Papa Stour
Encyclopedia
Papa Stour is one of the Shetland Islands
in Scotland
, with a population of under twenty people, some of whom immigrated
after an appeal for residents in the 1970s. Located to the west of mainland Shetland and with an area of 828 hectares (3.2 square miles), Papa Stour is the eighth largest island in Shetland. Erosion of the soft volcanic rocks by the sea has created an extraordinary variety of caves, stacks, arches, blowholes, and cliffs. The island and its surrounding seas harbour diverse populations of wildlife. The west side of the island is a Site of Special Scientific Interest
and the seas around the island are a Special Area of Conservation
.
The island has several Neolithic
burial chamber sites, as well as the remains of Duke Hakon's 13th century house dating from the Norse
occupation of the island. The population reached 380 or more in the nineteenth century, when a fishing station was opened at Crabbaberry in West Voe. Subsequently there was a steady decline in population, although the numbers have increased from a low of 16 in the 1970s.
Today the main settlement on the island
is Biggings
, just to the east of which is Housa Voe from where the Snolda ferry
arrives from its base at West Burrafirth on the Shetland Mainland
. Crofting
, especially sheep rearing, is the mainstay of island life.
Numerous shipwrecks have occurred around the coast, and the celebrated poem Da Sang o da Papa Men by Vagaland
recalls the drama of the days when Papa Stour was a centre for deep-sea fishing.
Papa Stour is located at the south western end of St Magnus Bay. There are 34 kilometres (21.1 mi) of rugged coastline which is indented by numerous small embayments and four larger 'voes'. Hamna Voe (Old Norse
: 'harbour bay') in the south is the most sheltered anchorage and the surrounding cliffs contain a natural rock arch. Housa Voe to the east (Old Norse
: 'house bay') is less secluded but is the main harbour for the island and the ferry's embarkation point.
Brei Holm
and Maiden Stack
guard the harbour entrance to the south. The former is a tidal island and was a leper colony
until the 18th century, (although it has been suggested that many of the "lepers" there were suffering from a vitamin deficiency rather than leprosy
). The latter's name relates to a story from the 14th century. Lord Thorvald Thoresson is said to have constructed of the tiny house at its top, (the ruins of which are still visible) in order to "preserve" his daughter from men. Unfortunately for his plans, when she left she was found to be pregnant, or in another version of the story, she and her fisherman sweetheart successfully eloped. West Voe, the inner part of which is called 'Robies Noust' is the main voe in the north coast, the smaller Culla Voe lying immediately to the west.
The main settlement on the island today is Biggings, which overlooks Housa Voe and is surrounded by in-bye land to the east of the hill dyke (which runs south from West Voe). To the west the island is bisected by a belt of glacial moraine
about one and a half kilometres in length. Much of the rest of the area consists of a shallow stony soil that may be derived from glacial till. There is an almost complete absence of peat on the island and due to the volcanic rocks the soils are relatively fertile. The lack of peat led to 'turf scalping' for fuel and the bare areas of rock in the interior.
The highest point on the island is in the north west at Virda Field, which rises to 87 metres (285 ft). Virda is possibly from the Old Norse for 'heap of stones'.
In addition to the larger islets mentioned above there are various other isles and skerries
around the coast of Papa Stour. They include: Aesha Stack, Boinna Skerry, Borse Skerry, Fogla Skerry, Forewick Holm
, Galti Stacks, Holm of Melby, Koda Skerry, Lyra Skerry, Skerries of Quidaness, Skerry of Lambaness, Sula Stack, Swat Skerry, The Horn, Tiptans Skerry and Wilma Skerry. The Ve Skerries
lie 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) to the north west. They include: Helliogoblo, North Skerry, Ormal, Reaverack and The Clubb. In between Papa Stour and Ve Skerries lies the shallow bank of Papa-rof.
On 21 June 2008, Stuart Hill
, the owner and only resident of the 1 hectare (2.5 acre) island of Forewick Holm
(which he has renamed "Forvik Island") made a declaration of dependence, creating the Crown Dependency of Forvik
. On the basis of a marriage arrangement between King Christian of Norway
and King James III of Scotland
that dates to 1468 the island was declared to be a British crown dependency
, and thus not a part of the United Kingdom
or of the European Union
.
period. At that time the Scottish landmass formed part of the Old Red Sandstone Continent
and lay some 10
-25 degrees south
of the equator. The accumulations of Old Red Sandstone
, laid down from 408 to 370 million years ago, were created as earlier Silurian
rocks, uplifted by the formation of Pangaea
, eroded and then were deposited into river deltas. The freshwater Orcadian Lakes
existed on the edges of the eroding mountains, stretching from Shetland to the southern Moray Firth. The structure of Papa Stour is largely made up of ashes and lavas from volcanic activity associated with this period, including bands of solidified volcanic ash and lava (rhyolite
), but there is also a Devonian fish bed at Lamba Banks. There are numerous large boulders deposited by Pleistocene
glaciation.
