Lockerbie and District Rotary Club members enjoyed a tour of the Shetland Isles at their latest meeting.
David Rothwell introduced Rev Dr Frances Henderson as guest speaker. Fran is the transition minister serving both Lockerbie Dryfesdale, Hutton Corrie, and Applegarth Church, and Lochmaben Parish Church. She arrived in Lockerbie in August after a spell of six years in Shetland where she was part of a team of ministers, rationalising the Church of Scotland’s presence on the islands from 13 parishes to one.
As she said, it was a steep learning curve, but she felt that she could have stayed 40 years and she would still have been learning.
Shetland was a revelation to her. She loved the culture of the place and threw herself into the island life, which she soon found was extremely modern and well served, thanks to the oil revenue. She had lots of anecdotes to relate from her stay there and introduced some of the characters, the folklore, and the customs and traditions which abound in any seafaring community.
This is the season of the fire festivals on Shetland and she began with Up Helly Aa, the Lerwick Fire Festival. It is quite a spectacle and the manse at Lerwick has a prime viewing spot for the burning of the galley. Up Helly Aa is just one of about a dozen fire festivals around the Isles and Fran reminded members that not all communities identify with the Viking heritage. Fishing boats still do tend to use a lot of the old words from the Norn dialect, an old Norwegian tongue. As with many seafaring communities, superstitions abound. Ministers in the sea language are called ‘uppstanders’ and are regarded as unlucky on boats. This posed a problem when one of the local lifeboats decided to give the moderator and his deacon a boat trip – two ministers on one boat!
Fran was greatly impressed by Foula, a small island some 20 miles off the west coast. With a population of only 35 or so, its own primary school and airport, she flew there regularly. At first, she was mystified by the reluctance of the locals to mix with strangers, but when it was explained that this went back to the 1730s, when smallpox wiped out all but six of the population, it made sense to be wary of strangers. Foula still operates on the Julian Calender, so runs 12 days behind the mainland.
Fran explained the purpose of the Aamos stone in Eschaness churchyard and in the same churchyard, the inscription on the most famous gravestone in Shetland for Donald Robertson. She visited the Out Skerries as often as she could and marvelled at the wealth on Whalsay, where seven of the eight pelagic trawlers of the Shetland Fleet were registered. It was a fascinating record of the Shetland Isles from someone who had spent several years there and really appreciated the islands.
A very well deserved vote of thanks was accorded to Frances by Ian Sloan.