for discussion in one evening, in order to become acquainted with the older words and expressions connected with these subjects: as for example, everything belonging to the house, the daily activities, the activities peculiar to each season of the year: weather; sea; fishing, the question of the fishermen’s tabu-language having to be handled carefully; and much else; without, however, keeping my inquiries closely directed to the subject chosen when circumstances showed that more diffuse conversation, involving the discussion of different subjects, might yield a good result, especially when many people were present.
It was of special importance to get the rarer words brought out, such words as had either become obsolete within the memory of people, or were about to become obsolete; words that had been used by the parents and grand-parents of the generation now living,— and which were far from being readily remembered even by the older people. But, as soon as interest was awakened and people began to search their memories, such forgotten or half-forgotten words often appeared again. There were, as a rule, in each neighbourhood where I made a stay, one or more young men and women who took notes for me.
At each new place to which I came in the course of my travelling about, I went through, either wholly or partly, the old dialect material I had collected in other places. It was an effective means of getting my collection enlarged by corresponding words at each new place. It gave people at once an idea of what I sought and immediately drew out variants, often entirely different words from those I had for the same thing.
While it was comparatively easy to get names of material objects, it was a somewhat different question with ideas, as, for example, words denoting states of mind, behaviour, jocular words, pet- and nicknames, etc. These could only now and then be obtained by direct questioning; the words were for the most part not just at hand; they might come on chance occasions and had often to be caught in the course of conversation.
A number of the districts I visited twice, partly because there was evidence that my first visit had awakened such a lively interest in the old language that many people had begun to take notes, which I wished to examine before I left the Islands; and partly because, in the interval since my first visit, I had elsewhere collected new material which I wished to go through at places that were of special significance in connection with my investigations. It was particularly necessary to visit the North Isles for a second time. I made two visits also for example to Conningsburgh and to the Westside, Sandness. Foula, unfortunately, was too far away to permit of a second visit. Such a visit would have demanded more time than I had at my disposal.
Continual investigations showed me the necessity of visiting as many places as possible, because of the difference not only in pronunciation, but also, to a still greater extent, in the very vocabulary handed down from the ancient speech. Many years ago, when Norn was spoken in the Islands, there was undoubtedly considerable difference among the dialects of the various districts and islands, as is the case in the Færoe Islands. The intercourse between the places was not frequent, and there was no written language to form a connecting link between the different dialects. But to this must be added the fact that, when Norn was broken up and gradually disappeared as an independent speech, it was not always the same element in the language that perished in the different places. This circumstance soon became clear to me during my journeys. In each new island or district to which I came, I had again to go through the whole of the material I had collected in order to discover how much of it was known or was strange in the new place, and which words in the place were equivalents of those that were strange. This diversity was specially apparent in the fishermen’s tabu-language, in the sea-terms, which might change from neighbourhood to neighbourhood, indeed, might sometimes differ even in the same village.
Districts lying apart, as, for example, the island of Unst, esp. the north of it, and Foula, where Norn had been spoken fully as long as anywhere else, and where a Norn vocabulary peculiar to themselves had been preserved, lacked altogether, on the other hand, many words of Norn origin that were quite common elsewhere, and that sometimes were rather widely distributed, especially on Mainland. Foula is a small island with a very sparse population, only about three hundred people, and this fact weakens the power of the old to resist the new, in spite of the remote situation of the island. Unst, one may say, lies apart, in a purely geographical sense, but the transformation of Baltasound, the chief place of the island, into a trading and fish-curing centre, as a consequence of the herring-fishery prosecuted on the banks to the east of the island, is reacting on the other neighbourhoods; Haroldswick and Norwick, the kernel of the north of Unst and hitherto one of the places for the preservation of Norn, lie close to Baltasound on the north, and have a great deal of intercourse with it. Moreover, the north of Unst, as the most northerly point of Great Britain, is much visited by tourists. Both Unst and Foula therefore will probably soon lose the greater part of their ancient character. Yell is in reality more isolated than Unst, and this large island, with its still very rich Norn vocabulary, will certainly be the part of Shetland where the old dialect with its intermixture of Norn will maintain itself longest.