Erosion of the soft volcanic rocks by the sea has created an extraordinary variety of caves, stacks, arches, blowholes, cliffs, voes and geo
s that are amongst the finest in Britain. The 'Holl o Boardie' is a cave that passes right through the north-west tip of the island. It is nearly half a mile long and wide enough to row through. Kirstan (or Christie's) Hole in the south west is another spectacular cave, part of the roof of which collapsed in 1981. Yet another is 'Francie's Hole' close to Hamna Voe in the west. This was the favourite of John Tudor who wrote of the island in his Victorian
memoirs and described the cave as:
In 1953 the spectacular headland, 'Da Horn o Papa' fell into the sea during a storm. The nearby islet of Brei Holm
also has caves that can be accessed by small boats when conditions permit.
Otters
, Grey Seal
s, Killer Whales and Harbour Porpoise
s are frequently seen on and around Papa Stour. Atlantic Puffin
, Arctic
and Common Tern
, Bonxie
and Arctic Skua
, Northern Fulmar
, Common Guillemot
, Razorbill
, Curlew
, Wheatear
, Ringed Plover
and Great Black-backed Gull
all breed on the island, and numerous migratory species have been recorded.
There is a profusion of wild flowers, including Mountain Everlasting, Spring Squill and Eyebright as well as the ubiquitous Heather
. The west side of the island is a Site of Special Scientific Interest
and the seas around Papa Stour are a Special Area of Conservation
. The traditional Shetland Pony
is still bred.
burial chambers known as 'heel-shaped cairns'. Little is known of the pre-Celtic and Celtic eras, but when the Norse arrived it is likely they found a religious settlement as the name of the island derives from Papey Stóra meaning "Big island of the Papar
" (Celtic monks), in distinction to Papa Little
some 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) to the west.
, which is the oldest surviving document from Shetland. It deals with a dramatic incident in the house of Duke Hakon Magnusson, who was later to become King Hakon V of Norway. There is a circle of stones near the beach at Housa Voe, which are the remains of a 'ting', or local assembly. This was the scene of a duel, fought and won by Lord Thorvald Thoresson, who was accused of corruption in the 1299 document and was later called ‘dominus de Papay’. (The story of his unfortunate daughter is referred to above.) The remains of Duke Hakon's thirteenth century house are still visible near Housa Voe.
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In 1469 Shetland came under nominal Scottish control, although the Norse 'Lairds of Norway' kept their Papa Stour estates until the 17th century. In the 16th century merchants from Bremen
and Hamburg
were operating a summer trading booth to buy fish from the local fleet. By the 18th century, two Scottish lairds, Thomas Gifford
of Busta, and Arthur Nicolson of Lerwick
, owned the island. They maintained a prosperous Haaf (Old Norse: 'deep sea') fishing industry, undertaken in the summer months using six-oared boats known as sixareen
s.
In addition to the leper colony on Brei Holm there may have been another at Hilla Fielle overlooking Hamna Voe. A recent archaeological survey was inconclusive but suggests the site may be much older than the supposed 18th century colony.
The island church, which overlooks Kirk Sand in the bay of Fore Wick, was founded in 1806. 300 metres from the present church there may be an older chapel site of Sneeans or Snøyans on the headland between the west end of Kirk Sand and the bay of Tusselby. It is called the 'ald kirk' by locals and referred to by the Ordnance Survey as "the site of a Romish chapel belonging to about the twelfth century". There is a tradition that the work there was interfered with by supernatural powers and that each day's work on the building was destroyed during the night. Eventually the cornerstones were moved overnight by these unearthly agencies to the present site of the church and work was re-commenced there successfully. Excavations in 2004 found little besides large blocks of rhyolite and a piece of whalebone rib, suggesting that the oral tradition may have some truth to it.
In the 19th century the Crabbaberry fishing station in West Voe was opened and the island had a population of 360 people or more. However, fuel shortages and a decline in fishing due to the introduction of steam drifters saw a fall in population from the 1870s on. At this time another duel entered the history of Papa Stour. Edwin Lindsay, an Indian army officer and the son of the 6th Earl of Balcarres, was declared insane and sent to the island in disgrace after refusing to fight in one. He spent 26 years as a prisoner before the Quaker preacher Catherine Watson arranged for his release in 1835. Lindsay's Well is a spring at the south of the island where he was allowed to bathe.
There are good examples of horizontal water mills, also known as Norse or Clack Mills, around Dutch Loch. Originally these were two story buildings with turf roofs, built into banks to give access to the upper floor where the mill-stone was sited. Inside the building there was a fixed lower millstone, and a rotating upper millstone driven by the water falling onto the paddles below. Some were still in use on Papa Stour in the early years of the 20th century, and there is still a working example of one of these mills on the Burn of Clumlie, at Troswick in the south Mainland of Shetland.
In common with many small Scottish islands, Papa Stour's population peaked in the 19th century and has experienced a significant decline since then (see e.g. Mingulay
). By 1970 the island school had closed and the population had declined to sixteen 'fairly elderly' residents, but an advertisement in Exchange and Mart reversed the decline. A croft and five sheep were offered free of charge to incomers which brought a flood of applicants. By 1981 the census recorded a population of 33. However, by 2005 the population had fallen to 20 after serious discord between islanders led to several court cases. A number of people left the island and the school closed. By early 2008 the population had dropped to just nine after a family of seven left.
Overview of population trends
The Aberdeen trawler Ben Doran A178, foundered on the Ve Skerries
3 miles northwest of Papa Stour, on the evening of 28 March 1930 while on her way to the village of Scalloway
to land her catch. When she grounded weather conditions were fairly good but it was not until the following day that a passing trawler saw, and reported the wreck. By the time that various rescue attempts were launched by the coastguard and local volunteers (there being no lifeboat in Shetland at that time), weather conditions had deteriorated to the point where it was impossible to approach the skerries. A request had been made for the Stromness
lifeboat from Orkney, only 120 miles away, to launch, but the request was made too late to be of help. All 9 crew perished in the wreck. Only 3 bodies were recovered, that of James Mitchell, which was returned to Aberdeen, and the bodies of J. Cormack and J.R. Insh, which were buried in Scalloway.
The cargo ship SS Highcliffe ran aground in fog on Forewick Holm in February 1940. On this occasion the conditions were clement and only the ship and cargo were lost. In 1967 the Aberdeen trawler Juniper ran aground in Lyra Sound at the bottom of the 60 metre (200 ft) cliffs. The 12 man crew were rescued by the Aith
lifeboat, the coxswain being awarded the RNLI silver medal for this rescue.
Papa Stour's most recent shipwreck occurred on 9 December 1977 when the Aberdeen trawler Elinor Viking A278, skipper Alec Flett, foundered on the Ve Skerries. The Aith Lifeboat came to the scene but was unable to get near enough to rescue the crew because of the sea conditions. At the request of Alec Webster, Coastguard Station Officer, Lerwick, a volunteer crew in a British Airways
Sikorsky S61N helicopter from Sumburgh Airport
was scrambled. They managed to winch all the boat's crew to safety within hours of the grounding, despite the storm force winds. The helicopter crew later received a number of awards for bravery. There was no loss of life, but this incident prompted the building of a lighthouse on the skerries in 1979, and may also have been the example required for the formation of the present Search and Rescue helicopter unit, based at Sumburgh Airport
.
Crofting is the mainstay of island life. Sheep form the backbone of the agricultural economy but a diversity livestock are kept, including cattle, pigs, goats, chickens, ducks and geese. Vegetable are grown too, often in the shelter of circular walls, such plots being known as 'plantie scrubs'. Fishing is still conducted but on a relatively small scale. There is a post office at the pier, but no shop. Mains electricity only came to the island at the close of the twentieth century. The Papa Stour Project is a Christian supported housing service offering accommodation to men with drug and alcohol issues.
Ferries now sail across the Sound of Papa to West Burrafirth on the Shetland Mainland
. The crossing takes 45 minutes, and although the Snolda carries cars, there is only one short road on the island. There is an airstrip which caters for regular flights from Tingwall
. For visiting yachts the four main voes provide good shelter, but the strong tides in both the Sound of Papa and to the north west require considerable care.
by Sir Walter Scott.
The writer and journalist John Sands
lived on Papa Stour and Foula
for a while during the late nineteenth century. The writer, folklorist and musician, George P. S. Peterson was brought up on Papa Stour.
It is also the 'Papa' of Vagaland
's poem Da Sang o da Papa men, now adopted as part of the folksong tradition, as set to music by T.M.Y. Manson. The insistent chorus chant, 'Rowin Foula Doon!', is particularly striking.
"Rowin Foula doon!" refers to the fishermens' practice of rowing their open fishing boat out to sea until the high cliffs of Foula
were no longer visible. This entailed the boat being some 96 kilometres (59.7 mi) west of Papa Stour. The 'tide-lumps' are increased swells of unusual size due to the combined action of wind against tide. The resonant final image of the piece is of the fishermen being led back home to Papa by the 'scent o flooers' across the water. This is an example of Vagaland's ability to create a vivid sensual impression of a situation. An extra layer of meaning is added by the knowledge that Da Horn o Papa collapsed in a storm around the time of this poem's composition, so that it is a tribute not just to a lost way of life, but a noted geographical feature.
Shetland Islands
Shetland is a subarctic archipelago of Scotland that lies north and east of mainland Great Britain. The islands lie some to the northeast of Orkney and southeast of the Faroe Islands and form part of the division between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east. The total...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, with a population of under twenty people, some of whom immigrated
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
after an appeal for residents in the 1970s. Located to the west of mainland Shetland and with an area of 828 hectares (3.2 square miles), Papa Stour is the eighth largest island in Shetland. Erosion of the soft volcanic rocks by the sea has created an extraordinary variety of caves, stacks, arches, blowholes, and cliffs. The island and its surrounding seas harbour diverse populations of wildlife. The west side of the island is a Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
and the seas around the island are a Special Area of Conservation
Special Area of Conservation
A Special Area of Conservation is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive , also known as the Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora...
.
The island has several Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
burial chamber sites, as well as the remains of Duke Hakon's 13th century house dating from the Norse
Norsemen
Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...
occupation of the island. The population reached 380 or more in the nineteenth century, when a fishing station was opened at Crabbaberry in West Voe. Subsequently there was a steady decline in population, although the numbers have increased from a low of 16 in the 1970s.
Today the main settlement on the island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
is Biggings
Biggings
Biggings is a village in Shetland Islands, Scotland....
, just to the east of which is Housa Voe from where the Snolda ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
arrives from its base at West Burrafirth on the Shetland Mainland
Shetland Mainland
The Mainland is the main island of Shetland, Scotland. The island contains Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick, and is the centre of Shetland's ferry and air connections....
. Crofting
Croft (land)
A croft is a fenced or enclosed area of land, usually small and arable with a crofter's dwelling thereon. A crofter is one who has tenure and use of the land, typically as a tenant farmer.- Etymology :...
, especially sheep rearing, is the mainstay of island life.
Numerous shipwrecks have occurred around the coast, and the celebrated poem Da Sang o da Papa Men by Vagaland
Vagaland
Vagaland , is arguably the greatest Shetland poet of the 20th century, was born Thomas Alexander Robertson at Westerwick at the southern tip of the parish of Sandsting, his mother’s home. He was the second son of Thomas Robertson of Skeld and his wife Andrina Johnston...
recalls the drama of the days when Papa Stour was a centre for deep-sea fishing.
Geography
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
: 'harbour bay') in the south is the most sheltered anchorage and the surrounding cliffs contain a natural rock arch. Housa Voe to the east (Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
: 'house bay') is less secluded but is the main harbour for the island and the ferry's embarkation point.
Brei Holm
Brei Holm
Brei Holm is a tiny tidal islet in the western Shetland Islands. It is due east of Papa Stour, to which it is connected at low tide, just outside Housa Voe...
and Maiden Stack
Maiden Stack
The Maiden Stack or Frau Stack is a tiny stack in the western Shetland Islands to the north of Brei Holm and east of Housa Voe in Papa Stour....
guard the harbour entrance to the south. The former is a tidal island and was a leper colony
Leper colony
A leper colony, leprosarium, or lazar house is a place to quarantine leprous people.-History:Leper colonies or houses became widespread in the Middle Ages, particularly in Europe and India, and often run by monastic orders...
until the 18th century, (although it has been suggested that many of the "lepers" there were suffering from a vitamin deficiency rather than leprosy
Leprosy
Leprosy or Hansen's disease is a chronic disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Named after physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen, leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions...
). The latter's name relates to a story from the 14th century. Lord Thorvald Thoresson is said to have constructed of the tiny house at its top, (the ruins of which are still visible) in order to "preserve" his daughter from men. Unfortunately for his plans, when she left she was found to be pregnant, or in another version of the story, she and her fisherman sweetheart successfully eloped. West Voe, the inner part of which is called 'Robies Noust' is the main voe in the north coast, the smaller Culla Voe lying immediately to the west.
The main settlement on the island today is Biggings, which overlooks Housa Voe and is surrounded by in-bye land to the east of the hill dyke (which runs south from West Voe). To the west the island is bisected by a belt of glacial moraine
Moraine
A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past glacial maximum. This debris may have been plucked off a valley floor as a glacier advanced or it may have...
about one and a half kilometres in length. Much of the rest of the area consists of a shallow stony soil that may be derived from glacial till. There is an almost complete absence of peat on the island and due to the volcanic rocks the soils are relatively fertile. The lack of peat led to 'turf scalping' for fuel and the bare areas of rock in the interior.
The highest point on the island is in the north west at Virda Field, which rises to 87 metres (285 ft). Virda is possibly from the Old Norse for 'heap of stones'.
List of outliers
Skerry
A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation. It may simply be a rocky reef. A skerry can also be called a low sea stack....
around the coast of Papa Stour. They include: Aesha Stack, Boinna Skerry, Borse Skerry, Fogla Skerry, Forewick Holm
Forewick Holm
Forewick Holm is a island in the Sound of Papa in the Shetland islands, Scotland. located between Papa Stour and the Sandness peninsula.-Location:...
, Galti Stacks, Holm of Melby, Koda Skerry, Lyra Skerry, Skerries of Quidaness, Skerry of Lambaness, Sula Stack, Swat Skerry, The Horn, Tiptans Skerry and Wilma Skerry. The Ve Skerries
Ve Skerries
Ve Skerries, , are a group of low skerries 3 miles north west of Papa Stour, on the west coast of Shetland.-Skerries:The individual skerries are; North Skerry, Ormal, The Clubb, Reaverack, and Helligobolo.- Ve Skerries Lighthouse :...
lie 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) to the north west. They include: Helliogoblo, North Skerry, Ormal, Reaverack and The Clubb. In between Papa Stour and Ve Skerries lies the shallow bank of Papa-rof.
On 21 June 2008, Stuart Hill
Stuart Hill (Sailor)
Stuart Alan Hill also known as Captain Calamity is an English amateur sailor, jurist and activist in the Shetland Islands independence movement.-Early life:Hill was born 1943 in Bromley, Kent, the son of a nuclear engineer...
, the owner and only resident of the 1 hectare (2.5 acre) island of Forewick Holm
Forewick Holm
Forewick Holm is a island in the Sound of Papa in the Shetland islands, Scotland. located between Papa Stour and the Sandness peninsula.-Location:...
(which he has renamed "Forvik Island") made a declaration of dependence, creating the Crown Dependency of Forvik
Crown Dependency of Forvik
The Crown Dependency of Forvik is a micronation located on the island of Forewick Holm in the Shetland Islands of Scotland.Forvik was created in June 2008 by the island's disputed owner, sole occasional occupant, and Cunningsburgh resident, Stuart Hill when he unilaterally declared Forvik to be a...
. On the basis of a marriage arrangement between King Christian of Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and King James III of Scotland
James III of Scotland
James III was King of Scots from 1460 to 1488. James was an unpopular and ineffective monarch owing to an unwillingness to administer justice fairly, a policy of pursuing alliance with the Kingdom of England, and a disastrous relationship with nearly all his extended family.His reputation as the...
that dates to 1468 the island was declared to be a British crown dependency
Crown dependency
The Crown Dependencies are British possessions of the Crown, as opposed to overseas territories of the United Kingdom. They comprise the Channel Island Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey in the English Channel, and the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea....
, and thus not a part of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
or of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
.
Geology
The island is composed of a variety of volcanic and sedimentary rock formations from the DevonianDevonian
The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...
period. At that time the Scottish landmass formed part of the Old Red Sandstone Continent
Euramerica
Euramerica was a minor supercontinent created in the Devonian as the result of a collision between the Laurentian, Baltica, and Avalonia cratons .300 million years ago in the Late Carboniferous tropical rainforests lay over the equator of Euramerica...
and lay some 10
10th parallel south
The 10th parallel south is a circle of latitude that is 10 degrees south of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean, Africa, the Indian Ocean, Australasia, the Pacific Ocean and South America....
-25 degrees south
25th parallel south
The 25th parallel south is a circle of latitude that is 25 degrees south of the Earth's equatorial plane, just south of the Tropic of Capricorn...
of the equator. The accumulations of Old Red Sandstone
Old Red Sandstone
The Old Red Sandstone is a British rock formation of considerable importance to early paleontology. For convenience the short version of the term, 'ORS' is often used in literature on the subject.-Sedimentology:...
, laid down from 408 to 370 million years ago, were created as earlier Silurian
Silurian
The Silurian is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Ordovician Period, about 443.7 ± 1.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Devonian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya . As with other geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period's start and end are well identified, but the...
rocks, uplifted by the formation of Pangaea
Pangaea
Pangaea, Pangæa, or Pangea is hypothesized as a supercontinent that existed during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras about 250 million years ago, before the component continents were separated into their current configuration....
, eroded and then were deposited into river deltas. The freshwater Orcadian Lakes
Orcadian Lakes
The Orcadian Lakes are a series of lakes which existed during the Devonian period in the region which is now northern Scotland, Orkney and Shetland. The sedimentary rocks they left behind have been studied since the 1830's...
existed on the edges of the eroding mountains, stretching from Shetland to the southern Moray Firth. The structure of Papa Stour is largely made up of ashes and lavas from volcanic activity associated with this period, including bands of solidified volcanic ash and lava (rhyolite
Rhyolite
This page is about a volcanic rock. For the ghost town see Rhyolite, Nevada, and for the satellite system, see Rhyolite/Aquacade.Rhyolite is an igneous, volcanic rock, of felsic composition . It may have any texture from glassy to aphanitic to porphyritic...
), but there is also a Devonian fish bed at Lamba Banks. There are numerous large boulders deposited by Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
glaciation.
Geo (landscape)
A geo or gio is an inlet, a gully or a narrow and deep cleft in the face of a cliff. Geos are common on the coastline of the Shetland and Orkney islands. They are created by the wave driven erosion of cliffs along faults and bedding planes in the rock. Geos may have sea caves at their heads...
s that are amongst the finest in Britain. The 'Holl o Boardie' is a cave that passes right through the north-west tip of the island. It is nearly half a mile long and wide enough to row through. Kirstan (or Christie's) Hole in the south west is another spectacular cave, part of the roof of which collapsed in 1981. Yet another is 'Francie's Hole' close to Hamna Voe in the west. This was the favourite of John Tudor who wrote of the island in his Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
memoirs and described the cave as:
...in fairyland, so exquisite is the colouring of the roof and sides and so pellucid is the water... [with] alcoves or recesses like stalls in a church.
In 1953 the spectacular headland, 'Da Horn o Papa' fell into the sea during a storm. The nearby islet of Brei Holm
Brei Holm
Brei Holm is a tiny tidal islet in the western Shetland Islands. It is due east of Papa Stour, to which it is connected at low tide, just outside Housa Voe...
also has caves that can be accessed by small boats when conditions permit.
Ecology
European Otter
The European Otter , also known as the Eurasian otter, Eurasian river otter, common otter and Old World otter, is a European and Asian member of the Lutrinae or otter subfamily, and is typical of freshwater otters....
, Grey Seal
Grey Seal
The grey seal is found on both shores of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is a large seal of the family Phocidae or "true seals". It is the only species classified in the genus Halichoerus...
s, Killer Whales and Harbour Porpoise
Harbour Porpoise
The harbour porpoise is one of six species of porpoise. It is one of the smallest marine mammals. As its name implies, it stays close to coastal areas or river estuaries, and as such, is the most familiar porpoise to whale watchers. This porpoise often ventures up rivers, and has been seen...
s are frequently seen on and around Papa Stour. Atlantic Puffin
Atlantic Puffin
The Atlantic Puffin is a seabird species in the auk family. It is a pelagic bird that feeds primarily by diving for fish, but also eats other sea creatures, such as squid and crustaceans. Its most obvious characteristic during the breeding season is its brightly coloured bill...
, Arctic
Arctic Tern
The Arctic Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. This bird has a circumpolar breeding distribution covering the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and North America...
and Common Tern
Common Tern
The Common Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, breeding in temperate and sub-Arctic regions of Europe, Asia and east and central North America. It is strongly migratory, wintering in coastal tropical and subtropical regions. It is sometimes...
, Bonxie
Great Skua
The Great Skua, Stercorarius skua, is a large seabird in the skua family Stercorariidae. In Britain, it is sometimes known by the name Bonxie, a Shetland name of unknown origin.-Description:...
and Arctic Skua
Arctic Skua
The Parasitic Jaeger, also known as the Arctic Skua or Parasitic Skua, is a seabird in the skua family Stercorariidae....
, Northern Fulmar
Northern Fulmar
The Northern Fulmar, Fulmarus glacialis, Fulmar, or Arctic Fulmar is a highly abundant sea bird found primarily in subarctic regions of the north Atlantic and north Pacific oceans. Fulmars come in one of two color morphs: a light one which is almost entirely white, and a dark one which is...
, Common Guillemot
Common Guillemot
The Common Murre or Common Guillemot is a large auk. It is also known as the Thin-billed Murre in North America. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring in low-Arctic and boreal waters in the North-Atlantic and North Pacific...
, Razorbill
Razorbill
The Razorbill is colonial seabird that will only come to land in order to breed. It is the largest living member of the Auk family. This agile bird will choose only one partner for life and females will lay one egg per year. Razorbills will nest along coastal cliffs in enclosed or slightly exposed...
, Curlew
Eurasian Curlew
The Eurasian Curlew, Numenius arquata, is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae. It is one of the most widespread of the curlews, breeding across temperate Europe and Asia...
, Wheatear
Northern Wheatear
The Northern Wheatear or Wheatear is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae...
, Ringed Plover
Ringed Plover
The Common Ringed Plover or Ringed Plover is a small plover.Adults are 17-19.5 cm in length with a 35–41 cm wingspan. They have a grey-brown back and wings, a white belly, and a white breast with one black neckband. They have a brown cap, a white forehead, a black mask around the eyes...
and Great Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
The Great Black-backed Gull is the largest gull in the world, which breeds on the European and North American coasts and islands of the North Atlantic...
all breed on the island, and numerous migratory species have been recorded.
There is a profusion of wild flowers, including Mountain Everlasting, Spring Squill and Eyebright as well as the ubiquitous Heather
Calluna
Calluna vulgaris is the sole species in the genus Calluna in the family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing perennial shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found widely in Europe and Asia Minor on acidic soils in open sunny situations and in moderate shade...
. The west side of the island is a Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
and the seas around Papa Stour are a Special Area of Conservation
Special Area of Conservation
A Special Area of Conservation is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive , also known as the Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora...
. The traditional Shetland Pony
Shetland pony
The Shetland pony is a breed of pony originating in the Shetland Isles. Shetlands range in size from a minimum height of approximately 28 inches to an official maximum height of 42 inches at the withers. Shetland ponies have heavy coats, short legs and are considered quite intelligent...
is still bred.
History and archaeology
Human settlement of the island dates from circa 3000 BC and there are remains of several NeolithicNeolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
burial chambers known as 'heel-shaped cairns'. Little is known of the pre-Celtic and Celtic eras, but when the Norse arrived it is likely they found a religious settlement as the name of the island derives from Papey Stóra meaning "Big island of the Papar
Papar
The Papar were, according to early Icelandic historical sources, a group of Irish or Scottish monks resident in parts of Iceland at the time of the arrival of the Norsemen...
" (Celtic monks), in distinction to Papa Little
Papa Little
Papa Little is an island in Shetland, Scotland.The island lies at the head of Aith Voe in north west Mainland, Shetland, south of Muckle Roe...
some 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) to the west.
Norse period
Papa Stour is the subject of a 1299 manuscript written in Old NorseOld Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
, which is the oldest surviving document from Shetland. It deals with a dramatic incident in the house of Duke Hakon Magnusson, who was later to become King Hakon V of Norway. There is a circle of stones near the beach at Housa Voe, which are the remains of a 'ting', or local assembly. This was the scene of a duel, fought and won by Lord Thorvald Thoresson, who was accused of corruption in the 1299 document and was later called ‘dominus de Papay’. (The story of his unfortunate daughter is referred to above.) The remains of Duke Hakon's thirteenth century house are still visible near Housa Voe.
Scots rule and fishing
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
and Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
were operating a summer trading booth to buy fish from the local fleet. By the 18th century, two Scottish lairds, Thomas Gifford
Thomas Gifford
Thomas Eugene Gifford was a best-selling American author of thriller novels. He was a graduate of Harvard University....
of Busta, and Arthur Nicolson of Lerwick
Lerwick
Lerwick is the capital and main port of the Shetland Islands, Scotland, located more than 100 miles off the north coast of mainland Scotland on the east coast of the Shetland Mainland...
, owned the island. They maintained a prosperous Haaf (Old Norse: 'deep sea') fishing industry, undertaken in the summer months using six-oared boats known as sixareen
Sixareen
The sixareen or sixern is a traditional fishing boat used around the Shetland Islands. It is a clinker-built boat, evolved as a larger version of the yoal, when the need arose for crews to fish further from shore...
s.
In addition to the leper colony on Brei Holm there may have been another at Hilla Fielle overlooking Hamna Voe. A recent archaeological survey was inconclusive but suggests the site may be much older than the supposed 18th century colony.
The island church, which overlooks Kirk Sand in the bay of Fore Wick, was founded in 1806. 300 metres from the present church there may be an older chapel site of Sneeans or Snøyans on the headland between the west end of Kirk Sand and the bay of Tusselby. It is called the 'ald kirk' by locals and referred to by the Ordnance Survey as "the site of a Romish chapel belonging to about the twelfth century". There is a tradition that the work there was interfered with by supernatural powers and that each day's work on the building was destroyed during the night. Eventually the cornerstones were moved overnight by these unearthly agencies to the present site of the church and work was re-commenced there successfully. Excavations in 2004 found little besides large blocks of rhyolite and a piece of whalebone rib, suggesting that the oral tradition may have some truth to it.
In the 19th century the Crabbaberry fishing station in West Voe was opened and the island had a population of 360 people or more. However, fuel shortages and a decline in fishing due to the introduction of steam drifters saw a fall in population from the 1870s on. At this time another duel entered the history of Papa Stour. Edwin Lindsay, an Indian army officer and the son of the 6th Earl of Balcarres, was declared insane and sent to the island in disgrace after refusing to fight in one. He spent 26 years as a prisoner before the Quaker preacher Catherine Watson arranged for his release in 1835. Lindsay's Well is a spring at the south of the island where he was allowed to bathe.
There are good examples of horizontal water mills, also known as Norse or Clack Mills, around Dutch Loch. Originally these were two story buildings with turf roofs, built into banks to give access to the upper floor where the mill-stone was sited. Inside the building there was a fixed lower millstone, and a rotating upper millstone driven by the water falling onto the paddles below. Some were still in use on Papa Stour in the early years of the 20th century, and there is still a working example of one of these mills on the Burn of Clumlie, at Troswick in the south Mainland of Shetland.
20th and 21st centuries
Mingulay
Mingulay is the second largest of the Bishop's Isles in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. Located south of Barra, it is known for its important seabird populations, including puffins, Black-legged Kittiwakes, and razorbills, which nest in the sea-cliffs, amongst the highest in the British...
). By 1970 the island school had closed and the population had declined to sixteen 'fairly elderly' residents, but an advertisement in Exchange and Mart reversed the decline. A croft and five sheep were offered free of charge to incomers which brought a flood of applicants. By 1981 the census recorded a population of 33. However, by 2005 the population had fallen to 20 after serious discord between islanders led to several court cases. A number of people left the island and the school closed. By early 2008 the population had dropped to just nine after a family of seven left.
Overview of population trends
Shipwrecks
The coasts around Papa Stour have claimed numerous wrecks. In Hamnavoe, Tiptans Skerry alone has sunk Dutch, French, German and Norwegian ships.The Aberdeen trawler Ben Doran A178, foundered on the Ve Skerries
Ve Skerries
Ve Skerries, , are a group of low skerries 3 miles north west of Papa Stour, on the west coast of Shetland.-Skerries:The individual skerries are; North Skerry, Ormal, The Clubb, Reaverack, and Helligobolo.- Ve Skerries Lighthouse :...
3 miles northwest of Papa Stour, on the evening of 28 March 1930 while on her way to the village of Scalloway
Scalloway
Scalloway is the largest settlement on the North Atlantic coast of Mainland, Shetland with a population of approximately 812, at the 2001 census...
to land her catch. When she grounded weather conditions were fairly good but it was not until the following day that a passing trawler saw, and reported the wreck. By the time that various rescue attempts were launched by the coastguard and local volunteers (there being no lifeboat in Shetland at that time), weather conditions had deteriorated to the point where it was impossible to approach the skerries. A request had been made for the Stromness
Stromness
Stromness is the second-biggest town in Orkney, Scotland. It is in the south-west of Mainland Orkney. It is also a parish, with the town of Stromness as its capital.-Etymology:...
lifeboat from Orkney, only 120 miles away, to launch, but the request was made too late to be of help. All 9 crew perished in the wreck. Only 3 bodies were recovered, that of James Mitchell, which was returned to Aberdeen, and the bodies of J. Cormack and J.R. Insh, which were buried in Scalloway.
The cargo ship SS Highcliffe ran aground in fog on Forewick Holm in February 1940. On this occasion the conditions were clement and only the ship and cargo were lost. In 1967 the Aberdeen trawler Juniper ran aground in Lyra Sound at the bottom of the 60 metre (200 ft) cliffs. The 12 man crew were rescued by the Aith
Aith
Aith, , is a village on the Northern coast of the West Shetland Mainland at the southern end of Aith Voe, some 21 miles west of Lerwick....
lifeboat, the coxswain being awarded the RNLI silver medal for this rescue.
Papa Stour's most recent shipwreck occurred on 9 December 1977 when the Aberdeen trawler Elinor Viking A278, skipper Alec Flett, foundered on the Ve Skerries. The Aith Lifeboat came to the scene but was unable to get near enough to rescue the crew because of the sea conditions. At the request of Alec Webster, Coastguard Station Officer, Lerwick, a volunteer crew in a British Airways
British Airways
British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...
Sikorsky S61N helicopter from Sumburgh Airport
Sumburgh Airport
-Other tenants:*Maritime and Coastguard Agency *Bristow Helicopters*Bond Helicopters -Incidents and accidents:...
was scrambled. They managed to winch all the boat's crew to safety within hours of the grounding, despite the storm force winds. The helicopter crew later received a number of awards for bravery. There was no loss of life, but this incident prompted the building of a lighthouse on the skerries in 1979, and may also have been the example required for the formation of the present Search and Rescue helicopter unit, based at Sumburgh Airport
Sumburgh Airport
-Other tenants:*Maritime and Coastguard Agency *Bristow Helicopters*Bond Helicopters -Incidents and accidents:...
.
Economy
Ferries now sail across the Sound of Papa to West Burrafirth on the Shetland Mainland
Shetland Mainland
The Mainland is the main island of Shetland, Scotland. The island contains Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick, and is the centre of Shetland's ferry and air connections....
. The crossing takes 45 minutes, and although the Snolda carries cars, there is only one short road on the island. There is an airstrip which caters for regular flights from Tingwall
Tingwall
Tingwall may refer to:*Tingwall, Orkney*Tingwall, Shetland*Tingwall Airport, Shetland Islands...
. For visiting yachts the four main voes provide good shelter, but the strong tides in both the Sound of Papa and to the north west require considerable care.
Culture and the arts
The Papa Stour sword dance may be of Norse origin and bears similarities to the long sword dance of the north east of England. A description of the dance appears in The PirateThe Pirate (novel)
The Pirate is a novel by Walter Scott, based roughly on the life of John Gow who features as Captain Cleveland. The setting is the southern tip of the main island of Shetland , around 1700...
by Sir Walter Scott.
The writer and journalist John Sands
John Sands
John Sands of Ormiston was a Scottish freelance journalist and artist who also had an interest in archaeology and folk customs, especially the way of life on Scottish islands...
lived on Papa Stour and Foula
Foula
Foula in the Shetland Islands of Scotland is one of Great Britain’s most remote permanently inhabited islands. Owned since the turn of the 20th century by the Holbourn family, the island was the location for the film The Edge of the World...
for a while during the late nineteenth century. The writer, folklorist and musician, George P. S. Peterson was brought up on Papa Stour.
It is also the 'Papa' of Vagaland
Vagaland
Vagaland , is arguably the greatest Shetland poet of the 20th century, was born Thomas Alexander Robertson at Westerwick at the southern tip of the parish of Sandsting, his mother’s home. He was the second son of Thomas Robertson of Skeld and his wife Andrina Johnston...
's poem Da Sang o da Papa men, now adopted as part of the folksong tradition, as set to music by T.M.Y. Manson. The insistent chorus chant, 'Rowin Foula Doon!', is particularly striking.
- "Oot bewast da Horn o Papa,
- Rowin Foula doon!
- Owir a hidden piece o water,
- Rowin Foula doon!
- Roond da boat da tide-lumps makkin,
- Sunlicht trowe da cloods is brakkin;
- We maan geng whaar fish is takkin,
- Rowin Foula doon!"
"Rowin Foula doon!" refers to the fishermens' practice of rowing their open fishing boat out to sea until the high cliffs of Foula
Foula
Foula in the Shetland Islands of Scotland is one of Great Britain’s most remote permanently inhabited islands. Owned since the turn of the 20th century by the Holbourn family, the island was the location for the film The Edge of the World...
were no longer visible. This entailed the boat being some 96 kilometres (59.7 mi) west of Papa Stour. The 'tide-lumps' are increased swells of unusual size due to the combined action of wind against tide. The resonant final image of the piece is of the fishermen being led back home to Papa by the 'scent o flooers' across the water. This is an example of Vagaland's ability to create a vivid sensual impression of a situation. An extra layer of meaning is added by the knowledge that Da Horn o Papa collapsed in a storm around the time of this poem's composition, so that it is a tribute not just to a lost way of life, but a noted geographical feature.
See also
- List of Shetland islands
- Lady Grange who was held captive on St KildaSt Kilda, ScotlandSt Kilda is an isolated archipelago west-northwest of North Uist in the North Atlantic Ocean. It contains the westernmost islands of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The largest island is Hirta, whose sea cliffs are the highest in the United Kingdom and three other islands , were also used for...
. - Papa, ScotlandPapa, ScotlandThis is a list of places in Scotland called Papa or similar, which are so named after the Papar, monks from the Early Historic Period or from their connection to other, later priests.-Orkney:* Papa Stronsay* Papa Westray...
Further reading
- Johnston, Alfred Wintle (1912) The Sword Dance, Papa Stour, Shetland, and Four Shetland Airs. The Viking Club Society for Northern Research.
- Monumental Inscriptions: Parish of Sandness (Including Island of Papa Stour). (2002) Monumental inscriptions Bk. 24. Shetland Family History Society. ISBN 1903439183
- Peterson, George (1965) Hairst Blinks Ower Papa. Shetland Times. A book of verse.
External links
- Review of book on the 1299 manuscript
- Photos and Information on Papa Stour as gathered by Conrad
- Papa Stour - History and detailed map
- Papa Stour - Area Guide
- Papa Stour, The Papar Project
- Shetland Museum. The archives include images of Da Horn o Papa before its collapse.
- A web diary about life on Papa Stour today